GAYLORD Cornell University Library BX 9531.N6F52 Two hundredth annivers: Two Hunoreoth Anniversary ca of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Pollow Grtober 10 and October 11, 1897 Printed by Whe De Pinne Press for the Consistory of the First Reformed Church of Darrytown, sr. ., 1898 ww ys he Congistorp OF THE First fieformed Church of Carrptoton AT THE TIME OF THE BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION IN 1897 * President. Rev. Jonn Knox Auuen, D. D. Elders. WILLIAM POWLES, Mosss YERKS, NatHan H. Dumonpn, Joun J. Lows, Treasurer. Deacons. A. PoLHEMUS Coss, JOHN GERKEN, JAMES PaRR, CLARENCE E. Bacon, Clerk. Contents INTRODUCTION, PROGRAM, . Sermon, Rev. Joun Knox Auten, D. D., ADDRESS, REV. JoHN Bovine THompson, D. D., Appress, Rev. Joun Mason Ferris, D. D., ADDRESS, REv. Davip D. Demarest, D. D., LL. D.., ADDRESS, REv. CHARLES W. Frirts, D. D., ADDRESS, Rev. ARTHUR F. Mason, ApprEss, Hamitton W. Masts, L. H. D., BICENTENNIAL ODE, EpGar MayHew Bacon . SprecH, Hon. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, HistoricaL ADDRESS, Rev. Davip Cote, D. D., ORIGINAL MEMBERS, 1697-1715, Lire, Rev. JoHN FRELINGHUYSEN JACKSON, Lire, Rev. THOMAS GIBSON SMITH, . PAGE 12 29 45 61 67 76 82 90 96 100 109 155 157 162 List of Jilustrations OLp DutcH CHURCH .. . . . . ._ . Frontispiece Rev. Jonn Knox AuueN,D.D. . . . . . . 99 Rev. JouN Bovine THompson, D.D.. . . . . . 46 Rev. JoHN Mason Ferris,D.D.. . . . . . . 61 Rev. ApeL T. Stewart, D.D.. . . . . . . . 67 Rev. GEORGE Du Bois . . fo lke ote oe ce oe 16 DEED TO OLD CHURCH PROPERTY ... . . . 82 PULPIT, COMMUNION TABLE AND VESSELS . . . . 90 Oup CHURCH BELL, VANE, AND SIGNATURE OF THE First MINISTER . . .... ... . . 96 Rev. JOANNES RitzeMA. . . .. . .. +. +. 109 Rev. JOSEPH WILSON ...... . . ~. +. 120 FacsmMILE OF First PaGE OF OLD REcorps . .. . 130 Rev. JOHN W.ScHENCK. . . . ... . . =. 149 Rev. JOHN FRELINGHUYSEN JACKSON . . . . . 157 FJ ntrovuction. the papers which were delivered at the recent Bicen- tennial of The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, it is thought desirable to give also some account of the building itself, of the historical articles that are connected with it, and of the property of which it is a part. Irving’s reference to it is familiar to all, yet is worth repeating once more. “Tt stands on aknoll surrounded by locust-trees and lofty elms, from among which its decent, white-washed walls shine modestly forth, like Christian purity beaming through the shades of retirement. A gentle slope descends from it to a silver sheet of water, bordered by high trees, between which peeps may be caught of the blue hills of the Hudson. To look upon its grass-grown yard, where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one would think that there at least the dead might rest in peace.” We could wish that time had left those trees to which Irving refers, but scarcely one remains to-day. The build- ing, however, is much as it was when his pen described it. It is a small structure, but was doubtless large enough for the congregation which worshiped in it at the begin- ning. Its walls are more than two feet thick, and were built of the stone of the vicinity, with the exception of cer- tain flat, yellow bricks, which were brought from Holland, and were built around the windows and door. The build- ing is gambrel-roofed and is octagonal in the rear. A small tower surmounts it, in which hangs the little bell, which is 1 5 T° presenting to the public this book which contains highly embossed, and was cast to order in Holland in 1685. This bears upon its sides the legend, “‘Si Deus Pro Nobis Quis Contra Nos?” “If God be for us who can be against us?” The road now runs in front of the church which faces to the west, but originally it ran in the rear ; as is well known, Hollanders loved to put the gable of a building toward the street. There are few older edifices of any kind in the country, and probably none to which more interest attaches. It gains an added charm because the pen of Irving has cast a halo of romance about it. Washington’s diary too shows that he halted within its shadow. Originally the door was not where we now find it, at the front, or western end, of the church, but was in the south- western corner where a window now is, and was approached by a path which left the road some distance to the south, and wound its way through the graves to the entrance. In addition to the gallery which now occupies the western end of the church there was a small, shallow gallery, on the north side, and both were reached by stairs which started from somewhere near the center of the church. There are evidences remaining that the walls within were not plas- tered originally, but were whitewashed directly on the rough stone. At either side of the pulpit, before the Revolution- ary War, were what were called “thrones,” elevated places with canopies, in the one of which sat the Lord of the Manor, and in the other his wife. These were torn down after the war, and the places were used as seats for the Elders and Deacons. The pulpit at the beginning was a small octagonal structure, and over it hung a sounding board. In 1837, changes supposed to better the condition of things were made, and, among them, this pulpit was re- moved and an uglier and more modern one was substituted in its place. As the time for the celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary approached, the consistory determined to re- store the church to a degree. A committee was appointed, and the changes were undertaken and completed under the supervision of Mr. William H. Mersereau as architect. A ceiling of quartered oak corresponding to the one which 6 was originally in the church, traces of which remained be- hind the later plaster ceiling, was put in place; the beams which once crossed from wall to wall, and which had been removed, were restored; and a pulpit, which was as nearly as possible a counterpart of the first one, was set up. This was copied after the pulpit which is to be seen in the audi- ence room of the First Reformed Church of Albany. Those who had seen the original pulpit in the Old Sleepy Hol- low Church and this in Albany affirmed that they were facsimiles of each other. We may add that besides these and other changes of a minor character, the building was put in thorough repair. It is believed it is now more like what it was at the start than at any time since the changes of 1837. As indicated above, there is attached to the church an ancient burying-ground. It has probably been employed for this purpose since the middle of the seventeenth century. Here are buried some of the aborigines; here many of “the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep”; here the ministers who preached, and the congregations who sat before them, shepherd and flock alike folded together; here rest the black slave, and the soldier of the Revolutionary War, as well as the soldier of the late Civil War. Many a quaint inscrip- tion and device may be seen on the leaning and moldering headstones, and here are many forgotten graves. Beneath the floor of the church itself rest the ashes of its builder, and of many of his family, who were buried here down to the time of the Revolutionary War, when the property passed out of their hands. It may be worth while to state that in the early part of the year 1896 the crypt beneath the floor was opened, and a careful examination of the con- dition and contents of the vault was made for the purpose of ascertaining, if possible, the date of the building of the church or gaining some other historical data. Beyond good and satisfactory evidence that the mortal remains of Vred- ryk Flypse, the first Lord of the Manor, of his son Adolphus and his grandson Frederic, and some of their successors, were deposited here, nothing of importance was discovered. The crypt contained the remnants of sixteen or more coffins, 7 most of them broken or crumbled and many inextricably mixed, having fallen one within the other. The earliest date found was1702-03. The vault was found to be dry and odorless. It was resealed after investigation, and it is be- lieved there is nothing here to repay the labor of future research. The First Reformed Church of Tarrytown is the same organization with that which originally worshiped in the old structure, but now occupying another building. In time the old church was found to be too small for the growing congregation, and too much out of the center of the village, so the present structure was built in the northern part of the town in the year 1854, the Rev. Abel T. Stewart being then the pastor of the church. The first manse was built in 1852. This was torn down in the year 1893, and another and much more commodious and com- fortable edifice was reared in its stead, which now goes under the name of “The Manse of Sleepy Hollow.” We give below a complete list of the property that is owned by the First Reformed Church: (1) Reau Estate. (a) Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground.— The church building is fully described above. The burying ground contains two acres of land and adjoins the church on the south, east, and north. (b) Village Church and Manse.—The church is of red brick, and is situated on the east side of Broadway, a short distance north of the André monument, and was completed in 1854. The church contains a handsome organ, purchased in 1894 at a cost of $3300, and replacing a smaller one. The Manse of Sleepy Hollow was erected, as already stated, in 1893, upon the site of the former Manse, and cost about $7500. The church grounds extend from Broadway back to the old Croton Aqueduct, and contain one and one-half acres. 8 (2) SILVER COMMUNION VESSELS AND OTHER PROPERTY. (a4) Two Chalices, or Beakers, richly engraved, and a (b) Silver Baptismal Bowl. The one chalice bears the name of Catherina Van Cortlant, and the other, as also the baptismal bowl, the name of Fredryck Flypse, as donors. The Communion Table of heavy black oak, made in Holland, and inlaid with ebony. This also was presented to the church by Fredryck Flypse and his wife. (38) THe CaurcH REcorDs. (a) The Old Dutch Records are made up of several (4) books, or parts, contained in one volume. The actual writing of these records was be- gun in 1715, but they date back to 1697, the year of the calling of the first minister. They are written in Dutch, with the exception of a few entries made toward the close of the last or the beginning of this century. An excellent translation of these records was made by Mr. Richard Brinkerhoof of New York in 1876. A second book, in English, being in part a contin- uation of the older book, is also preserved; this brings the record down to the year 1817. From this date until 1837 there seems to be a break in the Records, and if any were kept during this period they have not been seen for more than fifty years. From 1837 to the present date the Records are full in all matters relating to the of- ficers and members, and the business of the church. DEEDS TO CHURCH PROPERTY. Besides the deeds to the property upon which the Village Church and the Manse stand, the Church has in its possession the parchment Deed or Indenture granted by the Commis- 9 sioners of Forfeiture of this State, in 1787, un- der which the Old Church property is held. Elsewhere in this volume a copy of this deed may be found. We give in succeeding pages a complete program of the Bicentennial exercises which were held on Sunday and Monday, October 10 and 11, 1897. Following that will be found the papers which were delivered on that occasion, with the pictures of as many of the pastors who have offi- ciated in the Old Church as could be obtained, and repre- sentations of the Old Church and of articles of historical interest belonging to it. It may be added that favorable weather attended the celebration, and that a vast amount of interest was manifested in all the exercises, the Old Church, on the Sunday afternoon, being able to hold but a small part of the crowds which thronged its doors. Altogether, the exercises were worthy the occasion, and will long be remembered by all who were permitted to have any share in them. The history of the church in full will be found in the address of the Rev. Dr. Cole in another part of this vol- ume. It is believed that the recent repairs on the old building have put it in condition to outlast the storms of many years. Long may it stand as a silent but eloquent witness for the truths of the gospel which for generations -have been proclaimed within its walls. Long may it cast its shadow down on the graves which are clustered about its base. May the little bell continue to ring from its tower until it shall herald in a brighter day for all mankind, until it shall Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be. 10 The Two Hunoredty Anniversary of the Old Butch Church of Hleepy Hollow Sunday and Monday, October {Oth and iith, 1897 Program. - Si Deus pro nobis quis contra nos? I God be for us who can be against us? (Motto inscribed on the old bell cast in Holland in 1685.) Sunday MWorning. . Services in the First Reformed Church at half-past ten o’clock. The congregations of the First and Second Reformed Churches united for this service. 1. InvocaTION, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer and Salutation. 2. ANTHEM . F The Lordis my Light . . . . Parker. 3. PSALTER. Psalms CXXXII and CXXVII. PsaLM CXXXII. ORD, remember David, And all his afflictions ; How he sware unto the Lorn, And vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob ; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, Nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, Or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the Lorp, A habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: We found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles: We will worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lorn, into thy rest; Thou, and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness ; And let thy saints shout for joy. 12 For thy servant David’s sake, Turn not away the face of thine anointed. The Lorp hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it ; ; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. j If thy children will keep my covenant And my testimony that I shall teach them, Their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the Lorp hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: Here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: LT will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: And her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud: LT have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame: But upon himself shall his erown flourish. PsaALM CXXVII. ; XCEPT the Lorp build the house, They labor in vain that build it: Except the LORD keep the city, ; The watchman waketh but in vain. ; It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows: For so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lorp: And the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, So are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be ashamed, ; But they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Scripture Lesson. MATTHEW Xvi: 13-23. 13 { When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thow art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that Iam? 2 13 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. 21 7 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. *HAymy 101. OLY, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and Mighty ! God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity! 2 Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before Thee, Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be. 3 Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee, Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see, Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee, Perfect in power, in love, and purity. 4 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea; Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and Mighty! God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity! Reginald Heber, 1827, *The hymns used in these services were taken from The Church Hymnary, compiled by Edwin A. Bedell, and issued by the Board of Publication of the Reformed Church in America. 14 PRAYER « 4 i ss « » . « . By the Rey. Arthur F. Mabon, Pastor of the Second Reformed Church. Hymn 94. Holy Father, who hast led Thy children In all the ages, with the fire and cloud, Through seas dry-shod; through weary wastes bewildering ; To Thee, in reverent love, our hearts are bowed. 2 O Holy Jesus, Prince of Peace and Saviour, To Thee we owe the peace that still prevails, Stilling the rude wills of men’s wild behavior, And calming passion’s fierce and stormy gales. 