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diff --git a/old/55494-8.txt b/old/55494-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b78ab7e..0000000 --- a/old/55494-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6066 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Chambers, by William Elliot Griffis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: John Chambers - Servant of Christ and Master of Hearts and His Ministry in Philadelphia - -Author: William Elliot Griffis - -Release Date: September 6, 2017 [EBook #55494] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN CHAMBERS *** - - - - -Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Karin Spence and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - 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._ - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - IRELAND. A BONNY BAIRN. - - -Many a chairman, clerical or lay brother, in introducing John Chambers -to an always delighted audience, referred to his "big Irish heart," -and indeed he had in him all the winning and fascinating elements -which make the jolly Irishman. He was emotional, clear-brained, rich -in personal magnetism, and in general a "good fellow". He had in him -also those traits which characterize the strong, clean, God-fearing -and man-loving Puritan, whose career so often illustrates the highest -type of manhood. Of superb and commanding figure, six feet high, -and the most imposing individual known in the Chambers clan, he had -an open illuminated face, and eyes that penetrated one's inmost -nature. He was skilled in the handshake or shoulder pat, that warmed -one's entire being into personal loyalty and were inspirations to -friendship for the man and his Master. His face made you believe in -the immortality of the soul. To these physical traits may be added an -absolutely fearless mien and a flashing eye, that made his enemies -fear him, even when they most hated his ways and words. With leonine -countenance and majestic presence, was a tongue that beat the blarney -stone, and yet was made, under God, a unerring instrument in winning -souls. Some one has written of "The Pastor as Praiser". John Chambers -by praising a boy made him a hero. Often a word from him came as -Paul's clarion call, "Stand fast". - -In brief, John Chambers possessed in person, bearing, and -characteristics, the noble heritages of that Scottish race which -settled in north Ireland, and which has shown itself, especially -in America, one of the most distinctive of stocks, rich in mental -initiative and nervous energy, with power of manifold adaptation and -persistency. In America the Scotch-Irish have certainly influenced, -with power second to that of no other strain or nationality, the -making of the American republic. - -The people of north Ireland were noted for their Calvinism, which -in practice is only another word for an inextinguishable love of -freedom and democracy. Their faith fruited in free schools, popular -education, family worship, familiarity with the Bible, hatred of -priest-craft, Romanism, and British cruelty and oppression. In their -Christianity, some Jewish notions in survival were perhaps put on a -level with the teachings of Jesus, and their passionate devotion to -Sabbath-keeping seemed sometimes to run into idolatry. They were not -at all disinclined to controversy, and many of them were rather fond -of a bit of a fight. Among the less sanctified, religion of a certain -narrow sort and the contents of the whiskey bottle were very much in -demand. - -Naturally the British government with its aristocracy and political -church, its absentee-landlordism and its corrupt parliament--which in -the eighteenth century represented land rather than people--had much -trouble with this insular people of many virtues and some glaring -defects. The more oppressive measures of the first half and middle of -the eighteenth century sent tens of thousands of emigrants to America, -where they settled, especially in New Hampshire, the Carolinas, and -western Pennsylvania. Only too glad to take up arms against the -British, they furnished from their ranks for the Continental army and -patriot partisan bodies, probably a larger proportion of soldiers than -those of any other nationality among the colonists.[1] Many thousands -of the "Yankees" of New England were Irishmen. In North Carolina -they were the Regulators whom "Bloody Billy" Tryon slaughtered. In -Sullivan's Expedition of 1779, one of the most important campaigns of -the Revolution, four of the five generals, and possibly a majority -of the rank and file, were born in Ireland, or were of Irish stock. -At the banquet held in the forest, on the Chemung River on the site -of Elmira, N. Y., on Saturday September 25, 1779, in the pavilion of -greenery, one of the thirteen toasts drunk was this,--"May Ireland -merit a stripe in the American standard."[2] - -[Footnote 1: See Romance of American Colonization. Boston, 1898, p. -272.] - -[Footnote 2: See the Pathfinders of the Revolution. Boston, 1900, p. -296.] - -The general dissatisfaction in Ireland, not only among the Catholics -who suffered from oppressive penal statutes, but also among the -Protestants, broke out in 1798 into a rebellion fomented by the -numerous secret societies then in the island. To read this page of -history brings us to the parentage and birth of John Chambers, who -sprung not from "illiterate" folk, as some have ignorantly imagined, -but from intelligent and educated as well as patriotic parentage and -ancestry. - -William Chambers, the father of our American John, was born in -1768 of fairly well-to-do parents, and had a good education. One -of his ancestors was an officer in the British navy. When about -twenty-seven years of age, he married a Miss Smythe, or Smith, who was -traditionally descended from Robert the Bruce, being one of a family -which has furnished a long succession of Presbyterian ministers in -Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. Their first son and eldest -child, they named James. Their second son, John, is the subject -of our biography. John Chambers was born on September 19, 1797 in -Stewartstown, Tyrone county, Ireland. - -There are four towns of this name in the United States, settled -probably by Irishmen, and the original place in Ireland, in 1880, -contained 931 souls. - -William Chambers was a hot-headed, impulsive man of great physical -vigor, a superb horseman, and a leader in athletic sports. In early -manhood he was powerfully influenced in his political opinions and -action by the ideas exploited in both the American and the French -Revolutions. A fierce patriot, he became a follower of the famous Wolf -Tone, and in their ups and downs on the wheel of politics, both master -and disciple found themselves in prison within a few days of each -other. William Chambers by some means escaped, but was soon involved -in trouble with the British authorities, and so engaged passage to -America. - -Theobald Wolf Tone (1763-1798), orator and advocate of the freedom of -Ireland, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He wrote pamphlets -exposing British misgovernment, joined Protestants and Catholics -in political fraternity, and founded at Belfast the first Society -of United Irishmen, which William Chambers promptly joined. It is -believed that at this time the green flag of Ireland was adopted, by -uniting the orange and the blue. It is certain that at this time, -green became the national color, although an emerald green standard -was used in the sixteenth century. - -One of these United Irishmen was Samuel Brown Wylie, who became the -celebrated pastor, preacher, and Doctor of Divinity in Philadelphia. -He left Ireland in 1797. In God's providence, exactly one century -afterwards, the names of Chambers and Wylie were united in -Philadelphia in that of a memorial church. - -Wolf Tone, as secretary of the Roman Catholic committee, had already -entered into secret negotiations with France and had to fly to the -United States in 1795. He was afterwards captured on one of the ships -of the French squadron, which was to invade Ireland. - -The French having occupied Holland, had had a great fleet built in the -Zuyder Zee to co-operate with the United Irishmen, but at the battle -of Camperduin, off the coast of North Holland, October 11th, 1797, the -British Admiral Duncan destroyed the French and Dutch fleet, and the -high hopes of those who looked for Irish independence were dashed to -the ground. Hundreds of them fled. - -Tried and sentenced to death, Wolf Tone committed suicide in his cell, -November 19th, 1798. His son afterwards served in the armies of France -and the United States and wrote the biography of his father. Ever -since 1797, the British navy has had a ship named "Camperdown". - -In Scotland I have had the pleasure of visiting the Duncan estate near -Dundee, and in Holland of seeing Camperduin and its vicinity, both of -land and water. - -The defeat of the French fleet and the imprisonment, trial, and -sentence of their leader, Wolf Tone, drove the United Irishmen into an -insurrection of despair. At the battle of Vinegar Hill, in May, 1798, -the revolt was crushed and the French general Humbert surrendered. -Forthwith the British constables began their hunt for each one and all -of the United Irishmen to land them in prison. - -William Chambers was, as we have seen, arrested and thrown into prison -at Stewartstown. In some way he escaped and eluded those who were -seeking him, until he made his way down to the ship, on which his -family was leaving Ireland for America. Besides his wife with her -little boys, James and John, the latter an infant of three months at -the breast, were other emigrants on board. In the hold, there was a -stock of cabbages and down among these vegetables the refugee father -hid himself. The British officers came on board and searched the ship -from stem to stern to find their man, but his wife had encouraged him -to get so deeply under the material for sauerkraut, and had covered -him up so well, that, unable to find him, they imagined he must have -fled elsewhere. It was not until the ship was well out at sea that -William Chambers rose up from among the cabbages and made himself -visible. In later years, John Chambers visited the Stewartstown prison -in which his father had been incarcerated. - -In the slow ship they were knocked about on the wintry Atlantic during -a stormy voyage of fourteen weeks, but happily arrived in the Delaware -Bay, just when the buds were bursting, and the landscape of spring -time putting on its fresh mantle of green. After their sea weariness -the peach-orchards of Delaware must have looked as "fair as a garden -of the Lord." - -The Mayflower, which in 1620 bore the Pilgrims to America, was bound -for the same beautiful region, then vaguely called "Virginia" but -these people in 1799 were pilgrims bound to the forests of Ohio, the -first of the Pilgrim states beyond the Alleghenies.[3] - -[Footnote 3: See the Pilgrims in their Three Homes, Boston, 1898.] - -Landing at Newcastle, William Chambers and his little family soon -joined a great party of emigrants who were turning their faces -westward. Ohio was then, except for the river valleys and old maize -lands of the Indians, an almost unbroken forest. In those days, when -there was neither canal, railway nor trolley, such roads as existed, -traversed chiefly the long stretches of dark woods. They were made of -corduroy, or logs laid crosswise, with a surface covering of earth. -Very few counties were as yet named or laid out in the Buckeye State, -for it was only five years after General Anthony Wayne's great victory -at Maumee Rapids over the Indians, and many of the red men were still -in the land. Frontier life was still very rough, both as respects -material comfort and the relations of the settlers with the Indians. -The second stage of territorial life was entered upon in this same -year, 1799, and the State Legislature had met for the first time in -Cincinnati. - -Slowly and painfully the caravan of home seekers made its way through -Pennsylvania over the great road through Harrisburg and the Juniata -valley, Hollidaysburg and Pittsburg, where Scotchmen and Irishmen were -still very numerous. Thence floating down the Ohio River, they reached -the first county on the western side, which was later named after -Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States. The Irish -pioneer from Stewartstown helped to lay out the original townships of -the county, in which Warren Ridge was situated, often going ahead to -blaze some trees along the future road. Later, in 1799, he settled -at Smithfield, and ultimately at Mount Pleasant. It was to this last -named place that the visits of John Chambers, notably in 1843 and -1861, were made. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - OHIO. LIFE IN A LOG CABIN. - - -The little baby boy John's first American home was a log cabin and -his cradle was made of part of a hollowed-out tree trunk. When he -began noticing things from the doorway, his eyes took in a great space -filled with a multitude of stumps, the dark and lonely forest, the new -and strange fields of Indian corn, the tender green of spring, the -gold of autumn, and the great white landscape of winter. When he was -but three years old, Ohio became a state. - -Remembering the witticism, so common a generation ago, that "some men -are born great, and some are born in Ohio", we may believe that John -Chambers came very near a double inheritance, though failing in but -one share; for, to the end of his days, he boasted that he was by -birth an Irishman. - -Among his earliest playthings were the "buckeyes", or horse-chestnuts, -from the particular tree, so plentiful in the new land. As the Bible -was then, besides being in supreme honor as the Word of God, the one -familiar volume, library, reference, and text-book, source of literary -and intellectual recreation, John, as he learned to read, was as -much delighted to find the _popular_ name of "Ohio" in the Bible, as -American tourists in Japan are, to hear the sound of this good State's -name, in the Japanese for "good morning".[4] - -[Footnote 4: See I. Chronicles VI:5, about Bukki, the father of Uzzi.] - -In after years, in the freshness of his metropolitan fame, John -Chambers visited several times his old home, the log cabin in which he -grew up. The house is now a weather-boarded dwelling place, but in the -wooden walls is still to be seen the little hollow place or alcove, -where were kept the decanters or glasses, containing cherry brandy -and whiskey, which were so popular and in such general use in those -early days before teetotalism, or prohibition or no license was known. -During the war of 1812, this house was used as a recruiting station -for volunteers, and here the young soldiers pledged their glass in -token of their patriotism and comradeship. Against this phase of -social life, the boy John set his face from the first. - -William Chambers lived the life of a pioneer in the American forest. -He gained his bread by tilling the soil, and a little ready money by -burning the timber and leaching the potash out of the ashes, and by -other industries common to the forest. Indian cooking was soon learned -and the food of the red man became popular. In fact there are very -few purely American dishes, which are not evolutions from the Indian -originals. Sugar was plentiful from the maple trees, but salt was very -costly and hard to get. By boring wells, brine was found from which -good salt could be made. - -Life on the frontier was necessarily rude in some points, especially -in moral relations with the Indians. As pretty much all Irishmen -are very fond of religion and whiskey and a bit of a fight, there -were often rough scenes. William Chambers was a strong character and -his hot temper was easily roused, but his wife, an equally strong -character, but with finer strength, was cool-headed and made a good -balance for her husband. She was a noted nurse and especially skillful -in the sickroom. Hence she was often called upon for help by both -friends and strangers in time of pain and misfortune. Malaria and -homesickness were common woes. Devoutly pious, she trained up her -children in the fear and love of God, and by them and even by later -generations her memory is treasured. - -The religion of these pioneers may have been narrow, but it was strong -and deep. It was based on a first-hand knowledge of the English -Bible. Even in his early life, as I remember Mr. Chambers saying, he -revolted against bigotry and the kind of religion that was not rich in -love to one's neighbor. These were psalm-singers and not hymn-using -Christians, but the Methodist preachers and Christians of other sorts -than Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were in the land. The boy John once -heard an old gentleman say that he would as soon sit down to the -Lord's Supper with a horse-thief, as with a man who sang Dr. Watts' -version of the Psalms. - -Little John also refused to touch liquor, for he saw the awful effects -of its use, and grew to have a hatred of it. On one occasion, the -little fellow rebuked a crowd of men, including his own father, for -their drinking habits whereby the parent, William Chambers was greatly -affected. "The heart of the child three years old is in the heart of -the sage of sixty," as says the Japanese proverb, was true of John -Chambers, the metropolitan preacher, but it was in childhood that -God began to shape this bonnie bairn for a long life of usefulness. -The boy in the Ohio forests was a hearty hater of all bickering and -squabbling. He was often called upon to settle differences. He came to -be known among neighbors and friends as "the little peacemaker." "The -child is father to the man," and all his life John Chambers was mighty -as a reconciler. - -John Chambers's boyhood was thus spent in the wilderness in continuous -hard work, by which he toughened his thews and kept his cheeks rosy, -rising into brave, pure, and clean manhood. He took his part in the -hard work of the farm, even to clearing the forest. He knew what it -was to "lift up axes against thick trees." With his other brothers -and sisters, he enjoyed life to the full. Politically, in this -Jeffersonian era, his parents took the Democratic view of things, -so that their offspring had the spirit of democracy in their veins. -All his life the intensely patriotic John followed the faith of his -father, and was, as he called himself, a Constitutional State-Rights -Democrat. - -He was taught to read and write at home, but with that true -instinct for education, which is inborn with Calvinists and the -Scotch-Irishmen, his parents wished to have him better educated. -They sent him, therefore, when he was but fifteen years of age, to -Baltimore, where lived some of their relatives. A journey over the -mountains in the early nineteenth century was like a trip to the -Philippines in our days, but John gladly set out on horseback, with a -party, in the spring of 1813, to the city on the Patapsco. - -It seems that he had no special purpose of remaining permanently -there, but Providence made his a stay of twelve years. After some -experience at school, he decided to learn the jeweler's trade. Thus -with business, and later with love, and then a call to the ministry, -Baltimore was to be the city in which his mind was shaped, and which -all his life was to him, socially, as magnet and star. - -Patriotism, too, had something to do with making the Monumental City -his home. It was war time, and the second struggle with Great Britain -was on. As a municipality, the young city, but sixteen years old, had -already become a famous place for the building of ships, the timber -being floated down from the heart of New York state and from northern -Pennsylvania, along the old line of Sullivan's march of 1779, by -way of the Susquehanna River. Immediately on the declaration of war -by Congress, a swarm of privateers sailed out of the Patapsco and -Chesapeake to prey on Great Britain's commerce, especially in the West -Indies. Hence the British government early decided that one of the -first places to be occupied was Baltimore. The stalwart youth from -Ohio arrived in good time to hold a shovel and dig earth to throw up -entrenchments, over which waved "The Star-Spangled Banner". He worked -several days in the trenches. In September, 1814, the British forces -made their attack under Col. Ross, a veteran under Sir John Moore -and Wellington. Their commander was killed and the assault given -up. The next day Admiral Cockburn's fleet bombarded Fort McHenry in -vain. The attack from ship by water was as ignominious a failure as -was the attempt by land. The happy result was the deliverance of the -city and the birth of America's national song, "The Star-Spangled -Banner". Francis Scott Key, detained against his will on the deck -of the British man-of-war Minden, was an indignant spectator of the -bombardment, but in the morning of September 14th, saw his country's -flag "in full glory reflected ... on the stream". In 1876 a bronze -statue to his memory was erected and Old Defenders' Day keeps alive -the stirring memories of September 11th, 1813. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - MARYLAND. STUDENT DAYS IN BALTIMORE. - - -Soon after coming to Baltimore John Chambers became a member of the -Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, of which the Rev. John Mason -Duncan was pastor. Under the preaching of this eminent prophet, the -mind of the young man expanded. Indeed it was so shaped and moulded -by Dr. Duncan, that we may consider him as the greatest of all John -Chambers' teachers, and his direct influence as greater than all -subsequent schools and teachings. "My honored father in Christ" was -Mr. Chambers' designation. Dr. Duncan saw in the young Ohio lad "an -eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures". He persuaded him to study -for the ministry, which John, soon after uniting with the church, -determined to do. - -In pursuance of his plan, the lad entered the Classical Academy of the -Rev. James Gray, D.D., formerly of Philadelphia, who had established -in Baltimore one of the numerous first-class schools in the South, -almost every one of which was founded by people of Scotch-Irish -descent. When it came to the study of theology and practical training -for the pastorate, John Chambers followed the method which was then -the common one in America. Very few theological seminaries then -existed in the country. That at New Brunswick, N. J., probably the -oldest, was scarcely fifteen years of age; that at Princeton hardly -over two years old. There were one or two in New England. For a young -man having the ministry in view, it was the usual custom to study -under his own pastor, a method not without great benefits, especially -in this instance, as Dr. Duncan was one of the most eloquent ministers -in the country. John Chambers learned how to preach by preaching. He -was successful with human beings because he knew them so well. He -was a master of the scriptures "in the original English". Only those -who afterward sat for years under John Chambers' preaching so long as -to be saturated with his ideas, to know the basic principles of his -thought and the workings of his mind, and have also read and studied -Dr. Duncan's works, can realize how greatly the pupil was indebted to -his great master. - -In fact it was John Mason Duncan who gave the keynote of the gospel -message as to its form, and it was John Chambers who filled out -the strain. The theme was set in Baltimore, the variations given -in Philadelphia. The pupil followed the master very closely in -practical organization and discipline also. Dr. Duncan was suspicious -of all creeds and confessions of faith when made instruments of -ecclesiastical power. His trust in the people was sincere, profound, -intense, and practical. In theology he ever laid stress on "the -mediatorial reign of Christ and his absolute ability and willingness -to save all mankind", which willingness it was his delight to -demonstrate from the Scriptures and "to rescue the Gospel call from -false philosophy". Dr. Duncan was jealous, almost to hostility, of -theological seminaries, and also of the growing usurpations of power -by synods. He dubbed America "the land of synods". He wrote at the -time when even the liberty of the presbyteries seemed endangered by -the centralizing power of the synods: "To persevere in such a course -is to raise up a class of men who, from the nature of the case, must -be destitute of sympathy with the people; who will rise above the -people as being their superiors and governors, and who will ultimately -distract and divide the church by their philosophic subtleties and -literary distinction". - -Verily the writer of those words was a prophet. - -Dr. Duncan's trust in the people was so great because, as he believed -and taught, "the Bible is addressed to the people". - -All of this John Chambers believed, carrying out, even to a fuller -logical conclusion, his teacher's doctrines. - -In his book entitled "An Essay on the Origin, Character and the -Tendency of Creeds and Confessions of Faith as Instruments of -Ecclesiastical Power", Dr. Duncan showed in his first chapter that -"the intention of this essay, strictly political in character, -involves the great question of human liberty to think, speak, to -write, to act". He delivered also a course of lectures on "The General -Principles in Moral Government", as they are exhibited in the first -three chapters of Genesis, in which the same ideas are more fully -carried out. - -Here is one of his passages: - -"Supposing then a minister--blameless, faithful, apt to teach, -believing in the great truths now defined, _i.e._ 'the Word made -flesh'--should come to preach, who has a right to prevent him, or to -refuse to recognize him as a true bishop and to stigmatize him as a -heretic? The apostle John says he is of God, and any trial to which -the statute in question would subject him must result in the equivocal -recognition of that fact. Presbyteries, as they are now constructed, -will not and cannot admit such a man to ministerial and church -fellowship without violating the principles of their party. They will -not and cannot ordain such a man without something more.... What -mischief would the most extensive liberality produce?" - -In a biography of John Chambers we shall see the pertinence of this -quotation when we come to the story of his ordination. - -The instructor of young Chambers was the Rev. James Gray, D.D., who -published a book entitled "The Mediatorial Reign of the Son of God, -or the Absolute Ability and Willingness of Jesus Christ to Save all -Mankind, Demonstrated from the Scriptures--an Attempt to Rescue the -Gospel Call from False Philosophy", in which the grandeur, glory and -all-embracing nature of the divine call to salvation is set forth. - -This Dr. Gray, born in Ireland on Christmas day, 1770, had come -to America in 1797, two years before his pupil, John Chambers. -Probably he had been one of the United Irishmen. After preaching -at Washington, N. Y., he settled, in 1808, in Philadelphia, over -the Spruce Street Associate Reformed Church. In the Quaker City he -became a very popular leader in many good things. He helped to found -the Philadelphia Bible Society and received the degree of Doctor of -Divinity from the University of Pennsylvania. With Rev. S. B. Wylie -(father of the Dr. Wylie, whose name is embalmed in the title of the -Chambers-Wylie Memorial Church), he opened a Classical Academy which -became famous. After a few years he removed to Baltimore. Besides his -study of theology and writing of the book on which his reputation -rests--the Mediatorial Reign of the Son of God--(a favorite phrase -of Mr. Chambers, even as the book was known by heart), he started a -theological review which lived but a year. He died at Gettysburg, Pa., -September 20, 1824. - -It will be easily seen that under such teachers as Duncan and Gray, -men of national repute, the Ohio boy received no mean training. On -Garfield's theory, that a seat on a log, at the other end of which -Mark Hopkins was teacher, might outrank the most showy university and -apparatus, John Chambers was a college bred man. Under such direct, -constant and personal influence as the Ohio boy in Baltimore received, -the value of the quality of his education cannot be over estimated. -It is very certain that no number of brick or stone edifices on a -university campus, or profusion of apparatus in the laboratories, or -comforts and luxuries in the student's room of to-day, can take the -place of the personal influence of great teachers. Nor can these turn -out men who excel in character and abilities the leaders of men in the -United States of America in the early nineteenth century, among whom -the home-bred John Chambers was a characteristic specimen. - -Yet, though favored with such acute, learned, and inspiring teachers, -and kindled by fervor with ideas that made heat as well as light in -his soul, John Chambers' idea of the religion of Jesus was, that -first of all it must be practical. There was no special division of -it called "applied Christianity." To him it was all application. How -it could ever be printed in a catechism and exist apart from life, he -refused to see. He scorned professions of orthodoxy or of doctrine -that did not quickly and permanently bear fruit in holy living, and in -service for souls. With five or six other young men, he started prayer -meetings and evangelistic labors. - -When ready for examination for the ministry Mr. Chambers made his -appearance before the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, and in May, -1824, received his license to preach the Gospel and to accept a call -to the pastorate. This body of ministers and elders which licensed -him was dissolved in the autumn of 1824, and Mr. Chambers was then -received as a licentiate under the care of the Presbytery of Baltimore. - -It was about ten months after his first visit to Philadelphia to -receive license, that is in March, 1825, that Mr. Chambers was invited -to preach in the Margaret Duncan (Associate Reformed) Church in -Philadelphia. The little brick edifice had been erected in compliance -with the will of, and as a gift from, the grandmother of Dr. John -Mason Duncan, and the latter as well as Mr. Chambers' preceptor, Dr. -James Mason Gray, had taken part in the dedicatory services in 1815. - -The church itself at this time, 1825, was a struggling one. The -edifice was in a poor and thinly inhabited part of the city. There was -no fund for the support of the building, and the Associate Reformed -denomination in the United States was weak and poor, with a scarcity -of ministers. Happily other Presbyterians gave assistance and supplied -the pulpit; otherwise, the building would have been often closed for -long periods at a time. The first regular pastor was the Rev. Thomas -Gilfillan McInnis, who was called to the service early in 1822. He -died on the 26th of August, 1824, and the flock was left shepherdless. -There was even better provision for the dead than for the living. On -the 7th of October, 1824, Robert A. Caldcleugh and wife presented to -the minister, elders, and fifty-two church members, a lot of ground, -on the South side of Race street between what was the "Schuylkill -Third" and "Schuylkill Fourth" streets, now Nineteenth and Twentieth, -for a cemetery. This lot is eighteen feet six inches wide and one -hundred and twenty-nine feet deep. - -This was the situation, when Mr. Chambers was called, in March, 1825, -to preach as a candidate. He came on from Baltimore and on two Sundays -in April told the people of God's love in Christ Jesus. His sermons -were as a mighty stack of fuel, with the breath of the Lord on the -first Sabbath kindling it, and the wind of the Holy Spirit on the -second Lord's Day turning it into vehement flame. A triple fire of -love to God, of the people to the young pastor, and of his young heart -to them began its glow, which paled not until after fifty years of -beacon glory it was quenched by death. - - "The flashes thereof are as flashes of fire - A very flame of Jehovah - Many waters cannot quench love, - Neither can floods drown it." - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - NEWTOWN. REJECTED OF MEN. - - -Since out of the Margaret Duncan Church, or "Church of the Vow", have -grown, it is believed, at least ten other churches, and since the -tradition of her ocean experiences has taken varied shapes and forms -in its transmission, we shall give a narrative which is probably the -most in accordance with fact. - -Mrs. Margaret Duncan, on the death of her husband, a prosperous -merchant of Philadelphia, determined to visit old friends in -Stewartstown, Tyrone County, Ireland, in which she had been born. She -took with her her little grandson, who was to become the famous Dr. -John Mason Duncan. Returning across the ocean in the autumn of 1798, -the ship sailing from Belfast, Ireland, was loaded heavily with many -passengers, most of them poor emigrants, but had little cargo in the -hold. It is said that the captain had never crossed the Atlantic. -The compass was out of order, and with head winds and wet and foggy -weather, the voyage was dangerously prolonged. The passengers were put -on short allowance and there was no water. It is even said that in -a severe storm the captain and crew deserted the vessel. The people -suffered from agonizing thirst. They even talked of drawing lots to -see who should be put to death and give his own flesh as food to the -others. - -Mrs. Duncan was then a woman between seventy and eighty years of age. -Late tradition says the lot was drawn and she drew it and expected to -be a victim. Mr. Chambers, though often