LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE J 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 THE FAMILY OF REV. DR. GEORGE MOOAR 
 
 Class 
 
> 
 
, EPHRJUM FLINT, D.D. 
 
 or THE 
 ( UNIVERSITY } 
 
TT is not the design of this Memorial to call attention to 
 remarkable talents in this good man, or striking results in 
 his life ; but it has been thought, as one after another of 
 these unsolicited expressions of esteem and appreciation came 
 in, that it would be well to let the quiet strength and help- 
 fulness of such an example be placed within the reach of 
 his personal friends. 
 
 123167 
 
SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. 
 
 The subject of this memorial was a descendant of the 
 sixth generation from Thomas Flint, who came from Mat- 
 tock in Derbyshire, England, in 1635. 
 
 While in Boston he occupied an estate on the west side 
 of Washington Street, a little south of Boylston Street. He 
 removed to Concord in 1637. 
 
 He was a representative in the General Court of Massa- 
 chusetts, 1638-39, 40 and 41, and Governor's Assistant (or 
 Councilor) from 1641 to 1653, the time of his death, at the 
 age of fifty years. Contemporaries agree in representing 
 him as a "gentleman of wealth, talents, and eminently 
 Christian character." 
 
 A son of his, named Ephraim, was a large landed pro- 
 prietor, owning a large tract of land, including Flint's Pond, 
 and the present Flint homestead in Lincoln, formerly a part 
 of Concord. This farm has remained in the possession of 
 the Flint family over two hundred years, and is at present 
 owned by a brother of the deceased. 
 
 For four generations in succession, one in each, living on 
 this farm, bore the name of Ephraim. 
 
 REV. EPHRAIM FLINT, of Hinsdale, Mass., was born at 
 Lincoln, Nov. 29, 1828 ; and as he died on the evening of 
 Nov. 28th, 1882, it will be seen he had just completed his 
 fifty-fourth year. 
 
 At an early age he showed signs of peculiar talent in 
 mathematics, while attending the village school, taught at 
 that time by Mr. Thomas Hill, afterward President of 
 Harvard College. 
 
 It was probably through Mr. Hills' interest and influence 
 that his attention was first turned toward a student's life. 
 
MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Hill, in a letter, dated Portland, March yth, 
 1883, writes, "Ephraim Flint was one of the younger schol- 
 ars. I well remember his excellence of behavior, and his 
 remarkable clearness in the handling of all arithmetical 
 problems. 
 
 "His face charmed me ; there was a peculiar quality in his 
 eye which I never saw excelled, a soft, deep brilliance, giving 
 both moral and intellectual expression. The lapse of forty- 
 two years, has of course obliterated the details of my inter- 
 course with the boy ; but no lapse of time can destroy my 
 remembrance of his face, so radiant with purity and 
 strength." 
 
 He became a Christian at the age of thirteen and joined 
 the church in his native town, in which he always felt a 
 deep interest. 
 
 He often said: "If ever I was a Christian I was at 
 thirteen." 
 
 He had great faith in the conversion of children, and la- 
 bored in his later years earnestly for it. Through the kind 
 offer of a much-loved uncle, he decided to fit for College. 
 
 He recited Latin for a time to the Lincoln pastor, Rev. 
 E. Newhall, then took the preparatory course of study at 
 Philips Academy, Andover, and Lawrence Academy, Gro- 
 ton, and entered Williams College, graduating in 1851. 
 
 The years of academic and collegiate study though he 
 largely worked his own way were happy years, years of 
 faithful application, of extensive, yet careful reading, and 
 of real spiritual growth. 
 
 The latter is fully indicated in letters to home friends, in 
 which occur such expressions as this: "We seemed to 
 breathe the air of Heaven, and could almost see the Saviour 
 face to face." 
 
 It was often said of Mr. Flint : "He has such a wholesome 
 religion." There was nothing morbid about him. He be- 
 lieved in the blending of the religious and the secular, but all 
 was subservient to Christ and His kingdom. A sentence 
 from his valedictory address before a Literary Society gives 
 
SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. 7 
 
 an idea of the underlying principles of his life : "See to it 
 that you are clad in such armor as shall repel all the shafts 
 of error, sophistry, and of ridicule, which may be directed 
 against you. Let it be strong ; let there be no weak joints 
 in the harness. Look more to the temper of your steel than 
 to the burnish of your blade." 
 
 On leaving College he commenced teaching, the first year 
 as Assistant, afterward as Principal in the Academies or 
 High Schools of Orleans, Lee, and Lynn. Everywhere he 
 won life-long friends. One associated with him for years 
 as teacher says : 
 
 "His fine culture and exact scholarship gave high tone to 
 the intellectual life of his schools. He taught of Heaven and 
 led the way. The golden word was often spoken in the 
 silver opportunity." 
 
 Mr. Wm. J. Bartlett of Lee writes : " Of Mr. Flint's suc- 
 cess as a teacher it seems almost superfluous to speak, since 
 it was obviously 'known and read of all men.' Problems 
 intricate and abstruse to others seemed radiant with light to 
 him. His own enthusiasm in the pursuit of knowledge he 
 imparted to many of his pupils. I have come in personal 
 contact with some of them in the walks of business life, and 
 have been impressed with their clear and apprehensive in- 
 sight into the rationale of things. 
 
 "Better even than the quickening of the mental faculties 
 of those committed to his care, was the moral training which 
 he kept apace with ' book knowledge.' 
 
 "Is it any wonder that under such leadership, reinforced 
 by his faithful coadjutor (yet living) , revivals of religion had 
 their origin on our Academy Hill? There are many here, 
 and scattered about in every part of our land, who bless God 
 for the mental and moral privileges there enjoyed. His toils 
 and cares and prayers are yet bearing perennial fruit. His 
 devotion to the Master's cause was conspicuous. His 
 untiring efforts in the Sabbath School, both as Teacher and 
 Superintendent, and his hearty interest in everything per- 
 taining to the spiritual welfare of those among whom his lot 
 
8 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 was cast, were a rich blessing to us, and a precious proph- 
 ecy of his future." 
 
 April 7th, 1857, while teaching in Lee, he married Miss 
 Orilla J. Hagar of his native town, which proved a "true 
 marriage," she entering heart and soul into all his life plans. 
 
 He taught until 1865, and then entered the Theological 
 Seminary at Andover. 
 
 His mind had always been on the ministry , and he was 
 never really satisfied until he reached it. 
 
 Mr. Flint's life would be incomplete without some allu- 
 sion to his home, the one dear spot in all the world around 
 which his strongest, tenderest feelings clustered. One needed 
 to see him there to know the exceeding beauty of his char- 
 acter. His home bore witness to his culture, and his refine- 
 ment. His library his "Sanctum," as he playfully called it 
 was very dear and sacred to him. Here all were sure of a 
 welcome, and many said, "we never go away without a bless- 
 ing." Here he studied the "Book of Books," exclaiming 
 more than once during those last weeks, with tearful eyes, 
 "Dear old Book !" God heard the prayer embodied in the 
 motto on the wall : " Open Thou mine eyes, that I may be- 
 hold wondrous things out of thy law." Here he prayed, 
 commending burdened souls to the Savior. Here were the 
 family devotions, morning and evening, with such a won- 
 derful sense of nearness to Christ, as made one feel in the 
 very presence chamber of the King. Here was the con- 
 stant uplifting of spirit to Him whom his soul loved. 
 
 Here, on that last day, the busy brain worked, all uncon- 
 scious of the crown so nearly won. Here, a little later, 
 
 " He lay among his books, 
 
 The peace of God upon his looks." 
 
 In the shadow of the early night, in the "twinkling of an 
 
 eye," he had passed to the "Land immortal." 
 
 His birthday was in Heaven. 
 
