LIBRARY OF THE University of California. GIK1' OK Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH. Received October, iSg^. \ t/lccessions No . ^j^/ ^S^ Class No. r I ** if> * » iijig.br y Ealpin.iinni a-Dagaerreot^e, A MEMOIR THE LIFE JAMES MILNOR, D.D. LATE EECTOR OF ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, NEW YORK. BY THE REY. JOHN S. STONE, D.D, B.ECTOH. OF CHRIST CHURCH, BROOKLYN. ABRIDGED BY THE AUTHOR. PUBLISHED BY THl^5^_f AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by WILLIAM H. MILNOR, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the SouUi- ern District of New York. PREFACE As to his own part in the following Memoir, the wi-iter desires to say, that in the use made of Dr. Milnor's diaries, journal, and letters, he has taken no other liberties than such as he supposed his friend would himself have taken, had he attempted, while living, to prepare them for the press. Written as those papers were, amid the bustle of a busy life, and with no thought of their being ever embodied in their present form, they of course needed some revision. The clearing of the meaning of some sentences, by an occasional transposition in the order of their members, and by the occasional substitution of more exactly significant words for those which had been seized in the process of rapid composi- tion, and which but imperfectly expressed the author's thought; and the softening, here and there, of a term, which in the confi- dence of familiar intercourse, was safe and proper, but which with a public necessarily ignorant of minute and explanatory circum- stances, might be regarded as too strong ; these are the chief free- doms, which, in the execution of his task, he has felt at liberty to indulge. Generally, Dr. Milnor's expressions needed no correc- tion. Many personal references, however, both to himself and to others, have been dropped ; and as little, that could be painful to the feelings of the living, has been retained, as was consistent with fidelity to the character and views of the dead, and to those public interests and trusts under which he was called to act. Dr. Milnor lived to see the church pass into, if not through troublous times — times during which public feeling was often most pain- fully alive ; and he felt called to act in many stations where he became himself the occasion of much of the feeling by which the public was affected. It was therefore difficult, if not impossible, to write the life of such a man after he had left the stage, with- out sometimes reviving memories more or less unwelcome to not a few of his survivors. It should be borne in mind, that in the following work are virtually two memoirs : one of Mr. Milnor as a man of the world, 4 TEEFACE. and another of Dr. Milnor as a Christian man. Tlie former could not with propriety be omitted, because, though a distinct life by itself, with its own principles, character, and acts in full devel- opment, yet it is important to a just appreciation of the latter. In some things. Dr. Milnor as a Christian, is very like Mr. Mil- nor as a worldly man; in others, quite unlike. These lights of likeness and of contrast combine, or stand out in distinctness, to give us the true idea of the whole man. Even the false and dan- gerous notions of religion which he entertained in his days of darkness and self-righteousness, help to set forth in stronger colors those right conceptions of divine truth to which he was led by the great crisis of his life. Those, however, to whom the details of his early history would be likely to prove uninteresting, and who have knowTi, or wish to contemplate him as a Christian only, will find the former part of the work as brief as it could well be made, and will not have to turn over many pages before they, reach what will more specially meet their wishes, and it may be, satisfy their desires. And now, all that remains is to say, that although the writer has felt that he was dealing with a character of uncommon excel- lence, yet he has not felt that he was writing the life of a perfect being. However much, therefore, he has found in that character to commend, he has endeavored not so to shape his commendations as to make the praise redound to the man, instead of Him from whom alone cometh every good, and to whom alone, especially in the results of Christian excellence, all praise is due. CONTENTS PART I. HIS EARLY LIFE, LEGAL PRACTICE, AND POLITICAL CAREER. Section I — Quaker parentage — Family history — Youthful traits — Education — Law studies — Yellow-fever of '93 — Admittance to the bar — Debating societies — Commences practice at Norristown — Freemasonry — Return to Philadelphia — Early abolition society — Fire department — Yellow-fever of '98 — Retreat to Norristown — Marriage — Read out of Quaker meeting — Reasons for keeping a diary — Character as a lawyer — Incidents of legal life — An honest lawyer — Business habits — Affecting incident — Value of business habits — A fashionable man of the world, 11 Section II. — Entrance on political life — Member of city-council — Milnor's popularity — Election to Congress — Takes his seat in the House — First winter's letters from Washington — Speech in Congress — Second winter in "Washington — Extracts from letters — Speech — Dinner with the President — "War fever — Washington gayeties and war debates — Mode of life — Domes- tic feelings — Prospect of long session — Grout — Secret debates — War im- pends — Is declared — Address of the Federalists — Eventful speech — Phila- delphia newspaper report — Difficulty with Henry Clay — Challenge — Cor- respondence — Review — Third winter in Washington — Extracts from let- ters — Speech — Political excitement — G rand national ball — Political asper- ities — Quincy's severe speech — Short session — Adjournment — G-out — Close of political life, 44 PART II. HISTORY OF HIS RELIGIOUS CHANGE. Section I — Early moral traits — Aquila M. Bolton — Serious letters — Mr. Milnor's remarks thereon — Milnor a Universalist — Examination of the Christian evidences, and study of the Bible — Universalism renounced — A rational believer — Dependence on works — Second diary — Attendance on Presbyterian ministry — Probable influence of Bolton's letters — Begins to attend Episcopal church — Feeling after truth — New-year's reflections, 1810 — Dr. Pilmore — Election to vestry of associated churches — Hearing sermons — Inward struggle — Views of the Sabbath — First recorded prayer — Influence of early Quakerism — Review of religious progress to 1812 — G-eneral Convention at New Haven, 80 6 CONTENTS. Section II. — Thomas Bradford — Anecdote in a law-oflSce — Remarkable inci- dent — Religious letters from Congress to Mrs. Milnor — A praying Congress- man — Religious letters continued — Weariness of politics — Solemn morning •walk, Dec. 22, 1812 — Unfriendly influence of politics, 102 Section III. — Correspondence with Thomas Bradford — Letters — Epistolary account of conversion — Views of death — Letters to Mrs. Milnor — Solicitude for her conversion — Struggles with the world — Review, 122 PART III. HIS MINISTRY FROM 1814 TO 1830. Section I — Theological studies — Norristown — Lay-reader — Reflections on a change of profession — Prayer — ^Visit to Rev. Mr. Bull — Journey into Vir- ginia — Dangerous illness — Invitations to Baltimore and Richmond — Re- plies — Praying spirit — Return to Philadelphia — Temporal affairs — Letter to Aquila M. Bolton — Preparatory studies completed — Examinations — Ordination — First sermon — Assistant in the associated churches — Ordain- ed presbyter — Interest in the Bible cause — Call to St. George's, New York — ^Visit to New York — Acceptance of the rectorship of St. Greorge's — Settle- ment in New York, , 171 Section II — American Bible Society — Correspondence with a doubting pa- rishioner, and a cavilling inquirer — Opening of new Sunday-school rooms — Glance from 1817 to 1821 — Letter to Mr. Mcllvaine — Ingenuous acknov/- ledgment — Glance to 1825 — Perilous illness — Religious exercises — Public sympathy — Letter to Mr. Mcllvaine — Account of illness by Dr. Stearns and Wm. H. Milnor — Origin of American Tract Society — Sick chamber — Mr. Hallock — Espousal of tract cause — First sermon after recover)' — Public organization of Tract Society — Dr. Milnor's agency — Delegation from New York to Boston— Dr. "Woods, 201 Section III — 1825. Letters to a theological student — Bishop Ilobart's return from Europe — Letter touching that return. 1826. Letters to Prof, Mcll- vaine during the revival at West Point — Letter to the student touching his fourth of July address— Backslider reclaimed. 1827. State of St. George's — Dangerous accident in returning from Flushing — Death of Rev. Mr. Duffie. 1828. State of St. George's — Milnor professorship. 1829. " Protestant Episcopal Clerical Association of New York." 1830. 'Letter to Rev. J. P. K. Ilenshaw — African mission-scJiool — Review, . . . 234 PART IV. MISSION TO ENGLAND. 1830. Section I — American origin of the idea — Views of Dr. Milnor in accepting the appointment — Engagements on the eve of departure— Instructions and commissions — Embarkation — Extracts from journal of voyage Reaches CONTENTS. 7 Liverpool — Deaf and dumb instruction — Birmingham — Clergy of Birming- ham — Dr. Kewley a Jesuit — First Sabbath in England — J. A. James — • Journey to London — Bible Society's House — Mr. Brandram — Lord Teign- mouth — Bromley and Beckenham Auxiliary anniversary — Clergymen's widows — Dinner at Mr. Inglis' — Dr. Parker — Woolwich grounds — Royal marquee — First Sabbath in London — Bishop Blomfield — Preachers char- acterized — British and Foreign Bible Society — Counsellor Marriott — Re- ligious Tract Society — St. Bartholomew's, and Rev. Mr. Wilkinson — Samuel Charles Wilks — Methodist Missionary House — Prayer-book and Homily Society, and Mr. Pritchett — Irish Society anniversary — Hibernian Society — Statistics, 273 Section H. — Week of the great anniversaries — Monday, May 3, Wesleyan Missionary Society — Dinner at Mr. Haslope's — Tuesday, Church Mission- ary Society — Dinner at Mr. Solicitor Forster's — Wednesday, British and Foreign Bible Society — Lord Bexley, Bishop of Winchester, Bishop of Chester, Mr. Wilberforce, Dr. Milnor, Hon. Charles Grrant, M. P.. Daniel Wilson, etc. — Introduction to the bishops — Dinner at Mr. Williams' — Re- ligious exercises — Thursday, clerical breakfast — Tract Society's western meeting — Prayer-book and Homily Society — Dr. Milnor's speech — Dinner at Mr. Bickersteth's — Literary company — Friday, clerical breakfast — Lon- don Jews' Society — Dinner at Mr. Hatchard's — Saturday, rural scene at Clapham — Mr. Gilliat — Mr. Mcllvaine's arrival — Blackheath Branch Bible Society — Third Sabbath in London — Further anniversaries — Religious ex- ercises of the week, at breakfasts and dinners — Baptist Noel and Waltham- stow — Critique on country residences — Daniel Wilson, and breakfast at Islington — Anniversary of the Reformation Society — Bishop of Winches- ter — G-uernsey custom — Capt. Gordon, and St. Jamds'-place — Discussion revived — Animated scene at one of the anniversaries — Clarkson, Wilber- force, and others — Mr. Ewbank, 291 Section III. — Sabbath at Camberwell — Melvill — Dulwich college — G-reen- wich hospital — Breakfast at J. Haldane Stewart's — Caledonian chapel, and Dr. Chalmers — Social engagements — Woolwich, and Dr. Gregory — Sabbath at Paul's Cray, and John Symonds — Institution for Deaf and Djimb — Dinner at Zachary Macauley's — Views of Millenarians, Irving, McNeile — Interesting intercourse with Daniel Wilson at Islington — Stoke- Newington, and Dr. Watts — Business with Church Missionary Society — Charity-school anniversary at St. Paul's — Joseph John Gurney — Sunday thoughts of home — Trait in morals — Visits about London — Missionary insti- tution at Islington — Professors Pearson, Ayre, and Lee — Daughter of Legh Richmond — Turvey — William Allen, and Stoke-Newington — Hannah Kil- ham — Accident and peril — Sufferings, 313 Section IV. — Visit to Paris — Accident on the Thames — From Calais to Paris — Beggars — Paris — Catholic service at St. Roch's — Vaults under the Pantheon — Bishop Luscomb — Professor Kieffer — Sunday in Paris — Parox- ysm of gout — Mons. and Mad. Serrurier — Reminiscence of political life — 8 CONTENTS. Teacher for the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb — Dinner with M. Vaysse, Sen — Literary company — Symptoms of revolution — Versailles — Return to England, 335 Section V. — Visit to Isle of Wight — Contrast between France and England — Sabbath at Ryde— Mr. Sibthorpe— Scenery— Tomb of "Little Jane"— Brading church — Sandown bay — Scenery of "African Servant" — Natural- ness of Legh Richmond's descriptions — Shanklin-Chine — Reading of " The Young Cottager" — Bonchurch and Undercliff — Appuldercomb — Scenery of "Dairyman's Daughter" — Dairyman's cottage — Arreton church — New- port — Mr. Mcllvaine ill — Trip to Southampton — "Western tour — Carisbrook castle — Clerical mayor — Shorwell — Scenery — Freshwater-gate — Caverns —The Needles— Return to Newport, 342 Sectioit VI. — Departure from the Isle of Wight — Tour through England, Wales, and Ireland — Southampton — Winchester, cathedral and school — Exeter — Scenery — Expensive road — Humorous signboards — llfracombe — Romantic position — Ancient church — Linton — Striking scenery — Porlock — Amusing colloquy with an innkeeper — Progress to Bristol — Mr. Prust — Clifton — Robert Hall — Visit to Hannah More — Bishop Hobart's letter on Dr. Milnor's speech — Departure from Bristol — Election mob — The four daughters of Droitwich — Election canvass at Bridgenorth — Rotten-bor- ough system — Lovely scenery — Romantic scenery — Welsh language — Passage of the mountains — Snowden — Magnificent scenery — Bangor — Suspension-bridge over Menai Strait — Anglesea — Holyhead — Embarka- tion — Sleep in a storm — Jaunting-car — Dublin — Rainy ride to Belfast 354 Section VII — Tour through Scotland, and north of England — Arrival at Glasgow — Contrast with Ireland — Institutions ot Glasgow — Statistics — Social engagements — Temperance meeting — Deaf and Dumb Institution — Departure for Edinburgh — Dr. Byrne, and the General Assembly — A Scotch discussion — John Sheppard — Mrs. Sheppard and Lord Byron — Long walk to Artliur's-seat — Dr. Qhalmers — Episcopal clergy — Breakfast at Dr. Chalmers' — Discussion — Holyrood House — Asylum for Deaf and Dumb — Journey among the Cheviot hills — Assize Court at Carlisle — Lake seen- ery — Kendal and Manchester — School for Deaf and Dumb — Sabbath in Manchester —The Rev. Mr. Stowell — Remarkable infant-school teacher Journey to Sheffield — Derbyshire scenery — Sheffield — Montgomery — Social and religious scenes — Bible Society meeting — Valuable acquaintances Vicar of Sheffield — Afl'ecting parting with Montgomery — Touching remi- niscence — Return to London — Business engagements — Recurrence to Bishop Hobart's letter — Adieus of the Bible Society — Lord Bexley Parting dinner with Zachary M.-vcauley — Robert Owen and his schemes William Allen — Parting dimier with Lord Bexley — Visit to Cambrid"-e Professor Parish — Mr. Simeon — Parting visit to Lord Teignmouth De- parture from London — Mrs. Dixon of Henley — Religion at an inn Oxford — Embarkation at Liverpool, 27th of September — Reception in New York — Reputation of Dr. Milnor in England — Results of mission, . . . 373 CONTENTS. 9 PART V. HIS MINISTRY FROM 3830 TO 1845. Section I. — Kenyon College, and Milnor professorship — State of St. G-eorge's — Letter to a clerical correspondent — Clerical removals — Literary conven- tion — Letters to his son — Cholera season — Extracts from letters — Letter to Bishop Mcllvaine — Bristol college — Mission to Grreen Bay — Results of the mission — Visit to Boston, Massachusetts Convention — G-eneral Conven- tion, 1835 — Reorganization of Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society — Secretary and general agent — G-enerosity — The Rev. J. W. Cooke — Labors as secretary and general agent — Reappointment declined — Lifluence on our missions — Letters during his secretaryship — Tour to Cleveland — Ohio Convention — Letters on his tour — Close of labor as secretary and general agent, 403 Section II — Rev. Mr. Cooke — Letters from Lord Bexley and Montgomery — Tractarianism — Letter to Bishop Smith on church vievi^s — Board of Mis- sions at Baltimore — Letter to Bishop Mcllvaine — G-eneral Convention, 1838 — Division of the Diocese of New York — Northern tour with Bishop Meade, 435 Section III — Oxford Tract controversy — Letter to Bishop Mcllvaine — G-loomy forebodings — Charge on Justification — From Dr. Sparrow, resigning the Milnor professorship — To Bishop Mcllvaine, "Oxford Divinity" — Letter to Dr. Beasley — Visit to Alexandria — Letter from the Bishop of Calcutta — Splendid tribute to Bishop Mcllvaine's "Oxford Divinity" — Answer — « From Bishop Meade, Missions to "Western Asia — Letter to Bishop Mcll- vaine, Dr. Fuller appointed " Milnor Professor " — Maryland State Coloniza- tion Society — Carey ordination — Letters from Bishops Meade and Smith — Semi-annual Bible Society meeting at Cincinnati — Dr. Milnor appointed to read an essay on " The Rule of Faith" — Letter to Bishop Smith, Oxford- ism — Stormy Convention in New York, 1843 — Letter from Dr. Aydelott, Dr. Spring's essay on " The Rule of Faith" — The Rev. P. P. Irving assist- ant at St. G-eorge's, 446 Section IV. — Dangerous attack of gout, 1844 — Letters on recovery, from Bishop Eastburn, and Mr. Irving — From Bishop Mcllvaine — From the Bishop of Calcutta — Love of repose — Visit to Middle Haddam — Heavy domestic affliction — G-eneral Convention of 1844 — Ecclesiastical trial — Dr. Milnor's testimony — Bishop Smith's tribute to Dr. Milnor's conduct at the trial — His son's "Recollections" — Longings for repose, not for inaction — Free-chapel movement — Vigorous old age — Impressive incident at a meeti- ing of the Directors of the Deaf and Dumb Institution — Sudden death — Wm. H. Milnor's account of the closing scene — Habitual preparation for sudden death — Public demonstrations of grief — The funeral — Discourses on his death, 480 1* 10 CONTENTS. PART VI, RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER. 1. His connection with the Bible Society — Principle of action — Dr. Brigham'g statement — Influence of Dr. Milnor in the Society. 2. His connection with the Tract Society — Carrying out of principle of action — Mr. Hallock's statement — Illustrative documents — Preciousness of Dr. Milnor's name in the tract cause. 3. His connection with the cause of education. 4. His position in the Episcopal church — A sketch — Prominence of Dr. Milnor in the evangelical cause — His relation to the Church at large, and to the Diocese of New York in particular — Anecdotes. 5. Traits of character — Illustrative anecdotes and views — Intellectual traits — Theological traits — Pulpit traits — Dr. Cutler's sermon — Domestic traits, hospitality, cheerful- ness, tlie Christian gentleman, benevolence — Mr. Peet's sermon — Death to the good man never sudden — Anecdotes — Habits of sermon- writing, and pastoral duty — Favorite allegory — Idea of true Catholicism — Indifference to officiftl elevation — Close, 499 1=" MEMOIR PAET I. EARLY LIFE, LEGAL PRACTICE, AND POLITI- CAL CAREER. SECTION I. It is peculiar to the true children of God, that before they reach that perfect life which awaits them in heaven, they will have hved two blessed and beneficent lives on earth. This made the apostle say of the faith of Abel, "By it he, being dead, yet speaketh." For thousands of years, men have had a knowledge of the name, and faith, and gracious acceptance of that early saint. Through that whole period, indeed, he has been sleeping among the dead. Yet has he all the while had a most precious life among the living. In the experience of eminent saints, the one of these two lives is, at the longest, short ; the other is, at the shortest, long. The one is spent by the living among the living ; the other cometh up to the living from among the dead. The one is the light of labor, and example, and influence, moving rap- idly towards the grave ; the other is the power of faith, and love, and suffering, coming back in perennial memories from the tomb. In the one, the faithful may see rich fruits from the short summer of their toils ; in the other, they will hear of fruits richer still, because so many ages shall lie within their harvest-time. In the former, faith sometimes does its work, like Abel's, in one great sacrifice ; in the latter, that faith, living in some God-inspired record, often carries on its work through long generations, and over distant realms. 12 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. To those who have finished well the former of these two lives, religious biography seeks to secure the most beneficial results of the latter ; and whether that biography swell to volumes, or be but as the brief paragraph which has brought down to our knowledge the triumph of Abel's faith, yet, if it include all and only what God would keep aUve, it doeth excellent work, and shall have unfailing fi-uits. Such is the work at which the writer has aimed, in penning the follow- ing memoir. James Milnor, late rector of St. George's church, New York, was born in the city of Pliiladelphia, on the 20th day of June, 1773. His immediate ancestors belonged to the society of Friends ; his father and mother, William and Anna Brientnall Milnor, being by birth and education members of that respectable body. Family tradition reports that they were both descendants of the early settlers of Pennsylvania, and has treasured facts showing that they were worthy of their descent. His father was born in the state of New Jersey, settled early near Falsington, in Bucks county, Pemisylvania, sub- sequently removed to his native state, and finally fixed him- self with his household in Philadelphia. The original orthog- raphy of the family name was Milner, and so it is still written in England. When the subject of tliis memoir visited Great Britain, he found the Milners numerous in Lancashire. Tlie name was changed to Milnor by the early pioneers of the family in this country. William Milnor shared largely the respect of his people. To the plain manners and characteristic integrity of the Friends, he added great energy and a cheerful disposition. His cheerfulness was often tried, but never overcome, by that trying disorder to which he was a victim, the gout. Even when suflering the most violent paroxysms of his disorder, he always preserved his equanimity of temper. "Under a pecuUarly agonizing fit, he was once sitting with his feet on a pillow, swathed in flamiel, and too tender to be touched HIS EAULY LIFE. 13 without distressing pain, when his daughter's dress, in her attempt to reach something on the mantel, took fire. Upon rushing into the room, his son James found the old gentle- man, wholly unconscious of pain, busily stamping out the flames with his gouty feet. In truth, the gout had left him, and he was highly delighted with the suddenness of his cure. The next day, however, his delight ended in bitter disap- pointment ; for his disorder not only returned, but came back with strong reinforcements of violence. According to the wholesome custom of those good old days, which provided every young man some sure means of liveli- hood, William Milnor was early bred to the handicraft of a cooper; but developing talents for other pursuits, he soon engaged in trade, and at the period which introduced the Revolution, was extensively concerned in a fishery. At the same time, he was factor to Col. Washington of Mount Ver- non ; and a valuable correspondence, now* in possession of the Milnor family, shows that for sound judgment and strict integrity, he enjoyed largely the confidence of that great man. From one of the letters in this correspondence, it ap- pears that they had a joint interest in one of the fisheries. •' I have not been unmindful of my promise," writes Col. Washington, " in respect to the fish-house. Before the next season, I shall have one erected for your accommodation, not doubting but it may turn out to both our advantages." His connection in business with Col. Washington was proof of his high character, and had no little influence oil his subsequent life. When the drama of the Revolution opened, his patriotism took fire ; and in spite of the discipline of the Friends, wliich is opposed to all war, defensive as well as aggressive, he at once applied for a commission in the army. His attachment to his old friend, who had by this time be- com.e General Washington, was perhaps the spark which kindled his patriotism into a flame, and made his subsequent disappointment so painful. The reasons for withdrawing his application for a commission are stated in the following letter. hmi% 14 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. To Qrea. George Washington, January, 1776. " Honorable Sir — Your very kind favor of the 20th of December came safe to hand, and gave me great relief I am happy, inasmuch as I have not displeasc^vour Excel- lency in my conduct so far. I am unhappy, however, be- cause I cannot get into the army. I had thrown in a peti- tion for a captaincy, and had the greatest prospect of success. Mr. Franklin, in consequence of your letter, had made the way clear for me ; my spirits were elevated, and there ap- peared nothing in view that could stop me. My wife, from continued assurances of my unalterable intention of going, , had got nearly reconciled to it. But alas, a few days before the appointment tf officers, the old ferry was to be let. I was immediately surrounded by my friends, insisting that there was no litter person for that business than myself; and as it was a place of profit, I ought, in consideration of my large family, to prefer being with them to going abroad pn any terms. Their reasonings, together with the entreaties of my dear partner, prevailed on me to withdraw my peti- tion, and I am now a drudge at the old ferry, within two doors of where I formerly Uved in "Water-street. / thank my God, he has give?i me a persevering disposition, equal to any task he is pleased to lay upon me in this life. I never found any prospect of fatigue an annoyance to any undertak- ing, when a probability of a good, genteel sustenance for my little flock ofiered in view ; and this business would be a very agreeable one to me, if these unhappy disturbances were at an end. But I cannot conclude this letter until I have assured your Excellency, that / sliaU remain a pooTy un- happy wretch, as long as I am chai?ied, and cannot take an active part in my country's cause. Whether a true patriotic concern for my country, or secret thirst after honor, or both combined, is the spring by which my spirits are actuated, I have the vanity to behove that the former is the chief mo- tive, and that only experience is wanted to make me a sol- dier. I sometimes please myself by thinking, that, when HIS EARLY LIFE. 15 my wife has gained experience in our present business, and if the troubles should increase in the ensuing summer as it seems probable they will, I will place some steady hand to assist her, and again offer myself to my country." In this letter breathes the true spirit of '76 ; and to those who were well acquainted with Dr. Milnor, it will be evident that one at least of the characteristic traits of the father — his inflexible, self-relying perseverance in any high and worthy pursuit — was largely inherited by the son. Although the former was constrained to abandon his suit for a commission in the army, yet he by no means remained idle during the great struggle on which his country was then entering. Even liis position at the " old ferry," in his plain, Gluaker garb, gave him no poor facilities for acquiring important information of the enemy's movements ; and of those facili- ties he made the most. He was one of the many, whom the clear-judging Washington had the good fortune to attach to him, whose humble names have long since been forgotten ; but whose services, as in other raiatters, so especially in transmitting by various channels intelligence of great value to the cause of the struggling colonies, were truly invaluable. About the "old ferry," Mr. Milnor usually drove a chaise with an ingenious false bottom ; so that, though often sus- pected of being in the interests of the revolutionists, yet he was never detected by the enemy. Twice, indeed, he was obliged to fly for his life ; but the same good Providence which guided and guarded Washington, preserved him harm- less to the close of the conflict. His services were not con- fined to the conveyance of intelligence : he did much towards furnishing supplies for the patriot army. His conduct during the Revolution, of course gave great offence to " the heads of meetmg," and he was formally dis- owned. A few years before his death, however, he was re- united, and died in the society's connection, at the age of 73. His wife had preceded him to the grave. Yet both lived 16 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. long enough to see their country in peace and prosperity, and their youngest son settled in life, and as a laAvyer rising rapidly to wealth and honor. The children of the family were five, two daughters and three sons. The elder of the two daughters died at middle age. The younger, who was also the youngest child, was married to Dr. Joseph Klapp, a physician of eminence in Philadelphia ; and after a life of suffering from a painful disease, borne with Christian patience, died a few years be- fore her favorite brother James. Of the sons, Isaac, the oldest, was a merchant, and a man of strong mind and great energy. He died at middle age, of an acute attack of the gout. William junior was also a merchant, and stood high in the community. At one time he ably represented the city of Philadelphia in Congress. He was exceedingly attached to his brother James, and it was evident to the family that his death was hastened by his grief for that dear brother's decease. He died about a year after the subject of this memoir. In passing, now, from these brief notices of the family kindred of James Milnor, to a detail of particulars m the life of this beloved " man of God," we find, as in other cases, little in his childhood that calls for record. His school-boy days were bright and happy, because maral and industrious. At the Pennsylvania grammar-school, in his native city, he received the rudiments of his education ; and at an early age entered the university of Pennsylvania. A surviving school- fellow and playmate, still living amid the scenes of their childhood, remembers well, that when a boy he was distin- guished for the very traits which characterized him as a man, especially for soundness of judgment and kindness of disposi- tion. By a sort of tacit election among his school-fellows, James Milnor was early raised to two important posts of distinction : that of judge in their boyish controversies, and that of a student for his class-mates, whenever it was their ])urposo to let play trench on the hours of study. They will- HIS EARLY LIFE. 17 ingly submitted to his judgment in the former capacity, he- cause confident his decisions would be just ; while they gladly availed themselves of his diligence in the latter, because cer- tain that the lessons which he prepared for them to copy, would be wdllingly as well as correctly done. His superior abilities were perhaps the more readily acknowledged, be- cause associated with such superior kindness. After leaving the grammar-school and entering the uni- versity, his father's resources grew somewhat straitened. Unwilling, therefore, to exhaust on himself means to which he felt others had at least an equal claim, he generously resolved on the sacrifice of leaving the university before tak- ing his degree. This, with his sense of the importance of a thorough education, must have been a painful step. It left him to supply, as best he might, the deficiency to which it doomed him. It did not, however, prevent his alma mater from subsequently giving him his degree of Doctor of Divin- ity. It may be added, that during liis earlier studies, he had made considerable progress in the German language ; an acquisition of great service to him in his subsequent practice among his German clients about Norristown. He commenced the study of the law with Mr. Howell, an eminent duaker lawyer of Philadelphia. This was prob- ably as early as the year 1789, when he was no more than sixteen years of age ; for during this year we find him a member of a debating club. Called " The Ciceronian Society," and, as one of its members, appointed to argue an important legal question. His whole argument has been preserved in manuscript ; it bears clearly the impress of the juvenile age at which it was penned, and shows, moreover, the disadvan- tages under which he labored, from the interruption of his earlier classical studies. Still, it is an interesting paper ; especially as it shows him to have become already warmly interested in the Pennsylvania penitentiary system, and in measures for meliorating- the criminal code of the state ; and as it enables us to trace the progress of his mind, in style, 18 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. and thought, and legal ahiUty, hetween this period and that at which, four or five years later, he entered on the practice of the law. He continued his law studies with Mr. Howell till the year 1793, when that gentleman fell a victim to the yellow- fever, the fearful scourge which, at that time, almost deso- lated the city of Philadelphia. He then entered the office of Mr. Rawle, with whom he completed his preparatory legal studies. In the summer of that year occurred an incident deserv- ing record, as illustrative of some beautiful traits in his char- acter. "When, from the flight of its inhabitants, the city had become almost a desert, and young Milnor was finally induced to retire to Alexandria, where one of his brothers then resided, he embarked, with other citizens, in a schooner bound to that port. During the passage, he gave a striking proof both of real benevolence and of true courage. Soon after their embarkation, one of the passengers was seized with the well-known symptoms of the dreaded epidemic. The captain, crew, and all the other passengers forsook the poor victim, and left him to his fate. But in young Milnor was found another spirit. Although he had a peculiar dread of the disease, yet he remained by the sick man's side, and nobly acted as his faithful nurse. As the schooner's medi- cine-chest contained nothuig but herbs, he administered to his patient a variety of decoctions, till, as the last spark of hope seemed expiring, a profuse perspiration was mduced, and the man most unexpectedly recovered. His admittance to the bar took place in the spring of 1 794 ; and at the May term of the same year he was, on motion of his preceptor Ilawle, admitted as an attorney of the court of Common Pleas for the comity of Montgomery. He was, therefore, in the practice of the law before he reached his legal majority. He was not twenty-one years of age till about a month after he became a practising attorney, or on tlie 20th of June, 1794. HIS LEGAL PRACTICE. 19 Previous to this date, however, he became a member, and was elected president of " The Law Society," in Phila- delphia ; for on the 8th of February, 1794, he gave, from the presidential chair of the society, an extended and elabo- rate opinion, drawn np with all the gravity and precision, and with no little of the learning of a judge, on the question, •' "Whether a jury, in an action of ejectment, can find the mesne profits in damages ?" and, apparently, near the same date, he also deUvered, as president of the society, an address at the first meeting after the adoption of its constitution. The fact of his being president of the association, as well as the comparatively finished and very judicious character of both the documents to which I have referred, speaks well for his standing and attainments as a student of the law. In truth, between liis first appearance in the Ciceronian, and his performances here as president of the Law Society, there is all the difTerence that can well be imagined between a boy of sixteen, and a young, but well-furnished scholar in legal science. From the fact, lying on the records of the court, that when admitted as an attorney, he did not take the oath, but only gave an aJJirniatio7i, it appears that he was then a regular and conscientious member of the society of Friends. Though very young, and youthful in appearance even for liis years, yet his practice soon became respectable, and grew reasonably lucrative. It lay among the best families in Norristown, and he retained it after his removal from the county of Montgomery. The date of his return to his native city is uncertam, but it was as early as 1797 ; since, in June of that year, he was again an active member of the Phila- delphia Law Society ; and in August of the same year was once more its president. His membership in the societies which have been men- tioned, was doubtless of gi*eat practical utility. It was there that he early acquired the somewhat remarkable readiness and accuracy in extemporaneous discussion and debate, which 20 MEMOIR, OF DE. MILNOE. enabled him to bear so active and prominent a part in the business of all the deliberative bodies in which he was sub- sequently called to act. The incidents of his life while engaged in legal practice at Norristown, are not at this time recoverable. He was yet unmarried, though it was there he formed an acquaint- ance with the lady who subsequently became his wife. It was there, too, that he was initiated, and entered, with the enthusiasm of youth, into the mysteries of the society of " Free and accepted Masons." In a diary, which he after- wards began to keep, and under date of March 17, 1800, he writes, " I was elected master of Lodge No. 31, while I re- sided in Norristown ; but since my return to the city, I have been a member of No. 3, and am now treasurer of the latter." " On St. John's day, December 27, 1798, 1 was elected senior- warden of the Grand Lodge ; and on St. John's day, Decem- ber 27, 1799, was unanimously reelected to the same office." In 1805, after having filled many important subordinate offices, he was elected grand-master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and held that office, by yearly reelections, till 1813, the great turning-point of his life. His labors, during his grand-mastership, in disseminating the priuciples of the order, and in extending its prosperity, were most assiduous, and his annual communications to the lodges under his charge are said to have been replete with sound and wholesome moral instruction. He was mainly instrumental in the erection of the old Masonic Hall in Ches- nut-strcct, Philadelpliia, and conducted the ceremony of its dedication, on the festival of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 1811. In St. John's Lutheran church. Race-street, he pro- nounced the dedicatory oration, which his friend Bradford calls "graceful in delivery, and eloquent in itself;" and it was on this occasion, that, as they left the church together, his friend remarked to him, " Why, Right- Worshipful, you were cut out for a parson ;" little dreaming that the idea would one day be realized. HIS LEaAL PEACTICE. 