3 O Holy Ghost, the Lord and the Life-Giver, Thine is the quickening power that gives increase. From Thee have flowed, as from a pleasant river, Our plenty, wealth, prosperity and peace. 4 O Triune God, with heart and voice adoring, Praise we the goodness that has crowned our day; Pray we, that Thou wilt hear us, still imploring Thy love and favor, kept to us alway. William Croswell Doane, 1886. SERMON. rs - By the Rev. John Knox Allen, D.D., Pastor of the Church. ANTHEM . . Send out thy light - . . Gounod. Hymn 781, OR all the saints, who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. 2 Thou wast their rock, their fortress and their might; Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light. 3 O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, And win with them the victor’s crown of gold. 4 O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. 5 And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, Steals on the ear the distant triumph song, And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. 15 6 The golden evening brightens in the west; Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes Thy rest; Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest. 7 But lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array ; The King of glory passes on His way. 8 From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah!” William Walsham How, 1854. PRAYER, concluding with the Benediction, by the Rev. Arthur F. Mabon. % Nisi Dominus Frustra. without the Lord all is vain. (Motto on the church coat of arms. ) Sunday Afternoon. Services in the Old Dutch Church at three o’clock. Hymn 135. SING th’ almighty power of God, That made the mountains rise, That spread the flowing seas abroad, And built the lofty skies. 2 Ising the wisdom that ordained The sun to rule the day; The moon shines full at His command, And all the stars obey. 3 I sing the goodness of the Lord, That filled the earth with food; He formed the creatures with His word, And then pronounced them good. 4 There ’s not a plant or flower below But makes Thy glories known; And clouds arise and tempests blow By order from Thy throne. 16 5 Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed Where’er I turn mine eye, If I survey the ground I tread, Or gaze upon the sky. 6 Creatures, as numerous as they be, Are subject to Thy care ; There ’s not a place where we can flee But God is present there. Isaac Watts, 1715. ScRIPTURE Lesson. Psaum LXXXIV. PsaLM LXXXIV. OW amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lorp of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lorp: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 3 Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lorp of hosts, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. 6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion ap- peareth before God. 8 O Lorp God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. 9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. 10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be w doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the LorD God és a sun and shield: the Lorp will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 12 O Lorp of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. PRAYER . . . . By the Rev. John A. Todd, D.D. For ene years Pastor of the Second Reformed Church of Tarrytown, N. Y. REMARES concerning the repairs and alterations which have been made in the building, by the Pastor. Hymn 602. ISE, my soul, and stretch thy wings, Thy better portion trace ; Rise from transitory things Toward heaven, thy native place: 2* 17 Sun and moon and stars decay ; Time shall soon this earth remove; Rise my soul, and haste away To seats prepared above. 2 Rivers to the ocean run, Nor stay in all their course ; Fire, ascending, seeks the sun; Both speed them to their source: So a soul, that’s born of God, Pants to view His glorious face, Upward tends to His abode, To rest in His embrace. 3 Cease, ye pilgrims, cease to mourn, Press onward to the prize ; Soon our Saviour will return Triumphant in the skies: Yet a season, and you know Happy entrance will be given, All our sorrows left below, And earth exchanged for heaven. Robert Seagrave, 1742. ADDRESS ewe Se By the Rey. John B. Thompson, D.D., Pastor of the Chureh from 1866 to 1869. ADDRESS a. ee By the Rev. John M. Ferris, D. D., Pastor of the Church from 1849 to 1851. Hymn 126. GOD, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home: 2 Before the hills in order stood, Or earth received her frame, From everlasting Thou art God, To endless years the same. 3 A thousand ages in Thy sight Are like an evening gone; Short as the watch that ends the night Before the rising sun. 18 4 Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away ; They fly forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day. 5 O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Be Thou our guard while troubles last And our eternal home. Isaac Watts, 1719. ADDRESS. . . By the Rey. David D. Demarest, D. D., Professor in the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church at New Brunswick, N. J. ADDRESS : : : By the Rey. Charles W. Fritts, D. D., President of the last General Synod of the Reformed Church. Hymn 692. LORIOUS things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God; He whose word cannot be broken Formed thee for His own abode. On the Rock of Ages founded, What can shake thy sure repose? With salvation’s walls surrounded, Thou mayest smile at all thy foes. 2 See, the streams of living waters, Springing from eternal love, Well supply thy sons and daughters, And all fear of want remove: Who can faint, while such a river Ever flows their thirst to assuage ? Grace, which, like the Lord, the Giver, Never fails from age to age. 3 Round each habitation hovering, See the cloud and fire appear, For a glory and a covering, Showing that the Lord is near, Thus deriving from their banner Light by night and shade by day, Safe they feed upon the Manna Which He gives them when they pray. John Newton, 1779. BENEDICTION . me ih S78 By Rev. David D. Demarest, D. D. The choir was accompanied by music on the Violoncello, as was the custom in days gone by. 19 Een-dracht maakt macht. Union makes strength. (Motto on the church coat of arms.) Sunday Chening. Services in the First Reformed Church at eight o’clock. At this service several of the churches of the place united with the First Reformed Church, worshiping in the building of the latter. Eymn 320. LL hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall, Bring forth the royal diadem, And erown Him Lord of all. 2 Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, Who from His altar eall ; Extol the stem of Jesse’s rod, And crown Him Lord of all. 3 Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, Ye ransomed from the fall, Hail Him, who saves you by His grace, And crown Him Lord of all. 4 Sinners whose love can ne’er forget The wormwood and the gall, Go, spread your trophies at His feet, And crown Him Lord of all. 5 Let every kindred, every tribe, On this terrestrial ball, To Him all majesty ascribe, And crown Him Lord of all. Edward Perronet, 1780. PsaLTER. Psalms CXXI and CXXI. Psatm CXXI. WILL lift up mine eyes unto the hills, From whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lorp, Which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold he that keepeth Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 20 The Lorp is thy keeper: The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, Nor the moon by night. The Lorp shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The Lorp shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, From this time forth, and even for evermore. PsaLM CXXII. WAS glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lorp. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together : Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lorp, Unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD. For there are set thrones of judgment, The thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, And prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lorp our God, I will seek thy good. Hymn 981. N thousand times ten thousand, In sparkling raiment bright, The armies of the ransomed saints Throng up the steeps of light; "T is finished, all is finished, Their fight with death and sin: Fling open wide the golden gates, And let the victors in. 2 What rush of hallelujahs Fills all the earth and sky ; What ringing of a thousand harps Bespeaks the triumph nigh ! O day, for which Creation And all its tribes were made ; O joy, for all its former woes A thousandfold repaid. 