ADDRESS OF REV. A. C. SEWALL, 
 
 Williamsto-wn, Mass. 
 
 SCRIPTURE SELECTIONS : 
 
 Acts 20 : 17-27 ; 2 Timothy 4: 6-8 ; 2 Corinthians 5 : 1-9. 
 TEXT: 2 Timothy 4: 7-8. 
 
 It is not my purpose to make any extended exposition of 
 these words. 
 
 We are to-day called upon to mourn the loss of one who 
 sustained many important relations in life. It is therefore 
 fitting that instead of one formal discourse, brief addresses 
 having reference to these several relations should be made. 
 
 The words which I have quoted are the utterance of a 
 man who could look back with satisfaction upon a long and 
 useful life ; of one who could look forward without dismay 
 and with eager expectation to the crown awaiting him. 
 
 The Apostle Paul was eminent for the singleness and 
 strength of his devotion to his Divine Master. " Lord, 
 what wilt thou have me to do " was the key note of his 
 life. In that life there were many transitions, some very 
 intricate passages, but when the harmony was fully re- 
 solved, the same fundamental tone appeared, dominating 
 the whole. "None of these things move me," said he, 
 "neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I might 
 finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have 
 received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace 
 of God." 
 
 He was not indifferent to the praise or blame of men, 
 but he held these easily subordinate to the regard in which 
 he sought to be held by Christ. "Wherefore we labor," 
 said he, "that whether present or absent we may be ac- 
 cepted of Him." 
 
10 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 The Apostle was also and alike eminent for the simplicity 
 and fullness of his trust in Christ and the intelligent appre- 
 hension of the Gospel to which this admitted him. 
 
 Once self-righteous, after his conversion he laid claim to 
 no righteousness of his own, but looked for that alone 
 which is "through the faith of Christ, the righteousness 
 which is of God by faith." Once a zealous advocate of the 
 law, he stands to-day among the sacred writers the most 
 masterly expounder of the Gospel. His comprehension of 
 the truth as it is in Jesus, his vigorous grasp of it in its vast 
 and intricate relations, are among his most marked charac- 
 teristics. Moreover, he had implicit confidence in Christ 
 as " the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salva- 
 tion to every one that believeth." The Apostle Paul had 
 no doubt as to the competency of the Gospel to regenerate 
 mankind if its power could be adequately applied. Hence 
 he "determined to know nothing among the Corinthians 
 but Jesus Christ and Him crucified." "His preaching 
 was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in dem- 
 onstration of the Spirit and of power." 
 
 Equally marked in the Apostle were his diligence in 
 proclaiming the Gospel and his pastoral fidelity toward the 
 churches gathered by his ministry. 
 
 Never do we find more touching appeals, more earnest, 
 affectionate exhortations to us as pastors than in his Epis- 
 tles. They are the fruit of his own rich pastoral experience. 
 As he approached the end of his ministry he was able to 
 say truthfully, " I have fought a good fight, I have finished 
 my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid 
 up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the 
 righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." His hope was 
 well assured, his expectations well grounded, for he knew 
 " whom he had believed," and in all his arduous life, look- 
 ing not at the things which are seen but at the things which 
 are not seen, he had lived in that " unseen" and was now 
 ready "to depart and be with Christ." 
 
FUNERAL ADDRESS AT HINSDALE. 11 
 
 I am deeply impressed with the fact that each of these 
 characteristics of the Apostle Paul found in him whose loss 
 we mourn to-day something analagous. 
 
 While a student in college, and faithful to his college 
 duties, the things of the Kingdom of Christ were ever 
 uppermost in the mind of Dr. Flint. As a teacher he 
 sought by a thorough education not only to open to his 
 pupils the treasures of earthly knowledge, but, still more 
 earnestly, to make them acquainted with the Great Teacher, 
 to introduce them to Him and persuade them to sit at His 
 feet, that by learning of Him they might know that love 
 which passeth all knowledge. 
 
 His faith in Christ was implicit and singularly intelligent. 
 Clear in his conception of individual truths, he sought 
 always to comprehend them in their mutual relations. 
 Wisely conservative, as wisely liberal, pushing no truth to 
 illegitimate results, holding none to the exclusion of its 
 complementary truth, he manifested rare breadth of mind, 
 coupled with keen insight and great candor. 
 
 This ability to take a central position respecting truth 
 and view it comprehensively, characterized him also in his 
 estimates of men. While not blind to the faults of any, he 
 was quick to see the good in all, and generous in his estimate 
 of it. In all my conversations with him, and they were 
 frequent and unrestrained, I never heard him criticize oth- 
 ers unfairly, and I never knew him to speak unkindly of any 
 one. To us, his brother ministers, he was especially kind 
 and courteous. Well established and strong in his own con- 
 viction, positive in his opinions, he never indiscreetly pressed 
 these upon us. He conceded to us that which he held for 
 himself, the right and duty of independent thought and re- 
 search. Yet he had something in common with us all. 
 
 He was a unifier. He sought ever to emphasize and 
 strengthen the bond of our common love to Christ and to 
 deepen our common interest in the affairs of His kingdom. 
 
 He was faithful to his trust as a preacher. Consulting 
 not his own tastes or preferences, but the terms of his com- 
 
12 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 mission as an ambassador for Christ, I think he could have 
 said truthfully, " I have declared unto you the whole coun- 
 sel of God." 
 
 Of his work as a Pastor another will speak. I cannot 
 forbear saying, however, that this crowded house, especially 
 the presence of so many young people and children, bears 
 touching and significant testimony to his fidelity in this 
 respect. Is it not somewhat rare that a pastor is able to 
 say, as he not long since said to a friend, lk There is hardly 
 a person in my parish of whose religious condition I do not 
 know something from personal conversation." 
 
 I call you all to witness that he sought not yours but you. 
 He sought you for Christ. He sought to introduce you to 
 Him whom he loved supremely, and loving, found delight 
 in His service. He longed to make him known to you in 
 all the fullness of His love, that you also might know Him 
 and the power of his resurrection. That power he knew. 
 The divine touch had quickened him. Light from heaven 
 had beamed upon his soul and henceforth he, like the great 
 Apostle, lived in the il unseen." His life was hid with 
 Christ in God. The eternal, the invisible, were to him the 
 real. By faith he saw beyond. The veil which separated 
 him from it parted and he passed within. A step only 
 that was all and he whose pen was hardly dry from 
 tracing thoughts of thanksgiving and praise heard the an- 
 thems of the redeemed and shared their songs of joy. 
 
 That which to-day wrings our hearts with anguish and 
 suffuses our eyes with tears, to him is victory. He has 
 entered into the possession of that for which he lived. His 
 highest hopes, his most exalted aspirations, had their goal 
 not here but yonder ; yonder has he reached it. 
 
 Surely the words are applicable to him ; if his lifeless 
 lips could speak would he not utter them? " I have fought 
 a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
 faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right- 
 eousness which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me 
 at that day." 
 
FUNERAL ADDRESS AT HINSDALE, 
 
 BY FRANKLIN CARTER, LL. D., 
 
 President of Williams College. 
 
 "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from 
 henceforth.; yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest 
 from their labors ; and their "works do follow them" 
 
 These words from the Apocalypse of the beloved disciple 
 are entirely consonant with many words later recorded by 
 the same apostle that had long before fallen from the lips of 
 Jesus. It was with the fullest understanding of the labors 
 and sorrows that awaited his disciples that Jesus said, "I 
 go to prepare a place for you," and it was probably after 
 the beloved disciple had seen something of the true expe- 
 rience of Jesus' followers in the midst of the formal and 
 intolerant Jews that he wrote these precious words : 
 u Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from hence- 
 forth ; yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their 
 labors ; and their works do follow them'." 
 