21 Concurrently with his rehnquishment of legal practice in 1813, he resigned his grand-mastership; and, upon accept- ing his resignation, a beautiful and costly jewel, now in pos- session of the family, was voted to him by the Grand Lodge, as a testimony of respect and attachment ; its delivery being accompanied by appropriate formalities and a touch mg address. With many, peradventure, the last few paragraphs will throw more of a painful than of a pleasing interest round the name of Milnor ; nevertheless, as a faithful biographer, the writer could hardly with propriety keep out of sight so prominent a portion of his early life as was liis connection with Free-masonry. Besides, whatever mien's present views of Masonry may have become, none can refuse to believe that he considered the principles of the order to be pure. On the 5th of July, 1795, he was elected a member of " The Society for promoting the abolition of Slavery, for the rehef of free negroes unlawfully held in bondage, and for improving the condition of the African race." At the annual meeting of that society for 1796, he was elected one of its counsellors ; and for several succeeding years was annually reelected to the same office. In 1797 he was made secre- tary, as well as counsellor ; and continued to hold both offi- ces for several years. In his diary of March 17, 1800, he writes, " For two years past, the partiality of my fellow- members has honored me with the appointment of the cor- responding committee ; and besides various nominations on special committees, I was, in the year 1798, elected one of the delegates to ' the fifth convention of delegates from the several abolition societies in the United States.' Soon after I became a member, I went through my routine of service (nine months) on the acting committee ; and, having drafted the address of our society to the fourth and fifth conventions, I have been requested to prepare the one which is to be pre- sented to the sixth convention, to be held in this city on the first day of June next." 22 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. These elections and appointments were not unmeaning compliments. They were selecticftis of a man who, though young, yet entered with mature heartiness into the interests of the society with which he was thus incorporated. If he was not h(yrn with antislavery feelings, they were yet quickly generated in his heart by the whole moral nurture through which his infancy and cliildhood were carried by his Q,uaker parents. Besides the various offices, already mentioned, which he filled, he was attorney to the society, and on him devolved the burden of much of its business. The society, it is believed, was founded and supported chiefly by the duakers ; and the zeal and ability with which he entered into its measures, made him conspicuous in its counsels and influential on its action. It would be a groundless inference to conclude, from what has now been said, that when the more recent aboli- tion movement took its rise, Dr. Milnor must have been found among its active supporters. Such was not the posi- tion wliich he subsequently assumed. His sympatliies with the slave never abated ; but they enlisted him, at a later period, in the cause of African colonization, and in the chan- nel of that society's labors they continued strongly to flow. The original abolition societies of this country, as we have seen, aimed at the improvement of the condition of the Afri- can race, and at the relief of free negroes unlawfully held in bondage ; while, if they contemplated the abolition of the slave-trade and of slavery itself, they still evidently looked at this latter result as a point to be reached, not directly, but indirectly, through the " improvement," the gradual ele- vation " of the African race." Under the quiet forms of such an organization, and amid the temperate influences which emanated from those forms, his zeal for the slave was early disciplined ; and by long use, he became habituated, perhaps it may be said, unchangeably habituated, to such action only as those forms and influences admitted. At an early period, he also became warmly and actively HIS LEGAL PRACTIQ.E. 23 interested in the fire department of his native city. In De- cember, 1797, he says, "A number of young men, of whom I was one, associated together for the purpose of forming a fire company. We subscribed fifteen dollars each towards the purchase of an engine, and near eight dollars each for the purchase of buckets. Our company is limited to sixty members. We have been full, but have now," March 17, 1800, " not more than fifty attending members. Soon after its formation, the company honored me with the office of president, and have since, at each successive election, con- tmued me in that station." The company was called "The Resolution Fire Company." The fire companies of Philadelphia were, at that time, evidently composed of respectable young gentlemen ; and were voluntary, irresponsible bodies, acting without concert, and, to a great extent, without efl&ciency. In this state they continued till he had been about two years a fireman. Early in the winter of 1800, however, having deeply felt the serious evils incident to the condition of the fire com- panies, he attempted, as president of the Resolution Fire Company, to introduce a new order of things ; and his la- bors, in conjunction with those of his fellow-firemen, resulted in giving existence to " The Philadelphia Fire Association " — a body of form, system, and efliciency, in the place of what had before been a formless, ungoverned, and in a great measure inefficient multitude of firemen. The details of his labors and of the posts of honor which he occupied, in connection with this association, as recorded in liis diary, illustrate Mr. Milnor's talents for business, the readiness with which he engaged in every thing that con- cerned the public welfare, and the manner in which he in- fused life and activity into the various bodies to which he belonged. He evidently considered the fire department an important institution ; and felt that his post of service in it was highly useful, and because useful, therefore honorable. In July, 1798, the yellow-fever again invaded Philadel- 24 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. phia, and continued, for several months, to rage with truly- desolating violence. Early in August, his father's family, where he still had his home, broke up, and dispersed. He makes the following entry in his diary, August 11:*' The yellow-fever made its appearance in tliis city about two weeks since. Preparations for escaping its destructive rav- ages have so engrossed my time, that, for some days past, I have omitted to pay any attention to my diary. To-day, my father's family are removing to Mr. Aaron Oakford's, near Darby ; my sister Anna starts for Elkton ; and I go to Norristown. Thus distributed, God knows when it will be our fortune again to unite at our home." The pestilence raged horribly. His diary for Septem- ber 5, gives a lively idea of the state of the city, and at the same time of the tenderness of his nature. " The accounts from Philadelphia are to the last degree distressing. On the list of victims to the ruthless destroyer, 1 find the names of several of my friends ;" especially that of " my ever-to-be-lamented friend Dr. Francis Bowes Say re. This gentleman fell a glorious martyr to liis philantliropy. "A most aflecting address has been published by the board of health. They declare their eflbrts to arrest the progress of pestilence and death to be vain. Safety is to be secured only by flight. Indeed, the greater part of those who have the means, have already deserted this dreadful place. But the poor I How must the heart of every feel- ing man be melted at the description which is given of their horrid situation. Never did time and opportunity ofier when it more properly behooved the rich to extend relief and pres- ervation to this unfortunate class of our fellow-men. Past experience authorizes the anticipation that the occasion will be embraced with a cordiality worthy of generous minds." "November 4, 1798. — It is two months this day since I have made a minute in my diary. During all this time, I have led the dull and monotonous hfe of an idle man. Expelled from home by the dreadful scourge which has un- HIS LEGAL PRACTICE. 25 ceasingly ravaged tlie city since the beginning of August last, I have had no business, except my small practice in Montgomery county, to attend to. Yesterday I returned to the city, my father and his family having arrived a few d^ys before me. The streets have not yet resumed their i:?ual cheerfulness ; nor can s,uch a thing be looked for very soon, considering the loss, by death, of 3,446 of our inhabi- tants, and all the variety of miseries attendant and conse- quent on such a mortality. Other accounts make the number of deaths 3,637." The principal object in referring to these ravages of the fever, is to show how they introduced important incidents in his life. During his temporary retirement, having re- sumed his law practice in the courts of Montgomery county, he engaged as counsel for plaintifi^ in trying an important cause — the demand upon defendant being for £1,161. He obtained a verdict for his chent, awarding the full amount claimed. His argument was regarded as one of his best efforts, and raised him high in public favor. He says of it in his diary, " I have the great satisfaction of finding my conduct in this business very generally approved ; and have received many flattering encomiums from the jury to whom my speech was addressed. I never felt myself better master of my subject, nor better inclination for doing justice to it ; but the weather is so excessively warm, that I find standing on my feet for an hour and a quarter has excessively fatigued me." But the most interesting result of his summer and au- tumn retreat from Philadelphia grew out of his intercourse, during that time, with the family of M^. Henry Pawling, a substantial farmer near Norristown. Of this intercourse he gives some glowing accounts ; and it was doubtless the oc- casion of ripening in him a most true and tender affection for the only daughter of that gentleman, the amiable Miss Eleanor Pawling. She became his wife, their marriage be- Mem. Miluor. ^ 26 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. ing celebrated not long after his return to the city. With tliis lady he lived till the day of his death, in the enjoy- ment of a confidence, an afiection, and a happiness, which soberly realized much, if not all of the bright imaginings which he records on the day of their marriage. His record is as follows : "February 28, 1799. — This day, the happiest of my life, I was united in marriage with my best of friends,' Eleanor Pawling, daughter of Henry Pawling, Esq., of Montgomery county. " 'This was the day — the eager wished-for day, My greedy soul had treasured up so long, And, in contracting fancy, half-possessed, To blot out every blacker hour of life. And pay, with double interest of joys, Courtship's dull toils and expectation's pangs : The day has now arrived, and brings more joy Than keen imagination's self e'er hoped.' '* This is the state to which all my reflections have taught me to look, as the happiest with which it has pleased a be- neficent Providence to bless liis creature man. In the pos- session of the woman who has my first and warmest love, and perfectly assured of a reciprocity of afiection, I look for- ward to the enjoyment of many happy days." Shortly after Mr. Milnor's marriage, occurred an incident which, peradventure, proved the remote antecedent of an important consequence. Till his marriage he lived, as he had been educated, a Quaker. His education, indeed, had not ' been one of great strictness in the customs of the Friends ; still, it had induced him not to forsake the ways of his par- ents and remoter ancestry. But his marriage led to the severance of the bond which had thus far detained liim among thp religious followers of William Penn. The sever- ance, moreover, was not, on his part, voluntary ; it was on their part, disciplinary. His wife belonged to an Episcopal family; and they were married by a clergyman who was HIS LEGAL PRACTICE. 27 willing to receive a wedding fee. For these things he was, in due process of time and form, read out of meeting ; and thus, though not immediately, yet ultimately became a member and a minister of the Protestant Episcopal church. In later years, when he came to have some, however inade- quately serious thoughts, he thus alludes to this penal con- sequence of his marriage : " On the subject of religion I have thought much, but not profitably. Born of parents connected with the society of Q.uakers, in my youth I attended their places of public worship ; but my education was little conformed to the strictness of their religious discipline ; and, with the utmost respect for the society, I could not but believe that there was, among its members, much of enthusiasm, and a degree of useless rigor in the non-essential articles of dress and ad- dress. My marriage to a lady not a member of the society of Friends, occasioned my disownment ; and since that event, which happened in the year 1799, I have seldom gone to their meetings." The form of liis disownment has been preserved, and is here inserted. " At a monthly meeting of Friends of Philadelphia, held 29th of eleventh month,. 1799, the following testimony was agreed to, and a copy directed to be given to the party: namely, " James Milnor, of this city, attorney at law, who had a birthright among us the people called duakers, disregard- ing the order of our discipline, hath accomplished his mar- riage, with the assistance of a hireling minister, to a woman not professing with us ; and, in his dress and address, devi- ated from that plainness and moderation consistent with our religious profession ; for which deviations he hath been treated with, but without the desired effect. We therefore no longer consider him a member of our religious society ; nevertheless, desire he may become duly sensible of his er- rors and seek to be restored." 28 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. How sincerely they desired his restoration we may judge from the fact, that a committee, probably that which was appointed to "treat" with him, made a proposal, when they called, to reinstate him on some slight acknowledgment of error. They were evidently very unwilling to lose a man whose general Ufe was so irreproachable, and who was so rapidly rising to influence in his native city. He received their proposal kindly, but facetiously replied to it, that it was " rather too much to ask of a man whose honeymoon was scarcely ended, and that he must decline." In August, 1799, the yellow-fever made its third entry into Philadelphia. Mr. Milnor therefore removed his family to the country, where they took up their residence with his father-in-law. By the 20th of October, however, they had returned to the city ; the pestilence having, on this occasion, assumed a milder type than on either of its preceding visits. It is now time to look at Mr. Milnor's character and standing as a la^vj^er ; for he had already given decisive proofs of what, in this capacity, he was to become. An entry in his diary, made so late as June 6, 1800, be ing a retrospect for the purpose of notmg his success or his failure in realizing and investing pecuniary results, has a paragraph which throws some light upon his Norristown life ; while at the same time it illustrates the modesty with which he entered on legal practice. "I commenced my career with nothing but a small stock, say eighty pounds' worth of books, the very moderate ^.bilities bestowed on me by nature, and an education which gave me no more reason to boast of my acquircinerUs than I before had with regard to natural cndoxnncnU. My out- set in practice was made under heavy disadvantages. Re- moving, hnmcdiatcly after my admission, into Montgomery coimty, before I had quite attained the age of twenty-one years; unacquainted with the world, and unknown to all the inhabitants of the county except two or three persons ; possessed of very httle of that great requisite, assurance ; HIS LEGAL PUACTICl^. 29 and totally inexperienced in the practice of my profession, it is not surprising that I did not make greater progress in business during my residence there. Indeed, the progress which I did make was beyond my own expectations ; and though I feel no disposition to eulogize my subsequent efforts, yet I cannot say that, since my return to the city, my advan- ces have been slower than I had been led to anticipate." . The views which prompted him to commence the diary from which the foregoing extracts have been made, are per- haps of sufficient interest to justify their insertiori. "June 15, 1798. — The practice of making and preserv- ing notes of a man's daily transactions, connected with such occurrences as are happening around him, as well in the pri- vate as in the public departments of society, with such reflec- tions as his observation may suggest, has, by many very respectable men in the literary world, been declared to be profitable and pleasing. " Their opinion of its utility has been founded upon actual experience, and is therefore entitled to the highest credit. It detracts not from the solidity of this opinion, when I acknow- ledge that the usefulness of a diary is diminished as the ca- pacity of the man who keeps it is narrower, and as his means of information and observation are more confined. Or per- haps it would place the matter in a juster point of light to say, that the journal of a man of understanding and science is highly useful to himself and to all ivho enjoy the 'privilege of its 2-)erusal ; while that of a man who can lay no great claim to either understanding or science, is profitable only to himself And its usefulness to himself depends not on the intrinsic value of his reflections, or the extent of his obser- vations. It serves principally to recall to his recollection events which, from the feebleness of his retentive powers, would otherwise be lost to him. It may be an amusement to revive in his own mind the remembrance of circumstances which are utterly unimportant to all the rest of the world. It may, in various contingences, be essentially serviceable to 30 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. him to be able to ascertain when events happened, which, in themselves, or in relation to other events either closely or remotely connected with them, it is of great importance to ascertain. We know what Hume and other writers have said of the association of ideas ; and every one's own expe- rience will supply him with numerous instances, in which things have been brought to his recollection by the remem- brance of circumstances trivial in themselves, and apparently unconnected with what they bring to mind. " To these advantages, which a person of indifferent abil- ities may derive from a diary, it should be added, that the human mind is never in so degraded a state as to be incapable of improvement. The custom of noting down reflections and observations may induce a hahii of reflecting and observ- ing. This habit, no doubt, is the discoverer of faults ; and, in a mind possessed of the least ingenuousness, the discovery of a fault is accompanied by regret that it should exist, and followed by resolutions of a corrective nature. Here, then, is a benefit amply compensating the trouble, a reward over- paying the labor of half an hour's clerkship each day. "How important are the inquiries which it satisfies. How have I spent my time ? What have I been doing ? Have I any knowledge of past times, except the ability of numbering the years and months that have rolled unimprov- ed away ? If I remember incidents that have occurred, did those incidents suggest profitable reflections ? If they did, have I retained the impressions which they made at the time ; or have they since been the foundation of advance- ment in intellectual improvement ? " If I find myself obliged to answer these inquiries m a way of which I am ashamed, it produces regrets and anxi- eties, which I shall not be willing again to experience. New resolutions are formed, and another self-examination results in emotions of a very difiercnt nature. " There is, in trutli, no happiness, this side of the grave, superior to that of having done one's duty; and present HIS LEQAL PRACTIO^E. 31 objects arc often of so delusive a kind, that it is not until they have passed by, and their images are retraced on the mind, that we form notions in any way just respecting them. I do an act which, from present feeling, I believe mnocent, perhaps praiseworthy. Let me note it down, and some time hence review it; I may discover that, so far from being praiseworthy, it was not even innocent. It cannot be re- called, but the discovery which I have made will prevent its repetition. " If the weakness of our nature produces self-satisfaction in the performance of our own actions, so it not unfrequently leads us into unjust censures upon those of other persons. A good man will feel happy, in these cases, to find himself mistaken ; and his diary may be the means of afibrding him this happiness. " While on this subject, it might be added, that as no one likes another as well as himself, why should not conver- sation with one's self be more gratifying than with another ? Happy, indeed, is he whose stores of intellectual acquirement afibrd a constant source from which that gratification may at all times be derived. To such a man no hour is vacant or heavy. He complains not of the leaden wings of Time ; he looks not anxiously forward to the hour of rest ; but, when it arrives, regrets that nature should require this temporary suspension of his faculties. The prospect of a visit in his slumbers from the airy goddess Fancy, and of his awaking with redoubled vigor and strength for new exertions, is his only consolation. " Reflections like the foregoing have induced me to at- tempt a diaiy, and I mean to include in it all such matters of business, amusement, observation, sentiment, and reflec- tion, as occasion and the routine of daily transactions may suggest. I do not mean to make it a minute or formal affair, nor altogether uninterrupted ; but as it is intended solely for my own perusal, its irregularity and want of order will be miimportant." 32 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. From this opening of his diary, it is evident that nothing of religious motive or principle entered into the combination of views by which, at the outset of active hfe, he was influ- enced. And yet, we perceive in it a disposition thoroughly to inspect, and honestly to judge himself, and a purpose prac- tically to discipline, and really to improve his mind, from which self-knowledge and self-culture might reasonably have been anticipated ; and Avhich, if ever brought under the con- trol of religious motive and principle, would be highly prom issory of a thorough and eminent Christian character. The first entry in his diary illustrates a prominent trait in his habits as a man of business. "June 15, 1798. — Is there a greater evil than that of being in debt, without the means of getting out of debt ? There may be greater evils than this, and my imagination may give it a coloring which it does not deserve ; but what- ever foundation there may be for the belief, that it is not so great an evil as I suppose it to be, it w^ould require some argument to alter my conceptions on the subject. " My next door neighbor is in debt. Upwards of two years ago he borrowed from me about two hundred dollars, and immediately afterwards one hundred and ten more. The latter sum he engaged to return in twenty-four hours. I have never received a shilling of these sums in money ; but as he is a bookseller, I have, at his earnest solicitation, taken books of him to the amount of nearly two-thirds of the demand. His note for the balance is now due, and he urges me to take books in payment. I have agreed to take Viner's Abridgment, which satisfies the debt, except thirty or forty dollars. " During the whole of the time since the loan, he has persevered in a system of crmging prevarication and prom- ises, which he must have known at the time he dealt them out, he never would fulfil. Various artifices, false tales, shifts, and pretences, has he made use of; and I have been the dupe of them. I cannot believe him to be so destitute HIS LEGAL PRACTICE-; 33 of feeling as not to be mortified and degraded in his own estimation, by the imagined necessity of resorting to them. But in the one case, or the other, I am unable to paint to myself a more humiliating situation for a human being to stand in. *' I have derived from this transaction two pieces of instruction, which are, in my view, an adequate compensa- tion for the loss of the whole sum, had such an event hap- pened. "1. To be cautious of hastily and unadvisedly lending money to a man of whose ability and punctuality I am not well assured, unless it be accompanied with adequate se- curity. "2. To adhere religiously to a determination which I formed at the moment of my commencing business, never to incur a debt which I have the remotest apprehension of being unable, or even finding it inconvenient to discharge. And, in order constantly to possess the means of keeping this resolution, whatever my income may be, always to live within it." Tliis extract shows with what feelings of high integrity Mr. Milnor entered on the business of life. The rules which he adopted from the outset, never to get into debt without the most reliable means of getting out of debt ; always to live ivitJiin his income ; and never to lend money without adequate security, are unspeakably important to every man of business. To these rules Mr. Milnor was faithful, and to his fidelity he owed, under Providence, his uniformly increas- ing prosperity. His annual income always exceeded liis annual expenditure, and so far as it can be ascertained from his diary, that income sustained a steady increase. He gives an occasional inventory of his effects, and a frequent state- ment of his income and expenses ; and the result uniformly shows that he was steadily, and not only so, but more and more rapidly, rising in wealth. He was peculiarly strict with himself touching funds 2* 34 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. collected for his clients, never allowing himself to have on deposit to their credit less than the full amount of his col lections for them. Once, indeed, on settling his accounts at bank, he discovered that he had drawn a small amount be- yond what belonged to him ; or had less left on deposit than the amount then due his clients. The discovery was dis- turbing, and he instantly took measures for putting his accounts in their proper state. " I have made it an invari- able rule," he whites, in his diary, *' since I have been in business, never to intrench upon clients' money, and although I am well persuaded that this first deviation will not subject me to any inconvenience, yet I have made a memorandum of it for two purposes : ** 1. That I may with all diligence replace this $101 83 in bank. " 2. That I may be more careful in future, and not sub- ject myself to the possibility of mconvenience or anxiety." His horror of debt, and of an unfaithful management of trusts, gained him universal confidence, and won for him the distinction of " the honest lawyer." A pleasing illustra- tion of the confidence reposed in his honesty w^as furnished at a later period, when he had been prevailed on to stand candidate for a seat in Congress. On the day of the elec- tion he walked to the polls, in company with his friend Bradford. As they approached they saw a gentleman busily engaged in distributing votes among the crowd. This gen- tleman was a warm personal friend of Mr. Milnor, a brother Freemason, and one of his clients, and yet opposed to him in political views. They saluted each other kindly, when the following brief colloquy ensued. " Well, Right- Worship- ful," said the vote-distributer, " here am I, working against you hard as I can. I tell you, and our mutual friend Brad- ford, I would trust you with all my business, my proiierty, and even my wife and children; but I cannot trust you with my polities'' " I thank you," replied Mr. Milnor, *' I thank you, my brother, for your confidence. Do your duty, HIS LEG-AL PRACTICE,. 35 and let the result be what it may, it shall never break our friendship." Justly, indeed, might such a tribute to his honesty mitigate, though it doubtless failed to extinguish his regret at finding in a personal friend a political enemy. As an honest lawyer, he would not undertake a case in which, so far as his judgment was clear, he saw that he would be obliged to argue and to act against truth, justice, and equity. Doubtless he judged not so rigorously in these respects as he did in later years ; but judging as an honest man of the world, he was faithful to his conscience. What this told him was clearly wrong, he Avould not undertake. But then, acting on this principle, he was all the more ear- nest, thorough, and persevering in the prosecution of a cause, when once undertaken — all the more faithful, ■e-ealous, and devoted to a client, when he had once allow-d himself to be retained as counsel, or engaged as ar^^ocate. He never winked at the remissness of a brother lawyer by consenting to postpone a trial, especially when he would thereby jeopard the cause, or compromise the interests of his client. Nor did he withhold aught which i^itiring dihgence and unslum- bermg vigilance could contribute, towards defeating the sin- ister arts and the embarrassing influence of liis opponent, however powerful. His zeal in the causes which he under- took, was true and long-lived. Being fed with the good oil of an app^ving conscience, its flame never went out, nor even fl/ckered. He was not like the man whose zeal is qujclfly extinguished by external difficulties, because it has iirst died at his own consciously hollow and dishonest heart. As illustrative of this remark, he had, in a certain case, for several years been prosecuting a claim against the cele- brated Stephen Girard. This gentleman; meanwhile, had been throwing in the way of a settlement every possible obstacle which immense wealth, and its accompanying in- fluences, could raise. But finding that Mr. Milnor was de- termined to establish the claim, and that he could not be wearied out by " the law's delay," nor circumvented by any 36 MEMOIR OF BR. MILNOE. . other of the arts of practice, he finally consented to ahide the result of an arbitration. This result was m favor of Mr. Milnor's client, and when Mr. Girard handed Mr. Milnor a check for the amount awarded, he observed, "You have proved yourself, sir, a lawyer who will never desert a client. If I had not an attorney whom I very much respect, you would be my man." The observation shows that true fidel- ity to a client is not lost even on an opponent. Based on the foundation of such a character for honesty and fidelity, the structure of his influence as a lawj^er was reared by a variety of causes. As his honesty gave him an unfainting constancy to the interests of his clients, so his prudent caution and sound judgment in forming an opinion, ministered to a decided promptness and energy of action when that opinion was formed. Great amiableness of dis- position, and suavity of manners, won him hosts of friends. And then, he was distitvguished for habits of diligence, and application both to business and to study. His industry was, in truth, as untiring as his zeal. By early rising, strict punctuality, and the closest economy of time, while he gen- erally had an hour for a friend, \q contrived to dispatch a great amount of business, and no sm^ll amount of legal and general reading. He was a strict adher^^t to method in all thuigs. His habits, in this respect, cleaved V) him like an inseparable garment ; he wore them through life, and they proved of immense value to himself and to others.^ The following entry in his diary shows what these habits led l&n, in a moderate way, to attempt ; and though he was often prevented from closely followuig the plan here sketched, yet it marks, on the whole, the general order of his life while he continued in the practice of the law. "June 20, 1798. — How inconsistent is the conduct of man I How frequently variant are his practices from his precepts I How much easier to conceive than to execute what is right I In one point, more particularly than in any other, I feel myself to be this mconsistent being. I have HIS LEGAL PRACTICE. 37 always been persuaded of the utility and indispensableness of METHOD, in business and in study. It has always been the subject of my encomiums, and I have believed it to be equally useful to the man of genius and talents, and to the man of plain common-sense. In my professional practice, although I cannot pique myself on my regularity, yet has it not been totally neglected. But in my studies I have, on this head, been careless to a very blamable degree. When I have chalked it out, something invariably intervenes to obliterate my plan. " What if I were now to begin upon a moderate scale, and without venturing hastily upon rash resolutions, limit myself to a certain system for a month to come ? Suppose that system were something like the following : "1. To rise early — say, at least, by five — take up Bur- rows' Reports, and apply myself to it till about a quarter of an hour before breakfast ; this quarter of an hour to be spent in dressing. "2. After breakfast, on entering my office, to attend to the most prominent and urgent business of the day, and de- vote the forenoon to matters of practice. This will com- prise attention to the calls of clients, occasional out-of-door errands, keeping up docket, drawing declarations, preparing for trials and arguments, and attendance at courts, which, for a few days from this time, will engross part of the after- noon also. "3. After dinner, some historical, classical, or miscella- neous book may occupy an hour ; say, for the ensuing month, Smith's Wealth of Nations. The remainder of the after- noon may be devoted to" — perhaps, had he finished the sentence, he would have added, " lighter kinds of reading." " 4. The evenings during this month are short and warm, and may therefore be given to exercise, or to conversation. " I confess I like my scheme, and will endeavor to sum- mon to my aid resolution enough strictly to adhere to it." He liked it none the less when, his set month having 38 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. expired, he found liimself, from various interfering causes, constrained to make the following record : " July 23. — I ought to note, on this day, that the plan which I marked out for my observance on the 20 th of last month, has not been strictly, nor even tolerably observed. Shame, shame I" His reflections, four days later, appertain to the point in hand. " July 27. — Buffon once observed to one of his friends, that * genius is only a greater aptitude to patience ; but observe,' added he, * that 'patience must be applied to every thing : patience in finding out one's line ; patience in resist- ing the motives that divert, and patience in bearing what would discourage a common man.' This is a very striking observation. It is one of those sayings which may be the future making of a great man. Indeed, Buffon himself was a strong witness in favor of the remark, that he who pas- sionately desires glory, is sure in the end to obtain it. This desire, however, must not be a momentary one. It must be an every-day passion. "Glory and fame are tilings beyond my expectations, perhaps my wishes. I do not permit myself, for a moment, to indulge in such fantastically delusive hopes. I trust I have a better knowledge of the extent of my capacities, than thus to deceive myself I cannot, then, entirely accord with the sentiment of the great Buffon. Perhaps it may be prej- udice that induces me still to feel a reluctance in surrender- ing the old opinion, that there is a natural diversity in the understandings and genius of men. I am convinced, how- ever, that this notion has been carried too far. Daily in- stances present themselves, in all professions, of the won- derful efficacy of this * aptitude to patience.' Would to God I possessed, or could acquire it. I might then be occasion- ally cheered by the modest hope of attaining a share of that reputation in my profession, which I sometimes fear will only be the reward of an application, an industry, and a patience, HIS LEaAL PRACTICE. 