J 
 
 
 ^yC^L/^^^i^^ /ff\/l
 
 C^ H. hol^^p-^cJ
 
 3n iMeniotiam. 
 
 (Igras fall Moratirfi 
 
 Sum iebruarj! 15tf), 1809. 
 
 mitii man isti). issa.
 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge : 
 Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.
 
 U.1- Ml I 
 
 fUvmix,
 
 MEMOIR. 
 
 Cyrus Hall McCormick was born February 
 
 15, 1809, at the old homestead, Walnut Grove, 
 
 midway between Lexington and Staunton, in 
 
 CO Rockbridge County, Virginia. His parents, Rob- 
 
 07 ert and Mary Ann Hall McCormick, of Scotch- 
 
 ^ Irish descent, possessed great strength of char- 
 
 m acter and natural ability, and held an influential 
 
 position among the people in the Valley. Thrift 
 
 tM and industry had secured to them ease of circum- 
 
 ^ stances in a devout, intelligent, and happy home, 
 
 i and their seven children shared its responsibilities 
 
 and pleasures. The children were trained to hab- 
 
 , its of self-reliance and industry, Cyrus, the eldest, 
 
 ^ being often aroused by his father's call at five 
 
 § o'clock to go to work in the field. In winter he 
 
 cj . • . 
 
 uj acquired his education at " the old field-school ' 
 
 2: . 
 
 Q in the neighborhood. 
 
 *^ His parents were remarkably reverent in their 
 
 observance of the teachings of divine truth ; and 
 
 Cyrus grew up with an abiding sense of duty and 
 
 44Btl 
 
 o
 
 4 MEMOIR. 
 
 right, and a strong hostility to false pretenses, 
 which he could detect with rare discrimination. 
 An unostentatious bearing was the natural result 
 of such a training in a country home, and it con- 
 tinued to mark his character through life. 
 
 On Sunday he entered as earnestly into the 
 singing and preaching in the New Providence 
 Church as he did into the work of the week-day, 
 following the plough or tinkering in his father's 
 workshops. There he sang the music and words 
 of beautiful hymns that remained his chosen 
 songs of praise in all the vicissitudes and changes 
 of his career. This early training in industry, 
 honesty, and religious duty was the strongest in- 
 fluence in moulding his character and life. The 
 bent of his mind was from the first towards prac- 
 tical mechanics, and this was developed and 
 strengthened by the surroundings of his life 
 upon a farm, remote from town or city. Dur- 
 ing those youthful days he spent much time in 
 the carpenter and blacksmith shops, which his 
 father maintained, as was usual then, for repair- 
 ing the farm implements and doing the carpenter 
 work needed upon the estate. 
 
 In these shops, when only fifteen, he made with 
 his own hands a grain-cradle for his use in the 
 harvest field, and over many a broad acre of
 
 MEMOIR. 5 
 
 grain did he swing this primitive harvester of his 
 boyhood, keeping his place with this light and 
 symmetrical cradle among the full-grown and 
 experienced hands in his father's fields. Thus 
 early in life he had a practical experience of the 
 severe toil from which his invention afterwards 
 released millions of his fellow-men. 
 
 The first result of his inventive mind was a 
 hillside plough, patented in 1831, for throwing 
 alternate furrows on the lower side, being thus a 
 right and left hand plough at will. Two years 
 later, he invented a superior horizontal self-sharp- 
 ening plough, which was pronounced a valuable 
 improvement. 
 \ Mr. McCormick inherited from his father ge- 
 i nius for invention ; from his mother, genius for 
 I practical business affairs. This rare combination 
 enabled him to bring to a successful issue the 
 invention which has given him world-wide fame 
 and honor. His father, Robert McCormick, who 
 I possessed much genius in the construction of 
 I hydraulic, threshing, and hemp-breaking machines, 
 i had devised a reaper in 18 16, but, like all pre- 
 j vious attempts by others, it was a failure. 
 
 Time rolled on, but this old reaper, as it lay 
 abandoned near the workshop, was continually 
 under the eye of the young Cyrus, as a reminder
 
 6 MEMOIR. 
 
 of something attempted but not accomplished. 
 He was convinced that the principles upon which 
 his father had experimented, in using upright re- 
 volving cylinders provided at their base with 
 knives like sickles, were radically defective, and 
 he proceeded upon a wholly different plan of con- 
 struction, by operating upon the grain in a mass, 
 with a horizontal reciprocating blade. The old 
 machine of his father, therefore, furnished him 
 no inductive trains of thought in his work, while 
 it acted as a warning of the errors to avoid, and 
 served as an inspiration to success. The idea 
 that grain could be cut by machinery possessed 
 him fully, and he believed there was a way to do 
 it. He continued to think over and work out 
 his idea in that old homestead. He had never 
 been far from home. He had never heard of 
 any experiments in machinery for harvesting 
 grain except his father's. The pursuit of this 
 idea was opposed by his father, who believed his 
 years would be wasted. 
 
 There are turning-points in every life, and 
 usually the point which fixes itself in the mem- 
 ory is some minor incident ; though, in fact, 
 that which is called the turning point is not 
 usually a change of direction, but an awaken- 
 ing of consciousness to the possibilities of the 
 future.
 
 MEMOIR. 7 
 
 Once, when a young man, he was riding on 
 horseback from his Virginia home to a distant 
 foundry in the mountains, with a pattern of the 
 mould-board of the plough he had invented, and 
 which he wished cast in iron, resting on his 
 horse's neck, and, as usual, was absorbed with his 
 unsolved problem of the reaper. On the way 
 he crossed a considerable stream, and midway in 
 it his horse paused to drink. Just then, as he 
 looked up, his eye fell on a fertile tract of land 
 brightened by the sunshine, and the blended 
 thought of the vast future of the country in agri- 
 culture, and the possibilities of his invention for 
 reaping grain, struck him. For a moment there 
 filled his mind a dream of success that seemed like 
 a fable, and which in an instant he brushed aside 
 for the hard realities of the present ; but in that 
 instant his resolution took more solid form. Who 
 can tell how much of the inspiration of his work 
 sprang from that moment ? The fundamental 
 principles of his invention gradually matured in 
 his mind. Then began the work of transferring 
 these primal ideas into wood and iron. Here his 
 training in the use of tools came into service, and 
 in a few months, after repeated effort in combin- 
 ing the relation of the various parts with unfail- 
 ing ingenuity and patience, he finally produced a
 
 8 MEMOIR. 
 
 machine, fashioning with his own hands every 
 part of it, both in wood and iron, in his father's 
 workshops. It consisted of, first, a vibrating blade 
 to cut ; and, second, a platform to receive the 
 falling grain ; and, third, a reel to bring the grain 
 within reach of the blade. 
 
 This machine, drawn by horses placed at the 
 stubble side of the swath, was tested during the 
 latter part of harvest in 1831, in a field of six 
 acres of oats, belonging to John Steele, situated 
 within a mile of Walnut Grove. It proved to be 
 a success. Its work astonished all who witnessed 
 it. Neither the young inventor nor any of those 
 present seemed to have even an idea of the true 
 value of the work that day begun, — a work des- 
 tined to revolutionize the whole method of farm- 
 ing, and to open up a limitless domain in this land 
 for cereal productions ; making possible the boun- 
 tiful harvests that have since that day taxed the 
 powers of transportation, and stimulating the con- 
 struction of a network of railroads equal to that 
 of all the world beside ; as well as wonderfully 
 enlarging the cultivation of wheat elsewhere 
 throughout the world. 
 
 A short time after the first trial of the reaper, 
 Mr. McCormick entered into a partnership for 
 the smelting of iron ore. But the panic of 1837,
 
 MEMOIR. 9 
 
 by reducing the price of iron, brought financial 
 ruin to the enterprise. With dauntless courage 
 and unflinching fidelity to creditors, by the united 
 and mutual effort and industry of all his family, 
 they paid all the debts of the firm, though greatly 
 taxing the resources of the family ; and he, losing 
 the farm his father gave him, sacrificed everything 
 but integrity. 
 
 Disappointed but not discouraged, he turned 
 his thoughts to the reaper, and resolved to devote 
 himself to its improvement and introduction into 
 general use. With very restricted facilities on 
 the farm in Virginia for the manufacture and 
 sale of the reapers, he still worked on there, im- 
 proving his invention during the brief period of 
 harvest. Soon he realized that the young West 
 was the field on which he might hope for the 
 accomplishment of greater results, and so in 1846 
 he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, then a western 
 town, and prepared to build the reapers ; for by 
 that time it was well understood that a success- 
 ful machine had been invented for cutting grain 
 by horse-power. During all these years, while 
 battling with the discouragements always accom- 
 panying the efforts to introduce any new machine, 
 Mr. McCormick managed to add improvement to 
 improvement, a work which he kept up during 
 his whole life.
 
 lO MEMOIR. 
 
 In 1845-47 Mr. McCormick secured additional 
 patents for improvements, which greatly added to 
 the value of the machine, and quickened the de- 
 mand for it. 
 
 The superior advantages of Chicago, as the nat- 
 ural metropolis of an unlimited grain -producing 
 country, soon attracted Mr. McCormick's obser- 
 vation, and thither he removed in 1847. During 
 the following year he there erected substantial 
 reaper works, and built seven hundred machines, 
 increasing the number in 1849 to fifteen hundred. 
 This was an enormous undertaking for those days. 
 In the absence of the improved iron and wood- 
 working machinery of the present day, and with 
 the primitive means of transportation existing 
 throughout the west, where there were scarcely 
 any railroads, more ability was required then to 
 found and foster this industry than now to carry 
 it on in its vastly extended proportions. But Mr. 
 McCormick was a thorough business man, and in 
 addition possessed a spirit of resistless energy 
 and enterprise that faced every obstacle and 
 yielded to no antagonism. 
 
 In 1845 Mr. McCormick arranged with a firm 
 in Brockport, N. Y., to build his machine on a 
 royalty, with a view to its introduction into Cen- 
 tral New York, then one of the best wheat sec- 
 tions in the country.
 
 MEMOIR. 1 1 
 
 After the success of the reaper was assured at 
 home, Mr. McCormick spent some time abroad, 
 bringing his machine to the notice of European 
 agriculturists. In 185 1 he attended the World's 
 Fair in London, where his machine was first 
 brought before the British public. During the 
 early weeks of the exhibition, the reaper was the 
 subject of some ridicule on the part of those who 
 knew nothing of its character and capabilities. 
 Even the " London Times " called it " a cross 
 between an Astley chariot, a wheelbarrow, and a 
 flying machine." A few weeks later, however, 
 when the American reaper was practically tested 
 in the English harvest fields, ridicule was turned 
 to admiration, and indifference to widespread en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 After prolonged tests, and when the Great 
 Council medal was awarded its inventor on the 
 ground " of the originality and value of the reap- 
 er," this same journal made honorable haste to 
 correct its error, and frankly admitted that the 
 McCormick reaper was equal in value to the 
 entire cost of the exhibition. Then, indeed, favors 
 were showered on the inventor. He was prom- 
 inently recognized, and his acquaintance was 
 sought. From this point his fame grew rapidly, 
 and yet he was as one who knew it not. With
 
 1 2 MEMOIR. 
 
 his changed status in the world, his heart did not 
 change. His opportunities were enlarged, and 
 he was quick to enlarge his knowledge, and im- 
 prove by contact with the world of educated men. 
 But his modest, unostentatious nature was not 
 made proud by elevation . nor hardened by suc- 
 cess. 
 
 At the Universal Exposition at Paris of 1855 
 Mr. McCormick was awarded the Grand Prize 
 for the invention of the reaper, which was " the 
 type and pattern of all other reaping machines of 
 the present day." In 1867 he exhibited his ma- 
 chine at the exposition held at Paris, for which he 
 again received the Grand Prize, and was then 
 decorated by the Emperor with the Cross of the 
 Legion of Honor for his valuable and successful 
 invention. 
 
 It is not surprising that a life of such persis- 
 tent and successful effort as Mr. McCormick's 
 should have been one of continued battle. In 
 this it resembled that of every man who en- 
 deavors to supersede the old methods. In es- 
 tablishing his enterprise he found himself sur- 
 rounded with obstacles well nigh insurmountable, 
 — isolation from centres of communication and 
 trade, insufficient capital, ignorant prejudices of 
 the laboring classes, refusal of Congress to grant
 
 MEMOIR. 1 3 
 
 him a just and deserved patent protection, and 
 the combined opposition of all other interests 
 similar to his own. Had he not been gifted with 
 indomitable will, invincible courage, and unfalter- 
 ing confidence in the value of his invention, he 
 must have succumbed to the pressure of adverse 
 circumstances. Instead of this, year by year 
 found him advanced upon the path of progress, 
 and the world bestowed upon him honors and 
 grateful testimonials. 
 
 At the same time that this temporal good to 
 humanity was assuming its w^orld-wide propor- 
 tions, — reaching to the distant peninsula of 
 South America, the shores of New Zealand and 
 Australia, the " pleasant land " of France, the 
 plains of Russia, and the nearer shores of Europe 
 and Great Britain, — a greater but companion 
 work of helping Christ's poor brethren, of the 
 instruction of souls by the proclaiming of Christ's 
 gospel, of shielding and defending the work of 
 Christ's spiritual kingdom on earth, was taken up 
 in the endowment of the Presbyterian Theologi- 
 cal Seminary of the Northwest. 
 
 It was at the meeting of the General Assembly 
 of the Presbyterian Church, held in the city of 
 Indianapolis in 1859, that Mr. McCormick pre- 
 sented a proposition to endow the professorships,
 
 14 MEMOIR. 
 
 on condition that the seminary be located in 
 Chicago. Its influence in promoting the cause of 
 Christianity throughout the great Northwest is 
 of incalculable value. To this original endow- 
 ment he has at subsequent times added, as the 
 necessities of the institution demanded. This 
 beneficence has placed the seminary on a sure 
 and permanent basis. Dr. Johnson has impres- 
 sively said, " How beautiful was the providence 
 that permitted Mr. McCormick, just before the 
 close of his earthly life, to see so rich a fruitage 
 from that sowing. I remember well the evening, 
 only a little while ago, when fifty-nine students 
 of the seminary and a corps of professors, and 
 a circle of friends gathered here where we are 
 gathered to-day, and he sat in the midst of the 
 joyful company, his heart full of intense emo- 
 tion, and every feature of his face expressive of 
 gratitude to God for the privilege that had been 
 vouchsafed him in sharing so largely in bringing 
 all this to pass." 
 
 A religious newspaper, " The Interior," had 
 been started in the city of Chicago to represent 
 the Presbyterian Church. It was struggling in 
 financial difficulty, and its owners applied to him 
 to purchase it. To promote the cause of union 
 between the Old and New schools, to aid in har-
 
 MEMOIR. 1 5 
 
 monizing the Presbyterian Church in the North 
 and South, to advance the interests of the newly 
 established theological seminary in Chicago, and 
 to promote the welfare of the denomination gen- 
 erally in the great Northwest, were among the 
 objects dear to his heart. So when, in 1S72, 
 many friends as well as the owners of " The In- 
 terior," urged its purchase upon Mr. McCormick, 
 he willingly assented, and placed it upon such 
 foundation " that it has grown to be a mighty 
 voice, expressing the convictions, the aspirations, 
 and the hopes of a great church." 
 
 In 1858 Mr. McCormick married Miss Nettie 
 Fowler, a daughter of Melzar Fowler, Esq., of 
 Jefferson County, N. Y., and niece of Judge E 
 G. Merick, of Detroit. This happy union was 
 blessed with a family of four sons and three 
 daughters, two of whom, a son and a daughter, 
 died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. McCormick loved his native State of Vir- 
 ginia with a tenderness that was undiminished 
 with the passage of years. Though he was un- 
 able by reason of his important duties in the 
 North and West to be there, except for visits at 
 rare periods, yet he was loyal to her every inter- 
 est. Her mountains, her valleys, her people, and 
 her institutions of learning were all dear to him.
 
 1 6 MEMOIR. 
 
 The Chicago fire of 1871 seriously crippled 
 Mr. McCormick's resources, laying in ashes all 
 his buildings, just as they were beginning to man- 
 ufacture the supply of machines for the next 
 harvest. But he was almost first to go forward 
 with the work of rebuilding. The reaper works, 
 with every vestige of machinery and patterns, were 
 swept away. He was now advised by many 
 friends to retire from active business, but his reply 
 was indicative of the man, " I know of no better 
 place for a man to die, than in the harness." And 
 so he rebuilt the reaper works on a larger scale 
 than before, and lived to see their capacity in- 
 creased fivefold. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. McCormick was called to Paris 
 for the third time to receive for his reaping and 
 self-binding machine a Grand Prize of the Expo- 
 sition, and the rank of Officer in the Legion of 
 Honor was then also conferred upon him. He 
 was, at that time, elected a corresponding mem- 
 ber of the French Academy of Sciences, " as 
 having done more for the cause of agriculture 
 than any other living man." This recognition 
 of Mr. McCormick's position as a benefactor, 
 through his invention, of the whole race, strik- 
 ingly corroborates the opinion of two eminent 
 American statesmen, who have left their testi-
 
 MEMOIR. 1 7 
 
 mony to the value of the work he accomplished 
 for his native land. In 1859 the late Hon. Rev- 
 erdy Johnson, in an argument before the com- 
 missioner of patents, from testimony taken in the 
 case, said that " the McCormick reaper has al- 
 ready contributed an annual income to the whole 
 country of fifty-five millions of dollars, at least, 
 which must increase through all time." About 
 this time Hon. William H. Seward said, " Owing 
 to Mr. McCormick's invention, the line of civili- 
 zation moves westward thirty miles each year." 
 For what he accomplished in lessening human 
 toil, as well as for his instrumentality in increas- 
 ing the means of Christian education, the world 
 recognized his worth, inviting him to high places 
 of honor during his life, and in his death rever- 
 ing and honoring his memory. 
 