 What John saw and knew, in the latter part of his long 
 and blessed life, of the antagonism that arose against those 
 that loved and followed Jesus from those that regarded him 
 as an impostor, doubtless revived in his memory over and 
 over again the words of comfort and consolation that Jesus 
 had spoken, and it is in his gospel that we find the most 
 precious assurances of what Jesus is to the believer here, 
 in this life, in death and in the hereafter. k4 I am the good 
 shepherd." " I am the door; by me if any man enter in, 
 he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture." 
 44 1 am come that they might have life and that they might 
 have it more abundantly." "In the world ye shall have 
 
14 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the 
 world." " In my Father's house are many mansions ; if it 
 were not so, I would have told you," to which the believing 
 heart responds : yes, of course he would have told us, had 
 it not been so. 
 
 And, my friends, it is to-day by the side of a grave, open 
 to receive one whom some of us loved very tenderly, that 
 we catch these far echoes of the Apocalypse and steady 
 ourselves by the solemn motive that has given sweetness to 
 many a sad dirge through these eighteen hundred years : 
 " Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." And we take 
 these pregnant words home to our hearts to-day, for we 
 know that this brother "died in the Lord." We look back 
 upon a life sweet and beautiful, and heroic with the imita- 
 tion of the divine Master, and we know that all is well with 
 the manly heart that had loved Jesus with no superficial, 
 formal love, but with an ardor that seemed to say : " I 
 must help fill up the measure of his sufferings." " I must 
 be made conformable unto his death." We think of him, 
 as but a few days since in the full possession of his strength 
 and faculties, as walking in the accustomed paths, praying 
 with his people, loving and watching with unceasing solic- 
 itude the delicate companion of his life, turning his eyes 
 over the hills with warm affection towards the college that 
 he loved, and then of a sudden, in the stillness of the night, 
 noiselessly and easily taking his flight to the Savior, dying 
 so peacefully in the Lord. The precious hymn of Mont- 
 gomery comes back to us, freighted anew with sweetness 
 and consolation, and we repeat it, as belonging to this be- 
 loved brother : 
 
 Servant of God, well done ! 
 
 Rest from thy loved employ ! 
 The battle fought, the victory won, 
 
 Enter thy Master's joy. 
 
 The voice at midnight came, 
 
 He started up to hear ; 
 A mortal arrow pierced his frame, 
 
 He fell, but felt no fear. 
 
FUNERAL ADDRESS AT HINSDALE. 15 
 
 Tranquil amidst alarms, 
 
 It found him on the field, 
 A veteran slumbering on his arms, 
 
 Beneath his red-cross shield. 
 
 His sword was in his hand, 
 
 Still warm with recent fight, 
 Ready that moment, at command, 
 
 Through rock and steel to smite. 
 
 At midnight came the cry, 
 
 "To meet thy God prepare ! " 
 He woke, and caught his Captain's eye ; 
 
 Then, strong in faith and prayer, 
 
 His spirit with a bound, 
 
 Left its encumbering clay ; 
 His tent, at sunrise, on the ground, 
 
 A darkened ruin lay. 
 
 Soldier of Christ, well done! 
 
 Praise be thy new employ ; 
 And while eternal ages run, 
 
 Rest in thy Savior's joy. 
 
 " That they may rest from their labors, saith the Spirit.' 
 Our beloved friend knew what labors were. He could 
 have said, in all modesty, with Paul, u in labors more 
 abundant." Life was to him in the fullest sense a conflict, 
 or rather a series of conflicts. When, after teaching for 
 many years, he was finally settled in this place as a minis- 
 ter of the Gospel, he seemed to establish, in his work here, 
 among this beloved people, the old style of minister ; to knit 
 the closest connections with the rocky soil of these hills 
 and valleys and to grow here like a stalwart oak, fearing 
 neither the blast of winter nor the summer's sun. He 
 was a "tree planted by the rivers of waters, that bring- 
 eth forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not 
 wither." Whatsoever he did, prospered. How great 
 strength there is in such an oak ! What an economy 
 and increase of forces in the life of the man who thus 
 heroically gives himself to one field in God's service and 
 cultivates it with assiduity and skill ! The life of such 
 
16 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 a minister of Christ's Gospel, even in such a quiet and re- 
 tired town as this, seems to dwarf the brilliant success of 
 the most gifted lawyers and financiers in a great metrop- 
 olis, especially when we stand, as may all of us ever stand, 
 in reverent awe before the cross of Christ. 
 
 I find in the record of the Congregational churches of 
 Massachusetts for 1881 that there were six additions to this 
 church in 1880, and but one loss, and that by death. 
 
 Had a similar ratio prevailed in the other churches, the 
 additions for that year above removals would have been 
 more than fifteen thousand, instead of the four hundred and 
 twenty-four recorded. This ratio may have been, as such 
 things often are, to an extent accidental. But there was a 
 fidelity in our brother that entered into every relation of 
 life. When the college that he loved was in a hand-to-hand 
 struggle for life and was carried over the long crisis by the 
 yearly subscriptions of her best sons of one hundred dol- 
 lars each, or such proportion as should be needed, his 
 name was down, with those of some men of wealth, for one 
 share, and he yearly paid the assessment, when his salary 
 was but twelve hundred dollars a year. It was not a 
 tenth of his salary for God's kingdom ; no, it was, or might 
 have been, a twelfth of his income for a single object in 
 that kingdom. 
 
 It is particularly from the relations of this good man to 
 the college that I learned to know his worth and appreciate 
 the resolute, but gentle manhood of his spirit. He was 
 particularly fitted to hold relations with a college like ours, 
 that is, as we believe, closely connected with the invisible 
 kingdom. With him the love of learning and the love of 
 God blended in singular harmony. I remember well how 
 nearly fifteen years ago (it must have been in the beginning 
 of his ministry) one of our idlest boys was sent away to be 
 aroused and quickened in his work. When he returned to 
 college his examination in Horace was so perfect, his 
 knowledge so much more thorough and exact than we had 
 ever been able to secure from him, that I asked him who 
 
FUNERAL ADDRESS AT HINSDALE. 17 
 
 had been his tutor. It was " the Rev. Mr. Flint of Hins- 
 dale." It was among these hills, under this beloved pastor 
 whom we bury to-day, that this boy, hopeless as we all 
 thought him, had caught the true meaning and beauty of 
 Horace, and came back to show us how the right personal 
 guidance of even the most indifferent mind will quicken 
 into life the latent germs of power and taste. 
 
 Dr. Flint was for several years an examiner in the college, 
 and the rather flattering report which he wrote in 1872 of 
 his inspection of the work done in our college class-rooms 
 was discriminating, and from his standpoint, just. In 1872 
 he became a trustee and during the ten years that he has 
 filled this office he has been not merely faithful, but loving 
 in his fidelity, and persistent in his efforts to increase the 
 usefulness and exalt the scholarship of the college. None 
 has rejoiced more heartily than he when prosperity has 
 come. None has been quicker than he to acknowledge 
 and emphasize the sweet lessons of adversity. When 
 his convictions required it, he stood joyfully alone. When 
 his convictions permitted, he was glad to be in the majority. 
 He was prudent and watchful of the material interests of 
 the college, but with that breadth of vision that always 
 comes to the true minister of Christ, no matter how remote 
 he may live from great enterprises or how ignorant of 
 modern methods, he was quick to admit the necessity of 
 the best equipments for the wisest teaching, and always 
 gave an enthusiastic consent to what may have seemed 
 large "outlay from a narrow treasury, for the purpose of 
 securing the best results in instruction. He believed in 
 teachers, not in apparatus or buildings ; but he believed, 
 when the teacher had proved his capacity, in giving him 
 every appliance lie could profitably use. He was a man 
 of tender humanity as well as of rigid justice. One of his 
 last official acts was to send a letter to a young man, who 
 had indiscreetly but ignorantly violated a principle laid 
 down in regard to the distribution of the charitable funds of 
 the college, so as to be no longer entitled to a share in 
 
18 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 these moneys, relieving him of his disability, though gently 
 and firmly insisting on the careful observance of the prin- 
 ciple hereafter. He was not merely ready to deny himself 
 comforts for the college he so ardently loved ; he was 
 ready to do work which his whole soul disliked, if he 
 believed that it must be done and it was partly his duty to 
 do it. His trusteeship was not an honor to be enjoyed. It 
 was a solemn obligation, always to be fulfilled. He was 
 ready to drink of the cup that his Master drank of, and to 
 be baptized with the baptism that Jesus was baptized with, 
 unless I greatly misunderstood him. In more than one 
 crisis, it seems to me that he has held the framework of a 
 great principle up alone and, in apparent unconsciousness 
 of others' failure to stand by him, hardly knew how much 
 he was lifting. As his day was, so was his strength. 
 