39 which I feel, very sensibly, do not constitute my character Whatever may be the result, I find myself obliged to go on. Perchance good-luck, which has favored some of my forerunners, may light also on me. "Who knows ?" These passages were written, it will be remembered, when Mr. Milnor was no more than twenty-five years old. He was still a very young la^vyer. At that early period, he seems to intimate that he had not, as an ingredient in his nature, BufTon's "aptitude to patience." However this may have been, he was, ere long, able to acquire somewhat very like it, and thus to prove that if he were not horn to the philosopher's idea of genius, he could yet rise by efibrt to what perhaps served his purpose quite as well. But, whether patient, persevering industry were with him an element of nature, or a result of efibrt, the foregoing extracts make one thing manifest : that, as yet, what was really elementary in his character was far from including any thing of relig- ions, principle, motive, or feelmg. If he were already an honest, faithful, devoted, and rising lavi^er, he had not yet, even in apparent tendency, any thing of the true Christian. In his practice as a lawyer, cases of great interest often presented themselves, calling for his offices both as a lawyer and as a friend. He has placed several on record, even at this early period of his life ; one of which, as it illustrates the remark now made, while at the same time it gives us a good insight into his character, and a look back upon the political and moral aspect of the times, may be here advan- tageously inserted. " Saturday, July 14, 1798. — An incident yesterday af- ternoon much affected me. W. D. — a person for whom I some time since commenced an action against Mr. B. for arrearage of wages due the former as editor of a newspaper, of which the latter is proprietor — called upon me. ITever did I behold a picture of more perfect wretchedness. With a countenance expressive of the most agonizing sensations, and with a voice faltering from emotion, he informed me that 40 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. his wife was then lying dead, having departed about an hour and a half before ; that he was destitute of the means of providing a coffin, or any other of the requisites for inter- ment ; and that his only resource was to sacrifice a part of the debt due him from Mr. B., in order to obtain an imme- diate payment of the remainder. I advanced him as much as his present most pressing necessities required, and pro- ceeded at once to make arrangements wdth Mr. B. The lat- ter is what may be termed, in an old phrase, ' a hard man^ To be sure, D. has behaved towards him in an indecorous manner ; but it is not a recent transaction, and there would have been a generosity in forgiving him. " My eloquence yesterday, to which I vainly thought my feelings had given an unusual glow, was well-nigh lost upon B. To-day, however, he has sent me an oflcr of twenty dollars in cash, a note at sixty days for fifty dollars, and an- other at forty-five days for thirty-three dollars ; making one hundred and three, w^hich he alleges to be Mr. D.'s right. D. claimed one hundred and tliirty-eight ; but all consider- ations are lost, in circumstances like his, except that of pres- ent succor. He is obliged to accept the ofier. And how does it relieve him ? He has twenty dollars in cash. The great humanity of church establishments calls for only six- teen of this, as compensation for a piece of ground six feet by two. Will the remaining four pay for the poor creature's coffin ? No. How heart-rending, then, the situation of this husband I I can supply him with twenty dollars ; and op- portunely he steps in to receive it. I wish to do more ; but am at present without the means, consistently with the punctuality which I iimist observe in the discharge of a little engagement of my own. " The poverty of this man suggests very strongly the dismal efiects of a misapplication of talents. In possession of abilities much above mediocrity, and with acquirements of an extraordinary kind, this man might, one would sup- pose, be an ornament to literature and a useful member of HIS LEGAL PRACTICE. 41 society. But, unfortunately, he has been deeply infected with the mania of the day. His principles are of the most Jacobinical sort. Blindly attached to the French Revolu- tion, even now that its object is so obviously changed, he can see nothing that merits censure in the conduct of it. On the contrary, it is still with him the cause of liberty and republicanism ; while, at the same time, he believes our own government to be on the high road, and advancing with rapid strides, towards monarchy. Tliis man, had he but possessed moderation and temper, and given a proper direction to his talents, would have made a truly meritorious character. For, however I disapprove of the violence of his politics, I am not so far in the opposite extreme as to impute to him the worst intentions. I see too much of this spirit of intolerance not to deprecate it heartily. I feel dreadful anticipations as to its effects in this country. The concil- iatory spirit, a disposition for mutual indulgence and for- bearance, once gone, whither may not the storms of party drive us ? It is the part of a rational man to convince by argument, not convert by force. But, from what we daily see, can we accuse the poet of injustice when he says, " 'Amid the wood the leopard knows his kind ; The tiger preys not on the tiger brood. Man only is the common foe of man.' " The details thus given will enable the reader to form a sufficiently clear idea of Mr. Milnor, as a lawyer. His whole course of practice, a period of about nineteen years, was such, in its character and results, as might be expected from a man peculiarly mild and gentle in his ordinary disposi- tions, strong and ardent in attachments, affable and cour- teous in manners, and possessed, to an uncommon degree, of a sound judgment and a wise prudence, which rendered him, at all times, and in all situations, an invaluable friend, a safe counsellor, and a useful man. With too much genuine modesty to overestimate his actual abilities, there was, in his mind, so much of those rare endowments — more directly 42 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. valuable, perhaps, than the gifts of genius — practical com- mon-sense, great industry, and a sprightly activity of facul- ties, that he was able, in addition to what he effected in connection with the various political, benevolent, and literary associations of the day, to accomplish an unusual amount of results in his strictly professional engagements. He was, besides, a man of undoubted and undaunted moral and physi cal courage ; a courage, however, trained into strict subor- dination to the good-breeding of a gentleman. He was never double-faced, either in public or in private ; never offended any by an abrupt or obtrusive expression of his opinion ; and yet never shrunk, when occasion required it, from a sincere, frank, and fearless utterance of his views. All these traits of character were remarked, and are well remembered by the few surviving friends of his early life, and wiU be readily recognized by those familiar with him in later periods. The habits of business which he acquired in his legal practice were of great permanent value, as they rendered him useful in the management of pecuniary trusts, as well as safe in that of his own affairs. When he first began practice, he was more successful in tnaking than in saving money ; and this led him early to study this latter branch of economy. His good judgment soon made him as judicious in the investment as he was skilful in the accumulation of funds. From the beginning of 1795, the year when his practice commenced, to the close of 1799, that in which his marriage took place, his yearly receipts increased from about $530 to nearly $3,000. They sustained a corresponding increase so long as he continued his practice; and as his expenses were uniformly moderate, and for eight years after his marriage his family sustained no increase, he must have realized a rate of prosperity quite sufficient to satisfy the reasonable desires of any reasonable man. In short, he closed this part of his career an accomplished, respected, and moderately wealthy lawyer. But we shall not understand the first half of Mr. Mil- HlC LEG-AL PRACTICE-;- 43 nor's life unless we are made aware that, notwithstanding the peculiarities which marked him as a prudent and pros- perous man of business, rising constantly and rapidly towards wealth, he was yet, from the beginning to the close of his legal practice, a fashionable man of the ivorld. Tasteful and liberal in his provisions for his family, generously hos- pitable in his entertainment of friends, and careful to main- tain his standing in the ranks of fashionable society, he was in truth cordially fond of all but its foolish and ruinous extravagances. This appears luminously in his occasional letters to his wife ; who, it seems, though bred an Episco- palian, was yet, as to the gayeties of the world, more of a Quakeress than he desired. Constitutionally of a quiet, re- tiring, and gentle spirit, she would gladly have persevered in the simple plainness of her earlier life in the country. But he had marked out for himself a diiferent course ; and hence, in his letters, occasionally exhorts her to more of sympathy in his tastes and to more of conformity with his views. In a word, " He was a man of the world ; fond of its amusements, and, to a great extent, governed by its maxims ; and he considered a mmgling with fashionable society, provided it did not conflict with his moral and pro- fessional duties, as itself a duty and a means of advance- ment." He was a man of too much honesty and principle to be either dissipated or extravagant ; was always strictly moral in his conduct, and safe in his expenditures ; but within these limits, he was fitted to enjoy and permitted to have whatever the gay world could furnish for his gratifi- cation. He was fond of the theatre, and a frequent attend- ant at the play. As a man of the world, he was well fitted to rise and shine by the very combination which he presented, of gay, lively, social, conversational qualities, with sterling good- sense and principle. The former made him popular ; the latter kept him from being ridiculous. He was far above the absurd littleness of those who live for the gay world ; 44 MEMOIR OF DE. MILNOR. as a sensible gentleman, he at least tried to make the gay world live for him. In other words, the amusements and pleasures of the world were of importance to him only so far as he saw, or believed, that he could make them minis- ter to some useful end. SECTION II. We come now to view Mr. Milnor as a political alin. His political opinions seem to have been early formed. Coming to the study and the practice of the law during the administrations of Washmgton and the elder Adams, he was prepared by previous trainmg for a manful support of the American doctrines on which those administrations were based. From boyhood he was a Washington-federalist, and his principles cleaved to him unchangingly through life. As early as 1798 he began, in his diary, to insert notices of political events, and of his own views respecting them. After a jaunt into the country, which, with a few friends, he had taken on the 15th of July of that year, while some of the measures of the elder Adams were agitating the na- tion, he inserted in his diary the following note — furnishing, indeed, no index to the nature of his political opinions, but illustrating the truly generous spirit ui which he mauitained them. " July 1G. — In the afternoon of yesterday, the 'Squire, (Mr. Summers,) Mr. Swift, Mr. Jones, and myself, had a dish of politics. We found each other, notwithstanding the temper of the times and the great variance in sentiment between us, little inclined for loggerheads. When men hold each other in estimation, what a pity that a difibrcnce of opinion in politics should disunite them. There is only one case in which I would despise a man for his opinions, and that is, when he makes pretensions to them from motives HIS POLITICAL CAHEER. 45 of self-interest ; and this, whether it "be in a pecuniary way, or in any other incompatible with honor and the real amor patrice" Upon the death of the model President, he entered the following simple, but touching note. "February 22, 1800.— This is the birthday of Wash- ington. It was once a day of festivity and rejoicing ; but alas, it is now spent in the most mournful dejection. Every face bears lines of deep grief strongly marked. Every voice sighs, ' Washington is no more.' The man * first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen,' de- scended to the tomb of his ancestors on the 1 5th of Decem- ber, 1799 ; and Congress have recommended that, on this day, the people of the United States should assemble in their respective neighborhoods, and pay honor to his memory by silitable eulogies, orations, etc." And then, after alluding to the three orations which were to be pronounced in the city of Philadelphia, he adds, in reference to that which he attended, " The church was exceedingly crowded, but without confusion. A suitable awe and solemnity were generally observed, and every party consideration seemed merged in universal mourning for the irreparable loss which our country has sustained. " 0, Washington, when will mankind have another friend like thee ?" From a note in his diary, it appears that during the year 1600, Mr. Milnor held, by election, a place in the city coun- cil, which, if municipal rather than political, was yet a dis- cipline for public life on a wider stage. He says, "March 24, 1800. — This evening I spent at Common Council. Not a quorum. How blamable it is in men to accept of public trusts, and yet neglect the discharge of the duties which those trusts involve. I find my seat in tliis body very inconveiiient to me. So much of my time is en- grossed by the business of the council — though I do far less than many of my worthy fellow-members — that, unless I 46 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. alter my mind, I shall certainly avoid a reelection next year. And yet I think it incumbent on me, while I retain the place, to contribute my small endeavors towards the welfare and good government of the city." From 1800 to 1810, the notices of Mr. Milnor's life are scanty. During that period there is no diary extant, nor any correspondence preserved or recoverable. The most that is known, relates to his political career ; and even of that only naked facts remain. On the 8th of October, 1805, he was elected a member of the Select Council of Philadelphia, for two years ; on the 13th of October, 1807, he was reelected for tliree years to the same body; and on the 14th of October, 1808, he was raised to the 'pre?,idency of the council for one year ; at the close of which, October, 1809, in consequence of a change in the political majority of the constituency, he was suc- ceeded in that office by a member of the Democratic party ; although it is inferable that he continued a member of the council till the close of the three years for which he was elected, or till October, 1810. These naked facts are all that can, with certainty, be stated of his public political course until the year 1810. This date, however, brings us to the period at which he be- came more widely known to the world, and after which there is less lack of documents wherewith to illustrate his character and the principal events of his hfe. In October, 1810, took place his election to the Congress of the United States, as a member of the House of Repre- sentatives from the city and county of Philadelphia. On this event it will be interesting to pause a moment ; for when we remember, that although politics and religion have no affinities, by which the former generate the latter, their most frequent relations being those of contrast and of conflict, yet it was in Congress he became, in a sense be- fore unknown to himself, a subject of divine teachings and of heavenly grace, the devout mmd will be pleased to trace HIS POLITICAL CAREB"5t. 47 the hand of God in the circumstances which attended his election to a seat in the great council of the nation. The city and' county of Philadelphia had, in 1809, given token of a readiness to follow other parts of the state and nation in adopting the pohtical opinions of Jefferson and Madison. And it was very natural to infer, that, at the next general election, they would succeed in sending a representative, of the same opinions, to the halls of the na- tional legislature. It was under these circumstances, that in Octoher, 1810, a committee waited on Mr. Milnor to learn whether he would permit his name to be used, as a candidate to represent — if elected — his native city in the Congress of the nation. This was, to his mind, a new and important question ; and he could not at once give his an- swer. As soon as the committee had retired, he sent for his confidential friend and brother lawyer, Thomas Bradford, Jr., desiring him to call immediately, on business of great im- portance. His friend instantly obeyed his call ; when, after mentioning the visit and object of the committee, he thus ad- dressed him : " Knowing as you do all my concerns, private and public, I want you to give me your opinion whether I ought to accept the proposed nomination." " This is a seri- ous question," replied his friend ; " and I must have time to consider before I can make up an opinion." Mr. Milnor gave him till three o'clock P. M. of the same day. *' I left him," says Mr. Bradford in his "Reminiscences," "and ex- amined the matter in all its bearings upon his professional business, his private comforts, and the situation of his fami- ly during his absence ; and came to the clear and settled opinion that he ought not to accept. At the time appointed, I went to make my statement and to give my opinion ; when, to my surprise, he informed me, that during my absence, the committee had called again, and he had accepted the nomi- nation. He did not perceive it, but the footsteps of Provi- dence were already leading him towards his conversion. He was elected, and went to Washington" m the fall of 1810, 48 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. or early in January, 1811. Says his son in his " Recol- lections," "He consented" to become a candidate, "with the expectatio7i, and almost the hope of being defeated ;" so strong was the probability against his election, and so " fear- ful was he that his success would prove a serious detriment to his business. His election was a proof how much he had won upon the respect and love of his fellow-citizens ; for he was the only federal candidate who succeeded." And had he waited an hour for his friend's advice, he probably would never have been even a candidate ; and thus, to human view, all the coloring which the work of the Spirit gave to his religious character during his congressional hfe, might never have appeared. His letters from Washington to Mrs. Milnor, show that he took his seat in Congress almost immediately after his election in 1810. The first of these letters which has been preserved, is dated January 6, 1811, and merely informs her of his safe arrival. On the 9th of the same month he writes again, and says that he had been to dine at the French ambassador's, had attended Mrs. Madison's levee, and had received an invitation to the British minister's. And on the 14th, he forwards a communication, from which some extracts may be given as illustrative of his manner of life at Washington, and as evidence that he went thither to do the business of his country, rather than to engage in the dissipations of the gay capital. To Mrs. Eleanor Milnor. "Washington, January 14, 1811. " My dear Ellen — I was much pleased with the receipt of your very acceptable letter by Capt. Kerr, who arrived here this day. Mr. William Bethell and William Newbold dined with me yesterday. The arrival of my friends will give me a good deal of occupation, so long as they remain, as it will be my duty and pleasure to attend them so far as my duties in Congress will permit. To-morrow I dine with HIS POLITICAL CAREITR. 40 them at Mr. Bowie's, in Georgetown, and in the evening accompany them to the drawing-room. "Yesterda)^ I made the longest and most animated speech which I have yet delivered ; it was against a project of some of the wise administration folks of sending the mili- lia to take possession of Canada. But why do I trouble you on subjects in which you feel so little concern ? My friends who do take an interest in them, will see my remarks, such as they were, in the newspapers in a few days. " Public business progresses so slowly and unsatisfacto- rily, and my family and business at home are so constantly present to my thoughts, that I cannot boast of the happiness of my situation. " You have in my letters the whole extent of my dis- sipation, which I would willingly forego for those more pleasing, because less formal associations with my friends, of which I partake when at home. We have had, however, fine weather — and here, even that's a comfort ; but visiting in the daytime is so incompatible with attention to my public duties in Congress, our sessions are generally so protracted, and our dinners are consequently so late, that there is no visiting of families till after nightfall ; and then the distan- ces are so great, and the walking so disagreeable, or car- riages so difficult to be had, that we hardly ever attempt it. I have never yet been at an evening -party, except Mrs. Madison's ; and when I have made calU, it has been only at some of the lodging-houses of the members tolerably near our own. " I often think it a little curious, that after so much talk about the dissipation of this place, I should not have seen a card played since I have been here. It is an amusement for which I have not the slightest desire. " I forget whether I told you that Saturday next is the birthnight of the queen of England, and there is to be a great entertainment at the British minister's, to which I am invited, where all the fashion of the place will be displayed Mem. Milnor. 3 50 MEMOIR OF DE. MILIJfOE. to the best advantage; preferable to all which rareeshow would be the salutation of my aflectionate partner and sweet little innocents, in the old fashion of the times that are past. " Ever your faitliful and affectionate husband, "JAMES MILNOR.*' One other letter, dated "Monday, 25th, 1811," but whether in January or in February it is uncertain, is all that remains of the correspondence of this his first winter in Washington. In this, besides a little pleasantry about family matters and other things, he says, ♦' My anxiety respecting my family and business is often very oppressive to my feelings, and I do not by any means enjoy my accustomed rest. The Vv^ant of exercise, I thuik, makes me fleshier ; and although I uniformly avoid taking supper, yet I am always disturbed by an oppression and un- easiness at my breast, long before the morning light. 1 a/> custom myself to rise with the sun, who gladdens my room the moment he is above the horizon. In other respects than the circumstances alluded to, I have my usual health, and sometimes my usual spirits, but often fall considerably be- low par." Although, however, these are all that remain of Mr. Milnor's first winter's correspondence from Wasliuigton, yet they show that he was there at the opening of 1811 ; that he consequently spent three Avinters at the seat af govern- ment ; that, even during the first, he was not an idle man in the business of the nation ; and that, though he entered into the gayeties of the capital, it Avas yet with moderation, and with an evident deadening of his mind towards the at- tractions of the world of pleasure. In the fall of 1811, he took his second departure for the seat of government, accompanied by a number of liis poHti- cal friends as far as the " Blue Bell Tavern," on the Chester road ; at which place they paid him the compliment of a public dinner. He reached Washington the 1st of Novem- ber, and took lodgings at the house of Capt. Coyle, with HIS POLITICAL CAREE'il. 51 Messrs. Chauncey Goodrich and Samuel \Y. Dana, of the senate, and Josiah duhicy and Timothy Pitkin, Jr., of the house, as his fellow-inmates. Here, as he states in his diary, he "remained during an eventful session of eight months' continuance, which resulted in a most calamitous declaration of war against Great Britain." For the benefit of our memoir, this session was as pro- lific in letters from liim as in events to the nation. It is from these letters chiefly, that illustrations of this important period of his political life will be drawn. The complexion of his political views we have already seen ; and it is suffi- ciently well known what was our attitude towards Great Britain, and what an incubus of anxiety pressed on the bos- om of our nation, while, for eight months, in the halls of Congress, the grim Spirit of War was slowly, but sternly and relentlessly dragging forth his materiel of passion and prejudice and fierce debate, in preparation, once more, for his bloody w^ork of death. On these points, therefore, we need not touch, but may proceed, at once, to look at the part which Mr. Milnor took in reference to them, and to see how his course affected him in his personal, political, and dom.estic relations. For light on these topics, we shall draw from his letters. The formality of address, at the be- ginning and close of each letter, will be omitted, and the ex- tracts be arranged according to their dates, giving them the form of occasional entries in a diary for the eye of his wife. Unhappily, none of his contemporaneous letters to political correspondents have been preserved : had they been recov- erable, this portion of his hfe would have been much more strikingly illustrated. "Oct. 30, 1811. — Baltimore. In the confusion of this .immense estabhshment of Gadsby's, I assume my pen to give you the first information of my progress. My good friends, three or four and twenty in number, who accom- panied me to the ' Blue Bell,' parted with me without de- scending into the frolic which you had anticipated. It was 52 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. indeed a ' feast of friendship ;' but the feelings excited in every breast at this parting evidence of regard, were calcu- lated to prevent the slightest tendency towards the extreme of festal indulgence. Capt. Kerr, wdth his wonted good- ness, oiTered his carriage to relieve my next day's ride, by taking me on to Chester, and my friend Bradford could not avoid adding to the many evidences already given of his friendship, by going with us." "I^OY. 2, 1811. — Washington. I arrived in this place yesterday, in time for dinner. I lose no time in acquainting you that I have procured lodgings at Capt. Coyle's, near the capitol. Mr. Q,uincy is, at present, my only fellow-inmate ; but Mr. Dana and Mr. Goodrich are expected. The mess will not consist of more than four or five gentlemen ; and choice could not have done more for me than chance has done in the persons of whom it is to consist." "Nov. 3, 1811. — I had scarcely uttered my complaint of the insufficiency of my writing accoutrements, when I found my table covered with ready-made pens, inkstand, sand-box, wafers, paper, and every other convenience of the sort ; wdth which, I find, it is made the duty of an attend- ant of the House to supply each member at his lodgings. This evening we have Mr. Dana of Connecticut added to our mess ; whom, from his well-known character, we con- sider a valuable acquisition." " Nov. 5, 1811. — We have at length had our first meet- ing, formed a quorum, and elected our speaker and other ofiicers. To-day the committees will be appointed, the message of the President received, and general business pro- ceeded in. Brother William's reputation here has helped me w^onderfuUy," in making calls of ceremony on a few pub- lic churacttis and some private famiUes. "Greatly as I knew him to be esteemed, I had no idea that his influence extended so far as I find it to have done. Gentlemen of the first respectability for talents speak of bun as a man of great strength of mind, and as a pleasing and sensible HIS POLITICAL CAREER. 53 speaker in the House : they regret exceedingly that he was not reelected." " Nov. 7, 1811. — Yesterday, I wrote you a scolding let- ter ; and if the one received from William had not relieved my mind of its anxiety lest some untoward cii'cumstance should have occurred, I should either in dudgeon have given over writing, or scolded more severely than ever. And even now, were I not confident that this evening's mail will bring me evidence under your own hand corroborative of his, railing would be my only employment. But I forbear, and only hope, in a few days, to find you galloping along in your writing-gears, as if you had all your life been devoted to the service. I wish the little cherubs, over whose slumbers you are this moment watching with a mother's kindness and aflection, were old enough to scribble to their absent father ; and I'll answer for it, the mail to this great city hi the desert would come heavier freighted." "Nov. 11, 1811. — I hope you will not seclude yourself from society. Remember, the character of the family for attention to social intercourse is already almost below par. It depends on you to prevent it from entirely sinking during my absence." In Congress, "We make slow progress, sitting not more than tAVo hours a day, and even then doing very little business. For myself, I feel a very languid degree of interest in the passing scene, and fear I shall never be able to excite in myself a relish for public duties sufficient to secure for their discharge the application of what httle talent it may be my lot to possess." " Nov. 16, 1811 . — A long letter, with which I was grati- fied last evening, from my friend T. Bradford, informs me of the continued welfare of yourself and our family. When the mail arrives, the letters for each family of lodgers are made into several packages. A bystander would be amused to see the eagerness with which each of our family looks for his letters, and the long faces of those who happen to be dis- appointed. I hope you will not let your husband be often 54 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. laughed at on this account." [With all his efforts he nev- er succeeded in making his wife a frequent letter- writer.] " Yesterday I made my first appearance on the floor of Con- gress, except that once before I rose merely to present a petition. The few observations which I made were on an interesting subject ; and probably 1 owe to that, rather than to any thing of my own, a compliment which few speakers have obtained this session — a most profound attention from the House." By his "first appearance on the floor of Congress," he means the first this session, for as we have already seen, the year before he rose repeatedly to the discussion of topics before the House. ** Nov. 18, 1811. — Having written to you several times since I have had the pleasure of receiving any communica- tion from you, I have now only to advise you of my contin- ued good health, and the enjoyment of good spirits without recourse to any of that dissipation, which, I have reason to believe, was so causelessly apprehended as the inevitable concomitant of a residence in this place. We find at our quarters, at those moments when business or study requires intermission, ample gratification in each other's conversation, without resorting to any of the too customary expedients for passing away time." "Nov. 18, 1811. — Evening. I fully intended to leave this place to-morrow morning for my desired home ; but the question on the apportionment bill, which has been taken this afternoon, and decided in favor of the ratio wliich I advo- cate" — he has been speaking again — " is left in such a situ- ation as to make it doubtful whether it may not, in another shape, be brought up again to-morrow morning. I shall, therefore, be reluctantly obliged to wait till Friday morning ; but I shall still, if no accident occur, reach home at the time proposed." "Nov. 24, 1811. — I had the happiness to receive, by the mail of last evening, your kind and affectionate letter of HIS POLITICAL CAEEE-a. 55 the 21st. The practice of letter- writing is, in my opinion, one of the best means of expanding the mind, and ehcitiiig those latent powers, which in m.ost individuals only want cultivation to exhibit them to advantage. Facility in this employment is, in a good degree, the result of habit ; and there are few persons, to whom habit does not render it both easy and agreeable. The poets talk of happy moments of inspiration, but this exercise is adapted to all occasions, and a flow of easy composition will never be wanting, if indolence do not prevent the beginning of the v/ork ; provided the best aflections of the heart prompt the assumption of the willing and obedient pen. For my own part, I boast of no elegance in this delightful employment ; but it is agreeable to me, and my language, such as it is, is the spontaneous flow of natural feeling, without any labored eflbrt after the beauties of a polished and ornamented style. I speak now of my let- ters generally ; but with reference to those more particularly, which I write to the proprietor of all my thoughts, I should disdain giving them an artificial dress, or obscuring, by the tinsel decorations of language, the overflowings of a fond and faithful attachment, reciprocated, as I know it is, by as fond and faithful a return. Insulated as I am in a place so little like that whose enjoyments surround you, separated from my best friends, deprived of all the endearments that sweet- en the bitter cup of human existence, my chiefest happiness consists in pouring into your ear the eflusions of an undimin- ished love, and in cherishing the sweet evidences, which you will, I hope, almost daily transmit me, of its being repaid with a full measure of that regard on your part, which I prize much more highly ' than gold, yea, than fine gold.' " [ An argument which might have emboldened a more timid pen than even Mrs. Milnor's.] After having attended Mrs. Madison's levee, where he met a splendid crowd of one hundred and fifty ladies and gentlemen, he says, in a letter dated, ''Nov. 27, 1811. — ^Wednesday night. Looking at the 56 MEMOIR OF DE. MILNOR. dreary aspect of this wilderness of a city, I could not have anticipated a collection of so much elegance and fashion ; and I must say, that Madam performed the graces of her drawing-room with great dignity, affability, and ease. At several times during the course of the evening, I had a few minutes' conversation with her. She had heard of my (Quaker extraction, and observed that neither of us were very faithful representatives of that respectable society." " Friday Evening, Nov. 29, 181 1. — I have dined to-day with the President. The party consisted of about live and twenty. Mr. Munroe and his lady, Mr. Hamilton, Secre- tary of the Navy, and other grandees were among the number." "Dec. 16, 1811. — We are making slow progress with the resolutions relating to preparations for the war with Great Britain. I begin to fear that the resolutions will not be disposed of before the time fixed for my return home. My friends make great objections to my leaving before they are disposed of; but I shall make every effort to get away. This suggestion is merely in order, if I should be delayed a day or two longer than I expect, that you should not attrib- ute it to indisposition, or any other cause than the unavoid- able detention of public business." He visited Philadelphia during the Christmas hohdays ; and, in his first letter after his return to Washington, dated "January 8, 1812," after describing a cold, perilous, mland winter journey, via Lancaster, and across the Susquehannah on the ice, in a black night, against furious winds, and obliged to walk, with gentlemen and lady passengers, by the aid of guides and lanterns, a mile and a quarter from shore to shore, amidst broken fragments of ice, and many involuntary prostrations, he adds, " I arrived here before the House had adjourned, and in time to vote on the army bill. My friends received me with the most affectionate welcome, and I am now reinstated in my old lodgings. If well enough, I shall attend my friends HIS POLITICAL CAREER. 