21 3 Oh then what raptured greetings On Canaan’s happy shore ; What knitting severed friendships up Where partings are no more. Then eyes with joy shall sparkle, That brimmed with tears of late: Orphans no longer fatherless, Nor widows desolate. 4 Bring near Thy great salvation, Thou Lamb for sinners slain; Fill up the roll of Thine elect, Then take Thy power and reign! Appear, Desire of nations! Thine exiles long for home: Shew in the heavens Thy promised sign! Thou Prince and Saviour, come! Henry Alford, 1886. APOSTLES’ CREED ; Repeated in unison. PRAYER By the Rev. William F. Compton, Pastor of Asbury M. EF. Church of Tarrytown. ANTHEM Magnificat in F Schnecker. ADDRESS ‘i . . By the Rev. Arthur F,. Mabon. Hrmn 562. HE Son of God goes forth to war, A kingly crown to gain ; His blood-red banner streams afar: Who follows in His train? 2 Who best can drink His cup of woe, Triumphant over pain, Who patient bears His cross below, He follows in His train. 3 The martyr first, whose eagle eye Could pierce beyond the grave, Who saw his Master in the sky, And called on Him to save: 4 Like Him, with pardon on his tongue, In midst of mortal pain, He prayed for them that did the wrong: Who follows in His train? 5 A glorious band, the chosen few On whom the Spirit came, Twelve valiant saints, their hope they knew, And mocked the cross and flame; 22 6 They climbed the steep ascent of heaven Through peril, toil, and pain: O God, to us may grace be given To follow in their train. Reginald Heber, 1827. ADDRESS . . . . . . By Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie, L. H. D. Hymn 776. HE Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord ; She is His new creation By water and the word: From heaven He came and sought her To be His holy bride ; With His own blood He bought her, And for her life He died: 2 Elect from every nation, Yet one o’er all the earth, Her charter of salvation, One Lord, one faith, one birth ; One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued. 3 ’Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of peace for evermore ; Till, with the vision glorious, Her longing eyes are blest, And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest. 4 Yet she on earth hath union With God the Three in One, And mystic sweet communion With those whose rest is one: O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we Like them, the meek and lowly, On high may dwell with Thee. Samuel John Stone, 1865. PRAYER, closing with the Benediction. By the Rev. George H. Ferris, Pastor of the Baptist Church of Tarrytown. 23 Quod tibi vis fieri, facias. Abbreviation of the Golden Rule. (Motto of the family of Frederick Phillips, builder of the church. ) Mondap Afternoon, October 1 1th. Services in the Old Dutch Church at three o’clock. Hymn 701. OD of mercy, God of grace, Show the brightness of Thy face; Shine upon us, Saviour, shine, Fill Thy Church with light divine ; And Thy saving health extend Unto earth’s remotest end. 2 Let the people praise Thee, Lord, Be by all that live adored : Let the nations shout and sing, Glory to their Saviour King ; At Thy feet their tribute pay, And Thy holy will obey. 3 Let the people praise Thee, Lord, Earth shall then her fruits afford : God to man His blessing give, Man to God devoted live ; All below, and all above, One in joy, and light, and love. Henry Francis Lyte, 1834. PRAYER . . . By the Rev. William J. Leggett, Ph. D., Pastor of the Reformed Church of Nyack, N. Y. ScRIPTURE LESSON. EPHESIANS ii: 13-22. 13 But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of com- mandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 24 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. , 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow- citizens with the saints, and of the household of God ; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone ; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord : 22 In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. Hymn 693. LOVE Thy kingdom, Lord, The house of Thine abode, The Church our blest Redeemer saved With His own precious blood. 2 ILlove Thy Church, O God: Her walls before Thee stand, Dear as the apple of Thine eye, And graven on Thy hand. 4 Beyond my highest joy I prize her heavenly ways, Her sweet communion, solemn vows, Her hymns of love and praise. 6 Sure as Thy truth shall last, To Zion shall be given The brightest glories earth can yield, And brighter bliss of heaven. Timothy Dwight, 1800. HisToRicAL ADDRESS . . . By the Rev. David Cole, D. D. Late Pastor of the First Reformed Church of Yonkers, N. Y. Hymn 695. WHERE are kings and empires now Of old that went and came? But, Lord, Thy Church is praying yet, A thousand years the same. 2 We mark her goodly battlements, And her foundations strong ; We hear within the solemn voice Of her unending song. 25 3 For not like kingdoms of the world, Thy holy Church, O God! Though earthquake shocks are threatening her, And tempests are abroad. 4 Unshaken as eternal hills, Immovable she stands, A mountain that shall fill the earth, A house not made by hands. Arthur Cleveland Coxe, 1839. BENEDICTION , . . By the Rey. William E. Clark, Saator of St. Paul’s M. E. Church, Tarrytown, N. Y. % Concordia, res parvae creseunt; Discordia, maximae dilabuntur. In time of harmony small things become great ; in time of dissension the greatest melt away. (Motto of the provinces of the Netherlands in their early struggles. ) MWondap Chening. Exercises in Music Hall at eight o’clock. “The very temper which afterward spoke in the public documents issued from Philadelphia had been uttered in Holland two centuries earlier; and they who came hither from that land of dykes, storks, and windmills had brought it as part of their endowment. “Amid whatever straitness of poverty, amid whatever simplicity of manners, however unconscious of it themselves, they brought the im- manent moral life which had made the morasses at the mouth of the Rhine the centre of a traffic more wide and lucrative, the scene of a history more majestic, than Europe before had ever seen, and the seat of the first enlightened Republic on all the circuit of its maritime eoast.”— (The Rev. Richard S. Storrs, D. D., LL. D.— The Early Ameri- can Spirit.” Music A, 2 Ae. ABs 8 V8 . By the Orchestra. Hymw 516. The National Air of Holland, E sing to Thee, Thou Son of God, Fountain of life and grace; We praise Thee, Son of Man, whose blood Redeemed our fallen race. 26 2 To Thee all angels cry aloud, Through heaven’s extended coasts : — Hail! holy, holy, holy Lord Of glory and of hosts. 3 The cherubim and seraphim Incessant sing to Thee; The worlds and all the powers therein Adore Thy majesty. 4 The prophets’ goodly fellowship, In radiant garments dressed, Praise Thee, Thou Son of God, and reap The fullness of Thy rest. 5 The apostles’ glorious company Thy righteous praise proclaim: The martyred army glorify Thine everlasting name. 6 Through all the world, Thy churches join To call on Thee their Head, Brightness of majesty Divine, Who every power has made. John Cennick, 1742. PRAYER . . By the Rev. Charles Cuthbert Hall, D.D., President of Union Theological Seminary. BrizF REMARKS . . By the Rev. John Knox Allen, D.D., Present Pastor of the Church. Porm iD . . By Mr. Edgar Mayhew Bacon. HALLELUJAH CHORUS . . By a select choir under direction of Prof. John M. Furman, Church Organist and Choirmaster, and accompanied by members of Seidl’s Orchestra. ORATION é - By the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Hymn 897. America. Y country ’t is of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims’ pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring. 27 2 My native country, thee, Land of the noble free, Thy name I love; L love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills ; My heart with rapture thrills Like that above. 