referring to her experiences -on the sea, makes no mention of the lot or of this dire extremity. -Going into her cabin she gave herself to prayer, and vowed before God -that if He would avert the impending blow and in mercy save her life -and the ship's company she would forever consecrate herself and all -that she had to His service; that she would erect a church edifice for -the congregation of the Associate Reformed people in Philadelphia with -whom she worshipped, and that she would give and educate her little -grandson for the Gospel ministry. - -Not long after this, rain fell, and the agonizing thirst of those -in the ship was relieved. Soon the shout, "sail ho" was heard from -the man aloft. A vessel hove in sight and rescued them all. The ship -entered the Delaware river and all reached Philadelphia in safety. - -True to her vows, Margaret Duncan educated her grandson John Mason -Duncan to preach the good news of God. Dying Nov. 16th, 1802, she -left her money by will for the erection of a house of worship, which -she minutely described, specifying that it was to be of the Associate -Reformed communion. By various names, the "Margaret Duncan Church," or -"The Vow Church," or "Saint Margaret's Church," the brick edifice on -Thirteenth street near Filbert on the west side, stood until some time -in the fifties. I can remember as a little boy going to see the debris -of the ruins, the piled up old brick partially cleaned of mortar, the -dust and the broken bits of lime, and the great hollow place where the -cellar had been. In 1875, Mr. Chambers spoke of "the little church -where we worshipped so long.... It is a shame that the church was ever -destroyed. However it was torn down, and we have nothing more to do -with it". - -His was the language of affection. As matter of cold fact, the "house -was of plain brick, without the least trace of ornament and for many -years was one of the gloomiest looking churches in the city. The -dimensions were fifty by sixty feet." The edifice was opened for -worship on the 26th of November, 1815. The dedication sermon was -preached by the son of the vow, and the grandson of her who made it, -Rev. John Mason Duncan. As before stated, Rev. James Gray, D.D., then -with Dr. Wylie at the head of a classical school in Philadelphia, also -took part. - -Having been called to be the pastor of this church, Mr. Chambers -surveyed his field to see what resources there were for sustaining -permanent gospel work. He found no organized effort. There was no -prayer-meeting, no Sunday School, not a man to lead in public prayer, -and the three elders were all superannuated. The congregation was made -up of humble people, poor, hard-working, industrious, with only here -and there one among them who might be called rich; nor was there a -family in which family worship was held. It was necessary therefore -that the young man from Baltimore, who did not know ten people in -Philadelphia when he first arrived, should borrow two devout men, -Presbyterians, Wilfrid Hall and Hiram Ayres, to help him in meetings -for social prayer. He then made application to Mr. Hall for the use of -a room on Market street near what is now Seventeenth, in a district of -vacant lots. Very few people were then living west of Broad street, -and most of the streets now well known were not yet "cut through". He -knew not whether any one would come to the meeting called for prayer, -but God gave him a gracious surprise. When he arrived near the hour, -"there was scarcely a spot for a human being to stand on". There and -then began the Holy Spirit's workings which resulted in a whole family -of Christian churches. - -These prayer meetings were begun, according to due announcement, -on the fourth Sunday in May. Their good influences were seen in -the immediate enlargement of the church audience. By the beginning -of July, there were four men ready to speak or lead in prayer. By -August 1st, over forty persons, many of them young men and women, had -declared their faith in Christ, and were ready for Christian work. Mr. -Chambers found a friend in Rev. Dr. Stiles Ely, a New England man, the -principal founder of the Jefferson Medical College, and editor of _The -Philadelphian_. From 1801 he had been pastor of the old Pine street -Church, and was at that time moderator of the Presbyterian General -Assembly. As Mr. Chambers was not yet ordained, Dr. Ely preached the -sermon and administered the Lord's Supper, when the new converts were -received. - -As Dr. Chambers told the story in 1875, "The next move was for a -Sabbath School, and the marvel was with what eagerness they took hold -of it ... and carried it on with vigor, procured rooms and Sabbath -School scholars and teachers and entered their names, and we went on -and on from that very day after the institution of the prayer meeting, -and the consequence was that we very soon felt that God was with us". - -When the people of the Ninth Presbyterian, or Margaret Duncan Church -on Thirteenth street, met together to vote a call to John Chambers, it -was under the care of the First Presbytery of Philadelphia. Of course, -therefore, the call must be approved at the regular meeting of the -presbytery, and only after the usual examination of the candidate. -Mr. Chambers came on from Baltimore, having accepted the call, and -began his work as pastor and preacher-elect on the 9th day, or second -Sabbath, in May, 1825. The presbytery was to meet in October in its -semi-annual gathering. By a strange coincidence this was at Newtown, -near the Neshaminy stream, in Bucks county, Pa.--the field of the -evangelical and revival labors of the ancestor of his betrothed, of -whom more anon. Was the young preacher's imagination busy with the -scenes of a century before? - -The glories of autumn made lovely the landscape of this affluent -agricultural county lying along the bend of the Delaware, rich -in fruit, in Pennsylvania Germans, in English Quakers, and in -Scotch-Irish people. Its name, that of Penn's county in England, -is suggestive of the old world, and it is historically famous for -being on the line of Washington's march to his great victory over -the Hessians at Trenton, and through it part of Sullivan's men had -moved for the chastisement of the Iroquois tribes at Newtown, near -Elmira, N. Y., in 1779. Yet the historical associations uppermost -in the mind of the young licentiate must have been those with the -great-grandfather of his betrothed, who in this very region and near -this very house of worship, had labored with Gilbert Tennant in the -gospel. - -The young minister's call and the letter announcing it, from the -hands of the elders of the Ninth Church, Messrs. Ross, Hogg, and -Reed, in the name of the congregation, was handed in to the assembled -authorities. No doubt the document was on genuine honest rag paper, -the only kind then known, and on a letter sheet, folded and dovetailed -together and closed with sealing wax or wafer, without an envelope, -directed on the outside and carried to him by stage coach. No doubt he -himself had to go to the office in Baltimore to get it. In compliance -with its request, the young licentiate's journey would be by stage -through Elkton and Wilmington to Philadelphia. From Philadelphia to -Newtown, twenty-seven miles northeast of Philadelphia, the route would -probably be up the well-known road crossing the Neshaminy Creek. - -The young licentiate, accustomed to do his own thinking, appeared with -clean papers from the Presbytery of Baltimore, and asked that he might -be taken under the care of the First Presbytery of Philadelphia, with -a view to ordination and installation as pastor of the Ninth Church. -Nevertheless, although he might be punctual and his papers clean, -Dame Rumor had arrived before him. Several of her thousand tongues -had declared, and even asseverated vehemently, that John Chambers was -that strange, curious, and ever-changing thing called a "heretic." -Often that undefined thing is a babe thrust into the cradle, while the -orthodoxy of yesterday is turned out. A "heretic," as Saint Paul was -once called, even as Jesus was before him, is very apt to be crucified -to-day and glorified to-morrow. Indeed, "heresy" is almost as protean -and as undefinable as "orthodoxy" itself. We shall see what kind of -a "heretic" John Chambers was. His life for fifty years revealed the -reality. - -Within that little company gathered at Newtown there was, in the -language of old times many a "heresio-mastix" or scourger of heresy, -and a majority of the ministers present were already pre-determined -to "hereticate" the young licentiate, who had already made the bounds -of the little brick church on Thirteenth street too small to hold his -hearers. Nevertheless our sympathies go out to all church bishops, -whose duty it is to show that sudden popularity is no proof of fitness -or character. - -It developed during the examination that the head and front of the -young man's offending was his belief in the Bible as an all sufficient -rule of faith and practice. In this position, he was confirmed by -the fact that the Westminster standards, the Confession of Faith, -the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, teach that the Bible is the only -infallible rule of faith and obedience. These all unite in declaring -that the Scriptures are "given by inspiration of God to be the rule -of faith and life", "the rule of worship", the only rule of faith and -obedience; which teach "what man is to believe concerning God, and -what duty God requires of man", and form "the rule given us of God to -direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him." - -In a word, to an independent thinker, loyal to the Bible as the word -of God, as John Chambers was, the Westminster standards contain their -own _reductio ad absurdum_ to any one who puts creed, catechism, or -confession above the Holy Scriptures, or who makes certain parts, or -even a collection of parts, greater than the whole. Mr. Chambers, -using his own words, believed that nothing could exceed infallibility, -and was therefore satisfied with the infallible rule of the -Scriptures. There was not then the freedom of faith, and the liberty -of private interpretation of Holy Scripture and the Westminster -symbols that is now happily the rule in the Presbyterian churches. The -fault, if fault it were, was not solely on the young man's part. - -The eyes of the "fathers and brethren" were opened and the "heretic" -stood revealed. One of the members, the Rev. Dr. Ely, then proposed -that the moderator should ask Mr. Chambers whether at the time of his -licensure he subscribed to the Confession of Faith. He answered that -he did not. When the second question was proposed, "Are you prepared -to do so now?" he answered firmly, "I am not". - -A motion was then made by Dr. Ely that Mr. Chambers and his papers be -referred back to the Presbytery of Baltimore, and that the pulpit of -the Ninth Church be declared vacant. Rev. Messrs. Patterson and Hoff -were appointed a committee to perform the duty. - -On Thursday evening of the same week, which was the regular evening -for the weekly lecture, the committee of the Presbytery, which had met -at Newtown, appeared at the church. - -Although there were no telegraphs in those days, it was quickly -known in Philadelphia, and to all the people of the Ninth Church, -that Mr. Chambers, the man whom they had learned to love, had been -rejected by the Presbytery. The preaching of the young minister had -already resulted, under God, in a deep and strong religious interest. -Consequently there was a large attendance and not a little excitement -in the little brick edifice, so much so, indeed, that some of the -congregation had quietly resolved to put the committee out in the -street should they attempt to go into the pulpit. - -Punctuality with the young pastor had already settled into what proved -to be a life-long habit. He was at the church in good season. Finding -the committee already there, he explained to the two men the situation -and told them what the consequences would be if they attempted to -fulfil their mission. Happily, however, both gentlemen being more -concerned with the coming of the kingdom of God than about obeying -the letter of their orders, did indeed go into the pulpit, but it was -at the request of Mr. Chambers, who made them his firm friends for -life. When there they co-operated with him, assisting to conduct the -services, and not a word was said about the pulpit being vacant. Thus -God, through his servant, quieted the Irishmen, and then and there -magnified this man who had a genius for friendship and was an expert -peacemaker; all of which was for the coming of the kingdom and the -good of souls. - -As days passed by, the people of the congregation, realizing that if -they wanted to have a minister they would have to be an independent -church, took prompt action. After due notice had been given, a -congregational meeting was held. By a vote of four to one the people -declared themselves independent of all church courts, with only Christ -as their Master. By another vote, equally large, they resolved to -retain John Chambers as their minister. - -The minority, led by Mr. Moses Reed, one of the elders, withdrew, -and in a room on Race street organized themselves as the Ninth -Presbyterian Church. In the law suit that followed, the seceders won -their case. With the edifice, given up in 1830, went the possession of -the small burying ground on Race street, above Nineteenth, in which -sleeps the dust of the Ross family and the father of the renowned -soldier's friend, Miss Anna Ross, whom defenders of the Union from -1861 to 1865, and the survivors of the Grand Army remember so well. In -the writer's memory her name and face are not forgotten, for she was -his Sunday School teacher. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - NEW ENGLAND. ORDINATION AT NEW HAVEN. - - -In Nevins' Presbyterian Encyclopedia, which contains a brief sketch -of the career of John Chambers and a wood-cut portrait of him in his -prime, it is stated, that "When Mr. Duncan about this time renounced -the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church into which the Associate -Reformed, with Dr. Mason and others had been merged, Dr. Chambers -followed his example, from sympathy with his teacher". Was the pupil's -"sympathy" stronger than were the preacher's convictions? - -Meanwhile the young minister, then twenty-seven years old, returned -to Baltimore to meet the Presbytery and seek ordination. Here again -another obstacle arose. The theologians on the Patapsco declared that -Mr. Chambers was no longer a licentiate under their care, and handed -him back his papers. Again was John Chambers preacher of the gospel -rejected of men. Was ecclesiasticism good order in this case? Did the -true cause of this rather rough treatment lie in this, that he had -been a pupil of John Mason Duncan, the independent? - -What should the young man do? Disowned of presbyteries and looked at -suspiciously by the fathers and lords in the church, where should he -go? As he himself wrote on his fiftieth anniversary, May 9th, 1875: - -"The prospect, therefore, was rather chilly. I had left my home -of many years in the city of Baltimore, where I received all the -education that ever was bestowed upon me, and where I sat at the -feet of that Gamaliel, the Reverend John Mason Duncan, to whom under -God, I am indebted, entirely by His grace, for the position I occupy -to-day. My heart had been much interested in religious matters for -two or three years before I left Baltimore. There were five or six of -us young men, as students of Mr. Duncan, and we had organized some -meetings through the city of Baltimore, and God was with us; and -the warm heart--if I had any warm heart at all--that I brought to -Philadelphia, was kindled at the altar of those dear young brethren. -How much we are indebted to God for young men! How much, my brethren, -are the eldership, are you, am I, indebted to young men!" Dr. -Chambers's last words in this paragraph are especially appropriate, -because it is the tendency of most theologians and elderly men to -teach that God _was_, not that he is. With young men, God's existence -is more likely to be in the present tense. - -The ecclesiastical orphan, thus cast fatherless and friendless -upon the wide world, began to inquire whither he should go to seek -ordination. Happily there were other bodies of Christians and a -living church of Christ, besides the one which had withheld its -blessing. Happily too, there were men in the Presbyterian Churches -of Philadelphia, warm friends, who were able to direct him wisely, -one of them being the large-hearted scholar, James Patriot Wilson, -D.D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, predecessor of Albert -Barnes, and then fifty-six years old. The other was Rev. Thomas -Harvey Skinner, D.D., pastor of the Fifth Presbyterian Church in -Locust street, and who, twenty-six years afterwards, became the -famous professor in Union Theological Seminary of New York City. -Both of these men were in hearty sympathy with those views of truth -afterwards called the "New School". These brethren with Dr. Duncan, -advised Mr. Chambers to go into Yankee land and there be ordained -by Congregational clergymen. They gave him letters of introduction -to the Rev. Nathaniel W. Taylor, the famous exponent of "the new -divinity" and then of the theological department of Yale College. - -It was not Presbyterianism only that was at this era being rocked on -the waves of progress by the gales of the Spirit. About this time, or -shortly afterwards, Connecticut Congregationalism was being excited -and lifted out of torpor and routine by the breezy discussions of -"Taylorism" and "Tylerism". The former expressed the views of Dr. -Nathaniel William Taylor, the successor of Moses Stuart, and then -holding the Dwight professorship in the Theological Department of -Yale College. The young seminary opened in 1822 was therefore but -three years old when Mr. Chambers appeared to be ordained. Whatever -may be the true label we put upon Dr. N. W. Taylor, he was one of the -greatest of America's theologians when the appeal was being taken from -Calvin to Christ. He taught a modification of Hopkinsism which many -Presbyterians regarded as hostile to Calvinism and many New Englanders -as "unsound". As Mr. Chambers had already done, Dr. Taylor repudiated -the words "predestinate" and "decreed" and used the word "purposed" -concerning God's desire to save men. Before he died, in 1858, he had -trained over seven hundred ministers. Ex-President Dwight, in his -recent book on Men and Memories of Yale, presents him felicitously in -word and picture. - -About the time also of rising "Taylorism" the new methods of preaching -and revival used by Rev. C. G. Finney, afterwards president of -Oberlin College, excited much alarm among the men of the old school. -How strange are the variations and how curious is the progress -of orthodoxy! Most of the great revivalists of this country were -nourished in the Congregational churches; and, from Finney to Moody, -they were at first looked upon with suspicion. Later they were -welcomed and lauded as the saviors of orthodoxy. Verily the "earthen -vessel" is sometimes more in evidence than the "heavenly treasure". - -To combat the views of Dr. Taylor, Dr. Bennett Tyler, ex-president of -Dartmouth College, and then pastor at Portland, Me., was hailed as the -champion by all the leading spirits among the "conservatives", though -both of these great teachers had modified the original Calvinism. Of -Dr. Tyler it has been well said that "In forming his system he began -not with mind, but with the Bible, and he looked for no advances in -theology except such as come from a richer Christian experience". Dr. -Tyler founded a theological institute at East Windsor, Conn., in 1834, -so long and ably presided over by the cultured Philadelphian, Chester -D. Hartranft, D.D., brother of Pennsylvania's soldier and governor. - -The monuments of these controversies between "Taylorism" and -"Tylerism", now forgotten, are seen in the superb theological -seminaries of New Haven and Hartford, but the points of difference, -as now discoverable only under the microscope of research, are of -no practical importance. Hardly any one except the hair-splitting -philosophers can state them. They have been forgotten in the larger -vision of advancing Christianity. So will it be with most of the -controversies of to-day, especially those centering in the "higher -criticism". - -It was to Dr. N. W. Taylor, that Mr. Chambers had letters, as well as -to Dr. Leonard Bacon, afterwards the famous opponent of slavery, and -author, in 1833 of the hymn, - - "O God beneath thy guiding hand - Our exiled fathers crossed the sea, - And when they trod the wintry strand - With prayer and psalm they worshipped thee." - -For over twenty years Dr. Bacon was pastor of the First Congregational -Church in New Haven, one of the professors in Yale Divinity School, -and the progenitor of a remarkably intellectual family. Until his -death, the day before Christmas of 1881, he was a commanding figure in -American history. Of the council which ordained Mr. Chambers he was -the scribe. It will be seen at a glance that the ecclesiastical exile -from Philadelphia and Baltimore was to stand before giants. If these -mighty men of God could give him ordination, why need he mourn the -loss of clerical favor nearer home? - -Thus armed with letters of commendation, the young Irish-American -proceeded to the City of Elms, in the opening week of December, 1825. -It was the first year of John Quincy Adams's administration, and the -Erie Canal had joined the waters of the great lakes with the Atlantic. -It was an era of mighty conquests over nature, and the heart of the -young man who was thrilling with the spirit of the age and of the -ages, beat high with hope. He, too, wanted to do great things for God -and help in making the world better. He sought out those addressed, -and handed to them his letters. Two days afterwards, the Association -of Congregational ministers of the Western District of New Haven -County was called together by the Moderator, and eight ministers were -present in the assembly which was held in the Centre Church. - -Of the meeting, the following official record was copied out for the -biographer, at the request of Rev. Dr. T. T. Munger, author of The -Freedom of Faith, and through the courtesy of Rev. Franklin Dexter, -librarian of Yale University. - -"At a Special Meeting of the Association of the Western District of -New Haven County, convened by letters from the Moderator and holden in -New Haven, December 7th, 1825. - -Present--Messrs. S. W. Stebbins, J. Day, D.D., E. Scranton, S. Merwin, -J. Allen, E. T. Fitch and L. Bacon. - -Mr. Stebbins was chosen Moderator, and Mr. Bacon, Scribe. The session -was opened with prayer. - -Mr. John Chambers, a licentiate of the late second Presbytery of -Philadelphia, now dissolved, being introduced to the Association by -Mr. Merwin, requested to be ordained to the ministry of the Gospel, -and producing proper testimonials of his standing as a member of -the church of Christ; of his regular license to preach the Gospel, -and of his having passed through a period of probation, with proper -acceptance, the Association, after examining him as to his belief -in the doctrines of the Gospel, his experimental acquaintance with -religion, and his motives in desiring the work of the ministry, - -_Voted_ to proceed to his ordination this evening at half-past six -o'clock. - -_Voted_ that the parts be performed as follows: The introductory -prayer to be offered by Mr. Scranton; the sermon to be preached by -Professor Fitch; the ordaining prayer to be offered by Mr. Merwin, -during which Messrs. Stebbins, Fitch and Merwin to impose hands; the -charge to be given by Mr. Stebbins; the right hand of fellowship by -Mr. Bacon; the concluding prayer to be offered by Mr. Allen. Adjourned -to meet in the Centre Meeting-house at half-past six o'clock. - -Met according to adjournment. The ordination took place according to -the preceding votes. - -Mr. Chambers, at his request, was admitted a member of the Association. - -The minutes were read and accepted. - - [TEST] LEONARD BACON, Scribe." - -The ordination sermon was duly preached in the evening by the Rev. -Professor Eleazer T. Fitch, D.D., Livingstone Professor of Divinity -in Yale College, and then Mr. Chambers was ordained by the laying on -of hands of the three appointed ministers of the Association. - -According to Congregational usage an Association of ministers does -not ordain to the ministry, but a Council does. The Association may -transform itself into a Council for the time being. In Connecticut -the Consociation, or standing council, performed this function. In -any event, John Chambers was properly ordained to the Gospel ministry -according to due Congregational call, form, and precedent. - -Furthermore, by his own request, he became a member of the -Association. This did not make him a "Congregationalist", but it -showed his hearty sympathy with the principles and ideas of his -fellow members. For forty-eight years, his only ministerial standing -and connection was in the Congregational body as an independent -minister, though his church was governed according to Presbyterian -form and usage. So strong and deep was his faith in the validity of -non-Episcopal and non-Presbyterian ordination that he showed it all -his life by his works. He ordained during the course of his ministry -several young men to the work of the gospel. One of these impressive -ceremonies I myself witnessed, probably about 1859. After preaching a -sermon and reading the papers or certificates of the candidate, Mr. -Chambers called his elders, those grand men of God, Burtis, Luther, -Steinmetz, and Walton around him. Then upon the head of the kneeling -young man he and they laid their hands, solemnly ordaining him to the -gospel in true apostolic style. - -Years afterwards, in 1892, one of his own boys, even the biographer, -delivered the Dudleian lecture at Harvard University in Appleton -Chapel on "The Validity of non-Episcopal Ordination", or, more -exactly, the validity of ordination by the congregation, according -to the method of the primitive Christian Churches[5]. By a strange -coincidence, it was on the same night, Dec. 7, on which Mr. Chambers -was ordained, and thus the sixty-seventh anniversary of his ordination. - -[Footnote 5: See the Bibliotheca Sacra, for October, 1893.] - -Mr. Chambers left New Haven the next morning, Dec. 8th, 1825. The -elms were leafless, but his heart was happy and his face radiant -with joy. Coming back to minister to his constantly increasing -flock, he baptized on the first Sunday in January, 1826, several new -communicants and administered for the first time the memorial supper -of Jesus. It was a day long to be remembered, for between seventy and -eighty souls were on this occasion added to the church, and the young -pastor, in the joy of his initial service, baptized the first child -that ever received the dedicating waters from his hands, John Chambers -Arrison, the first of a mighty host. - -In 1875, the white-haired pastor who had welcomed 3,585 members into -his church, said: "Thus it seemed that the tide of God's favor was -taken at the flood, and it has brought us to where we are to-day". - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - HOME AND CHURCH. LOVE AND WORK. - - -Let us now look into John Chambers's inner life,--of the heart as -well as the intellect. We have seen how the vigorous and lusty twig -which grew up in the classical academy of Baltimore began to bend -away from certain statements and formulæ in the Westminster symbols, -_as then interpreted to him_, which gave the afterwards robust and -widespreading tree a tremendous inclination. "As a man thinketh in his -heart, so is he." John Chambers's convictions shaped his message and -colored all his preaching. There were probably reasons, other than -those merely intellectual, for the young man's tremendous antipathy -to the idea that the fullness of the Christian life and the message -of Jesus could be compressed into the mathematical statements made at -Westminster during the days of the British Commonwealth. - -When I was a student at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey, -from 1865 to 1869, I was asked, as an incoming freshman, by the -president, Rev. William H. Campbell, D.D., LL.D., concerning my -religious training. I told him how much I owed to John Chambers in -Philadelphia. A bland light overspread the full expanse of that face, -so seamed with thought and studious toil and which nothing but warm -affection could call handsome. Indeed, it seemed as though every -wrinkle was smoothed out, as a prairie-like smile suffused its whole -area. Then, laughing heartily, he said, "Well, I can remember when -he had orthodoxy taught him with the sole of a slipper." Evidently -then, according to the accepted and supposedly wholesome custom of the -times, the future preacher received at intervals what was expected -to be a physical aid to faith, though in reality the result was the -reverse of what was expected. Whether the slipper was applied to the -lad before or after intellectual defection, its use induced reaction. -Whether, as is probable, the correction by leather came from the -employer to whom the apprentice was bound, or from the schoolmaster is -not known. The boy would not accept Westminsterism whole, certainly -not as then interpreted. - -Above all, this young Irish-American lad had a big, warm heart. As -he read the Scriptures for himself he was early filled with that -idea, which afterwards he infused into the lives of thousands, -that the gospel is a glorious message to the individual, that the -Christian life is a Way, as well as a belief, that there are elements -in religious life and experience which do not submit to exact -definitions, and that the mercy of God is the largest factor of the -Divine life toward wrong-doing man. In this the time of his youth, -as well as all through his life, he felt deeply rather than thought -coolly. Whether we must ascribe most or all of the results to the -towering personality of his teacher, John Mason Duncan, and of his -long continued training at a most susceptible age under so forceful -a master, certainly, whatever our philosophy of the known facts may -be, he was filled with an antipathy to creeds. In a time and climate -of theological severity, and amid the rancor of controversy, he was, -among his clerical brethren who set higher value than he did, upon -"the form of sound words" or logical formulas, verily a pilgrim and -stranger upon the earth. He rejoiced to see by faith the day we live -in, even the work of the General Assembly, and of the Synods and -Presbyteries of 1903. - -Ever hoping and praying for the day to come when the creeds, -especially of the Presbyterian body of churches, in which he had -been educated, would be revised, he lived and "died in faith, not -having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them -from afar". The change of theological climate, the revision of the -Westminster symbols and the simplification of theology into which we, -in this twentieth century have come, even the work of the General -Assembly, that met in New York in 1902, and in Los Angeles in 1903, -was what he in hope long ago looked for. He believed in expressing -forms of faith in the language of living men, not of dead ones, for he -ever taught not only that God was, but that He is. - -To recapitulate, John Chambers left the classical academy in 1818, -after five years' instruction. He remained seven years longer in -Baltimore, active in church life and work. During this time, he was -occupied also in business, thus earning his livelihood, for he had -learned the trade of a jeweler. During these years, his life was made -rich and joyous by one who had crossed his path, and who was to be to -him his beloved wife, Miss Helen McHenry. She was the first of three -noble specimens of womanhood who were to light his household fire, -irradiate his home, double and share his joys and sorrows. How often -and how tenderly did "our pastor" refer to "the partner of his life", -the beloved "companion of his bosom!" What a refining power, what a -potent influence, stimulating to marital purity and mutual "love that -lightens all distress", was his steadfast example. It was his frequent -felicitous use of passages from the Song of Songs, that so impressed -one boy's mind that, despite his vow, registered in college, never -to write a "commentary", he composed and published "The Lily Among -Thorns".