57 Dana, Pitkin, and duincy, to-day, to a dinner given "by the French amhassador, M. Serrurier." "Jan. 13, 1812. — I am quite recovered from the cold and fever" — caused by his wintry journey — " and was able, to-day, to make a speech of some length on the volunteer bill." The gay season at Washington had now set in ; and we accordingly find, in his letter of " Jan. 19, 1812," the follow- ing reference to what was expected at the British minister's. "All the fashionables, I am told, are on the tiptoe of expectation for Mr. Foster's ball and supper to-morrow night. Two hundred people are expected there ; but so far from anticipating it with pleasure, I wish it were over ; for, although etiquette obliges me to go, yet, as I know very few of the company, as I cannot dance and ivill not game, I do not look forward to the gala with any pleasure." "Jan. 23, 1812. — We are here, listening day after day to debates, which, from their prolixity, have become tire- some, on the subject of making an addition to the navy ; in which, besides the mortification of being sentenced to the punishment of listening so long to so many dull speeches, we shall have that of being completely defeated in our views." "Jan. 25, 1812. — The long pendency of the question respecting an increase of the navy, makes our day's work drag heavily ; but I presume it is now near a determination. I fully intended to have made a speech upon this subject, as it is one in which the commercial interests of our city are so deeply involved ; but our party concluded it was best to leave the debate in the hands of the miajority until near the close, as there are several able advocates of the navy among themselves ; and it was thought our interference would only be calculated to inflame the minds of the more violent of their party against the bill as a federal measure. Two of our members submitted a few observations yesterday and the day before ; and to-day, Mr. Q,uincy made the best speech which has been delivered on either side of the question. I 3^ 58 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. have not positively concluded on my own course on Monday, when the debate is to be renewed. Every possible argu- ment has been so forcibly urged, and so fully illustrated, that I can hardly tliink of taking the floor only to travel over the same ground which others have travelled before me. I am mortified at not having had an earlier opportunity of coming forward on a question of so much importance ; but in deference to gentlemen of older standing in the house, I Avas induced to acquiesce in the silence agreed upon in the first part of the discussion, as well as to give precedence to the gentlemen of our party who have already spoken. And now, the subject is so worn out, that even the masterly dis- play of it by Mr. Gluincy, in a form of as much novelty as the nature of the case would admit, could scarcely secure the attention of the House. If brother Wilham, or my friend T. B., or any other, should inquire whether I have spoken on the navy question, and my reason for not doing so, you will give that which I have stated. An apprehension of censure for holding back, as it would seem, on a question m which the mercantile part of the community feel a great interest, gives me uneasiness ; but it arose from the circum- stances above mentioned ; and the business, I am satisfied, has been better managed by others than it would have been by me. Besides, I am by no means alone in my dis- appointment." "Jan. 28, 1812." — Speaking of the entertainments which he had attended, he says, " The pleasure which I have at these parties is, to meet and converse, in the course of the evening, with many intelligent persons, from whom much information of a general nature, as well as in relation to the public business which from time to time occupies our attention, may be derived. It serves also to relieve the oppressive tedium, arising from the continued sameness of our daily routine of engagements, wholly destitute as these are of that exhilarating variety and interest which my pro- fessional business and other avocations at home supply." HIS POLITICAL CAEEE-R. 59 It is true, that by his presence he patronized the dancing and the gaming, of which he says he did not partake ; yet, from the above extract, we must give him at least the credit of being, in the midst of his gayeties, a sensible worldly man, "Jan. 30, 1812. — The account of my political career, and the small part which I take in the affairs of the nation, it would be uninteresting to detail to you. These things I reserve for those of my own sex, who feel an interest in the passing events of the world's politics, and are always anxious to hear of the scenes acted in the councils of the country, at this critical and eventful period. Indeed, I feel less interest in them myself, than perhaps an actor should; much less than many mere, spectators of the comic-tragedy perform- ances which are daily exhibited at the capitol. It is sicken- ing to hear the eternal brawlings of clamorous demagogues for war, while a pitiful love of office, or fear of displacement, prevents their putting forth courage enough to provide the proper means for so awful a state of things. This considera- tion will, of itself, be sufficient to prevent war" — his proph- ecy was not fulfilled — " though it may prolong the session, in order to give full time and scope for the oratory of the heroes who like to talk about it." But, if wives felt little interest in mere political details, he concluded they were not indifferent to the manner in which their husbands passed their time ; and therefore, after a few farther paragraphs, he proceeded to give a short account of himself under this head. " The forepart of each day, that is, from my time of ris- ing till eleven or twelve o'clock, I spend in my chamber, chiefly in answering the numerous letters which I receive ; but when that duty does not require the whole time, the residue I devote to useful reading. My public duty then requires my attendance at the capitol, and there I remain till the hour of adjournment, which is frequently as late as four or half-past four o'clock. If not invited out to dine, the 60 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. dessert to every day's dinner at home is the letters and news- papers which the mail brings to the different gentlemen of our mess ; and a great regale they very often furnish. Our evenings at home are generally in great part spent in our respective chambers ; though sometimes we step into one of the neighboring boarding-houses, or receive calls from some of our friends. The frequent visits of gentlemen from Phila- delphia tend to give a little variety to the scene." "Feb. 1, 1812. — I went with Mr. Astley yesterday, at twelve o'clock, to the President's; in fulfilment of a promise he had made to Miss M., to wait upon her for letters to her father and friends in Philadelphia ; but the day being fine, she had gone out visiting with Mrs. Madison. The call, however, enabled me to see the President upon some con- gressional business about which I was appointed to wait 'upon him. I have been much neglected by my friends in the way of letter- writing, since my return to this place. Except yours, I know not that I have received one letter of mere friendship. The diminution of the number of those on con- gressional afluirs I do not so much regret as I do the increase of those of another description ; I mean, applications for office, particularly for appointments in the new army. If I were, as I thank God I am not, of the ruling party, I coiild not be more importuned. This is disagreeable, because it involves the alternative either of disobliging the applicants, or of condescending to ask favors of people against whose doings, as the servants of the public, I am of\;en compelled to be opposed. "We make progress in our war measures, having the militia bill now before us ; but the war-fever seems eveiy day to decline. Our valiant warriors begin to count the cost ; and they tremble for their places when the people begin to feel the pecuniary burdens which war will render inevitable." As the following illustrates his domestic feelings as well as any other of the numerous paragraphs of a Hke character HIS POLITICAL CAREER. 61 with which his letters abound, -it is inserted in its place. The husband and the father were stronger in him than the politician was likely ever to become. "Feb. 3, 1812. — Your last letter was written ten days ago, and Henry was then confined by illness to the nursery. Since then no one has written me a single line. My fore- bodings are awful beyond measure. I went to bed last night at an early hour, to drown in the forgetfulness of sleep my gloomy, harassing reflections. But the bed was no bed of rest to me. This morning I was up with the dawn. I saw the glorious sun rise in resplendent lustre, and hailed his welcome return. I wandered abroad, and rambled for two hours before breakfast. Nothing but the verdure of spring was wanting to give this charming morning all the exhila- rating delights of that charming season. My contemplations have resulted in more serenity of mind, and a confidence in the goodness of divine Providence inspires me with hope. Yet why this unaccountable silence ? God grant it may have arisen from your irremovable dislike to writing, or from neglect, or even forgetfulness of me, rather than from the dreadful cause which I have anticipated. If trouble has assailed our peaceful mansion, let me become, I charge you, an early sharer of it. It is my right ; duty as well as affec- tion entitles me to claim this at your hands. No public responsibility shall detain me here, if home demands my presence. If another visitation of Almighty God has fallen upon us, let me come and alleviate your griefs." " Feb. 7, 1812." — Having received a letter which reliev- ed his fears for his son, he proceeds with his usual topics ; alluding among other things, to a great entertainment which was expected to come off at the British minister's, and add- ing, " The policy of the minister is evident. His course has a tendency to allay a httle the heat of party animosity against his country, and keep the folks in good-humor. He must take care not to overdo the business, and thereby excite the jealousy and resentment of those in power." 62 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. "Feb. 22, 1812. — We go upon the new taxes on Mon- day next, and expect to see ivar in the ivigwam. They still talk of a long session, but some think it will be impossible to keep as many members here as will be requisite to do the public business, throughout all April. Several have already gone home sick, and others begin to complain — the northern men of its being too hot, and the southern of its being too cold. For my own part, though I groan a little, now and then, for want of exercise, yet I never felt better than I now do ; so, for the present, I have no excuse of that kind to make." "March 1, 1812."' — Speaking of his purpose "not to mdulge his wife with another line tiU encouraged to it by her," he adds, "I believe, upon the whole, I have punished myself more severely than the flagrant little oflender for whom it was intended. Tliis is the kind of folly which many wise persons, in the world's estimation, run into, when, in order to gratify their passions to the injury of others, they inflict severer wounds upon themselves. You and I know a memorable instance of this in the only man who ever, to my knowledge, cherished towards me a personal enmity. In the indulgence of an unhappy temper of mind towards all around him, the effects of his ill-nature are contin- ually recoiling upon himself, and every one sees that, in all his purposes of vengeance, he is himself the severest suflerer. I bless God, that with a thousand of the frailties of human nature, this is not a ' sin that easily besets' me. There is not a human being in existence, upon whom I would will- ingly and knowingly inflict a moment's sufl^ermg ; and the greatest pleasure I have ever enjoyed, has been in healing the strifes of others, and in being — in a very mconsiderable degree, to be sure, yet as far as I could — instrumental in adding to the sum of human happiness. You see, my love, how good sometimes flows out of evil. I began to cliide a little — well, that you will agree was wrong; but I have ended with a moral reflection, and that, were it not for the HIS POLITICAL CARE&H. 63 egotism which it involves, you will equally agree is very right, and altogether suitable as a matin employment of the sacred day." [More suitable than what he presently adds.] " During the past week, the business of the house has excited more than usual interest, by the discussion of the new taxes proposed to be raised for carrying on their project of war against Great Britain. In these debates, the federalists have, by an understanding among themselves, from motives of policy, taken no part. Our only employment in this depart- ment of the public business is, to listen and vote." "April 3, 1812. — I have the pleasure to inform you that I arrived in Washington about two o'clock to-day, quite well, though under the pressure of great bodily fatigue." [He had been on a visit to Philadelphia.] " I immediately went to the House, where my appearance was hailed with a joy and affection from my political friends much beyond any merits of mine, or any service which I can render by being here. Already, however, I have been warmly at work, though, owing to the secrecy enjoined, I can give no account beyond what is already known, either to my political friends or to you." " April 17, 1812." — A disposition to grant a short recess of Congress, as a relief to the weary members, had recently been manifested by the majority, who held the reins of pow- er ; but under this date, he says, " The majority, with whom the proposal originated, have changed their minds, and now evince a determination to continue the session until the question of war with England shall have been decided. This is greatly to be lamented, because it will equally violate my sense of duty, and the expectation of my friends in Philadel- phia, to be absent at so interesting a crisis. Indeed, that is absolutely out of the question." Almost immediately after the last date, a severe fit of the gout, of which he writes many amusing accounts to his wife, detained him from the House, except that he once hobbled down by the aid of a friend and a staff, in order to give his 64 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. vote, in vain, in favor of the proposed temporary adjourn- ment of Congress. At length, however, on the 1st of May, he wrote from his seat in the House, that he had so far recov- ered as to be able to attend again to business, by Avearing a very easy slipper. But his health had suflered so much, that after a few days' hard service, in which, as we shall see, he made one eventful speecli, he obtained leave of absence, and remained at home till near the 20th of May. Hence he writes, "May 21, 1812. — I have the pleasure to inform you of my safe arrival at tliis place, yesterday afternoon. Congress have had no session for two days, owing to the Speaker, Mr. Clay, having received an injury by a fall from his horse ; but I am told he is sufficiently recovered to attend in his jjlace to-day." "May 26, 181 5. — You used often to wish for the arrival of the Hornet, because that event promised to put an end to this tedious session. Well, the Hornet has at length ar- rived, and disappointed the hopes of Napoleon's friends. They had fondly expected from the universal robber a degree of justice and even of affection towards this country, which a knowledge of his character ought to have told them was impossible. What eflbct this will have upon the continuance of our session is uncertain. The ruling party are quite chop- fallen, and as yet undetermined upon the course which they are to take : whether to continue their project of war against England only, or to wage it against both England and France ; or to stop short, and let the session end as it began. This state of incertitude may continue for some time ; and if either of the first two plans which I have mentioned should be adopted, more time, I presume, will be frittered away in making further preparations of a warlike nature." "June 6, 1812. — Whatever claims my greater age and longer close attention to business, and acquisitions of prop- erty, may have given me upon the suflrage of my fellow- citizens, and however these things may have justified me in HIS POLITICAL CAREBR. 65 yielding to their request to leave my own concerns and attend to theirs, I shall never be unwilling to acknowledge the indiscretion of my decision, and its prejudicial consequences. It is true, I neither contemplated the event of my election as probable, nor anticipated, in case of so unexpected an occurrence, such a wearying session as this has been. Had the latter circumstance been expected, I would, even after the commencement of the session, have made arrangements for having my family here ; in which case the loss of per- sonal comfort would not have been added to the ruinous loss of business, which I now fear will be the effect of my con- tinued absence from it." As to the close of the session, " The war people, in whose hands our fate is held, talk of the beginning of July, of the middle of that month, or of the first of August, as the whim of the moment, their own information, or their want of infor- mation suggests. My fears, I confess, make me look at the most remote of the above periods as that most likely to dis- perse us. Congress is now fuller than it has been at any time during the session, our House wanting but nine of its full complement : and of these nine, one has died and another resigned; so that only seven actual members are absent. *' The important discussions, in which we have been engaged during this week within closed doors, lead to results that will greatly prolong the session. New duties, direct taxes, and all the machinery necessary for carrying on the war, which these mad people are determined to wage against Great Britain, must necessarily consume much time in their consideration. Whether we shall be shut up from public view when these measures come under discussion, I know not. If we are, though our minds may be vexed, yet our bodies will be comforted ; for our hall is abundantly cooler when strangers are excluded, than when we sit with crowd- ed galleries. 1 can't say that our gentlemen-commoners are influenced by this consideration to close the doors against their fellow-citizens, yet I believe their whole detail of rea- 66 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. sons for this anti-republican proceeding does not furnish a better." " June 17, 1812. — The mteresting question, to which all the proceedings of this long session have tended, still remains undecided in the Senate" — the House, it seems, had settled it — " though it may probably receive its final decision in that body to-day. Whether war be, or be not the result, I trust the necessity of our remaining together cannot last much longer." " June 20, 1812. — ^Were it not that several matters are still depending in which my constituents are much inter- ested, I would, for myself, break loose the latter end of this week. On one of these measures, the question of double duties on imported goods, I spoke yesterday ; and if another, the relaxation of the non-importation law, were disposed of, I should feel myself at liberty to go. A few days more will give me a clearer prospect, both as to the probable duration of the session, and as to my OAvn duty, in either remaining till the end, or breaking loose a little sooner." Two days after the last date, he asked, and obtamed leave of absence for the remainder of the session, and yet the priv- ilege thus granted remained unused. The following extract explains the reasons. " June 26, 1812. — It is a great disappointment not to be able to leave Washington to-day, as I had promised myself I should do. Two reasons have detained me. In the first place, we" — a committee of which he was one — '* are about publishing a pamplilet, containing the reasons of the federal- ists in Congress for voting against the war ; and I wish to be here when it is ready for circulation, in order to use my franking privilege in sending copies" — he had subscribed for one hundred — " to gentlemen in various places. In the second place, it is expected that within a few days some interesting questions may arise, in which a single vote will be of consequence ; and I should be much censured by my friends, as well as by my own feelings, were I, without HIS POLITICAL CAREERV 67 the most pressing necessity, to leave my post at such a time." The pamphlet mentioned in this extract, is an able docu- ment of twenty-four closely printed octavo pages, entitled, " An Address of Members of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States to their Constituents, on the subject of the War w'ith Great Britain ;" entering at length into the argument on the war question, and signed by thirty-four federal members of the House, of whom Mr. Milnor was one. As a public document, further reference to it in this place may be considered needless. At length, the early part of July, the great session closed, and Mr. Milnor was again at home and at his business ; while the war, which with others he had vainly striven to avert, was preparing to blaze over the breadth and length of our land. The extracts thus far made, give but an im- perfect idea of his activity in Congress during the ripening of our hostile preparations. The letters to his political friends, in which that activity was more fully detailed, have been lost. We can therefore only say, in general, that, through the session, he was truly a tvorking-membeT, in committees and on the floor of the House ; and a man of influence, so far as influence from his side was practicable, both within and without the halls of Congress. But one thing remains to be noticed, before we pass to a brief review of his last session, which was also the close of his political career. To that one thing we have already alluded, when speaking of a certain " eventful speech^' which he delivered on the last day of April, while as yet but im- perfectly recovered from his severe fit of the gout. To the circumstance which made that speech eventful, the follow- ing extract from one of his letters refers. " June 20, 1812. — I am very much pained to hear that a report, calculated to increase the anxiety unavoidably at- tending our unhappy separation, should have reached you. Whether there were any truth in it or not, I am vexed be- 68 MEMOIE OF DU. MILNOR. yond measure at the want of common-sense as well as of common feeling manifested by the person who so injudiciously and unfeelingly communicated that report to you. It is a matter which need not give you a moment's uneasiness. The report arose out of some dissatisfaction manifested by a certain gentleman at the publication of a certain debate, in which I took a prominent part ; but nothing has occurred, and nothing will occur, which need excite any fears for the safety either of my person or of my reputation — both of which, I am sure, are precious in the estimation of my affectionate partner." This extract will be rendered intelligible to the reader by stating, that the report which had reached Mrs. Milnor, was to the effect that her husband had been on the eve of a duel with the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay. The cir- cumstances which had led to a challenge from this gentle- man were briefly these. On the 30th of April, the Hon. William Eeed, of Massa- chusetts, " presented a petition, signed by upwards of 470 merchants of Boston, setting forth that they had an immense amount of property in the dominions of Great Britam, the safety of which was jeoparded by the state of the relations between the two countries ; and praying permission to draw their said property from Great Britain and her dependencies, under such provisions as shall be reasonable and just." The reading of this petition was ordered, but had not proceeded far, when it was earnestly objected to by one of the majority, on the ground that the petition was an insult to the House, inasmuch as it declared that the famous Ber- lin and Milan decrees were still in operation ; whereas the executive had declared them repealed. The Speaker, how- ever, decided that the reading must proceed. After it was ended, Mr. Reed moved that the petition be referred to a select committee, while Mr. Rhea moved that it be post- poned till after the 4th of the ensuing July. Upon these motions arose the debate in which Mr. Milnor took such "a HIS POLITICAL CAHEEK. 69 prominent part." Some days after the debate liad been terminated by a reference of the petition to the committee of the whole, a sketch of the day's proceedings, containing a report of Mr. Mihior's speech, was sent to the Philadelphia "Political and Commercial Register hy a friend in Wash- ington.'' It was at this report that Mr. Clay took offence, and for it that he called Mr. Milnor to account. Or, more correctly, the alleged ground of his challenge was, Mr. Mil- nor' s refusal to answer his question touching the authorship of the report. It will not be necessary to give Mr. Milnor's speech at length. It was a fearless and manly effort ; and during its dehvery, he was repeatedly interrupted for saymg things unpalatable to the ruling majority. His soul seemed fired at the evident disposition of that majority to embarrass the freedom of debate ; particularly at the passionate warmth of manner with which the Speaker twice called him to order for saying, and repeating the assertion, that Mr. Rhea's mo- tion to postpone the consideration of the petition to so late a day as after the 4tli of July was, ''in effect, to trifle with the sufferings of the petitioners." After the Speaker's second interruption, the report represents Mr. Milnor as thus con- tinuing his speech. " I have scrupulously avoided arraigning the motives of the proposer of this resolution, or of any other member. I have spoken of the effect of the course proposed. I know, however, sir, your powers, and those of the majority, too well not to feel the necessity of acquiescing in this interpo- sition of your authority ; and therefore, although perfectly satisfied that I have made no observation inconsistent with a just freedom of debate, the rules of decorum, or parlia- mentary usage, I bow in submission to the mandate of the chair. I hope, however, I may be permitted to repeat, as an impressive reason for looking into the subject of this peti- tion now, and an argument against its postponement, that the recent burnings of our vessels upon the ocean furnish an 70 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. evidence of tlie existence of the French decrees, which, hav- ing happened since the President's assertion of their repeal, could not have entered into his consideration of the question ; and, of course, it can involve no possible disrespect towards him to examine it with this additional evidence." After Bome further observations, Mr. Milnor concluded by express- ing his " hope, that the House would consent to the reference of the petition, as proposed by the gentleman from Massa- chusetts." When the Philadelphia report of his speech reached Washington, Mr. Milnor was on a visit to his family ; and just before his return to Washington, the House was for two days prevented from sittmg by Mr. Clay's accident in falling fi'om his horse. At the moment of his return, however, Mr. Clay had sufficiently recovered to be able to resume the chair. The two gentlemen, therefore, reappeared in the House on the same day. May 21. On that very day, the Speaker opened the following correspondence, which will be sufficient for a further elucidation of the difficulty between them. The point in the Philadelphia report of the speech, and its con- nected proceedings, at which Mr. Clay took umbrage, seems to have been the charge contained in that report, of intem- perate warmth in the manner in which, as Speaker of the House, he repeatedly interrupted Mr. Mihior's remarks. (No. 1.) "House of Representatives, 21st May, 1812. *' To THE Honorable Mr. Milnor : '* Sir — Your return to the city of Washington affords me an opportunity of inquiring of you, if the sketch of the debate on Mr. Reed's motion, upon presenting the petition of the Boston merchants, which appears in the Political and Com- mercial Register of the 6th instant, was furnished by you ? The place and manner of the appearance, for the first time, of this sketch, will apologize for the trouble I give you on this occasion. Yours, "H.CLAY." HIS POLITICAL CAEEE-R. 71 Answer. (No. 2.) "Coyle's, 21st May, 1812. " To THE Honorable Mr. Clay : " Sir — Your note of this day was delivered to me in my place by the Sergeant-at-arms, during the sitting of the House of Representatives. However willing, under other circumstances, I might have been to give any information in my power on the subject to which you refer, yet, as an im- portant principle, as it respects both my representative and personal mdependence, might be afiected by an acknowledg- ment, on my part, of the right to make, and the obligation to answer, an inquiry of such a nature, I trust that my now declining it will not be attributed to any intention of per- sonal disrespect. Yours, "JAMES MILNOH." (No. 3.) "Mrs. Donson's, 21st May, 1812. " The Honorable Mr. Milnor : " Sir — Finding from your answer to my note of this morning, that you have misconstrued the circumstances attending the place where it was delivered to you, and the mode of conveyance I employed, I think it due no less to myself than to you to declare, that there existed no inten- tion to violate your independence in any respect. As you have attached some degree of importance to these circum- stances, altogether accidental, 1 have to request that, if they constitute the only bar to the information solicited, you will consider this as a renewal of my inquiry. "Yours, "H.CLAY." Answer. (No. 4.) "Coy];.e's, 22d May, 1812. " The Honorable Mr. Clay : " Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your second note last evening by the Honorable Mr. Bibb, of the Senate, 72 MEMOIR OF DR. MILITOR. " In my answer to the one previously received, the ex- pressions, according to my apprehension, did not impute to you an intention of violating my personal independence, nor represent the place where your note was delivered, and the mode of conveyance, as constituting the only bar to my fur- nishing you with the information asked for; at the same time I appreciate, as I ought, the frankness with which you have disavowed the intention alluded to. I am obliged, however, to repeat, that confirmed impressions of duty, as they respect the preservation of the privileges both of my public and private character, do not admit of my conceding the principle, under circumstances like the present, of your right to make, or of my obligation to answer, the inquiry which I understand to be renewed by your last note. •' Yours, "JAMES MILNOR." {-No. 5.) "Mrs. Donson's, 22d May, 1812. " The Honorable James Milnor : " Sir — I am gratified to learn by your note of to-day, delivered to me by Mr. Goldsborough, that you hare placed a proper construction upon the circumstances attending the delivery of my note to you yesterday moniing. I have, at the same time, to regret that the sense entertained by you of your duty will not allow you to communicate the infor- mation sought for by me. Your determination leaves to my choice a single mode of reparation for an injury of wliich I conceive I have cause to complain ; and my friend Mr. Bibb is authorized by me to make the requisite arrangements. " Yours, "H. CLAY." Answer. (No. 6.) " Capt. Coyle's, 23d May, 1812. "Honorable Mr. Clay : «< Sir. — Being utterly unconscious of having ever offered or intended you any injury, and having received from you HIS POLITICAL CAEEEU. 73 no information of any part of my conduct against which you consider yourself as possessing cause of complaint, the same leading principle in reference to public and private duty that has hitherto regulated my course, obliges me to deem it im- proper to comply with the intimation of your note of this day. For such a compliance, the most deliberate reflection that I have been able to give the subject suggests no justi- fication, on my part, in any thing that has occurred between us, either before or since the commencement of the present correspondence. Yours, "JAMES MILNOR." By thus declining Mr. Clay's call to the field, Mr. Mil- nor gave good proof both of personal and of moral courage. Those were times, emphatically, when the mere sending of a challenge was deemed reason enough for its acceptance. Gentlemen of honor, so called, would ordinarily have been afraid to refuse the call, though given in the spirit of angry and reasonless caprice. They would have been likely to rea- son thus in their heart : " My opponent calls ; that is enough for me ; I must meet him." So reasoned not James Mil- nor, though yet in his unconverted state. He saw a prin- ciple, which his decision was either to support or to sacrifice, for others as well as for himself; and even if we may sup- pose that, as a man of the world, he had then no conscien- tious scruples against the barbarous and wicked practice of duelling, still, as a man of principle, he would not permit the most distinguished opponent to demand and enforce from him what was not his right. He had the highest kind of courage — ^that which stands to the right, and sets arbitrary and senseless, yet all but omnipotent custom at defiance. Years after the occurrences which we have now been reviewing, when Mr. Milnor had been long in the church, and Mr. Clay had risen higher than ever in the political world, these two gentlemen met again in Washington on terms of mutual respect and amity. Their meeting was at Mem, Milnor. 4 74 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. a dinner, to which Mr. Clay had invited Dr. Milnor. Dur- ing the interview, their manner towards each other was that of the utmost frankness and high bearing. Not a word was said, not the shadow of a look passed over the countenance of either, to indicate that the past was rememhered. The manner of Mr. Clay showed that the highest respect for Dr. Milnor had buried that past away from liis feehngs ; while that of Dr. Milnor made it perfectly evident that he knew how to meet the advances of Mr. Clay. He was not a man to say, by either liis actions or liis looks, " Sir, as a Chris- tian, I am bound to forgive what, as a gentleman, I do but civilly forget." On the part of both there was a warm openheartedness which put the past, in effect, where each wished it might have been in fact — out of existence. We pass now to a brief review of the closing scenes of Mr. Milnor' s political life. Early in November, 1812, he left Philadelphia for his tliird winter in Congress, and after " a most tedious and irksome, passage," reached Washington on the oth of the month. He was soon settled in his old quarters at Coyle's, and as soon engaged m the business of the session. But a great change, dimly shadowed as yet to his own perceptions, was already beginning to come over his mind ; and it is here mentioned, not because this is the time to trace its progress, but because a knowledge of the fact will help us to understand why he took so much less part in politics than during the previous session, and why his letters say so little of the part which he did take. The following extracts contain his only notices of what was passing m the great world of war and politics. " Nov. 10, 1812. — The weather has been so bad, and the walking so dreadful, that I have been barely able to get from my lodgings to the capitol since my arrival. To-day, how- ever, I took a carriage, and paid the usual visit of compli- ment to the President, with whom I had about half an hour's conversation. He was communicative and pleasant, but Mrs. Madison did not make her appearance. Business makes HIS POLITICAL CAREEii. 75 very quiet progress. No manifestations of heat or violence have yet appeared, and I sincerely hope they may not." "Nov. 20, 1812. — I have had much more leisure since my arrival than I had last session. Going less abroad, and being upon but one important committee, together with an unusual exemption from letters of either politics or business, with only two felloAV-boarders, of retired and quiet habits, and, added to all this, with but short daily sittings of the House, have altogether contributed to give me retirement without weariness, and the luxuries of reading and reflec- tion without the bustle and anxiety of public or professional concerns." "Nov. 21, 1812. — Yesterday, very unexpectedly to my- self, I felt constrained to take the floor upon two interesting questions, arising out of the needless and calamitous war in which our rulers have unfortunately plunged us. The sub- ject was, an act for increasing the facility of raising troops by enlistment. One of its objectionable provisions was, an authority to enlist boys from eighteen to twenty-one years of age, without regard to the claims, interests, or feelings of parents, guardians, or masters ; thus authorizing a bribe to profligate young men to violate every duty of obedience tow- ards those who have charge of them, and ruining their pros- pects in life by taking them from the acquisition of a useful calling into all the profligacy and vice of a camp. The other provision which excited my feelings, was an exemption to debtors from being arrested by their creditors, after en listing as soldiers, whatever be the amount of their debts, and whether contracted before or after enlistment. Two more scandalous violations of true policy, the civil rights of the citizen, and the principles of religion and morality, can- not be conceived. May a merciful Providence shield oui counti7 against participating in the ruin which must await such shameful means for bolstering up a wicked and unnec- essary war. Pray excuse this diversion to the rugged and unpleasant path of politics. I shall soon be permitted to 76 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. leave their management to others. But, while my term of public service continues, they claim and must unavoidably receive a portion of my attention." "Nov. 24, 1812. — You will not think me veiy deeply engaged in the affairs of the nation, when I tell you, that instead of preparing speeches, and studying the intricacies of political controversy, my hours, when not spent at the capi- tol, or in social converse, or in writing to you, are chiefly passed near my chamber-fire in the perusal of books, such as I meet with here, and find adapted to the feelings of my mind." " Dec. 3, 1812. — The discussion of the question of releas- ing the merchants from the penalties incurred by them in bringing in British goods, was commenced in our House this day, and is likely to continue for some time. I am prepared to speak in their favor, if it should be deemed expedient. " I shall not make my letter more of an olla podrida by adding any thing of a serious cast to the foregoing details. My allotted term of ceremony and of public business must be filled ; and then for the moments of domestic comfort, the endearments of wife and children, and a regular but not morose attention to duties of the most pleasing and impor- tant nature, because they are fitted to gild with cheerfuhiess the passage through life, and to brighten the prospects of a future world." "Dec. 9, 1812." — Having been compelled, as a member of the naval committee, to attend a ball given to Captain Hull and others, as oflicers of the navy, he thus describes a scene which took place in the course of the evening " The Secretary of the Navy, his wife, and two daugh- ters were of the company. About 9 o'clock in the evening, it was announced that the son of the Secretary, Mr. Hamil- ton, had arrived with official dispatches for his father, an- nouncing the victory gained by Commodore Decatur, of the frigate United States, over the British frigate Macedonian ; and that he brought with him the colors of the captured ves- HIS POLITICAL CAREEH. 