 In 1878, while at the Paris Exposition, Mr. Mc- 
 Cormick suffered from a dangerous carbuncle on 
 his neck, which necessitated the severest surgical 
 operations, which he bore without the use of an- 
 aesthetics. This heroic treatment saved his life, 
 and unusual vigor of constitution and the tender- 
 est care enabled him to rally from this serious 
 illness, after a slow convalescence of five months. 
 
 During the next four years, changes of resi- 
 dence in search of climate suited to his condi-
 
 1 8 MEMOIR. 
 
 tion gave him comparative comfort. While these 
 bodily infirmities were increasing, confining him 
 largely to a rolling chair, so contrary to his former 
 active habits, his mental strength remained un- 
 impaired. Though prevented from moving about 
 in the circles of business, there was no limit to 
 the activity of his mind, and his interest in every- 
 thing relating to business or social life, domestic 
 or foreign progress, current events of political 
 or national importance, was keen and unabated. 
 While confined largely to the house the last years 
 of his life, his home itself became a business 
 centre. Thither came men from many and varied 
 enterprises and industries, and none left him with- 
 out having their high impulses and aims strength- 
 ened by his counsel and noble example. Here, 
 dictating to his private secretary, following with 
 close and discriminating attention the current 
 events in the world's progress, as the daily jour- 
 nals would be read to him, his mental energies 
 found their congenial occupation. He maintained, 
 to the last, personal knowledge and control of his 
 business, and no important decision, either in the 
 management and extension of this great industry, 
 or in the protection of its legal interests, was made 
 without personal consultation with and direction 
 from him as its head.
 
 MEMOIR. 19 
 
 On the 2 2d of April, there were gathered in 
 Mr. McCormick's private room some of the heads 
 of the departments of the McCormick Harvesting 
 Machine Company, and one of his lawyers, Robert 
 H. Parkinson, Esq., to consult upon important 
 questions. The vigor and acumen of Mr. Mc- 
 Cormick's intellect in handling these questions 
 deeply impressed them all, and, referring to this 
 occasion, Mr. Parkinson has since written : " I 
 want to tell you what a touching and profound 
 impression I brought away from the interview I 
 had with him not many days before he passed 
 away. Though struggling with the infirmities 
 of age, he took on a kind of majesty which be- 
 longed alone to the combination of great mental 
 and great moral strength, and surprised me by 
 the power with which he grappled the matters 
 under discussion, and the strong personality be- 
 fore which obstacles went down as swiftly and 
 inevitably as grain before the knife of his ma- 
 chines. I shall continue to treasure that inter- 
 view in my memory with grateful appreciation, 
 hallowed by the feeling that his luminous dis- 
 course was in some sense a valedictory to busi- 
 ness affairs, spoken from the threshold of eter- 
 nity. I think myself fortunate in having had this 
 glimpse of him, and in being able to remember
 
 20 MEMOIR. 
 
 with so much of personal association a hfe so 
 complete in its achievements, so far-reaching in 
 its impress, alike upon the material, moral, and 
 religious progress of the country, and so thor- 
 oughly successful and beneficial in every depart- 
 ment of activity and influence which it entered." 
 
 Mr. McCormick's last illness began Wednes- 
 day, April 30th, from which he partially rallied 
 Saturday, May 3d, and continued to improve 
 until Wednesday, May 7th, when it became evi- 
 dent that a relapse was imminent, and his ner- 
 vous strength again began to fail. Not, however, 
 until Sunday morning, the nth, did the phy- 
 sicians pronounce his case hopeless, nor was it 
 before this apparent to those who watched by 
 his bedside that he would not again rally from 
 this illness, as he had done from other attacks. 
 But the powerful constitution which had carried 
 him through so many critical struggles for life 
 was exhausted, and was at last forced to yield. 
 On the morning of Sunday, the nth, at six 
 o'clock, the members of the family enjoyed the 
 last moments of his perfectly conscious mental 
 vigor. He seemed to realize that his work on 
 earth was done. Taking the hand of each of his 
 children, he murmured, " Dear one," — then look- 
 ing at all of them, he said, " My dear children,
 
 MEMOIR. 2 1 
 
 my sweet children." Finally, taking the hand of 
 his wife, he said, fervently, " Dearest of all — and 
 dearest to all." 
 
 One of those near him said, " Do you wish 
 anything } " With great eagerness he replied, " I 
 want nothing now but heaven — heaven before." 
 In answer to other questions, he repeated several 
 times, confidently, and with great firmness, " All 
 right ; all right," and again, " All peace." When 
 asked by a friend, who came in, how he was feel- 
 ing, he answered, " Sweetly." On hearing it said 
 that it was Sunday, and a beautiful day, he an- 
 swered, " Yes, sweet Sabbath." He knew eternity 
 was just before him, and, knowing this, he was 
 able to be joyful. 
 
 He seemed to wish his family close about his 
 bed, and his wife said to him, " My dear husband, 
 we are all here, — shall we have a prayer ? " To 
 this he fervently answered, " Oh, yes," and, clos- 
 ing his eyes, while his family knelt at his side, 
 with unfaltering voice he led the last religious 
 service as the head of his family, and made a 
 wonderful prayer, — wonderful, as being the pe- 
 tition of a soul on the verge of eternity, — re- 
 markable for its completeness and strength, and 
 showing the supremacy of his great intellect over 
 nature in dissolution. But its most marked feature
 
 2 2 MEMOIR. 
 
 was that it was so tender, so submissive. For the 
 last time he lifted up his voice in prayer, and with 
 intellect clear and strong, he commended himself 
 and his dear ones to God. It was like his cus- 
 tomary prayers in life, deepened and made thrill- 
 ing by the time and place, — and ended with 
 " We beseech Thee for the forgiveness of our 
 sins ; cause Thy face to shine upon us, lift up 
 Thy countenance upon us, and be gracious unto 
 us, for the Redeemer's sake. Amen ; " and then 
 he added, as if in thought, " That name, that 
 name, for yesus sake. Amen, amen." One of 
 the children then asked him if they should sing 
 his hymn, and he began, with voice clear and 
 strong, to sing the words of his favorite hymn, 
 which during all his life he had loved to sing at 
 family worship : — 
 
 " O Thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight, 
 On whom in affliction I call. 
 My comfort by day, and my song in the night, 
 My hope, my salvation, my all." 
 
 In the first verse he sang the air, but in the 
 second he took up a peculiar part, which in his 
 youth he had learned in New Providence Church, 
 Virginia, and which in those days they called 
 " the treble." As the hymn was ended, he re-
 
 MEMOIR. 23 
 
 peated, singing over again the last line of the sec- 
 ond verse : — 
 
 " Or alone in the wilderness rove," 
 changing the final word as he sang it for the 
 last time, — 
 
 " Or alone in the wilderness rest.^'' 
 Oh, how sweet that prospect of rest seemed to 
 him ! 
 
 In the afternoon he had a few lucid moments, 
 though after the early morning hour he was not 
 so fully conscious. During one of these inter- 
 vals he repeated several times, " Christ, our Spir- 
 itual Head." 
 
 Sunday night, the attendant physician gave 
 him medicine, and wishing to take this oppor- 
 tunity of giving also some nourishment, then said, 
 " Now you have done your work, you shall have 
 a little food." Quickly he answered, " Yes, work, 
 work," with an emphasis that gave it the impor- 
 tance of a last message. 
 
 During Monday he was without pain, and un- 
 conscious of the tender care of those around him. 
 The morning of May 13th dawned, gray with 
 misty light, " soft with early showers," and, sur- 
 rounded by those whom he held in life most dear, 
 he passed from suffering to joy; from toil to rest; 
 from death to immortal life.
 
 jFuneral ^txWts.
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 The funeral of Cyrus Hall McCormick was 
 held at his residence, 135 Rush Street, Chicago, 
 on Thursday, May 15th, at two o'clock in the 
 afternoon. The day was perfect, and long before 
 the hour appointed a great number of people 
 had gathered at the house. 
 
 Just before two o'clock the coffin was placed 
 in the centre of the main hall, followed by the 
 pall-bearers. 
 
 Near the head of the coffin the employees of 
 the reaper works had placed a symbol, most 
 expressive of their sense of the loss sustained, — 
 a reaping machine, in white flowers, having the 
 main wheel broken ; and the gentlemen employed 
 in the office of the reaper company, in token of 
 their tender regard, placed there a sheaf of ripened 
 wheat, surmounted by a crown of lilies. 
 
 The funeral services were conducted by the 
 professors of the Presbyterian Theological Semi- 
 nary of the Northwest. Addresses were made by
 
 2 8 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Herrick Johnson, Rev. Dr. L. J. Hal- 
 sey, and Rev. Dr. D. C. Marquis. The opening 
 prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Thomas H. Skin- 
 ner, and the closing prayer by Rev. Dr. WilHs G. 
 Craig. 
 
 The pall-bearers were : — 
 
 Charles A. Spring, Jr. John N. Jewett. 
 
 William C. Gray. William C. Goudy. 
 
 Mark Skinner. Charles S. Carrington. 
 
 Henry W. King. Thomas Drummond, 
 
 Horace A. Hurlbut. Joseph Medill. 
 
 Ralph N. Isham. Murray F, Tuley. 
 
 The members of the family present were : — 
 Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick, Cyrus H. McCor- 
 mick, Jr., Miss M. Virginia McCormick, Miss 
 Anita E. McCormick, Master Harold F. McCor- 
 mick, Master Stanley R. McCormick, Mrs. James 
 Shields, Mrs. Hugh Adams, Hon. E. G. Merick, 
 Eldridge M. Fowler, Mrs. E. J. Carrington, Mr. 
 and Mrs. R. Hall McCormick, Mr. and Mrs. Rob- 
 ert S. McCormick, Mr. and Mrs. William G. Mc- 
 Cormick, Mr. and Mrs. Perry H. Smith, Jr., Miss 
 Lucy McCormick, Edward T. Blair, Mr. and Mrs. 
 James H. Shields, Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus H. Adams, 
 Mrs. John E. Chapman, James W. Adams, Mr. 
 and Mrs. H. L. Adams, Miss Ella Adams, Ed- 
 ward S. Adams, Miss Minnie Adams.
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 29 
 
 THE SERVICES. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 My faith looks up to Thee, 
 Thou Lamb of Calvary, 
 
 Saviour divine ! 
 Now hear me while I pray; 
 Take all my guilt away ; 
 Oh, let me, from this day, 
 
 Be wholly thine. 
 
 While life's dark maze I tread. 
 And griefs around me spread, 
 
 Be Thou my Guide ; 
 Bid darkness turn to day. 
 Wipe sorrow's tear away. 
 Nor let me ever stray 
 
 From Thee aside. 
 
 When ends life's transient dream, 
 When death's cold, sullen stream 
 
 Shall o'er me roll, 
 Blest Saviour, then in love 
 Fear and distress remove ; 
 Oh, bear me safe above, — 
 
 A ransomed soul !
 
 30 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Skinner then offered prayer as 
 follows : — 
 
 O God, be with us at this hour. May the words 
 of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts 
 be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength 
 and our Redeemer. We have gathered here to- 
 day to pay this last sympathetic tribute of regard 
 and honor to Thy departed servant, and then we 
 shall carry him to his own grave, which Thou wilt 
 mark and guard by Thine angels until the trump 
 of the resurrection shall bid us arise in the like- 
 ness of the eternal Son of God. Oh be with us by 
 Thy Holy Spirit. May that blessed Spirit hover 
 over our heads as He was over the head of the 
 Lord on the banks of the Jordan, and make this 
 hour a benediction to this afflicted famil}^ and a 
 benediction to all of us who have come to share 
 their grief 
 
 Our Father in heaven. Thou didst give Thy 
 Son to have light in himself, and from all eter- 
 nity He did live, and then was dead, and then, 
 and now, is alive again. We adore Thee for the 
 gift of Him who is the Light, who is the resur- 
 rection and the Life for His disciples. We adore 
 Thee for the gift of Thy Son as our Saviour, by 
 the sacrifice of whose blood Thy justice was satis- 
 fied for our sins, and by whose blood our sins are
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 3 1 
 
 washed away. We desire to give thanks to Thee 
 this day for the hope that we. have concerning 
 Thy servant departed, who long years ago stood 
 before Thy people in the world and avowed Thee 
 to be his God and his Redeemer. We adore 
 Thee that he never lost that hope. We adore 
 Thee that in dying that hope cheered him, and 
 heaven opened to his face. Glory to God for a 
 Christian life, and glory to God for a Christian's 
 death ! We therefore commit him, his remains 
 and his memory, to Thy keeping, blessed Lord. 
 We shall see him again. We shall meet him by 
 and by. Oh that we might tread the same pil- 
 grimage, and reach at last the bosom of our Lord 
 and Master, there where the wicked cease from 
 troubling, and where the weary are at rest. 
 
 And now we desire to commend unto Thee 
 this stricken family. Lord God, thou Incarnate 
 One, who, bending over the grave of Lazarus 
 in death, didst weep, weep with us, O Son of 
 man, for our brother departed, and make this so 
 tender, so precious an hour, that we shall feel 
 that Thou shalt go with us, and dost go with us 
 when we go away from this house of mourning. 
 Bless Thy handmaid, the companion for so many 
 years of Thy departed servant, bound together by 
 the tie which only death can break. Bless her ;
 
 32 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 give unto her Thy quickening grace, and love 
 blessed Lord. Sustain her in her deep solitude. 
 Guide her in the cares and duties that shall rest 
 upon her when she shall have laid her dead in 
 the grave, and give her grace to the very last to 
 turn to the eternal God, her Saviour in all things. 
 And may these her children be blessed as dwell- 
 ing with her in this house, and may they give her 
 their support, their sympathy, their obedience, and 
 their love, and may the family be a happy family 
 until death do them all sever. May they be a 
 holy family; may every one of them know Him 
 whom to know is life eternal. Let not one be 
 left out, but all be bound together in the bond of 
 life eternal with the Lord Jesus. And so com- 
 mand thy blessing upon all the kindred, the large 
 circle of natural kinship. God be with them all. 
 May this death be life to every one of them. 
 
 O God, what a life it is we live ! We come, 
 we stay, we go. Ages have preceded us, ages 
 will follow, and our life is but a hand's breadth in 
 this vast interval. God grant that all of us gath- 
 ered here to-day may so spend this little span as 
 that when we die we shall be buried with a Chris- 
 tian burial in the hope of a blessed resurrection. 
 
 Command Thy benediction upon that portion 
 of the family who have just crossed the great deep.
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 33 
 
 and when they shall know and meditate on this 
 event, quicken their souls by Thy good spirit, and 
 let this death be a benediction to their souls. We 
 commend to Thee all who were associated in in- 
 dustry and work with Thy servant, all that were 
 employed by him in his great earthly mission. 
 God bless them, wherever they may be. Bless 
 those that may be here. Bless all of us without 
 one exception, and grant us Thy presence now, 
 through Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
 SCRIPTURE LESSONS. 
 
 God is our refuge and strength, a very present 
 help in time of trouble. Therefore will not we 
 fear, though the earth be removed, and though 
 the mountains be carried into the midst of the 
 sea ; though the waters thereof roar and be 
 troubled, though the mountains shake with the 
 swelling thereof. Selah. For in the time of 
 trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion : in the 
 secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me ; he 
 shall set me upon a rock. Yea, though I walk 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, I will 
 fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and 
 thy staff they comfort me. 
 
 For we know that if our earthly house of this 
 tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
 
 5
 
 34 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 God, an house not made with hands, eternal in 
 the heavens. O the depth of the riches both of 
 the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how un- 
 searchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
 finding out ! For of him, and through him, and 
 to him, are all things : to whom be glory forever. 
 Amen. 
 
 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as 
 yesterday when it is passed, and as a watch in the 
 night. The days of our years are three score 
 years and ten ; and if by reason of strength they 
 be four score years, yet is their strength labor 
 and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we fly 
 away. Lord, make me to know mine end, and 
 the measure of my days, what it is ; that I may 
 know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made 
 my days as a hand breadth, and mine age is as 
 nothing before thee ; verily every man at his best 
 state is altogether vanity. Selah. 
 
 The voice said. Cry. And he said. What shall 
 I cry .? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness 
 thereof is as the flower of the field : they are like 
 grass which groweth up. In the morning it 
 flourisheth, and groweth up ; in the evening it is 
 cut down and withereth. The Lord gave, and 
 the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name 
 of the Lord.
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 35 
 
 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and 
 the life : he that believeth in me, though he were 
 dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and 
 believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou 
 this ? 
 