 There was, too, a kind of grand wisdom in the way in 
 which he kept his obligations to this people from interfer- 
 ing with his obligations to the college, and never let his 
 love of the college eclipse or lesson his love to this people. 
 To both he was held by the most loyal love of the divine 
 Redeemer. I know that I voice the sentiment of the trus- 
 tees of the college when I say that he was a loving and 
 faithful guardian of his Alma Mater. I know there will be 
 an ache in many hearts, as the news of his death is learned 
 and the sense of his loss creeps into the imagination of those 
 who saw his patient acceptance of the annoying responsibil- 
 ities of his relation to the college. For myself; his was the 
 first hand held out to me after the request came to me in 
 my sheltered home to come back to these just now bleak, 
 but ever noble hills. He stopped at my house on his way 
 home from New York the day after my appointment and 
 gave me loving promises which he faithfully kept. To him 
 I wrote frankly when I was feeling that I could not assume 
 such a burden, and when at last I saw, or thought I saw, 
 that with God's help I must try to lift it, he was the first or 
 almost the first to know it. There was something of hope in 
 all our hearts then. A loyal alumnus was soon to be inaug- 
 
FUNERAL ADDRESS AT HINSLALE. 19 
 
 urated president of these United States. There were other 
 signs of blessing. There have been changes in these 
 eighteen months. Colt, the upright judge, Garfield, the 
 ripe statesman, Clark, with greater resources than some 
 European princes, and now the faithful minister, the sym- 
 pathetic friend, the humble man of God, the last whom we 
 thought of losing he too has gone. 
 
 His was the first hand to grasp mine. It was almost the 
 last. For over these intervening hills there came only a 
 few days ago a message of love. I did not preserve it, but 
 as I remember it now, it seems to me that the signature 
 looked cramped and narrow. It may be an imagination. 
 I know it was the same hand that signed it that has given 
 consecration and blessing all these months. As the college 
 loses such friends, involuntarily there rises the fear that 
 there can be no more such that we are left desolate. 
 
 But then the words of Jesus came back : "Except a corn 
 of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but 
 if it die, it shall bring forth much fruit." I think of the 
 noble dead whose hearts loved the college, whose dust rests 
 in this county, and it seems to me that the whole county is 
 a sort of field a kind of God's acre up from which must 
 spring blessed harvests of golden grain of loving hearts to 
 bless the dear old home. I think of the gifted Dewey 
 asleep in Sheffield, of the model Hyde and the godly Gale 
 resting in Lee, of the scholarly Shepard at peace in Lenox, 
 of the stalwart Colt in Pittsfield, of the beloved brother 
 whom we bury to-day, of Albert Hopkins, the ardent, Chris- 
 tian Hebrew, of the saintly Gilson, of the manly Tenney 
 (these latter three not inferior to the first three and buried 
 in the college cemetery) , and the distances by which this 
 sacred dust is separated fade away and these noble dead 
 seem to guard, as united and blessing spirits, the college 
 that they so dearly loved. 
 
 But I must beg your loving pardon for speaking of our 
 loss so freely, when yours must be so much more bitter and 
 painful. There are men who are great and good away from 
 
20 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIAM FLINT. 
 
 home. I do not believe that our brother was one of these. 
 I know that he was loving, and tender, and just, and fair, 
 and sweet, and intelligent, to every one who knew him, and 
 that those who knew him best got from his simple, trustful 
 and gracious life, from his knowledge of the scriptures and 
 from his wise and kindly preaching, perpetual comfort and 
 help ; and to these, to the invalids, the anxious Christians, 
 the aged pilgrims, the afflicted households in this commu- 
 nity, we of the college offer our affectionate sympathies. 
 With all these, and with the strong and rugged too in 
 Hinsdale, we mourn. 
 
 But for him we cannot mourn. The rough mountain 
 path has been exchanged for the golden street ; the dim 
 faith in the risen Lord has been exchanged for the divine 
 presence ; the oft repeated, oft despairing prayer has given 
 place to the exultant song. 
 
 "And their works do follow them." Yes : never can we 
 be the same as if we had not known this brother. Never 
 can these hills look to me the same, as I ride through them 
 on the cars, as if dear Dr. Flint had not lived here. But 
 there will be, I hope, in your hearts and mine, a new 
 quickening influence, and the memory of his goodness will 
 help us to be faithful and the blessed faith that he "died in 
 the Lord" will comfort our hearts. We have one more 
 friend beyond one more link with "the general assembly 
 of the church of the first-born." The covered bridge is 
 drawing nearer, but whether we cross it in the twinkling of 
 an eye, as our brother did, or must spend months, or even 
 years, in its dusty, dimly lighted, suffocating enclosure, we 
 know that it leads to "the city of the living God, to the 
 heavenly Jerusalem," to the prepared mansion in the Fath- 
 er's house. "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it 
 be afraid." 
 
Remarks of Rev. Charles. H. Baldwin, 
 
 Amsterdam, New York. 
 
 I came from my distant home with no expectation of 
 saying anything on this occasion, but to sit in silence and 
 mingle my tears with yours in the midst of a common 
 bereavement. In the absence of Dr. Jenkins, who was to 
 have addressed you, whose absence we greatly regret, I am 
 asked to say a few words ; nor can I refuse. 
 
 My acquaintance with Dr. Flint has extended over all 
 our ministerial life which is measured by his pastorate over 
 this Church. Our relations have been quite intimate, and 
 our lives have touched each other at many points. He 
 has been the faithful friend and pastor of my father's fam- 
 ily, and in a sense my pastor. I remember him as standing 
 by the open grave and speaking words of comfort to my 
 grief-stricken heart, a true "son of consolation." 
 
 Perhaps he revealed to me a phase of his inner life, as a 
 minister, which would not be made known even to his most 
 intimate friends among his people. 
 
 The pastor alone has no pastor. He has the Good 
 Shepherd, as have all his flock, but no under shepherd to 
 whom he may go. 
 
 There is little danger of speaking too highly of Dr. 
 Flint's Christian and ministerial character. He was a man 
 of prayer, of faith, of fidelity, preeminently a spiritually- 
 minded man. " He walked with God" and is not, for 
 God has taken him. He loved to think of, and work for, 
 Christ. His ideal of Christian character and of Christian 
 ministry was high. 
 
 My intercourse with him was in his little study, more 
 than in all other places, and seldom have I been with him 
 there but conversation has turned toward Christ, and his 
 work in the church. 
 