77 sel. A few moments afterwards, the ingenuous youth was ushered mto the ballroom, and fell upon the necks of his overjoyed mother and sisters. They had not seen him for more than a twelvemonth, nor since he had miraculously escaped from the dreadful conflagration of the theatre at Kichmond, where he happened to be at the time of that calamitous event, on his way to Norfolk to take his station on board the United States. He had now returned, flushed with victory, and found the city universally illuminated on account of the gallant action in wliich he had shared ; his family engaged in doing honor to the brave men who had gone before him in the career of glory ; and himself — happy man — bearer of the ensigns of another conquered foe. Soon after the scene I have described, the colors of the Macedo- nian were introduced, borne by Captains Hull, Stewart, and Morris, Avith other naval officers, amid the loud acclamations of the company. This was a part of the entertainment so unexpected and so much in consonance with the feelings of patriotism, that I confess it very much diminished the senti- ment of disgust at all around me, in which I had been indulg- ing. I glory in the evidences we have had of the prowess of our little navy, and am convinced that it is the only true method of defending our national rights." Though opposed to the war, he was not blind to the ability with which it was conducted — at least, so far as it made the broad ocean its field. "Dec. 18, 1812. — The interesting question with respect to the relief of our merchants from the forfeitures and penal- ties incurred under the non-importation act, which affects individuals in our city alone to the amount of four and a half millions of dollars, is not yet decided ; and the division in the House is so nearly equal, that a single vote may turn the decision one way or the other. Under these circum- stances, I deem it a conscientious duty to submit to the ne- cessity of remaining here till the question is settled, which I hope will be in the course of the ensuing week." 78 MEMOIR OF BR. MILNOR. The debates on the merchants' rehef bill detained him till about Christmas. The moment he could with safety leave, he visited Philadelphia, and was in his place again after the close of the holidays. Hence he writes, from the House, "Jan. 13, 1813. — I have arrived here, in good health and without accident, just in time, as upon one or two for- mer occasions, to give a vote upon the army bill. Randolph is now making a very long speech ; and we have before us the prospect of a night-session, as the majority are deter- mined to take the final question to-day." ** Jan. 16, 1813. — ^^liile I was absent, I find the politi- cal asperity of parties has risen to its highest pitch. Mr. Q,uincy's severe attack on the administration brought upon him an abundance of abuse. I found Mrs. Madison, to whose drawing-room entertainments Mr. Gluincy — improp- erly, I think — made some allusion, by no means unafiected by the passing scene. She spoke freely and feelingly to me on the subject, though without anger ; and I confess, betwee?i ourselves^ I cannot but deem it a departure from the prin- ciples of decorum in a member of Congress, to make such reflections as fell from Mr. Q^uincy. I hope he will see the propriety of omitting them, or of assuaging their severity, in the publication of his speech which he is about to make ; and which, barring this and some other parts of it unneces- sarily severe, our friends all concur in saying was an aston- ishing display of genius and eloquence." This severely brilliant assault on the administration may have been what Mr. Milnor refers to, hi a letter some days before his visit to Philadelphia, in which he says, " I write in the House with a speech from Mr. Cluincy thundering in my ear." His political course was now drawing to a close. His letters to Mrs. Milnor all breathe of the diviner themes which have filled his soul, and his allusions to the business of Congress disappear from their pages. On the 27th of HIS POLITICAL CAREEII. 79 February, he names tlie day of his mteiided final departure for Philadelpliia ; his last being one of the short sessions, which terminate the 4th of March. Unexpectedly, how- ever, a gentle visit from his ancestral friend tlie gout, de- tained him for several days after the adjournment ; and *' while all Washington was crowding to the capitol on the 4th, to witness Mr. Madison's re-mauguration, he had more pleasure in sitting down in the solitude of his chamber to relieve any anxiety which his wife might have suffered" by his previous day's announcement of his expected detention. He was well enough to leave "Washington on the 6th of March, but for safety's sake preferred taking his seat in the coach on the 8th. On that day, the coach, when it came along, was too full to receive him, and he did not finally leave till the 9 th. Thus close all the notices which remam of Mr. Milnor's political hfe during his last session in Congress. He faith- fully did his work for his country, but said little about it in his letters. He had other things on his heart, and other things for his pen, even wliile busily occupied ui public duty. His letters to Mrs. Milnor and others were more frequent than ever ; but they were almost undividedly filled with concerns mightier than those of nations. They will come into view as we proceed to trace that work of the Spirit which transformed him from a man of the law to a disciple of the Grospel, and from a political servant of his country to an eminent minister of Christ. 80 MEMOIR OF DE. MILNOR. PAET II. HISTORY OF MR. MILNOR'S RELIGIOUS CHANGE, SECTION I. In proceeding to trace the formation of Mr. Milnor's Christian character, we have the advantage of a previous knowledge of what he was as a fully developed and maturely ripened man : unstained from boyhood with the too frequent vices of life, yet formed to the fashion and the manners, and governed by the spirit and the maxims of the world ; warm and generous in his friendships, especially in his domestic attachments ; scrupulously honest and upright in his deal- ings ; industrious and methodical in his business ; active and influential in the benevolent and literary institutions of his age ; a peacemaker, who yet, for the sake of peace, would never sacrifice truth and right ; incorruptibly pure and high- minded in his social and political principles ; peculiarly pop- ular with all the associations into wliich he entered, and in all the relations which he sustained ; an able and successful lawyer, of that order who seem formed to sit with grace, dignity, and reputation, on the bench of justice; and a leg- islator, animated with the truest patriotism, and gifted with no little insight and sagacity in the philosophy of politics. In short, had he been constitutionally as much in love with legal and political life as he was practically successful in both, he might have risen — such was his popularity in his native state — to her highest posts of trust and honor. At the time when he was about to disappear from the scenes of civil life, he was already talked of as next governor of Penn- sylvania. RELiaiOUS CHANaEr 81 But amid all this, and even to the close of his second session in Congress, he was without any real experience, and even without any just perceptions, of the true nature of the religion of Christ. He was, indeed, far from thoughtlessness about religion ; yet his thoughts were any thing but true to the interior power and spirituality of the gospel. Of this, the intelligent religious reader will have already seen evi- dence ; and evidence more satisfying to such will appear in what we have further to examine. In school-boy days, and in legal studies, James Milnor had a playmate and a friend in Aquila Massey Bolton. Mr. Bolton was evidently, in mature years, a man of handsome talents ; gay, volatile, and witty ; the soul of social parties ; but, withal, loose, and in secret not merely sceptical, but utterly infidel in his views of religion. Amid the vicissitudes of life, however, it pleased God to make him, if we may judge from his letters, a monument of awakening grace, if not of recovering mercy ; and in the faithful dealings which he at once opened with the conscience of his friend James, we have our first glimpse into the earlier religious notions of the latter. As early as the 3d of March, 1800, somewhat more than a year after Mr. Milnor's marriage, Mr. Bolton addressed to him a letter, from which the following are excerpts. Ex- plaining a ''something,'' of which he says his mind had, " for a considerable time, been full," he proceeds : " Know, then, my dear friend — for I think you nearer to me than ever — that, hke the Prodigal Son, I am seeking to be restored to the favor of my heavenly Father, through the mediation of his Son Jesus Christ, whom I have so long turned frorri and crucified in my heart. This confession, I doubt not, will subject me to even your mockery, as I know it will to that of the world. The latter is a matter of indif- ference ; and even the former I think I could bear, if it would not be an evidence to your own condemnation, Yovi may well say, ' Is Saul also among the prophets ?' for I have 4# d 82 MEMOIR OF DH. MILNOR. been a cruel persecutor of Christianity" — [by the way, that is not the first time that the Saul of the Old Testament has been put in the place of Saul in the Neiv] — " to a greater degree, I believe, than any but the Holy Spirit has had knowledge of Few of my friends, I think, have known to what monstrous lengths I had gone from the faith which is in Jesus. Thanks be to the Lord, I was arrested on the high road to destruction, and have been taught, as Saul himself was, that it was Jesus whom I persecuted." " If you knew how much I have your welfare at heart, and notwithstanding our past friendship, you cannot know, you would be disposed to believe one who, to his sorrow, avows that he was carried by a speculative philosophy far, very far beyond Deism. Indeed, I think I was never more fixed in any one opinion than in a total disbelief of all divine revelation ; and for a long time I valued myself upon having overcome every kind of superstition and prejudice, wliich I thought had their origin from the Old and New Testaments. But, notwithstanding I was as firmly fixed in my opinion as Voltaire himself ever was, I can now de- clare, that I have no more doubt of the Scriptures having been dictated by the Supreme Being, than I have of my own existence. *' Oh that I could communicate to you a full sense of what I have been taught in the school of Christ. Your eyes would then be opened indeed. You will remember, and I have not forgotten, the time when we used to laugh at seri- ous people affecting to know sometliing, which we. in our vain imaginations, could not believe to be of any importance. You have now an opportunity to renew the laugh at my expense. But, for your own sake, not mine, Ifeware ; de- ceive not yourself : be assured there is a God to whom every knee shall bow, and whom every tongue shall confess ; and no man can come unto the Father but by that Son, whom I fear you have long ago disclaimed. " Bearing in mind how inefiectual were remonstrances RELiaiOUS CHANGE';- 83 upon my own mind when in a state of ai^ostasy — the reason of which ineilicacy I can now discern — I am indeed without much hope of being able to arouse you to a sense of your condition. Yet, when I reflect upon the great, the important cJiaiige in my mind, and upon the friendsliip which has sub- sisted between us, I am tempted, and I trust permitted, at least by that Holy Spirit under whose awful influence I hope ever to continue, to sound an alarm, which I fervently pray may not be disregarded. " This conversion I can only call strange, ' passing strange.' Oh, could you knoiv the gratitude which I feel towards that Redeemer whom I have so long and so fla- grantly oflended, for having opened my eyes to see my con- dition when upon the very precipice of hell, you would feel very little concerned about the trash of this world. And this change, beheve me, you must experience, or you will be lost to all eternity. Flatter not yourself that the Lord con- forms himself to man's wisdom, or that you can save yourself from perdition in any other way than by reliance upon Christ Jesus. Beheve me, I am in my perfect senses, when I tell you, that I know these truths as plainly as I know that two and two make four. " I thought I could do no less than write you as I have done, although it may be the means of breaking our friend- ship ; for you must not expect to find me, ui future, the same as you have found me in the past ; and I am afraid that you will not rehsh any thing from one who wishes not to violate the covenant he has made with his God. Our future intercourse depends upon yourself If you think that I am not too gloomy a correspondent, I will gladly retiin my place in your affection. As to mine for you, be assured it is increased most wonderfully : for, once I supposed our friendsliip would end in death; now I cannot but hope it will be etertiair And if, friend Aquila, thy own faith was steadfast to the end, thy }ioj)e is already certainty. 84 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. On the fifth of April, he wrote again to Mr. Milnor as follows : "Dear. James — I feel fearful that I may have said some- thing in my last at which you have taken umbrage ; for several weeks are now elapsed, and I have not received a line from you. Indeed, my dear friend, notwithstanding the resolution I have most seriously made, to have less converse with the world, yet I cannot consent to give up your friend- ship. Perhaps, hoAvever, this is not as I please ; and you being willing to give up mine, the continuance of a mutual fellowship is not to be expected. I am not ignorant how it is with the general run of mankind ; and how, in some instan- ces, it has been with myself When I have seen some one of my acquaintances dravrn, as if by the hand of God, from the circles of mirth, to deliver him from temptation, I have felt a kind of contemptuous pity, that he should wish to be no longer cheerful ; and, by seeking solitude, should fall into a state of melancholy, not to say suUenness. If you should feel this kind of contempt for me, what could I say or do to prove that I know I act rationally, and that you — yes, you, gay and wanton as you now are — ^must come to a like state of seriousness and solemn stillness, in order to commune with your own heart, and thus discover its deceitfulness ; or else — the alternative is dreadful, but not more dreadful than true — or else lose your salvation. This may not appear to you, at this time, a necessary truth ; but I pray that a merciful God will ere long open your eyes, as he has been graciously pleased to open mine. Be assured, that the unconcerned and wicked among men — and I fear they are the major part — walk in darkness ; but, believe me, there is a day of visitation to every sou and daughter of Adam, in which, if they resist not the monitor of truth in their own bosoms, they may come to know how they are entangled in sin. I know that my zeal to convince you would be in vain, use what arguments I might, unless the Spirit of God disposed HELiaiOUS CHANaEv 85 your heart to believe. If, however, you have any regard for me, as an old friend, you will not slight the advice I offer, which I will comprise in two words — be serious. " Believe me your friend, "AQUILA M.BOLTON." To both these letters Mr. Milnor thus refers in his ear- lier diary : "April 7, 1800. — How singularly astonishing are some of the incidents of this life I I received, some time since, a letter from my old friend Aquila M. Bolton, that really sur- prised and affected me exceedingly. The gay, the volatile, the facetious Bolton, has become a zealous convert to relig- ion ; and his letter, which is handsomely written, is an ap- peal to my feelings, and a solemn warning of the danger of my present state, as he calls it, of apostasy and unbelief. He reprobates, in the strongest terms, his former opinions, discards all philosophy and reasoning on the subject of relig- ion, declares his present belief to be produced by a clear and solid co7iviction, and concludes with a warm and affectionate call to embrace the truths, of which he says he is as clearly satisfied as that two and two make four. *' My acquaintance with Bolton has been of longer stand- ing than any which I at present know. It commenced when we were children, and grew into a friendship of the warmest kind when we both began the study of the law. Bolton, soon after his admission, became disgusted with the practice ; and Mr. Anthony Butler offering him his patronage, he de- termined to enter into commercial life. "Whether his re- verses in business have depressed and weakened my friend's nerves, and produced a habit of melancholy calculated to lay him open to the attacks of enthusiasm, or whether his state of mind is the result of sober inquiry and real conversion, I cannot pretend to determine. " I have received another letter from him to-day, much in the same stram with the former, and it tends to increase 86 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. my belief in the sincerity of his professions ; but I have seen so many changes of this sort efiected by the despondency of the moment, which have been only coeval with that condi- tion of the mind, and have given way at the dawn of better prospects, that I cannot give full credence to the solidity and unalterableness of his present resolutions. " In the usual style of young and enthusiastic converts, my friend speaks in terms of perfect carelessness as to the reflections and contempt of the world. He even fears he shall be obliged to bear my reproaches ; for he looks on me as an absolute apostate from the faith, and in a state nigh unto destruction. He observes that he does not expect suc- cess to attend his persuasions, unless it be the allotted mo- ment of visitation ; but he repeats the most fervent strains of eulogy on his own, and the most earnest declarations of anxiety for my conversion. " Bolton is wrong in supposing that I would ridicule or contemn his sentiments. I believe religion to be the grand bulwark of society ; and I have long deemed it unjustifiable to insult its professors, even though I may believe their no- tions, m some particulars, absurd, or themselves too enthu- siastically devout. I confess, the religion which I wish to see prevalent, is that which is comprised in a monition not likely to be too often repeated, to do to others as we would be willing they should do to us. I have never been able to persuade myself that one-half of mankind can, under any circumstances, be sentenced to eternal perdition ; especially, as zealots say, though they have fulfilled all the requisitions of the moral and social law. But I respect even this zeal in those whom I think unnecessarily devout, because I think they intend well ; and I believe that enthusiasm itself has been productive of good effects among a numerous class, whom it has led from destructive habits of irregularity and intemperance to a sober, orderly, and quiet deportment. " Whatever doubts and difficulties may envelope my con- ceptions of certain doctrinal tenets, and mysteries in religion RELiaiOUS CHANGE." 87 which I cannot understand, God forbid that I should ever attempt to shake the faith of any man." From the foregoing extracts it is easy to see what were Mr. Milnor's rehgious notions at the time when the extracts •were written. They were what, many years later, when rector of St. George's, he thus describes, in a long letter to one of his female parishioners. This parishioner had written him a minute account of her sceptical doubts and difficulties on the subject of the Christian scheme, with an evidently sincere desire to be relieved of her embarrassments, and to reach a settled faith ; and he was about to advise a particu- lar course of inquiry with a view to her relief He intro- duces his advice by saying, "Now, the recommendation with which I am encour- aged to follow this suggestion, is warranted by my own ex- perience of its benefits. I acknowledge to you, that I was once a subject of like temptations with yourself; and that, for a time, I pacified my conscience by avoiding an absolute rejection of revelation, and substituting an unintelligent acquiescence in that miserable scheme of itniversal salva- tion, which I am happy to find you have been enabled more promptly to reject. So many rational, as well as scriptural arguments, however, continually arose against those which seemed to support that specious plan, that I was determined to satisfy myself, by abandoning all conjectures on the sub- ject, and betaking myself exclusively to the plain declara- tions of Scripture. But before I took this step, I began to question whether I was a real believer in the Volume of Inspiration. It occurred to me that I could not so contin- ually find fault with the providential arrangements of God, and with the declarations of his word, if I were certainly convinced of the truth of this sacred book. I therefore con- cluded to examine the evidences of its pretensions. I did so. My rational understanding was convinced. I had no more doubt of the genuineness and authenticity of the Scrip- tures than of my own existence ; nor have I now. Still, I 88 MEMOIE OF DU. MILNOR. was staggered at some of its parts ; and as I now dared not reject them, I was disposed to put my own interpretation on tlieir import. My views erred principally in the reception of unevangelical notions of the doctrines of the New Testa- ment. These led me to an midue appreciation of human oflbrt, and to a mischievous conceit of the merit of works. I was disposed neither to sink myself, nor to exalt the Sav- iour. But, thanks be to God, this state of things was not to last. I became concerned for a deeper acquaintance with the fundamental doctrines of the gospel. 1 read my Bible more — more too in the spirit of a learner. I ventured to pray. By the light of God's word, and, as I trust, by the help of his Spirit, I discerned the character of man. I saw my own character in its proper colors. I perceived, on the ground of an authority to which my understanding unhesi- tatingly assented, that I was a miner — by the sentence of the law, a condemned sinner — and had no hope of mercy but through a Saviour. I was convinced that such a being as I was, never could be admitted to the presence of a holy God, but through the atonement and mediation of the Re- deemer ; that a change, also, in my heart and afibctions was indispensable ; and that God's Spirit alone could bestow the needed blessing. As 1 firmly believed my eternal salvation depended on an experience of ' a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness,' 1 sought it in deep repentance and in vigorous exercises of faith in Christ, in earnest supplica- tion, and in the prayerful study of sacred writ, and when emboldened to do so, in the ordinances of religion. I hope I was careful to take no merit to myself for any of these exercises, but to give the glory of my salvation wholly to my God and Saviour." Thus ran his early experience. It appears, therefore, that friend Aquila, though he evidently underrated his " dear James's" high-mindedness and generosity, by supposing him capable of treating his friend's views with ridicule or con- tempt, was yet, after all, not far in the wrong in considering RELIG-IOUS CHANaE.""- • 89 him the suhject of a pretty thorough scepticism in regard to the true system of the gospel, at the time when he addressed to him those two faithful and searching letters. The state of Mr. Milnor's mind was then evidently what he describes in the former part of the extract above given from the letter to his doubting parishioner. He supposed himself to have avoided an absolute rejection of revelation by adopting, un- intelligently, the theory of a universal salvation ; and yet he found, upon afterwards looking into his mind, that he had all along had too little reason for regarding himself as really a believer in the inspiration of the sacred Scriptures. At what period he began his prayerful study of the Bible and of the evidences of its truth and divine inspiration, as described in the latter part of that extract, we have no means of ascertaining ; but it was probably soon after the receipt of his friend Bolton's letters. We know, however, very well, when the resulting state of a thorough rational convic- tion of the truth and inspiration of the Bible passed into those deeper convictions of the heart which he mentions, and which, by revealing him to himself as a condemned sinner, drove him, in vigorous faith, to the Lord Jesus Christ, as his only hope of pardon and eternal life. That state, then, of mere rational conviction, attended, for a series of years, with an " overvaluation of human effort and a mischievous conceit of the merit of works," continued, with a tendency perhaps towards juster views, till after the close of his second session in Congress. It was, then, more especially during his third winter in Washington, that it unequivocally passed into those interior experiences in which his true religious life took its beginning. This general course of his mind on the subject of religion we shall see marked with sufficient distinctness when we proceed to look further at his diary, and at his letters to Mrs. Milnor, and to his friend Thomas Bradford, Jr. His diary broke off in the year 1800, and was not resum- ed until 1809. After that period, it consists almost wholly 90 ' MEMOia OF DU. MILNOR. of a series of reports or abstracts written from memory, of the various sermons which he heard chiefly in one of the three associated churches in Philadelphia, of which Bishop White was rector. This part of his diarj^ however, is val- uable to us in exploring an earlier period of his life than any included in its dates, from the circumstance that, on several occasions, he pauses from his homiletic reports and indulges in serious retrospects, which enable us to see along what track his mind had been moving. Sometimes, too, he inter- sperses his reports with remarks of his own, which reveal to us the tone and spirit of his religious views during the years in which those reports were written. His diary was again interrupted by his election to Con- gress ; but was for a short timie resumed, with more of inter- spersed journalizmg, in the year 1813, after he had left Washington and political life together, and had resolved to devote himself to the work of the Christian ministry. Upon this temporary resumption, he thus laments the effects of his election, under date of March 25, 1813. Early in October, 1810, "I was elected a member of the 12th Congress; and my mind being soon very much occu- pied with arrangements preparatory to leaving home, was most prejudicially drawn from that attention to rehgion which I had previously found increasing upon me in a most encouraging mamier." His weekly exercise in writing out sermons, was design- ed to assist him in reaping better fruits than he had been wont to realize from his religious instructions. He was in fact, even then, darkly feeling his way towards a light in which he was yet to walk rejoicingly, as one who could see his Leader. On Sunday, the 17th of September, 1809, he records the following reflections. ** If I did not know the inconstancy of my resolutions, and even doubt the possibility of my adhering to so good an one, I would propose to note occasionally the text and sub- ject of such sermons as I may hear. It is astonishing how RELIOIOUS CHANaE. ' 91 evanescent has "been the impression made by those to which I have heretofore Ustened. I have supposed myself atten- tive, have been pleased, instructed, sometimes feelingly allected ; but the impression has passed away like ' the morning cloud and the early dew,' and the lapse of a fcAV days has effaced all memory of the text and the commen- tary. To what is this owing? In a great degree to the want of a retentive memory, though such a memory is so necessary in my professional pursuits ; but conscience tells me it arises principally from the want of a feehng of real interest and concern in the business of religion. The heart must be engaged : it will then enlist all the powders of mem- ory on its side. I listen to sermons as to a speech at the bar, or a recitation at the theatre. I listen for amusement, and from habit. I go to church because I have been used to go thither at statedly recurring periods. I do not reflect afterwards on what has been said, nor ask myself, ' Am I wiser, am I better for what I have heard ?' " A knowledge of one's faults is said to be the first step towards amendment. I wish it were so with me ; but I have long known my errors and inattentions, yet they are not removed nor lessened. I would still hope for a change, if I dared rely on any determination of my oivn, or dared to ask for a superior influence to effect it.'' This is one of those points already mentioned, at which he pauses from his weekly work of writing out abstracts of sermons, and throws his mind back into thoughtful retro- spect. Accordingly, he proceeds to some remarks on the preaching to which he was in the habit of listening, espec- ially on the ofTensiveness to his mind of certain doctrinal discussions which he could not relish, and to which, in his keen pursuit of wealth and pleasure, and in his self-righteous " conceit of the merit of works," it may fairly be assumed he was not qualified to do justice. He writes, " The K-ev. John Blair Linn was pastor of the first Presbyterian church in Philadelphia, and incited by a great 92 MEMOIR OF DE. MILNOE. fondness for his style of preaching, which was Hberal and unsectarian, though at once evangehcal and moral, I took part of a pew in that church. In a few years death de- prived the congregation of this valuable minister, and he was succeeded by the Rev. James P. Wilson, a man of great learning and most exemplary piety, but so devoted to the peculiar doctrines of the Calvinists, and the discussion of intricate points of theology, and though amiable in an emi- nent degree in private life, yet so austere in the pulpit, that I could not, with satisfaction or profit, continue my attend- ance on his administration. My aversion to many of the dogmas of the Presbyterians, and to Mr. AVilson's style of preaching, induced me to take a pew in the new church of St. James, where I now attend." Although this was written in 1809, yet its retrospect goes back to at least the beginning of 1800, and therefore to the time when friend Aquila's letters were written. And yet a passage in his diary, too long for insertion here, clearly implies, that while Mr. Milnor attended the Presbyterian church, he admitted the truth and mspiration of the Bible, and even agreed with his preachers, Mr. Linn and Mr. "Wilson, if not in all points of speculative faith, at least m what he deemed the essential doctrmes of revelation. His study of the Bible and its evidences, therefore, and his ra- tional conviction of its divine origin, must have been very soon after the receipt of Mr. Bolton's letters. They could not have had an earlier date, because, as we have seen, liis contemporaneous comments on those letters show him to have been at that time, however unintelHgently, yet practi- cally a believer in the notion of an universal salvation ; while his own subsequent letter to liis doubting parishioner proves, on his own acknowledgment, that so long as tliat notion con- tinued to occupy his mind, he was virtually without faith in a revelation. It was, in fact, his discovery of this that impelled him to his investigations, and thus led to that mere rational faith — that assent of the reason to the truth RELIGIOUS CHANaE. 93 of the Scriptures, without the heart's experience of their power, of which we have already spoken. The conversion of his reason took place very soon after he received his friend Bolton's letters ; while that of his heart was deferred to a long subsequent period. From this comparison of dates and circumstances, we gather increasing evidence, that the letters of Mr. Bolton, which so " exceedingly surprised and affected'' the mind of his friend, lay at the very beginning of that series of provi- dential means by which he was led away from his earlier cold, practical unbelief, first to inquiry, then to intellectual assent, and finally, after long years of self-righteous trustings, to that " belief of the heart which is unto righteousness, and that confession of the mouth which is unto salvation." So late as the autumn of 1809, he was not only unstable as water " in any determinations of his own," but without frayer for divine aid. He *^ dared not to ask for superior influence to effect a cliangey In truth, during the whole period from 1802 down to 1812, he was evidently striving to confirm himself in those " unevangelical views of the doc- trines of the New Testament," which "led him to an undue appreciation of human eftbrt, and to a mischievous conceit of the merit of works ;" and his fighting, meanwhile, with the dogmas of Calvinism, be the truth or error of that system what it may, was just a convenient shield against deeper self-knowledge, used to protect himself yet longer in his over- estimate of mere outward morality. His friend T. Bradford, Jr., has a paragraph in his " Rem- iniscences" which touches a portion of the above period. " He was for several years a worshipper in the First Presby- terian church in Market-street, under the pastoral care of the Rev. James P. Wilson, D. D. The acuteness, discrimi- nation, and learning of the doctor, who had been for many years an eminent lawyer in the state of Delaware, and whose sermons were peculiarly marked by the characteristics of a legal mind, were highly interesting to him, though he 94 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOR. could not then accord with the strictness of their theology. The subject of religion became frequently the topic of con- versation in our daily walks, and we often discoursed on the Calvinistic system — he opposing, and I, accordmg to my view of the Bible, maintaining its correctness ; while neither of us, at the time, had any spiritual light or knowledge." In the last extract from Mr. Milnor's later diary is stated the fact, with the reason for it, of his leaving the Presbyte- rian, and beginning to attend the Episcopal church. That change, whatever we may think of the reason for it, may have been favorable to his religious hopes, inasmuch as his dishke of Calvinistic doctrines was no longer irritated and kept open, hke a frequently fretted sore ; wliile his mind, freed from such a source of annoyance, was the more likely to reflect calmly and seriously upon those uncontroverted truths of the gospel, to v/hicli he listened both before and after the transfer was made. This inference seems support- ed by his diary, so far as it sheds any light on the progress of his religious views ; for although he continued three years longer to cherish unevangelical notions of the doctrines of the New Testament, yet there is evidence that he was all that while feeling after something to which he knew he had never attained. The very fact, that he was so earnest in taking careful and often copious notes of the sermons which he heard, shows that he was resolved, so far as his weak resolutions were of any worth, to press on from the mere rational belief which he had reached, to something which he might regard as a corresponding experience of the heart. And besides this, his notes of sermons are occasionally inter- spersed with remarks of his own, which indicate at least a growmg tenderness of feeling, and reflectiveness of habit ; however little they, as yet, show of the true light breaking on his spirit. Some of these remarks occur at the opening of 1810. He began the new year with this sober record : "January, 1610. — Various reasons, which it is unneces- sary to enumerate, because, when combined, they furnish uo RELiaiOUS CHANaE. ' 95 sufficient apology for the neglect, have occasioned a breach of my resolution to note very briefly the substance of the relig- ious discourses to which I attend ; not that my attendance on the devotional exercises of the Sabbath has been inter- rupted, but that causes, sometimes of more weight than at others, have induced a yielding to my habitual mdolence of disposition. This I have continually to lament, as ' the sin which does most easily beset me.' It produces its effects on all my habits, as well professional as others ; and although I cannot deem myself at all times and in all respects its victim, yet I am so in a degree injurious to my concerns and oppressive to my feelings. It is easier to resolve to shake it off, than to do so — to form resolutions of industry, than to adhere to them. " The close of the old year, and the commencement of the new, have given birth to many sermons on the value of time and the brevity of life ; the uncertainty of terrestrial enjoyments, and the certainty of irrespective death, and of a future accountability at the bar of an almighty Judge, for our negligences and omissions of duty, as well as for the transgressions of this life ; and yet, hoAV many, like myself, listen to these solemn truths and awful warnings as to ' a twice-told tale I' We hear — we assent ; but where is to be seen the beneficial result ? Seldom ui our secular concerns ; much more seldom ui those of our immortal souls." Thus entered he on the year 1810 — questioning solemn- ly, yet coming to no decision. He had not yet looked far enough, if at all, into the hidden cause of his deep prejudice against the truth, and of his long and frequent failures to make progress in a better life. A sight into the dark deeps of sin in liis own heart was yet to be vouchsafed him, before he could do more than run round a circle of oft-formed and as oft broken purposes — ^before he could start on a really on- ward and upward movement in the divine life of the soul. " Sunday, Jan. 27, 1810. — In the evening went to hear Dr. Pilmore, at St. Paul's church. 