 For since by man came death, by man came 
 also the resurrection of the dead. For as in 
 Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
 alive. But some man will say. How are the dead 
 raised up ? and with what body do they come 1 
 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quick- 
 ened, except it die : and that which thou sowest, 
 thou sowest not that body that shall be, but 
 bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some 
 other grain : but God giveth it a body as it hath 
 pleased him, and to every seed his own body. It 
 is sown in corruption : it is raised in incorrup- 
 tion : it is sown in dishonor : it is raised in 
 glory : it is sown in weakness : it is raised in 
 power. Behold, I show you a mystery: We 
 shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
 last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the 
 dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall 
 be changed. For this corruptible must put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal must put on immor- 
 tality. So when this corruptible shall have put
 
 36 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put 
 on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the 
 saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in 
 victory. O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, 
 where is thy victory ? The sting of death is sin : 
 and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks 
 be to God, which giveth us the victory through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 But I would not have you to be ignorant, 
 brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that 
 ye sorrow not, even as others which have no 
 hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose 
 again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus 
 will God bring with him. For the Lord himself 
 shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the 
 voice of the archangel, and with the trump of 
 God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then 
 we which are alive and remain shall be caught up 
 together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
 Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with 
 the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with 
 these words. 
 
 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto 
 me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the 
 Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, 
 that they may rest from their labors : and their 
 works do follow them. They shall hunger no
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 37 
 
 more, neither thirst any more : neither shall the 
 sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb 
 which is in the midst of the throne shall feed 
 them, and shall lead them unto living fountains 
 of waters : and God shall wipe away all tears 
 from their eyes. And there shall be no more 
 curse : but the throne of God and of the Lamb 
 shall be in it ; and his servants shall serve him : 
 and they shall see his face : and his name shall be 
 in their foreheads. And there shall be no night 
 there : and they need no candle, neither light of 
 the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light ; 
 and they shall reign forever and ever. 
 
 Now the God of peace, that brought again 
 from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shep- 
 herd of the sheep, through the blood of the ever- 
 lasting covenant, make you perfect in every good 
 work to do his will, working in you that which is 
 well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ ; 
 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 
 Is laid for your faith in his excellent word ; 
 What more can He say than to you He hath said, — 
 To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled ? 
 
 O
 
 38 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 " Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed. 
 For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid : 
 I '11 strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, 
 Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand. 
 
 " When through the deep waters I cause thee to go. 
 The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow ; 
 For I will be with thee thy trials to bless, 
 And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. 
 
 " Ev'n down to old age my people shall prove 
 My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love ; 
 And then, when gray hairs shall their temples adorn, 
 Like lambs they shall still in my bosom be borne. 
 
 " The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, 
 I will not — I will not desert to his foes ; 
 That soul — though all hell should endeavor to shake, 
 I '11 never — no never — no never forsake ! " 
 
 The Rev. Dr. L. J. Halsey then made the fol- 
 lowing address : — 
 
 " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, 
 from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
 may rest from their labors, and their works do 
 follow them." How blessed are the Scriptures of 
 God to us all to-day, as a comfort in distress, as a 
 consolation in sorrow, as a welcome voice from 
 heaven, as a message of peace to our stricken 
 hearts from our ascended glorified Redeemer.
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 39 
 
 And how is this Scripture of the blessed dead 
 who die in the Lord, and rest from their labors, 
 exemplified and fulfilled in the remarkable career, 
 the successful work, the peaceful end, the rounded 
 and finished life of this servant of God, our friend 
 and brother, who is now called from earth to that 
 higher and better world ! He is indeed gone 
 from us, but his memorial lives, his record is on 
 high. His life here is ended, but his influence 
 abides, and his works do follow him. In view of 
 such a life, so full of useful work, such a charac- 
 ter, so rounded and complete, and such a peace- 
 ful, happy death in Christ, we may well feel the 
 nearness of heaven, and with it the divinity of 
 that holy religion and the preciousness of that 
 Gospel, which this servant of God professed. 
 From his early youth, and through his long and 
 active career, he has been a consistent, faithful 
 member of the Church of Christ, and in the 
 strength of those convictions of truth and duty 
 which were inspired by the Word of God, he 
 was enabled to go forward to the end — even 
 until he fully finished the great life-work God had 
 given him to do. Truly may we say, God gave 
 him length of days and he filled them up with 
 works of usefulness. 
 
 Whilst, therefore, we are all deeply sensible of
 
 40 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 the heavy bereavement and sorrow which such a 
 death has brought upon this Christian household 
 — taking from them the beloved husband and 
 father and friend, who had been their head and 
 stay so long — -whilst our warmest sympathies 
 are awakened for them, and our tears of sadness 
 flow mingling with theirs in this great loss, we 
 must, nevertheless, feel that God has ordered all 
 things in wisdom and love. The prominent feel- 
 ing in our hearts to-day is, that this was a well- 
 directed and finished service — that this was a life 
 spent in God's fear, and a character moulded on the 
 principles of God's Word ; that our loss here is 
 his eternal gain, and that this friend and brother, 
 whom we have known as a faithful servant of the 
 Church of God, a most prominent member of this 
 whole community, has now but completed his 
 course,ikept the faith, and ascended to his reward. 
 It is not often that God gives to his children here 
 the opportunity and the honor of doing so large 
 a service for the church and for the public good, 
 and of doing it so well. Having served his gen- 
 eration by the will of God, he at last rests from 
 his labors. But his works and his influence do 
 follow him. 
 
 In many respects Mr. McCormick may be 
 called a representative man. Among the busi-
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 4 1 
 
 ness men of this growing city, where he so long 
 lived, he was a representative man, identified 
 fully with its business life, its industrial activities, 
 its great manufacturing interests. In these rela- 
 tions, probably no one of our citizens was more 
 widely known and honored abroad. He was a 
 representative man of the Presbyterian Church, 
 of which he was through life a member, and 
 whose welfare he labored so fervently to pro- 
 mote ; and not only of his own particular church, 
 but of the whole Presbyterian and Evangelical 
 family of churches throughout the land, in all of 
 which he felt a Christian and patriotic interest. 
 A representative man, too, we may truly say he 
 was, of this whole generation in which he has 
 lived and toiled. Scarcely any man in our day 
 has perhaps done more to increase its wealth and 
 its agricultural resources, and thus to stamp his 
 memory on the living of his own time and on 
 the works of those who shall come after him. 
 
 It would not be appropriate now to point out 
 all the aspects of his remarkable career as a man, 
 a citizen, a public benefactor, a world-renowned in- 
 ventor, and to tell of the influence for good which 
 has gone forth from his life-work in these different 
 channels. I may but barely allude to these wider 
 and more general characteristics and public ser-
 
 42 FUNERAL SERVICES. . 
 
 vices. Let me come to a nearer view of his 
 work for the church, and restrict my remarks to- 
 day especially to that one important work of his 
 life with which in the good providence of God it 
 has been my privilege to stand somewhat inti- 
 mately associated with him for the last twenty- 
 five years. I refer to the work he inaugurated 
 in this city a quarter of a century ago, in laying 
 the permanent foundation of the Theological 
 Seminary of the Northwest for the training of 
 young men for the Gospel ministry. With that 
 remarkable sagacity which ever distinguished all 
 his business transactions, he had perceived, sev- 
 eral decades earlier, that this young and growing 
 city, of what was then the Northwest, was of all 
 places in the country the best suited to his pur- 
 pose for the permanent establishment of the great 
 reaper works. And what sagacity did it augur 
 in the man, that at a time comparatively early in 
 the history of the city, and early, too, in the his- 
 tory of his own individual fortune, he foresaw 
 with equal clearness, that of all localities this ris- 
 ing metropolis of the Lakes was precisely the 
 point where the Presbyterian Church most needed 
 a permanent and fully endowed school of sacred 
 learning for the education of her ministry, and 
 the evangelizing of our great northwestern terri-
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 43 
 
 tory. It was about the middle of this month of 
 May, just twenty-five years ago, at the meeting of 
 the General Assembly in the city of Indianapo- 
 lis, that he made that great proposition which 
 struck the country with surprise and satisfaction, 
 to donate one hundred thousand dollars for the 
 permanent establishment of a Theological Semi- 
 nary in Chicago. Other places had eagerly 
 sought the honor, but this liberal offer decided 
 the question. The Assembly accepted the pro- 
 posal, elected the professors ; the institution was 
 opened for students in September, 1859, and was 
 thenceforward identified with the interests of this 
 great city, with the interests of the whole North- 
 west, and with the interests of this vast interior 
 region of which it is the commercial, educational, 
 and religious centre. 
 
 Who can estimate the wide extent and the far- 
 reaching influence of a work like this ? I have 
 reason to know that he brought the institution to 
 this place not for the sake of the Presbyterian 
 Church alone, though he was ever a staunch ad- 
 vocate and defender of the church, and sought to 
 promote all the highest interests. But he had 
 wider views and sympathies. He sought to found 
 this institution of sacred learning, not only for the 
 benefit of the church, which he loved so well, but
 
 44 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 in the interests of that wider Christianity of which 
 the Presbyterian Church is but a part, and in the 
 interests of our common country, North, South, 
 East, and West. He felt from the first that both 
 the church and the nation required an institution 
 of this character just at this point. Nor did he 
 ever lose faith in the undertaking. Through all 
 the trials and discouragements of its early his- 
 tory, in the face of apparent indifference and want 
 of cooperation on the part of the church, and a 
 degree of odium and misrepresentation on the 
 part of the public outside, from which many a 
 man would have shrunk, he went steadily forward 
 in his purpose ; he " bated not a jot of heart or 
 hope," and with that firmness and tenacity of will 
 which characterized his whole life, he resolved 
 that this Seminary by God's blessing should be a 
 success. And God spared him long enough to 
 see these efforts crowned with the most gratifying 
 success. In the midst of increasing bodily in- 
 firmities during the last few years, he seemed to 
 feel an increasing interest in the welfare of the 
 Seminary. He was permitted, in the good provi- 
 dence of God, to see the return of this month of 
 May, — the anniversary of his first gift. During 
 the intervening years, since 1859, he had added 
 at different times donations to the Seminary,
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 45 
 
 amounting to a sum three-fold his original gift, 
 some for buildings, some to increase the endow- 
 ment fund, and some for other purposes. It seems 
 a remarkable and most fitting close to the great 
 work of benefaction towards this institution, that 
 during these last few years of his mortal life, he 
 added yet another and third munificent gift of a 
 hundred thousand dollars for the erection of pro- 
 fessors' houses and a new and more extended dor- 
 mitory building, — thus covering the Seminary 
 campus with spacious and elegant edifices, lifting 
 the institution out of all its embarrassments, and 
 placing it on a solid basis of assured success and 
 of enduring usefulness. And thus he crowned 
 this last quarter of a century of his active life 
 with a wise and liberal beneficence similar to 
 that with which he had begun it, and similar to 
 that with which he had filled up the intermediate 
 years. 
 
 Such is the record of what he had done for 
 this institution, and through it for the whole Pres- 
 byterian Church, and for our common country. 
 Surely no institution in our land has ever had a 
 stauncher friend and a more liberal benefactor. 
 It may devolve on others to tell what he has done 
 for our broad land, and for other civilized lands 
 in all parts of the world, as the inventor of one
 
 46 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 of the most important and useful implements of 
 agriculture known to mankind. While his name 
 will live through coming ages in all the world of 
 fruitful industry, by reason of this labor-saving 
 and almost wonder-working machine ; and while 
 his monument will stand here on the other side 
 of the city in that vast manufacturing establish- 
 ment built up by his business energy and fore- 
 sight, which is now sending its reapers over the 
 world at the rate of fifty thousand annually, this 
 other monument of his wisdom and benevolence 
 will also stand for all coming time, by which he 
 has associated his name indissolubly with all the 
 best interests of the Presbyterian Church and the 
 Christian ministry. 
 
 Certainly his was a privileged and useful life, a 
 successful and wondrously completed work. Cer- 
 tainly it is no small honor which God has con- 
 ferred upon him and upon those who bear his 
 name, who have shared with him his pilgrimage 
 of active toil, and who, now that his day of life is 
 ended, live to resume the task and carry forward 
 his work. It is a distinction of sacred and blessed 
 influences to have been associated with such a 
 benefactor of the public, such an inventor of use- 
 ful art, such a friend of institutions of education, 
 such a founder and supporter of the schools of
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 47 
 
 sacred learning. Not alone has this city of Chi- 
 cago been the witness and recipient of his bene- 
 faction. In all parts of the country, North and 
 South, East and West, there are those who could 
 rise up and tell of his large and timely gifts to 
 our struggling academies and colleges and schools 
 of the prophets, and to many local churches that 
 he has helped to sustain, and whose financial 
 difficulties he has removed by generous dona- 
 tions. 
 
 Blessed then are the dead who die in the 
 Lord when they can rest from their labors after 
 works like these, when they can leave their kin- 
 dred, their fellow-citizens, and their fellow-Chris- 
 tians, with memorials of good example, of faith- 
 ful service, of consistent character, and of generous 
 benevolence, such as have marked the history of 
 our departed brother. It was the grace of God 
 that enabled him to do so well his appointed life- 
 work. It was God who inspired him with the 
 purpose to do such a work, gave him the means 
 and filled his heart with that tenacity which ena- 
 bled him at last to make his work an accomplished 
 fact. Whilst then there is much in the history 
 of this life and in its peaceful, happy end to cheer 
 the heart of the bereaved ones, and to encourage 
 the living to imitate his example, we still feel the
 
 48 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 sadness of the hour, and deeply sympathize with 
 the stricken family in the blow which has de- 
 prived both them and us of such a friend and 
 helper, such a brother and co-worker in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. D. C. Marquis then delivered the 
 following address : — 
 
 "There is a reaper whose name is Death, 
 And with his sickle keen 
 He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, 
 And the flowers that grow between." 
 
 Perhaps only yesterday we gathered the tiny 
 flower that grew between the stalks of ripened 
 grain, and with tearful eyes we buried its withered 
 beauty out of our sight. To-day it is the stalk 
 of bearded and ripened grain, cut down in the 
 fullness of its days ; the gathered sheaf, the shock 
 of corn full ready for the garnering. There is 
 something deeply and powerfully impressive in 
 the sight of the strong oak that has towered 
 among its fellows of the forest, lying prone upon 
 the earth, its place vacant, its strength vanished, 
 its life gone, though its usefulness is not ended. 
 We think of the years that giant tree has flour- 
 ished, of the life it has lived, of the storms it has 
 weathered, of the deep-rooted stabihty that in-
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 49 
 
 spired and commanded confidence, of the strength 
 that has so long afforded shelter and repose ; and 
 when we contrast all this with the prostrate form 
 so still and helpless, the lesson it teaches is the 
 story so often repeated, old as the history of man, 
 and yet ever new and ever needing to be taught 
 again, that the strongest earthly life must reach 
 its close, the most far-reaching and enduring of 
 earthly ties must be severed, the longest and most 
 conspicuous path of earthly activity and influence 
 must have its end. 
 
 A scene like this is before us to-day. The life 
 that has gone from among us was no common life. 
 It was the life of one who rose conspicuous among 
 his fellow-men. The name engraved upon this 
 casket is celebrated throughout the civilized 
 world ; the man who dwelt in this clay tabernacle 
 was eminent in his generation. A life of emi- 
 nence, of influence, of usefulness, of strength, has 
 passed away, and we who were his neighbors and 
 friends are here to pay our tribute of respect to 
 his character, and to give expression to our sym- 
 pathy with those bereaved, by testifying our sense 
 of the loss which his departure has caused to his 
 family, to the community, and to the wide circle 
 of interests so greatly benefited by his life. 
 
 There is always much to be learned from the
 
 50 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 record of an earnest, laborious, honorable life. 
 It is profitable to dwell upon the histor}' of one 
 who has achieved eminence and an honorable 
 fame by the force of native qualities of mind, di- 
 rected by unswerving purpose, indomitable perse- 
 verance, and untiring labor. But still more prof- 
 itable is it when these native qualities, thus trained 
 and thus directed, have achieved their grandest 
 results in closest harmony and truest consistency 
 with those eternal principles of truth and right, 
 which reach beyond time and lay hold upon eter- 
 nity. 
 
 My brethren here have already spoken of the 
 more public life and services of Mr. McCormick. 
 Let it be mine rather to speak of those more per- 
 sonal characteristics, which were the controlling 
 principles of his life ; the things which gave to the 
 man his marked individuality and force ; and the 
 impressions to which I shall try to give expres- 
 sion are those gathered from the intimacies of 
 personal friendship, from the experiences of that 
 closer companionship which is born of sympa- 
 thetic association. 
 