3 Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom’s song; Let mortal tongues awake, Let all that breathe partake, Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong. 4 Our fathers’ God, to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing: Long may our land be bright With freedom’s holy light; Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King! Samuel Francis Smith, 1832. BENEDICTION : 4 By the Rey. J. Selden Spencer, Rector of Christ Church, Tarrytown, N. Y. 28 REV JOHN KNOX ALLEN, D.D Pastor trom 1370 Pye our, QP GpaQeaQpage Gy pcp ao Qo de pos Qn cGp eGo aGoaGoagp fy RB ofraty op otpotp ho ot ok ap alratn Bo-ctratwaty-sp THE PERMANENCE OF THE CHURCH. e SERMON BY THE Reb. Fohn Hor Aen, O. D. “ And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Revised Version. ) Marrsew xvi: 18. church building as ancient as that—these, if not the most important, are the most natural themes to which our minds revert as we meet together this morning. Not old, perhaps, for some other lands with buildings of a hoary antiquity, but old for this land. The corner stone of that venerable structure whose founding we celebrate was laid half way between the time when the keel of Columbus first grated on the shores of this new world and this year of grace. Others at this time may deal with the history of this individual church, but let me rather turn your thoughts to the perpetuity of the Church as awhole. That old build- 3 29 q CHURCH organization two hundred years old, a ? ing with its long existence, surviving the changes and tu- mults of two centuries, leads us to think of the longer life of the Church of Christ in the world. Many times does Jesus speak of the “ Kingdom of God”; only twice does he speak of the Church, and in this one of the two places he prophesies its continuance, and he indicates the secret of its impregnability. “Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” He and the twelve are in aremote region on the southern slopes of Mt. Hermon, a place whose rocks might have suggested the figure which he used to the mind of Jesus, for we know how he often picked up his figures from the things that were right under his feet. In that seclusion he has asked the question which would have been so strange proceeding from the mouth of any other man, as to the verdict of the people concerning his identity. The answers which the twelve report show how profound the impression was which he had made upon the multitude. The estimates all agree that his was a remarkable personality. One of the old pro- phets, at least, was talking with them face to face in him. These, in their estimates of him, had climbed to a certain height; had the disciples anything more to say? had they made any deeper discovery? It is possible that the answer of Peter was the conclusion of the twelve, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” There is exultation in the response of Jesus of which our text is part; he rejoices to be discovered, for the discovery is significant of so much. We dismiss as puerile the notion that the fisherman Peter was the rock on which the Church was founded, that frail, unstable man, who in the next breath was called Satan by his Lord. It seems plain that Jesus is passing in swift thought from the man whose name meant a rock to the spirit, the life, which his confession indicated. Given a so- ciety of men who had mounted to that apprehension, given those who would never shrink from standing by their con- viction thus arrived at, and you would have something which would be far above the changes and tumults and malice of the world. Jesus Christ saw the fact in its rela- 30 tions and significance. He had not merely sight, but also vision. The man of mere sight sees the apple fall, and it is just a falling apple, nothing more. The man of vision sees it fall and beholds all the ordinances of the heavens in the fact. Sight sees the primrose by the river’s brim, just a yellow primrose; vision sees the flower of the field and dis- cerns in it the grand and gracious scheme of providence. How the soul of Jesus was stirred more than once by ap- parently small facts. Once as he was passing through Samaria he marked how the heart of one bad woman re- sponded to his words; through her he saw all the world he came to save. Thereturning twelve behold a man who has become deaf to the clamor of appetite, a man with a flash- ing eye who bids them look abroad and see Samaria so spiritually desolate, and all the wide world as a ripe har- vest field. And you remember the agitation when near the end the apparently everyday demand was made by the Greeks to see him. There was a knock at the door made by a few men, but in it he heard the call of the great out- side world. The crisis of the world had arrived, he said, and the most tremendous and glorious results would fol- low from casting the corn of wheat into the ground. And now just a little before that, while they are in those soli- tudes in the vicinity of Hermon, that confession falls from the lips of Peter, and through it Jesus sees the great, and growing, and abiding structure of his Church. The gates of the unseen world should not prevail against it; it could never be swallowed up or lost. How the “ gates of Hades,” using the phrase in this sense, have prevailed in the world! What was there in the ages before Christ that had not sunk behind them, and how many vanishing forms have there been since? Nothing seems to stay their victory, nothing satisfies the omnivorous appetite of the world of oblivion. These gates have pre- vailed against nations of vast extent, of immeasurable power, and which have outlasted ages. The institutions and organizations of men have disappeared behind them. A hundred religions, a multitude of systems, a vast array of the most splendid creations of men have passed into this 31 limbo of forgetfulness, gone into this bourne from which nothing returns. The forces that have issued from behind these gates have been forever victorious, the engulfing waves of time have reached out and drawn everything down into this abyss. The gates of the unseen world—what a never ending procession has departed behind them! What anassertion it is, then,—howlike temerity it sounds,— as Jesus says, as he looks at the disciple with that confes- sion upon his lips, “ Here is something which no time, no power, no enemy will be able to destroy.” Now we ask, what are the elements that go to make this abiding institution beyond the reach of all destructive forces? What is the vital principle in the life of the Church which insures its permanence? What is the rock on which this structure shall be reared which will be secure against all decay and attack? We turn to the narrative to see. Peter says in answer to the challenge of Jesus, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In that answer which so satisfies the soul of his Master there seem to be two things. First, the clear recognition of the divine in Christ through the apparent disguise. I say, apparent disguise, for there was no real disguise. God was not masked in that lowly life, but the divine was there in character. Sometimes we talk in this way, “ Spite of the poverty, spite of the humili- ation, spite of the service, there was a revelation of God.” And we are wrong, the divine was manifest in the poverty, the humiliation, the meekness. The divine was not hidden in Jesus Christ, but revealed. He was the word made fiesh. The divine glory was not shrouded in him, but he was the brightness of it. It was not an eclipse of the divine which we beheld, but we beheld the glory itself. When Jesus Christ took on him the form of a servant he was not obscuring the nature of God, for God in the depths of his nature is ser- vantship; Christ himself has taught us that. And when he became a man it was not something foreign to the na- ture of God, for there must be human nature in God, else could not man have been made in the image of God. That is what made an incarnation possible. Our way of talking as if there were an eclipse of the divine in Jesus Christ can- 32 not be justified; never was it so fully revealed, for the first time was it clearly manifested. And Peter now, when he announees his judgment, was not like one who has peered behind a veil and seen the true lineaments of a man who tried to hide himself, not like some unusually penetrating man who has discovered royalty in one who wanted to be con- sidered a common traveler. It was not that Christ was trying to hide anything, it was that Peter had for the first time got- ten where he could appreciate him ; the significance of the whole thing is in Peter, his anointed eyes, his advance; he had come to a point where he could see what was all the time apparent. God’s secrets are always open ones; it is simply men who have to have the veil taken away from their faces. God never hides anything