96 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOR. " This gentleman, in his mode of preaching, departs from the general practice of Episcopal clergymen in two respects. He does not write his sermons, but speaks from short notes ; and he is much more evangelical in the treatment of his sub- ject, and much more fervent in his delivery. This, as may be expected, increases the admiration of the more pious mem- bers of his flock, while it diminishes his popularity with others. For my part, as he is a man of undoubted talents, and, from his long service in the office of a public minister, is fluent in his style, and sufficiently methodical and perspic- uous in the distribution of the heads of his discourses, and very ready in his scriptural quotations and allusions, I feel no great repugnance to the circumstance of his sermons being, in a considerable degree, extempore. " As to the evangelical character of his discourses, it is, in my opinion, unobjectionable, because he allies it with, and makes it auxiliary to the inculcation of morals ; and he sets forth the atonement of our Saviour, in the general way in which it is viewed by most Christians, without proposing the perplexing, intricate, and dark theology which the strict- er Oalvinists deduce from it. He enters upon no critical disquisitions upon nice and disputable doctrinal points, but endeavors to fix the faith and the afi^ections of his hearers upon the blessed Redeemer, as the alone means of salvation, as the great propitiation for sin, as the divine Inculcator of morality, as the glorious Intercessor for his people at the right hand of God, and as the everlasting Judge of all the earth, who, in the great day of final retribution, will give to every man according to his works." This extract is interesting, not so much from the fact which it records — that Mr. Milnor went to hear Dr. Pil- more — as from the allusion which it contains, to the differ- ence between Dr. Pilmore's preaching, and that of the Epis- copal clergy generally in his day. That holy man of God was, after the times of Devereux Jarratt, among the first of those whom God raised up, when the eflects of the war of \ RELiaiOUS CHAKGE. 97 our Revolution had, in the main, passed away, to he his instruments in quickening a church which had been left all but spiritually dead, not only under the ruthless and iron hoof of war, but also under the chilling and deadening influ- ences — worse than those of war — exerted by long years of most " unevangelical" teachings. The obloquy which such men as Jarratt and Pilmore were compelled to endure, has been fruitful of precious results. They have successors to their spirit, and, God favoring, shall C07itinue to have, till the church m which they served becomes, as nearly as the lot of man admits, all life, and full of " the fruits of the Spirit." But, not to anticipate too largely a topic which may again pass under our notice, it is evident from the above extract, that Mr. Milnor was not only growing in orthodoxy of faith, but also examining for himself all points, as they came along, of practical interest ; and that, so far as his examinations were carried, he was quietly tending towards more serious views, and even losing his repugnance to evan- gelical doctrines — ^provided, always, they stopped short of the much-dreaded Calvinism of the stricter sort, against which he had so long warred. The moderate Calvinism, if so it may be termed, of the evangelical preacher did not offend him, because he saw how it included and produced the mo- ralities of life. The doctrine of atonement was not unac- ceptable, because he heard deduced from it no decree of " un- conditional reprobation." Soon after his connection with the Episcopal church, as an attendant on its worship, he was elected one of the ves- trymen of the parish to which he belonged ; and, for several months after the new-year of 1810, continued, with increas- ing interest, his weekly exercise of writing out sermons from memory. In the summer of that year, however, this ex(ircise was again interrupted ; not now from indolence, but from other causes. Hence, when he resumed this exercise, it was after leaving a blank page of his diary, on which are written gimply these words : Mem. Milnor. O 98 MEMOIE- OF DR. MILNOR. "Hiatus, valde, valde deflendus" — expressive of the deep regret which he felt at the interrup- tion ; and followed by this short note : *' Sept. 1, 1810. — Frequent absence from the city during the summer months, has prevented a regular attendance on public worship. I shall, on the morrow, resume the duty with real pleasure ; for, after all, Sunday is to me not only a day of rest from the vexatious cares of hfe, but a much greater source of real enjoyment, when employed as rehgion and conscience enjoin, than when devoted to recreations of a lighter kind." Once, had he written as he felt, he would have said, that recreations of a lighter kind were more pleasing to him than a Sunday spent as religion and conscience enjoin. Thus far, then, had he been led. Habit, and perhaps the secret teachings of the Spirit, had made his mode of spending the Lord's day a source of more real enjoyment than he could find m worldly amusements on the Sabbath. "Sunday, Sept. 16, 1810, A. M."— Touclimg the same subjects, he writes again, " The return of this day of devo- tion and rest is grateful to my feelings. The abstraction, for a time, from the pursuits and cares of business ; the leisure for contemplating the character and perfections of the Most High, and the opportunity for 'humble endeavors to ollbr ac- ceptable worship in sanctuaries dedicated to his service ; for perusing the oracles of a divme and infallible revelation ; for reflection on past errors and ofTences, and for using the means of future caution and improvement which the season furnishes, as well in silent meditation as in an attendance on the advices of those appointed to minister m holy things, all contribute to render this a blessed holiday. ** Alas, how is it abused by the inconsiderate and thought- less ! How have I abused it ! Let me endeavor, m this re- spect, to ' sin no more.' Let me, God, reverence this day as I ought, but preserve me from those errors of superstition, or fanaticism, which would exclude from its enjoyments the RELiaiOUS CHANGE. 99 delights of social converse and innocent association with the friendly circle. Let revelry and intemperance he kept far away ; let no trifling occasion induce an omission of attend- ance at the house of prayer ; let a season for private read- ing and meditation he afforded ; hut let the heart remain open for the cheering emotions of friendship and regard to those we love, and let not a narrow and contracted disposi- tion he induced by a mistaken apprehension of the true du- ties of thy holy religion. Next to thee, we are taught by the lessons of a blessed Saviour, to ' love our neighbor as ourselves.' May we rightly appreciate this teaching as call- ing for the performance of the duties of our various allot- ments in life, ' visiting the widow and the fatherless in their aflliction, and keeping ourselves unspotted ' — not removing — 'from the world.'" This is the first of Mr. Milnor's recorded prayers ; and it is indeed the prayer of a beginner : not so much a supplica- tion for grace to keep the Sabbath holy, as a petition to be preserved from keeping it too rigidly. how was he strug- gling m the dark ! laboring for a better life, yet laboring in bondage, with little or nothing of the freedom of a son ; the Spirit, it may be, teaching him, but leading to success at last, through the suflering of failure at first. Sunday, Oct. 7, 1810, gives us the last of the " annota- tions" which Mr. Milnor made on the sermons preached at St. James' before his election to Congress, and the conse- quent unfavorable change in his habits of spending the Lord's day, which have already been noticed. His principal notes that day were on a sermon by Bishop White, upon the par- able of the prodigal son — a sermon, wliich apparently struck him with much force, and which he wrote out at almost its full length. This change is termed " unfavorable ;" and such we must admit it to have been ; for, although the opening of his con- gressional life found him still unevangelical m his views of Christian doctrine — in feeling, if not in theory, opposed to 100 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. salvation by gi'ace ; yet is it past dispute, that on religious subjects, there had been progress in his mind, and that this progress was distinctly away from that loose frecthinking, and its accompanying enmity against the gospel, which characterized his early life. He was educated in the freer and more liberal notions of the people to whom from child- hood he belonged. With those notions he passed, at the time of his marriage, from his fellowship with the Gluakers, through his supposed adoption of the tenets of Universahsm, which was, after all, but another name with him for real scepticism on the subject of revelation, into an outward at- tendance on the ministry of the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches. Soon after he left the duakers, and probably under the influence of his friend Bolton's faithful appeals, examination made him, in his rational understanding, a be- liever ; though it left him still amid the natural wilderings of " an evil lieart of unbelief." But as years rolled by, and as he approached the openmg of his congressional career, it is too plain for concealment, that, like "the scribe" whom Christ addressed, he was, though still out of it, yet " not far from the kingdom of God," Legal practice had already be- come distasteful ; the spirit and maxims of the world held a far less undisputed sway over his mind ; the general subject of religion had become uitcresting to his thoughts ; he was, as his Sabbath annotations show, giving it much reflection ; the cast of his mind had grown theological ; on some points he seemed " wiser than his teachers ;" and what is more, though he still continued to fight with Calvinism, and was by no means evangelical in his doctrines, yet his prejudices against stricter views were much softened, and he could lis- ten dispassionately, and with some satisfaction, to one of the leaders among that little band of despised ones, who had already begun to constitute a portion of our churcli. This may probably be regarded as a fair view of his religious progress and state of mind, up to the period of which we are now speaking. His election to Congress RELiaiOUS CHANGE. 101 checked that progress, though, it seems not materially to have aflected this state. As he was, at his election in Octo- ber, 1810, such he appears to have been at the opening of his third Congressional term, in October, 1812. The most distinct notices, in the interim, of his inner being, relate to his ever-growing distaste for politics and for legal practice. Letters, yet to be examined, are strong on this point, and show, that if he had not become a Christian indeed, still, he was not likely to have remained either a politician in his pursuits, or a lawyer in his practice. Passing, with these remarks, over his first two years in Congress, we are ready for an advance to his own account of the grand turning-point, the great crisis of his whole life. We have viewed him in every important light in which his natural character needs to be placed. We have traced him from his parentage ; through his education ; into his profes- sional studies ; among his social, civil, literary, and benevo- lent relations and pursuits ; and along his legal and his pohtical career : and, amid all these, we have followed him through that darkly winding way which he tracked, from the blank wastes of scepticism, through secret stragglings with the shadowy forms of Universahsm ; through more open, manly, and intense toils among the records and the evidences of the Bible as a revelation ; through barren years of cold, unproductive belief, and of unsatisfying, unevangeli- cal theory ; and through fierce fightings with the Genevan giant and his offspring ; till finally, we find him — with much of the light of truth in his head, and that light ap- parently beginning to beam downwards into his heart — walking earnestly, and standing, amid raised hopes and ex- pectations, " not far from the kingdom of God ; though, as yet, wanting that one thing, without which he might have stood at the gate for ever, incapable of entering among the wonders which lie within. What this one thing was, he soon learned by the mani- fest teachings of God ; and the brief account which he gives 102 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. of it, is contained in his diary, once more resumed when he had taken liis final leave of Washington and politics. Writ- ing in Philadelphia, after he reached home, he prefaces tliis account with a few ordinaiy particulars, which, as they be- long to this period in the history of his religious life, may be here introduced. Under date of March 25, 1813, he says, " In my relation as a vestryman of the United Episcopal churches in the city of Philadelphia, I was considerably en- gaged in the secular aflkirs of the parish. I also served as a lay delegate in the State Convention of 1811 ; and m May of that year was sent, in the same capacity, to the '* Trien- nial" (or General) " Convention of the Episcopal Church at New Haven." On his way to New Haven, he spent a Sunday in New York, where he met and had a pleasant interview with Dr. Hobart, whom, in a letter to his wife, written in New Haven, he styles "one of my earliest and most intimate friends," Dr. Hobart was then bishop elect of the diocese of New York. " They had been school-boys together." When they met in New York, " how little did either of them think of the relations which they would bear towards each other in after-years." SECTION II. We proceed now to Mr. Milnor's brief account of the change which gave a new course and color to his whole life. Writing under date of March 25, 1813, he says, "During the past fall and winter," that is, through the whole of his last session in Congress, *' the interesting con- cerns of religion pressed themselves upon me with renewed force. The immense importance of the soul's salvation ; the ineflicacy of mere human exertion in eflccting it ; the abom- inable nature of sin ; my own character as a sinner ; the EELiaiOUS CHANaE. " 103 riclies of grace in Christ Jesus ; and the necessity of em- bracing his precious merits, as alone calculated to redeem me from hell, renovate my nature, and fit me for * an inheri- tance among the saints in light' — all these considerations agitated my feelings for many weeks in their successive op- erations, until, by God's grace, I experienced some sense of his pardoning mercy, and was made willing to assume his yoke. "My friend Thomas Bradford, Jr., being at the same time engaged in similar exercises, we exchanged sundry let- ters, which I have thought proper to transcribe, as contain- ing a faithful record of my spiritual engagements during the time alluded to, and of the nature and result of my religious experience." Such is the " brief account " which he gives of his change. He wrote contemporaneous letters to his wife, and others, full of the same theme ; and they, with those to his friend Bradford, may be taken as containing his 'more fro- longed account of the process so briefly sketched in the above extract from his diary. A few comiected incidents, of peculiar interest, will properly introduce such extracts as it may be necessary to make from the series. In his letters to his wife, during his second session in Congress, he makes repeated reference to the sudden and strange neglect of his friend Bradford, with whom he had been in habits of most intimate correspondence as a political associate, but from whom he had all at once ceased to re- ceive any letters. He wondered and was even offended at the silence, and determined to write him no more till its cause should be explained, and the correspondence be resumed by his friend. That cause, he soon after learned, was his friend's decided conversion. The suspension of their corre- spondence, however, continued till after Mr. Milnor's third and last departure for Washington. Mr. Bradford's " Rem- iniscences" give the following fuller account of these ui- cidents. 104 MEMOIR OF DR. MILKOR. In a season of affliction, during the year 1812, Mr. Brad- ford was made more than usually reflective and considerate ; and the consequence was, a decided change in his whole character and course of life. For his own comfort, he found it necessary to withdraw from all intimate friendships and associations of a worldly nature. But when he came to the point of giving up the society of his friend Milnor, he found it the severest of duties. He says that friend was as closely knit to him as was ever the soul of Jonathan to that of David. Nevertheless, he resolved on the sacrifice : their correspondence ceased ; and when Mr. Milnor was in Phila- delphia, even their personal interviews became less frequent. Mrs. Bradford, by birth and education an Episcopalian, and up to the period of their domestic affliction, an essentially worldly lady, sympathized with her husband in his change, and thenceforward became a devoted Christian. In this state of their relations, and j ust before the open- ing of his third session in Congress, Mr. Milnor called on his old friends, to give them his farewell. He found Mr. Brad- ford in his ofiice, and on inquiring for Mrs. Bradford, was shown into the parlor ; whence, after saying his adieus, he returned to his friend. " Why," said he, " you have made your wife a Calvinist. I found her reading Scott's Force of Truth. I don't relish your spoiling a good Episcopalian. You Presbyterians are always talking about Paul, Paul. You never talk of what the gospel says, but always of what Paul says." His friend made no reply: they exchanged their farewells ; and Mr. Milnor was soon again in Congress, engrossed, as Mr. Bradford supposed, with his usual zeal, m the politics and the pleasures of the capital. Meanwhile, the short session was passing rapidly away. Early in January, 1813, Mr. Bradford was absent from Phil- adelphia, having received no letter from his friend, and not caring to receive any, as he could look for nothing but the usual budget about politics, or the customary triflings about fashion, of both which his soul had grown weary. Upon EELiaiOUS CHANGE'; 105 his return to the city, however, on the 25th of January, he found on his table an evidently long communication, directed in the well-known hand of his friend. Supposing it to be a tedious talk about political afiairs, his first impulse was nol to open it. On reflection, however, he concluded to look into it. He did so ; and, to his wonder and delight, before he finished the first page, he learned that his beloved Milnor was, if not a Christian indeed, yet absorbed in those deep, inward strugglings with sin, and strivings after Christ, which plainly foretokened that the day of his deliverance " from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God," was at hand. He read on, and soon came to that part of the letter in which Mr. Milnor says, " In the expres- sive language of St. Paid, ' I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing ; for to will is present with me, but how to perform that wliich is good, I find not.' ' I delight in the law of God, after the imicr man ; but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. wretched man that I ami; who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' I em- brace cordially, and pray the aids of the Holy Spirit to do it etiectually, the answer of that eminent minister, ' Thardis be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'" The reading of this passage constrained Mr. Bradford to break out in joy- ous rapture, exclaiming to his wife, " Brother Milnor has found Faid to be as precious as we did." It is needless to say that Mr. Bradford entered eagerly into the reopened correspondence ; doubly thankful to God for giving him back not only his old friend, but more, his now dear friend in Christ — not only his brother in the law, but better, his brother beloved in the gospel. The opening of this interesting correspondence between the two friends was in the latter part of the month of Jan- uary. But, for more than two months before that time Mr. Milnor's mind had been engrossed with the subject of 5^ 106 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. religion, as a personal concern ; and he had, meanwhile, written several letters to his wife, which, as they mark the ope7ting of his views and feelings, it wiU be proper to ex- amine before taking up those which passed between himself and Mr, Bradford. Extracts, arranged according to their dates, are all that need be given. To Mrs. Milnor. "Nov. 10, 1812." — The letter of this date is a long one of two full sheets. The first part dwells seriously on the near approach of the time when he was cheerfully to lay down the honors of civil and political life, and return to the bosom of his family ; and on the deep peril to all his hopes and prospects as a Christian man, of the scenes in which he had been acting his part. It is a sweet, beautiful letter. The following are some of its passages. " You will, no doubt, be surprised at the seriousness of this letter. But my mind always recurring, at some sea- sons, to religious contemplations, and never, I hope, wholly without religious impressions, has, ever since I left home, been much engaged in the duty of self-exammation, the only means of discovering the truth of that awful confession, which we so often make with our lips without realizing in our hearts, that 'We have left undone those things which we ought to have done ; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done ; and there is no health in us.' I have recurred to my baptismal vows,* and find much more care necessary, on my part, in their future, as there has been much neglect in their past observance ; and I have had deeper impressions than heretofore of the necessity of acquiring that temper of mind, and of pursuing that course of conduct, which will prepare us for conforming to all the duties incumbent on us as members of the Christian church, * Having been educated a Quaker, he was not baptized in infancy, but received adult baptism after his connection with the Episcopal church. RELiaious cHANairr 107 especially ior a participation in the sacrament of the Lord's supper ; a duty so strongly enjoined, that whenever my mind has been drawn to the subject, I have felt much self-con- demnation for having so long neglected to make suitable preparation for becoming a communicant. This, with God's help, I am now resolved to do. The reception of this ordi- nance, I am persuaded, is * our bounden duty' as Christians. If we are not prepared for it, we ought to become so ; and our unpreparedness will, in the great day of account, be no apology for the omission. It is one of the means for making us what we ought to be, and onust be, if we purpose becom- ing candidates for a heavenly inheritance. If some ill- natured or misjudgulg people should deride, or censure our conformity to what they cannot deny to be legitimate and momentous ceremonials of the Christian Church, instituted and commanded to be observed by our Saviour himself, it is no more than has fallen to the lot of all professors of religion, in a greater or less degree ; and it will cease, when more of those who are far removed from the character of fanatics and enthusiasts, have courage to avow openly, yet not with vanity, ostentation, or illiberality towards others, ^full unio7i with the Church in all her rites, and to pursue a course of con- duct answerable to their Christian profession, yet comporting with a full discharge of professional and civil duties, a cheer- ful intercourse with virtuous society, and a moderate indul- gence in the innocent relaxations and amusements of life." Both the date of this letter, and its style of remark, indi- cate its place at the very commencement of his new experi- ences, and show that he was, m truth, but just beginning to feel his way out of darkness. The next extract indicates, among other things, as deep a sensibility to the perils of legal practice, as the last had expressed in regard to those oi polit- ical pursuits. "Nov. 18, 1812. — I intend, so far as I can without unnecessary singularity, to keep myself at home, where I find a satisfaction, which increases by habit, in the labor of 103 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. study, and the varieties of miscellaneous reading, writing, and serious contemplation. It is only by inuring one's self to retirement, that we can learn fully to appreciate the value of that injunction, ' Commune with your own heart and in your chamber, and be still.' I am far from being an advo- cate for entire seclusion from society. It is a scriptural posi- tion, that religion does not call a person out of the ivorld, but teaches him how to live in it. Particular situations and pursuits, however, are particularly exceptionable on account of being attended with more pain to a tender con- science, more distraction, more occasions of irritation than others. Such I have long deemed a laiuyers life. He is often obliged to advocate one side, when his own understand- ing and sense of justice would, if freely exercised, induce him to espouse the other. He lives in a crowd, and witnesses a scene of perpetual strife. Yet his is a necessary and useful occupation ; onay be pursued by an honest man with advan- tage to the community ; and is highly honorable in the esti- mation of society. As a mode of life, preferable to others, I have never, from the beginning, been attached to it. I now sigh for retirement. I am haunted by a perpetual feeling of disgust at the prospect of reentering the scene of contention, and of enduring the pertnesses of that tribe of young com- petitors, every day increasing in number and diminishing in respectability and worth. And yet, many difficulties He in the way of any scheme for retirement ; and this has prevent- ed my saying more to you in conversation on the plan sug- gested to you in my letter last winter. I wish not idleness : it is the parent of diBcouteiil, unci of many vices. My desire is for a situation attended with tranquillity, with intervals of abstraction from general intercourse, and with consequent opportunities for varied reading, embracing the improvement of the understanding, the innocent amusement of occasional leisure, but, above all, what I am at times airfidhj afraid of neglecting till it be too late, a solid j;;Y;y?r//Y///<:;/'; for ETERNITY." HELiaiOUS CHAKG-irr . 109 " My next leisure shall be devoted to an attempt at solv- ing the difficulty so pathetically stated in your letter, where you say, ' I know not what to do.' Your difficulty is pre- cisely that which ought to be felt at the begmning of a change of life. Oh how sensibly do I feel it at this very moment I So did one in the earliest days of the Church, when he exclaimed, ' What shall I do to be saved ?' I wish I felt more experimentally the weight of the answer which was given. Read the Scriptures , pray humbly and fer- vently ; lay aside dependence on self; embrace the merits of a crucified Redeemer, as your deliverer from sin ; rely on him and his grace for humffity, contrition of soul for past oilences, and strength to maintain resolutions of future amendment ; use all the means which his goodness has pro- vided, and which, next to the gospel, are to be found in our excellent forms of devotion, and in the ordinances of our holy religion. " You see that a train of serious thought, which I be- lieve it to be my duty to encourage, has, in a few words, given you the answer which I meant to reserve for a future letter. God forbid, that while I thus attempt to instruct you, ' I should myself become a castaway.' " The thoughtful reader will mark in the above passages, as striking encouragements, the writer's awful fear of miss- ing a solid preparation for eternity ; his deep sense of his own ignorance of the way of life, as being a mere beginner in the search ; and his impressive dread of becoming himself a castaway, while engaged in teaching others how to be saved. The next letter exhibits a scene not often witnessed amid the influences of political life — a praying congressman, be- ginning to seek his Saviour, with a readiness to take up his cross and follow Christ. " Nov. 21, 1812. — Whenever accident or choice throws me into solitude, the interesting concerns of the soul and of a future state press upon my thoughts and feelings in a man- 110 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. ner calculated to produce the best efTects ; wliile much for- getful ness of these things is always the result of extreme engagedness in the perplexities of politics and business. My desire is to become so grounded in the duties of faith and obedience, and so strengthened in a religious course, by habit- ual study of the Bible, and a sincere and lively performance of all the public and private, external and internal require- ments of religion, that I may go into the world and take a moderate share in its affairs, while I escape its pollutions and vices. I speak of my desire only, for I tremble at the prospect of my weakness and deficiency in the performance. God will do his part, but I have little confidence m my own perseverance and fidelity in the performance of mine. A sad experience of past defections alarms me for the future. From infancy to the present moment, a sense of religious obligation, of its violation in my conduct through life, and of the necessity of a change, has occasionally impressed me very forcibly, and prompted resolutions of amendment, and a tem- porary adherence to them. But too much mixture in gen- eral society, excessive involvement in the affairs of the world, and neglect of the means provided in the gospel and in the institutions of the Christian Church, have conspired with the infirmities of human nature, and induced deplorable relapses. " Thanks be to God, a proud spirit has latterly yielded to one of lowly prostration at the footstool of divine mercy. I am not ashamed, in the privacy of my chamber, to bend my knees and implore a^ blessing on my feeble endeavors ; to supphcate divine assistance in the duties of the day, and to implore a heavenly covering of protection from the dangers of the night ; and with the aid of divine grace, I ivill not bo ashamed nor afraid to assume the cross, and make a public profession by a union with the church in the solemn service of the sacramental supper." From the close of this extract, as well as from other expressions in his letters, it would seem that he had been RELiaiOUS CHANGi::' 111 the subject of a strong feeling of shame, keeping him from what he had regarded as the weakness of conforming to the outward rites of the church. Perhaps Ungering influences from his early Gluaker education, so unfriendly to all external ordinances, may have kept alive this strong sentiment, and rendered what is to others, when brought to Christ, an easy duty, to him one of the severest of trials. His next letter is chiefly an account of some books which he had purchased, and had been reading — The Apostolical Fathers, and the Life of Sir William Jones. From the latter he quotes, as specially interesting to him, '* Sir William's translation of four beautiful Persian hues." " On parent knees, a naked new-born child, Weeping thou sat'st, while all around thee smiled; So live^ that, sinking in thy last long sleep, Calm thou may'st smile, while all around thee weep." At this period he was evidently much engaged in read- ing, and in one of his letters describes his mamier of reading good books to good account, having been recently much delighted with " the inimitable, saintlike Cowper." But with " the best of books" he was most concerned to make himself familiar. As a statesman, devoutly studying his Bible, he was, to the best effect, learning how to do his country good ; while, at the same time, his own soul was most effectually growing " wise unto salvation." He writes, under date of " Nov. 25, 1812. — I mean to read the best of all books, accompanied by the use of the pen, in extracting or noting remarkable passages ; for my ignorance of its blessed con- tents is a perpetual source of self-condemnation, which can- not be diminished but by ' letting the time past suffice for having wrought the will of the Gentiles,' and by endeavor- ing in future to find some other use for this invaluable book than that of making its blank leaves a record of family bless- mgs and family misfortunes. Join heartily with me, my best friend, in so good a purpose, God will give the aid of 112 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. his Holy Spirit in our sincere obedience to his own injunction to ' search the Scriptures,' as the ibuntain of ' eternal life,' and as the oracles ' which testify of him.' Then may wo expect to find, what " ' too many do not know, That Scripture is the only cure of woe. That field of promise — how it flings abroad Its odor o'er the Christian's thorny road ! The soul, reposing on assured relief, Feels herself happy amidst all her grief, Forgets her labor as she toils along, Weeps tears of joy, and bursts into a song.' " " Through thy commandments I get understanding ; therefore I hate all evil ways." Such was the experience of the Psalmist ; and that of Mr. Milnor was coincident. The study of the Bible gave him understanding, especially oi Jiimaelf ; therefore he hated all evil ways, particularly those of his oivn heart. Accordingly, in the next letter to his wile which comes under our notice, he goes deeply into self-examiiiation, with special reference to those sms and faults wliich had occasionally overcast, with a fleetly pass- ing cloud, the otherwise clear sunshine of their domestic happiness. After using, with a faithful hand, ^ the moral probe which divine truth had furnished him, he adds : "Dec. 7, 1812. — Forgive me for recurring to these un- pleasant topics. In looking forward to a closer union with our God, in the blessed sacrament of the body and blood of his dear Son, a primary duty is self-examination. In this work, a review of one's past life is mdispensable ; and, as I write now under the inspection of the all-seeing eye, one of the sins which I have felt it peculiarly necessary to confess, and, by divine grace, to abandon, has been that of giving way to improper feelhigs induced by trivial occurrences, of not curbing a temper too quickly excited, and of falling into a consequent indulgence of language and conduct from which a real Christian ought ever to abstain." In reply to the inquiry why he pressed this subject upon EELiaiOUS CHANaE. 113 his wife as well as upon himself, he adds, " Because I wish to make you the depositary of all my thoughts ; because I wish you to begin with me a new life ; and because a sense of mutual folly, and united resolutions of future amendment, are necessary to that happy passage through the residue of our span of life, which I have a confident persuasion God will aflbrd us, if, by uprightness of heart and holiness of life, we merit it at his hands. Do not misunderstand me in the use of this term, ' merit' I am more and more convinced " — [we have seen the reason why he needed to be so, in his ac- knowledged " mischievous conceit of the merit of works"] — "as I give the important subject of religion deeper and more solid consideration, that our performances are no otherwise acceptable in the sight of God than as they are produced by the spirit of the gospel ; and that, with respect to our ulti- mate hopes of eternal happiness, these hopes are worse than vain, if they have any other ground to rest upon than the atonement of the blessed Saviour, whose all-sujjicient merits have given that satisfaction to offended justice, which our imperfect obedience never could have done." On the day next after the date of the last extract, Mr. Milnor wrote to Bishop White a statement of his views touching the Lord's supper, and proposed to become a com- municant so soon as propriety and the good bishop's consent would permit. But as those views are identical with what we find in the letters to his wife, extracts are needless. Perhaps, however, the reader will be surprised to learn, that in the evening of the very day on which he thus wrote to his bishop, he attended a ball. But it should be remem- bered, that he was not yet wholly in the light on the subject of his former worldly amusements, although he had light enough to make him go reluctantly, and only in obedience to what he supposed a call of duty. " It was the ball given by naval officers to Captain Hull and others then in Wash- ington ; and his position as a member of the naval commit- tee, seemed to render it necessary that he should attend and 114 MEMOIE, OF DE.. MTLNOH. participate in tlie compliment. He went late, came away early, and enjoyed little satisfaction in his reluctant compli- ance with the call." His comments on what he saw further illustrate the state of his feelings, and show that, if his views of Christian duty were not yet perfectly clear, at least the tendency of his religious tastes was in the direction of what is thoroughly right. " The crowd was great, and no Parisian assembly of equal numbers ever exhibited a greater proportion of ex- travagantly painted women. The people of this place " ' Still sacrifice to dress, till household joys And comforts cease. Dress drains their cellars dry, And keeps their larders lean ; puts out their fires ; And introduces hunger, frost, and woe, Where peace and hospitality might reign.' Never was satire more just than this of Cowper, applied to the people of this place, clerks and others, depending on the public for support, and receiving salaries abundant for do- mestic comfort, but insufficient for the purposes of extrava- gance and show. Every deprivation is submitted to in pri- vate, in order to be able to mingle, with some display of brilliancy, in the fashionable throng. Happy would it be for their infant families, if they better accommodated them- selves to their situation in life, and if they could be convinced before they verify, m their own experience, how truly the same delightful moralist describes the nature and end of these amusements : " ' The rout is Folly's circle, which she draws With magic wand. So potent is the spell, That none, decoyed into that fatal ring — Unless by Heaven's peculiar grace — escape. There we grow early gray, but never wise ; There, form connections, but acquire no friend , Solicit pleasure, hopeless of success ; Waste youth in occupations only fit For second childhood, and devote old age To sports which only childhood could excuse. RELIG-IOUS CHANGE. 