 There are certain traits of character which Mr. 
 McCormick possessed in an eminent degree, upon 
 which I need not enlarge, for they are known 
 and read of all men. It needs not that I should
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 51 
 
 tell any with whom he came in contact of his un- 
 swerving integrity, of his unfailing tenacity of 
 purpose, of his strength of will, and of his untir- 
 ing perseverance in the pursuit of an object. 
 And yet these are qualities that are liable to be 
 misapprehended, and the man who possesses them 
 is liable to be misjudged. The unthinking world, 
 which knows only what it sees, and which judges 
 a man's life by what appears upon the surface, 
 might attribute these traits of character to pride 
 of will, or obstinacy of disposition. And in some 
 men it may be so. But having been associated 
 with Mr. McCormick in times of trial, I can speak 
 from personal knowledge ; and justice to him de- 
 mands that I should speak it here ; — that the 
 substratum of his character was formed by an 
 underlying principle, deeper, broader, grander, 
 sublimer far than any of those which I have 
 enumerated. That which gave intensity to his 
 purpose, strength to his will, and nerved him for 
 perseverance that never failed, was his supreme 
 regard for justice, his worshipful reverence for 
 the true and the right. The thoroughness of 
 his conviction that justice must be done, that 
 right must be maintained, made him insensible 
 to reproach and impatient of delay. I do not 
 wonder that his character was strong, or that his
 
 52 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 purpose was invincible, nor that his plans were 
 crowned with an ultimate and signal success ; for 
 where conviction of right is the motive power, 
 and the attainment of justice the end in view, 
 with faith in God there is no such word as fail. 
 I do not affirm that he was always accurate in 
 discerning with minutest correctness just where 
 the justice lay, for no man is infallible. But I do 
 affirm that he was firmly convinced that right 
 and truth and justice lay at the goal for which 
 he strove, and with that conviction he was not to 
 be turned aside. And as an evidence that this 
 testimony is true, and that no mere personal grat- 
 ification was his motive, it is enough to say that, 
 much as we have talked together and planned 
 together about the things wherein he differed 
 from his fellow-men, I never heard him utter one 
 word in harshness toward the absent, nor speak 
 of them in other terms than those which the truest 
 charity would prompt. Speaking directly to an 
 antagonist, his words were sometimes sharp and 
 strong; but speaking of him none could be more 
 gentle, none more charitable than he. And this 
 is a test of Christian principle that cannot easily 
 be gainsaid. 
 
 2. Another characteristic of Mr. McCormick 
 was his unquestioning faith. He believed with-
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 53 
 
 out hesitation whatever was said in the Bible. 
 He had a settled confidence that the whole Bible 
 was the Word of God, and that whatever it said 
 must be true. He also had implicit faith in the 
 sovereignty of God, and the purpose of God, and 
 an abiding confidence in the superintending prov- 
 idence of God. And that is the kind of faith that 
 makes men strong. The spirit born of such faith 
 expects great things and attempts great things. 
 It stops not for fear of failure, but goes on, sure 
 of success. It Qfives a man decision when he has 
 to choose, and firmness when he proceeds to act. 
 Only let him see that there is a word of the Lord 
 applicable to the case in hand, and there is an end 
 of doubt. 
 
 3. Still another distinguishing characteristic of 
 our friend was his love for and his devotion to 
 the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. He had 
 none of that kind of charity which confounds 
 light and darkness, and truth and error, and imag- 
 ines that all who profess Christianity mean the 
 same thing, no matter what they say. His char- 
 ity was of the genuine apostolic kind which re- 
 joices only in the truth. We all know it to be 
 true, and it is with a feeling of utmost thankful- 
 ness that I here proclaim it, that no religious 
 teacher, however vast his learning, however bril-
 
 54 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 liant in intellect, however attractive in eloquence, 
 or however celebrated in reputation, could ever 
 win this man's confidence unless he tauo:ht the 
 great leading doctrines of Christ's gospel with no 
 uncertain sound. Justification by faith, regener- 
 ation by the spirit, the propitiatory sacrifice of 
 Jesus Christ, the God-man, the only way of salva- 
 tion. These and kindred truths were the things 
 he loved to hear clearly stated, and if there was a 
 deficiency here, whatever others might think, he 
 was not satisfied. And, my friends, whatever 
 other things he may have repented, I venture to 
 say he never repented of that, and he does not 
 regret it now. 
 
 Take then these three things : his supreme 
 regard for the principles of justice, truth, and 
 right; his implicit faith in the Bible as the Word 
 of God; and his love for, and devotion to, the 
 fundamental and essential truths of Christianity. 
 These principles working upon a resolute will 
 and a sound judgment and a determined purpose, 
 is it any wonder that his character was strong, 
 or that his life was a power, or his measures a 
 success ? And yet it was not the cold, stern 
 nature that might be supposed to accompany 
 conscious strength, nor was it the unsympathetic 
 nature that might be moulded by success. The
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 55 
 
 faith he cherished was a faith that inculcates 
 charity, and right nobly has he exemplified it. 
 His gifts have been dispensed with a princely 
 munificence to every cause that in his judgment 
 would promote the temporal, or moral, or religious 
 welfare of his fellow-men. Chastened by suffer- 
 ing, his last days were occupied in strengthening 
 enterprises of Christian beneficence, which he 
 had long felt it a privilege to aid. And when 
 the last hours came, and the earthly interests and 
 duties must be laid aside, it did not meet him as 
 a surprise. He knew in whom he had believed. 
 His last conscious act on earth was to lead his 
 household to the throne of grace, and in prayer 
 commit them to the care of a covenant-keeping 
 God. His last conscious words, as though all 
 backward thoughts were vanished, and only the 
 forward remained, were, " It is ended here ; it is 
 heaven now." And so he fell asleep. 
 
 " Soldier of Christ, well done, 
 Praise be thy new employ, 
 And while eternal ages run, 
 Rest in thy Saviour's joy."
 
 56 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Johnson then delivered the fol- 
 lowing address : — 
 
 If I were broadly to characterize the brother 
 and father whose decease we here recognize, it 
 would be by saying that he was one who put his 
 thought into things, rather than words. He could 
 speak, if there were occasion, with decision and 
 emphasis. Forceful and effective public utter- 
 ance was possible to him, but he did not lean that 
 way. He was not, by eminence or preference, in 
 oratory the impassioned or the syllogistic reasoner. 
 He rarely took the platform to carry men's hearts 
 by power of pathetic appeal, or to carry their 
 reasons by weight of argument, though he had 
 both imagination and logic ; but commonly his 
 imagination and his logic found other expression 
 than that which is connected with public speech. 
 He directed his effort towards putting his thought 
 into things, rather than into words ; and the 
 things to which he chiefly gave his thought rep- 
 resented three great departments of human in- 
 terest, — industry, education, and journalism. 
 Born and reared on a farm, it was natural that his 
 thought should first be given to industry ; and 
 the thinking he did there while at the plough and 
 harrow, and while swinging the scythe and cradle, 
 was that kind of thinking which has given to
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 57 
 
 man's hand the capacity of a loom, which has 
 given to his arm the mighty beat of our trip- 
 hammers, which has given to his feet, through the 
 steam-engine, the power of annihilating distance, 
 and to his eye, through the telescope, the sweep 
 of all the stars. Other boys have been born and 
 reared on farms, and have kept on swinging their 
 scythes until themselves mowed down at last by 
 the Great Reaper. Not so with this lad of Vir- 
 ginia. His active imagination early saw possibil- 
 ities of power in muscles of iron and steel that 
 did not lie in the flexible sinews of his right arm. 
 He married brain to muscle, and, lo ! the reaper, 
 which has been steadily, through his oversight 
 and inventive genius, perfecting itself, until now 
 it does for three continents what the cotton-gin 
 does for the South. For a full quarter century it 
 has been attending the world's great gatherings 
 of peaceful industry, where the nations have come 
 together to celebrate the brain's independence, 
 and there it has won trophy after trophy in the 
 battles of peaceful industry, until the medals and 
 prizes and testimonials fairly cluster thick about 
 the man who stood as its animating genius and 
 fruitful inventor. In the providence of God, it 
 seems to me that he was made the hand that 
 reached over and dropped the largest blessing on 
 
 8
 
 58 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 toil that has ever fallen as a benediction out of 
 heaven. And it is a beautiful and appropriate 
 thing that the workmen of this great business 
 should come to-day and lay their tribute of affec- 
 tion and reverence upon this casket; for the 
 music of the reaper is the sweetest music that is 
 now heard by the ear of industry. This continent 
 is peopled, and railroads are enabled to push 
 their enterprises into its vast inland spaces, be- 
 cause the reaper is there to give them the harvest 
 whose gathering would otherwise have been im- 
 possible. 
 
 But this man of inventive genius, whose bent 
 it was to put his thought into things, did not con- 
 fine himself to material interests. The value of 
 the reaper may possibly be represented by dollars 
 and cents. Mr. McCormick went higher and 
 deeper, he thought of souls as well as machines. 
 And the thing into which he put this thought as 
 representative of another department of human 
 interests is that Theological Institution of whose 
 founding and career we have already heard, show- 
 ing that the beloved and honored man was moved 
 by higher considerations than those which simply 
 appeal to selfish interests and to the accumulation 
 of wealth ; that into his soul came ideals he would 
 seek to realize by an outward and public expres-
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 59 
 
 sion. When the Seminary of the Northwest was 
 a child with few friends, without any foundation, 
 and with no assured future, he proposed, even in 
 the pressure of his absorbing business, and while 
 that business was yet in the comparative dawn of 
 its great development, to bring the seminary to 
 Chicago, and give it stability and financial an- 
 chorage where, in the midst of this great metro- 
 polis, and in the midst of this vast inter-continen- 
 tal region, it might do a great work for God, in 
 rearing a living ministry. 
 
 You have heard the story of his persistent, 
 faithful, generous, and large-hearted connection 
 with the institution, without whose agency it 
 never would have had the wide and conspicuous 
 and grandly prophetic place it holds to-day in the 
 heart of the church. How beautiful was the 
 providence that permitted him, just before the 
 close of his earthly life, to see so rich a fruitage 
 from that sowing. I remember well the evening, 
 only a little while ago, when fifty-nine students of 
 the seminary and a corps of professors and a circle 
 of friends gathered here where we are gathered 
 to-day, and he sat in the midst of the joyful com- 
 pany, his heart full of intense emotion, and every 
 feature of his face expressive of gratitude to God 
 for the privilege that had been vouchsafed him in 
 sharing so largely in bringing all this to pass.
 
 6o FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 Later on, he discovered another need that came 
 to his eye and heart, in the field of journalism. 
 A religious newspaper, " The Interior," had been 
 started in this city, representative of the Presby- 
 terian church. It was struggling in early dark- 
 ness and difficulty, when he was led to shoulder 
 the responsibility of its management, and to place 
 it upon such foundation and secure for it such 
 competent editorship that it has grown to be now 
 not an organ but a mighty voice, expressing the 
 convictions, the aspirations, and the hopes of a 
 great church, and destined beyond all question to 
 perpetuate itself through years and ages, into the 
 far distant future. 
 
 Now what was behind all this, — what the 
 make-up of such a man doing such a work ? I 
 would say that he was characterized, first of all, 
 by great energy, that was capable of marshaling 
 immense resources, and of commanding every 
 possible facility for the furtherance of a great in- 
 terest, and of pressing them with tremendous 
 force to the accomplishment of any given object. 
 But men sometimes move with great energy for a 
 while, and then lose hope and heart. Not so he. 
 For along with great energy he had great te- 
 nacity of purpose, into which he seemed to put 
 the very soul of unalterableness. When he once
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 6 1 
 
 decided a thing ought to be done, that thing 
 went down, so far as human will could place it 
 there, into the catalogue of things irreversible. 
 If it lay in the realm of possibility, it was done. 
 Then along with this, he had a deathless and 
 dauntless courage, so that he was never appalled 
 by obstacles, never abashed in the face of opposi- 
 tion, and never troubled about difficulties, though 
 environing and threatening him on every side. 
 He was like that Swiss chieftain, to whom one of 
 his followers said, as he was about to step into a 
 boat to cross the lake in a storm, " It is impossi- 
 ble to cross this lake to-night," and to which the 
 chief replied : " I know not whether it be impos- 
 sible, I know it must be attempted." When Mr. 
 McCormick became convinced a thing ought to 
 be attempted, he was fearless in the face of oppo- 
 sition, no matter what its might or multitude. 
 
 But these qualities I have named show simply 
 the man of power. When these are alone they 
 give us the despot, the man of iron heel, the man 
 who can win victories, but win them ruthlessly. 
 Accompanying and regulating these qualities in 
 Mr. McCormick's nature, keeping them mainly to 
 just procedure, was a regnant conscience. And 
 back of all, beneath all, round about all, softening 
 and mellowing the man, was the affectionateness
 
 62 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 of a great tender heart. I do not suppose that 
 the mass of people knew that he had this royal 
 possession, for he did not " tie his heart upon his 
 sleeve for daws to peck at." It might have been 
 better if he had shown a little more of this emo- 
 tional nature. But as his pastor, and in the inti- 
 macies of personal friendship, often and often I 
 have seen his heart lifted to his eyes until those 
 determined eyes melted into tenderness and tears. 
 Often and often I have seen the lighter and mag- 
 netic side of his nature get such supremacy that at 
 last, all over the fixed features of his face, it broke 
 out in ripples of laughter. He carried a great joy 
 and a great tenderness beneath what, to some, 
 may have seemed a rough exterior. He was 
 moved with emotion until tears rolled down his 
 cheeks, again and again, at some tender exhibi- 
 tion of the truth of God in the sanctuary. He 
 believed God, and it was accounted to him for 
 righteousness ; and at last, through much suffer- 
 ing, he entered into the kingdom. 
 
 " * I know ' is all the sufiferer saith, 
 ' Knowledge, by suffering, entereth, 
 And life is perfected in death.' " 
 
 Last Sabbath morning, in the early dawn, the 
 whole family gathered about his bedside, and his
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 63 
 
 oldest son said to him, " Father, shall we have 
 our morning prayer, as usual ? " " Oh, yes," said 
 the father ; and, with the entire household kneel- 
 ing around his bed, he led them in prayer, saying 
 his " Amen " with firmness and trust. Then he 
 broke out in a beautiful hymn, in which the 
 family joined : — 
 
 " Oh ! Thou in whose presence my soul takes delight." 
 
 Then, bidding, one by one, his household good- 
 by, he wrapped the spotless robe of Christ's 
 righteousness about him, and " fell on sleep." 
 Blessed indeed are the dead that die in the Lord. 
 Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
 their labors, and their works do follow them. 
 
 At the conclusion of these addresses about four 
 hundred employees of the Reaper Works, many 
 of whom have been there for twenty years, and 
 felt a sincere attachment to him, walked in a 
 double line past the coffin to bid a long and sad 
 farewell to their departed leader. The remains 
 were interred in Graceland Cemetery.
 
 I^esoltitions*
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN 
 CHURCH. 
 
 Saratoga, May i6, 1884. 
 
 ■ The General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church being in session at Saratoga, Elder 
 Thomas Kane, of Chicago, announced the death 
 of Cyrus H. McCormick as having occurred at 
 7 A. M., Tuesday, May 13, with appropriate re- 
 marks upon his work for the church, and offered 
 the following Resolution, which was adopted by 
 the Assembly rising to their feet : — 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly has learned with 
 sorrow of the death of Hon. Cyrus H. McCor- 
 mick, and recognizes the loss which the church 
 has sustained in the departure hence of so de- 
 voted and munificent a friend of Christian and 
 theological education, and of every good work.
 
 68 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN 
 CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ViCKSBURG, Miss., May 21, 1884. 
 
 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States, in session in this 
 city, this day unanimously adopted the following- 
 minute, and ordered the undersigned to forward 
 the same to you : — 
 
 " The General Assembly having information of 
 the death of the Hon. Cyrus H. McCormick, of 
 Chicago, 111., deems it eminently suitable to make 
 a record of an event which marks the departure 
 to his everlasting rest of a Christian man, who, 
 throughout a long life, has consecrated so much 
 of his ample wealth to the welfare of his fellow- 
 men. In all these benefactions the people and 
 institutions of his native south were largely and 
 most kindly remembered." 
 
 Joseph R. Wilson, 
 
 Stated Clerk.
 
 RESOL UTIONS. 69 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE 
 NORTHWEST. 
 
 MINUTE OF THE FACULTY ON THE DEATH OF HON. CYRUS H. 
 
 Mccormick, adopted may 24, 1SS4. 
 
 The Faculty of the Presbyterian Theological 
 Seminary of the Northwest here record upon 
 their minutes their views and feelings in connec- 
 tion with the decease of the lamented Hon. Cyrus 
 H. McCormick. 
 
 I. The sagacious foresight and wisdom of Mr. 
 McCormick in selecting, twenty-five years since, 
 the commanding location of this city as the appro- 
 priate and permanent seat of this Institution, and 
 in making it secure through the action of the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 
 by a donation of one hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 II. His steadfast conviction of the importance 
 of maintaining the Seminary in the spirit and 
 purpose of the action of the General Assembly, 
 and this when, instead of admiration and grati- 
 tude for his sagacity and beneficence, he was con- 
 fronted with no little opposition and opprobrium. 
 
 III. His readiness to come to the aid of the in- 
 stitution amid its difficulties, not only by many
 
 70 RESOL UTIONS. 
 
 needful gifts at different times, but also by the 
 contribution of another hundred thousand dollars 
 towards its endowment. 
 
 IV. Four of the members of the Faculty have 
 special occasion to record their gratitude to Mr. 
 McCormick for his gift of most commodious and 
 beautifully located residences, by which not only 
 their personal comfort is secured, but the Institu- 
 tion itself is benefited by the opportunity thus 
 given for constant oversight and influence in con- 
 nection with the students. 
 
 V. The Faculty hereby express their own and 
 the church's very great indebtedness to Mr. Mc- 
 Cormick for his prompt and noble munificence in 
 the erection of the new and spacious dormitory 
 on the grounds of the institution, for the increas- 
 ing number of students. 
 