except from the blind. The new continent; it is there; letthem open their eyes and see it. The new force; men live and move in it; by and by they will see what was never concealed. Peter had been trudging by the side of the Son of God all these years ; it tells a good deal for him that he has come to the point where he can see that this meekness, and long-suffering, and ministry are the qualities of God. A kind of morning had come to him, and he saw that it was the king whom he had been walking with in the darkness. That is a first thing that is necessary for the existence of a church at all, the ability to see the divine in the life of Christ. Mark you, I am not talking about this as a theo- logical dogma, but as a fact of spiritual life. Then there must not only be the apprehension of such a truth as this, but the confession of it. Peter was now making the first acknowledgment of it with his lips. He had gained this first glimpse of this glory ; at a later hour it will fade, and he will recant in his weakness, and then there will come a later hour still when it will shine out in its brightness and command his life. Then it will be the utterance of his whole being; every deed will make the confession, every act will show it forth. You will see in him, by and by, the same courage manifested in Christ, the same readiness to serve, something of the same self-surrender. The thing which long ago on the slopes of Hermon had been the ut- 3* 33 terance of his lips will now sway his whole existence, and be expressed in all the activities of his life. Think how you will act if you come to that apprehension and key your life to it. There will be the confession in- spired by the right reading of the life of him who emptied himself and took upon him the form of a servant, that the abnegation of rights, and privileges, and opportunities, for the sake of others, is to copy God. Insight into the sig- nificance of the life of Christ on earth will lead to the ac- knowledgment in daily deeds that you as a strong man ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, that you as a wise man, and an emancipated man, ought to stoop to the dull- ness, and the superstitions, and the chains of other men. You will make the constant confession in the ongoings of your life that gentleness, and meekness, and forgiveness, and service, are Godlike qualities, because Jesus Christ exhibited them. You will manifest sympathy for those in suffering and trouble, and minister to those in want, and be the friend of the despised, and be indifferent to the world’s praise or blame while in the pursuit of righteousness. This was the way Jesus Christ lived, and you have discovered that he was the Son of God. You will be uncompromising in deal- ing with shams, and be brave in the espousal of the cause of the weak, and be the champion of the right without re- gard to consequences. Watch him; that is the way he lives, and you say you have arrived at the conclusion that he is living God’s life here on the earth. Now Christ there on the slopes of Hermon heard this confession from the lips of Peter; he knew what it would mean soon, if not now; he knew that it would be inwrought into the fibre of him when a great and notable day which was coming apace should arrive; he knew also that there would be a great multitude like him, and as he contemplated it the future stood unveiled; here was a cause that was chartered for eternity. A celestial thing was established here, out of the reach of all destructive forces. The gates of Hell should not prevail against it. Bearing these things in mind we are able to locate the Church. It is not to be found in any building, no matter 34 how grand or ancient. The building is the place where those who compose the Church are wont to meet ; it shields them while they worship; it is made sacred by their expe- rience. It is only bya figure of speech that we call a build- ing achurch. To-day in storied lands you bow in awe and adoration under the stately heights of some great cathedral. It would be a mistake to say that the cathedral has created the feeling of reverence which men experience, except in a secondary sense, only as the work of men’s hands reacts upon thedoers. The historical fact is that the cathedral is the material expression of the spirit of love and worship which has its first home in the heart of man. That feeling is getting in it some kind of embodiment; to every seed its own body; to the spirit that glows in the heart some kind of adequate utterance like this : Out of thought’s interior sphere, These wonders rose to upper air. They testify to the force and depth of what dwelt within. If the earth does “ grant them an equal date with Andes and with Ararat,” it might well be because they are owing to a force that is as original and native as that which gave the upthrust to the mountain, while at the same time it is more vital and sacred. This was the significance of that silent temple which seemed to grow on the hill of Zion; it was the heart, the faith, the life of that strange, wonderful people which was more conscious of God than any other, which seemed to push it toward the skies as the vitality of the palm, on another hill of that same land, slowly and silently lifted it heavenward. Precisely the same impulse it was which caused men here in the wilder- ness to rear that little old structure to which our thoughts will revert this morning. There is no incongruity in men- tioning it in the same breath with those stately and splen- did edifices which have found a place in history, and within which the souls of men have been subdued for a thousand years, for it is the one profound and sacred instinct which has given birth to both. But whether it be this little build- ing or those magnificent creations of the art of man, it is 35 not the structure which is the Church. That is confined within no walls; that dwells within the heart. It goes without saying then that the Church is not coter- minous with the bounds of any land, as it was in the time of the Jewish theocracy, when a sea hemmed it in here and a mountain there. And it is not limited by any organiza- tion, no matter how ancient, nor how strong its claims; no matter how impressive the structures in which it wor- ships or the forms it employs. All this is part of what we may call organized religion; these are societies into which men have voluntarily come, and by which the life which is within may best express itself and do its work in the world. To call these organizations the Church, as we commonly do, is again an accommodation to our weakness. The Church is below all these things as the soil of the state is below all the boundaries of the counties; it is above them as the climate is above and around all the fences which divide the farms from one another. Men want to put their finger on some tangible thing, but the real Church you can say never was on sea or land. It is within no four walls, nor is it enshrined in any creed. The real Church is in the hearts of men. It is composed of all those in whose souls the deep conviction has been wrought that Christ was God manifest in the flesh; to whom it has come not just as a logical con- clusion, but by a divine demonstration which has brought the whole soul into captivity to it, that as he moved across the earth it was the divine life which was being displayed, that there was a correspondence in every gesture, every in- flection of his deeds, every word he said here on earth to the life which God eternally lives. The Church is composed of all those who repeat their creed in the forgiveness they grant, the love they reveal, the courage for the right they exhibit, the abhorrence of falsehood and sham they display, the purity they manifest, the service they render, the suffer- ing and sacrifice they accept. The church is not Reformed nor Methodist, it is not Episcopal nor Roman; it is none of these exclusively, but part of it is in every one of them. It is because those who belong to it feel the force of these truths increasingly that the middle walls of partition be- 36 tween the different denominations are becoming so low and flimsy, and the shibboleths of different parties are losing their distinctness and force. The countersign which admits to all the different camps is becoming the same everywhere. The tie which binds the different parts is vital and sacred and indissoluble. It runs through sectarian walls, it runs under seas and to the