[6] - -[Footnote 6: The Lily Among Thorns. A Study of the Biblical Drama -entitled The Song of Songs. Boston, 1889.] - -Let us look at the heredity of his affianced. As early as 1735, -Francis McHenry, an ordained minister of the Presbyterian church came -from Ireland to America and was associated with Gilbert Tennant in the -Deep Run, or Neshaminy, churches in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and -also in the beginnings of the Log College, which by direct evolution -became the great Princeton University. - -His grandson was Francis Dean McHenry, a shipping merchant of -Baltimore, whose daughter Helen was born in September, 1805, when the -boy in Ohio was nearly seven years old. When he met her in Baltimore, -he had the lover's "three T's" or elements of success--propinquity, -opportunity, and importunity. Those who knew John Chambers in later -life will not marvel why he won her, rather might they wonder how -any maiden could resist the urgency of the warm-hearted and handsome -youth, who was the largest and handsomest of the Chambers family. As -matter of fact, she made capitulation in due time and was led to the -altar. - -It was but a very short time after John Chambers had reached the first -stadium in his successful career and was an ordained minister, that -the marriage took place in Baltimore, March 14th, 1826. - -The young preacher brought his bride to Philadelphia and enjoyed just -three years and six months of wedded happiness with the companion of -his youth. Those who remember Mrs. Chambers speak of her beauty and -animation, and of her whole-hearted sympathy with her husband's work, -but her life was destined to be brief. The first child born of the -union was John Mason Duncan Chambers, whom the happy father joyfully -named after his spiritual father, under whom his soul life had opened -and ripened in Baltimore. His second child, a daughter, Helen Frances -Chambers, now Mrs. James Hackett, living at Pomfret Centre, Conn., -still survives him. - -John Mason Duncan Chambers, born March 15, 1827, married Miss Emma -Ward of Winchester, Virginia, in October, 1851. He died November, -1857, leaving three children, of whom Helen McHenry is the only -survivor. She is married to Mr. George Lothrop Bradley, of Pomfret -Centre, Conn., and Washington, D. C. - -Helen Frances Chambers, born April 25, 1829, was married July 17, -1849, to Mr. James Hackett, of Baltimore. Their one surviving child, -Helen McHenry Hackett, married George F. Miles. With Mrs. Hackett, -these two grandchildren are the only descendants of John Chambers. - -The pastor, elect and ordained, brought his bride to Philadelphia -and took a house on Thirteenth street, below Walnut, and there began -his home. Being on the same street as his church, he had not been -many months at work before scores of people living on Thirteenth, -or streets parallel and crossing it, were attracted to become -worshippers with him as their pastor. As one lady, still lovely in -her eighty years of life, tells the story from girlhood's memories, -the "Chamberites", as they were at first called, were every Sunday -morning seen to be moving with their faces set northward toward "the -Church of the Vow"; and the preacher, being from the first the soul of -promptness, "led the procession". - -Between Thirteenth and Broad streets and Walnut and Locust, had grown -up "the Village", where for lack of accommodation in the church -edifice, the Sunday School was established. On Sabbath afternoons, the -whole school adjourned bodily to the church, walking up Thirteenth -street to Filbert. - -Yet even with a growing Sunday School and enlarging church membership, -the way of the young pastor was far from smooth, and the First -Independent Church of Philadelphia was in no danger of being -smothered with kindness. Almost as a matter of course, an industrious -army of prophets arose to foretell failure to a church founded on -the Bible alone. Rather, instead of "prophets", we should say a -busy host of fortune-tellers, since the Hebrew and Biblical word, -prophet, does not mean predicter, but the utterer of truth. The little -ecclesiastical infant, rather foundling, needed much warmth of prayer -and devotion, certainly during its first decade. With shakings of the -head and emphatic use of the hands in dreadful warning of calamity, -the Philadelphia variety of soothsayers declared that in two or three -years, the First Independent Church would go to pieces. Both laymen -and ministers were loud in declaring that such a church, without a -"creed," (though the Bible is a very library of creeds), could not -thrive or live. The idea of success in rearing a church, with the -Holy Scriptures only as a rule of faith and practice, was scoffed at. -In our day, it does indeed seem strange that Protestant ministers -should so talk, but experience, the great teacher, showed "the divine -sufficiency of the Bible as a rule of faith and practice, and ... also -a bond of union holding together a large and flourishing congregation -in Christian love and harmony". So wrote John Chambers in 1859. - -However, "liberal", or, rather scriptural, in his theological -opinions, the young minister was, since especially he cared nothing -for any man's boasted "predestination" or "election" to eternal life, -unless that same man showed the fruits of faith in holy living, he -was anything but liberal in his ideas of morals, or as related to -amusements, or the keeping of the Christian day of rest. We shall see -this clearly when we note how he dealt with one of his theatre-going -elders. - -In his fortieth anniversary sermon, May 14th, 1865, which was printed, -Mr. Chambers referred to this experience, stating that during the -two-score years of his ministry no word of disagreement, or of an -unpleasant character with his fellow-presbyters, had ever been spoken, -with the exception that we are about to describe, and which, in order -to make a perfectly correct record, Mr. Chambers himself would not -omit. - -Shortly after administering his first communion, the young pastor -found that "one of the original elders was in the habit of attending -theatrical amusements and of taking his children with him". What -resulted from this discovery is given in his own words: - -"This conduct was so directly in opposition to what were then my -convictions of what was right, and which opinion I still hold--so -directly in the face of the teachings of the Bible, that I could not -remain silent under it, but at once sought Mr. ----, in order that we -might have a mutual explanation of our views. Upon my putting the -question to him, as to whether he thought his course was a proper -one--whether it was the love of Christ which induced him to frequent -such places, and if in so doing he was bringing up his children in -the nurture and admonition of the Lord by making them his companions -on such occasions, I found that he was obstinate in his determination -to adhere to his own course of action. I referred him to Second -Corinthians, sixth chapter, fourteenth to eighteenth verse, and then -told him that I could not and would not serve with him in the Session; -that either he or I must resign, and proposed that it should be left -to the vote of the Church. If the Church advocated or permitted -indulgence in theatrical amusements, if it was considered a means of -grace and the proper school in which children were to be trained up -for God, there was but one path for me to pursue--to dissolve my -connection with them at once. If on the contrary they sustained me in -my views, Mr. ---- must resign. He was unwilling to submit the matter -to the vote of the congregation, knowing only too well that their -standard of piety was a high one, and that his conduct would meet with -their severe displeasure. Consequently he resigned his office of elder -in the spring of 1826, and from that day to this neither elder nor lay -member has advocated visits to the theatre as the way to heaven, and I -am sure with the Bible as their rule of life, never will". - - [Illustration: JOHN CHAMBERS. About 1856.] - -It soon became very evident that the young minister and his people -were Separatists of a strict sort. They believed in being "in the -world", but not "of the world". The passages in Corinthians which had -been quoted, "Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate", -was one on which the pastor preached many times in the course of his -ministry. His insistence was from the first that Christian people -ought to find their enjoyment in religion and be visibly different -from those who had no scruples against cards, dancing, gaming, or the -theatre. - -Was not John Chambers right? He had a just fear of the real influence -of these methods of killing time. Furthermore, those who can remember -the Chestnut street, of even as late as the sixties, need not wonder -at his earnest and pointed preaching--for every sermon-bullet of John -Chambers hit the target, and usually the bull's eye. In language not -to be mistaken and often with tears, he called upon young men and -women to rise upon higher levels into a more spiritual life than -was then common. A realistic description of the vice, that openly -flaunted itself on Philadelphia's gayest street, would not here be in -good taste, or be relished if given; but it was something horrible. -Whether the world, on the whole, is getting better or worse, it is -quite certain that the houses of ill-fame, the midnight street-walkers -and the pictures once visible in public places and in the saloons, -inexpressibly obscene as they were, are not found at the present time, -or if so, are much more concealed, for they have at least been driven -to cover. It seemed to be the idea of the young minister that he ought -to know what was going on in the world, and to teach his people to -know, while yet choosing the pure, and avoiding the impure. He was -liberal enough in his attitude to his brethren of other names, always -working with them in practical religion. - -Some of the years of his first marriage were spent on Arch street, -near 13th street. In later years he lived on Walnut above Broad on -the south side. From about the time of "the war" and until his death, -he dwelt at the corner of 12th and Girard street north of Chestnut. -Thus his whole pastoral life was spent in the very heart of the city, -seeing things as they were, and with his eyes open to the manner in -which the people amused themselves. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - "THE WAR HORSE OF THE TEMPERANCE CAUSE." - - -A large number, and probably a majority of the large congregation -which soon gathered around John Chambers, were people from Scotland or -Scottish-Ireland, and, like most of this sturdy race, were very fond -of both religion and whiskey. The customs of society in the thirties -made the social glass very frequent. The chief decoration of the -sideboard was usually a decanter and glasses. Even a funeral was not -considered complete in all its appointments, unless there was plenty -of liquor drunk before the corpse was taken out of the house, much -more being consumed when the company came back. - -From the very first, the young pastor took a firm stand against -indulgence in any intoxicating liquor, and spoke his mind most freely, -in favor not only of temperance but also of total abstinence. He -determined to use his oratorical talents in arousing public sentiment -against the drinking habits of his day, and he presided over the first -public temperance meeting held in Philadelphia. He went further. -He gave notice from his pulpit that he should enter no house where -liquors were provided, not even to hold services over the dead. - -This announcement made a tremendous sensation, and no doubt some -thought that the foundations of society were endangered. Soon after -this ultimatum, the pastor repaired to a house to conduct services -over the dead, and found that liquors were being served. Instantly -going out doors, he remained standing in a drenching rain, refusing to -officiate, until the corpse had been brought to him. - -Throughout his long ministry, he continued this work, seeking by -sermons, addresses, prayers, the taking of pledges, the assistance of -reformed inebriates, the training of young men, and by every other -lawful means to promote temperance and total abstinence. Not always -abstemious in his language, he made bitter enemies among the liquor -dealers, but although of superb physical frame and excellent muscular -power he used no physical force or carnal methods of defence, with -possibly one exception. Once a publican seized him by the collar, as -he was walking along the street, and swore vociferously at him. Pretty -soon he had abused his victim so exhaustively, that he was himself out -of breath. At the end of this verbal discharge, Mr. Chambers who had -listened quietly, lifted his hat, thanked him, said "good morning," -and went his way. In 1849 he was introduced to an audience as "the -war-horse of the temperance cause." Ever after this he was known as -"the war-horse." One elder left his church on this liquor issue. - -It began to look as if an independent church (which is very far from -being a Congregational Church) was, as some had predicted, "anything -that John Chambers chose to make it." Certainly under the dominating -personality of so bold and yet so tender a soldier of Christ, the -church quickly rose to be one of the most aggressive in the city of -Penn. - -After ten or fifteen years of service, when his congregation had -increased and lads and lassies were multiplied, he organized in 1840 -the Youth's Temperance Society. It was made up of young people. Once -a month or every two months, alternating with the Missionary Society, -the afternoon Sunday School service took the form of a temperance -meeting; at which, besides prayer and singing, addresses were made -by speakers, either from the congregation or without. There were -also occasionally recitations, but the crowning event of the year, -for which preparations were made often weeks in advance, was the -anniversary. This was held on the evening of Washington's Birthday, -February 22d, either in the church edifice or at Concert Hall on -Chestnut Street, which is now occupied by the Public Library. - -Exquisitely lovely in memory rises the scene, when after duly -committing to memory and practicing, cutting down to the right length -and repeatedly rehearsing the speeches, the dialogues and the musical -parts, the boys and the girls, in a glow of excitement, gathered in -the rooms below the stage. The little maidens in their best clothes -and most bewitching adornments in hair and dress and slippers, seemed -to me most radiantly lovely. The boys who were to be speakers had -on their coats a rosette of quilled ribbon, in the center of which -was a tinsel star, from which gushed forth a cataract of red, white, -and blue satin pendants or streamers. How gay and happy we all were! -How heaven-like it all appeared! Except for the thumping of one's -heart under his ribs, it seemed positive rapture to hear one's -name announced by the superintendent, Aaron H. Burtis--that superb -re-incarnation, as we thought, of George Washington. To make one's bow -before a thousand human beings, to speak his piece with high pulse -and magnetic thrills, were delights that filled a few triumphant -moments. Stirring are the memories of the genial pastor, ever ready to -cheer the boys, the portly form of Robert Luther, the happy faces of -John Yard, Francis Newland, Daniel Steinmetz and Rudolph S. Walton, -and the younger but constantly efficient Robert H. Hinckley, Jr. The -Youth's Temperance Society flourished until the close of Mr. Chambers' -ministry. Although all of the lads trained under John Chambers did -not as they grew up, become Prohibitionists, yet a small army of -good citizens, earnest in temperance reform, owe their strength of -conviction to their noble pastor. - -In this temperance work as in his preaching, and his attacks on evil -of any sort John Chambers was as bold as a lion. He spent much time -and travelled to many places in order to take part in temperance -meetings and encourage the workers. In Neil Dow's reminiscences, -page 416, is an account of a great temperance meeting in New York on -February 19th, 1852, at which the Philadelphia pastor was present. Dr. -Crowell tells of another held at Chester, Pa. Dr. A. A. Willetts and -Dr. Theodore Cuyler were often with the "War Horse" in his campaigns. - -On one occasion when a barkeeper repeatedly sold liquor to one who -was near and dear to the pastor and already a victim to physical -decay and disease, induced by his drinking habits, Mr. Chambers went -into the saloon, stated the exact case to the barkeeper and warned -him not to sell any more liquor to the patient. Escaping from his -nurse, the wretched man entered the saloon, again procured liquor -and became decidedly worse. Finding what had been done, Mr. Chambers -went to the barkeeper in fiery anger and said: "Didn't I warn you not -to sell liquor to ----?" Then seizing him by his shoulders, he gave -the publican a vigorous shaking, and again warned him, threatening a -severe penalty. The barkeeper was so mightily impressed, that he is -said to have sold no more to the patient. - -During all these early years, Mr. Chambers kept his young men busy in -active evangelical work, especially in the holding of neighborhood -prayer meetings on what were then the outskirts of the city. In 1875, -Rev. J. J. Baker, pastor of a Baptist Church at Navesink, N. J., -testified at the jubilee meeting to the intense activity of the young -men of the church, with which he had united in 1829. Four whom he -named, Summers, Burnham, Hunterson, and Town entered the ministry. -He told of the zeal and activity of elders Hibbert and Arrison. "The -young men of that time were interested in two prayer meetings, one -held in the 'old frame,' as it was called--a barn down town, out of -which effort grew 'The Cedar Street Presbyterian Church.' The other -prayer meeting was held in 'The Girard School House,' out of which -grew two churches, one Lutheran and one Baptist." - -John Chambers was also a rigid Sabbatarian, and in this, it was -not difficult to find an enthusiastic following, for main in -his congregation, who remembered the strictness and severity of -sabbath-keeping in the old countries, warmly seconded his efforts to -train the young people after their ideas of how the Lord's day should -be kept in America. Doubtless in the majority of the thousands of this -Israel, the usual custom was to have baths, washings, the polishing -of boots, and the preparation of outer clothing done on Saturday; but -a still grander triumph was won by the new pastor and a precedent set -for fifty years to come. Sunday funerals had been the rule, even to -occasional disgusting excesses, both in prolonging the preservation by -"icing" the corpse, and in the intemperate feasting and drinking after -the return of the "mourners"--often a very mixed company. - -John Chambers saw the folly and the wickedness of unnecessary Sunday -funerals. He exposed their true inwardness and refused to attend -them. This, of course, angered some of his people, and a few left the -church. But how could they stay away? Out of love to Christ and for -the good of the working man and of horses, John Chambers had acted. -His motives were pure. He went after his offended brethren and won -them back. So the peacemaker, true child of God, led his flock--so -well indeed that "his boys", when pastors, had to do the same thing. -They couldn't help it. History repeated itself. It was first firmness -in the pulpit, then offense, next fair scripture argument and personal -appeal, followed by reconciliation, with the result that God and His -Sabbath were honored. It was God's pathetic appeal with Jonah over -again--"and also much cattle." Even a horse should rest on Sunday. The -fullness of energy could thus be given to divine worship and to the -complete enjoyment of a day, so different from all the other six days. - -The Sabbath, as I remember it in church and home, was a rubric on our -week's page. The normal family in the Chambers church, of which ours -was one, were all ready at home on Sunday morning so as to be punctual -at church. After a good breakfast, including the traditional "Dutch -cake and coffee" for the elders and grownups, and plenty of the same -sweet and nourishing food, saving the Mocha, for the young folks, -we started off from home so as to be at Sunday school a few minutes -before nine o'clock. The session lasted until quarter past ten, which -gave ample time for the breaking up and dismissing of the classes, the -social greetings of friends, and a comfortable interval for getting -into the larger auditorium above, where service began punctually at -10:30. - -The Sunday school had been started as a novelty in the days of the old -Thirteenth Street Church by the pastor shortly after his coming to -Philadelphia. Although I do not remember that he ever taught a class -himself, or ever heard of his doing so, yet there was one feature -of his connection with and interest in the Sunday School which has -been to me and to many an inspiration for life. Not long after the -preliminary devotional exercises were over, our handsome leader, of -stately port and mien, appeared on the scene. Going to each class he -shook hands heartily with each and every teacher, and often saluted, -or in some way noticed, the children of the class, speaking a pleasant -word, or inquiring after sister or brother, parent or relative. Often -to their delight he called the pupils by their first names, for he -was able to do this. Both teachers and scholars would look for the -appearing of this grand man as regularly as they awaited the sunlight. -The pastor kept ever in vital touch with the Sunday School, generally -remaining until near the time for his engagement upstairs. Thus he -inaugurated a custom which was life-long and inspiring, and which many -another active pastor has followed in true apostolical succession. - -Would my readers wish to have a specimen of John Chambers's preaching -even in his early days? To do this by presenting simply ink and paper -is not to reveal "thoughts that breathe and words that burn". It -is simply to point to a pressed flower, bleached of its tints and -with all its perfume exhaled, for the sermon was the man himself. -Nevertheless, a faded and time-stained pamphlet of fifteen pages, -entitled "Sermon by the Rev. Mr. John Chambers, delivered at the -Presbyterian Church in Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia, on the evening -of December 2, 1827", when Universalism was then new and in the air, -from these words, "Ye shall not surely die", gives some idea of the -general style and quality of the young preacher. The discourse was -"taken in shorthand by M. T. C. Gould, Stenographer". - -Let us in imagination take our seat in the little brick church among -his audience and listen to the discourse. Even the stenographer, owing -to the crowd, was, as he says, in "a very unfavorable position for -hearing." But who could not hear such a voice? - -The sermon is a vigorous setting forth of religion in the genuine -old-fashioned style, in a torrent of emotional and not particularly -logical oratory. It is an assault upon the notions of those "who would -persuade you that the idea of future punishment is only the visionary -dream of fanatics". The especial reference is to "those emissaries who -are so industriously engaged in seeking to destroy the souls of men: -they are laboring by all the ingenuity of the arch fiend himself, who -first presented the forbidden fruit under such bewitching charms". - -The new pastor believes that this system "leads to the destruction -of all morality and religion". By him the Eden narrative is read -as a literal fact. The young orator quotes from Montesquieu, Lord -Bolingbroke (though the reporter could not catch either the point or -the words) and Hume, by which he would prove that "this system leads -to the destruction of civil society and civil government". Warming to -his theme, he declares that "all vice is the immediate offspring of -the dogmas of Universalism.... The doctrine of universal salvation -leads to all the vices and abominations under heaven". Reference is -made to the fact that "New York tells a mournful tale in consequence -of this doctrine"--the allusion being to a recent duel between a -citizen of New York and a citizen of Philadelphia. The preacher even -declares that "a man holding such sentiments should never be entrusted -with any civil office".[7] - -[Footnote 7: Was this the duel of Midshipman Hunter and the brilliant -young Philadelphia lawyer, Miller, the latter losing his life and the -former becoming the famous "Alvarado" Hunter told of in the life of -Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, (Boston, 1887) p. 239?] - -Against the background of "fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest -upon the wicked and ungodly" he pressed the invitation to come to "the -Redeeming Saviour, the Divine Saviour, the Glorified Saviour". The -eloquent preacher closes his discourse, which is from beginning to end -directed to the conscience, with a good, warm, direct appeal to his -hearers for personal decision. - -Enough of proof is here given that from the first, even to the last -year, if not the latest moment of his life, John Chambers never lost -sight of the needy, sinful, human soul, and that he always closed -with a tender and affectionate personal appeal. Men might be as -steel against his logic, but their hearts melted under his winning -importunity. - -One great landmark in John Chambers's life was his visit to Europe -in 1830. His excessive labors and long-continued use of his voice in -public discourse compelled him to cease both preaching and pastoral -work. As he said in 1875: - -"In the year 1830 I lost my voice so that I could not have been heard -twenty paces from where I am now if you had given me the world. My -physician ordered me away and I was gone fourteen months. When the -announcement was made to my brethren that I had to go they instantly -made arrangements. They put into my purse twenty-five hundred dollars, -and into the hand of my dear friend and brother, Rev. Dr. Ludlow, the -father of Judge Ludlow, one thousand dollars to preach on the Sabbath -for one year, making thirty-five hundred dollars down at once. It was -a noble and generous act on their part". - -Such generosity was as surprising to the young pastor as it was -creditable to the people themselves. To see the great ocean and -the Old World at a time of the fullness of his manly vigor and -professional success, travelling in a first-class steamer, compelled -contrast with his first crossing of the ocean as a helpless baby and -with a father who was an exile and political refugee. In England he -was so fortunate as to see the royal maiden who had just been in 1830 -made heiress presumptive to the Crown on the accession of William IV. -Possibly it was at this time that he made the acquaintance of Richard -Vaux, then secretary of the American legation, whom I remember well in -his later life as a prominent Democratic politician and mayor of the -city of Philadelphia. With his long, flowing, curled hair,--pronounced -dress and astonishing necktie, Mr. Vaux was a picturesque figure in -the Quaker City. He often boasted of having danced with the lady who -became Queen Victoria, though this was before she assumed the crown -on June 28th, 1838. While in Scotland Mr. Chambers visited the Free -Mason's lodges and enjoyed the mysteries of the Scottish rite. In -Ireland he visited his native place, Stewartstown, the house in which -he was born, and the prison in which his father had been incarcerated -and from which he escaped. He was absent in all fourteen months, and -came back refreshed in body and enlarged in mind. - -In physical righteousness John Chambers stood before his boys and -young men as an inspiring exemplar. He neither "drank, chewed, smoked, -or swore." For fifty years he put to confusion those who preached the -necessity or justified the use of alcohol or tobacco. Over six feet -high, in superb health and vigor, always invitingly clean in person, -he reinforced every day the teaching of good fathers and mothers who -strove to lead their sons to noble manhood. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - THE MASTER OF HEARTS. - - -In John Chambers, sanctified common sense was combined with spiritual -fervor. As a young pastor, he had right ideas about finance and the -honest support of a church. Money was needed for the salaries and -expenses of keeping the edifice comfortable and in repair. Before the -first year had passed by, it was evident to the "Chamberites", that -a new building would be necessary, even if the law suit had gone in -their favor. The voices of the croakers and prophets of evil, at first -loud and thunderous, had sunk to the "peep and mutter" stage and were -rapidly approaching silence. - -In a new field, larger financial resources would be necessary, but -from the first, only manly, honorable, and truly scriptural methods of -providing revenue were employed. Never in all the history of the First -Independent Church was there a fair or supper to which admittance -was charged. Those methods of raising money, too often associated -with religious societies, to the scandal of faith, the equipment -of the jester, and the furnishing of the ungodly with excuse for -self-righteousness, were tabooed by Mr. Chambers. He believed both -that the laborer was worthy of his hire, and that men ought to pay -for their religious privileges. He was so successful in this policy -that within six years, having paid all debts, his people in the spring -of 1830 bought at Broad and George (now Sansom) streets, that lot of -land for four hundred dollars, which afterwards was sold for over -four hundred thousand dollars. The land and house of worship, the -subsequent enlargement and repairs, as well as the running expenses -of the church, so long as it was independent, were paid for by -subscriptions. "We have never in our lives," said John Chambers in -1875, "gone abroad for means to help us." - -The region west of Broad street was then "out in the country". Green -fields, or vacant lots, stretched to the Schuylkill River. At Broad -and Market were the Water Works. When afterwards these were removed -and the pumps and reservoir were established at Fairmount, four small -parks, with their trees and green sward, made one of the city's -breathing spaces. Even then Broad Street was considered the western -boundary of the city of Philadelphia. - -Bright and happy was that February morning of 1830 when the young -pastor, with many of his flock around him, took his place on the green -sward at Broad and Sansom streets. With his long hair brushed into -lively motion by the matin breezes, he poured out a prayer to Heaven -for the blessing of the triune God. "Like all Irishmen, John Chambers -knew how to handle the spade", and handle it well he did on that day -when he turned up the first spadeful of earth. After the diggers -came the masons, who built honestly a solid foundation, and then the -corner-stone laying in March, 1830, and finally the dedication in -June, 1831. Dr. John Mason Duncan preached first in the new house in -the morning and the sermon was royally long. One little boy, now an -honored pastor of eighty, remembers that it ended at half-past one! -Alas, that Saint Paul's faults, like that at Troas, should be more -imitated by us preachers than his virtues! In the afternoon Rev. James -Arbuckle preached. "The house was crowded to excess all day." - -How one family, and indeed a group of families allied by blood or -marriage, came to be life-long supporters of and worshippers in the -First Independent Church, we must now tell. We shall speak of one -member named Mary. - -It was in 1832, the winter in which the famous English actress, Fannie -Kemball, sister of Mrs. Sartoris (whose grandson, in our day, married -Nellie, the daughter of General Grant) was starring in Philadelphia in -the old Chestnut street theatre, on the South side of Philadelphia's -most fashionable street, above Sixth. Mary had spent a winter of great -gaiety, revelling in the joys of the dance, the theatre and every sort -of worldly amusement--much to the grief of her mother, a woman of -unaffected piety, who was praying that her daughter might look less at -things perishing and more at the eternal. - -Yet no message from the Unseen, sent through a human preacher, had -yet reached the ears of Mary's inner being. It was while the anxious -mother was most earnestly praying, that Mary was invited by a maiden -friend, whom she had met at a picnic and with whom she had formed -a warm friendship, to visit her and go to hear the new minister on -Thirteenth street. Mary came, and saw, and heard, and was conquered. -At the first sermon she hung spell-bound on the lips of the emotional -and electrifying young orator, who during all his ministrations had -also that peculiar unction, without which, preaching, however logical -and learned, avails little. - -On coming home, after the service in the new church on Broad street, -Mary told her mother that she would never go to the theatre again; she -had heard the grandest speaker that she had ever looked upon in her -life; who outshone every actor she had ever seen, and whose message -had more charms for her than the theatre itself. Soon after this Mr. -Chambers with his wife made his first pastoral call at Mary's home. - -About this time, late in the winter and toward the spring, there was -a revivalist assisting Mr. Chambers, who to eloquence and magnetic -power, added the power of the draughtsman. He was an artist in words -and with the chalk also. He drew a cross on the blackboard, and -without the element of color, but with the aid of music moved the -emotions mightily. He called upon the congregation, led by sweet -voices, to sing, "Alas! And Did My Saviour Bleed". His appeals, tender -and powerful, were responded to. Many were brought "under conviction" -and declared themselves from that time followers of Jesus Christ. On -the day that Mary united with the church, one hundred persons were -received at the communion table and into membership. - -This is one sample picture of many of dissolving views of souls in -Mr. Chambers's ever enlarging congregation. His ministry was from the -first one of direct appeal. It was emotional, the personal element -being powerful always, but there was no leaving of the converts -to themselves or to neglect. Behind and above the Celtic fire and -enthusiasm of John Chambers, was the life of the Spirit moving them -through him. The converts were looked after. They were personally -warned, exhorted, instructed, and taught. During this first year, yes, -during fifty years, John Chambers seemed an incarnation of Paul's -scripture: "Whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man -that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus". No extra or -special meetings were held in these early years, and none that we can -recall in the later days, but the regular services were steadily "the -occasions of converting power." - -I have intimated that the secret of the great preacher's power cannot -be discovered by mere logical analysis. One might as well try to -explain John Chambers's influence over human hearts and lives by -his printed words alone or through mere description, as to attempt -to show, by a simple knowledge of the properties of lead alone, the -astounding effects of a Krag army rifle. The venerable Dr. Henry Clay -Trumbull, veteran editor of the Sunday School Times, writes under date -of June 11, 1903: - -"An orator's or a preacher's power sometimes depends largely on his -intensity of utterance or of manner. He can actually throw himself -into his hearers so that they will, for the time, think or feel as -he does, even beyond the meaning of his words. Thus it was said of -Whitefield as a preacher that he could move an audience to tears by -saying the word 'Mesopotamia'. One who has felt the power of some -preachers can understand the force of that statement. - -"Rev. John Chambers was a man of power in this line beyond any other -of the preachers I have heard in my more than seventy years. I -sometimes came from Hartford to Philadelphia to hear him in his church -on Broad street. His voice would ring out with such intensity, and his -words would so thrill through every nerve of my being that it seemed -to me that a more than human being was making an appeal. On more than -one occasion I have taken out my pencil to note such an utterance -which had seemed to be inspired, but there was actually nothing to -write down. No period could give the ring or the thrill. It was simply -George Whitefield saying 'Mesopotamia'. It was an element of John -Chambers's power. But I love to tell of that power". - -The communion seasons were from the first occasions of the -manifestation of spiritual power. Often the minister himself would be -almost overcome by his own feelings, or, perhaps we should say, by the -vividness of his vision of the crucified Lover of our souls. Often in -such a case it was his habit, during a pause in the rush of feeling -to sit down upon his chair, throw his head back and completely cover -his face with his handkerchief, his hands resting upon the arms of -his chair until his tears and the storm of emotion had swept by. These -over, he emerged as the embodiment of quiet grace, dignity, and calm -strength, the master of the assembly. - -After the darkening of his home through the removal from it by death -of his wife, Mr. Chambers, left with two little children, found -consolation in even profounder consecration to the work of leading -souls into the Way. His own spiritual life was deepened and his -sympathies with suffering humanity widened by his own sorrows. He had -always a message for those, who like himself, knew the weight of known -griefs or secretly borne crosses. In later years he was to lose his -only son. My own recollections of the young physician, whom my pastor -always so tenderly referred to as "my son Duncan", are of a handsome -and promising man, whose life was all too short. I remember how keen -and warm were the sympathies of great congregations, during the time -when the father's heart was wrung with grief, as the telegrams and -letters told of the ravages of disease and the approaching end. - -The biographer never saw the first Mrs. Chambers, who is described -by those who knew her as very lovely in person and manner, but her -children and the other "partners in life"--his favorite phrase--are -well remembered. - -The second marriage of Mr. Chambers was on September 30th, 1834, to -Martha, the widow of Silas E. Weir, a merchant of Philadelphia and the -daughter of Alexander Henry, a merchant in Philadelphia, and aunt to -Mayor Alexander Henry. - -My impressions of Martha Chambers extend from the month of March, -1855, until a short time before her death, on Friday, March 16, 1860. -I have dim remembrances of my being a very little boy, when an august -lady, who wore her hair in bands low down on her cheeks, as the -fashion then was, with a very sweet smile, spoke kindly to me in the -Broad street Church. I recall how every Sunday morning and afternoon, -the stately man of God with his "companion in life", a lady of equally -imposing appearance with himself moved up the middle aisle and, if I -am not mistaken, often arm in arm, until reaching the space opposite -the pew. Then the pastor would with his left hand, open the door. -After ceremoniously seeing his consort well inside, he would shut the -pew door and then move briskly forward and up the pulpit steps to the -sofa. - -Thus happy in his home life, rich in sweet domestic influences having -ever a true "help meet for him", John Chambers, during most of his -mature life, was helped not only of God but by woman's finer strength. -He was the master of hearts also in his home, having Browning's -"two soul sides". Martha Chambers once told my mother that she -envied even the washerwoman that washed her husband's clothes. In -Philadelphia to-day there are many daughters and grand-daughters that -do excellently, and they have "Martha Chambers" in their name. - -Of each one of three noble specimens of womanhood, in their -appropriate time and sphere, it could be said, - -"Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders -of the land". - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - BOYHOOD'S MEMORIES. - - -My earliest remembrances of the first church edifice on Broad -street, except the grand pulpit and a general glory of galleries and -chandeliers, are rather dim. The auditorium seemed to be a vast and -awful place, where a little boy would not like to be left alone in -the twilight or the darkness. Nevertheless all my daylight memories -of it are of the most genial sort. The great middle aisle, so -well-fitted for a marriage or wedding parade, but which afterwards, -when as a preacher, from the marble memorial pulpit, I looked down -into its sheer length and emptiness, I considered as a tunnel of -waste space, was carpeted red. The enamel-white pew-doors, with white -porcelain number plates, bright red pew facings and cushions, and -the lines of black silk hats of the gentlemen, laid just outside the -pew doors, made a morning picture in which color was not lacking. In -the afternoons, the aisles, occupied by eager hearers, were crowded -with settees and chairs, so the silk hats of pew owners had to be -kept, literally, indoors. On week nights I was often a witness of -the ceremonies, in which several of the twenty-five hundred or -more couples which were yoked in wedlock by John Chambers during -his pastorate, received the nuptial benediction, and the bride the -pastor's kiss. - -At the orient end of the aisle, before the enlargement of 1853, rose -the great mahogany pulpit, which swelled out in its capacious center -and then rounded out with a still more generous curve at either end, -from which rose two short pillars, as imposing to my youthful mind -as those of Hercules. I remember how much I wondered, my infantile -intellect being confused, when my father pointed out the "pillars" on -the Spanish silver dollars, that two things so different, coin marks -and pulpit ornaments should be called by the same name. On the top of -these pillars at first was a globe lamp filled with oil, though in the -march of progress, wick and chimney gave way to gas burners. Even to -this day, my mental associations of the "lamps", in the parable of the -ten virgins, are those of my boyhood's days in Chambers Church. Great -crimson velvet curtains hung from near the ceilings, and shining brass -bands on the carpet of the pulpit stairs are also in my recollection. - -My next impression of the dear old house of worship was in 1853, when -not quite ten years old, and living on Girard avenue, in the northern -part of the city, I was taken "down town" to the sacred edifice when -it was undergoing a process of enlargement and change. The fashions -of 1831 were to give way to those of 1853. There was another great -curtain, this time not of velvet, but, if I remember right, of coarse -canvas, which separated from, but also allowed a partial view into a -space in which masons, plasterers and carpenters were at that time -more familiar than were sitters and worshippers. - -In the twenty-one years of its history, the large building erected -in 1831 had become too strait. By resolution of the annual meeting -in April, 1853, the old pulpit had been taken away, the eastern wall -knocked out, and the whole edifice changed in appearance by making an -oriental extension of fifteen feet, while in front, on Broad street, -the portico, with its imposing platforms, pillars and pediment were -added. During the interim, when homeless, the congregation worshipped -in Concert Hall, on Chestnut street. When I saw again the old church -home, simplicity had given away to luxury. It was like the exchange -from Ben Franklin's two-penny earthen porringer and pewter spoon for -china and silver. - -The enlargement at both ends gave fifty-four additional pews in the -audience chamber and more abundant space in the new Sunday School -room, which, though a basement, was well lighted through plenty of -windows on three sides. There was also a large "infant school" room, -or primary department, over which my mother presided for several -years, besides the large committee room, afterwards used for meetings -of the Session, and also as a Bible class conducted during many years -by Mr. Rudolph S. Walton. These rooms fronted on Sansom Street. On the -north side, lighted from the alley, _straatje_, or little street, as -the Dutch would say, were the library rooms. - -In a word, the building had been modernized, with improved furnaces -and gas lighting apparatus, new carpets, new cushions and large -galleries, etc., so that when again I saw the edifice some months -later it seemed not only a new and more gorgeous house of worship, -with the glory as of the second temple, but everything was so shining -and and clean, that it struck me as being an unusual sin to do what -the small boy is so tempted to do,--to scratch the varnish on the pew -backs. It is true that the very brightness of that varnish challenged -the average urchin to see if he had not about him a pin, or the nib -of a broken steel pen, to make his initials visible, or possibly -some music. No carpet, or terry, or pew cushions ever seen on earth -before, as I imagined, could be of a richer red, and beside the -white enamelled front of the pulpit platform, nothing ever appeared -whiter or glossier. The pulpit itself was carved in foliations, -all as glistening white as if, though in reality wood, it were -polished marble. In later years this altar-like pulpit gave way to a -square structure of more massive dimensions, Doric in outline and -simplicity, that extended across the whole space between the columns. - -That end of the sacred edifice to which our eyes first turned -and longest dwelt, seemed to have passed through a veritable -transfiguration. My boyish fancy, struck by the biblical phrase, -suggested its shining whiteness as having been blanched by "fuller's -earth"--to me an entirely unknown and mystic substance. As for the -red velvet, on which the big Bible lay open, nothing before or since -seemed to have richer gloss or texture, or more strikingly huge -tassels. Two fluted white marble Ionic columns rose from the pulpit -floor space to the ceiling. Back against the wall, instead of the old -sofa, ten or twelve feet long, of veneered mahogany, with cushions -covered with horse hair cloth, was a modern and more jauntily carved -article of half the old length and apparently less comfortable. But -what has comfort to say, as against fashion? Hanging beside the sofa, -against the wall, on a white porcelain knob, was the very large oval -fan of crow feathers, which, while to the ungodly it represented a -rather narrow handled ace of spades, was then the thoroughly orthodox -ornament of a pulpit, with which the preacher was expected to cool his -brow without chilling his zeal on hot days in summer. Indeed there -were some very hot days, when, glued to the overheated cushion, the -small boy envied "the freedom of irreligion of the flies." As to the -physical activity of the pastor, while preaching it was very vigorous, -but it was too graceful to approach closely the reputed ideal of -Abraham Lincoln, who liked to have a parson discourse "as if he were -fighting bees". Nevertheless the fan, at restful moments, when he -was seated, came into requisition as often as did the historic white -handkerchief in time of oratorical action. - -To the right and left of the pulpit were two high windows, with panes -of colored glass. Rather long and narrow, each consisted of two -upright sashes or divisions, like casements, which could be easily -opened in summer for ventilation. So much color, even to frivolity in -the eyes of some, looked positively gay and suggested modern luxury -more than ancestral simplicity. - -Above the level of the floor and middle aisle was a large platform -two steps high and probably six or eight feet wide, on which was -marshalled the range of chairs for the pastor and his elders, who had -ample room on it, even with the communion table set about the middle -of the stage. At either end of this platform was a line of pews, five -or six in number, at right angles with the eastern wall and entered -from the west. In later years, these gave way to a screen of white -painted wood and ground glass, covering stairways into the lower -room. As for the ceiling, it was truly imposing in its great central -countersunk rotunda and depressed squares, which showed how grandly -the architect had treated this portion of the edifice. - -The cost of the improvements was nearly fifteen thousand dollars, -but the number of pews became 242 and the capacity, including the -galleries, had increased so as to seat fifteen hundred persons. -Nevertheless, for many years, it was not uncommon, as I clearly -remember, to pack together under the one roof twenty-five hundred -auditors. This was done by sitting and standing, by stowing away the -children upon laps and down on hassocks, filling the aisles with -seats, having rows of human wall flowers blooming upright all along -the gallery, aisles, passage ways, and steps, and by cramming the -vestibule, which was often completely occupied by settees or with a -standing crowd. Happily no fire broke out or panic ensued during these -dangerous jams. After the benediction the trustees, church officers, -and boys and men were only too glad to volunteer as ushers, sextons, -or laborers. "Amen, Jacob, carry out the benches", was less a jest -than a reality which we boys liked. Give a boy some muscular as well -as spiritual occupation and he can stand the long services. - -The most impressive scenes in the regular church services were those -of the last Sundays in March, June, September, and December, when the -memorial supper of the Lord, as instituted by Him, was enjoyed. This -celebration of Holy Communion was an intensely dramatic as well as a -moving scene. Indeed, sometimes, on the highly wrought imagination, -and under the melting appeals of the man who saw, felt, and lived the -truth, it was powerfully remindful of the ultimate division between -the sheep and the goats. All the lower part of the church was reserved -for and occupied by the communicants. In addition, as I remember -seeing more than once, the aisles were thronged even to the pulpit -stairs. Of the thirteen hundred and more members the overwhelming -majority was likely to be present at communion seasons. The gallery -was reserved and usually filled, yes, often packed, with the -"sinners", to whom, in the course of the services, with streaming eyes -and imploring hands, John Chambers would make intensely personal and -moving appeals, which, perhaps in hundreds of cases, wrought decision. -To this day "the galleries" in any edifice have to me a suggestion of -impenitence about them. Nevertheless how, and particularly why, as I -read, the king was "held captive in the galleries" (Song vii., 5), was -utterly beyond my boyish comprehension. - -One of these seasons, which marked my own first participation in the -sacrament, I well remember, being but fourteen years old, the number -uniting at this time being about forty-four. We made two lines along -the pew fronts on either side of the aisle. - -Another famous occasion was that of June, 1858, in the time of the -great revival which swept over the land, and especially Philadelphia. -Of seventy new members added, twenty-seven were baptized by the -pastor. Of the seventy, sixty-seven were received on first confession -of faith after examination and three by letter. - -A writer in the _Christian Observer_ of Philadelphia describing the -scene, remarks: "The pastor administered the ordinance of baptism. -The charges he gave them severally, as he baptized them into the -name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, were various, -scriptural, appropriate--words of hallowed counsel, touching the great -end of life--are never to be forgotten. As the seventy stood before -that immense audience, professing their faith in Christ, their ever -living, reigning Saviour, and as the pastor addressed them and the -large assembly of communicants in words of life and truth, in which -all seemed to feel a living interest, the scene was solemn, grand, and -glorious. We were ready to exclaim: 'This is none other but the house -of God and this is the gate of Heaven'. The distribution of the bread -and the wine to the thousand or twelve hundred communicants occupied -nearly an hour. The church was then briefly addressed by Dr. Converse -and again by the pastor. All were reminded that as members of the -church they were not their own; they had been bought with a price; -redeemed not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of -Christ". - -On his fiftieth anniversary, Dr. Chambers said: "The ordinance of the -Lord's Supper has been administered every quarter of a year for the -last fifty years, and there has been but one communion during the -whole time when there were not additions, and that was one of the -quarters when I was in Europe. We have never received at any single -time fewer than seven, and no more at one time than one hundred and -twenty to the communion. I state these facts that you see how good God -has been to us, and how great our debt is." - -I am very frank to say that, as a small boy, the moment of dismission -from the church service, after three hours indoors, was a very happy -one, and the event usually awaited with pleasure as the crowning -circumstance of the function. Truth compels me to state that my -facility and celerity in covering the distance along the north side -aisle, between the pew door and the vestibule, was something that -often amazed my elders. Our pew was third from the front, but I -reached the doorway, not wholly out of breath, nor usually mixed up -in the crowd. I always did have an admiration for Elijah who could -outrun Ahab's chariot and horses. The truth also compels me to add -that my idea of happiness, at 12 M., was to join that amazingly large -"curbstone committee" of boys and men, often three or four deep, which -gathered on the edge of the pavement, among and in front of the "tree -boxes"--for Broad Street was lined with trees then--in order to see -the thousand or more people come out of the vestibule and down two -sets of steps to the pavement. This was the time when, in my eyes, -young girls were the prettiest,--even more than they have ever been -since, and nearly everything in the world was usually bright and -glorious, even though I had many boyish sorrows unknown to the world. -I must be self-righteous to confess that often it chanced, that while -I had been genuinely "at church" and inside of it, not a few of the -"curbstone committee" were young men (with some older ones) who had -not been in church at all, but had come to escort the pretty girls -home, or to meet their friends; though of course the great majority -around the "tree boxes" had been listeners, if not worshippers -within. Usually on the large stone platform, between the entrance -door and the columns, the pleasant friendly interviews and final -handshakes with pastor and parishioners and friends in general, took -place. - -It was about half past twelve when we arrived home, on Twentieth -street four doors south of Chestnut. Father, mother and seven -children, the normal family, and often with guests, enjoyed, after -due thanks to God, the bountiful fare, and the one hour of the week -when the head of the house was present at the mid-day meal. Then -about 1:40 P.M., we were off again to Sunday School which opened at -two o'clock, and which once a month took the form of a Temperance or -a Missionary meeting. At times, besides the appropriate singing and -special addresses, often from the Master's envoys abroad, but home on -a furlough, we had the missionary news from all parts of the world -read to us. I remember particularly the presence and words of two -Christian Indians from Kansas. One speaker, among many, whom I well -remember hearing, was Rev. Wilder, the founder of the Week of Prayer. -Among other enterprises, in which my boyish energies were enlisted, -was that of securing contributions in money for the equivalent of -one or more bricks in the American Sunday School Union building on -Chestnut Street. Another was the financing of two and a half shares -in the missionary ship _Morning Star_. I remember how the pastor -thrilled us with the news of the Reed treaty of 1858, saying "China -is open to the gospel". The Yedo embassy of 1861, giving me my first -sight of men from the Mikado's empire--and especially as I saw "Tommy" -and others at short range on Chestnut street--powerfully impressed my -imagination. I little knew at the time that I should be an educational -pioneer in the then distant archipelago.[8] - -[Footnote 8: See The Mikado's Empire, Townsend Harris, Life of -Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, Japan in History, Folk-lore and -Art, The Religions of Japan, etc.] - -The afternoon Sunday School over, the preaching and worship in the -auditorium above usually attracted a much larger crowd than in the -morning. Often I have seen every available space in the aisles, -stairways, vestibule and pulpit platform taken up. - -The afternoon exit to the small boy was even more interesting than in -the morning, for the pavement and "church parade" show was greater. -Hence, also, for purposes other than of strict devotion the said -small boy usually took his seat in the gallery, near the head of the -stairs. The benediction over, he was promptly on the side walk to see -the largest number of pretty girls, and other people more or less -interesting. - -At home, from half past five until seven o'clock was a happy time, -sitting on father's knee, while he told us stories of his voyages -to Manila or Africa, or Holland, or of his travels on different -continents, and among many kinds of people. As we grew older the -interesting library book, and the bright chat and pleasure round the -supper table made the time fly until 7:10 or 7:15, when we started -for the prayer meeting, which, year after year, was as I remember it, -held in the lower room. It was attended by from four hundred to seven -hundred people, frequently every seat being occupied, with settees -down the aisles to hold those who could not get in the cushioned pews. - -The old, long and imposing mahogany pulpit from the old church -auditorium, but without its stairways, had been set into the lecture -room of the new and enlarged building. While the leader of the prayer -meeting occupied the space up and inside, Dr. Chambers sat below and -in front on a large chair, immediately outside the pulpit, his head -being just under the crimson velvet cushion on which the Bible rested. -The front row of seats, as I remember, was usually filled by a dozen -or so, more or less, of devoted women, who probably, next after God -and as His most trusted representative on earth, worshipped their -pastor. To the left, or eastward on the first seat, sat Mr. Newland, -the choir master, who started the tunes. - -The storage battery of power was in the half-dozen or so pews running -north and south over in the northeast corner, at right angles to the -general line of seats. Crowded with twenty to forty out of the nearly -one hundred men in the church, young and old, who could and would take -part in the prayer meeting, they formed a reserve force of which any -pastor might be proud. Those not sitting in these special pews were -usually ranged somewhere near that famous corner, though occasionally, -for best effect, they chose seats more generally distributed -throughout the audience. Men like Burtis, Steinmetz, Smith and Walton, -as I remember, were always clear, strong, edifying, speaking out of -fullness as well as conviction. Some of their prayers will never be -forgotten. As the alabaster cruse of memory breaks from time to time -into recollection, the sweet aroma fills all the house of the soul. - -Among those in this citadel and stronghold of these delightful -meetings who used most warmly to pray was an Irish brother, who once -petitioned most fervently that upon the pastor might descend "the -fullness of the godhead bodily". There were exaggerations in the old -church, but they were usually on the right side. - -Bliss, Wanamaker, Seldomridge and other young men, as I see them in my -mind's eye, often sat on the western side. - -Almost invariably in times of spiritual interest, which was, as -it seems to me, pretty frequent, constant and general, and almost -certainly so in the midwinter, the pastor, toward the end of the hour -would retire into the committee room--not then called "inquiry room". -Those who wished to meet him, or rather could not resist his appealing -invitations, would rise from their places and reach their waiting and -praying leader. This they did by passing westward, either through the -southern or the northern door and rooms leading out from the prayer -meeting room. After traversing some yards of a space, short and direct -on the south side, longer and more diagonal on the north side, "the -trembling sinner in whose breast a thousand thoughts revolve", reached -the friend of their souls. Sometimes, indeed, Mr. Chambers had no one -to meet him, but usually there were from two to twenty persons with -whom he had a word and perhaps a prayer. In that room hundreds of -decisions were made which affected souls for eternity. I shall never -forget my journey thither and the warm words that welcomed, warned, -and secured decision. That night the hymn was "O, to grace how great -a debtor". Nor could I, even if I would, let slip into oblivion the -meeting of the Session a few evenings later in the same room. The -decision of the boy to "turn to the right and go straight ahead", -seemed too sudden for one elder, and he spoke against immediate -reception and advised postponement. So quick a change from mischief to -seriousness seemed suspicious, if not dangerous. - -God bless Rudolph S. Walton, transparent in his honesty as Japanese -crystal! How often we laughed over it afterwards--his brief mistrust -of me--as "holding forth the word of life" we cheered each other on in -the Christian Way. - -Although the Sabbaths were thus filled up and strictly kept, no days -seemed more sunny and joyous. The weeknight services were the lecture -on Wednesday evening and prayer meeting on Friday. Often the first -service took the form of a big social Bible class, when in the -Socratic way, by question and answer, we learned more of God and of -His wonderful Word. - -"All this work was made easy by the inspiration of our pastor.... -No one could continue long a member of this church without finding -something to do." - -Nor was this all. Besides "the untiring industry, the earnest manner -and the burning eloquence" of the pastor, he made us all as one -family, by his own fine manners and his training of us in sociability. -We had to be hospitable and act towards the unknown stranger, in each -case, as if we might possibly entertain an angel unawares. I remember -once seeing, about 1856, I think, a slender, bashful young man come -to our Sunday School. He carried his lunch in his pocket, so as to -attend both sessions, and church also, for between 12 and 2, there was -not time to walk to and back from his home far distant in the south -end of the city, somewhere near "the Neck." My mother spoke to him -and invited him to our house to dinner. I learned to know well, to -honor and to love the young man, looking up to him for inspiration and -cheer. He became one of John Chambers's "three big W's." He is now one -of Philadelphia's merchant princes, a maker of the new Quaker city, a -tireless worker for God and man. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - THE MASTER OF ASSEMBLIES. - - -Though active in the multifarious duties of the pastorate and along -many lines of activity and reform in a large city, always foremost, -both on the firing line, or in the charge, in that unending battle -against evil, John Chambers made the pulpit his first thought. He -did this in his own way and according to his own methods. He rarely -if ever wrote out his sermons. After due preliminary study and -renewing of his strength by waiting, in prayer, upon God, he entered -the pulpit. He depended largely upon being in first class physical -condition, upon the inspiration of the moment, gaining much by -induction from his audience and the circumstances, while trusting -heartily in the presence and blessing of the Holy Spirit, upon whom he -continually waited. - -John Chambers believed in thorough public announcement. A true herald, -he first made sure of calling together the assembly. By this he -sometimes set as much store, as he did upon the proclamation of the -message itself. On himself he laid the responsibility of his hearers' -attention. In the main, his preaching was of the character expressed -by the New Testament Greek word _kerusso_ (proclaim), as well as by -the word _evangelizo_. - -John Chambers was the first minister in Philadelphia to advertize -the subjects of his sermons as well as the hour and place of their -delivery. He thus initiated for their publishers a line of profitable -revenue. In the _Public Ledger_, especially, one may, by looking over -the files, see the range and timeliness of his discourses. The topics -were "sensational", in the best meaning of that term. - -Being himself "of infinite wit", the pastor had an eye and a feeling -for the humor of some of the situations which he created by his pulpit -advertising. As a matter of course and of human nature, around so -superb a beacon, many bats and strange birds flitted. Parasites and -hangers-on, as well as men and women who wished to exploit themselves -financially and for their own glory, and rise into notoriety on his -fame, sometimes pestered him. For example, on seeing in the Saturday -morning's _Public Ledger_, that the theme of the popular preacher -in the First Independent Church was to be "On the importance of a -man's having his life insured", one youth resolved to make gain of -godliness. Mr. Chambers, while in his study, a front room in his house -at Twelfth and Girard streets, which opened into the hall near the -front door, was surprised to have ushered in upon him a young man -with a small arm load of insurance literature and advertisements. -The visitor strove to prove that a certain insurance company of -Philadelphia was the best in the world. Having expected to get Mr. -Chambers to recommend from the pulpit this particular corporation, he -went away sorrowful, for he had had great expectations. Nevertheless -from the tact, worldly wisdom, persistence and importunity of even -the average life insurance agent, what lazy Christian cannot learn a -lesson? - -Mr. Chambers always knew of the great preachers, not only in -Philadelphia, but in other cities. Although, very properly, he never -recommended his members to attend on the ministry of others, he did -warmly urge his nephew, Milner, when visiting Philadelphia, to go and -hear Philips Brooks, and he himself went with him to listen to Dr. -Talmage. - -When the grand rector of Holy Trinity called on me in Boston, as he -did more than once (for he, too, loved Japan), and saw hanging on -the wall of my study a certain portrait of his Philadelphia neighbor -and friend, he cried out: "What a Grand old Roman! Did you know John -Chambers?" Then he burst forth into hearty panegyric of the old "war -horse", and seemed delighted that I was one of his boys. Later on, -when our people in the Shawmut Church helped a native missionary to -Japan and several Japanese lads from the U. S. White Squadron, then in -Boston harbor, were present, Dr. Phillips Brooks spoke to my people. - -After my address in the Chambers-Wylie Memorial Church on the -"Historical Night", December 11, 1901, I gave my people in Ithaca an -account of the great Philadelphia pastor. The brief notice of John -Chambers in the Cyclopedia of Temperance and Prohibition (New York, -1890), is also from the biographer. - -It is only fair history to set down that in sermon preparation the -pastor and his pen were not always closely acquainted with each other. -No two men were more different in this respect than Albert Barnes -and John Chambers. Much as they loved and admired each other, their -habits were very unlike. The former spent from five o'clock until nine -every morning of his life in his study searching the oracles of God in -languages old and new. It was his habit to throw down his pen in the -middle of a sentence, or even a word, on the clock stroke. The popular -preacher made light of spending too much time in the study and urged -more personal work with men. More than once Mr. Chambers passed his -joke with the scholar. - -Yet to-day Albert Barnes is still teaching the Gospel through his -commentaries, in many tongues and countries, almost "all nations", -after having educated a whole generation of American ministers and -Sunday School teachers. On the other hand John Chambers still -preaches in the lives of his disciples, in the church edifices which -they have reared, in the congregations they have gathered, and in ever -expanding circles of unseen but potent influence. - -As a boy, when Albert Barnes, aged and venerable, almost blind through -his long-continued labors which had so tried his eyes, met me on the -street and asked me some question as to the place and person of the -funeral of a friend mutually dear, I remember with what reverence I -looked up to the great scholar and the fearless champion of spiritual -freedom. I realized even then the shade of difference in feeling from -that which I nourished toward my grand pastor. Nevertheless, God needs -both kinds of servants. The suggestions of Socrates, as to writing -both on the skins of animals and on the tablets of the human heart, -are in point here. - -The comparison made between Albert Barnes and John Chambers is much -like that in the modern story of "Verbeck of Japan" and of Samuel R. -Brown, "A Maker of the New Orient", perhaps, also, as the parable of -the leaven in each case. - -These were the days of the infidel's Bible as well as the saints' Word -of God, the era of King James's Version and of the old crude theories -of verbal inspiration. It was on such theories and on such alone, that -such unlearned men, meretricious platform speakers, and ephemeral -secularists, as Joseph Barker, Robert Ingersoll, and Charles Bradlaugh -could thrive. The climates, both of popular and orthodox theology and -of infidelity, were somewhat different from the cosmic influences of -to-day. The arguments of unfaith were, for the most part at least, the -old common, shallow, and blatant ones. The theological parasites and -bacilli were as harmful, and in God's providence as useful, then as -now, but I think popular orthodoxy and the average pulpit furnished -much of the food for the obnoxious microbes, and even made congenial -"cultures" for the peculiar varieties existing then. - -The unbeliever fed his mind and starved his soul on the arguments of -Mr. Paine,--not the Thomas Paine of the American War of Independence, -when he sounded the trumpet for freedom, but the Thomas Paine of the -French Revolution, who, long after his stirring appeals to American -patriotism, wrote the Age of Reason. In view of the fact that the -little thoroughfare in old New York, named in his honor, Reason -Street, has long since become corrupted into Raisin street, (wherein -we read a parable) Mr. Paine's arguments seem jejune enough. For Paine -the patriot and public servant, all Americans should have the highest -respect. I remember that my English grand-father, Captain John L. -Griffis, of the Mariner's Society of Philadelphia which usually met -in historic Carpenters' Hall, received his certificate of membership -from Thomas Paine, the secretary. He had then no taint of theological -rancor associated with his name, which clericals, who are not -necessarily better Christians than laymen, are too apt to shorten to -"Tom". - -There was a society of biblical critics and amateur theologians, -commonly called infidels or even "atheists", who gathered under the -name of the Sunday Institute. These worthies met together on the -Lord's Day in a hall in Sixth street above Race, and frequently -discussed the themes and sermons of Mr. Chambers, sometimes, as -it seemed, in a blasphemous as well as irreverent style. Like Mr. -Chambers, they advertised their subjects in the Public Ledger. I -remember one of them, seeing I was a "Chamberite", pointed out to me -the "discrepancies" of the Bible, such as apologists on the one hand -were in those days continually trying to "explain", while the sceptic -on the other enlarged them under his microscope. This old scorner -called my attention to the fact that "artillery" (I Samuel XX: 40) -was mentioned in the Bible as belonging to those early days. Hence it -could not be inspired of God! He prophesied that Christianity as a -delusion would soon pass away, and he recommended me to read Volney's -"Ruins". How tired such men must be waiting for the religion of Jesus -to die! Alas, for them, the corpse always fails to be ready! - -Many a time have I seen in the church gallery a Voltairean looking old -gentleman, who took notes and seemed to be immensely tickled at some -of the denunciations of himself and his fellows by the pulpit orator. -Dr. Chambers was rather free in handling the English Philosopher, -whom he usually spoke of as "Tom Paine" thereby making at least one -boy determined that, if ever he became a minister, he would give, if -possible, even the devil his due and speak of doubting Thomas with his -full name. - -The _Sunday Despatch_ was the first newspaper in Philadelphia to -practice seven days' journalism, thereby shocking the feelings of -those who could conscientiously read a Monday morning paper printed -during Sunday hours. Of course the preacher fulminated against this -innovation. It is a curious commentary on the change in public -sentiment and practice, that on the spot in which Sunday journalism -was so often and perhaps righteously denounced, there is published the -popular newspaper which knows no Sabbath in its issues. - -The days either of the destructive higher criticism of consecrated -critical scholarship had not yet come to this side of the Atlantic, -nor had the grand work been done by Dr. Charles A. Briggs, the -pioneer, and the host of consecrated biblical scholars after him, -which has cut the ground from under the feet of Ingersollism. -Practically unanimous in brushing away the cobwebs of scholasticism -and tradition, these consecrated men have helped, by God's blessing, -to make the Bible the Heavenly Father's book as fresh as if written -yesterday. They have driven infidelity out of its old strongholds and -compelled doubt and unbelief to find new excuses and fortifications. - -In the wars of the Lord the pastor liked nothing better than -opposition and obstacles, especially such as could be overcome by -spiritual weapons. With the inheritance of his fighting ancestors -he had the true Irishman's instinct for the martial fray; only his -inheritances were turned to a nobler use and grandly were they -consecrated. His preaching was just of the sort to equip his average -hearer against the insidious attacks of unbelief, the freezing effects -of conventionalism, and the paralysis of sinful pleasure. Many a -mighty blow was delivered against the literature that undermined faith -and morals. I need not speak of the obscene books and papers which had -not then met their Comstock. Against such soul-destroying devices and -their makers, John Chambers was as an unchained lion. - -I remember how Renan's Life of Jesus carried captive many a weak -intellect. Though manifestly few men of discernment would be likely to -misunderstand its animus, some were mistaken as to its true import. -One lady who gave me a copy, said as she handed it to me, "Will, this -is a beautiful life of Christ. I hope it will lead you to Jesus". I -need hardly say that in my work of leading men to the Master and into -truth, I have never recommended this shallow romance, medicated with -a "religious" purpose, which turns historic reality into cunningly -devised fables. Against such insidious trash, even under so grand a -title, and the writings which were the vehicles of sensuality more -or less veiled, the great pastor guided his flock into purity and -strength of life. - -Perhaps the best idea of the general scope and tenor of the stated -preaching of John Chambers in his prime, and the general method of his -presentation of truth, may be gained by collating from the advertising -columns of the _Public Ledger_, his announcements made on Saturdays, -say, from April 3rd, 1858, until the breaking out of the Civil War. -Only the afternoon subject was announced. The pastor's idea was that -in the morning edification, thorough expository preaching and pastoral -counsels to his own flock should be the rule, while the second service -might serve for stimulus, appeal to the public conscience, and the -discussion of a wider range of subjects. Usually the text was given -with the topic. - -Behold here a selection of topics from the _Ledger_ announcements. -I could greatly increase the list from my own diary, but a few will -suffice as specimens: - -Is the religious movement of the day, of God? Acts V.: 33, 34. - -Two sermons were especially for the benefit of those likely to be -influenced by the Sunday Institute: - -1. Infidels. The malignant deception of infidels against Christianity. - -2. Christianity. Opposition to Christianity has always been malignant -and unreasonable. Matthew XXVII: 19, 20. - -This was the year of the spiritual refreshing following, as great -revivals in America generally do, a financial panic--that of 1857. - -Revival. How God's people must work that the revival cease not. - -Previous to the war, John Chambers was exceedingly popular with most -of the public bodies of men, especially with the volunteer firemen. - -Sermon to firemen. By request of the Y. M. C. A. in National Hall, -Sunday Evening, May 22nd. - -Like all of God's true children in Christ Jesus, John Chambers longed -for the unity of the church, and, as I think, did far more by his -spirit and life for its accomplishment than most of those who talk -much on this subject. - -Query. Can the world be converted until the Church is united? - -Three famous June sermons were on the Divinity of Christ. - -A champion of lay preaching and evangelism, he treated the question: -Is religious teaching to be confined to the ministry? - -Are the objections made to persons letting their religious wants be -publicly known Scriptural? - -In 1859, beginning with October, we find the following: - -By request, a sermon on II Peter: II, 20. Annihilation. The doctrine -that gives great encouragement for the wicked to live in sin. - -How the Apostolic Church lived and acted and the results which -followed. Acts II, 41-47. - -Prayer. Whom God will hear when they pray. - -Why are men so bitterly opposed to the religion of the Bible? - -Early in the year 1861, when the clouds of impending civil war were -lowering to blackness, some of the sermon themes reveal the situation. -One can easily "read between the lines". - -Robbery. Will a man rob God? - -Liberty of Speech. - -Religion. The incompatibility between Religion as taught in the Bible -and the lives of professed Christians. - -Prejudice. The effects of prejudice on the interests of Christianity. - -Civil War. Is there anything in the commission given by Christ to -ministers that justifies them in encouraging civil war? - -In March a notable course was given on the rearing of children. - -The proper training of children. - -How are children to be trained? - -By whom and for what are children to be trained? - -If children are properly trained will they depart therefrom when old? - -How are the young men and lads who congregate about dram shops, street -corners, engine houses, etc., etc., to be saved? - -Not a little of his morning preaching was, as we have said, in the -line of expository discourse. This, from a coldly critical point of -view, could not be called scholarly, and was rather repetitious, but -it was thoroughly practical and characteristic, and the love which the -overwhelming majority of the people bore to their pastor made every -word tell, so that defects were largely forgotten. He had certain -pet words which he rather overworked, and, to say the least, some -mannerisms. His method was to quote frequently from the scriptures, -and, in his later days, with many a page turned down at the corners -of the big pulpit Bible. We can see him yet, as with one hand on his -eye glasses and nose near the page, he quickly found the various -texts desired to support his arguments. Mr. Chambers, as Mr. Moody -would put it, was a master of "the original English" of King James's -Version of the Scriptures. Occasionally he slipped on a word, the -double p's seeming especially to bother him at times. His particular -_bête noire_ was the tenet of the limited atonement, and if there was -anything he loved to pound at, it was this. What he gloried in was -the proclaiming and strengthening, with proof texts, of the doctrine -of the universal atonement, such as I John, ii., 2. In one instance, -after the word "propitiation" had on his, for once recalcitrant -tongue, reached no further than the first syllable, the full word came -out as "appropriation", which was not so far from the idea of the -apostle after all. - -He was especially impressive in the reading of hymns, and he was so, -because as it seemed to us, he felt so deeply the sentiment expressed -in the words. Memory will never allow us to forget his frequent -rendering of "Oh to grace how great a debtor!" His favorite term for -his Best Beloved was "Our Lord and Master," but whatever name he used, -one always knew that our pastor was in close and daily touch with Him -and that was the secret of his godly life and his power for good. -Other hymns, "There is a holy city", "My days are gliding swiftly by" -(to the tune "Shining Shore") and some that are rarely heard now, -were also favorites. There is proof to the memory that "history is a -resurrection." - -John Chambers was not only a natural orator and master in the pulpit, -but he also made an admirable presiding officer. This was not only on -account of his superb and commanding figure, his leonine countenance -and his eagle eye, but also because of his ability to understand an -audience and take in all the possibilities. He knew just at what -moment to test its powers. His glance seemed to be an individual -recognition of every face. It was not until he was well into the -fifties that he ever used spectacles or eye-glasses, and even when -his brows were frosty he was able, by employing the best oculists and -the right lenses, to see apparently everything and everybody in the -house. Many a time he turned what threatened to be a total failure of -a meeting into a brilliant success. By some witty remark, a thrilling -announcement, a touch of blarney--of which he was always easy master, -or a dramatic action accompanying some winsome invitation, he made -himself master of the assembly. By original and ingenious methods of -silencing, shortening, or politely extinguishing bores, "platform -burglars" or a long-winded or unskilful speaker, he saved the day, or -rather the night. He was always the refresher of weary audiences. - -I remember when a certain one of a delegation on some really worthy -charitable enterprise, after addressing an audience not specially -interested in the matter presented to them, made the remark (in -conclusion) that "thus far what they had received had not paid their -travelling expenses". This roused the big heart of John Chambers, -and when that was warmed Christians had to look out for their -pocket-books. Striding forward from the sofa, he cried out: "Why, -brethren, this will never do! Let the trustees come right up and empty -out the baskets" [a collection had already been taken] "and go round -again". A burning plea of but two or three minutes for the cause -followed from his lips. Then the previous contribution was tumbled out -of the boxes on the carpet, and a new and magnificent offering was -made, which happily proved a superb precedent, so that the delegation -went back happy. - -As to the personal appearance of the preacher, let us recall that -in my childhood the stock and rolling collar were in fashion. The -former made of black satin was stiffened and made to spring on the -neck with wire. Some of the old leathern stocks were still visible -among elderly men, many of whom still wore also the flap-front -breeches and were unable to approve of the newer style. Usually this -outer conservatism of dress, was the index of inner conservatism of -opinions, theological or otherwise. Dr. Chambers made slight change -in the cut of his clothes as he grew older, yet somehow seemed always, -as to his outer garb, a man of his age. It was the era also of gold -headed canes and of watch fob pockets in men's trousers, outside -of which hung the watch chain or ribbon, with gold buckle or seal, -which, by an Americanism, is called the fob itself. Most ministers, -and among them Mr. Chambers, wore in the pulpit, a dress coat and a -low cut vest showing considerable expanse of white shirt bosom, which -then had pleats an inch or so in width. The watch and "fob" were taken -out at the opening of the sermon, laid on the cushion and invariably -put back just before the sermon ended, a sign which we small boys of -course welcomed. As a rule, it was coarse manners to snap a hunting -case watch in John Chambers's presence, for rarely did the pastor pass -the bound of appointed time, for he believed that punctuality was -righteousness. He kept within limits and his moderation was known to -all men. - -I do not remember that our pastor carried a gold headed cane, though -I think he possessed one or two. His boots were always immaculate -and shining. Standing up in black and white, a commanding figure, -with ruddy, or rather roseate face, and stroking his hand through his -magnificent hair, which in later years he wore behind his ears, the -form and mien of John Chambers are imperishable pictures in memory. -In hot weather it was his custom, on going home in the morning, to -change his underclothing, from socks to collar, throughout. Though on -oppressively hot days one might occasionally, after a service, see him -with a wilted collar, yet year in and year out, the impression derived -was of a physical personality as sweet as that attributed to Alexander -the Great, whose close acquaintance with water, in its cuticular -application, was held up to us youngsters as a delectable example. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - TRUE YOKE-FELLOWS. - - -One secret of the success of John Chambers lay in the power which he -had under God of attracting good men, capable and faithful men as -helpers, and inspiring them with loyalty to himself. They followed -him as he followed Christ. Though independent in action, his was the -co-operative type of mind which was grandly shown in the continuous -and faithful toil necessary for the growth and life of a church. - -The government of the First Independent Church was Presbyterian in -cast and form. Indeed it is very doubtful whether a Congregational -Church, strictly so called, could have been carried on by the people -of such intensely Presbyterian training and inheritance as most of his -people were. The congregation held a business meeting once a year and -the trustees, elected by the pew holders, took charge of the property, -the edifice, and the finances. The elders were elected for life by the -vote of the membership. There were no deacons. "All the elders added -to the eldership since 1825 have been active praying men" said our -pastor, in 1875. - -Of the first elders I have no remembrance, though I think Matthew -Arrison and Thomas Hibbert, ordained to the eldership in 1827, were, -though aged men, in active service when I was a little child. I have -dim remembrances of these two veterans, and certainly from very -early days their names in our home were household words, so that I -associate them with the aroma of things happy and lovely. At the name -of Robert Buist, a dignified looking gentleman as I remember him, -and who married the sister of Mr. Chambers, there rise up visions -of seeds, bulbs, flowers, and gardens, for he kept, on Chestnut, or -Market Street, a seed warehouse; and I am bound to say (for we tried -them in our gardens), that his seeds would grow. In 1852, he removed -from the city and resigned his eldership. In 1857, two years after I -entered the Sunday School, the Session consisted of Robert Luther, -Aaron H. Burtis, John Yard, Jr., Francis Newland, Daniel Steinmetz, -and Rudolph S. Walton. After the death of Mr. Burtis, Joseph B. -Sheppard was elected to fill his place. I remember the election, on -Wednesday evening, December 19th, 1860, and that I voted for the -successful candidate, who had been nominated by Mr. Chambers. After -the resignation of four elders in 1861, Richard Smallbrook, Thomas -P. Dill, Alexander Brown and Edward H. Lawyer filled the places -left vacant. Of Messrs. Broome, Brown, and Smallbrook, I have no -clear remembrance, being, after 1861, only a visitor, though a very -interested one, at the old home church. - -Robert Luther was for forty-three years elder. He was a mason and -builder with both bricks and men. My mind's photograph of him shows -a very portly man, weighty in both body and mind. My awe of his -person was tempered by a knowledge of his perpetual kindness. As -master builder of the edifice on Broad Street, he "wrought with sad -sincerity" equal to him who "groined the aisles of Christian Rome" -and, like him, "builded better than he knew". His son, Rev. Robert -Maurice Luther is the well known Baptist pastor, missionary to Burmah, -and professor of theology. He is proud, like myself, to call himself -an alumnus of the First Independent Church, and has cheered me in this -work of portraying our under-shepherd who led us to the Bishop of our -souls. - -John Yard, Jr., was much smaller in figure and of quiet dignity. -Joseph B. Sheppard, always very neatly dressed, I associated with -manly repose, fine language, and a most attractive store on Chestnut -street, where beautiful lustrous Irish linens were sold. Somehow in -my childish memories, there are blended with Mr. Sheppard's name and -personality, memories of those elegant tea parties, made elegant, I -mean, by the sparkling wit and grace of the guests who gathered in my -father's home, and over which my mother presided with such ease. I can -truly boast that our modest dwelling was often irradiated by those we -were able to attract to it. At one of these occasions, on April 30, -1855, "The Young Ladies' Association" presented their "Directress", -at the hands of the pastor, with a handsome copy of "The Republican -Court"--a book which tells much of Philadelphia society in the days -of President Washington, and of those men and women of national -fame, whom not a few of the very elderly persons in our congregation -remembered. As a little boy, I always enjoyed the permission accorded -me of coming in, after the best part of the supper was over, and -listening to the conversation of the gentlemen and ladies, who seemed -to me like so many princes and princesses, and from whose intellectual -conversation, I am sure I often profited. - -My mother taught during many years, a large Bible class of young -ladies, which met in the Sunday School room at the right of the -pulpit, between that and the northwest door. It afterwards grew so -large that teacher and pupils had to occupy a separate room. Looking -along the perspective of years I can think of no faces more lovely or -countenances more animated; no dresses prettier and no hats smarter -than those of these young maidens of marriageable age or near it. To -see them and their teacher when the pastor came around for his morning -greeting and handshake with the "Directress" was a sight worthy of a -painter. - -I fear that my readers will charge me with putting undue emphasis upon -the material loveliness of what I saw and felt, but then we were all -taught by the grand man to be happy. He used to insist that God wanted -us to enjoy everything, and for the good reason that He had made all -things richly for us to enjoy. He believed in love and marriage, and -in happiness as a thing to be pursued and cultivated. He taught also -that the richest, deepest, most constant enjoyment was most certainly -found in a holy Christian life, and that a fruitful human career -redounded to God's glory. The blessings of the 128th Psalm were often -insisted on. He said, when fifty years a pastor: "I have married 2,329 -couples. I was not responsible for their future happiness, but I -believe and trust that in the main they have all been happy. If they -were not happy the fault is their own. There is no reason why men and -women cannot be happy when they ought to be". - -Concerning pre-eminence among the elders, I feel sure that none -will charge me with partiality when I record my impressions that -in physical presence, in dignity and polish of manner, and in -spirituality, Aaron H. Burtis led them all. He seemed a veritable -re-incarnation of George Washington, though possibly with more -personal magnetism and easy familiarity than even the Father of his -Country is credited with. In any company his was a marked form, while -in the gatherings for social worship his words, whether addressed to -the Heavenly Father in adoration or to the people in exhortation, or -in opening the treasury of the Scriptures, which he knew so well how -to do with point and grace, were always acceptable. - -Francis Newland was long the Asaph of the house of God, and lover not -only of music but of all good things, tolerant and charitable, patient -with the silliness of the young, a noble father and friend, a most -winsome saint, having many lines of conviction diverging from those -of the pastor, liberal in his thinking, yet ever loving and beloved -by John Chambers. I may truly say that he gave out stimulating and -purifying influences like a mountain. I saw him last on earth when -in Boston he visited his daughter and the Shawmut Congregational -Church, of which I was pastor. I remember that the sermon was on -Elisha and the Shunammite woman's son. He was then nearly blind. Yet, -very curiously, he had on his retina a single spot still sensitive, -by which, holding the dial of his watch in a certain position, he -could read the time of day. In the case of Messrs. Luther, Burtis, and -Newland I felt that they were such good men largely because they had -such good wives. - -Of all the elders, Daniel Steinmetz seemed to me most steadily worth -hearing in the prayer and missionary meeting. Steinmetz always had -ideas. He was a Bible student and knew how to present a thought with -admirable clearness and close practical adaptation to every day -life. He was an intense, ardent patriot, and a useful man in both -private and public life. He was one of that noble stock of cultured -Pennsylvania Germans that has so enriched our national inheritance. - -Rudolph Schiller Walton was for many years my Sunday School teacher to -whom I owe a debt of gratitude, though when I grew up and could think -for myself and read the Bible in the original tongues and draw upon -the resources of scholarship, I frankly disagreed with him upon some -questions of church policy and the attitude of Christians toward that -critical scholarship which produced under Luther and Calvin one great -Reformation, and is yet to produce, by God's blessing and purpose, a -still greater one. Foreseeing easily in the early eighties what many -Presbyterian laymen could not then see, that before many years the -substance of the truth, as held in cumulative unanimity by scholars, -would be accepted by the Presbyterian Church as it has been in these -years 1902 and 1903, I could afford to wait until we should see eye -to eye. I knew him first as a teacher of a large class of unusually -wriggly and often badly behaved boys. They were such real boys that I, -with a touch of Pharasaism, believed them to be much worse, in every -way, than those who made up our class, which, for a time, was taught -by Mr. Charles Painter, a bookbinder. - -When Mr. Walton in 1860, took his class out of the main school room -into the separate southwest corner room, I entered as one of his -scholars. - -In the afternoons we went through Old Testament history getting pretty -well through the period covered by the Book of Kings and Chronicles. -To this hour these parts of Holy Scripture are as vivid to me as -Durer's pictures, because of Rudolph S. Walton's teaching. We studied -the Bible itself, and not lesson helps. One reason to-day why there -is such a gulf between the Sunday School and the pulpit, and why the -average scholar and even teacher is so apt to be scared at the "higher -criticism"--even if indeed he knows what it is--is because he is fed, -not on the Divine Word itself, but on those dilutions of it, and those -plates of hash called lesson helps. Instead of the pure milk and meat -of the Gospel, even the teachers stuff themselves with pre-digested -food and machine-prepared aliment of all sorts. - -For years while Mr. Walton lived, I often dropped in at Wanamaker's -Grand Depot at Thirteenth and Market (1876-1896), when in -Philadelphia, and always enjoyed his pleasant welcome and a handshake. -He sold hats for a living, but his calling was to serve Christ. If -ever a man loved his fellow men and wanted to do them good, it was -Rudolph S. Walton. As a benefactor, dispenser of cheer and sunshine, -helper of all good causes, and a citizen of renown, his name will -live. He died in 1902, at the age of seventy-four, leaving his fortune -to help his fellow men. - -Mr. Thomas P. Dill was hard of hearing, but his spiritual hearing -was like that of Samuel or Paul. He was very tender hearted, ever -faithful and true, making every talent that he possessed, whether one -or more, tell to the glory of his Master. He seemed never to weary in -following me up, cheering and encouraging me, expressing his personal -appreciation, and joining also with me in sounding the praises of "our -pastor" and the dear old church. Whether I went to college at New -Brunswick, or came back from Japan to live in New York, or preached -the Gospel at Schenectady or in Boston, "Brother Dill", who was a -commercial traveller, always sought me out to bring sunshine and -delightful chatty news from the old bee-hive in Philadelphia. - -Edward S. Lawyer was a man of God and the loving servant of his -fellow church members, and I recall his sunshiny presence. He seemed -always so buoyant in spirit, so young in his feelings, so active in -his sympathies, that it was long before I could think of him as an -"elder". Of him I have the pleasantest associations. Besides passing -the money box in making the usual collections on Sundays, he was -always active, nimble, and ready to help his pastor. As the years -increased, he seemed to grow in divine grace and in all winning human -graces. - -Of John C. Hunter, modesty forbids me to speak at length, as he was -my uncle, having married Miss Sarah Clark, who in the thirties had -accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Chambers on their visit to Ohio, establishing -a union Sunday School at Mount Pleasant, the first in the place. With -his wife, Mr. Hunter became deeply interested in Chambers Church. A -man of wealth and generous in his gifts, besides being very devout -and of simple and unaffected piety, he was a valuable addition to the -board of elders and among the trustees. The son of John C. Hunter, -named after the senior elder, Aaron Burtis, entered the Episcopal -ministry, and is now, as he has been for years, the efficient -principal of St. Augustine's School, at Raleigh, N. C., the director -and manager of this industrial and religious settlement which is doing -so much to elevate the negroes. - -Of Fred. J. Buck (one of that great family that came from Bucksport, -Me., one of whom I knew as a professor of Sanscrit and another as the -United States Minister to Japan) I have also pleasant recollections, -as of a family physician, and of a friendship extending through many -years, as well as of fraternal participation in the life of the -church. He was a cultivated gentleman and an able physician, as well -as helpful elder. - -Of Robert H. Hinckley, Jr., who I believe at this writing is the only -surviving presbyter of the college of elders, I have memories going -back to the time when we were both boys in the Sunday School, where -he was noted always for his punctuality, activity, and willingness to -serve. Of the depth and tenacity of his friendships, of his varied -abilities, of his untiring service as a practical worker in the -Master's vineyard, of his wisdom in council, propriety forbids me to -speak in other than very general terms. After a friendship of fifty -years, we both agree, as fellow alumni of Chambers Church, in our high -estimate of the great preacher. - -Other remembered friends and brethren were Mr. Purdy, Mr. Biles, -and others of whom I cannot say my recollection is very clear. Many -excellent brethren have come and gone since the time of my active -connection with the church, so I am unable to do them justice. Mr. -and Mrs. Biles had a most interesting family of sons and daughters, -who were ever faithful workers in the church. Most of them I had the -honor of knowing, and one of them, Charles, was a warm friend. Their -daughters still follow the Master in unwearying service. Another -friend and man of force in the prayer-meeting was William Smith, whose -sister is one of the good city missionaries of my native city. To this -day, I remember many of his clear and earnest words. - -On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary or jubilee of the pastor, -in 1875, the two great white columns were festooned with greenery, and -above the pulpit desk rose a great arch of flowers and foliage with -potted plants at the base. Behind the open Bible was the pastor, the -veteran and leader, his hair a veritable crown of glory as he stood -under the arch, which was itself surmounted with a crown of fragrant -flowers. On the platform sat in the historic chair, (which is still -preserved in the Chambers-Wylie Memorial,) Francis Newland, the senior -elder and on his right hand in order, seven of the church officers, -and on his left the same number, making fifteen in all. The elders -were Messrs. Newland, Hunter, Buck, Dill, Lawyer, and Hinckley. The -trustees, (not naming those who were also elders) who served within -my recollection were George I. Young, George F. Nagle, Charles Yard, -John M. Snyder, Samuel Campbell, Harrison Purdy, James Evans, John T. -Beatty, Henry Myers, Isaac Bruce, Joseph T. Biles, Charles D. Supplee, -Eliashib Tracy, William S. Williams, Charles D. Marrott, Augustus -Somers, George Allen, Edwin West, J. B. Johnson, Henry Leslie, etc. - -In his semi-centennial anniversary sermon Dr. Chambers said "We have -sent out from our church between thirty and forty young men who are in -the ministry, two of whom are in the pulpit with me this morning.... A -number of them have paid the debt of nature and gone home, after they -renounced the cross to have a crown". It was during this memorable -week that under arch and crown of greenery and between wreathed -columns, standing behind the pulpit, while his elders and trustees--a -noble band of helpers--sat or stood on the platform beneath, that the -last photograph of John Chambers was taken. - -Happily for the present writer and for future historians the Session -of the Church, through their committee, Francis Newland and Robert -H. Hinckley, Jr., secured a record of the sermon and "Commemorative -Services" and published a neat volume of one hundred and three pages, -which issued from the _Inquirer_ press and was presented to the -pastor's friends as a keepsake. - -Dr. Chambers' third wife Matilda, who survived him, was the widow of -Dr. Stewart, and a daughter of Peter Ellmaker. She had been reared -in the Episcopal Church. One of her sayings, told in confidence to a -friend who has told it to me, was that she admired the ritual forms -of "the church," in which she had been reared, but had known many -ecclesiastical dignitaries, who became smaller as she knew more of -them as men. It came rather as a surprise to her that in a church -where so little store was set on outward forms, human character tended -to enlarge. As for her husband, his true greatness steadily grew -upon her mind as well as affections. It was through her influence -that the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by the -Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. For a number of years, the -most attractive courses of sermons were those to medical students. -Frequently as many as twelve hundred students, by actual count, were -present on these occasions. - -Yet no appraisal of the value of the services rendered by the comrades -and helpers of "the pastor" could possibly be complete, without a -warm, hearty and sincere tribute to the noble women of the First -Independent and the Chambers Presbyterian Church. It is for me to -make reference only. Justice in detail I cannot do. Without their -zeal, devotion and tireless consecration, there would have been no -such church as that which became the mighty mother of many children -in God. To-day the majority of them have "fallen asleep". A few still -remain on earth with us, in vigor of body and mind, some with the -white light of Heaven's morning on their hair. They are "only waiting" -the call of Him who has "forgotten to forget" them, or their unselfish -service of love. In His Name they toiled. In His Name they still serve -by waiting. "Faint, yet pursuing", a handful even yet follow the -Undiscouraged One, in active service for souls. - -Of the old mother church it could ever be said: - - "The Lord giveth the word. - The women that publish the tidings are a great host." - -Does the reader complain that this chapter is already too long? Yet -must I not omit the pastor's assistant "at the other end"--William -Weaver. I cannot tell how long or in how many edifices, old or new, he -served as sexton, but "I knew him well and every truant knew." He had -stricter notions on the subject of behavior at any and all times than -some of us boys had, and his discipline occasionally was according to -seventeenth century spirit and methods. I cannot say that we boys made -his life a burden or shortened it untimely, for he lived to a good -old age. Honored be his name and green his memory, for he believed -in plenty of light, fresh air, comfort, cleanliness and order--the -primitive articles of a sexton's creed, and he honored his Master and -the house of God by his faithfulness.