115 They are the happiest who dissemble best Their weariness ; and they the most polite, Who squander time and treasm-e with a smile.' " I believe I did not play my part so well as to dissem- ble 7ny weariness ; but I think that, with a view of so much frippery and folly, I gained one advantage, and that is, a confirmation of my resolution to mix as little as I can in these extensive scenes of gayety, and to cherish the society of a few chosen friends. I am 7iot satisfied tuith myself iox having done otherwise in this instance ; but I hope my heart is free from the influence of any of the poisons of this perni- cious, unsatisfactory intercourse." On the 14th of December, he had received a kind letter from Bishop White, encouraging him to visit Philadelphia, with a view to communion on the 25th of the month. He determined to accept the invitation ; and so anxious was he that his wife should accompany him, that his letters, at this period, are full of the one labor of persuading her to the duty. The thought seems to have occurred to hun, that possibly she might be influenced to delay, by the supposition that his feelings were but temporary excitement, and would soon pass away and be forgotten. To meet this supposition, he wrote as foUoAvs : "Dec. 16, 1812. — -I fear you little relish the style of my late letters, and that you probably consider it the result of a momentary depression of spirits, arising from my lonely situ- ation, and my dissatisfaqtion with public life. If you should have entertained such an idea, I hope it is a mistaken one. I say ' hoi^e,'' for God knows, considering the opportunities which I have had for religious improvement, and the un- questionable goodness of my heavenly Benefactor, in the unceasing tender of the aids of his Holy Spirit, through the medium of the gospel and other appointed channels of grace ; considering also the many secret purposes of a better life which I have heretofore unavailingly formed, and the con- tuiual deviations to which I am daily yielding in thought, 116 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. word, and action, that I dare not too confidently anticipate a firm and undaunted perseverance in a religious course. As to my retired situation, it need not be so if I desired otli- erwise ; for a man here has only to put himself in the way of fashionable dissipation, and he would be engaged ui it almost every day. 1 avoid it as much as a decent conform- ity to custom will admit, both from a present sense of duty, and from a feeling of dislike to it, which every day increases. As to dissatisfaction with public life, I plead guilty to the charge ; but this mode of lil'e does not depress my spirits, because the period of its termination is so near at hand. No, my love, the reading of the Scriptures, a perusal of the writings of good men, attendance upon public worship, and silent meditation and reflection, have long ago convinced me of the truths of our holy religion, and of the necessity of our observing punctually its sacred ordinances." The remainder of the letter is devoted to his usual theme, urging seriously and solemnly on Mrs. Milnor the duty of immediate preparation for the Lord's supper. The business of Congi-ess, however, soon became so ur- gent that he was unable to visit Philadelphia in time for communion on the Christmas festival. He felt the disap- pointment severely, but without a murmur ; and it may, perhaps, be regarded as a kindly wise providence, that kept him yet a while in Washington, amid the dealings of God in the secrecy of his chamber. For it is almost hnpossible not to see from his letters, that as yet he had not looked deeply enough into himself, nor felt with sufficient power the work- uigs of the Holy Spirit, convincing him of sin, and throwing hun, as \ii& first step, not on outward ordinances, but upon Christ alone for pardon, peace, and life. Had he gone to Philadelphia at the time proposed, there was danger, after all, of his resting on outward ordinances as the way to Christ, instead of finding hi Christ, first, the life, and power, and significancy of all subsequent ordinances. Ill a letter, written about a week after the last extract. RELiaiOUS CHANGE. 117 the truth of the above remarks appears to be confirmed. Rising with the early sun, and commencing his morning walk with a repining feeling in his heart, as the memory of his recent disappointment was revived, he seems to have been led into higher views of God, and into deeper views of himself than any before described. "Dec. 22, 1812. — It is now between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, and I have just returned from a long, solitary walk. The morning is unusually serene for the season, the roads dry, and every thing propitious to travel- ling either in carriage or on foot. I could not help repining a little, though I know it was wrong, at the untoward cir- cumstances that have intervened to prevent the execution of my purpose to avail myself of such pleasant weather for my journey home. Reflections of this kind, however, quickly gave way to contemplations of a very different character. The itnmensity of that Being who formed the scenery around me, which even winter had not robbed of its charms ; his goodness, in making such rich provision for his creatures ; his kind providence, in preserving, sustaining, and super- intending all the works of his hands; and, above all, his unspeakable love, in the redemption from eternal death of a rebellious world, that had, by sin, forfeited every claim to his favor, broke in upon my 7nind ivith unusual force, and ex- cited a rapturous feehng of thankful gratitude, which I am un- able to describe. But alas, when, from such high-wrought, glowing contemplations, my thoughts were turned upon myself, how different the sight presented to the mental view : a poor, frail child of the dust, ' conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity ;' ' prone to sin as the sparks fly upwards ;' and daily offending, in thought, word, and action, the glorious Being to whom my reflections had ventured to ascend : en- dowed with reason, blessed with the light of revelation, fur- nished with all ' the means of grace,' and encouraged, in the use of them, to indulge ' the hope of glory ;' yet still cleaving to the earth, yielding to unsubdued appetites, the victim of 118 IIEMOIE OF DE. MILNOR. every surrounding temptation, and, in short, a rcbA against the sovereignty of licaven. Surely, said I within myself, such a transgressor cannot look for pardon to that God whom he has oifended ; he cannot claim the benefit of that sacri- fice for sin which he has so often slighted ; he cannot he again supplied with the aids of that Holy Spirit, to whom he ' has done despite,' and whom he is continually grievuig by his sins. These harrowing reflections were, however, relieved by suggestions of the most soothing kind, derived from the long-suffering goodness of our heavenly Father, and from the comforting 'promises held forth in the gospel of his blessed Son. I felt new force and beauty in the penitential confession at the beginning of our service, and let it flow from my lips with heartfelt sincerity and humihty. " Such is the result of a morning's walk in AYashington. I came into my chamber with humble confidence in God, but stripjjed of all reliance upon myself; being firmly per- suaded, that He alone can fit us for every good word and work, and that it is by his gracious assistance only that we can accomplish our best purposes, or persevere to the end in a course of living well-pleasmg in his sight." How plainly does this passage tell of the strong onward movement of the divine Spirit in his work of new-creating grace. How does it show the gkeat ciiaracteh of God rising on the view of his servant with more power than a universe of splendors ; and influxes therefrom, pouring m as from a full- coming tide of blessedness ; and then the soul, driven down from her unwonted elevation, into deep inward searchings ; self, detected as a rebel against the divine sov- ereignty ; and the sinner stripped, as by an almighty hand, of all self-confidence I It is true, the references to Christ are yet but incidental. He occupies not the foreground of the view. The chief objects which fill the field of vision, are, God in his glory, stirring a heart that yearns to be reconciled ; and the sinner in his ruin, knowing no salva- tion but in that God upon whom he has been looking. But RELiaiOUS CHANGE. 119 then, glimpses at least of Christ are had, as though the cross were in sight, however dim in the distance ; and liglit from the Sun of righteousness is filling the soul's firmament, as if that Sun were himself about to mount above his horizon. As might be expected, liis next letter to Mrs. Milnor touching the subject of rehgion, under date o^ January 26, 1813, expresses stronger dislike than ever both of the poli- tics and of the fashions of Washington, as having a most unfriendly influence on his religious progress, and keeping him from those full comforts of hope in Christ, for which his recent experience made him thirst with all the earnestness of a new-born soul. In truth, one of the greatest wonders presented in his case, is the fact, that such a work as that in his heart, was begun under such hostile influences, and carried on against such accumulated opposition as met him in the circumstances amid which he was placed. But that "work was of God, and not of man ; and the divine power was the more manifest in his behalf, inasmuch as from every other quarter the prospect was so unusually, so absolutely hopeless. His next letter is so full of Christ, the Cross, and the work of the Spirit, and alludes so distinctly to a possible change of profession, that it may well be given, with slight omissions, entire. "Washington, January 27, 1813. " My dear Ellen — I wrote you yesterday, and know not why I should again trouble you to-day ; having nothing amusing to communicate, and having already sufficiently fatigued you on subjects in which you cannot feel an interest until your mind is awakened, in a more hvely manner than it has yet been, to the realities of religion, and the indispens- able necessity of receiving the Saviour through the exercise of faith in his atonement, and the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. Suppose not, my beloved, that I mean unkindly to reproach you. It would ill become me to do so. My own attainments little qualify me for the duties of a censor, 120 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. or a counsellor. I feel too forcibly, as applied to myself, the weight of that injunction, to take the beam out of one's own eye, before we nicely discern the mote in the eye of another. / think I see the better way, and would fain walk in it. I believe my happiness, both here and hereafter, depends on my doing so. Natural pride has so far been brought into subjection to the Cross, that I dare humbly venture, before I close my eyelids, and when permitted again to awake from the death of sleep, to address my thanksgivings and praises to the great Creator and Preserver of my existence, confess my unworthiness of the blessings with which I am favored, implore better dispositions for his service, and, above all, solicit an interest in the all-prevailing intercessions of a once crucified, but now risen Redeemer. " Yet, though a rebellious spirit has, I trust, through God's grace, been subdued within me, so far as to compel me to repent in dust and ashes for my multiplied transgres- sions, and to seek divine aid in the maintenance of a bet- ter life, I see futurity beset with a thousand difficulties. I know not how I can avoid those smaller follies, as the world would call them, arising out of the manners and customs, the fashions and associations of a large city ; and yet con- science tells me, in a voice of solemn warning, many of them must be abandoned. Abstmence from glaring and profligate wickedness, which a regard to the decencies of life and to personal character prevents in many who are destitute of a principle of Christian piety, will not satisfy the requisitions of the gospel. Many even of the lawful pleasures of social intercourse must be abridged in their frequency and degree ; and levity and thoughtlessness must more frequently give place to solid reflection and seriousness of mind and deport- ment. In this respect, I solemnly believe it is indispensa- bly necessary to assume the cross, and to subject natural inclination to an implicit obedience to the precepts and spirit of the gospel. How hard the task is to the beginner, is evident to me from my own daily struggles ; and it was RELIG-IOUS CHANaE. 121 evident to you, when, on my last visit, I gave you such im- perfect testimony to my stability in a course of practice con- formable to the profession wliich, in my preceding letters, I had avowed. " A still more formidable difficulty lies in my professional pursuits. In the conduct of them heretofore, I have endeav- ored to maintain fidelity towards my clients, and integrity towards all. But I have often advocated causes against which, as a judge, I would have pronounced; and some- times have been obliged to make myself the organ of the passions and feelings of others in a way that it would not be possible for me to do hereafter, and yet preserve that consis- tency of character, and that peace of mind, at which it is my settled purpose, with divine help, to aim, " On what to determine, I am utterly at a loss. 1 wish to consult your happiness and wishes, and the welfare of our dear children, in whatever course I may adopt. But I think their chance of respectability and happiness will not be much increased, by my continuing to toil in a dangerous profession to acquire for them a large estate ; nor do I believe, that with a continuance of unremitted industry on m.y part — in the present state of business and of competition for profits, with the loss of a great proportion of my share in business during my engagements in public life, and with the feelings which I shall carry back when I resume it — ^if I were ever so desirous of accumulation, I could count upon success. I am persuaded, however, that no duty towards our beloved children requires me to give them more than, if they survive me, will be their portion ; and that I shall ren- der them a better service by giving them a good education, and endeavoring to instil into their minds early principles of piety, than if I could heap upon them the riches of Golconda or Peru. '* These are the unpleasant views presented to my mind by the prospect of entering again upon my former track of business and social intercourse. But in abandoning the Mem. Milnor. {) 122 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. former, and in some degree the latter, I am aware that dep- rivations not very pleasant to the natural feelings, must be submitted to ; and that there is still very great difficulty in fixing upon some other occupation by way of substitute. Idleness is the root of all evil, and I do not mean to encoun- ter its dangers. If, therefore, I quit my present business, it wdll be to engage in some other. What that shall be, is a question to be solved before an abandonment of present occu- pation takes place. A small farm for some bodily exercise, and a library for the employment of the mind, together with a close application to interests of much more importance than all the perishing concerns of this world, are what present themselves to my mind as the most likely means for insuring tranquillity during the residue of our stay in this probationary part of our existence, and a title to happiness when called to our final and unchangeable lot in the world to come. " Ever yours, "JAMES MILNOR." SECTION III. "We have now fully reached the time when the interest- ing correspondence between Mr. Milnor and his friend Brad- ford commenced. It must be evident to the careful reader, that ever since his " long, solitary walk," on the fine winter morning of December 22, which he began with repinings under disappointment, and ended with enlarged views of God and of himself, the style of his letters to his wife has been different from that of liis previous communications. He has talked less of the outward, and more of the inward things of the Christian life. His main themes have been, sin and the Saviour, the merits of the Cross and the work of the Spirit, a growing weariness of the ways of the world, and a growing conviction of the necessity of a change in the business of his futiire profession. At the time, however, RELiaiOUS CHANQE. 123 when he wrote his first letter to Mr. Bradford, although he may be considered as having become "a new creature in Christ," yet his rehgious views wanted something of that clearness and fulness which were desirable, and which they finally reached. It would be interesting to publish the whole correspond- ence with Mr. Bradford, just as it passed ; but this would swell too largely the size of the Memoir. Although, there- fore, Mr. Bradford's letters abound in remarkably clear views of the new-birth of the Spirit, and of the course of life which the new-born Christian is required to pursue, yet, with the exception of one or two passages, they will be reluctantly omitted ; and even when we take up the letters of Mr. Mil- nor himself, only the most important parts will be inserted. To Thomas Bradford, Jr. "Washington, 22d January, 1813. " My dear Friend — Ever since my return to this place, I have contemplated writing you a long letter, but have been prevented by a succession of engagements, which occupy much of my time. I ought not, however, m candor and fair dealing, to deny that I have been a little discouraged from recommencing a correspondence with you, by the abruptness with which that of last year terminated. Yet, I neither doubt your friendship, nor believe that you doubt mine ; and I feel as if a more intimate and profitable intercourse than ever were about to take place between us. We have, I trust, entered on a course in which, whatever may be the diflerence of our views on minor points, being agreed in the grand way-marks of our journey, and designing, by God's help, to reach the same destination, we may travel harmo- niously together, and lend one another a helping-hand, in surmounting the impediments which we may expect to find in our way. " My best resolutions are frustrated, or interfered with, by surrounding temptations, and I seem to experience in- 124 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. creased occasion for the penitent acknowledgment of having renewedly ' erred and strayed from God's ways Hke a lost sheep ;' of havmg ' left undone those things which I ought to have done, and done those things which I ought not to have done.' Or, in the expressive language of St. Paul, * T know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing ; for to will is present with me, hut how to 'perforin that which is good, I find not. I delight in the law of God, after the inner man; hut I see another law in my memhers warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. wretched man that I am I Who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?' I embrace cordially, and pray the aids of the Holy Spirit to do it effectually, the answer of that eminent minister of God : ' Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Let us look to Him, as ' the au- thor and finisher of our faith ;' be persuaded that * other foundation hath no man laid;' rely upon his all-sufficient atonement ; receive him as our Prophet, Priest, and King ; and depend upon the sanctifying influences of the blessed Spirit to prepare us for mauitaining our present conflicts with the world, the flesh, and the devil, and for obtaining ultimately a place among the saints in glory. Since my mind has become more seriously impressed, experience has convinced me, that when deep conviction of sin has seized upon the heart, when penitence and prayer have become its daily employment, and the soul is panting after righteous- ness, worldly engagements, both of business and of pleasure, slacken and impede its progress in grace, and hourly suggest fearful apprehensions of losing all that has been gained. how dreadful is the thought, that when called by God's Spirit to a view of one's lost, undone condition, when en- couraged to lay hold of the hope set before us in the gospel, and feeling with humility and thankfulness some advance- ment in the work of piety, we should relapse into our first estate. Truly, ' the latter end of such is worse than the RELIG-IOUS CHANGE. 125 beginning,' God preserve you and me from such an event. His power alone is sufficient for the purpose. " After a long profession of religion" — sacramental com- munion in the church is not here intended — " accompanied by vain attempts to accommodate it to the fashion and folly of the vi^orld, it has pleased God — in the midst of gayety and pleasure, and without that pressure of calamity which is so often made the means of turning the thoughts to the only sure Refuge, and while, too, the opportunity of public waiting upon him iii his ordinances was, in a great measure, denied — to arrest me in my course, convince me of the ex- ceeding sinfulness of sin, arraign me at the bar of my own conscience as a heinous partaker in it, and then, in mercy, to open to my view the way of escape, provided I no longer neglected the great salvation. " By a singular coincidence it has happened, that with- out a mutual knowledge of the fact, you and I have been similarly engaged. To whom, therefore, with more propri- ety than to yourself could I impart my feelings ? Let me hear from you. Disclose fully your religious views, for if will be done to a friend. Fellow-travellers on the road to Zion, I rejoice to wish you 'God speed' on your journey, and shall not cease to pray for strength to accompany you, though it should be — ' liaud passibus (Xquis ' — at an unequal pace. Affectionately yours, "JAMES MILNOR." To James Milnor, Esq. "Philadelphia, January 26, 1813. "My dear Friend — Never did I read a letter with more delight and joy than yours, received yesterday. I had been absent from the city for ten days, and just returned from the gayeties of a wedding at Dover, with a mind diseased and corrupted by the intercourse into which I had been obliged to enter with a gay and fashionable world. The contents of your letter warmed my soul, and enlivened all my aflec- 126 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. tions. For, my dear friend, among the crosses wliicli I fore- saw I must bear in my Christian course, was that of sepa- rating, in a great degree, from you and many others whose pursuits and pleasures were different from those which I was following. The goodness of God in awakening your mind to a sense of its true condition, while it has excited, and should continue to excite in you a holy zeal and grati- tude, has produced no less emotion in my own mmd. A dear friend, in whose society I have ever delighted, and with whom I have so often controverted points of religion, when we were both strangers to God, has been taught of Him, and is restored to me in the bonds of a covenant, which, I trust, will never be broken. How delightful is that friend- ship, whose basis is religion, and whose object is the promo- tion of our eternal welfare. Thanks be to God for restoring to me one so beloved, " With you, I am every day constrained to bemoan the little progress which I make ' in grace and the knowledge of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,' and almost to fear that I have no interest in his atoning sacrifice ; so cold and life- less, so hard and flinty is my poor wicked heart. Tliis body of sin weighs me down to the dust. ' Take from me, my God, this heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh.' Truly, my friend, St. Paul was never more correct than when he said, * The carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' how precious does the bleeding Lamb of God appear to a soul, sinking under the conviction of its guilt and ill-desert ; and how all-attractive and endearing are the promises of this blessed Saviour : ' Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ;' ' Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price.' "What, nothing to do to obtain this great salvation ? Nothing. Not a rag of self-righteousness will be accepted here. * It is for my name's sake,' saith the great Jehovah, 'that I do this thing.' How constantly ought we to pray, ' For thy name's sake. RELiaiOUS CHANaE. 127 Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great.' ' Examine me, Lord, and prove me ; try my reins and my heart.' " Persevere, raiy dear friend, in beseeching God to have mercy on you ; fight the good fight of faith ; put on the ar- mor of the Christian warrior, for we have to contend with most wicked and powerful enemies ; trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will give you victory over them all. " How pleasant will be our future correspondence. Leav- ing a jarring world and its concerns to those who love them more, we will tell each other what the Lord hath done for our souls, how we travel along the Christian path, what new beauties strike our view, what snares and perils we have escaped, what trials and conflicts we have endured, and what crosses we have borne. Thus animating and coun- selling each other, we shall find an epistolary intercourse more interesting and instructive than ever. How different will this be from that which we kept up for a part of the last session. Instead of the affairs of this world, we shall converse about a world higher and better : instead of ' Who shall rise to honor and distinction here ?' our question will be, 'How shall we attain to that unfading honor, in the mansions of eternal rest, reserved for the people of God V But, my friend, in all things be watchful, guarding yourself from the deceitfulness of your own heart ; for saith our blessed Lord, ' Watch and pray, lest ye enter into tempta- tion.' The terms of discipleship are plainly proposed to us by Him. ' If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.' May God bless and preserve you, my dear friend ; and may we, like David and Jonathan of old, be united in a sure cove- nant, and say, that, as for others, they may do as seemeth meet unto them ; but, in the language of Joshua, ' as for us and our house, we will serve the Lord.' " Write to me, and believe me, more than ever, '' Your friend, "-T. BRADFORD, JR." 123 MEMOIR OF I)Ji. MILNOIl. To this letter Mr. Milnor replied in the following, among other passages of his second letter, dated, "Washington, 29th Jan., 1813 " My dear Friend — Your afiectionate letter of the 26th has afforded me much satisfaction on every account but one. I fear I am to infer from your kind expressions, that you unduly appreciate my progress in rehgion, and that I have myself occasioned the mistake by using language in reference to the state of my mind, calculated to give you an idea of its subjection to the influence of divine grace which the real fact does not warrant. If I have done so, ascribe it to any cause rather than a deliberate intention to deceive either you or myself : a greater than either, I know I cannot deceive ; for although I trust I may say, with the pious Job, * I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear ; but now mine eye seeth thee ' — in faith and mental vision is my meaning — yet the glorious view does but excite in me the humbling senti- ment with which he followed this declaration, ' Wherefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' Truly, my friend, I should falsify every hour's experience, if I denied the enmity of the carnal mind against God ; the ingratitude of a corrupted heart for innumerable external and internal benefactions ; and its guilty murmurings at every parental chastisement for multiplied transgressions. The reason why we do not discern its rebellion against the Almighty, and its tyraimy over ourselves, is because we have been so long willing slaves to its dominion, and have so often aided its struggles against the Spirit of God, that we love its corrup- tions and defilements better than all the graces of purity and holiness. This I have deplorably experienced in my past life ; and now that I perceive with a clearer light than here- tofore, a heavenly index pointing to the right road, with the emphatic direction, ' This is the way ; walk thou in it ;' an * evil heart of unbeUef,' still inhabiting this miserable bosom, would dissuade me from my course with the beguiling sug- gestion, that * the Avays of wisdom are not ways of pleasant- RELIG-IOUS CHANaE. 129 ness, nor her paths peace.' 'Yes,' suggests this rebelUous spirit, ' you are entermg on a rugged and impracticable jour- ney ; it is beset with briars and thorns ; few of those whom you most love will be your companions, and all from whom you separate will pronounce you a fool, a hypocrite, or an enthusiast, for your pains. You must assume new habits and manners, and on many topics, new opinions, that will be the ridicule of your acquaintance, and will unfit you for the duties of your station ; and after all, having made trial of your undertaking, you will only come back into the world with its scorn and derision for your folly and fickle-minded- ness.' Thus is it that the arch-adversary — who dared pre- sumptuously, though in vain, to assail the sinless purity of our Redeemer at his entrance upon the duties of his blessed mission, by tempting his supposed vanity, and love of power, and cupidity of wealth, with an oiler of ' all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them ' — more successfully spreads his snares for the souls of weak, irresolute, and guilty men. Thus has he heretofore induced you and me to stifle convic- tions ; permitted us in some general way to acknowledge the truths of religion, and join in its public duties ; and allowed us to avoid open profligacy and direct opposition to many even of the stricter rules of life observed by others ; while he has prevented oiir following the good example of the truly pious, and made us content ourselves with a decent system of morality, mixed with some of the semblance of religion and the exercise of a disposition of charity and good- will to our fellow-men ; and then has assured us that these would carry us as successfully to heaven as godly sorrow foi sin, repentance, faith in the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God, regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and newness of life produced by the spirit and regulated by the precepts and the example of Christ. " As to myself, it pleases God at times to obscure my views, and to allow my corrupt heart to fear the difficulties which I have mentioned ; and thus am I threatened with 6* 130 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. the dangers of backsliding, if not the perils of apostasy from the faith of Christ. My religious strength is very weakness, yet I will not despair ; because, blessed be the Author and finisher of my faith, my salvation either from sin here, or from eternal death hereafter, depends not on my unassisted efforts. My help is laid on One who is mighty to save, and who will save, to the uttermost, all that come to God through him. " I sometimes think, that were I some years younger, and yet favored with my present views, my course of duty would be pretty obvious. But the want of capacity, and of religious and other knowledge, and the diminution of that aptitude to new acquirements which belongs to the youthful mind, with other obstacles that need not be mentioned, banish every hope of being useful in the profession to which you will easily understand me as intending an allusion." This is the first distinct reference, with which we have met, to the new direction of his thoughts towards the work of the ministr}', and it shows how little qualified he then was to judge of what God was designhig for him in the future. " Farewell, my friend," he concludes ; " ' Cluench not the Spirit;' *j)rove all things; hold fast that which is good; abstain from all appearance of evil ; and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' This is heavenly advice, not mine. May we both adopt and pursue it in all time to come." "Jan. 31, 1813. — Thanks to my heavenly Father, that he has been graciously pleased in some measure to prepare me for waiting upon him, on this his holy day, in that way which is alone acceptable, 'in spirit and in truth.' I say, in &omc measure ; but 0, how small a dispensation of divine grace is yet my portion I Lord, ' take not the word of thy truth utterly out of my mouth ; for my hope is in thy judgments.' My desire to avoid the scene of political dis- RELiaiOUS CHANaE. 131 cussion, wliicli, in this city, is everywhere, save at church and in the chamber, induces me very often to seek a retreat in the latter, where, I thank God, I may undisturbedly * commune with my own heart, and be still.' " He closes the letter in which the foregoing brief passages occur, with a Sabbath evening's " song of ardent praise ;" and then, as if feeling a slight r(;turn of his once strong dread and distrust of all high-wrought feeling in religion, adds in a postscript, " Excuse the foregoing transcript of my feelings. The full heart must speak out, or it will burst. I would place a wholesome restraint upon any tendency of my religious afiec- tions towards enthusiasm. This spirit is often more honest than the pharisaical formality of mere outside-professors ; but it obscures those clear perceptions of divine truth at which we ought to aim, and brings disrepute upon religion. Let the Scriptures be our only, as they will prove themselves our infallible guide. Let us never submit to the strange persuasion that the affections are not to be engaged — warm- ly, feelingly engaged, in the work of religion ; but let us avoid the evil of yielding them an ascendency over the word of God. ' To the law and to the testimony.' " After this characteristic caution to himself, he subjoins, "Farewell, my dear friend. God is teaching me to pray aright. I am a stubborn and backward scholar ; but in his good tiraie, he will enable me, as I hope he has already ena- bled you, to mount boldly, though not presumptuously, that ' true ladder,' as Lord Bacon expresses it, ' Avhich he has fixed in the person of a Mediator, whereby God descends to his creatures, and his creatures ascend to God.' " "Feb. 5, 1813. — Since I last wrote you I can pretend to but little progress in that work, the root of which, I hum- bly trust, is laid in my heart. The necessity of circum- stances, or rather the seeming necessity, carried me yesterday to an entertainment at the Russian minister's, from which I returned in the evening with a heart less prepared for com- 132 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. munioii with itself, or with its God, than if I had been drinking at the fountain of his blessed word, or employed in the duty of private meditation. To-day, your worthy broth- er, and a party from Philadelphia, have claimed my atten- tion, and the offices of friendship, pleasing as they are to the natural disposition, have made me partaker of conviviality, on which by any austerity on my part, I feared to throw a damp ; but which the retirement of this chamber, where my best affections have had their birth and nurture, reminds me must be abandoned, or- 1 myself shall be abandoned by the Spirit ofthe Most High." After quoting some sentiments from Lord Bacon, who seems to have been a favorite author with him, he adds, " You see how a mixture with gay society disqualifies me for resorting to higher authority. I am more and more con- vinced, in respect to myself, that these occasions and tempt- ations must be avoided ; and that the limits of propriety assume so equivocal a character to the mind, and may be so easily exceeded in companionable intercourse, that the tyro in religion must beware how he exposes himself to the dan- ger of losing, by his own folly and indiscretion, all that he has gained. ^ May the time soon arrive when I shall be less ashamed of the gospel of Christ, better practise his blessed precepts, and have more courage and success in subduing inveterate habits, and in devoting myself, as a consistent disciple of the Cross, to the promotion of the Redeemer's kingdom." His next letter contains an account of a visit to Wash- ington of a young Presbyterian preacher, the Rev. Mr. (now Dr.) Skinner, who brought him a letter of introduction from Mr. Bradford, and whose eloquent and faithful preaching at the capital left a deep and most salutary impression. Mr. Milnor thus narrates two incidents connected with this visit. "Feb. 8, 1813. — An amiable friend of mine," appar- ently a fellow-member of Congress, " who would have been much oflcnded to be told he was npt a believer, was frank RELiaiOUS CHANOE. 