 VI. We also take this occasion to record our 
 sense of gratitude to Mr. McCormick for the wide 
 door he has opened to each and all of us for use- 
 fulness to the church of his and our warmest af- 
 fections. 
 
 VII. And finally we thank God that before his 
 departure from the scene of his large Christian 
 benefactions, he was permitted the gratification 
 of witnessing the most encouraging tokens of 
 prosperity and success in the Institution to which
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 7 1 
 
 he had given so much thought and labor and 
 bounty. 
 
 Resolved, that a copy of this m nute be trans- 
 mitted to his family, with the expression of our 
 tenderest sympathy in their bereavement and grief, 
 and our prayer is that the God of Consolation 
 may sustain and comfort them as the Husband of 
 the widow and the Father of the fatherless. 
 
 Willis G. Craig, Chairman. 
 Edward L. Curtis, Secretary. 
 
 MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF 
 THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN THEO- 
 LOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 The Executive Committee, on behalf of the 
 Board of Directors, desire to record an expres- 
 sion of their profound sorrow at the great loss 
 sustained by the Seminary and the church at 
 large, in the death of the Hon. Cyrus H. McCor- 
 mick. 
 
 The warm and unfaltering friendship of Mr. 
 McCormick for the cause of education, especially 
 in training young men for the ministiy, was shown 
 not only by his words but by his deeds of munifi- 
 cence, which constitute an enduring monument to 
 his memory, and will cause him to be remembered
 
 7 2 RE SOL UTIONS. 
 
 as one of the benefactors of mankind. The Sem- 
 inary of the Northwest, the good influence of 
 which will be felt through all time in Christian 
 education, will remain as an example of his wisely 
 directed benevolence to be emulated by others. 
 
 The timely beneficence of Mr. McCormick to 
 this institution was but an expression of his strong 
 faith in God, and of his love for the highest in- 
 terests of mankind. 
 
 We desire to extend to the family of the de- 
 ceased our deepest sympathy in their great be- 
 reavement. 
 
 In the life of such a man, the world can learn 
 lessons from the fidelity with which he improved 
 the opportunities both of youth and manhood, 
 and found time, amidst the cares of the immense 
 industry over which he presided, to ascend to 
 higher levels of thought, and engage in works of 
 philanthropy which will endear his name to com- 
 ing generations. Through his good works " he 
 being dead, yet speaketh." 
 
 Samuel M. Moore, Chairman. 
 
 Daniel S. Gregory, Secretary.
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 1Z 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE 
 NORTHWEST. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE ALUMNI OF THE THEOLOGICAL 
 SEMINARY OF THE NORTHWEST IN SPECIAL MEETING AT THE 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT SARATOGA, N. Y., MAY i8, 1884. 
 
 Whereas, in the all-wise providence of God, the 
 Hon. Cyrus H. McCormick has been called from 
 his labors in this life to his reward, be it 
 
 Resolved, That we, the Alumni of the Theolog- 
 ical Seminary of the Northwest, in special meet- 
 ing at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church, express our gratitude to God for a life so 
 largely useful to the cause of theological learning. 
 
 That while humbly submitting to this dispensa- 
 tion of Providence, we mourn the loss of one who 
 has been to the Northwest, and the whole church, 
 a most munificent friend of theological training 
 and Christian education. 
 
 That we extend our sympathy to the bereaved 
 family in their affliction and prayerfully commend 
 them to the consolation of the Divine Comforter. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of this action be sent to 
 
 the sorrowing family, and that it be published in 
 
 the " Interior " and other church papers. 
 
 Rev. W. F. RiNGLAND, President pro tern. 
 Rev. John McAllister, Secretary pro tern.
 
 74 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS OF 
 THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 Room 48, McCormick Block, Chicago. 
 
 At a Memorial Meeting of the Board at its 
 rooms, May i6th, the following resolutions were 
 passed by a unanimous rising vote : — 
 
 In the death of Mr. Cyrus H. McCormick the 
 world has lost a helper, and this organization a 
 warm friend and sympathizer, who has been iden- 
 tified with it almost from its commencement. 
 Through his benefaction, " Room 48 " has become 
 a great Mission Centre of America, — therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That while we sincerely mourn his 
 loss, we thank our Heavenly Father for his long 
 life of usefulness and generosity, esteeming it a 
 privilege that we were permitted to share his fel- 
 lowship. 
 
 Resolved, That we strive to emulate his noble life 
 of service, so that through us he may continue to 
 raise up many who remain in the dark shadows 
 of ignorance, sin, and death. 
 
 Resolved, That we offer to the bereaved family 
 our tender sympathy, rejoicing, in our sorrow, that 
 the husband and father has left them a rich legacy
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 75 
 
 of prayer, which will insure to them the blessing 
 of God, while they entrust all their sorrows and 
 cares to his keeping. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be 
 sent to the family, and published in the " Inte- 
 rior," and entered upon the records of this Board. 
 Mrs. George H. Laflin, Secretary.
 
 76 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE BOARD 
 OF TRUSTEES, JUNE 24, 1S84. 
 
 The following paper, presented by Benjamin 
 M. Smith as a tribute to Cyrus H. McCormick, 
 deceased, was adopted, and the Secretary directed 
 to furnish a copy thereof to President Lee, with 
 a request that he communicate the same to Mr. 
 McCormick's family : — 
 
 The trustees of Washington and Lee Univer- 
 sity place on record this 
 
 Memorial of Hon. Cyrus Hall McCormick. 
 
 This eminent Christian philanthropist was 
 born of a pious Scotch-Irish ancestry in Rock- 
 bridge County, Va., near the village of Midway, 
 February 15, 1809. He became a communicant 
 in New Providence Church in 1834, and ever 
 continued a consistent professor of the Christian 
 Faith. Having served his generation by a life 
 abounding in good works, he closed his career, 
 full of years and of honors, and fell asleep in Jesus 
 May 13, 1884. 
 
 He grew up to adult age on a farm, and not-
 
 RE SOL UTIONS. 7 7 
 
 withstanding the limited advantages generally in- 
 cident to such a position, by the vigor of a natu- 
 ral intellect of extraordinary endowment, he ob- 
 tained in a good school a sound and thorough 
 education. He also learned the lessons of a high 
 moral culture and of industrious habits, consti- 
 tuting the basis of integrity and fidelity to duty, 
 which marked his memorable career. His great 
 invention, the Reaper which bears his name, was 
 the result of successful study and careful experi- 
 ments, and was put on the market in 1839. 
 During forty-five years since, by his eminently ju- 
 dicious management, this invention has spread 
 incalculable blessings over the civilized world. 
 
 In Mr. McCormick's character, as developed in 
 his various relations, there have ever been pre- 
 sented true modesty, unflinching moral courage, 
 persistent prosecution of purpose, unwearied in- 
 dustry, indomitable energy, and unblemished in- 
 tegrity. He furnishes a brilliant example for the 
 imitation of young men in every walk of life- 
 Mr. McCormick's success in life was accompa- 
 nied by a generous course in behalf of the inter- 
 ests of collegiate and theological education. In 
 the dark and distressing period of the history of 
 this Institution, immediately after the war, he 
 came to its aid with a generous donation of
 
 y^ RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 ^10,000, afterwards increased to ^20,000. He also 
 endowed a Professorship in the Union Theologi- 
 cal Seminary, by a donation in 1866 of $30,000. 
 Having by his great invention contributed so 
 fully to the material prosperity of the North- 
 western States, with a wise discrimination and 
 enlarged pious purposes he determined to in- 
 crease the ability of a Theological Seminary 
 theretofore situated in South Hanover, Indiana, 
 by effecting its removal to Chicago, and greatly 
 adding to its endowments. 
 
 Having succeeded in this plan, he continued his 
 contributions till they reached nearly $400,000. 
 He lived to see the number of students reach fifty- 
 nine, treble the former attendance. By these ef- 
 forts he conferred on that region of the country 
 the highest and most durable benefits. " He now 
 rests from his labors, and his works follow him." 
 
 Thankful to the kind Providence for rearing 
 up such a man, this Board humbly bows to the 
 orderings of the same wise and holy Providence, 
 which has removed him from the number of its 
 members, as well as from that of the valued friends 
 of the University. 
 
 And it was ordered, That a copy of this Me- 
 morial be published in the " Lexington Gazette,"
 
 RESOL UTIONS. 7 9 
 
 and that the " Christian Observer," the " Inte- 
 rior," and the " Central Presbyterian " be respect- 
 fully requested to copy it. 
 
 And on the motion of Bolivar Christian, 
 Resolved, That the President of the University 
 be requested to express to Mrs. C. H. McCormick 
 and her family, the desire of the Board of Trus- 
 tees to possess a portrait of Hon. Cyrus H. Mc- 
 Cormick, to place with the collection of the por- 
 traits of patrons of the University now within its 
 walls. 
 
 Jacob Fuller, Secretary. 
 Lexington, Va., June 26, 1884. 
 
 MINUTE OF THE FACULTY OF WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVER- 
 SITY RESPECTING CYRUS HALL McCORMICK. 
 
 Lexington, Va., May 26, 1884. 
 
 The Faculty have received with profound regret 
 and sorrow the intelligence of the death of this 
 distinguished friend of this University and mem- 
 ber of its Board of Trustees, and feel it to be their 
 privilege to place on record some tribute to his 
 memory. 
 
 Mr. McCormick was one of the justly notable 
 men of his generation. His name is known, not
 
 8o RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 only in every part of our own country, but through- 
 out the civilized world, and wherever known, is 
 mentioned with honor and gratitude, as associated 
 with most beneficent services to the human fam- 
 ily. The benefits he conferred on his race are 
 not to be estimated by the value of the great in- 
 vention that bears his name, merely, but also by 
 the impulse which his eminent success has given 
 to others possessing genius and energy akin to 
 his, in seeking to make improvements in other 
 departments in agricultural machinery. It is not 
 too much to say that no man in all history has 
 achieved so much for the progress of that branch 
 of industry which is universally recognized as the 
 basis of individual comfort and national prosperity. 
 
 He was conspicuously a Christian philanthropist. 
 His pecuniary benefactions to the institutions of 
 religion were frequent and liberal, in some in- 
 stances munificently large. Although for many 
 years of his life residing in a distant State, he did 
 not lose his interest in the land of his birth, or 
 those who were the friends and neisfhbors of his 
 youth. Union Theological Seminary in Prince 
 Edward County has a professorship named for 
 him in commemoration of his gift of the funds for 
 its endowment. 
 
 Our own University, Washington and Lee, be-
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 8 1 
 
 ing situated in his native county, was not over- 
 looked by him whilst inquiring for objects on 
 which he might bestow his favors. An endowed 
 chair of instruction bearing his name is the appro- 
 priate response of the University to his generous 
 contribution to its funds. 
 
 To his widow and children we tender our deep- 
 est sympathies in their sad bereavement, and our 
 prayers that the Father of all Mercies by his Al- 
 mighty Grace may be their stay and solace. 
 
 A copy. 
 
 John L. Campbell, Jr., 
 
 Clerk of the Factilty.
 
 8 2 RESOL UTIONS. 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
 MINUTE ADOPTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ALUMNI 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 
 At the Annual Meeting of the Alumni Asso- 
 ciation of the Princeton Theological Seminary, 
 held in the Chapel of the Seminary at Princeton, 
 May 14, 1884, the following minute was unani- 
 mously adopted by the Association : — 
 
 News of the death of Mr. Cyrus H. McCor- 
 mick of Chicago arrests the attention of this As- 
 sociation, which has a mournful interest in put- 
 ting on record the following testimonial. 
 
 Resolved, ist. That we express our deep sense 
 of the loss the Church has incurred in an event 
 which has removed so wise a counselor and so 
 generous a promoter of Theological Education in 
 the Northwest. 
 
 Resolved, 2d, That we thank God for the ser- 
 vice and liberality of our departed brother and for 
 his steady attachment and devotion to the church 
 of his father ; that we offer our sympathy to those 
 in the South and West most closely associated 
 with him in the advancement of theological cdu-
 
 RESOL UTIONS. 8 3 
 
 cation, and especially to the immediate family of 
 the deceased, to whom we respectfully transmit a 
 copy of these resolutions. 
 
 William E. Schenck, 
 Secretary of the Alumni Association.
 
 84 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 LAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF 
 TRUSTEES. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Lake 
 Forest University, the following resolutions were 
 unanimously adopted : — 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of the Hon. Cyrus 
 H. McCormick we recognize the loss to the busi- 
 ness world of one whose career has been almost 
 unexampled in the history of this country, and 
 which has had few parallels in the history of the 
 world. 
 
 By his death the cause of education also has 
 lost a friend whose marked liberality in this direc- 
 tion has made his name conspicuous, and who has 
 left for himself an enduring monument in the Pres- 
 byterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest. 
 
 His energy in business and his liberality to ed- 
 ucation were accompanied by trust in God, and 
 an unwavering faith in the great fundamental 
 truths and doctrines of the Christian Scriptures 
 as held by the Presbyterian Church, of which he 
 was a communicant for half a century.
 
 RES OL UTIONS. 8 5 
 
 We deem his life in those respects worthy of 
 emulation, and we place on record our expression 
 of heartfelt sympathy with the bereaved house- 
 hold in this providence. 
 
 By order of the Board, 
 
 Samuel D. Ward, Secretary. 
 Chicago, May 14, 1884.
 
 86 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Mr. W. H. Ackerman, for the Committee ap- 
 pointed to prepare a memorial notice of the late 
 Cyrus H. McCormick, an annual member of this 
 Society, presented the following, which was unani- 
 mously adopted : — 
 
 The Chicago Historical Society places upon its 
 records, in loving memory, this brief record of the 
 life of its late member, Mr. Cyrus H. McCormick, 
 who became a resident of this city in the year 
 1847, and who departed this life on the 13th of 
 May, 1884. 
 
 Life to him was a victory in a double sense. 
 Possessed of a wonderful physical constitution, he 
 fought its battles manfully, and overcame every 
 obstacle in working out its great problem ; and 
 not even in later years, when bowed down by the 
 infirmities of the flesh, did he neglect the claims 
 of the higher life. From him the commands of 
 his Master always received a loving recognition, 
 as evidenced by his many liberal contributions to 
 the cause of religion. 
 
 He was never unmindful of the duty he owed
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 87 
 
 to his God, nor was he ever ashamed to acknowl- 
 edge Him openly before men. He was given to 
 hospitality, as many a poor servant of Christ can 
 testify. 
 
 He was a man of superior business capacity, 
 of great determination, remarkable executive abil- 
 ity, and indomitable courage in acting upon his 
 own convictions, and he could not be swerved 
 from a conscientious discharge of what he believed 
 to be duty, when measured by the standard of 
 strict integrity. 
 
 He was just and considerate in his relations 
 with all who were dependent upon him for their 
 daily bread, and these gave grateful acknowledg- 
 ment of the obligation under which they rested in 
 the genuine expression of sorrow on the day of his 
 burial. 
 
 He was in every sense a public benefactor — 
 his generous gifts to the church, to the Theologi- 
 cal Seminary, and to various benevolent objects 
 will cause many to " rise up and call him blessed." 
 
 His inventive genius has given to mankind that 
 which has practically revolutionized farming op- 
 erations, and established for him a reputation over 
 the entire civilized world. 
 
 With him the harvest of life has ended — " the 
 silver cord is loosed, the golden bowl is broken."
 
 88 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 He has gone to meet the reward of that Saviour 
 whose cause he so devotedly served while here on 
 earth. 
 
 The " dust has returned to the earth as it was," 
 and the spirit has returned unto the God who 
 gave it." 
 
 The foregoing is a true copy of the record. 
 
 Albert D. Hager, Secretary.
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 89 
 
 INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF YOUNG MEN'S 
 CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 Cor. 23D Street and 4th Avenue, New York. 
 
 At a meeting of the Committee, held at the of- 
 fice, May 13, 1884, the following minute was 
 adopted : — 
 
 It is with profound regret that we, members of 
 the International Committee, learn of the death of 
 Hon. Cyrus H. McCormick, the father of one of 
 our associates and an honored and generous friend 
 of our work. And we desire to express to our 
 friend and brother, and to the members of his be- 
 reaved family, our sincere sympathy with them in 
 their irreparable loss, assuring them also of our 
 heartfelt appreciation of the Christian character 
 and preeminent usefulness of him whose loss we 
 mourn, and who is lamented by the great multi- 
 tude, in this and other lands, who appreciate what 
 he accomplished for the comfort and well-being of 
 his own and every succeeding generation of man- 
 kind.
 
 90 RESOL UTIONS. 
 
 RICHFIELD SPRINGS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Richfield Springs, N. Y., May i8, 1S84. 
 
 The Session of the Presbyterian Church of 
 Richfield Springs passed the following preamble 
 and resolutions : — 
 
 Whereas, Our Heavenly Father in his provi- 
 dence has been pleased to remove from the toils 
 and conflicts of the church militant to the fellow- 
 ship and rewards of the church triumphant, Hon. 
 Cyrus H. McCormick, for many years a resident 
 of this village during the summer, and a constant 
 worshiper with us when able to be present, thus 
 evincing, as well as by his gifts, his interest in ihe 
 cause of Christ ; therefore 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Brother McCor- 
 mick this church has lost a true friend and a gen- 
 erous patron, and the church at large one who 
 was deeply interested in the advancement of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom as shown by his large gifts 
 to collegiate and theological institutions. 
 