[9] - -[Footnote 9: See a fuller and more detailed account in the chapter -entitled "Some Sextons I Have Known" in the forthcoming volume, "Sunny -Memories of Three Pastorates". Ithaca, 1903.] - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - CHURCH LIFE. MINOR PERSONALITIES. - - -These were the days, also, "before the war", when expansion was the -law of woman's apparel. The hoop skirt had reached its maximum of -periphery. Many colors were mingled on the same dress. The ladies wore -"shoot-the-moon" bonnets, with small sized flower gardens stuffed -inside the brim, between face and frame, and the ribbons necessary -for adornment and fastening ran into yard lengths. Besides ribbon -on the top of the head gear, there must be great bows on either -side of the chin. Many a time I remember seeing the choir singers -untie their bonnet strings when they would praise God with the voice -and understanding; or, to be more scientific, they unlatched the -hook and eye, which really did the business of fastening, the bows -being for ornament rather than utility, reminding one of Gothic -architecture made of timber in lieu of stone. It was a grand thing, -at least one boy thought, to go to a morning or noon wedding within a -private house, where at 10 A.M. the windows were shut tight and the -gas lighted. The girls were all in voluminous circles of flounced -silks. Their bonnets spread out on the bed of the dressing room were -veritable parterres, with ribbons half a foot wide and a yard long. - -Inside the house of God the fripperies of fashion were as rampant then -as now. In one stylish family, albeit, according to common rumor of -humble origin, whose pew was near ours, but further to the east, there -was the father, who was a dandy in his dress. He always sat during the -sermon and those parts of the service not calling for a bowed head -or the grasping of a hymn book, holding his ridiculous little cane, -which had for its handle a lady's foot carved in ivory. Her toes were -always in his mouth, and the diligence with which he sucked that -cane impressed a certain boy, who passes over further description, of -oiled and perfumed ringlets, amazing necktie or diamond-studded cravat -and other vanities of life. I never frankly accepted the statement of -Ecclesiastes, until I saw this gentleman's cane and neck gear. It must -be confessed that the amount of time sometimes spent by young men on -their neckties, then often three or four inches wide and made to stick -out so that the ends were continuous with the shoulders, is a secret -not to be told to the present generation lest we corrupt the youth. - -But the psychical moment to the small boy was when the very stylish -daughter of the family aforesaid with her sublunar bonnet, her -gorgeous mantilla, her mighty collar of lace and resplendent brooch -sailed up the aisle, sending many a black silk hat spinning on its -richochetting way before her. When about two fathom's distance from -the pew door, which stood at right angles to the long aisle, she -would seize a handful of the various concentric steel circles of her -dress, and slightly tilting the metal bands would sail into her pew -with as little collision against the wooden sides as possible. Within -a busy period, of possibly less than five minutes, she was able to -accommodate her crinoline to the dimensions allowed and get her spirit -in tune with the sacredness of the hour and place. - -Nevertheless when in later days, sorrow came to that same daughter, -now bereaved and fatherless, she rose by divine grace into a very -transfiguration of character, through sisterly and filial devotion. - -Life is too short to tell of all the oddities and curious situations -into which the hoop skirt led its wearer, and one must read Edward -Everett Hale's amusing story of "The Skeleton in the Closet", -to see what dire mischief these inventions of the evil one were -capable of wreaking, even when discarded. They did indeed seem to be -indestructible. - -What glistening starry eyes, what dewy and rosy cheeks, what lovely -faces dwelt inside of those bonnets! Even to-day in life's dusty -pathway, sweet influences like the breath of a May morning come back -with the happy memories of Sabbath days, that were as "the bridal -of the earth and sky", with the trees in white blossoms standing as -bridesmaids. In memory's glow the returning vision of youth make what -the Deuteronomist calls "the days of heaven upon earth". It was in -that wonderful training school on Broad street, that so many lovely -maidens were taught how, by divine grace, to be noble wives and -mothers, and useful women and workers for the coming of the kingdom of -heaven, and from which so many alumni went forth, young men to preach -the good news of God. On the missionary field, or at home, in bustling -cities, or in quiet country charges, many there are who to-day amid -monotony and toil, refresh their spirits at the fountains of memory, -taking inspiration from the past and its great personality, thanking -God and taking courage. - - "The traveller owns the grateful sense - Of sweetness near, he knows not whence, - And pausing takes with forehead bare - The benediction of the air." - -They were not all sunny days for "the pastor", but rather many a -"dark and cloudy day", for not all of the seed of the sower fell into -good and honest hearts. Too many trusted in themselves and falling, -wallowed in the mire. One favorite text and a very sincere utterance -of both the Christ's first John and one of his latest disciples so -named, was this: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children -walk in truth". When, on the contrary, his quondam church members -dishonored their Lord, then "the pastor's" heart was wrung--alas, too -often--with anguish. - -Among memory's dissolving views is one of a young man who had been -brought into the church and for a time gave promise of manly piety -and a fruitful Christian career, but, falling into habits of worldly -pleasure he seemed to lose in girth of soul as he became larger in -body. He once boasted to me of his finely developed muscle, ascribing -his physical enlargement and, as he thought, improvement to "good -liquor and good women," saying it without a blush, and in such a -statement horribly abusing the English language as I knew and felt it. -When the war broke out he became captain in a regiment which was made -up chiefly of Roman Catholic Irish soldiers from Philadelphia, men as -devout in one way as they were reckless in another. In leading them -to the charge in their first battle, he noticed not only how their -faces turned pale as the spirit conquered the flesh, but also how each -man crossed himself, and how, as he described it, the advance of his -company into the thick of the fight could be traced by the packs of -cards which they threw away. They did not wish to lose their lives, -but they relished even less the idea of being found dead with these -instruments of pleasure and of evil in their knapsacks. The handsome -young captain, after going to moral wreck, was mortally wounded in -battle. When his body was brought home and laid in Laurel Hill, I -remember the impressive final words of his saddened and disappointed -pastor as he committed "to the care of the Resurrection and the Life" -the relics of a once noble form: - - "Alas! there are wrecks on humanity's sea - More awful than any on ocean can be". - -Yet the preacher's burning denunciations of sin and his praise of -holiness helped us all to keep step with the Infinite and hold to the -right path. Whether in formal discourse or in the reading of a hymn he -lost no opportunity to make sinners and false professors uncomfortable -and to cheer well doers. - -Rev. James Crowell, D.D., writes, in 1902: - -"I remember going in to hear Rev. Dr. Chambers one Sabbath afternoon, -and being much struck with a remark that he made while reading a hymn. -It was characteristic of the plain, straightforward way in which he -would sometimes rebuke what he thought was wrong among the people. He -was reading the hymn - - 'My soul, be on thy guard - Ten thousand foes arise,' - -and when he came to the last verse, beginning, - - 'Fight on, my soul, till death - Shall bring thee to thy God,' - -he suddenly laid down the hymn-book and said, 'Bring whom? Bring that -cruel rum-seller, who sells damnation to his fellow men for the sake -of paltry gain? Bring that lazy lounging Christian who was at church -this morning, but is now taking a nap in bed, at home, instead of -being in the house of God? No!'" - -"Dr. Chambers was very active and prominent in connection with the -Noon-day prayer meeting in the old Sansom Street Baptist Church, -at the corner of Ninth and Sansom. He attended that meeting with -undeviating punctuality, always insisted upon the exercises beginning -exactly upon the hour, and upon a strict adherence to the rule which -required prayers and remarks to be limited to three minutes. He was an -inspiration in that meeting, and by his spirit and his eloquent voice -added much to its enthusiasm and success. - -"I remember when I was a little boy attending school at the West -Chester Academy, an announcement was made at one time that a great -temperance meeting was to be held in Everhart's Grove, a little piece -of woods about half a mile from the end of the town. The meeting -was held on Saturday afternoon, and going down, with a few of my -schoolmates to attend the meeting, upon reaching the outskirts of the -town, when yet more than a quarter of a mile distant from the place -of meeting in the woods, I heard Dr. Chambers' clarion voice most -distinctly, as he was engaged in speaking. - -"He was for many years a leader in aggressive movements in the -temperance cause, and by his faithfulness in denouncing those who were -engaged in the traffic he did much to promote the interests of that -great reform. He was also exceedingly faithful as a pastor in looking -after the absentees from worship. It was said that he could always -mark those who were absent from the House of God on the Sabbath, and -that his rule was on Monday to look them up and ascertain the reason -of their absence. He was an earnest and faithful and aggressive worker -in the cause of his Master, and by his eloquence and fervor succeeded -in retaining his hold upon the large congregation that worshipped in -the old church at the corner of Broad and Sansom streets". - -I can add to Dr. Crowell's testimony my own as to Mr. Chambers's -inspiring presence at the Union prayer meetings in the Sansom Street -Baptist Church for I attended many of them. Once when the hymn "Oh for -a thousand tongues to sing" had been finished he rose up and told us -in a few burning words that we need not pray for "a thousand tongues", -but that one tongue was enough, if each used his aright. His knowledge -of the presence or absence of his parishioners was nearly infallible. -Once when a very useful lady member had been absent during several -weeks at "revival" meetings in another church, her pastor said to her -of her absence: "It was like pouring melted lead down my back". Mr. -Chambers did not believe in extra meetings, but in live ones all the -time. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - THE CIVIL WAR. - - -The great Civil War, which divided the nation and the states, families -and households, struck the First Independent Church like a hurricane. -In a sense, the Scripture was fulfilled as to the smiting of the -shepherd and the scattering of the flock. The result was to be a -distinct lessening of John Chambers's influence upon the city of -Philadelphia, at least, and his relegation to a comparatively limited -sphere of influence. One of his alumni writes: "If he had been in -sympathy with the North in the Civil War, I believe he would have -attained a national reputation. As events turned out, his Southern -affiliations and sympathy displaced him somewhat from his niche of -peculiar influence in Philadelphia, and relegated him to a work of -lessening circumference". The biographer would gladly pass over the -whole subject, but true history requires that a just statement of the -facts should be given. Whatever be the judgment, all acknowledge that -John Chambers acted with a good conscience. _Deo Vindice._ - -Despite his passionate love of liberty and his democratic sympathies, -he had imbibed in Baltimore and held in Pennsylvania the general ideas -of the South concerning slavery. This "institution" was considered as -orthodoxy itself. It was defended from the pulpit and set forth as -divinely ordained. Mr. Chambers sincerely believed that the black man -must ever be "a servant of servants unto his brethren". His passionate -appeals to the supremacy of the Constitution as against the "higher -law", and his hearty profession of admiration for the law-abiding -citizen were all on the side of upholding and protecting slavery as an -American "institution" to be sacredly safe-guarded. Just before the -war, when calling at our home and finding the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" -lying upon the sofa and bearing evidences of being well perused, he -condemned the reading of such a "vile" work in no measured terms. - -By nature a sincere man of peace and in practical life a consummate -peacemaker, our pastor professed great abhorrence of war. -Nevertheless, these denunciations of slaughter and his oft-expressed -horror of "brethren imbruing their hands in each other's blood", were -discounted in the minds of those who knew his bitter denunciations of -all things British and monarchial, and remembered his keen interest -in the Mexican war. Some hostile critic of our national policy with -Mexico, on seeing the Philadelphia recruits marching away to serve -under General Scott, called them "dough faces". Mr. Chambers heard of -this and, on the contrary, praising warmly the bold soldier boys of -1846 said that "if the body of the man who had called such soldiers -'dough faces' were made into bread, there wouldn't be a dog in -Philadelphia that would eat a pound of it". - -The slow coming events cast long and great shadows which rapidly -shortened as the year 1861 drew near. The situation was critical -and the political sky was fast gathering blackness. In politics -John Chambers was a strong Democrat, sympathizing strongly with the -president, James Buchanan, "Pennsylvania's favorite son", with whom he -was personally acquainted, as well as with his niece, Harriet Lane, of -whose decease I read in July, 1903. He spent several summers with the -president at Bedford Springs, was often a guest at Wheatland, and at -Washington was known at the White House, and once, at least, opened -the House of Representatives with prayer. - -It is certain that our pastor suffered greatly in his mind over the -thought of a disruption of the Union. Thanksgiving day was the -elect season at which preachers discussed political themes, and Dr. -Chambers's sermon of November 24, 1859, was printed in a pamphlet. - -I remember the occasion as if it were yesterday. His rendering of the -eighth chapter of Deuteronomy was with such impressive power that to -this day I feel as if no other chapter ought to be read on similar -occasions. He also read the second chapter of First Timothy, after -which he offered his fervent prayer. As I peruse again the printed -discourse I can hear his ringing voice and see the superb and graceful -gestures. This was his opening sentence: - -"I have announced to you my purpose to relieve my heart of a burden -that has long oppressed me. As an American citizen, an American -minister of the Gospel, I love this Bible; and the God of the Bible. -My country, its constitution, and its laws, I love. As a man of peace -I have a heart for the nation.... I love it as a unit. I am ready to -live by it as a unit; and am ready to put the blood of my heart fresh -upon its altar rather than see it anything else than a unit". He then -went on to dwell on the worth of the Union to ourselves and the world -of mankind, and upon the jealousy which European nations, especially -the monarchies, and more particularly England, had of us. Their hope -of "triumphing over this Western continent was by triumphing over us". - -He then dwelt upon the importance, solemnity and value of an oath, -declaring that one of the most alarming signs of the times was the -utter indifference to the value of an oath. - -"Now, for example, the Constitution most positively and absolutely, -in the plainest and most unmistakable manner provides that a fugitive -from labor escaping from one state to another shall be delivered up. -This is the Constitution. I am not to-day touching slavery right or -wrong. I am looking as a practical man at things as they are." Every -citizen who winks at its evasion, "if he aids or abets the fugitive in -his flight, he is before heaven a perjured man and the waters of the -ocean could not wash out the stain." - -The fugitive slave law had been often resisted in Philadelphia, as I -remember well. In the same city, the first anti-slavery society had -been formed, and within its present limits the first ecclesiastical -protest ever raised against slavery was signed in the Mennonite -meeting house in Germantown, where in summer I sometimes worshipped. -The agitation of the abolitionists, and the burning down of -Pennsylvania Hall were all matters of fresh memory to adult listeners -in 1859. - -"I now take up that question of questions--can this Union be -perpetuated? I answer 'yes'. Take the Bible for our rule and guide. -Let it be the sheet anchor of our hope.... No tempest that crowned -heads or despotic sceptres can invoke will ever throw our ship upon -the lee shore or put out the light of this American Union". - -After a fling, by the way, at the divine right of kings, "a right -which God gave in his wrath", he quoted the legend of Franklin's -calling for prayer in the constitutional convention, noted the -incident of Jesus and the tribute to Cæsar, and then dwelt on the -necessity of the adopted citizen, especially, keeping his oath. He -intimated that those immigrants who did not like our constitution -"had better pack up and go home.... The constitution and laws of this -country are our Cæsar and on us rests the solemn duty of obedience". -He then passed to the duties of husbands and wives, of children to -their parents, and to the duty of training the youth to speak with -respect of rulers and laws. His final exhortation was to the sacred -obligation to obey the constitution and the laws. He pointed out the -danger of the dissolution of the Union, showing that the peril was -great "unless our pulpits cease their clamor against the constitution -and the laws". Ministers must not urge "the higher law (as they call -it) of instinct, but preach God's revealed word, and cease, too, from -declaring from the altar that it is better to put into a man's hand a -rifle, a death weapon, rather than a mother's Bible". He urged that -we cease the agitation and abuse, that arrays state against state, -and that sectionalism be abandoned. The conclusion was made with -tremendous effect. "If I were on the banks of the Potomac, standing by -that vault at Mount Vernon, I would say it over the sacred dust of the -immortal Washington, the man that would labor or would wish for the -dissolution of the American Union, let him be "anathema, maranatha". - -But neither rhetoric, nor eloquence, nor professions of loyalty to -the constitution could prevent secession, or that firing of the shot -on Sumter which unified the North. The news of this overt act of -hostility at once sharply divided the congregation, and a number of -the very best men and women in the church, some of them Mr. Chambers's -oldest and warmest supporters, withdrew into other churches, mostly -Presbyterian, or united themselves with the Central Congregational -Church, where they and their children and grandchildren form a notable -element in that honored church. Others, like Anna Ross, the soldiers' -friend, became actively identified with patriotic measures. The loss -to the First Independent church was a rich gain to other churches. -Four out of six of his elders, Daniel Steinmetz, Joseph B. Sheppard, -Rudolph S. Walton, and John Yard, Jr., among his ablest laymen, -withdrew into Presbyterian churches to help build them up with their -talents, generosity, and consecration, or initiated new enterprises. -Others, though they did not take away their letters of membership, -never again or rarely, worshipped in the church edifice. Probably the -number thus lost to the congregation ran into the hundreds, but the -break was because of conscience and conviction. - -Nevertheless God was glorified and Christ honored even in farewells. -The partings were in friendship. These were not personal quarrels, -and the relations between man and man for Christ's sake were always -maintained. John Chambers's own testimony on this point is clear. -In 1875 he said "We did not dispute. They treated me and they have -always treated me with the greatest respect and they were among our -most useful men ... and we have been on the terms of the most perfect -friendship since.... We did not have any trouble with each other--we -parted in peace." - -The most striking manifestation of the sentiment hostile to the pastor -was shown by some of the trustees, yet in a way not approved of by the -congregation. There was possibly some ground for the apprehension felt -by the trustees, as one of them told me, that Southern sympathizers -might get control of the property of the "copperhead church." -Therefore, a flagstaff was erected on the roof and the stars and -stripes were unfurled, and for some months waved in the breeze from -morning till sunset. I was passing down Chestnut street that very -morning, just as the flag was run up and a few gentlemen standing on -the tin roof gave three cheers. It was a surprise and not wholly a -pleasant one to me. This procedure hurt Mr. Chambers's feelings, but -he said little about it. Not a few others, including the biographer, -thought that peculiar kind of patriotism was, in its manifestation, -entirely unwarranted. At the next election, the trustees most -prominent in the flag pole business were quietly dropped. The -excitement about the "copperhead church" died away, and the pole was -taken down and disposed of, the flag ever remaining in honor. - -On the other hand Mr. Chambers did some things which his friends -deemed highly unwise. On one occasion, it is said, he paraded publicly -with the Keystone Club, a prominent political organization, which had -been influential in the nomination of James Buchanan. None of the -young men of his church who enlisted in the Union army received any -encouragement from their pastor, who was never known in his public -prayers to pray for the success of the national cause in arms, though -always petitioning the throne of grace in behalf of the Union of the -States. One after another and sometimes groups of young patriots -together would put on the national uniform, shoulder their muskets and -march off to battle, quite frequently never to return again. On one -occasion, being called on for public prayer in the large Wednesday -night meeting, though but eighteen years of age (Mr. Chambers always -encouraged his young men to pray publicly) I petitioned the Father of -us all, as was my daily custom privately, and as some of the others -of us did occasionally in public, for the success of the Union arms -in the field, and the defeat of the slave-holder's rebellion, and -that "their covenant with death might be annulled and their agreement -with hell not stand". I meant of course slavery and slavery only, but -perhaps particular offence was taken by the pastor, because William -Lloyd Garrison had in these words characterized the Constitution of -the United States. Mr. Chambers was visibly displeased and afterwards -referred to the prayer in terms of rebuke. - -It was in the first year of the war, on Sunday, May 5, that either -a company or a regiment, or portion of one--my diary says "part of -the Scott Legion and the National Guard" came to our church to -worship before going to the front. I do not know just how or why the -invitation was sent or accepted. Probably it was to draw out the exact -sentiment of John Chambers. In any event the patriots ready to die for -their country received no direct encouragement (except to maintain the -constitution and laws of the country), but rather, as we all thought, -discouragement, when the pastor told them he could not encourage them -to go forth to shed their brother's blood. - -When Robert Lee, with his Confederate veterans, invaded Pennsylvania, -and was statesman as well as general enough to give battle on northern -soil at Gettysburg, Philadelphia was in a white heat of excitement. -Captain Griffiths, one of the handsomest men in the congregation, -whose pew was directly in front of ours, received his death wound in -this battle. - -In June, 1863, I was in Baltimore visiting at my uncle's and trying -to recuperate after an attack of chills and fever, resulting from -spending a summer on the other side of the Delaware. (I am now -thoroughly persuaded, by the way, of the efficiency of mosquito's -as carriers of malarial poison). I had recovered, but on hearing -that Lee's army had marched towards Pennsylvania, my native state, I -immediately resolved to go home and enlist in the army. Riding into -the city and through the barricades guarded by Union soldiers, I -took the train for Philadelphia, reaching my house on late Saturday -night. Early Monday morning I enlisted in Company H of the Merchants' -Regiment, 44th Pennsylvania Militia. Within a day or two I received -uniform and arms and was on my way to Camp Curtin at Harrisburg, ready -to march to the fords of the Potomac. Before leaving I called to see -my former minister, John Chambers, to tell him what I was about to do, -hoping to receive his blessing. As yet Vicksburg seemed impregnable, -and apparently Lee was to march victoriously through Pennsylvania. Mr. -Chambers argued against the possibility of putting down the rebellion, -and descanted upon the impregnability of the terrific fortifications -at Vicksburg, which were able, as he thought, to bid defiance to any -force that could be brought against them. - -Our interview was ended by the entrance of his friend the Rev. -Dr. William Swan Plumer, a handsome man of magnificent bearing, -whose white beard swept his breast and whom I had more than once -heard preach. He was a voluminous and popular writer, who had held -pastorates in Richmond, Baltimore, and Allegheney City, Pa. From -the close of the war until 1880 he was professor in the theological -seminary at Columbia, S. C. Before I had been a day in Camp Curtin at -Harrisburg, Lee was driven back from Gettysburg, and our war-governor -himself in the camp announced to us the fall of Vicksburg. Years -afterward in Ithaca, I wrote ex-governor Curtin a sympathizing letter -on the death of his daughter, Mrs. William H. Sage, of our little -city. He replied in a long letter full of appreciation and memories of -1861-'65. - -No memorial tablet was ever put up in the Chambers's church to the -memory of the young men from the congregation who gave their lives to -their country. - -It is perhaps on the whole better to dwell lightly upon the record of -John Chambers during the war, partly because it is a blessed thing -to know how to forget. Even the battlefields "nature has long since -healed and reconciled to herself in the sweet oblivion of flowers". -We have now a united country, the ulcer of slavery is a thing of long -ago, and some things are seen more clearly. Possibly brethren of John -Chambers who publicly refused to shake hands with him have since -been sorry. It is also quite certain that in the days of heat and -bitterness, Mr. Chambers was held responsible for some things which -members of his family, or relatives, said or did, and not himself. -Afterwards, when charged with holding certain sentiments, or appealed -to to vindicate his reputation, he refused, as he said "to hide -himself behind a woman". He was too much of a man to say "women did -it". - -Mrs. Martha Chambers, his second wife, had died in March, 1860. -During the war or most of it, he was a widower. Within this period, -his daughter-in-law, a Virginia lady, the wife of Duncan Chambers, -presided over his household. Our pastor's nephew, Duncan Chambers -Milner (now pastor at Joliet, Ill.) a soldier in the Union army, -was wounded, and spent some time during his convalescence in his -uncle's home, afterwards entering upon the work of the United States -Christian Commission. He bears witness how his uncle, with rock-like -convictions, strove, in spite of the obloquy of enemies and the -coldness of friends, to be patriot, pastor, and Christian, bearing all -things, hoping all things, enduring all things, in a trying time, when -political slander was busy, going on with his work as usual. - -In all the separations and differences between the great pastor and -some members of his flock, there was no personal bitterness or angry -word. It was only on questions of national policy that they differed. -Their brotherly regard remained the same, and God was glorified. This -certainly