22 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 He loved this people. He was interested in his town, 
 deeply interested in the College with which he was officially 
 connected and from which he graduated, he was alive to 
 the general interests of the Redeemer's kingdom ; but he 
 bore this Church on his heart most of all was he anxious 
 for your spiritual upbuilding. He loved you in Christ with 
 a love stronger than you knew. Two years ago, when I was 
 on my way to my present field of labor, he asked, "Which 
 is harder, to go or to stay? Continuing, "I am afraid it 
 would be harder for me to go than to stay and do the work 
 required." So, impelled by love and duty, he labored on, 
 sometimes in anxiety, sometimes in hope, but always in 
 confidence in Christ until God called him to his reward, 
 and to a higher service. 
 
 "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me write, 
 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence- 
 forth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their 
 labors ; and their works do follow them." 
 
 Has he not a two-fold immortality the immortality of 
 those who have a "building of God, an house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens," and the immortality of 
 those who, under divine guidance, have coined their lives 
 into good works, and have made indelible impressions on 
 human hearts? His works will follow him. 
 
 I have a message to the young people, and especially to 
 the young men of this congregation, which I have been 
 asked to deliver if ever I should have opportunity. I shall 
 never have a better time. It is this: "Tell them how 
 anxious Dr. Flint has been since his vacation to see them 
 coming to Christ. Only the evening before his translation 
 he looked anxiously over the Church roll to see how many 
 names were recorded there under twenty years of age. In 
 the last weeks of his life his great thought has been, "How 
 can I bring them to Christ?" He could not bear the 
 thought of the winter passing without a work of grace 
 that should change their hearts. I hardly need bear this 
 message to you who have heard his prayers and his burning 
 
FUNERAL ADDRESS AT HINSDALE. 23 
 
 words in sermon and lecture. You have felt his intense 
 earnestness and deep love for your souls. Literally he 
 was coining his life in holy endeavor to bring you to the 
 Savior. If those lips, now silent in death, could speak, 
 what would they say that they have not already said ; what 
 but this? "Set yourselves apart unto God." You will 
 hear his voice no more, yet he speaketh speaketh in the 
 memory of godly life, of faithful preaching, of earnest 
 entreaty speaks in behalf of his Master for your salvation. 
 May God sanctify this sorrow to you to this whole con- 
 gregation and may you remember that God has called to 
 Himself a pastor who loved you, whose great thought was 
 to have you presented blameless before the Father. 
 He rests from his labors and his works do follow him. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM SERMON 
 
 PREACHED AT LINCOLN, ON THE SABBATH AFTER THE 
 DEATH OF REV. EPHRAIM FLINT, D.D. 
 
 BY REV. H. J. RICHARDSON. 
 
 Thanksgiving week, the time of gladness and family 
 reunions, has brought a fresh cloud of sorrow with separa- 
 tion and the last farewells. The announcement of the death 
 of the Rev. Ephraim Flint, on Wednesday, came to us as a 
 shock and surprise. It is but a few weeks since he was 
 here in the home of his boyhood, and a worshipper in this 
 house of his fathers. Last Sabbath he preached as usual 
 to the congregation to whom he had ministered so accept- 
 ably for fifteen years. On Tuesday evening he laid down 
 his pen with the thought that his Thanksgiving discourse 
 was well advanced, and before midnight had entered into 
 his rest. He died as a true soldier of the Cross ; as a man 
 like him would choose to die, at his post, about his Father's 
 business. 
 
 It is fitting that we should turn our thoughts to the lessons 
 of his life. He was a Lincoln boy. His ancestors were 
 among the settlers of the town. He was a child of this 
 church. His fathers were conspicuous among its founders. 
 Household influences tell on the character and destiny of 
 children. It is no surprising thing that at the early age 
 of thirteen he felt his own need of the forgiving love of his 
 Saviour and his duty of giving himself to his service. He 
 heard the Divine voice. He followed his Lord. No one 
 ever had any reason to doubt the sincerity of his purpose 
 and the genuine character of the work which was wrought 
 in his heart. As his mind matured his religious beliefs were 
 deepened, and his desire to honor and serve his Master was 
 confirmed. Life to him was real and earnest. As a boy. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM SERMON. 25 
 
 working on his father's farm, or studying Latin under the 
 tuition of his pastor, Rev. E. Newhall, as a young man 
 measuring his powers in the attritions and generous compe- 
 titions of college halls, as a teacher stimulating, guiding, 
 helping and controlling the pupils that came under his care, 
 as a minister holding forth the word of life and striving to 
 bring men unto the service of Christ, he has left a most 
 honorable record, and an example which any boy, or youth 
 or man in any one of these spheres of effort might profitably 
 study. It was no languid, intermittent, half-hearted endeav- 
 ors that he gave to these successive labors of his life. 
 Whatever he did, he did with his might, with an honest, 
 conscientious persistent purpose, and so success crowned 
 his efforts. 
 
 From his manifold labors, in a moment, he has gone. And 
 there is a great vacancy in the family circle and in the wide 
 sphere of his professional activities and interests. 
 
 When he began to preach in 1867, again and again he 
 kindly yielded to my solicitation, when he had a spare Sab- 
 bath, and filled this pulpit, always discoursing in an earnest, 
 instructive and forcible manner. The remark of Rev. Dr. 
 George H. Gould at the funeral of Dr. Manning would 
 equally apply to Mr. Flint: ''Behind all his sermons stood 
 the consecrated man, the servant of the Lord Jesus, the 
 embassador of the Crucified One, beseeching, in his Master's 
 stead, men to be reconciled to God. He, if ever any man 
 did, preached out of his own heart. He believed and there- 
 fore spoke. He proclaimed and gloried in a gospel that 
 had saved him, and therefore his ministry was a ministry of 
 power." Dr. Duryea's words respecting Dr. Manning are 
 also equally applicable to Mr. Flint: u It was his aim to 
 hold fast to essential truth and let nothing go until his 
 groping hand could reach the truth which was to lead to 
 light. He knew that truth was essential, and he knew that 
 spiritual penetration comes with experience ; he sought to 
 know the truth by living truly, and so to read in God's word 
 God's own spirit." 
 
26 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 The last sermon of Mr. Flint in this pulpit was upon the 
 text: "And all that sat in the Council, looking steadfastly 
 on him. saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." 
 Acts vi : 15. Subject : The angel face ! What it is ; How 
 it may be attained. 
 
 We believe that he has passed beyond the transfigurations 
 of earth into the immediate presence of his Master ; into the 
 seats of the glorified ; into the pleasures which are at the 
 right hand of God ; into the mansions of everlasting rest. 
 
RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF HINSDALE, 
 
 MASS. 
 
 At a meeting of the Congregational Church of Hinsdale, 
 held in the Lecture Room, January 6th, 1883, the following 
 preamble and resolutions were adopted : 
 
 Whereas, God in his mysterious providence has called to his 
 reward our loved and honored pastor, Rev. EPHRAIM FLINT, D.D., 
 therefore 
 
 Resolved, that we, members of the Church to which he ministered 
 for more than fifteen years, do hereby express the deep sense of 
 loss and sorrow as a Church, and personal affliction which we ex- 
 perience in his death, and our tenderest sympathy for his grief- 
 stricken wife and family. 
 
 Dr. Flint was an able, faithful and instructive preacher, of 
 eminent spirituality which was always apparent; as a pastor he 
 was devoted, sympathetic and kind to all, especially to the sick, the 
 sorrowing, the poor and needy ; for the children and youth of this 
 Church and parish he had a father's interest and a mother's love ; 
 his constant desire and prayer to God for them was that they might 
 be saved. 
 
 Entirely consecrated to his Divine Master, he was ever ready to 
 go anywhere or perform any service which he thought duty to Him 
 demanded; his desire to bring souls to Christ was the 1 main-spring 
 of his life and labors here : to effect this no effort or sacrifice 
 seemed too great ; to do and give for other's good, for Christ's sake, 
 was a pleasure to him. 
 
 As a counselor and friend he was wise, safe and true. 
 