 Resolved, That we commend the family of our 
 deceased brother to the tender sympathies of our 
 common Lord, praying that his grace may sustain 
 them, and his presence comfort them in this time 
 of sorrow.
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 9 1 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be entered on 
 the pages of our sessional records, published in 
 " The Interior," " New York Evangelist," " Rich- 
 field Springs Mercury," and that a copy be trans- 
 mitted to the family of the deceased. 
 
 D. M. Rankin, Moderator. 
 p. K. Hopkins, Cla-k.
 
 92 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 HASTINGS COLLEGE. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees 
 of Hastings College, Hastings, Nebraska, the fol- 
 lowing resolution was unanimously adopted, June 
 i8, 1884: — 
 
 Resolved, That we, the Board of Trustees of 
 Hastings College, this day assembled in annual 
 meeting, record our gratitude to God for the mu- 
 nificent life of the lamented Hon. Cyrus H. Mc- 
 Cormick, and that we record our gratitude that 
 McCormick Hall, the first building of Hastings 
 College, has been erected as a beneficent monu- 
 ment to his memory.
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 93 
 
 THORNWELL ORPHANAGE. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Visitors of the 
 Thornwell Orphanage, CHnton, South CaroHna, 
 the following preamble and resolutions were 
 adopted : — 
 
 Whereas, On May 13th, Hon. Cyrus H. Mc- 
 Cormick, after leaving an admonition to " Work " 
 to the Church of God, "fell on sleep : " 
 
 Resolved, That his life was a benefaction to 
 mankind. By his inventive talent he revolution- 
 ized grain-culture, causing millions of heads of 
 wheat to stand where one stood before, thus feed- 
 ing the nations. His youth was an example of 
 purity, industry, and noble worth, to the youth of 
 all time. His old age was a typical old age, — 
 for his heart was the heart of a child, his head the 
 head of a sage, and his hand was a blessing to 
 his church and his nation.
 
 C yV, 
 
 [m 
 
 HlO/F 
 
 'll\Mcvii'.T5uiiri'Uotc tV\C'fiUa.|0.
 
 31n apetttomm.
 
 From " 77/1? Interior.'''' 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 More appropriate than this black line, this sym- 
 bol of mourning, would be a pencil of the setting 
 sun, if it could be transferred to this page in its 
 roseate radiance. The shock of bereavement and 
 grief falls heavily upon the heart That strong 
 hand lies lifeless. That heart which knew no 
 fear, but was full of all generous emotions, is still. 
 Those keen perceptions, that force and grasp of 
 intellect, that indomitable will, have left the now 
 dark and silent tenement, and have become active 
 and imperishable forces in higher and wider fields 
 of service. 
 
 Let us not find assuagement for sorrow in a 
 eulogium upon the character of the beloved father, 
 brother, and friend who has gone away from us, 
 but let us talk familiarly about him. It is hard to 
 realize that any change has come in his life, and 
 that he is not with us yet. To speak of him as if 
 he were dead, as if all our relations with him had 
 suddenly been severed, and he far away and es- 
 13
 
 98 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 tranged, would be to force the mind and the heart 
 out of their wonted haunts, and to compel them 
 into unfamiliar channels; would be to do injustice 
 to ourselves, our page, and to him. Only a few 
 days ago we called upon him and found him, as 
 usual, occupying his rolling-chair, but surrounded 
 on this occasion with a festoon of ladies who had 
 severally called to pay their respects to him and 
 to his family. After their departure, I said to 
 him that he reminded me of an old-fashioned bee- 
 hive, just before swarming time. He laughed at 
 the conceit, but his face grew grave as he said, 
 " That is an odd comparison, but it may be truer 
 than you think." I did not at once understand 
 the significance of his reply, but as he then led 
 the conversation back to a topic on which we had 
 conversed a few days before, the phenomena of 
 death, I have since thought that his reply con- 
 tained even more than he intended. He meant 
 that there were indications of departure. These 
 proved to be truly prophetic — and more, that the 
 results of a life of highest usefulness were left to 
 benefit and bless the church and his fellow-men. 
 In the conversation which followed, we recalled 
 and related to each other what we remembered of 
 the quiet sleeping away of the dying, and espe- 
 cially of the aged. One instance came to mind of
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 99 
 
 a saintly man who in his last illness was impressed 
 and troubled because of his sins, and especially 
 with the ingratitude of which sin is an evidence. 
 Mr. McCormick said that we ought not to carry 
 such feelings beyond a genuine repentance, — 
 that while sin was base ingratitude, and in this 
 view doubly heinous, yet we ought to make it the 
 occasion of double gratitude to God for his for- 
 giveness. And with great force of expression, 
 as was his wont when deeply in earnest, he said, 
 " They are not our sins, and they do not per- 
 tain to us after Christ has taken them away. 
 Does He not say, that He removes them from us 
 as far as the east is distant from the west } " The 
 conversation then fell off into a lighter tone, in 
 which business, reminiscence, and anecdote were 
 commingled. Mr. McCormick was full of apt 
 and usually humorous illustrations, not a few of 
 which have in the years past found their way into 
 these columns. Referring to something that " The 
 Interior " had said, which was possibly a little 
 hasty, he took it off by saying that the paper re- 
 minded him of a gunpowder maker whom he had 
 known in Virginia. " My powder," said the com- 
 pounder of explosives, " is very good powder. 
 It has only one fault, and that is that it is just a 
 leetle too quick."
 
 lOO IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 As the writer looks back mentally, over the 
 twelve years of intimate acquaintance with him, 
 the whole vista of memory seems to be strewn 
 with his vigorous and apt sayings. The keenness 
 of his mental perception was a frequent surprise. 
 He would reach the heart of a subject and go all 
 around it while other minds were only approach- 
 ing it. His mind would be in advance of the 
 words of those speaking to him, and he would 
 reach and announce the result with almost un- 
 failing accuracy from the premises afforded by 
 one or two preliminary sentences. This clearness 
 of perception, and power of rapid and accurate 
 reasoning, in combination with his resolute cour- 
 age and will, were the chief elements of his great 
 success in life. 
 
 A marked trait in Mr. McCormick's character 
 was his integrity — and there was a peculiarity 
 about it. Like the righteous man described by 
 David, while he changed not, though he had 
 promised to his own hurt, yet he was very cau- 
 tious about making promises. But a promise 
 made was as good as a sealed bond to those who 
 held it. When he said " I will," those who knew 
 him needed nothing more, because he neither for- 
 got nor failed to fulfill. While he would not com- 
 mit himself to any undertaking without investiga-
 
 IN MEMORIAM. lOl 
 
 tion, when the purpose was once formed there 
 was no regretful looking back. Discouragement 
 and difficulty only stimulated his determination. 
 There was an adherence to a high purpose, not to 
 means and methods. He was quick to toss aside 
 an instrument when sure of a better one. This 
 integrity of character reached down to the smaller 
 things of life and of business — hence his word 
 was implicitly trusted. Probably a more reliable 
 man never lived. This strength of character con- 
 sisted both in massiveness and in fibre, and it was 
 as manifest when he lay dying as when he was in 
 the prime of his physical vigor. While the flood 
 of life sank and ebbed away, the broad and deep 
 foundations of his faith and character were re- 
 vealed as never before. He sous^ht to lift his be- 
 loved ones above the sorrow, as he was lifted 
 above the fear, of death. He was through Christ 
 victorious, in his last struggle, and triumphed 
 over the King of Terrors. 
 
 There was a combination of force with tender- 
 ness in Mr. McCormick's nature which appeared 
 so often that it became a distinctive trait. No 
 one ever went down in a conflict with him of any 
 kind, without finding his conqueror softening his 
 fall and immediately lifting him w^. This also 
 appeared in all things, from the friendly contro-
 
 I02 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 versies and repartees of conversation, to the most 
 serious contests of life. In the former, he began 
 by begging leave to suggest, and ended by sub- 
 mitting it merely as his opinion, — but it would 
 be a very mild description to speak of what came 
 between the two in the way of fact and argument 
 as a suggestion or a submission. There was that 
 chivalry in his nature which made him the friend 
 of the weaker party, even if that party happened to 
 be his antagonist. The last business interview 
 we had with him was in relation to a young man 
 who had robbed " The Interior," and who was ly- 
 ing in jail. " If we can show mercy to him with- 
 out injuring public justice, we ought to do it, for 
 the sake of his mother." 
 
 I noticed in Dr. Marquis's address the mention 
 of a trait which must have impressed many who 
 were well acquainted with him : that he would 
 plainly and candidly say to a man that which he 
 would not say of him. This was certainly a rare 
 trait. Most persons are content to make a virtue 
 of saying nothing of a man which they would not 
 say to his face. Mr. McCormick's rule, never ex- 
 pressed, but always practiced, of speaking kindly 
 of the absent, and severely, if justice required it, 
 only to the present, was as sensible as it was rare 
 and Christian. It does one no good to speak un-
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 103 
 
 kindly to others concerning him — it may do 
 good to rebuke him personally. 
 
 Though conscious of his strength, and without 
 fear, Mr. McCormick was ever ready to make sac- 
 rifices for the sake of peace, if peace could be had 
 on fair and honorable terms ; terms honorable to 
 both parties. No man in the Presbyterian church 
 more longed for unity and harmony in its ranks. 
 He was among the first to seek reunion between 
 the northern and southern sections of the church. 
 When it fell to his lot to organize this paper, he 
 sought to make it a bond of union across old divis- 
 ions of every kind ; and when antagonisms after- 
 ward arose, he set aside all opposing counsels, and 
 devised new measures and pledges of harmony. 
 It was a special pleasure to him to gather the 
 representatives of adverse ideas, or conflicting 
 interests, around his hospitable board, and ply 
 them with good cheer and placating suggestions. 
 " We will bring them together, and if we cannot 
 harmonize them before they part, it will be a 
 wonder." Mr. McCormick was even more deter- 
 mined a peace-maker than he was a war-maker, 
 and he prized his victories for peace more than 
 his victories in conflict. 
 
 Before his rheumatic troubles incapacitated 
 him for it, he was a skillful and graceful rider on
 
 I04 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 horseback. Referring to the pleasure of which 
 he was thus deprived, he said that when a young 
 man, he was fond of managing intractable horses, 
 and related an incident which occurred in Ken- 
 tucky, where he had gone to introduce some ma- 
 chinery for the treatment of hemp, invented by 
 his father. A young man of about his own age, 
 where he was stopping, owned a very fine, un- 
 broken animal of which he was afraid. Mr. Mc- 
 Cormick offered to ride the horse home, a dis- 
 tance of half a mile, at noon, if his owner would 
 ride him back. He accomplished his part of the 
 feat, and after dinner led the horse out upon a 
 soft lawn, mounted the rider, and let go the bits. 
 In an instant his friend was landed a rod away 
 from his saddle, in the grass. " I made sure that 
 he would have a soft fall," said Mr. McCormick. 
 All through life, he provided " soft falls " for those 
 who were doomed to fall. 
 
 Mr. McCormick was as strong in his friend- 
 ships and affections as in all else. Speaking of 
 Dr. N. L. Rice, he paused a moment, and then 
 exclaimed, " Oh, how I did love that man." The 
 writer remembers an illustration of this part of his 
 nature, which occured in the rush of work after 
 the great fire. One evening, when he was deeply 
 engrossed in business, at his home, then on Shel-
 
 IN ME MORI AM. 1 05 
 
 don Street, and a dozen or more men, the writer 
 among them, were awaiting their turns for an in- 
 terview with him, Mrs. McCormick passed through 
 the parlor with her little Harold in her arms. He 
 dropped everything, took the babe, and became 
 absorbed in caressing and amusing it. His wife 
 finally suggested that business was pressing. 
 " Well, if you want me to work you must keep 
 that baby away from me. He would break up the 
 most promising negotiation in the world." 
 
 I do not know whether I ought to draw the veil 
 from that most sweet and sacred scene, the part- 
 ing from his family. In a lucid interval — for he 
 fell into unconsciousness twenty-four hours before 
 his death — his family knelt about his bed, and he 
 led them in worship, and for praise sang a stanza 
 of that sweet, dear old hynm and melody, with 
 which probably few of the present generation are 
 familiar : — 
 
 " O Thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight, 
 On whom in affliction I call, 
 My comfort by day, and my song in the night, 
 My hope, my salvation, my all." 
 
 How appropriate and expressive ! and how that 
 sweetest of the old melodies comes back to us 
 from the past ! He had sung it often and often
 
 io6 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 in the bloom of youth, and in the prime of man- 
 hood, and now, as he was about to enter upon im- 
 mortal youth, it came back to him again and 
 voiced his inexpressible trust and love. Then 
 takinQT the hands of one and another of his chil- 
 dren, murmuring " Dearest one," he last took the 
 hand of his wife. " Dearest one of all," he said, 
 and so fell on sleep. 
 
 Mr. McCormick was indisposed to any ostenta- 
 tious display. He postponed the erection of the 
 solid and noble residence in which he died — 
 neither he nor Mrs. McCormick caring to have 
 anything so fine, but he said apologetically of it 
 that " My friends insisted that I owed something 
 to art and to the beauty of the city, and they 
 called it ' a cause,' and so I began it. For myself, 
 my occupancy and enjoyment of it will be very 
 brief." Strong and brave as that dear man was, 
 his cheeks were no stranger to tears, — 
 
 " The bravest are the tenderest, 
 The loving are the daring." 
 
 But I must pause. There would scarcely be an 
 end of these delightful reminiscences, and I have 
 only recalled a few from my own memory out of a 
 brief section of his life. His public career is fa- 
 miliar to the public, and some who knew nothing
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 107 
 
 of him but of his force of mind and character may 
 have regarded him as only an embodiment of force. 
 Twelve years of close intimacy with him revealed 
 the precious and abundant wealth of his tender 
 and generous heart, and sustained a profound and 
 constantly deepening love for him. In compar- 
 ison with these treasures of his soul, his wealth 
 and world-wide fame sink into insignificance. 
 These inner and imperishable treasures were 
 wealth which he carried with him across the river 
 of death. His munificent benefactions, known to 
 the world, and his constant responses to the ap- 
 peals of charity, known but to the few and the in- 
 timate — even they were but the leaves of the tree 
 of life implanted in his soul, and which will yield 
 its varied fruits forever, in " the land o' the leal." 
 All that is earthly fades. Dust even now returns 
 to its dust, and with it wealth and fame are no 
 more to him ; but that integrity, that dauntless 
 courage, that intellectual power, that tender heart, 
 that magnanimous spirit — these qualities of that 
 dear and noble soul are shining and will shine, as 
 the stars, for ever and ever. 
 
 W. C. Gray.
 
 lo8 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 [From " T/ie Central Presbyieriati.''^'\ 
 REMINISCENCES OF CYRUS H. McCORMICK. 
 
 When the historian of the future comes to speak 
 of the great Americans who have done the most 
 to develop the resources of their own broad, rich 
 territory, who have offered to the whole world 
 the greatest facilities for commercial enterprise 
 and social intercourse, and who have succeeded 
 the best in lightening the burdens of mankind, by 
 the side of Franklin and Fulton and Joseph 
 Henry and Morse, they will not forget to mention 
 Cyrus H. McCormick. Wherever the golden 
 wheat rustles in the breeze, the panting toilers 
 under a hot sun will hail him as their benefactor. 
 It is not from this standpoint, however, that I am 
 viewing him. Others will tell of him as a me- 
 chanical genius, as a zealous churchman, as a mu- 
 nificent patron of secular and theological educa- 
 tion, and as a wise, patriotic, influential, and phil- 
 anthropic citizen; but now that the grave has 
 closed over him, I would speak to others, with 
 something of the pleasure with which I spoke to 
 him, of certain traits of his character which struck 
 me as valuable and attractive.
 
 IN ME MORI AM. 109 
 
 We were old friends. I knew him in his 
 early manhood, when the idea of the great reaper 
 seemed to us "the bee in his bonnet;" again, 
 during his tedious waiting upon Congress for his 
 patent ; and later on, in his happy home in New 
 York. 
 
 Unquestionably he was a man of noble intel- 
 lect. The inventive faculty of his mind was not, 
 as may have been supposed, an independent attri- 
 bute, over-riding all the others, and achieving suc- 
 cess by its individual superiority. It was but one 
 of a number of qualities wonderfully blended, and 
 in measure and tone and strength adjusted with 
 such consummate delicacy and precision as to 
 make, in their combination, what we felt to be his 
 genius. He had logical, analytical, and executive 
 power, an almost unerring judgment, an indomi- 
 table will, and a patience that could not be over- 
 thrown. To these was added that rare gift of men- 
 tal confidence which, spurning self-conceit, and 
 disdaining self-distrust, enabled him, with practi- 
 cal fairness, to determine the extent of his abilities, 
 and estimate what he might expect from them. 
 Within these bounds he was bold in his schemes 
 and prodigious in his work ; sparing no labor and 
 neglecting no detail, however small, that was nec- 
 essary to the full accomplishment of his wishes.
 
 no IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 And he demanded thorough ^ox\i\ 2. certain in- 
 tegrity of purpose ran through everything he did, 
 furnishing the key that would open his whole char- 
 acter and explain much in his conduct to others. 
 He hated shams ; practiced none himself nor al- 
 lowed any in any of his belongings. When first 
 visiting him in the city of New York, many years 
 ago, I found him less interested in what was ele- 
 gant and advantageous in the location and ap- 
 pointments of his handsome house, than in the sta- 
 bility of its material and the skill and finish of its 
 workmanship. His moral nature was of the same 
 type, in this particular, as the intellectual ; his 
 kindness and sympathy, his hospitality and loy- 
 alty, his affection and generosity were all instinct 
 with the same principle. His religion also was 
 pervaded by it ; indeed, through the labyrinth of 
 his whole nature this thread guided the way. 
 