was true. John Chambers, the hero quailed not before threats -of being hanged at the lamp post. He went about his duties as usual. -Like most men whose lives are threatened, our pastor died quietly in -his bed. - -Rev. Thomas DeWitt Talmage came to Philadelphia during the war, in -1862, and at once attracted much attention and great crowds to the -church edifice on Seventh Street above Brown. I was one of the number -who was drawn under his influence, and, from patriotic and personal -reasons, I took my letter away from the First Independent Church to -unite with the Second Reformed (Dutch) Church, of which Dr. Talmage -was pastor. I met him in camp when he was a chaplain of the Coal -Regiment, raised in Philadelphia during Lee's invasion. No one could -ever doubt Talmage's loyalty to the Federal cause. In the darkest days -of the war, when it seemed as though the slave owners' rebellion would -succeed he uttered a fervent prayer for the Union, winding up with the -petition, "Blast the Southern Confederacy". These were the days when -on each Sunday, one went to the house of God, expecting to see a new -widow in black and freshly made orphans in the congregation. - -I saw Mr. Talmage first and heard him speak on the platform in Concert -Hall, where also sat John Chambers. I remember how he sent some old -ladies home to hunt for "the sixth chapter of the book of Nicodemus". -Mr. Talmage quickly found out who were the popular preachers of -Philadelphia--Phillips Brooks, Herrick Johnson, A. A. Willetts, John -Chambers, and others. He was so struck with Dr. Chambers's position of -influence that he made investigation into his methods and hired a man -to look over the files of the _Public Ledger_ to make a list of the -subjects on which he had preached in previous years. All this was very -interesting to Mr. Chambers when told him by his nephew, to whom the -facts were communicated by Mr. Talmage himself. - -Famous visitors to the church and preachers in the pulpit of the First -Independent Church made variety. Some of these sermons heard I can -never forget, such as that by the Rev. Dr. Schenck, who set forth -the example of Caleb, "faithful found among the faithless, faithful -only he". The Rev. Henry Grattan Guinness impressed me more with his -fluency than his ideas. Dr. Daniel March, whose Night Scenes of the -Bible I read with delight, and who replied so spiritedly to Hepworth -Dixon's foolish charges, I met again in Boston, after his tour around -the world in the late eighties, and from him I have lately heard in -praise of his old theological friend. Dr. Plumer gave us good biblical -sermons. So did Dr. Leyburn. Dr. Neill, a Methodist, always pleased -and fed us. Professor W. G. Fisher, ever popular, and author of many -well-known tunes, was also frequently seen by us. - -I have felt free to mention the faults, failings, and defects of the -man we all loved so well, partly because he himself instilled early in -us the love of absolute truth, and because his career is in itself a -mighty lesson to all young men. It is a story that shows self-conquest -and mastery of difficulties, for John Chambers was ever rising on -stepping stones of his dead self to higher things. Out of his own -faults, by God's grace, he made a ladder by which he mounted up to -God. It is because his strength was made perfect in weakness that his -life speaks even yet so powerfully. Though he has been dead much more -than a quarter of a century, his influence is to-day like wave on wave -of ever widening circles, and the force of his life is reproduced in -scores of other human lives in all parts of the earth. - -Even in intellectual edification he "builded better than he knew". -When the "higher criticism" came, with its imaginary terrors, as of -hoof, horn, and teeth, I for one, felt able to tame, manage, and use -it as a faithful beast of burden, both for the history of Japan and -of Israel, largely because John Chambers used to say to me: "Will, -study the Bible, and don't be afraid of what you find there". Where -some see only the chestnut burr, I have found food and sweetness. "Out -of the eater has come forth meat, and out of the strong, sweetness," -largely because of the atmosphere which John Chambers suffused around -my youthful head. - -Mr. Chambers's fortieth anniversary sermon on May 14, 1865, was -published in a neat pamphlet, with a sketch of the history of the -church. He was then in his sixty-eighth year and in vigorous health. -About eight or ten of his original parishioners out of the seventy-one -who, in April, 1825, had voted to call him to be their pastor, still -survived. Despite the subtraction of removals, dismissals and deaths -the church rolls showed an active membership of twelve hundred. The -church edifice, on a lot seventy-six by one hundred feet, had cost, -for building and enlargement, about fifty thousand dollars, all raised -by direct subscription. About three thousand persons had been received -into membership, nine-tenths on confession of faith. Other statistics -are interesting--2,509 funerals, 6,247 sermons, 2,400 funeral -addresses, 3,000 addresses on missionary, temperance and Sunday School -subjects, and about 28,000 pastoral calls. In forty years, excepting -his absence in Europe, he had been out of the pulpit for ill health -only three times. In the foulness of strength and prosperity the -spirit of this discourse is best set forth as he expressed it, "Oh, to -grace how great a debtor" and "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." - -The salary of our pastor, at first very modest, had been increased to -$1,500, then to $2,500, and for a few later years, he received $4,000. -It was about this time, 1865, that the gentlemen of the congregation -presented him with a tea set of silver. - -Almost as a matter of course, John Chambers was often approached by -pastorless church committees seeking a popular and efficient leader; -but never, for one moment, did he encourage the thought of leaving -his people for another field. Nevertheless the gossips sometimes -imagined otherwise. Concerning one particular instance, which was the -occasion of a witty and very remarkable sermon, my fellow-alumnus, -Rev. Dr. Robert Maurice Luther, writes me, under date of July 16, 1903: - -"As a preacher, Dr. Chambers was, by voice and personal presence most -attractive. His voice was indescribably rich, full and sonorous. He -was frequently charged with taking lessons from celebrated actors. -This he indignantly and most emphatically denied, frequently in my -hearing. On the other hand, I more than once heard an actor of some -prominence, afterward a teacher of elocution, assert that he was in -the habit of attending the First Independent Church, for the purpose -of getting hints on the management of his voice, from Dr. Chambers's -method. - -One sermon, much criticised, I remember distinctly, to-day. It must -have been delivered about the year 1856. The occasion was a persistent -report, widely circulated, that Dr. Chambers was about to accept a -call to a more largely remunerated pastorate in Baltimore. The theme -was "The Immortality of the Scandal Monger." The text was, "It is -reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it." Neh., vi, 6. The -pastor said that Gashmu had never been heard of before, and did not -appear again, yet he was immortal. - -I. How an unknown man may become immortal. - -Does any one of you say that the work of the Lord offers no -compensation in the way of personal fame? He is correct in the main. -Do your work as faithfully as you may, and the probability is that you -will die, and the world will give your memory not a second thought. -Men will forget where you are buried. The newspapers will not stop -their presses long enough to record the fact of your death unless -they are paid for it. Wicked men will say, There, we told you so! That -foolish fellow who made himself, and all good fellows miserable by his -religion is dead at last. He caught a cold going to prayer-meeting, -and he is gone, religion and all. The world will not greatly concern -itself about you, or your memory. But just invent a new lie about one -of God's saints. It may be as improbable as this one which Gashmu -invented, that the Jews were about to rebel, and at once you take your -position among the famous men. Your name will go down to posterity, as -one whom the world will not willingly forget. Unborn generations will -read your name, and believe the lie which you invented. - -II. How should the Christian man meet scandal? - -In the way in which Nehemiah met it. He said nothing to refute the -scandal. He kept right along, doing the work of the Lord. He knew that -any attempt to answer the charge would only give advantage to the -enemy. If a dog barks at you in the street, it is bad policy to turn -round and bark back at him. The dog is always a better barker than you -are. If you lower yourself to his level, you must not complain if he -beats you at his own game. Keep on doing the Lord's work. They sent -for Nehemiah to come down and have an interview with them at one of -the villages of the plain of Ono, but he replied "O no! I am doing a -great work: I cannot come down." Imitate Nehemiah. You may not have -the immortality of Gashmu, but that is an immortality of infamy. -Better be remembered by God, than by His enemies. - -The effect of this sermon was immense and immediate. The daily press -took it up, and made frequent and pungent comments, but the sharp wit -of the good preacher had forestalled all criticism. - -There were many special sermons, about election time, and in civil -crises, which were equally bright and witty. It was not by these that -the reputation of the good man was made, however. None who heard, can -ever forget his sermons for the young. As a rather dull boy of nine, -or ten, I listened as if he were talking directly to me. Hearing once -a pretentious young man, criticising Dr. Chambers, and saying that he -was not an intellectual preacher, my wonder was what "intellectual" -meant: and I was greatly helped by my mother, who told me that the -young man did not know enough to be able to understand our pastor. -After all these years, I am inclined to think that my mother was -entirely right. His sermons for the culture of the Christian Life, -I have never heard equalled. He anticipated everything in this line -which Drummond afterward wrote. - -After fifty years, his form, his face, his voice, are all as vividly -present as they were in my childhood, and I am sure that the spiritual -lessons of his life, survive just as strongly in the hearts of -hundreds of us boys of the old First Independent Church. - -John Chambers was much more than a preacher. His pastoral work, -and his intimate personal knowledge of each member of his large -congregation, were as remarkable as his pulpit utterances. Thursday -was his day for coming to our house, and it seems to me now, that he -came every Thursday, but that is, of course, impossible. However, -we children always expected to see him on Thursday, and usually at -dinner. I well remember the homelike frankness with which he would -express his appreciation of some of the dishes which my mother, who -was a notable, and old-time housewife, would have prepared for him. -I remember even more distinctly how it seemed to me that he knew -everything that went on at our school and the events of our little -cosmos. He seemed to be as much interested in them as we boys -were. He seemed to know everything that we did. The only time in my -boyhood that I went to Welch's circus, down Walnut street, I became -disgusted with some coarse jokes of the clown, and went out before the -performance was over. I ran down the stairway from the dress circle, -out of the door, and plump into the arms of Dr. Chambers! Did he scold -me? Not much. He simply said in that voice of his, the tones of which -were like an organ, "My boy! You in that place! Come now, you did not -like it, did you? I should not think that you would care for such -things. I should think your telescope would show you finer sights than -anything you would see there." - -How did he know that I had a telescope, and that I had made it myself, -and that I used to be up on the roof of our old home all night, only -creeping into bed just in time to avoid being caught? I never told -him. I went no more to the circus. - -In our church life it was the same. On the Sunday on which I united -with the church, there were seventy-two who were received; yet this -great man found time to say to the boy of fifteen, as we left the -church, that he would expect me to take part, preferably by engaging -in prayer, in the Sunday night prayer service, a fortnight from that -day." - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - LIGHT AT EVENING TIME. - - -In the seven or eight decades of work for the Master by John Chambers -and his alumni, besides those who have finished their work on earth -and whose names I do not remember, not having known them, or known -them but slightly, there are others, preachers of the Gospel, probably -twenty or more, still in active career. It is interesting to look down -the list of those who are, with the writer, fellow alumni of the First -Independent Church, and to see also in what varied paths of service -they follow the Master. In the list of eighteen Christian ministers -known to the writer, six are Presbyterian, two are Methodists, three -Baptists, two Congregationalists, and three Episcopal. The first -of those attracted to the gospel ministry by the pastor was Thomas -Irvine, who died about 1827 or 1828. The second was the Rev. Charles -Brown, who united with the church October 1, 1826, and was ordained -June 30, 1833. Thus began, in true apostolical succession, a line of -prophets of the good word of God. - -It was one of the unanswerable proofs of the genuineness of John -Chambers's Christianity, that he taught the religion of Jesus as -something more than a set of opinions, or even of convictions. He -showed us all how to agree to disagree, to be friends, and keep "the -unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace", even when we could not see -eye to eye. He cared very little what denomination "his boys" entered -as preachers of the Gospel. What he rejoiced in was their bearing -witness to Christ. Intense as he was, in his ethical earnestness and -in the reality of religion, tenacious of his own ideas as is ivy to -the wall, he accorded the same liberty of conscience and action -to others that he allowed himself. In this, our leader was large -minded as well as big hearted. I am inclined to think that his real -generosity of mind and breadth of theological sympathy were greater -than those of many laymen, whose mental view and habits have long been -fixed. For an absolutely judicial opinion on this subject, I should -trust the men in the pulpit rather than those in the pew. If this view -seems a novelty, let us turn to the Rev. Dr. Edgar Levy, the venerable -pastor of the Berean Baptist church of West Philadelphia. Now over -four score, he united with the church about 1835. He said at the -semi-centennial or jubilee of May, 1875: - -"Dr. Chambers has always been the counsellor and friend of young men. -What pastor ever had the power of drawing around him, to the same -extent, the young men of our city? Eternity alone will disclose the -army of young men who have lighted their torches at this altar, and -who have gone forth to enlighten and save a dying world. - -"Many of these young men have entered other denominations; but our -pastor never seemed otherwise than glad that they had found fields of -usefulness in other directions. His only concern seemed to be that -they might be true men, useful men, faithful to God and to duty. And -here, I cannot refrain from an allusion to my own change of church -relations, as illustrative of his generosity. When I felt called upon -to leave this home of my youth and unite with another people who bear -a different name, I called on him to tell him of my purpose. And while -he could not accept of my views, I shall never forget with what a -largeness of heart he took my hand in both of his, and bade me go and -preach the everlasting Gospel to perishing men." - -Our great teacher was a man of continuous spiritual growth, in his old -age ripening in the wisdom that helped and in the faith that makes -faithful. Some things were seen by himself more clearly when God had -given him the perspective of experience. This was so notable, that it -excited the surprise of those who remembered only the former fiery -days. He became less impetuous and abusive of his enemies. One alumnus -writes, "A few years before his death, I asked him (Dr. Chambers) -why he had fallen away from his strenuous and frequent utterances in -behalf of total abstinence. He replied that experience had taught him -that to make a man 'every whit whole' was almost as easy as to save -him from a single evil habit, or to correct a single fault, and that -he had come to feel that the utterance of a complete gospel was more -necessary than preaching temperance. I think that this showed Mr. -Chambers to be a less narrow-minded man than he had sometimes appeared -to be". - -His nephew writes: "After I graduated at college in 1866, I went to -the Union Theological Seminary and visited him a number of times. I -was not quite clear about entering the Presbyterian ministry. He urged -me to do so and told me confidentially the plans to get his own church -into the Presbytery before his death. When I asked him how he could -advise me to subscribe to the Westminster Confession when he could not -do it himself, he said: "My son, I can swallow some things now I could -not forty years ago"! - -In a word, John Chambers saw as clearly as Whittier: - - "The letter fails and systems fall, - And every symbol wanes; - The Spirit overbrooding all - Eternal Love remains." - -With prophetic eye he perceived also that "the individualism of the -middle of the nineteenth century" was soon to belong to the past, and -that unity and co-operation were to prevail over competition and -independency. Yet to suppose John Chambers was ever a sectarian would -be to misjudge him wholly. His very life breathed out the prayer: - - "O Lord and Master of us all! - Whate'er our name or sign, - We own thy sway, we hear thy call, - We test our lives by thine." - -During the last decade of his life Dr. Chambers withdrew somewhat from -public speaking outside of his own pulpit. About four years before -his death came a stroke of paralysis which somewhat weakened him. -His physician was the celebrated specialist and author who, like Dr. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, has enriched both science and literature. Dr. -S. Weir Mitchell. The patient was particularly touched by the tender -solicitude of his Quaker friends, whose meeting house on Twelfth -street was just across from his home. On recovery he sent out to his -host of enquiring friends a circular containing his thanks in print as -follows: - - -A CARD FROM THE REV. JOHN CHAMBERS. - - "For many days my mind has been exercised how I could in the - most Christian and modest way reach the eye and ear of a very - large number of friends whose solicitude for my restoration to - health and continued life has been so marked. I have concluded - that a simple card, sent out through the press, from an honest - heart, would be acceptable to all. - - First, then, I owe a debt of undying gratitude to the Ministers - of the Prince of Peace, who came like doves to the windows of - my tabernacle with the inquiry late and early: 'How is he; any - change for the better?' - - Again my gratitude is due to a large number of God's Israel, who - called again and again without any other object than to know - whether the light was beginning to burn brighter in the house of - sorrow. How Christian-like was this! - - Then, again, I wish to acknowledge, as best I can, my debt of - gratitude to that large class of my fellow-citizens, beginning - with the learned jurist and reaching down to the humblest man of - toil. In this enumeration I take more than ordinary pleasure in - including a large number of the Society of Friends, especially - the members of the Twelfth Street Meeting. While memory lasts - those fond inquiries of old and young will not be forgotten. - Kind words never die. As to my own beloved people I may say of - them, as Jesus said of the faithful woman: 'They have done what - they could'. There has been nothing left undone to relieve the - anxiety of a pastor's heart. - - The Press, too, has been most kind and generous, for which I - thank them. Nor can I pass unnoticed the eminent services of my - physician, S. Weir Mitchell, M.D., whose skill and devotion, - under God, have brought me into a state of convalescence. - - Glorious Christianity! How unlike all other systems of religion. - - JOHN CHAMBERS. - - Philadelphia, March 28, 1871." - -On reaching his seventy-sixth year, in 1874, the young people of the -congregation planned a delightful surprise, of which he thus told, -at the semi-centennial of his pastorate: "They converted these two -figures '7--6' into gold dollars, and they presented me the '76' -beautifully made up of gold dollars, containing one hundred and eleven -in all." - -"The glory of young men is their strength" and hope. It would hardly -be fair to expect an old man of seventy-two, who had borne the heat -and burden of the day, and was already broken in health and by many -sorrows, to feel as hopeful and buoyant concerning things at the end -of the earth as a young man not yet thirty. Yet none more than himself -felt humiliated and took rebukes gladly, when he realized that he had -not honored his Master by as large a measure of faith as he ought to -have done. - -Late in 1870, just before leaving for Japan, to which country I had -been invited by the lord of Echizen, to organize the education of -the lads of his province according to Occidental principles and in -modern methods,[10] I called on my old pastor to receive his blessing -and take farewell. Always hearty in his welcome and kindly in his -interest, I felt that his faith was not as strong concerning the -educational and missionary conquest of the Far East, as his preaching -and long-continued interest had led me to expect. As with the war for -freedom and national life, so in the war for the Everlasting Kingdom, -it seemed to me he took a too local view of a great subject. I was -genuinely surprised that, instead of heartily cheering me, he seemed -to discourage me. He spoke gloomily of the vast masses of untouched -heathenism and said that anything I could do was only as a drop in the -bucket. - -[Footnote 10: See Verbeck of Japan, Chapter XI.] - -Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I intended to make that drop tell, -and I felt that what man could not do, God would. I entered the -Japan, in which no native Christian dared then to make confession of -his faith, in which no more converts to Reformed Christianity than -could be enumerated on the fingers of one hand were known, and in -which descendants of the Roman Catholics of the early seventeenth -century were still in the crypts, undiscovered yet, even by the French -missionaries then on the soil. At that time, 1870, feudalism with -its mediæval ideals was the rule of society. A half dozen government -schools on Western principles, and only one or two of missionary -origin, were in their infancy. I went out to live four years in the -East, one of them as a lone exile in Fukui. This was the Japan which -Verbeck, Brown, and Hepburn by Christian teaching and healing, which -Satow, Aston, and Chamberlin through scholarship, and which Kido, -Okubo, and Iwakura by political action were reconstructing, and where -all the fascinations and horrors of the pagan world were rampant. No -life insurance company in America would then insure my life, except at -a heavy premium. - -When I came back home in 1874, and in the still grandly attended -Friday night meeting spoke to Dr. Chambers' people, I told them -of Christian churches with nearly a thousand members enrolled, of -Christian schools and hospitals, and of a new Japan. I called the -attention of the now venerable pastor to this fresh illustration -of the truth he had so often proclaimed, how much greater God was -than our feeble faith, and how superbly the kingdom of heaven was -marching on. After the benediction, a hearty right hand shaken and -left shoulder patted in the ancient style, with words of glowing -friendship, made for my soul a picture set in diamonds of delight--the -last of the great man that has framed itself in my memory. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - TRANSFER OF THE CHURCH TO THE PRESBYTERY. - - -For forty-eight years the congregation to which John Chambers -ministered had formed an Independent Church. The time had now come -when the same company of Christian believers, which had been the Ninth -Presbyterian Church, was to enter upon the third stage of its history, -and become the Chambers Presbyterian Church. - -On the 9th of May, 1825, Mr. Chambers had received his call. Amid -all vicissitudes, the removing to a new neighborhood, the building -first, and then the enlarging, of the church edifice, the terrible -storm of the Civil War, and the removal of a large number of his -people elsewhere, nothing had seriously interfered with his work -or threatened its stability or continuance, but in 1874 the pastor -began to think seriously about the future of his flock. The whole -trend of population in all three directions, north, south, and -west was away from Broad and Sansom, while business was steadily -encroaching upon the neighborhood once wholly occupied by homes. John -Chambers had overstepped the limits of three score years and ten. A -stroke of paralysis was nature's first warning that the best days -of his strength were over. The time seemed now to have come when an -independent church, of the type which had for nearly half a century -demonstrated its power to live and grow, was no longer needed. It was -not self-conceit, but dire necessity that compelled John Chambers to -reflect and to ask the question whether, after the removal of his own -personality and the snapping by death of the ties which bound three -generations to him in love and loyalty, the church could exist as -an independent body. Long he pondered the matter. He breathed his -thoughts at first to no one, not even to his wife, but looked to God -for light. He waited for the vision. While he was musing, the fire -burned. He has himself told the story: - -"For a whole year I did not even say to the beloved companion of -my bosom what my object was, what I was thinking about, but I was -casting around to know what was to become of this house. I thought -of that little house down at the eastern end of Girard street, where -the venerable and godly Samuel Wylie, D.D., lived and preached Jesus -Christ, and I remembered the degradation which afterward fell upon -it. I remembered the beautiful church on Seventh street, below Arch, -where our honored friend, Dr. Beadle, preached, and I remembered that -it was converted into a place for negro minstrels. I recollected the -house where my once remarkable and eloquent and noble friend, Thomas -H. Stockton, preached Christ Jesus, and how it was desecrated from the -service of Almighty God to the service of the devil, and I said one -morning, as I sat upon the summit of a hill away off yonder in the -state of New York, just as the sun was going down, and I looked out -upon that beautiful country: 'God helping me, when I go home I will -tell my brethren the conclusion I have reached after a whole year's -study and thought and prayer.' That conclusion that I had come to -was that we would go into the Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, -we would change our charter, and we would put this church in such a -chartered position that we should never lose it, but it should stand -firm and fixed upon the immutable principles of the Lord God, firmly -consecrated to the holiness of the atonement and the blood of the -saints. We did it. We went into the Presbyterian Church. Those men of -God threw their arms around us, almost with shouts of hallelujah, in -the room just back of our house. The Presbytery met us and welcomed -us, and I had the satisfaction of seeing this church taken into -fellowship with that denomination where they are to-day, and where I -trust the church will ever abide and prosper under God's blessing. -I say devoutly that we did not lose our membership by the change. I -believe there were two communicants who took some offense. One of -them, poor fellow, has gone to Heaven, I believe, but there were but -those two who left us, and I am as certain as I can be that if that -dear brother had lived, they would have, both husband and wife, been -with us now". - -It is very certain that the step was a wise one. It is still more -certain that had such a transfer taken place before, or during the -war, there would have been a much larger procession of members into -the Congregational Church, wherein scores of "Chamberites" could from -the opening of the war be counted. Deeply indoctrinated in primitive -and apostolic ideas, they who remained with the pastor until 1874 -would, if the change had been made twenty years earlier, have gone -like those who in 1861 went out from the First Independent Church, -largely because of their ideas as to Union and secession, and entered -the Central Congregational Church. - -The Presbytery "dealt very leniently", as a Doctor of Divinity told me -in 1903, "with the old 'War Horse'". - -Dr. Herrick Johnson tells us that when, at the Presbytery's -invitation, John Chambers gave his reminiscences of fifty years' -service for God in Philadelphia, the address was a revelation and -inspiration and a benediction. We insert here his letter to Dr. -Chambers's nephew: - - 1070 North Halsted Street, } - CHICAGO, Jan. 1st, 1903. } - - _Dear Dr. Milner_: - - My personal knowledge of the Rev. John Chambers is limited to - the later years of his life. During my Phila. pastorate, he - held a unique and conspicuous place in the city, as pastor of - an independent Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian in its form of - Government, yet independent of ecclesiastical authority. - - He grew some great men in that period. He was the sturdy - champion of some great causes. His intense and stalwart - contention for civic and social righteousness could always be - counted on. The rush and force and downright abandon with which - he flung himself against every form of evil made him a leader of - men and a winner of victories. - - He was as bold as a lion, and had the heart of a child. His - emotions were not born blind, and therefore, while intense, were - under curb and bit. His preaching was often "the quiescence - of turbulence". He himself might well be characterized "a - phlegmatic fanatic". His talk before our ministers' meeting - one day, after he had returned to the Presbyterian fold, and - when he had been invited to give us some reminiscences of his - fifty years service for God in Philadelphia, was a revelation, - an inspiration and a benediction. We felt there was but one - John Chambers, whom God had sent into this world, marked 'not - transferable' and 'good for this trip only'". - - HERRICK JOHNSON. - -It was soon after this event, that he received the title of Doctor of -Divinity, and henceforth we called him "Doctor Chambers". - -A Congregational minister, one of the alumni of John Chambers -Independent Church writes: - -"I think he must have been pained when he turned his church over to -the Presbyterians. Yet here was practical wisdom. At his death there -was no longer room for an independent church in Philadelphia of the -type of the church which he had founded. He did not lack practical -wisdom." - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL AND FAREWELL. - - -When, like Ruth leaving her native land to dwell with Naomi--mother -in love, as well as in law--John Chambers plighted his troth to the -church that became orphan for his sake; he made Ruth's words his own, -and in his heart said to his people: "The Lord do so to me and more -also, if aught but death part thee and me." - -For fifty years his one congregation was his first and only love. Deaf -to all calls--and they were many--his one answer to his people was -Ruth's to Naomi, and to those seeking him, the Shunammite's, "I dwell -among mine own people." "How often have I heard him say," said Dr. -Levy in 1875, "that though you could give him only a crust of bread -and a cup of cold water, he would continue to be your pastor." Love -begets love, and "unfailing confidence, tender sympathy and ardent -love ... made this union enduring and fruitful of everything sweet and -precious". - -It was in the year 1875 that, after long preparation, the pastor's -semi-centennial anniversary was celebrated. We here reproduce the -programme as printed: - - 1825 1875 - - COMMEMORATIVE SERVICES - ON THE - SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY - OF PASTORATE OF - REV. JOHN CHAMBERS, D.D. - OVER ONE CONGREGATION - - MAY 9TH TO 14TH, 1875 - - Sabbath Day, May 9th, 10½ A.M.--Anniversary Sermon--Rev. John - Chambers, D.D. - - Service 4 P.M., Sermon, Rev. T. J. Sheppard, D.D. - - Service 7½ P.M., Sermon, Rev. Wm. Blackwood, D.D. - - Monday Evening, May 10th, Services 7½.--Reminiscences of Early - Days--Short addresses by Rev. Edgar Levy, D.D., Rev. Joseph - Baker, Rev. John Bliss, Rev. Thomas J. Brown, and Rev. R. G. S. - McNeille, who were formerly members of the church. - - Tuesday Evening, May 11th, 1875.