 During his long pastorate, his rare purity of character, and benev- 
 olent life, constantly won our admiration and love, and commanded 
 our profound reverence. 
 
 In his death we lose an able leader and noble example ; a devout 
 suppliant at the throne of grace; a large-hearted, unselfish Chris- 
 tian friend, brother and pastor who only sought our highest good. 
 
 Resolved, that we express to Mrs. Flint, his brothers and sister, 
 our deep sorrow, and tender to them our hearty sympathy. 
 
 Resolved, that we express to President Franklin Carter, the 
 Reverends A. C. Sewall, C. H. Baldwin, T. T. Munger and J. L. 
 
28 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 Jenkins, our sincere thanks and high appreciation of their fitting 
 and impressive services at the funeral. 
 
 Resolved, further, that these Resolutions be placed in the records 
 of this Church, and the clerk be directed to furnish copies to 
 Mrs. Flint, the brothers and sister, to the scribe of the "North 
 Berkshire Association of Ministers," to President Carter, the 
 Reverends Sewall, Baldwin, Munger and Jenkins. 
 
 REV. DR. FLINT'S DEATH. 
 
 The Action of the Berkshire North Association of 
 Congregational Ministers. 
 
 Berkshire County Eagle, Dec, /j, 1882. 
 
 At the regular meeting of the Berkshire North Associa- 
 tion of Congregational Ministers, held in Pittsfield, at the 
 First Church, December 4, 1882, the following resolutions 
 respecting the decease at Hinsdale, November 28, in the 
 midst of his days of usefulness, of Rev. Dr. Ephraim 
 Flint, were read and adopted : 
 
 Whereas, God in his infinite wisdom has called to his reward our 
 loved and honored brother, EPHRAIM FLINT, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, that we, his brethren in the Christian ministry, do 
 hereby express the profound sense of loss which we experience in 
 his death and our deep sympathy with his bereaved wife and kin- 
 dred, and his afflicted people. 
 
 We recognized in Dr. Flint a man eminent for intellectual 
 strength and ability, scholarly attainments, and singleness of pur- 
 pose in the service of his Divine Master: As a teacher, sitting 
 ever with his pupils at the feet of the Great Teacher, desiring, 
 for himself and them, the education of rightly directed powers, and 
 that insight into truth and life which only faith in Christ can fur- 
 nish ; as a preacher, seeking first of all to be "accepted of Him'' 
 who had called him to that office, cautious in research, prudent 
 in utterance, feeling deeply the responsibility of an embassador 
 for God, conservative yet not illiberal, forceful with the energy of 
 intelligent faith and clear conviction; as a pastor, always kind, 
 considerate and singularly faithful ; to us, his brother ministers, 
 a Christian gentleman, never compromising his own convictions 
 or denying to others the right and duty of independent thought 
 
RESOLUTIONS. 29 
 
 and reasoning, regardful of other's feelings, pained at the thought 
 of giving pain, wise in counsel, firm in reproof, sympathetic, 
 candid, courteous. 
 
 By his long pastorate, devoted entirely to the Church which now 
 mourns his loss, by his care for neighboring churches, by his 
 faithful service as a trustee of Williams College, and in other 
 official positions, he had acquired an extended and steadily increas- 
 ing influence. 
 
 In his death we lose one from among us who, by his rare fidel- 
 ity in all the relations of life and his excellence in all, commanded 
 our profound respect, confidence and love. 
 
 Resolved, that we hereby express to his people, his family, and 
 especially to Mrs. Flint, our deep sorrow, and tender to them our 
 heartfelt sympathy. 
 
 Resolved, further, that a copy of these Resolutions be furnished 
 the scribe of this Association, for entry upon the records of the 
 Association, to such local and religious papers as may be desig- 
 nated by vote of the Association, to the clerk of the Congregational 
 Church of Hinsdale, to the president of Williams College, and to 
 Mrs. Flint. 
 
 By vote of the Association. 
 
 W T . F. AVERY, Scribe. 
 
 TRUSTEES WILLIAM COLLEGE. 
 
 At a meeting of the Trustees of Williams College held 
 in the city of New York, December 28th, 1882, the fol- 
 lowing preamble and resolutions were adopted : 
 
 Whereas, it has pleased the Great Head of the Church to remove 
 by death Rev. EPHRAIM FLINT, D.D., an alumnus and devoted friend 
 of Williams College, and for ten years a faithful and exemplary 
 member of its Board of Trustees. 
 
 Resolved, that we cherish his memory as that of a brother be- 
 loved, and that his self-denying attention to the College has been 
 and will be an inspiration to us in our efforts to increase the effi- 
 ciency and usefulness of the College. 
 
 Resolved, that we recognize in his fidelity to the College the 
 outgrowth of a loyal love to the Divine Master which, carried into 
 every relation of life, dignified and enobled all his thought and 
 work. 
 
30 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 Resolved, that we extend to his Church and society in Hinsdale, 
 and especially to his widow and surviving brothers and sister, the 
 assurance of our warm sympathy, and of our recognition, however 
 inadequate it must be, of their bitter personal loss. 
 
 Resolved, that copies of these Resolutions be transmitted to Mrs. 
 Flint, to his brothers and sister, to the Church and society in Hins- 
 dale, and that a copy of them be spread upon the records of the 
 College. 
 
 A true copy. J. WHITE, Secretary. 
 
 BERKSHIRE COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY. 
 
 In company with all the agencies in the County seeking the high, 
 est human good, the Berkshire County Bible Society is bereaved in 
 the death of Rev. Dr. Flint, of Hinsdale. 
 
 He was its wise and efficient supporter, contributing to it coun- 
 sel, influence and money. 
 
 By presence and participation he added to the profit of its public 
 meetings. 
 
 It is therefore wholly fit that the Society, assembled in annual 
 meeting, make expression of its sense of loss in Dr. Flint's death, 
 and bear testimony to his great worth as a man, and to his valuable 
 services in behalf of those interests which are the special care of 
 this Society. 
 
 The Society orders the above recognition to be put on its rec- 
 ords, and a copy to be sent by the Secretary to Mrs. Flint. 
 
 JANUARY 17, 1883. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 
 
 FROM PROF. EDWARDS A. PARK. 
 
 ANDOVER, Nov. 3oth, 1882. 
 
 I have long admired your dear husband's rare simplicity of char- 
 acter, his earnest and enterprising spirit, his devotedness to his 
 work. While connected with Andover Seminary he was an inde- 
 fatigable student, faithful, and conscientious in attending to all that 
 was required of him. He spared no pains, shrank from no self- 
 denial, never seemed to relax his purpose to make the most of 
 himself. His improvement was rapid and great. 
 
 He was remarkably accurate in his statements, punctilious in his 
 style. 
 
 The characteristic which I should first apply to him as a Seminary 
 student is trustworthiness. His countenance in the Lecture Room 
 is indelibly impressed on my imagination. It imaged forth his 
 honest and amiable spirit. 
 
 I can never forget his kindness as a friend, and I feel personally 
 bereaved in his departure from the world. * * * * It would 
 have afforded me real solace if I could have attended the obsequies 
 of your dear husband, and especially if I could have told his church 
 and parish how much I esteemed and loved him. * * * * 
 
 FROM P. A. CHABOURNE, D.D., LL.D. 
 Ex-President of Williams College. 
 
 AMHERST, Nov. 3oth, 1882. 
 
 Dr. Flint was one of the best friends I ever had. 
 
 In private life his friendship was sweet, and as a Trustee of the 
 College his wisdom and love of truth were a blessing to the Institu- 
 tion, and a constant source of strength and comfort to me, during 
 all my administration. 
 
 As Pastor, Trustee and friend, Dr. Flint has performed a great 
 work, and his loss will be widely felt. 
 