 At the time of the visit referred to, he was in 
 his massive strength, bearing the weight of an im- 
 mense business. To me it seemed sufficient to 
 exclude every other thought, yet I found he did 
 not allow it to excuse him from important domes- 
 tic cares ; and I was often gratified and surprised 
 to see how much he bore my personal pleasure 
 upon his mind, and how constantly he was carry- 
 ing out new ways to secure it ; doing it all too
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 1 1 1 
 
 with such delicate tact as to forbid the jar of a 
 suspicion on my part that these attentions crowded 
 yet more the already full routine of daily pressing 
 duties. The thing that struck me most, however, 
 was the religious aspect of the family, and I often 
 remarked afterward that I had never seen children 
 more conscientiously and successfully trained, nor 
 the Sabbath anywhere kept with an air of greater 
 consecration. The good old Scotch-Irish Presby- 
 terian strictness in which both he and I had been 
 reared in the valley of Virginia, Mr. McCormick 
 had transplanted to his home in the rushing com- 
 mercial metropolis of the Union. Of course the 
 mother of the little family was an admirable col- 
 league, still he did not shift upon her his respon- 
 sibility, but stood at his proper post as watchman 
 over his own household. 
 
 Subsequently we strengthened our friendship 
 by occasional meetings, but in the summer of last 
 year I had the pleasure of being again, after along 
 interval, his guest at Richfield Springs. In the 
 intervening years violent illnesses had so far 
 impaired his physical powers that he could no 
 longer take a step without assistance. He was 
 confined to a rolling chair, and moved about by 
 a servant. After the first pained surprise at his 
 condition, every hour brought back to me his old-
 
 112 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 time look and manner. He was eminently him- 
 self in spite of his feeble voice and constrained 
 posture, and now, while my sympathy was ever 
 going out to him, my respect and regard grew in- 
 creasingly higher and warmer, day after day. 
 
 The religious element in his character had 
 long been the one in which I took most interest, 
 and had watched with most eagerness. It had 
 run the gauntlet of oft-repeated struggle, disap- 
 pointment, and failure without loss and without 
 stain. It had been subjected to the severer ordeal 
 of many splendid and varied successes, and come 
 out from it clear and clean. But how will it be 
 now, I questioned, when God has laid His hand 
 upon him, withering his strength and destroy- 
 ing his physical independence. I soon found, 
 however, that in his age and weakness the dear 
 Master to whose service he had given his best 
 days had not deserted him. The stalwart period 
 of his life had passed, and with it, the hardy, ag- 
 gressive Christianity that it required ; and now, 
 near the twilight, his piety had fallen into a softer, 
 ijentler tone. From out the burden and heat 
 of his exciting day he had come into the quiet 
 eventide of life in which " they labor too, who only 
 stand and wait." He was thoroughly submissive 
 under his restrictions, cheerful, unembittered, alive
 
 IN MEMORIAM. i 1 3 
 
 to the interests of others, kind, sympathizing as 
 ever, and patient. " How patient you are," I said 
 to him once, under some unexpected manifestation 
 of that quahty. " Patient ? " he repeated with sur- 
 prise, " why, it behooves me to be patient." In 
 his own view only the " unprofitable servant " af- 
 ter all ! On another occasion he exclaimed, in a 
 sort of apologetic tone for what he considered 
 some shortcoming in what he was doing, " Ah, 
 you see I am good for nothing now ! " A young 
 lady who, unperceived, was standing behind him, 
 tapped him gently on the head and whispered, 
 " You are all right here, at any rate." The grate- 
 ful smile that lighted his face, and the tear that 
 glistened in his eye, was his immediate and elo- 
 quent response. 
 
 His summer home bore testimony to his exquis- 
 ite taste. It was in a region where nature was 
 prodigal of her gifts. " Open your blinds in the 
 morning, for the view," one of the ladies said to 
 me the night of my arrival. " Nothing can surpass 
 our Virginia mountains," was my loyal, though 
 unspoken retort. In the morning I rose languidly 
 to fulfill my promise. In a moment every sense 
 was alive in worshipful admiration of a prospect 
 from which nothing beautiful was absent. But 
 the master-spirit in this lovely home was the fee- 
 15
 
 114 I^^ MEMORIAM. 
 
 ble old man in the rolling-chair. The same won- 
 der-working power of detail was as characteristic 
 of his sympathy as of his mechanical labor, and 
 gave him a sort of universal presence in the 
 house. If I had marvelled years before that a 
 busy man had " had leisure from himself " for the 
 grateful, minute cares of hospitality, I had much 
 more cause for wonder now, that a sick man had 
 so much unselfish thoughtfulness to bestow upon 
 the comfort and enjoyment of the large number of 
 widely different guests gathered under his roof. 
 
 I poorly represent his kindness if I fail to bring 
 to view the self-denials of it. It often taxed him 
 severely in time and exertion. It was not the 
 mere impulse of a natural endowment, and a sort 
 of recreation, it was the out-giving of a high-strung 
 principle which had been carefully cultivated by 
 incessant exercise. A female inventor called one 
 day for an interview. When the hour came he 
 listened to her small affair with unaffected atten- 
 tion, and with his strong judgment gave his coun- 
 sel. It was a striking picture. There was no su- 
 percilious manner in the great inventor towards 
 the lowly one — no haughty impatience of her nar- 
 row talent and small beginnings, but the courtliest 
 courtesy and most genuine concern encouraged 
 her confidence and excited our admiration.
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 1 1 5 
 
 He seemed never to lose the memory of his 
 own tussle, as an inventor, with many a difficulty 
 and defeat before he won his victory, and always 
 retained the warmest regard for those who had in 
 any degree furthered or cheered him in his early 
 undertaking. In a most unusual way he would 
 seem to me to exaggerate the benefits he had re- 
 ceived, as with his old vehemence he would re- 
 late some of them to me. Except perhaps. Rev. 
 Dr. William S. Plumer, he possessed, more than 
 any other man I ever knew, a loving sense of ob- 
 ligation to the friends who had served him in try- 
 ing periods of his history. 
 
 I found his respectful observance of the Sab- 
 bath undiminished by his long contact with the 
 world and its business and honors. Although 
 during the week he never joined us until the af- 
 ternoon, yet when Sunday came he was the first 
 person ready, and his rolling-chair was waiting at 
 the foot of the incline which he had been allowed 
 to build from a side door of the church to the car- 
 riage-way, when his carriage reached the door. 
 As he was rolled to a place near the pulpit, he 
 went early, I thought, to avoid observation ; for, 
 with all his courage, he was a modest man. He 
 enjoyed the privilege of public worship, and when 
 so many pleasures were beyond his reach, I was
 
 1X6 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 truly glad that this was spared to him. At the 
 conclusion of the service the people gathered 
 about him with a heartiness of greeting that must 
 have been grateful to him. 
 
 He delighted in music at all times, and often in 
 the evening would join the circle at the piano ; 
 but especially on Sunday evening he enjoyed it, 
 and nothing could be more pathetic than the vim 
 with which he sang his favorite verses of the 
 hymns, and united in the doxology. 
 
 Somewhat removed from the gay group of 
 young people, he would talk with me of the old 
 friends and home in Virginia. On such themes 
 he seemed to break away from his physical 
 shackles, and roam over the old ground with the 
 glow and vitality of youth. The spell was but 
 momentary. Even then, though exempted from 
 acute pain, at any hour, his physicians thought, 
 the summons might come. He had a keen de- 
 sire for life and toiled resolutely to protect and 
 prolong it. He had great aims he wished to ac- 
 complish, and up to the last was planning and 
 performing much for the good of man and the ad- 
 vancement of the Church of God. But when 
 death came, it found him ready for the change, 
 and the simple sentence that reached me, " There's 
 nothing now but heaven," had in it the tenderness
 
 IN ME MORI AM. I I 7 
 
 of all earthly farewells, with the clear ring of a 
 calm and assured faith. 
 
 In his long life and with his large means, he 
 did much for his family, his country, his church, 
 and his race ; and the world is the better and the 
 happier for his coming into it. 
 
 S. C. P. Miller.
 
 Il8 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 As the gnarled oak of stately form and size, 
 
 With strong and sheltering and widespreading arm, 
 Protecting travelers from the beating storm, 
 
 Stands forth, a giant midst surrounding trees ; — 
 
 As in the eventide, when day is done. 
 
 The full cathedral choir their anthems raise, 
 And with harmonious chant their Maker praise, 
 
 And the sweet benison of life is sung; — 
 
 So hast thou braved the storm of passing years. 
 Protecting weaker comrades in the strife; — 
 So, in the evening of thy noble life, 
 
 The harmony of thy great thoughts and deeds appears. 
 
 C.
 
 iLo\)ing Ctiftutes
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 Princeton. N. J., May 31, 1884. 
 
 My dear Mrs. McCormick, — I have thought 
 of you and yours very often, and aUvays with ten- 
 derest sympathy, since the news reached me that 
 your dear husband had passed away. I can un- 
 derstand how great your bereavement is, and how 
 heavy the blow must be, even though God in his 
 Providence had in a measure prepared you for it 
 in these last years of Mr. McCormick's declining 
 strength. I know too, that acceptable as sympa- 
 thy always is, human words have little power to 
 lighten grief God alone can heal the wounds of 
 sorrow. 
 
 I cannot but feel that, alike in the circumstances 
 of his life and of his death, Mr. McCormick has 
 been highly favored ; and you, I am sure, must 
 feel, when you reflect upon his career, that grati- 
 tude has a right to triumph over grief 
 
 It is given to few men to live a life that is char- 
 acterized by all the elements of honorable success. 
 16
 
 122 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 Such a life, however, Mr. McCormick's was. By 
 common consent he occupies a place among the 
 immortal names in the history of invention. 
 
 He lived to witness the successful establishment 
 of the Theological Seminary which had been the 
 object of his benefactions, and of whose future, 
 even in its darkest hours, he was never known to 
 doubt. And now, in the fullness of years, amid 
 the sorrowful regrets of a great city, and a power- 
 ful Christian denomination, he has gone down to 
 an honored grave. 
 
 There are elements in his life which make 
 that life almost unique. And yet, were this all 
 that could be said, those who loved him would 
 find but little satisfaction in the story of his 
 worldly successes. But this is not all, nor is it 
 even the best that can be said ; and gratifying as 
 his career must doubtless be to you, I am sure 
 that the feature in his life upon which you dwell 
 longest, and in which you find most comfort now, 
 is his persistent loyalty to God, and his unobtru- 
 sive but unfaltering faith in Christ. 
 
 What a tender, impressive manifestation of that 
 faith was given in the closing hours of his life, 
 when, standing upon the bank of the river which 
 he was soon to cross, he lifted up his heart in 
 prayer and commended his family to God ! What
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 1 23 
 
 a precious memory that last religious service must 
 be to you and your children. May God comfort 
 you and them. May he lead them all to love and 
 fear their father's God ; and may their lives be 
 spared as his was, for long years of honor and 
 usefulness. 
 
 I remain, my dear Mrs. McCormick, ever very 
 faithfully yours, Francis L. Patton. 
 
 New York, May 14, 1884. 
 
 My dear Mrs. McCormick, — At length has 
 come that for which God in his Providence has 
 been preparing your mind, and under which His 
 grace will sustain you. You have, you know, our 
 deepest sympathy, but better far, you have the 
 close, tender sympathy of Him who took our na- 
 ture and knows its susceptibilities. 
 
 You will remember that your husband had the 
 preparation of spirit required for the change, that 
 Divine Grace had given him great usefulness, 
 that he had been in an extraordinary degree per- 
 mitted to see it, and that you have the fullest as- 
 surance now that he is with his Father in heaven, 
 in the presence of Him whom he had trusted. 
 There is nothing as to him over which to be de- 
 pressed. There is good reason for ample joy, and 
 for keen sympathy with the happiness of his now
 
 124 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 perfected being. His highest aspirations for him- 
 self are now realized to the full. 
 
 Praise God for all this ; and, need I say it ? 
 trust Him for all the future. 
 
 Yours in the blessed truth, J. Hall. 
 
 Princeton College, May 17, 1884. 
 
 My dear Mrs. McCormick, — Little did I 
 think, when I lately spent those two pleasant days 
 with you, that your dear husband and my friend 
 should be so suddenly called away from us. 
 
 But the will of God be done. However hard 
 you will be able to say so. 
 
 You will miss his society. But you had the 
 satisfaction of waiting upon him (which no doubt 
 was an unspeakable gratification to him) to the 
 last. 
 
 Infirmities were evidently growing upon him, 
 though he looked fresh when I saw him, and life 
 could not have been a pleasure to him much 
 longer. So God took him to himself You can- 
 not but mourn the separation, but you will lean on 
 the arm of Jesus as your beloved, and thus hold 
 on your way through the wilderness, with the 
 earth beneath your feet, and heaven in your eyes. 
 
 He had finished his work. That reaping ma- 
 chine has been an immense blessing to the coun-
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 125 
 
 try. His monument will be the Theological 
 Seminary at Chicago. I am so glad that you 
 took me to visit it when I was at Chicago. It 
 has won the confidence of the whole church. It 
 is sure to be permanent. It will, centuries hence, 
 be sending forth men to preach the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ. 
 
 The younger children will now be entirely un- 
 der your care. God will enable you to do this re- 
 sponsible work. Mrs. McCosh sympathizes with 
 you. Please show this letter to your son. He 
 will imitate his father in doing good. 
 
 Yours truly, James McCosh. 
 
 My dear Mrs. McCormick, — As I sat in the 
 Seminary chapel yesterday, witnessing the closing 
 exercises of the institution, a paper was handed to 
 me with a notice of Mr. McCormick's death. I 
 could not hear it without a thrill of pain at the 
 sense of my own loss, as the uppermost feeling, of 
 a friend so kind and true and tried ; one of such 
 long standing, of such affectionate judgment of 
 me, and whose interest in my welfare was always 
 so warm and reliable. I have no such friend left. 
 Some years ago a dear old friend of this same 
 type, only more closely allied and less separated 
 by distance, passed away, and to my feeling of
 
 126 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 bereavement was added the fact, that of such 
 friends few remained to me. Now I have none, 
 and the circle of my contemporaries too is fast 
 narrowing its bounds. But however painful the 
 parting, there is, if we be Christians, a certain and 
 joyous meeting hereafter. 
 
 As regards my much valued friend himself, I 
 cannot be sorrowful. He has had a life full of 
 enterprise, of labor, of vicissitude, of struggle, and 
 of much physical suffering. Amid much sus- 
 pense and defeat, he has, in the Providence of 
 God, been permitted to win great successes. He 
 has by his genius and toil been a benefactor to 
 his race. He has built up a character of rare 
 integrity ; and having been early aroused to relig- 
 ious convictions, has held to them with great te- 
 nacity in the face of wonderful temptations, and 
 exemplified their power in his life, both public 
 and private. He has testified to them too, in the 
 generous use of his large means, and when God 
 laid his hand upon him as in these last years, how 
 touchingly the gentler traits of piety shone out ! 
 And now, after all these long labors, faithfully en- 
 gaged in to the very last, it is all right that he 
 should be taken to his rest. 
 
 I feel a pleasure in the thought that the toil of 
 living, — the restless nights, the rolling chair with
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 127 
 
 its many wraps, the night-watch, the cares of a 
 great business, and the thousand tender anxieties 
 for the family, are all over forever. 
 
 And who of us can understand what is the 
 glory comprehended in that change, when " this 
 mortal shall have put on immortality ! " 
 
 But though it is all happy for him, yet his 
 home is darkened, the church mourns, and many 
 a good cause will weep its loss. But to his chil- 
 dren, his noble character will be a greater o-nod 
 than his splendid genius, and his prayers and pi- 
 ety a richer inheritance than his estate. The 
 older ones will know this, and the dear little boys 
 will be taught it not only by them and you, but 
 may, if they live, have it brought to their minds 
 by the providences of their personal history. And 
 thus the memory of him will grow in strength 
 and tenderness as the years roll on. 
 Your affectionate friend, 
 
 S. C. P. Miller. 
 Princeton, May 15, 1884. 
 
 St. Louis, Jime 5, 1884. 
 
 Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick : 
 
 Dear Madam, — Do not think me unmindful 
 of your great affliction and our common loss, that 
 I come so late to express my sincere sympathy
 
 128 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 with you. I was on my way to the Assembly when 
 I heard of the death of your honored and noble 
 husband, and the circumstances of travel prevented 
 me from doing what my heart prompted, — to write 
 immediately. The sad tidings came to me as a 
 great surprise ; for, though he had long carried the 
 burden of his infirmity (and with what singular pa- 
 tience !) I had still hoped that his great vigor, both 
 of mind and body, would serve to continue his life 
 for many years. But now he is gone from us, the 
 stalwart man, so strong in will, conviction, pur- 
 pose, faith, and affection. I can assure you that 
 there is a wide-spread grief, and a deep sense of 
 loss, throughout the country and the church, in 
 view of his removal. And yet, what is this pub- 
 lic sorrow to that which overshadows your own 
 home } There, where the light of his presence is 
 gone out, the darkness is most intense. Your 
 heart in its loneliness tells you how much you 
 have lost, and the slowly passing days reveal more 
 and more the greatness of your bereavement. 
 