--Sabbath School Jubilee. Half - past seven o'clock--Singing and Addresses. Half past eight - o'clock--Refreshments for Scholars of Sabbath School. - - Wednesday Evening, May 12th at 7 o'clock. Social Re-union with - a Festival, for Members of the Church and Congregation, at - Horticultural Hall. - - Thursday Evening, May 13th, 7½ o'clock. General Praise and - Thanksgiving meeting--participated in by Ministers of different - denominations. - - Friday Evening, May 14th, 8 o'clock. The Congregational Prayer - Meeting, in the body of the church. - -In a sermon marked by the usual graces of delivery, Dr. Chambers, as -he was then, recounted in a touching manner the wonderful goodness of -God enjoyed during a half century. He was surrounded by his church -officers and congregation and his young alumni in the ministry. His -old friend, Rev. Dr. T. J. Sheppard, with singular grace and power, -preached from the fitting text: "He shall be like a tree planted by -the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his -leaf also shall not wither". Monday evening was devoted to epistolary -communications or addresses by pastors who had formerly been members -of the church, such as the Rev. Charles Brown, Rev. Dr. Levy, Rev. -Joseph J. Baker, Rev. William J. Paxson, Rev. John C. Bliss, Rev. S. -P. Kelley, and Rev. R. G. S. McNeille. Tuesday evening was for the -participation of the Sunday School children in the jubilee service. -On Wednesday evening the social reunion at Horticultural Hall took -place, when besides the singing, led by Prof. William G. Fisher, and -appropriate words from Rev. Dr. Eva and Rev. William R. Stockton, -Francis Newland, the life-long friend and elder of the church, -presented in the name of the people a golden tribute in the form of -one thousand dollars. One of his young men, John Wanamaker, on the -eve of his departure for Europe, had the day before sent his pastor a -five hundred dollar bill on the United States Treasury. The audience, -numbering a thousand, after promenading and shaking hands with their -beloved minister, partook of refreshments, each lady receiving a -handsome memorial bouquet. On Thursday evening there was another feast -of reason and flow of soul in the greetings by pastors of neighboring -churches. Rev. George Dana Boardman was in the chair, and Rev. Dr. -Breed, Rev. Dr. Newton, Dr. Hatfield, and William R. Stockton showed -by word and look their love and fellowship. Dr. Breed, in the course -of his address, read the following original lines: - - A stranger boy from Erin came-- - He made our land his chosen home. - He heard the Master's gracious call, - He seized the banner, climbed the wall, - He blew the trumpet, drew the sword, - He fired the shot, he preached the word - By grace divine, thro' toils and tears, - With ardent hopes, defying fears, - In holy scorn of scoffs and jeers - He's held the fort for fifty years! - And if the God whom we adore, - But grant what thousand hearts implore, - He'll hold it yet for many more! - Amen and amen! - -The time honored Friday evening prayer meeting was held this week on -May 14 in the upper auditorium and Rev. Dr. Plumer of Columbia, S. -C., and Rev. Charles Brown of Philadelphia made addresses. - -It was at the "golden jubilee", as we have shown, that Dr. Chambers -having on other occasions recounted the gifts of his people to their -pastor--the furnishing of his house, the table set of silver, the -expense money for a trip to Europe, the carpeting of his house, study -and parlors by the ladies, the young people's birthday offering of -$111 in gold pieces was treated to a fresh surprise, the "golden -token"--one thousand dollars. In the grand old pastor's speech in -response to his unexpected golden shower, he made it clear "what -radiance it throws around this old man's evening of life". - -Entering upon his seventy-eighth year, Dr. Chambers still kept up his -abundant labors, though it was manifest, especially after the funerals -of old and beloved parishioners and the great drain on his sympathies, -that his powers were failing fast. In the month of August, 1875, -he had an attack of paralysis of the bladder, which induced severe -inflammation of the kidneys, resulting in blood poisoning, from which -he died in his home, at Girard and Twelfth streets, after an illness -of several weeks, at 11.15 P. M., September 22, 1875. It was on -Communion Sunday, the last of the month, that asleep in God his mortal -remains awaited their burial. His body was brought to the church, and -thence from the spot where he had, a few weeks before, celebrated his -golden anniversary. The last words uttered by him and set to music -were sung by the quartet as the remains of John Chambers were taken -from the church: - - "Farewell, farewell, farewell, - We meet no more on this side of Heaven. - Our parting scene is o'er, - Our last fond look is given. - Farewell, farewell, farewell." - -I have copied these words as kindly contributed by one of the original -quartet, Mr. A. Gunning. - -Dr. Chambers died September 22, 1875, four months after his fiftieth -anniversary. His successors in the pastorate have been Rev. Henry C. -Westwood, D.D., 1876-1878; Rev. J. M. B. Otts, D.D., 1879-'83; Rev. -Thomas A. Hoyt, D.D., 1884-1902. On this very day, June 30, as I -finish revision of the manuscript to hand to the printer, July 1st, -1903, I read of his decease yesterday. - -The executor of the estate of John Chambers, Robert H. Hinckley, Jr., -attended to the settlement of the earthly affairs of his teacher and -friend, including the distribution among his grandchildren of the -pieces in the set of silver presented by the congregation in 1865. - -In the central part of Laurel Hill Cemetery, in a small lot just off -the main driveway, with four granite posts to mark the corners, is the -very modest monument made of three blocks of granite, set one upon -another, the whole indicative of solidity, strength and symmetry. The -top piece is uninscribed. On the center piece one reads: - - REV. JOHN CHAMBERS - - "FOR FIFTY YEARS PASTOR OF CHAMBERS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, - - Dec. 19, 1797. Sept. 22nd, 1875." - - (On the ground block is inscribed,) - -"They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever - and ever." - - (On the other side, on same block with the name is:) - - "I am the resurrection and the life." - - "MATILDA P. CHAMBERS - - Wife of Rev. John Chambers - - Died March 4, 1877." - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - THE CHILDREN OF THE MOTHER. - - -John Chambers used to boast of his three big W's--Walton, Wanamaker, -and Whitaker. The two first-named are known to most of my readers. The -third, who made a vow to give to the Lord all he had or made over the -amount of sixty thousand dollars, was a generous helper of the pastor. - -The first great offshoot from the mother church on Broad Street is the -Bethany Presbyterian Church, in which Messrs. Wanamaker and Walton, -were generously interested and unceasingly active. - -In 1875 Mr. Chambers said, "Connected with our movements as a -church, no single event in our history exceeds in point of grandeur -or importance Bethany mission, ... A very few, some thirty, of the -young workers of our church headed by that remarkable young man, John -Wanamaker, left us and after there being a selection made in the -southwestern part of the city, they started a Sabbath School in the -working room of a little Irish shoemaker, with some ten little ragged -children to begin with, and in the course of a very few weeks they -had to take all the room in the little Irishman's home, pretty much, -and then they had not enough. A tent was erected that would contain -some four or five hundred, and then the congregation agreed that there -should be a house put up, and a one-story house was put up that would -contain some five or six hundred". - -It seems almost like a fairy tale when one contrasts the condition of -things in the Bethany neighborhood, as I first saw it in 1855, and as -it is now. After our family had moved from Girard Avenue to the house -on 20th street four doors below Chestnut on the east side, my mother -took me one day to enter the public school situated, I believe, -at 22nd and Shippen. Just as we turned the corner at Twentieth and -Pine Street, I looked across to the southwest. For many hundred of -acres, there was an expanse of vacant lots occupied here and there -with squatters' cabins, goose pastures and roaming cows, the streets -not being yet "cut through". Still in the days of the volunteer -fire company, with all its lawlessness and also of abundance, yes, -superabundance, of liquor saloons, it seemed one of the least -promising portions of the city. Now, it is densely built up with -elegant homes and is the center of wealth, comfort, and culture. - -I remember well, too, when the first band of workers went out from -the mother church and on the 14th of February, 1858, in two second -story rooms of the house at No. 2135 South Street, began a Sunday -School, with twenty-seven scholars and two teachers, the seating -capacity being eked out, if I remember rightly, with rough scantling -brought up out of the cellar and laid upon bricks. Long before hot -weather, the rooms, halls, and stairway were crowded, so on the 18th -of July a tent was set up on the North side of South street. After a -summer under canvas, the corner stone for a chapel was laid on the -18th of October, Dr. Chambers with his brethren, Leyburn, Brainerd, -and McLeod making addresses. The chapel which measured 40 by 60 feet -was dedicated on January 27th, 1859, and on January 4th, 1862, Rev. -Augustus Blauvelt began his labors as city missionary, becoming after -a year a missionary to China. I remember him as preaching a remarkable -sermon on the kingdom of Satan. He died in April, 1900. - -The growth of Bethany was continuous and surprising. I remember how -those most interested conversed with each other about the name of the -child now fully born and ready for its clothing and christening. The -walks and talks and experiences by the way, in going from the old home -to the new enterprise, called up the words of the Scripture: "He led -them out as far as Bethany and lifted up his hands and blessed them". -So the name of Bethany was decided upon. - -On September 25, 1865, the enterprise was organized into a -Presbyterian Church under the care of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, -Old School. The lot at the southeast corner of Twenty-second and -Bainbridge streets, 112 by 138½ feet, was purchased, and on February -13, 1870, the new and commodious edifice was dedicated. - -To-day, with its large eldership, boards of trustees and deacons, its -doormen and tithemen, its leaders of Christian bands, its college -established in 1881--the first of its kind in Philadelphia, and of -which for many years its vice-president, Rudolph S. Walton, was chief -friend and benefactor, Bethany is a center of blessing to thousands. -Of the Deaconesses' Home, the Men's Friendly Inn, and other details of -the great work we have not space to speak. At his decease in November, -1900, Mr. Walton left about $200,000 for the erection of a new college -building. - -No sooner was Bethany Church grown to adult life than it began to -send forth colonies. The Bethany Mission was its first namesake. By -this time, in the twentieth century, the boy that I once knew as no -richer or poorer than the average, had become one of Philadelphia's -princely merchants, with hand ever open for gifts and help. A lot at -the northeast corner of Twenty-eighth and Morris streets, measuring -114 by 136 feet, was secured. It was far away from any human dwelling, -but it was in the direction of growth. The skilled fishers of men let -down the net just where they knew the fishes would be in shoals--a -method and policy following out that of their great teacher, Jesus -Christ, and of their earthly exemplar, John Chambers. On this lot Mr. -John Wanamaker and Mrs. Wanamaker (at whose wedding I remember being -present, as a boy), in gratitude to God for the wonderful preservation -from fire of the great Wanamaker store, have erected, since the -streets were opened, a superb edifice with all modern equipments and -furnishing. This, at the present time, serves as a church and Sunday -School and for social gatherings. The main church edifice is to be -erected later on the southern portion of the still unoccupied lot. - -How gratifying this was to the Presbytery of Philadelphia is seen in -the records given below. From the minutes of October 30, 1901, we make -extracts of the - - - PROCEEDINGS OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. - -Mr. Robert H. Hinckley presented the following preamble and resolution: - -"As a member of the special committee who reported June 1, 1899 (see -folio 228) on the proposed location of a church at 28th and Morris -Streets, I desire to report that in accordance with the permission -therein granted, Mr. John Wanamaker has erected and dedicated to the -memory of the late Rev. John Chambers a church building on the North -East corner of 28th and Morris Sts., which affords ample space for a -congregation of fifteen hundred worshippers, also for a large Sabbath -school and several large rooms suitable for reading rooms and for the -general purposes of an institutional church. The ground and building -cost Mr. Wanamaker over eighty thousand dollars, all of which has been -paid and the building was dedicated during the third week of October, -free of debt, as The John Chambers Memorial Church. I suggest, -therefore, that we recommend to Presbytery the following Resolution: - -_Resolved_, That a special Committee of three members of this -Presbytery be appointed to wait on Mr. John Wanamaker and extend to -him the thanks and appreciation of the Presbytery for his princely -liberality and his magnificent recognition of the work and services of -one of our most devoted ministers who has long since been called to -his reward". - -This was unanimously agreed to and the Committee appointed. - -In the above record, the name of Robert H. Hinckley is that of -the surviving elder of the Chambers Presbyterian Church and still -an indefatigable worker in Christ's name. On Saturday afternoon -early in May, 1901, in the presence of a large gathering of Bethany -Church people and about five hundred children, ground was broken -at Twenty-eighth and Morris streets. Besides addresses from John -Wanamaker, Rev. Messrs. Wm. Patterson, John Thompson, George Van -Deurs, and the laymen Edwin Adams, Robert Boyd, and R. M. Coyle, there -were prayer and singing. - -I visited this as yet unbuilt portion of the city on Friday, Jan. -23rd, 1903, which, besides being the 324th anniversary of the Union of -Utrecht, our great national precedent for federal government and the -date of the dinner of the Holland Society of Philadelphia, was for me -a veritable John Chambers day. - -Starting from Thirteenth and Filbert, the site of the old Church of -the Vow, and moving through the City Hall buildings and Wanamaker's -Grand Depot and big store, I came to Broad and Sansom, where in 1830, -towards the setting sun, there were but unoccupied lots, or only a -few scanty buildings. Further down Broad Street, near Spruce, I -passed, having already studied the interior of, the new and imposing -structure, the Chambers-Wylie Memorial Church. Thence southwestwardly, -I walked to Bethany Presbyterian Church which, when started, was -amid brickyards, vacant lots, and with a great area of the open -country stretching to the southwest. I then boarded a Gray's Ferry -car and rode past the United States Arsenal and into a region where -the streets had only very recently been cut through, and were but -partially paved or curbed. - -I found the Church of the Love of God, the John Chambers Memorial -Church, standing alone in its glory. No human dwellings were nearer -than a quarter of a mile, though houses of worship could be discerned -rising out of the fringe of dwellings. But this pioneering, "preparing -in the desert a highway for our God", was exactly what the First -Independent Church people and the Bethany Mission colony of 1858, -had done before. It was simply planting the standard for the hosts -to follow. What grand faith to go ahead of population and to be -literally a forerunner of the gospel! Outwardly the edifice, built of -a combination of light brick, Scotch granite, and terra cotta, seemed -but little "like a church", yet only, as it were, to impress upon -the mind the absurdity of ever calling an edifice--a thing built by -masons and carpenters--a "church", which is a company of human souls -called to do God's will. Yet for such uses, and for such a company, -and intended to be helpful to the education and training of the young -in social holiness and for the worship of God, what could be better? -In the basement was a gymnasium, with generous facilities for physical -exercise, and that which is next to godliness. There were also a -great entertainment room, a kitchen, tea room, and apartments for the -janitor and his family. Upstairs, on the first or main floor was the -great Sunday School room proper, divisible, by movable partitions -and curtains, into class rooms and able to hold in unity about twelve -hundred people. Offices, reading rooms, places for mothers' meetings, -and, oh blessed modern addition--fulfilling at least one pastor's -dreams--rooms, where invalids or mothers with small children might -come, see the minister but not be seen by the congregation, stay as -long as they could and leave, whenever they wished, through a side -door without disturbing any one. Kindergarten rooms and also those for -the junior classes completed this "modern instance" of consecrated -common sense expressed in a building. - -After the courteous janitor had shown me about, I went up on the roof, -whence projects many feet in the air a rotating star with electric -lights showing at night, the red, white, and blue in alternation, -while east and west along the ridge pole rises in large letters, -electrically illuminated at night, the "Church of the Love of -God"--though the corporate name of the completed enterprise is to be -the John Chambers Memorial Church. On the roof also is a great bell -cast at the McChane foundry, in Baltimore. This is the gift of Miss -Kate Wentz, who, with her aunt Miss Cousty, were as I remember, among -the most faithful worshippers during many years in the old church. Its -silvery tones made the air quiver with melody first on Christmas Eve. -Facing the south and the sunny hours is a superb stained-glass window, -with the medallion portrait of the great pastor, as he looked in his -prime, when his hair was just beginning to turn gray. - -Thus, in a southwesterly line, through the city of Philadelphia, from -near the spot where to-day stands the great Reading Terminal, has -issued a chain of sweet influences, which, like those of the Pleiades, -cannot be bound. - -The dedicatory services of the John Chambers Memorial Church, erected -as a thanksgiving offering to the praise and glory of God, and in -memory of the life and good works of his servant, the Rev. John -Chambers, were held during the week beginning October 19, 1902, on -entering the new house of the Lord. The published pamphlet, which is -richly illustrated with portraits and pictures of the church edifices, -is a valuable souvenir of both old times and new. - -Yet this is not all. On June 9, 1898, some of the Christian workers -of Bethany Church began services in a tent in West Philadelphia, -near Baltimore avenue and Fiftieth street, and out of that beginning -has grown Saint Paul's Presbyterian Church, which flourishes with -high promise. Its edifice was dedicated March 24, 1901. Here again -the great pastor is commemorated by a superb memorial window which -sheathes the light and color that set forth most gloriously the Good -Shepherd. It has been reared to the memory of John Chambers by Mrs. -John Hunter, the widow of Mr. John C. Hunter, so long the faithful -elder in the old Broad Street Church. - -The basement of Saint Paul's Church, furnished and fitted up by the -Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip, is named Walton Hall and contains a -marble tablet in memory of Rudolph S. Walton, which reads as follows: - - IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF - - RUDOLPH S. WALTON. - - A wise counsellor. A loving friend. A just man. - - * * * * * - - Unto the life beyond--November 10th, 1900. - - * * * * * - - "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is - able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that - day." - - --II TIMOTHY, i:12. - -Still further at Rutledge, Delaware county, Pa., is another Chambers -Memorial Church, established and carried on chiefly by young men -and women who are alumni of the First Independent Church and of the -Chambers Presbyterian Church. It has been liberally assisted by the -trustees of the Chambers-Wylie Church and contains stained glass -memorial windows in honor of the pastor and also of the elders of the -old Broad Street Church. - -In the handsomely printed and illustrated pamphlet, entitled -"Dedication Souvenir of the Chambers-Wylie Memorial Presbyterian -Church", prepared by Rev. Thomas A. Hoyt, D.D., pastor emeritus, and -published for the Building Committee in 1901, one will find much -interesting information concerning the two churches merged into one -and still occupying a home in the commodious edifice on Broad street, -below Spruce. - -After due conference the two congregations executed formal articles -of agreement May 27, 1897, and their action was ratified by the -Presbytery. For a short time they both become one, worshipped in the -edifice of the Chambers Church, and when that was sold and torn down, -the old Epiphany Church building at Fifteenth and Chestnut streets -(wherein so long Dr. Richard Newton, a favorite writer of children's -books, ministered), then owned by Mr. John Wanamaker, was made use of. -From this temporary abiding place the united congregation moved into -their new and splendid temple, enjoying the first dedicatory services -on the Sabbath day, December 8, 1901, and continuing them during the -five succeeding evenings. - - [Illustration: THE CHAMBERS-WYLIE MEMORIAL CHURCH.] - -The principal dates and items of financial interest are as follows: Of -the sum of $412,500 received from the sale of the property at Broad -and Sansom Streets, the sum of $200,000 was set aside as a perpetual -endowment for the use of the Chambers-Wylie Church, and $60,000 -were applied to extinguish the mortgage debt. The sum of $6,000 was -given to the Rutledge Presbyterian Church. - -On December 26th, 1899, the congregation instructed the Board of -Trustees to proceed with the erection of a new church edifice, -according to an estimate submitted by J. E. & A. L. Pennock, the -cost of same to be $101,000 and in April, 1900, the erection of the -building was begun. On August 8th, 1900, the corner stone was laid -and on the first Sunday of December, 1901, the Church building was -formally dedicated, the Rev. Thomas A. Hoyt, D.D., preaching in the -morning, and Rev. Henry C. Minton, D.D., in the evening. - -The entire cost of the church building was $103,915.66. The cost of -Organ, $10,000; Cost of Pews, $3,260; Pulpit Furniture, $600; Stained -Glass, $1,500; Heating System, $2,400; Carpets, $3,457. - - * * * * * - -Within two years after preaching the dedication sermon, the pastor -emeritus fell asleep in God, and funeral services were held in the new -edifice. - -The Board of Trustees of the Chambers-Wylie Memorial Church met in -the pastor's study, at noon on the same day, and passed the following -resolution: - -"The Rev. Thomas A. Hoyt, D.D., our Pastor Emeritus and for seventeen -years our pastor, whose death occurred in Bryn Mawr on Monday, June -29th, was beloved by us all and by the church we represent. He came -to us in 1883 and by his untiring devotion to the interests of this -church and his skill in carrying into effect the union of the two -churches now one in this present organization has made possible our -present prosperity and position of influence." - - * * * * * - -Now, during the pastorate of Rev. E. Trumbull Lee, with a few of the -old "Chamberites" and many new followers of the Master the work goes -on. God bless and prosper them one and all. - - * * * * * - -"Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for -thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake." - - - - - "Clasp, Angel of the backward look - And folded wings of ashen gray, - And voice of echoes far away, - The brazen covers of thy book; - The weird palimpsest old and vast, - Wherein thou hid'st the spectral past; - Where, closely mingling, pale and glow - The characters of joy and woe; - The monographs of outlived years, - Or smile-illumed or dim with tears, - Green hills of life that slope to death, - And haunts of home, whose vistaed trees - Shade off to mournful cypresses - With the white amaranths underneath. - - Even while I look I can but heed - The restless sands' incessant fall, - Importunate hours that hours succeed, - Each clamorous with its own sharp need, - And duty keeping pace with all. - - Shut down and clasp the heavy lids; - I hear again the voice that bids - The dreamer leave his dream midway - For larger hopes and graver fears; - Life greatens in these later years - The century's aloe flowers to-day!" - - - - - INDEX. - - - Actors and acting, 63, 124. - - Adams, Mr. Edwin, 147. - - Allen, Mr. George, 102. - - Amusements, 48-50, 127. - - Anecdotes, 16, 25, 42, 54, 110. - - Arrison, John Chambers, 41. - - Arrison, Mr. Matthew, 55, 94. - - Ayres, Mr. Hiram, 27. - - - Bacon, Rev. Leonard, 37, 38. - - Baker, Rev. J. J., 140. - - Baltimore, 17, 18, 118, 124. - - Barnes, Rev. Albert, 35, 83, 84. - - Beatty, Mr. J. T., 103. - - Bethany Church, 6, 145, 146. - - Biles, Mr. J. T., 101, 102. - - Blauvelt, Rev. Augustus, 145. - - Bliss, Rev. Dr. John, 78, 140. - - Boardman, Rev. Dr. George Dana, 141. - - Breed, Rev. Dr., 141. - - Briggs, Dr. Charles A., 86, 87. - - British, 17, 18. - - Broad Street Church, 68-80, 152. - - Brooks, Rev. Phillips, 82, 83. - - Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip, 151. - - Brown, Rev. Charles, 127. - - Bruce, Mr. I., 102. - - Buchanan, Pres. James, 112, 117. - - Buck, Dr. F. J., 101. - - Bucks county, 29. - - Burial lot, 24, 33. - - Burtis, Aaron H., 53, 97. - - - Campbell, Mr. S., 102. - - Campbell, President W. H., 42. - - Camperduin, 11. - - Chains across streets, 3-5. - - Chambers, John, advertising sermons, 81; - ancestry, 9; - in Baltimore, 17-23; - birth, 9; - boyhood, 14-17; - Broad Street Church, 61, 62; - call, 28-33; - calls, 124; - children, 45; - clothes, 92, 93; - communion, 73; - drinking customs, 14-16, 51; - Doctor of Divinity, 103; - education, 19-23; - emotions, 65; - Europe visited, 59; - fiftieth jubilee anniversary, 102; - finances, 61, 123; - first communion and baptism, 41; - fortieth anniversary, 123; - funerals, 55; - grandchildren, 46; - growth in character, 122; - health, 123; - heretic, 30; - hymn reading, 91, 109; - illness, 130, 131; - infancy, 11; - jubilee anniversary, 102; - last words, 142; - licensed, 23; - marriage, 44, 66; - marrying couples, 97; - memorial churches, 147-153; - ordaining of ministers, 40; - ordination at New Haven, 38-41; - pastor, 110, 126; - peacemaker, 16, chapter xiii; - personal appearance, 7; - physique, 7, 60; - platform, 91, 92; - politics, 17, 63, 64; - prayer meetings, 77-79, 110; - preaching, 99, 100; - Presbytery, 30, 31; - pulpit manner, 90, 91; - punctuality, 32; - residences, 50; - rejected of Presbytery, 31, 34; - Sabbath, 55, 56; - salary, 123; - sermonizing, 81; - sermons printed, 57, 113; - sermon subjects, 88-90; - sorrows, 107-108; - Sunday School, 46, 96; - teachers, 19-23; - temperance, 15; - theatre, 48-50; - theology, 20, 23, 43, 47; - tomb, 145; - visits Ohio, 14; - voice, 124; - wit, 123-125; - wartime, 112-120. - - Chambers, J. M. Duncan, 45, 46, 66, 120. - - Chambers, Martha, 66, 67, 120. - - Chambers, Matilda, 103, 143. - - Chambers, William, 9-15. - - Chambers-Wylie Memorial Church, 6, 83, 152, 153. - - China, 76. - - Church of the Love of God, 147-150. - - Church on 13th Street, 4, 5, 25, 26. - - Church on Broad Street, 60-62. - - Church government, 94. - - Concert Hall, 69. - - Congregational Church, 52, 115, 137. - - Congregational council, 40. - - Coyle, Mr. R. M., 147. - - Crowell, Rev. James 109. - - Curtin, Governor, 119. - - Cuyler, Rev. T., 55. - - Cyclopedia of Temperance, 83. - - - Dexter, Rev. Franklin, 38. - - Dill, Mr. T. P., 100. - - Drummond, Professor, 126. - - Dudleian lecture, 40. - - Duelling, 58. - - Duncan Margaret, 25, 26. - - Duncan, Rev. John Mason, 19-21, 27, 34. - - - Elders, 40, 53. - - Ely, Rev. Dr. Stiles, 28, 31. - - Evans, Mr. J., 102. - - - Fashions, 92, 93, 105. - - Fisher, Prof. W. G., 122, 141. - - Flag on church, 116. - - Friends, Society of, 131. - - Fugitive Slave Law, 114. - - Funerals, 51, 55. - - - Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, 117. - - Gashmu, 124. - - General Assembly, 44. - - Gettysburg, 118. - - Gray, Rev. James, 19, 21, 22, 27. - - Griffis, Capt. John L., 85. - - Griffiths, Captain, 118. - - - Hackett, Mr. James, 46. - - Hale, Edward Everett, 106. - - Hall, Wilfrid, 27. - - Hartranft, Rev. P. D., 37. - - Hatfield, Rev. Dr. 141. - - Hibbert, Mr. Thomas, 55, 94. - - Higher Criticism, 37, 99, 122. - - Hinckley, Mr. R. H., 53, 101, 147. - - Hoyt, Rev. Dr. Thomas A., 152, 153. - - Huldah, 4. - - Hunter, Rev. A. B., 101. - - Hunter, Mr. John C., 100, 151. - - Hymns, 16, 109, 110. - - - Ireland, 8, 10. - - Irvine, Rev. Thomas, 127. - - - Japan, 16, 76, 130. - - Johnson, Rev. Dr. Herrick, 137, 138. - - Johnson, Mr. J. B., 102. - - - Kelley, Rev. Samuel P., 140. - - - Lawyer, Mr. E. S., 100. - - Ledger, Public, 81, 82, 85, 88, 121. - - Lee, Rev. Dr. E. Trumbull, 153. - - Leslie, Mr. Henry, 102. - - Levy, Rev. Edgar, 129. - - Leyburn, Rev. Dr., 122, 145. - - Luther, Robert, 40, 53, 95. - - Luther, Rev. Robert Maurice, 95, 124-127. - - - McHenry family, 44, 45. - - McLeod, Rev. Dr., 145. - - McNeille, Rev. R. G. S., 140. - - March, Rev. Daniel, 122. - - Marrott, Mr. C. D., 102. - - Mary, 63. - - Milner, Rev. Dr. Duncan C., 120, 137. - - Minton, Rev. Henry C., 153. - - Mitchell, Dr. S. Weir, 130, 131. - - Money raising, 61. - - Moody, Mr., 90. - - Mount Pleasant, 13, 100. - - Munger, Rev. T. T., 38. - - Myers, Mr. Henry, 102. - - - Nagle, Mr. G. F., 102. - - Neill, Rev., 122. - - Newland, Francis, 97, 98, 141. - - Newton, Rev. Dr. Richard, 152. - - Newton, Pa., 28. - - North American building, 1-3. - - - Ohio, 12-16. - - Otts, Rev. J. M. B., 143. - - - Paine, Thomas, 85, 86. - - Painter, Mr. Charles, 99. - - Patterson, Rev. Wm., 147. - - Penn, Wm., 1. - - Pennock, architects, 153. - - Philadelphia in old time, 5, 24, 49. - - Plumer, Rev. Wm., 119, 122, 141. - - Post with chain, 3, 4. - - Prayer meetings, 27, 54, 55, 141. - - Presbyterian encyclopedia, 34. - - Presbytery of Baltimore, 34. - - Presbytery of Philadelphia, 23, 28. - - Princeton, 19. - - Pulpit, 70, 71. - - Pulpit, power of, 2. - - Purdy, Mr. Harrison, 101, 102. - - - Reed, Mr. Moses, 33. - - Renan's Life of Jesus, 87. - - Revivalists, 36, 63. - - Ross, Miss Anna, 33, 113. - - Rutledge Church, 6, 152. - - - Sabbath-keeping, 3, 4, 55-57. - - Sacraments, 73, 74. - - St. Paul's Pres. Church, 151. - - Schenck, Rev. Dr., 121. - - Scotch-Irish, 8. - - Scott Legion, 117. - - Scott's soldiers, 112. - - Scripture references, 5. - - Sexton, 104. - - Sheppard, Joseph B., 95, 96, 113. - - Sheppard, Rev. T. J., 140. - - Skinner, Rev. Harvey, 35. - - Smith, Mr. William, 102. - - Snyder, Mr. J. M., 102. - - Socrates, 84. - - Somers, Mr. A., 102. - - Song of Songs, 24, 44. - - Steinmetz, Daniel, 98, 113. - - Stewartstown, 9, 12. - - Stockton, Rev. William R., 141. - - St. Paul's Pres. Church, 6. - - Sullivan's Expedition of 1779, 9, 17. - - Sunday Despatch, 86. - - Sunday School, 46, 56, 140. - - Supplee, Mr. C. D., 102. - - Synods, 20. - - - Talmage, Rev. T. D., 82, 120, 121. - - Taylor, Rev. N. W., 36. - - Temperance, 51-54. - - Theological Seminaries, 19. - - Theology, 20-22. - - Thirteenth Street, 35, 46. - - Thirteenth Street Church, 23, 24. - - Thompson, Rev. Dr. John, 148. - - Tone, T. Wolf, 10. - - Tracy, Mr. E., 102. - - Trumbull, Dr. Henry Clay, 65. - - Tyler, Rev. Bennett, 37. - - - Union Theological Seminary, 129. - - United Irishmen, 10, 11, 22. - - Universalism, 58. - - - Van Deurs, Dr. George, 147. - - Vaux, Richard, 60. - - Vicksburg, 119. - - Village, The, 46. - - - Walton, Rudolph S., 70, 79, 98, 99, 113, 146, 151. - - Wanamaker, John, 78, 80, 147, 148. - - War, Civil, Chapter XIII. - - War, Mexican, 112. - - War of 1812, 17. - - Washington's Birthday, 53. - - Weaver, Mr. William, 104. - - Weddings, 105. - - Wentz, Miss K., 150. - - West, Mr. Edwin, 102. - - Westminster symbols, 30, 31, 42, 130. - - Westwood, Rev. Dr. Henry C., 143. - - Whitaker, Mr., 144. - - Whitefield, 65. - - Whittier quoted, 107, 155. - - Wilder, Rev., 76. - - Willetts, Rev. Dr. A. A., 54. - - Williams, Mr. W. S., 102. - - Wilson, Rev. James P., 35. - - Women of First Independent Church, 104. - - Wylie, Rev. S. B., 10, 22. - - - Yard, Mr. John, 95, 113. - - Young, Mr. G. I., 102. - - Young Ladies' Association, 96. - - Youths' Temperance Society, 53. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - 1. Obvious printer's and spelling mistakes have been corrected. - - 2. Page 18: The name Thomas Scott Key has been replaced by the correct - name of Francis Scott Key. - - 3. Italics are shown as _text_. - - 4. Hyphens have been left in the words "to-day" and "to-morrow", as in - the original. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Chambers, by William Elliot Griffis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN CHAMBERS *** - -***** This file should be named 55494-8.txt or 55494-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/4/9/55494/ - -Produced by Larry B. 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