 I would that I could be with you, to pay my last tribute of respect 
 to one who has been, in all the relations of our lives, like a brother. 
 
 [This letter acquires an increased interest from the fact of Dr. 
 Chadbourne's triumphant death, February 23rd, 1883.] 
 
32 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 FROM S. IRENAUS PRIME, D.D. 
 
 NEW YORK, DEC. 9th, 1882. 
 
 Mysterious indeed are the ways of God with men, yet why should 
 it seem strange that He should admit to His immediate presence, 
 and to Infinite joy, one so fitted by grace, as was your beloved and 
 noble husband, to enter His Courts on high. 
 
 Ten years ago I first met him, and I loved him at first sight. He 
 was so gentle, sincere, pure, sweet, so genial, pleasant, tender, and 
 also strong; he was so wise in counsel, so decided in the right, so 
 true to every trust, so candid, reasonable, and charitable to the 
 opinions of others, while firm in his own, that we had the most 
 implicit confidence in him, and the highest respect for his judgment. 
 
 His scholarship was so broad and accurate that he was invaluable 
 as a College examiner, and his loss in every relation is irreparable. 
 
 FROM PROF. E. H. GRIFFIN, WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 
 
 DEC. 2nd, 1882. 
 
 You know from others how severe we feel Dr. Flint's loss to be to 
 this College. 
 
 No institution ever had a more devoted and unselfish friend than 
 was Dr. Flint to Williams College. All who have been familiar 
 with the affairs of the institution for the last ten years, know that 
 no one in the Board of Trustees has rendered more important 
 service. 
 
 Besides the sense of loss to the institution, we who have seen him 
 here, so punctually and patiently, from year to year, have a keen 
 sense of personal bereavement. 
 
 I had come to have a very warm and tender feeling toward him. 
 
 * * * * Our feeling about him enables us to realize in part 
 the grief of his bereaved church and parish, who were so constantly 
 in his thoughts. 
 
 You will have the sympathy and piayers of the brotherhood of 
 churches, whom Dr. Flint served so often upon Councils, and as 
 clerk of the Association, and in other ways. 
 
 There are few, very few, such men in the ministry. 
 
 FROM JUDGE DEWEY, OF WORCESTER. 
 
 DEC. 3rd, 1882. 
 
 * * * * My acquaintance with Dr. Flint came out of our 
 association as Trustees of Williams College. I had looked for a 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 33 
 
 long life for him, and felt that with him as chairman of our Execu- 
 tive Committee, that the College was in safe hands, and I hoped 
 much for it, in the future, from his faithfulness and sound judg- 
 ment, and I know not who can fill his place. The longer one knew 
 him the more he appreciated his value. 
 
 FROM CHAS. A. DAVISON, 
 
 NEW YORK CITY, DEC. 2nd, '82. 
 
 * * * * I felt, and continue to feel, your husband's death as a 
 personal sorrow and loss. He was so good, and his nature was so 
 kind and genial, that I was very much attracted towards him. I 
 always felt, concerning him, that he was an Israelite indeed in whom 
 there was no guile. We shall miss him very sadly at our com- 
 mencement gatherings. 
 
 He will be greatly missed too in the College, he was so helpful in 
 its interests. How much he will be missed in his parish, I can well 
 imagine, and I think I can also imagine, though but faintly perhaps, 
 how much he will be missed in his home. Your consolations how- 
 ever are very rich. You know full well where he now is, glorious 
 and immortal. I am sure the golden gates swung back on easy 
 hinges, when the spirit of your departed husband took its upward 
 flight. * * * * 
 
 FROM REV. EDWARD TAYLOR, 
 Former Pastor in Hinsdale. 
 
 BlNGHAMTON, N. Y., DEC. ISt, 1882. 
 
 Somehow I had not associated death with him, but have had an 
 idea that he would have one of those long ministries at Hinsdale, 
 such as Dr. Hyde had at Lee, Dr. Shepard at Lenox, and Dr. 
 Field at Stockbridge. 
 
 Dr. Flint certainly had those enduring qualities, which make such 
 permanency possible. Solid, practical, consistantly pious, intellect- 
 ually strong, well finished and well balanced, he also possessed in 
 an unusual degree that, for lack of which many ministers, gifted 
 and brilliant, fail sound common sense. 
 
 His worth was in the grain ; not a matter of renewing or of pig- 
 ment, but real solid oak and maple. By so much the more is the 
 affliction of his household and parish deepened ; and yet by so 
 much the more will memories of him be precious, and he continue 
 speaking. 
 
34 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 FROM MR. WILLIAM J. BARTLETT. 
 
 LEE, FEB. nth, 1883. 
 
 Dr. Flint's mind was unceasingly active. His mental labor was 
 untiring and enormous. Ah ! those high aspirations ; those lofty 
 flights of imagination ; those gleams of poetic fire which were so 
 often revealed in his writings and sermons what fulfilment they 
 now have in the blessed fruitions of the Heavenly service ! 
 
 Pure in heart and prudent of speech ; courteous in bearing; guile- 
 less, sensitive, tender, loving, holy; I wonder not that our Father 
 took him Home. I only wonder that He kept him here so long to 
 bear the conflicts, trials, and burdens of this sinful life. 
 
 FROM Mr. D. L. BOARDMAN, TROY, TO PRES. CARTER. 
 
 DEC. ist, 1882. 
 
 What can we do without our Friend ? Ever ready trusty a 
 strength in council devoted in heart active in support and in 
 everything. How we shall miss him ! 
 
 I would rather by far have been a mourner at his funeral to show 
 my love for his Christian character, his manly worth, and judicious 
 councils, for his noble modesty, and fearless support of the right 
 than if he had left millions. 
 
Notices of the Press. 
 
 PITTSFIELD DAILY EVENING JOURNAL. 
 
 Nov. 29th, 1882. 
 
 A sad loss to Berkshire Sudden death of the Rev. Dr. Flint, of 
 Hinsdale. It is rarely indeed that \ve are compelled to announce 
 so sad tidings as came to us this morning. 
 
 The Rev. Ephraim Flint, D.D., the pastor of the Congregational 
 Church in Hinsdale, was attacked last evening with neuralgic pain 
 in the stomach, which speedily passed to his heart and ended hk 
 life. It has been said recently that the extinction of one human life 
 is of no moment in the vast movements of humanity, in the vast- 
 ness of God's dealings with his creatures, but to our limited com- 
 prehension it often seems that a man's death does have an ill effect 
 upon a great cause in which he is engaged, or in a field, large or 
 small, in which we had seen him doing good work. Doubtless the 
 Ruler of the universe rules well in all his dealings with his crea- 
 tures, but in the view which is permitted to us, it seems that if ever 
 a man was cut off in the midst of his usefulness, it could be truth- 
 fully said of Dr. Flint. 
 
 His pastorate has been one of eminent success fou'nded upon 
 much ability and the most untiring industry; which was recognized 
 by his Alma Mater some years since by conferring upon him the 
 degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was a good preacher, possessing 
 more than ordinary ability as a pulpit orator; but his great strength 
 lay in sound judgment, discreet but ardent zeal in his Master's ser- 
 vice, sincere and abounding faith. With these qualities he labored 
 in one of the most important and growing pastoral fields in Berk- 
 shire, and he took high rank among the clergy of the county. And 
 it is much that we are able to say that he was as much beloved as 
 he was respected. As a worker, and as a friend, he will be sadly 
 missed in the religious world of the county. 
 
 BERKSHIRE COUNTY EAGLE, PITTSFIELD. 
 
 Nov. 3oth, 1882. 
 