remotest parts of the earth, and back through the dim ages of the past. Moses was a member of the Church, of whom it is said that he bore the “reproach of Christ,” though it was ages before the coming of Christ. And we are told there was a “church in the wilderness,” in those wandering Israelites who had caught a little of the spirit of Christ, who stood in the morning dawn, with their faces turned toward the east reflecting dimly the light of a yet unrisen sun. Elect from every nation, Yet one o’er all the earth. It includes the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of mar- tyrs. It is the Holy Church throughout all ages, one and indivisible, spite of differences of opinion, and opposition of part to part. This tie that binds is the longest of ties, it stretches through centuries, it reaches to the ends of the earth and up to the throne of God. It is the strongest of ties, weakened by no passage of time, and dissolved by no death. Verily the forces of oblivion shall not prevail against it. But now we come to ask what this promise of the per- manence of the Church means, its superiority to attack, or change, or the passage of time. We might anticipate that it must be permanent, when we consider its essential na- ture; it is an unworldly thing, and the world only has dominion over things in its own realm. Given a multitude of men who have been so illuminated that they can see the godlike in the life of Jesus, and will confess it by their labors and their losses, by their lives and their deaths, and it begins to be plain that there is no force that can touch it to destroy it. You can’t buy these men off; bribes have no charm, smiles no witchery, favors no fascination. You 37 can’t frighten them off; for it has often been found true that they have welcomed prisons and stakes as giving them their best opportunity. The apostle Paul was not the only man of his class when, near the end, he looked down the vista of his future and saw nothing clearly except this, the avenue down which he must walk was all lined with prisons that were gaping for him, and there were scowling men with manacles in their hands who were waiting for him, and down at the end a malefactor’s death was predestined for him, and then cried with something like exultation, “None of these things move me; neither count I my life dear unto myself that I may finish my course with joy.” The Church being what it is, you may destroy the bodies of those who represent it, and it will escape you. You scarcely injure it more than you do the science of mathe- matics by burning up a multiplication table. There is something in the thing itself that is unassailable. I think of the answer of Socrates to the question of his disciples just before his death, “How shall we bury you?” “ Any way you please, if you can only catch me.” If you can ouly catch this thing called the Church, if you can only lay your hand on it, you may perhaps destroy it. But it is elusive, and oftentimes its enemies have found that the moment of apparent victory was the hour of most real defeat. When we talk of the permanence of the Church, its con- tinuance in spite of every adverse force that may be directed against it, no one will suspect us of meaning that individ- ual churches, as we call them, will never be destroyed. It is impossible to affirm that that old building yonder will always abide, or that there will always be an organization which will go by the name we bear, or that the various de- nominations which may be represented here this morning will continue always. Many atime have the gates of Hades prevailed against separate churches. On that wonderful Lord’s day morning when St. John looked from the island of his exile across a sea of glass mingled with fire to the shores of Asia Minor, there were seven churches in different cities for which his heart was full of solicitude. These 38 churches, perhaps planted by apostles, have disappeared. Along New England roads to-day you will find church buildings, but all deserted. Locked doors, staring win- dows, unpainted sides, decrepit, tottering fences around weed-grown yards, unkempt graves. We read mournful articles about these sometimes in the religious papers, but before we allow ourselves to feel very bad, let us ask our- selves if the Church, according to that view of it which we have taken this morning, has really been dissipated. It is a comfort that churches are not the Church. It may be that the Church has moved away; part of it gone to Heaven, and part gone to Boston or New York, and that these parts are flourishing mightily in the several places to which they have migrated, whether those places be in Heaven or on earth. If you want to know whether the Church has de- clined observe the lives of men, mark the spirit of a com- munity. See if men are less loving, less unselfish, more worldly ; see if there is less of a daily confession in the ac- tivities of life that the qualities, the motives, the spirit which Jesus exhibited were of God. If there is, then there will be time to put on the garments of mourning. It may be that a great many as they read these words of Jesus, “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it,” hear in it a promise of divine interpositions in behalf of the Church. Our Lord makes this confident assertion be- cause he is going to put forth a hand for its protection. Oftentimes has he interfered for its salvation in days gone by; armies have been smitten with blindness; prison doors have been soundlessly opened at the midnight hour, and chains have been made as powerless to bind as the moon- beams which at that moment might be falling across the form of the sleeper. And winds have been made to blow, and have driven hostile armadas off shore, and have scat- tered them by their tempestuous might. All these things we grant; a hand has been thrust down out of the skies, and it is possible for it to be revealed again. Yet, as I read these words of our Lord, they do not seem to be a promise of divine interposition in hours of extremity. Rather the assertion is equivalent to saying that so long as the Church 39 is faithful to that spirit of confession of which Peter gave an example no harm can come to it. That is what makes it a Church, and while it is loyal it is invulnerable and im- pregnable. Otherwise it has unchurched itself; it has be- trayed the secret of its great strength, and can no longer claim any promise of continuance. And in this respect per- secution and opposition may be a friend in disguise. They may cleanse it of its dross. Sometimes we say, “God will take care of his Church,” and it may be that we mean he will step in and blast all those who are threatening it. Even if we don’t put it into words we secretly mean that there will be a wonderful manifestation of his power. Which may be, but is not likely. It may be that he will take care of his Church by letting loose just the things we dread. Persecution which creates desolation in the outward life of the Church is as fatal to worldliness as a frost which strips the trees and withers the fiowers is deadly to the yellow fever germs which saturate the summer air. That which makes men braver and more earnest, and purer and truer, really ministers to the stability of the Church. It must be evident that if only this interior life be pre- served, the form in which it may manifest itself may change from age to age. Nothing will be stereotyped, and it will constantly adapt itself to new conditions. How different the church life, how different in some respects the notions of those who worshiped in that old building two hundred years ago! How strange their sermons would seem to a modern congregation! If I had a translation of one of the best sermons of Domine Bertholf, or Domine Ritzema, and ° should preach it from this pulpit, how odd it would sound; not only its language and forms of thought would seem queer, but some of its ideas. The fundamental doctrines would be the same, but the emphasis of some would be shifted. Very likely we would hear a great deal more about election and foreordination and preterition than we are wont to do in these days. Their sermons would be more subjective or introspective. They had time. One day with them was a good deal like a thousand years with us, and they had leisure to dwell upon the decrees of God 40 in eternity. That was not a hurrying age; the breezes that swept the ocean were swift enough for them, but we have cables under