 But I would not, dear madam, say anything to 
 increase your sense of sorrow and loss. The 
 rather would I ask you to consider the things 
 that remain for your consolation, and of which 
 death cannot rob you. There is the memory of 
 your husband's life, so full of manly effort and
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 129 
 
 noble achievement ; a life rich in blessing to the 
 world of labor, and above all, so useful to the 
 church. This is your possession forever, and it is 
 a comfort to know that the world is better from 
 the ministry of your husband. 
 
 What a rich legacy he has left to your children, 
 — the heritao;e of a noble name enrolled among 
 the benefactors of the race. Again, how sweet the 
 comfort that, as he lived the Christian's life, so he 
 died the Christian's death. I have been touched 
 to tears in reading the account of his last hours, 
 and I have rejoiced in his testimony to the grace 
 of God. Surely you can rejoice while you weep, in 
 thinking of the gain that has come to him through 
 death. Hope, too, is yours, for in a " little while " 
 you shall see him again. 
 
 Your bereavement also brings you into a new 
 relation to God. He is " the God of the widow, 
 and the Father of the fatherless." What 2:racious 
 and loving titles does the Eternal wear for the 
 consolation of his afflicted ones ! And now it is 
 your privilege to deal with Him by these titles. 
 But pardon me my many words ; I wish only to 
 assure you and your sorrowing children, of my 
 sincere sympathy, and to mingle my tears with 
 yours over a common loss, for there has fallen "a 
 prince and a great man in Israel." Praying God 
 17
 
 130 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 our Father to comfort you, and to keep you all in 
 this sore trial, 
 
 I am, yours in Christ, 
 
 Samuel J. Niccolls. 
 
 My dear Mrs. McCormick, — I feel as if my 
 relations to Mr. McCormick warrant me to ex- 
 press my most heartfelt sympathies in your pro- 
 found grief. Your husband was a gifted, large- 
 minded, and noble, as well as a greatly disting- 
 uished man ; and wielded from his invalid chair 
 vast interests connected with the world's industry, 
 national politics, and Christian institutions. 
 
 Our entire Faculty joins with me in this expres- 
 sion of sympathy with you in your bereavement 
 and in earnest prayers for the Divine blessing on 
 you and yours. 
 
 Very respectfully and sincerely yours, 
 
 Thomas H. Skinner. 
 
 Chicago, May 15, 1884. 
 
 Utica, June 23, 1884. 
 
 To Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick: 
 
 My dear Madam, — 111 health has prevented 
 me until this late day from expressing my sorrow 
 at the death of your husband. I held him in high 
 regard as a man, and I valued him as a friend.
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 1 31 
 
 His genius and his services to the public, as well 
 as his character, will long preserve his memory. 
 I sympathize with you in your great loss. I hope 
 and pray it may be alleviated by many blessings. 
 It will ever be a source of gratification to you and 
 his family, that Mr. McCormick's triumphs were 
 of great value to his whole country. Few have 
 been able to serve their fellow citizens in ways so 
 beneficent to all classes. 
 
 I am with very great respect, yours truly, 
 
 Horatio Seymour. 
 
 Cincinnati, June 13, 1884. 
 
 Dear Mr. McCormick, — I have read the 
 sketches of your father with much interest. To 
 one accustomed to regard your father's achieve- 
 ments in the industrial arts, and having some 
 means of appreciating the revolutions in those 
 arts of which he was the master spirit, there is 
 something deeply impressive and suggestive in 
 these testimonials, witnessing how all was sur- 
 mounted by the great philanthropic and religious 
 enterprises to which his mature thought and 
 strength were dedicated ; and how the same wis- 
 dom, energy, and firmness of purpose directed and 
 wrought success out of these enterprises. 
 
 His life is in so many worthy aspects represen-
 
 132 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 tative of the century, three-fourths of which it 
 spanned — a century distinguished above all oth- 
 ers for its inventions, its material progress, and 
 the extent and variety of its charities — and it so 
 thoroughly illustrates the harmony between the 
 largest business success and persistent and consci- 
 entious philanthropy ; between the faculty which 
 utilizes material agencies and the faith which rec- 
 ognizes divine supremacy ; between the self-reli- 
 ance which commands men and the humility 
 which worships God — that it affords a rich 
 theme for memorial discourses, one especially 
 fitting to be presented before the students of the 
 colleges which are indebted to him for endow- 
 ments. 
 
 In the course which begun among the hills of 
 the Old Dominion, and was finished in the high 
 places of the metropolis of the New Northwest, 
 there must have been such contrasts of light and 
 shade, and such association with events of critical 
 historic interest, as to furnish the materials for a 
 very vivid and thrilling picture — a succession of 
 prophecy and realization, instructive and inspir- 
 ing. Yours sincerely, 
 
 Robert H. Parkinson.
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 1 33 
 
 Chicago, III., May 18, 1884. 
 Mrs. C. H. McCormick: 
 
 Df:ar Madam, — You have my warmest sym- 
 pathies in your bereavement. It is no doubt a 
 source of gratification that he was such a prac- 
 tical friend to the human race, and has been so 
 acknowledged on every side by those who know 
 it best, since his death. Of the many things ac- 
 complished by him are the following : — 
 
 I. By his inventive genius the burden of gath- 
 ering the harvests of the world has been made 
 lighter for millions of men and women, and has 
 afforded the toiling masses good bread at low 
 prices, who would otherwise have been obliged to 
 eat coarser and poorer food. 
 
 II. By his patronage of the press and institu- 
 tions of learning the world is more enlightened, 
 and consequently there is more real joy and less 
 misery. 
 
 III. By his liberality to the church, he has 
 been enabled to help in great measure in the ex- 
 tension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ among 
 men. Thousands will rise up to call him blessed 
 for offering the means to provide the gospel for 
 them when they needed it. 
 
 IV. And better yet, as the Master said, " Rather 
 rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb's
 
 134 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 book of life." No doubt his name was written 
 there, and that he heard that welcome plaudit, 
 " Well done, thou good and faithful servant," etc. 
 May his mantle of service fall upon you and his 
 children, and may you all be possessed of a double 
 portion of that spirit with which he served his 
 God and the world. The time is but short when 
 you and yours will be called to meet him. The 
 Lord bless and keep you, and grant you a long 
 life of usefulness and joy in his service. 
 Yours in Christ, 
 
 Robert Weidensall. 
 
 Hot Springs, Ark., Jttne 12, 1884. 
 Dear Mrs. McCormick, — I cannot let the sad 
 hour of your life pass away without adding my 
 word of sympathy to the thousands which you 
 have received throughout the country. The death 
 of your husband may be in a manner likened to a 
 national calamity. By his genius he lifted the 
 burdens from the shoulders of thousands, made 
 food abundant, and reduced the danger of death 
 by starvation. Wherever civilization has advanced 
 McCormick's Reaper is known, and his machines 
 have done more to elevate the human race than 
 any invention of the day, as there can be no prog- 
 ress without first \\i7s}^\Xi^ food cheap and abundant^
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 1 35 
 
 and the reaper has done more for the tiller of the 
 soil than all other inventions combined. I feel 
 that you can be congratulated upon having been 
 the wife of a man who has done so much for his 
 race, who has left such a bright mantle of distinc- 
 tion upon his children, and who died full of honor 
 and full of years. He had lived out the measure 
 of his life fully and completely, — who could, who 
 would do more ? My relations with him, as a 
 physician and as a friend, were extremely cordial. 
 With all his aches and pains and infirmities so 
 trying to the nervous system, I found him always 
 the same courtly, urbane gentleman. I cannot 
 recall a single unpleasant episode in our intimate 
 association. My entire family unite with me in 
 warm greeting to you and yours, with the assur- 
 ance that none more cordially, more heartily wish 
 you happiness than we. 
 
 With high regard, sincerely your friend, 
 
 A. S. Garnett. 
 
 Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick. 
 
 53 Broadway, New York, May 14, 1884. 
 
 Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick, Chicago : 
 
 My dear Madam, — I am sure you will credit 
 me for earnest sincerity when I assure you of my 
 heartfelt sympathy for the loss of your most excel-
 
 136 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 lent husband, distinguished ahke for his public 
 usefulness and his private virtues. 
 
 It has been with me the regret of years that 
 you gave up your residence in New York, by which 
 I was deprived of the opportunity of the social in- 
 tercourse which I so much enjoyed during the 
 period of his sojourn in this city. 
 
 You and his family have reason to be proud 
 of his career, which has left its mark upon the 
 history of our nation's rapid progress in material 
 prosperity, in furnishing the most important step- 
 ping-stones in the march of our agricultural pros- 
 perity by which our national wealth has been in- 
 creased by untold millions, and at last he has 
 fulfilled his happy destiny, and full of years, and 
 with an unblemished reputation, he leaves naught 
 but pleasing memories behind. 
 
 With the assurance of my sincere regard, I re- 
 main, yours faithfully, Austin Baldwin. 
 
 Mrs. E. D. Junkin writes, — 
 
 I recall with great pleasure the only time I saw 
 your dear lamented husband, at our home, then at 
 New Providence Manse, Virginia, when he called 
 near to our dinner hour. I pressed him to dine 
 with us, — he declined, asking " only for a cup of 
 cold water," and making some such pleasant re-
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 1 37 
 
 marks about those words of our Saviour as to 
 make a lasting impression upon my mind. 
 
 Henderson, Ky., June 19, 1884. 
 
 My dear Mrs. McCormick, — Will you allow 
 the old missionary from Kentucky to mingle his 
 tears of sympathy and sorrow with you and your 
 loved ones in your desolated home ? I have not, I 
 never can forget those delightful visits and the 
 cordial and hearty welcome received at that happy 
 home on Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 
 I can still see the large, loving heart mount into 
 his face, and hear the cheering words of your late 
 husbahd, now, alas, hushed in death. I have 
 never met Brother McCormick without feeling 
 better, happier, and nearer our heavenly home ; 
 indeed, his whole life was a benediction, but he is 
 called up higher and has received a starry crown. 
 
 I need not tell you, my dear madam, that there 
 
 is only one place for bereaved ones to go with 
 
 their sorrows and sufferings : we must go and tell 
 
 Jesus. He alone can pour the balm of consola- 
 
 =tion into our bleeding and broken hearts. 
 
 "In every pang that rends the heart, 
 The man of sorrows had a part, 
 He sympathizes with our grief, 
 And to the sufferer sends relief." 
 18
 
 13S LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord 
 from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
 may rest from their labors : and their works do 
 follow them." 
 
 " Rest, rest, rest, brother, rest ! 
 Sweet thy repose on Jesus' breast. 
 Battle all fought, and victory won, 
 Tearful we say ' God's will be done ! ' 
 Rest, brother, rest." 
 
 Praying that the shadow of the Rock of Ages 
 may be around you and yours, I am your sympa- 
 thizing friend, John McCullagh. 
 
 38 East Thirty-third St., May 16, 1884. 
 
 I need not tell you, my dear friend, that our 
 hearts are with you in your deep affliction. I 
 would I could utter some word of comfort to you 
 and to your children. The infinite Father, in 
 whose bosom your husband rests, best knows how 
 to console you. 
 
 An eminent writer, alluding to a loss similar to 
 your own, says, " For the first sharp pangs there 
 is no comfort! Whatever goodness may surround 
 us, darkness and silence will hang about our 
 pain." 
 
 I know this to be true ; and yet, even in the
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 1 39 
 
 first days of overwhelming sorrow, there is a cer- 
 tain consolation in the " clinging companionship 
 with the dead," and in the careful gathering up of 
 all that remains of him, in our own memories and 
 in the memories of our friends. We run back- 
 ward along the path we trod with him, and pick 
 up the gems he scattered on the way. Nothing 
 seems small or trivial. Everything is sacred. 
 
 While I write to you I remember so many little 
 things, all tending to illustrate the tender side of 
 Mr. McCormick's character, expressions dropped 
 by the way of pity for the infirm, of devotion to 
 his mother's memory, of love unutterable of his 
 own immediate family. I remember the earnest- 
 ness with which he said to me, " I feel anxious to 
 keep my children together and make them feel 
 dependent on each other. It is painful to me to 
 think of divided and scattered families." 
 
 He cherished a picture of his mother, and once 
 calling my attention to it said, " It is a good face, 
 — a strong, honest face." Talking of flowers one 
 day, he said, " I love the old-fashioned pinks be- 
 cause they grew in my mother's garden in Old 
 Virginia." 
 
 The first time I ever saw him was in the little 
 Presbyterian chapel in Washington. My hus- 
 band pointed him out to me, expressing his own
 
 I40 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 interest in the invention which was then new 
 to the world, and his faith in its final success. 
 The strong, firm face, the attentive manner dur- 
 ing the service, are still fresh in my memory. I 
 knew him well when he was in the prime of his 
 life ; when he had realized all he could desire of 
 honor and success. Then, as always, he seemed 
 to me singularly free from ostentation, and from 
 desire for outward " show and circumstance." 
 He eagerly sought, for himself and his family, in- 
 fluences of the highest Christian character. 
 
 I recall with tender appreciation my interviews 
 with him, at intervals, during the last four years 
 of his life, of many kind expressions toward my- 
 self and my children, of esteem and friendship for 
 my husband, of gratitude for the smallest atten- 
 tion or service rendered him. The last time I 
 saw him was during his last visit to New York. 
 Feeling very sad to see him so ill, I expressed, as 
 I leaned over his chair, my regret and sympa- 
 thy. He looked up at me kindly and replied, " It 
 does seem hard, — it is hard, — but I have great 
 comfort in ejaculatory prayer." It was this that 
 enabled him to triumph over mortal pain, and 
 preserved, in its vigor and clearness, the mind, 
 which, to the last, was able to guide great inter- 
 ests, industries, and beneficent enterprises.
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. I41 
 
 Remembering those large interests, I feel that 
 my own record is of very little moment. I have 
 only brought a tiny gem or two, as setting for the 
 grand central jewels of his crown. Others will 
 doubtless record the brilliant achievements of a 
 long life. I love to dwell on his great and tender 
 heart, his true and affectionate nature. 
 
 Writing of him thus he has seemed very near ! 
 He passed away so gently we scarcely realize he is 
 gone. It was not death, it was translation ! One 
 moment he was here with a prayer on his lips for 
 you all, the next moment he had passed away 
 " out of darkness into light, out of dumbness into 
 song, out of weakness into strength, out of pain 
 into serenity." 
 
 Nothing comforts the soul so much as the hope 
 of reunion with our beloved dead. As the disci- 
 ples talked with their Divine Master, a cloud re- 
 ceived Him out of their sight. But in answer to 
 their upward gaze a comforter was sent to them 
 with assurance of reunion to their lost friend. 
 
 We also, with mortal, tear-dimmed eyes gaze 
 upward ! Alas, we cannot pierce the cloud, but 
 none the less is the promise ours that nothing is 
 lost of those we have loved ; that for them and for 
 us, all is ordered by a wisdom that errs not, and 
 a love that cannot be unfaithful. " They have
 
 142 LOVING TRIBUTES. 
 
 passed into the presence of God and of His Son. 
 We are immortal upon the earth until He calls 
 us. And as the infant rests upon its mother's 
 bosom and knows no fear ; as the star swings in 
 silence upon the mighty will of God, and knows 
 no tremble in all its structure, so our minds may 
 rest upon this assurance of the Divine wisdom 
 and love, and remain in infinite tranquillity and 
 peace." Sincerely yours, 
 
 Sara A. Pryor.
 
 LOVING TRIBUTES. 143 
 
 "HE BEING DEAD, YET SPEAKETH." 
 
 Man toils to be remembered ; spire and dome, 
 And monumental hands outstretched on high. 
 And marbled speech of glories that have been, 
 And pages eloquent with storied wit, 
 The moving splendor of harmonious song 
 Conspire to cry aloud : " Remember me, 
 O living men, remember me who died." 
 
 But one has lived who raised no carven shrine 
 
 To blazon forth the splendors of his name; 
 
 Who hewed no crimson monument of slain 
 
 With conqueror's sword ; whose speech was not for fame. 
 
 He overcame his fellow-men by good 
 
 In generous strife ; and in the gentle spring, 
 
 When the broad hillside smiles with tender green, 
 
 When golden summer glows along the plains. 
 
 And waves the rustling billows of the grain. 
 
 The wide earth utters forth his message then. 
 
 The message sung on Galilean hills 
 
 To watching shepherds, " Peace, good-will to men." 
 
 His name is written in the springing grain. 
 His message whispers in the rustling fields ; 
 His praise the chorus of the harvest song ; 
 A prince of nature and a prince of men, 
 A royal steward of the Blessed King ; 
 His garnered bounty fed the lord and serf. 
 Mankind has been his guest ; what wonder now 
 Mankind is sad when he is laid to rest ! 
 
 E. P. Davis.
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
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