 Sudden Death of Rev. Dr. Ephraim Flint. A deep and unex- 
 pected gloom has been thrown over the Thanksgiving festivities at 
 Hinsdale by the sudden death, Tuesday evening, of Rev. Dr. E. 
 Flint, for the last fifteen years the beloved pastor of the Congrega- 
 
36 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 tional Church. He had not been in perfect health for a year or more 
 past, but his symptoms were not of a character to cause immediate 
 alarm. He seemed to be nearly as well as usual on Tuesday, and 
 was out on the street twice, though he complained of what seemed 
 to be neuralgic pains in his stomach. He was occupied during the 
 afternoon until dark, preparing his Thanksgiving sermon. In the 
 evening he grew worse, sent for the doctor, and within an hour 
 after, or at about lok o'clock, he was dead, his decease being attrib- 
 uted to a neuralgic affection of the heart. ******** 
 
 One of Dr. Flint's prominent characteristics was goodness, and 
 his life was the life of a strong, good man. The acts that stand out 
 all along are acts of simple-hearted righteousness. He is remem- 
 bered at Lee for his unostentatious words in the public meetings, 
 for his never failing judgment of right and wrong in town affairs, 
 for those burning words of his when the news came that Sumter 
 had been bombarded ; he is remembered at Andover for his father- 
 ing of American education in Japan, in taking the young native 
 Joseph Neesima into his heart and home, for teaching and inspiring 
 him, and helping to fit him for that great work which he is now 
 doing in his country ; remembered in the ministers' association 
 of Northern Berkshire, whose faithful secretary he was for nearly 
 15 years, for his firmness in sound and gloriously old-fashioned 
 Christianity ; remembered among his people for far more than pages 
 will express. Not the most eloquent preacher in the county, but 
 one of those whom the county could least afford to lose. 
 
 In secular as well as religious life, Dr. Flint has been a promi- 
 nent figure in the county. No minister, unless filling a local pul- 
 pit, has been better known in Pittsfield. A few weeks since he 
 exchanged with Rev. Mr. Hamlin. At the conference at Dalton 
 the first of the month, he, perhaps, almost more than any other, 
 commanded the closest attention of all. Possibly it was his 
 educational work that made him far more of a student and scientific 
 scholar than most clergymen. Four years ago, when he visited 
 Europe for a few months, a German savant said of him, "He has 
 got more honest learning than any American I ever saw." In his 
 studies as well as in everything else the rule he followed was, "to 
 be, rather than seem to be." Hinsdale has indeed met with a loss 
 that will be well nigh irreparable. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD DAILY REPUPLICAN. 
 
 Nov. 3oth, 1882. 
 
 Death of Rev. Dr. Ephraim Flint Berkshire County suffers a 
 moral loss in the removal of so sensible and strong a man as Rev. 
 Dr. Flint of Hinsdale, who died suddenly of heart disease Tuesday 
 
NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 37 
 
 night. He complained of feeling unwell Tuesday, but supposing it 
 to be a passing neuralgic trouble, he spent the afternoon in prepar- 
 ing his Thanksgiving sermon. He retired at 10 P.M., and in half 
 an hour he was dead of neuralgia of the heart. Dr. Flint was but 
 54 years old, in the prime of his usefulness and intellectual strength, 
 and every inch a man of that substantial and genuine quality which 
 has been the boast of the old New England Congregational minis- 
 try. His death falls with crushing weight upon a united and devoted 
 people. ******** He studied theology at Andover, 
 and in 1867 was called to the Hinsdale Congregational Church, 
 which was his first and only pastorate. He identified himself thor- 
 oughly with the church and town and filled a large place. Dr. Flint 
 was married to Miss Orilla J. Hagar of Lincoln in 1857. Modest, 
 unaffected, reliable, having deep convictions and the courage to 
 enforce them at all times, Dr. Flint was a fine example of the 
 unselfish Christian gentleman. He did useful work as a trustee of 
 Williams College and that institution conferred upon him the degree 
 of D.D. The Thanksgiving services at Hinsdale, over which Dr. 
 Flint was to have presided, will be omitted to-day, and the sorrowing 
 people will bury their dead from the Congregational Church at 1.30 
 p. M. to-morrow. 
 
 LEE, MASS., VALLEY GLEANER. 
 Dec. 6th, 1882. 
 
 Rev. Ephraim Flint, D. D. Lee people could scarcely believe 
 the sad tidings flashed over the wires from Hinsdale, last Wednes- 
 day morning, that Rev. Dr. Flint was no more. Meeting him, as 
 so many did, but a few days previous, apparently in the full vigor 
 of health, it seemed almost incredible that he should now be among 
 the dead. The deep personal feelings of love and respect cherished 
 by so wide a circle of friends, together with the almost involuntary 
 thought of the work for which he was so admirably adapted and 
 which seemed to rest almost solely upon his shoulders, compelled 
 the mind to turn shudderingly from the possibility that the tidings 
 were true. Yet even so the all-wise disposer of human events 
 had ordered, for reasons perchance unfathomable by finite ken, yet 
 recorded, we cannot doubt, in the book of eternal counsels. 
 
 From 1856 to 1862 he was principal of the high school in Lee. 
 ****** *** During his residence in Lee, Dr. Flint 
 so endeared himself to the people by his rare personal qualities, 
 and became so thoroughly identified with her interests that he 
 has since been considered almost one of our own citizens, and, 
 
38 MEMORIAL OF EPHRAIM FLINT. 
 
 urelj, no less strong was his attachment to Lee. He was also 
 greatly interested in Williams College, and, as a trustee, has done 
 faithful work, aiding by influence and means every movement that 
 looked towards her welfare. 
 
 Dr. Flint will be greatly missed as a pastor. Rarely can be found 
 united in one man those qualities which contributed so largely to 
 his success. Devotion, untiring zeal, discretion, sound judgment, 
 an able mind and a singularly pure and holy life all contributed to 
 render him one of the most efficient of pastors. He will be missed 
 as a citizen. Ever on the side of right, giving staunch support to 
 every public movement which commended itself to his judgment 
 and conscience, his advice and influence were often sought. But 
 far deeper will be the sense of personal loss among a wide circle of 
 friends. None knew him but to love and respect him. As a wise 
 counsellor and sympathizing friend he had accomplished a work, 
 the influence of which will live through untold years, and his 
 untimely death will leave an aching void in many a sorrowing 
 heart. One Sabbath occupying his pulpit in health and strength, 
 with every promise of years of usefulness, the next dead and 
 buried, his voice hushed in the stillness of death, his home closed 
 and friends departed, such is indeed a sad commentary on 
 human frailty. 
 
 PlTTSFIELD SUN. 
 
 Dec. yth, 1882. 
 
 The funeral of Rev. Dr. Flint was attended from his late residence 
 and the church on Friday last, and there was a large and general 
 assembling of the people of the town to pay their last respects to 
 the well loved pastor and citizen. The church was draped in black 
 around the pulpit and along the gallery front, and a large floral 
 pillow had the words, " Our Pastor," in the centre. The church 
 took entire charge of the funeral, paid all the expenses, and offered 
 Mrs. Flint the gift of a burial lot. There were several clergymen 
 present, taking part in the services. The address was by Presi- 
 dent Carter, of Williams College, and it was a beautiful and earnest 
 tribute. The bearers were, representing the older citizens, Lyman 
 Payne, C. J. Kittredge, James Hosmer, Milo Wentworth, James 
 White and Edward Clark ; the younger people were represented by 
 L. M. Payne, Jr.. James Kittredge, Henry Sears, T. A. Frissell, 
 Alden Pierce and William Wentworth. Pastor Flint's death is 
 regretted by the whole community. His pure, lovely, saintly life, 
 won for him the respect of evei-ybody, and his place in the Church 
 and the town will be hard to fill. 
 
GENERAL LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the 
 
 date to which renewed. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 LD 21-100m-l,'54(1887sl6)476 
 
144092 
 
 m