the ocean, and messages that distance time come to us, for the thing that will happen after midnight to-morrow morning in London will be reported in New York to-night quite early in the evening. The change in emphasis is the most natural thing in the world consider- ing changed conditions. Weare not necessarily degenerate sons because we don’t linger in the consideration of certain truths which seemed very important to them, for the whole external life of the Church has changed. We are at one with them in their essential life; we believe with them in the sinfulness and helplessness of man; we believe with not less intensity in the incarnation and love of God; we be- lieve that nothing can change the law that whatsoever a man sows that he shall also reap. But in our time the Church has become awake to the needs of humanity as never before, and the ends of the earth have drawn closer, and the want and ignorance and sin of mankind are put down just outside of our door. We have our Sunday Schools and our Christian Endeavor Societies, and our Young Men’s Christian Associations, and missionary or- ganizations of many kinds. Possibly we are not calling the attention of men to original sin as much as our fathers used to, but the fact of sin, contemporary sin, actual, black, dreadful sin, engages us. It may be we are not quite up in our catechisms, but I hope there is no decline in charity. Possibly a decline of interest in purely theological subjects, but a multiplication of hospitals and retreats and missions. Religion is occupying new territory all the time, and our excellent fathers would be surprised at some of our efforts to minister to every need and faculty of man, our People’s Palaces, and Toynbee Halls, and Day Nurseries and Public Baths, and our insistence on pure politics, and our interest in industrial and social questions. I ask you if in all this there is anything that is false to the recognition we have made of the fact that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God? Are we not making a daily confession of our faith in these things? Perhaps you have heard the phrase 41 “theological thaw.” It is said there has been a “theolog- ical thaw” during the last quarter of a century. If that means a softening of spirit rather than a toning down of truth, we need not be troubled; if it means that theological rancor has relented somewhat, we need not be alarmed. I shall only be alarmed if there has melted out with it the sense of duty, the spirit of charity, the love of the truth; I shall be alarmed if there has come with it a general lack of reverence, indifference to the right, disloyalty to conscience, want of fidelity to Christ. Then the theological thaw has resulted in religious slush. But while I see a good deal that I would have otherwise, I believe there never was a time when the Church was so inspired with the desire and the purpose to take this world for Christ. We believe that many of the fathers, dead a couple of hundred years, would be in these things which so engage us, only they would be in them deeper. We believe that the descendants of the men who resisted unto blood striving against sin, the de- scendants of the men who baptized their land in their own blood in the defense of the truth, who opened the dikes and let in the sea, preferring to fall into the hands of God than of men, that these men would strike hands with us in the work we are striving to do in the name of Christ. The zeal which animated them burus in the Church to-day, only it is manifesting itself in other ways. It is the same old con- flict of truth with error, of right with wrong, in which we are engaged, only on a different field and with an enemy who presents another front. Every community, every land has reason to congratulate itself that the forces of oblivion are not likely to swallow up the Church, for it is of value not alone for eternity, but for the life that now is. It is of economic worth, of value in dollars and cents. If the principles we speak of are confessed in the daily lives of its members, purity and jus- tice and service and surrender and hourly righteousness and the championship of the truth after the manner of Christ, it would be an unspeakable loss to let it perish. If only Mr. Stead’s imperfect definition of it is true, “the union of all who love in the service of all who suffer,” I 42 could imagine men of the world coming forward for its defense, as indeed some of them do. The principles it enunciates lie at the basis of society. Good laws become operative because the moral sense of the community created by the Church sustains them; and bad laws become void because the conscience of the community informed by the Church resents and resists them. If law is to be respected, if decency is to prevail, if society is to be preserved, some institution like this with its tremendous spiritual sanctions has got to exist. The thing that makes the possessor safe in his property, the householder secure in his home, the citizen confident of gaining his rights, that makes liberty and life safe and existence valuable, is the prevalence of those teachings that are incessantly proclaimed by the Church. Let some statistician, some political economist arise and tell us if he can what that old church has been to this community and the world. For a hundred and fifty years it was an incessant battery of righteousness. For a hundred and fifty years men gathered within its walls, and they learned purity, and gained devotion to truth, and the loftiest standards of life were exalted before their eyes. Not only was heaven recruited there, but in part this earth was made a decent, fit, safe place to live on. Men came out taught to obey the law, and protect the right, and frown upon iniquity, and help their neighbor. During our civil war Mr. Lincoln said the cause of the Union was anchored to the pulpits of the North and the West. Government in its departments, business with its necessity for integrity, society with its foundations of purity are anchored in the teachings that the Church forever proclaims. How we ought to rejoice in this assurance that no hostile force is ever going to prevail against it. I see no sign to-day of the passing of the Church. I see signs of indifference to some tenets once strenuously held; I see an indifference in some quarters, deeply to be de- plored, to attendance upon its services; I notice a laxity of life much to be regretted on the part of some who are out- wardly connected with it, but the Church itself has a place which is deeper and more important than ever before. The 43 signs of the times lend their confirmation to the declaration of Jesus concerning its perpetuity. And its position is not merely negative, standing untouched, unhurt, unmoved amid all changes and commotions, like Gibraltar in the midst of plunging, pounding seas, a rock that rises serene and smiling out of the ocean the next morning after a hun- dred storms; yet a dead thing, a rock, no more, no less. Not so does the Church resist the onsets of time, just holding its own. But this is the day of the ascendancy of the Church, of its expansion, of its enthronement. It is lifting up its eyes and seeing new fields white for the harvest; not only new lands, new races, but new realms of life. It rejoices not alone because the world is becoming one neighborhood, and that the phrase “foreign missions” is becoming obso- lete, but because of the new departments of life which are offered for its victories. Its work is becoming not only more extensive but more intensive; that work widens and it also deepens; it is more expanding and also more pene- trating. It is determined to claim for itself regions from which it has been excluded or from which it has stood hopelessly aloof. It means to claim life in all its institu- tions and relations and activities ; it means to prove more and more that the kingdom of God lies not only on the other shore of the river of death, but that the prayer is to be fulfilled that the kingdom may come, that all commer- cial and industrial and social and political life shall be leavened by its influence. The time is ever drawing nearer when the outlook of him who stood on those slopes of Hermon at that distant day, and spoke those words of strong assurance, shall be fully justified, when the king- doms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. REV. JOHN BODINE THOMPSON, D.D. Pastor from 1866 to 1869. “QE EQ.cQo-cQcOp