133 enough to acknowledge to me, that he went home after morning service, retired to his chamber, and wept bitterly at tjie reflection, that, at the age of fifty, this young strip- ling should have so laid open his deformities, and set before him truths to which he had so long been experimentally a stranger. A conversation held with him to-day, induces me to believe that an abiding impression has been made on his mind. *' On Sunday afternoon, at the close of the service, a lady, who had been much affected, went to speak to Mr. Skinner ; but her tears choked her utterance, and she withdrew." The occasion was blessed to himself likewise, for he soon after subjoins : " My mind becomes more stayed upon God. The reali- ties of religion begin to fasten more steadfastly on my un- derstanding and my heart. The Holy Spirit graciously as- sists my infirmities in making prayer and supplication at the throne of grace, and I patiently wait for an answer to my petitions in God's own time, confiding in the unchangeable faithfulness of his gracious promises. How dare we distrust that God who has promised to be ' rich in mercy to all who call upon him ?' " "Feb. 11, 1813. — You ask, 'Is it painful and injurious to me to mingle with the world, and to partake of its pleas- ures?' Yes. Nothing so much disqualifies me for all relig- ious duties as promiscuous company, especially if it be of such a cast as that in which you and I have been accus- tomed to delight. Whenever a seeming necessity has drawn me reluctantly into it, I have returned to my chamber with heaviness of heart and the keenest stings of remorse ; so true is the observation, as to the effect of such associations, which Solomon applies to the excessive use of one of their ordinary accompaniments : * At the last, it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder ;' or, as he elsewhere says, ' Even in laughter the heart is sorrowlful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness.' For any real delight which these things have 134 MEMOIR OF DU. MILNOR. given me, their loss is as nothing. The cross hes in subject- ing one's self to the imputation of a hundred motives for a new course of Hfe different from the true ones, and in offend- ing many amiable friends, who cannot, unless enlightened by divine grace, discern any just reason for an alteration in our conduct. " Hospitality and friendliness towards all who have claims on us, may be lawfully mdulged, but revelling and carousal must be avoided ; and, for myself, I add, all tlwse places of public amusement where God is insulted or forgotten, and religion and morals are set at ojien defiance. If religious convictions had not already divorced me from that fascinating syren the theatre, I should have been completely satisfied by the conclusive arguments of Dr. Miller, in his seraion preach- ed on the occasion of the conflagration at Richmond. . " Many thanks for your clear, experimental views of * the truth as it is in Jesus.' On the fundamentals of his blessed, glorious religion, we shall never disagree. If on any obscure, controverted point we should happen to differ, we will follow the conscientious dictates of our respective minds, appealing to the Searcher of hearts for the honesty of our views, and exercising charity towards each other. My feel- ings must indeed be changed much for the worse, before I can refuse Christian charity to every sincere follower of the Lamb, whatever be the denomination under which cliancc or choice may have thrown him ; fully believmg that, as ' in every nation,' so in every body of Christians, ' he that fear- eth God and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him.' " To this part of his letter is appended a note, beginning with the following passage : " C fiance — allow me to recall this hateful expression. How careful ought we to be, ever to bear in mind the all-pervading providence of God. The language, as well as the thoughts of the days of our carnal- ity, is an effective means in the hands of the tempter, of sullying our Christian purity, and of annoying us in the warfare in wdiich we are now engaged." RELIGIOUS CHANaE. 135 "Feb. 12, 1813. — I know not whether I am to consider my residence in this place, with all its privations, as an evil. Perhaps it has been a blessing in disguise. It engaged me in politics till my heart sickened with disgust at the conten- tious scene around me. It involved me in the frippery, and parade, and foolery of fashionable life, till I was surfeited with their wretched insipidity, and alarmed at the dangers lurking beneath their tasteless sweets. Depriving me of the enjoyment of a regular attendance . on public worship, it taught me to prize that blessing more highly than ever. Abstracted from my professional pursuits, and the many engagements which the cares of a family bring with them, and finding little satisfaction in the passing scene, the solitude of my chamber has afforded me precious opportunities for meditation, self-examination, communion with my own heart, and finally, by God's grace, intercourse with heaven. This work has been in progress for many years." [It evidently began the moment when examination had convinced his "rational understanding" of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and had driven this belief of the head into what proved its long conflict with the self-righteousness of the heart : a conflict in which nature stoutly withstood grace, and made disputes about religion and an exterior semblance of it a shield against inward conviction, and an opiate to conscience ; till, finally, the very excess of this world's noises — God speaking through them — awoke him from his dream of saving himself, and drove him for eternal life to the only immovable rock, Christ Jesus.] " In the midst of much worldly business, political anxiety, and pleasurable occupation, the ' still small voice ' has unceasingly whispered in my ear, that these could never constitute my rest ; that there was an awful eternity before me, and a work of grace to be effected in my heart, if I wished for final happiness. You say, in one of your letters, that you and I used to dispute about religious doctrines, when we were wlioUy ignorant of the power of religion upon our souls. The observation is 136 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. most true ; but do you not believe that God's Spirit was then at work upon us, and that, though the obduracy of our hearts would not then yield to his requisitions, but we dar- ingly sent him away till a more convenient season, yet he has been pleased, in matchless goodness, still to strive with us to the present day ? Such is my persuasion ; and the desire of my soul now is, to ascribe to him praises too exalted for my polluted lips to express, for his long-suflering mercy and goodness ; and fervently and constantly do I implore that I may be preserved, by a power superior to my own, from all manner of sin and wickedness, and be, one day, presented blameless by my dear Redeemer before the throne oi" his Father." Alluding soon after to Christ's " gracious promise of mak- ing us partakers of ' the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world,' " and to the assurance that •" so shall we ever be with the Lord," he breaks forth in the fol- lowing strain : " transporting, rapturous contemplation I Inspired by Buch hopes, founded on tlie unchangeable faithfulness of the God of truth, vain pomp and glory of the world, we hate you. Honor, fame, riches, become empty sounds ; and our whole happiness consists in the fulfilment of the noble pur- pose which you have intimated, of knowing ' only Christ Jesus and him crucified.' " He proceeds to advise the preservation of their letters, in order that, if their hearts should ever grow cold, and lose the sweet sense which they then enjoyed, of " heavenly mo- ments, unseen by any but their Father," a recurrence to what they had once written might be blessed to the rekin- dling of their fires, and the reviving of their unearthly joys. This again put in movement the balance-wheel of his cau- tion, and therefore he adds, " But let us avoid enthusiastic delusions, and test all our emotions by the written word of God. Let our ecstasies, if haply God inspire us with some portion of the spirit that EELiaiOUS CHANaE. 137 animated them, be such as were felt by David, and Job, and regenerated Paul, Then we need not fear that our aflections will run into enthusiasm and rant. At least, though a gainsaying, ignorant woiRd might pronounce it such, yet such will not be the judgment of the redeemed of God. They have felt the transports of a soul emancipated from the slavery of sin, and favored, in mental vision, with a glimpse of the glories of the heavenly world. my friend, may your heart be as light as mine is to-day. Last night was a happy night. Dare I be so presumptuous as to say, that God was present with me in my ardent supplications, and vouchsafed me an answer of peace ? Knowing, as I do, my ignorance and blindness, I could not, of myself, have so poured out my soul unto him. Thanks be to his adorable name, the Spirit gave me utterance, and I feel a humble hope that I have not wrestled for naught." The farther we advance in these transcripts, the more are we struck with what must have been the uncommon depth and strength of Mr. Milnor's early antipathy to Cal- vinism. Even with those who allow that his objections against that system were just, there can be no doubt that his antipathy was so excessively sensitive as to render him, for a long period, all but incapable of the true and full com- forts of a Christian hope. For no sooner was he brought to something lilt e the dawnings of that hope, and to an expres- sion of the holy joys to which it naturally gives birth, than he was seized with an uncomfortable fear, lest his friend should understand him as admitting the doctrine of " assur- ance,'' or as professing to have become one of "the elect." Hence, immediately after writing the letter from which the last extracts are taken, he sent forward another to set him- self right on this point. "Feb. 13, 1813. — I did not intend so soon to trouble you with another letter ; but I fear lest, in the warmth of my feelings when I last wrote, I have expressed myself pre- sumptuously and unadvisedly. I would by no means ' lay 138 MEMOIE, OF DR. IIILNOR. the flattering unction to my soul,' that my spiritual warfare is accomplished. God forbid that I should take up a false rest, and cry, * Peace, peace, when there is no peace.' There is no danger so greSt, in my eyes, as a false security in present attainments. It stops the progress of piety in the heart ; shuts out those affusions of divine grace, which would continue to be dispensed, were the mind kept in a meek and humble state ; and is, I believe, not infrequently a road which imperceptibly carries an awakened sinner back to the world, and makes his latter end worse than the beginning." These thoughts are just ; but what was there in his previous letter to justify the " fear " which prompted them? That " God was present with him," and heard his prayer with "an answer of peace;" that "the Spirit gave him utterance," and filled him with the " humble hope that he had not wrestled in vain ;" and that the night should have been made " happy " amid the refreshings thus kindly vouch- safed him ; were surely no reasons why he should distress himself with the fear that he had " taken up a false rest." Nor, it is presumed, would he have felt this lear, had he not once filled his mind so crowdedly with the theory that all strong hope borders somewhere on presumption ; and that enthusiasm, though often " honest," is yet, almost nec- essarily, mischievous. From some passages in his next let- ter, he seems to have been already thrown far back into darkness and discomfort. "Feb. 17, 1813. — Except when I seek the privacy of my chamber, I am in the midst of a continued whirl of poli- tics and fashion ; and after subjecting myself to much cen- sure for the languid interest which I take both in the one and in the other, I find my own conscience, in my closet, up- braiding me with mixing too much in their contaminations. With respect to politics, my heart loathes their corrupting and uncharitable dissonances; and as for the parade of drawing-rooms, it can afibrd little pleasure to a mind bowed down under a conviction of sin, and humbly seeking the EELiaiOUS CHANGE . 139 regenerating and sanctifying influences of the Spirit of God. Solitude and retirement, during some part of each day, can on no account be dispensed with. If secular occupations deprive us of them during the hours usually allotted to the world, let us abridge the unnecessary quantum, of sleep in which our sluggish natures too often invite us to indulge. My religious impressions have induced me to consider this useless waste of time as a sin to be abandoned ; and I find a late retirement to the pillow, and an earlier desertion of it, by no means injurious to health. " I am but at the threshold of this great undertaking of ' working out my salvation with fear and trembling.' My course is much less successful than you suppose. If ' the Day-spring from on high ' seem now and then to shine into my corrupt and darkened mind, its rays are ever and anon obscured by more than midnight gloom. The very ' black- ness of darkness ' appears sometimes to blot out all my hopes, and my only solace is the still continued promises of the gospel, which the combined eflbrts of the world, the flesh, and the devil, will never, I trust, be able to defeat." He had recently attended, in Alexandria, the preaching of a charity sermon by the Hev. Mr. Wihner, in the Meth- odist church. Of this he remarks, " Judge Washington since observed to me — not with a view to censure, for he afterwards highly applauded both the preacher and the sermon — that he had seen me in Alex- andria ' listening to a Presbyterian sermon from an -Ej9zs- (jajpal minister in a Methodist meeting-house.' that all Christians agreeing in the fundamentals of religion, would feel that glowing love towards one another, enjoined by that commandment of our Lord, which he does not hesitate to assimilate in dignity and importance to the first and greatest." "Feb. 18, 1813. — What a precious privilege is it to such worms of the dust as we, to have such a door of access opened to us into the holiest I My heart burns with rap- 140 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. turous gratitude and praise at this wonderful condescension in that infinitely exalted Being of beings, who dwells in light inaccessible and full of glory, and before whom even angels veil their faces." '* You see I keep on with my letters, destitute as they are of novelty, and, except to minds exercised as ours are, of interest too. Do not criticise their language, or their method ; for I attend to neither. Such as it is, you have my heart laid open to your view, with all its obliquities and alterna- tions : now tossed on an ocean of fears and doubts almost at the will of the tempter ; and now, with the impetus from that heavenly Wind which ' bloweth where it listeth,' and under the pilotage of that unerring guide, the revelation of God, gently steering towards ' the haven where it would be.'" A large part of his next letter, which is very long, is occupied on a theme to which he often recurs — the difficul- ties thrown in the way of his religious progress by his pro- fessional pursuits, and his former entanglements amid the pleasures of the world. After dweUing on the subject at length, he proceeds, under date of "Feb. 20, 1813. — Accept, my friend, these Saturday night effusions. They come from a heart more and more convinced of its innate and obstinate depravity, yet excited by divine grace to pant after that ' laver of regeneration' spoken of by the pious Cyprian ; and though moving with a faltering and unsteady pace in the appointed way, yet having no dependence on itself, but looking towards a bleeding Sav- iour as its only hope and stay, and consoling itself with an assurance, that what it could never have accomplished for itself, has been freely done by an adorable act of unmerited mercy on the part of the Son of God. amazing conde- scension I Love unparalleled ! Well might the apostle so feelingly declare, ' Scarcely for a righteous man will one die ; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die : but God commendeth liis love to us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for tcs' " RELIGIOUS CHANaE. 141 Alluding to the danger of " expecting, too soon, conclu- sive evidence of God's favor," in what he calls, though virith- out theological accuracy, " the complete regeneration of our hearts" — language which seems to confound our original new-birth of the Spirit with final, perfect sanctiiication — he proceeds : " His own time is the best time. Let us beware of the suggestions of the tempter, who would have us outrun the openmgs of divine light upon our souls, and upbraid the Almighty with the tardiness of his operations. Hearts, so lately at enmity with God, and even now constantly prone to forget that * his ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts,' should be bowed down in humility, and pa- tiently wait for God to be further gracious to us, by giving us a sensible assurance of our being wholly his. If this be withheld, a scriptural caution should silence every murmur : * Who art thou, man, that repliest against God ?' 'He that reproveth God, let him answer it.' " After he began this letter, he received one from his friend, mourning under an unusual darkness, which had come over his soul. Among other comforting suggestions, therefore, he oilers the following in a postscript : " Feb. 21, 1813. — It is good for us, my friend, and an evidence of God's love, that he chastens us, and does not per- mit us to relinquish our warfare by a false security of its having been already accomplished. Talk not of ' delusion.' It is the suggestion of the Evil One to shake your faith in the Redeemer. The Holy Spirit has begun a work, which he will assuredly accomplish, if you and I do not wilfully resist his strivings. What though our prayers are weak and lan- guid ? We have a prevailing ' Advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the righteous ; and he is the propitiation for our sins.' Into his hands let us resign our cause ; let his blood and merits plead for us ; and let us not dare to doubt but his intercession will procure for us a full discharge of all our sins, and a renewal of our hearts unto holiness and new- 142 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. ness of life. If our desires and prayers have ever wandered from the ground on which they must rest to be prevalent with God, let us apply to ourselves the Redeemer's rebuke, obey his divine injunction, and rely, yes, boldly and confi- dently rely on his faithfulness to the annexed promise : ' Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name. Ask, that ye may receive, and that your joy may be full.' ' If ye abide in me, and my word abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' The Psalmist, too, assures us that ' God forgetteth not the cry of the humble :' and again, ' This poor man cried ; the Lord heard, and delivered him out of all his distresses.' " My confidence in the Lord is strong this morning : I fervently beseech him to make yours so." He was learning to " comfort one who was in trouble, by the comfort wherewith he himself was comforted of God ;" and so experienced the truth of the divine assurance, " He that watereth" others, " shall be watered also himself." "Feb. 25, 1813. — I have need of an apology for the length of my last letter, rather than so soon to trouble you with another ; but I hope it is one evidence of my continued love to the blessed Saviour, that I delight to hold converse with one of his acknowledged disciples, and to be employed in so often speaking forth the praises of his holy name. If there be one sentiment at this time predominant in my mind, it is that of gratitude for his long-sufiering goodness and merciful loving-kindness to sinners, especially to me, who am the chief of sinners. He has been pleased to call me out of darkness nito some degree of his marvellous light ; and thanks be to the adorable faithfulness of his character, no doubt dares intrude into my mind of his perfectly fulfilhng towards me every promise of his gracious word to penitent offenders. My prospects are, it is true, sometimes most lamentably darkened. Since I last wrote to you, I have, at times, been greatly discouraged. My devotional exercises have more tlian once been destitute of the life and power of religion, RELiaiOUS CHANG-E. " 143 and. of course, have been followed by none of the cheering consolations, expected on the ground of a gospel assurance, from communion with heaven. I accept these evidences of God's displeasure with humility, as chastenings due my transgressions ; and pray afresh that they may be efficacious in bringing down every vain imagination, and in teaching me to rate still lower every performance of my own — to for- sake, more and more, evil ways and evil thoughts, and to rely wholly on the grace of God for ability to do so, as well as to offer up acceptable sacrifices of praise and thanksgiv- ings for his numerous mercies, and humble supplications for a continuance of his unmerited favor. The world, the world, my friend, is the great obstacle. We must take a firm stand, and tread it under our feet." " I have received a most pleasing letter from the Rev. Mr. Kemper, written in the true spirit of a gospel minister. No man more earnestly desires to see the church rise out of the cold and lifeless state in which she now lies, or more fervently rejoices at the prospect of these days of coldness fleeing away. * My heart,' says he, ' is indeed cheered at the prospect ; my spirits revive. When the hands of those who are appointed to minister in holy things are upheld by their lay brethren, victory in the Redeemer's cause is certain. I anticipate the time when we shall take sweet counsel together, for the purpose of promoting this best of causes. Nor will we be long alone. Many have become sensible of the vast importance of their immortal souls, who, if they continue seeking, will soon glory in the Cross of Christ.' " I will show you the whole of this letter when I see you, because I am persuaded you view the church as I do : not as confined to any sect bearing the Christian name, but as embracing, in its wide-spread arms, the redeemed of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whatever branch of the great family Providence may have cast their lot. Gospel charity, like gospel faith, working by love upon the heart, breaks down that unhappy wall of separation, which 144 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. too much divides brethren of the same household ; who, however they may difier about forms of worship and of gov- ernment, or even on some controverted doctrines, unite in cordially embracing the great fundamental and peculiar doc- tnnes of our holy religion. I thank God for favoring me with an expansion of heart towards all the member^ of the mystical body of Christ, to which I desire to be united as one of the humblest and the least." Perhaps we have met with no evidence of his own adop- tion into the true family of Christ more convincing than that contained in this last passage : the expansion of his heart's love to the limit of embracing all who are in Christ by faith. "We knoiu that we have passed from death unto life, be- cause we love THE BRETHREN," the entire Christian broth- erhood. By this time he had received Mr. Bradford's reply to his long letter of consolation, dated, February 20, 21, and 22. The following passage will show that his offered comforts had not proved like waters poured on the desert, which can- not be gathered up again. "Feb. 26, 1813. — Independently of the happiness which it gives me at all times to hear from you, I have, in this instance, a special happiness, from the assurance that you have been favored with those consolations which were denied you at the time of writmg your previous letter. I am indeed rejoiced, if, under God, the counsel of one who so much needs it as I do, has been of any service in this good work ; and yet I would not claim the smallest portion of merit, for I am a debtor for all things myself to the inexhaustible treasury of the blessed word of God. I trust the time will arrive, when, instead of the bufletings which the noviciate in religion experiences, we shall be raised above them ; and although we may have to ' call to remembrance the former days, in which, after we were' partially ' illuminated, we endured a great fight of afflictions,' we shall yet have the full assur- ance in our hearts, that ' there remaineth a rest to the people EELiaiOUS CHANGE. 145 of God,' and that we are of the happy number of those who are entitled to claim it." In the letter which Mr. Milnor is here answering, his friend, having been comforted, found his heart courageous and his tongue loosed ; so that, in adverting to the best means of counteracting the evil tendencies of legal practice and other necessary intercourse with a wicked world, he was led to make the following quotation from Watts. "As to our duty on such occasions, I have been struck with these stanzas as peculiarly apt. " 'Whene'er constrained a while to stay With men of life profane, I'll set a double guard that day, Nor let my talk be vain. I'll scarce allow my lips to speak The pious thoughts I feel, Lest scoffers should occasion take To mock my holy zeal. Yet, if some proper hour appear, I'll not be overawed, But let the scoffing sinner hear That we can speak for God.' " In his remarks on this quotation, Mr. Milnor lets us look into one of the constitutional peculiarities, perhaps we may say faults of his mind — a peculiarity, indeed, in which he has many followers : we refer to his great caution, tending to reserve, in making religion the subject of direct personal appeal to sinners. Some talk to these too much, because they talk indiscreetly ; others talk too little, because, when they do open their mouth, it speaketh right things. The former need a bridle on their tongues ; the latter should pray against being tonguetied. But to the remarks. " I concur with you in your views of the danger not only of business pursued, and of pleasure indulged as heretofore, but also of the vain and trifling intercourse to which we must every day be unavoidably subjected" — [supposing the continuance of their legal practice.] " Your poet's advice is Mem. Milnor. 7 146 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. excellent, but a man must be well grounded in religion to make it safe for liim, in general, to introduce topics connected with it into ordinary conversation. There are undoubtedly times when it may be expedient and profitable to do so ; but commonly so sacred a subject should be reserved for the pri- vate intercourse of kindred minds, shut out from a giddy and thoughtless world, to commune with each other on God's dealings with their souls, and to build each other up in their most holy faith. This, I trust, will often be our sweet employ." '• Feb. 28, 1813. — ' The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.' Thou, Lord, art the only giver of victory, and vain are the cflbrts of men who rely upon their own strength, and call not upon thee for aid. be pleased to teach us every day our entire dependence upon thee. Give us true repentance, saving faith, wiUing obedience, enlarged love, perfect humility ; so that, having exercised all the graces M'itli which thy Holy Spirit may endow us, we may still avow ourselves ' unprofitable servants,' and thank- fully acknowledge that it is of thy free mercy only we are saved : — " Such have been the aspirations of my heart this day, both in the house of God and on my knees in this chamber. The gratitude which I feel towards this gracious Giver of every good and perfect gift, for his infinite condescension in invituig us to these approaches to his throne, burns at this moment in my bosom with an ardor not to be described. Let holy David supply the song of thankful praise. ' I will praise thee, Lord ; even thy truth, my God. Unto thee will I sing upon the harp, thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee, and my soul whi.:h thou hast redeemed. I will hope- continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. My mouth shall show forth th]i righteousness, and thy salvation all the day. I will go in the strength of the Lord God ; I ^vill make men- tion of THY righteousness, even of jhine only.' RELiaiOUS CHANQE. 147 " How greatly am I astonished when I look back at my former misconceptions of religious truth. I refer not merely to its practical influence on the life and conversation, but to a theoretical view of it as a system. Those doctrines of the gospel, on which, if I know my own feelings noiv, I consider all my hopes of eternal happiness as resting, were, to my understanding, so repulsive, that my constant effort was, not daring utterly to reject them, to qualify them so as to suit my own dark, limited, and perverted views. Forgetting that the great Supreme ' will never give his glory to another,' my endeavor was, to make poor, finite, feeble, and depraved man, the efficient cause of his own salvation ; in this delu- sion losing sight, in a very great degree, of the glorious and complete atonement of Christ, and evading the agency of the Holy Spirit in appropriating its benefits to the soul of the believer. Then did I employ myself in hewing out broken cisterns, and in amusing myself with many inventions calcu- lated to strip the blessed gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ of all that I now see in it as most estimable and important. That ' it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,' but that his deliverance from the thraldom of sin, and his hopes of everlasting happiness, rest wholly upon the offering made by ' the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world,' and upon the regenerating, converting, and sanctify- ing influences of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, are now the pillars which support the whole fabric of my religious faith. Without these fundamental doctrines, the word of God degen- erates into a mere system of ethics ; and the only surprising thing is, that such a mission as that of our Saviour's, his sufferings, and ignominious death, should have seemed neces- sary for so trifling an effect as that ascribed to them by those who thus depress His glorious merits, sacrilegiously, shall 1 say, to exalt their oivn. Such, once, were you and L Such was the burden of our unprofitable, unsanctified discussions. Let our prayer to God be, that ' we may obtain mercy, because we did it ignorant] y, and in unbelief For my part, J48 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. I humble myself before God for this and all my multiplied transgressions ; and confess, that were he strict to mark iniquity, I could not abide it. But with him there is mercy and plenteous redemption. Let us not despair of their exten- sion even to us. He will yet give us to ' rejoice in the Lord and to joy' even abundantly 'in the God of our salvation."* "March 2, 1813. — I hope there is not an undue spice of self-complacency in the gratification which it gives me to hear from you, arising out of the kind things you are pleased to say of me ; for although I will not be so fastidious as to deny the value which I set upon your good opinion, yet the insight which it has pleased God to give me into my heart, and the hostility which it daily and hourly evinces to the operations of the Holy Comforter, will, I trust, sufficiently warn and guard me against spiritual pride, and the too favorable opinions of friends so partial as yourself." Yet self-complacency, or something else, " seemed to have obliterated the impressions of the Sabbath, and to have pros- trated all his religious affections." He says, " At an early hour in the evening, I retired to my cham- ber, and opened the sacred volume. It seemed to have no word of comfort for me, and I laid it aside, disposed to retire to my slumbers without this their usual prelude. Happily, however, I have not latterly dared to go to my rest without a previous prostration at the footstool of the throne of grace. I wept bitterly at the necessity of entering on this solemn exercise with icy feelings ; nay, I fear, with almost a dispo- sition to evade the duty. I am sure, I should have been glad to have a Christian friend with me, whose tongue might have relieved my own from a service for which I felt utterly imfit. But it was best for me to be deprived of this seeming blessing, this praying friend. Our heavenly Father did not suffer my apathy and torpor to continue long. The humble petition, that he would be pleased * not to cast me away from his presence, nor take his Holy Spirit from me,' but that ho would 'give me the comfort of his help again, and stabhsli RELiaiOUS CHANaE. 149 me with his free Spirit,' was not unanswered. My soul, before full of heaviness, and disquieted within me, ready to cry out unto the God of my strength, 'Why hast thou for- gotten me V received new life from the warming, animating beams of divine love. My praises rose into rapture, and [ left my requests with the God of all grace, with a renewed confidence in his unchangeable goodness and truth ; exclaim- ing with holy David, I will ' put my trust in God ; I will yet thank him, who is the help of my countenance and my God.' I will only add, that thus prepared, the sacred vol- ume gave me sweet employment until the lateness of the hour obliged me to retire to rest. To no one but yourself would I be thus particular. I am so to you, because the result of this conflict furnishes a consoling assurance of the efficacy of humble, fervent prayer ; a privilege and blessing so little prized, so much neglected." He goes on to say, " To-morrow is the last day of my public life," and to take a sort of review of his political prin- ciples and conduct during his membership in Congress, under the light of his new and higher views ; and then he adds, " But how I fatigue you with this endless talk about myself Let me turn to the more grateful duty of congratu- lating you on your increased composure of mind, your con- sequent determination to unite with the people of God in the holy communion, the gratifying circumstances of Mrs. Brad- ford's association with you in this solemn profession, and the consolations which you derive from your stated family ob- servances. All these sources of happiness will, I hope, be one day mine. How long some of them may be postponed, I cannot tell. Some appeals to my nearest earthly friend are not answered as I could wish. But conversation and prayer may, with higher aid, make more impression. My appeals are not rejected or negatived, but passed over slightly with a sort of acquiescence bordering on indifference. But perhaps I am mistaken in my opinion. Mrs. Milnor is too kmd and affectionate, if it were for my sake only, to let me 150 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. travel on alone. The heavenly Teacher will, I hope, make her, for Jier oivn sake, my companion in this, as in all the other duties of life." His next letter was written on the 4th of March, the day of President Madison's re-inauguration, while the writer was confined to his chamber by his old enemy the gout. It turns chiefly on the event of the day, and the character of the war in which the country was involved ; and has, therefore, little or nothing to the purpose of these extracts. But, two days later, being still confined, he wrote again ; and his letter was full of interest. "March 6, 1813. — I sit down, my worthy friend, to write you, in all probability, for the last time from this place. " In the series of letters already transmitted, I have en- deavored to give you a faithful transcript of my feelings on the all-important subject of religion. Unless I have been under a great delusion, they describe to you a work of God upon my soul, produced by the free and unmerited dispen- sation of his Spirit, for which I desire ever to be most thank- ful, and to manifest my gratitude by devoting, as he may enable me to do, the residue of my life to his holy service. Not that I expect to pay, by any imperfect labors of my own, the incalculable amount of obligation which I owe my heavenly Benefactor. My blessed Surety has done for me what I never should have been able to do for myself, though an angel's powers had been mine. But although my ran- som has been offered and accepted, and I would not dare presumptuously to claim the merit of having contributed any thing towards it, yet, does not this astonishing goodness call upon me, by God's help, to * walk in all the commandments of the Lord blameless ?' And although Christian humility must make every redeemed sinner acknowledge, that after his best performances, he is * an unprofitable servant,' yet, does it exempt him from exertion, and entitle him to ' stand aU the day idle ?' My former blindness on this plain and EELiaiOUS CHA^^aE, 151 easy doctrine of our religion amazes me. The inseparable union of saving faith and good works, as cause and eflect, whilst no reliance is placed on the latter as the efficient means of our salvation — this depends wholly on the atone- ment of our Lord Jesus Christ, the benefits of which are appropriated to ourselves by a lively faith, the gift of God's Holy Spirit working in us — is at this moment as clear to my apprehension as the simplest proposition of which I can con- ceive," though it were friend Aquila's " Two and two make four."] *' However I appreciate — and I do most highly — the labors of pious men employed in the investigation of religious truth, it is a cause of rejoicing with me, that my hearty reception of this doctrine is derived from a higher authority, the fountainhead of knowledge, the unerring ivord of God. My heart bounds within me, that I can add, the doctrine is sealed upon my conscience in answ^er to fervent, importunate supplication at the throne of grace ; and every day gives me new evidence of its being the basis of every system of doctrine that can rightfully claim the gospel of Christ for its support." All this is not unlike friend Aquila's ''solid conviction'^ of the truths which he found so precious ; and if this letter had been addressed to him, he might well have exclaimed, with thankful surprise, " The gay, the popular, the worldly Milnor has become a zealous convert to religion." " how comfortless would be our situation, how dismal our prospect for the future, had we to depend on any thing short of the right arm of God to bring us salvation I Yes, thou self-righteous, presumptuous Pharisee, who art vaunt- ing thy own performances before thy fellow-men, tell me, durst thou do so in the retirement of thy closet, and to thy God ? Dost thou ever pray ? If so., wherefore this unne- cessary trouble ? But dost thou in secret acknowledge thy infirmities, and ask divine assistance ; while, before men, thou disclaimest both ? Strange inconsistency I Tremen- dous infatuation I Yerily, unless thou art brought down 152 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. from tliy towering imaginations, and humbled at tlie feet of Jesus, and unless thou acknowledge to the world that thy help is laid upon One that is mighty, the most darmg profli- gate might refuse to exchange his situation for thine. Divine truth may, at some moment, reach his heart, and subdue his love of sensuality and pleasure. But thou art wise above knowledge ; thou art wrapped in an impenetrable cloud of arrogance and self-conceit. Thou hast darkened counsel, rejected the Saviour's plan, and made a system for thyself; forgetting, that ' other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,' without sinking into ruin with the tottering, base- less fabric of his own invention. Yet, the mercy of God is infinite, and a timely resort to it may prevent even thee from feeling how ' fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God.' " Such, I have thought, were I a commissioned officer of God, would be my address to those self-worshipping men ' who, professing themselves to be wise, have become ' such * fools ' as to subtract from the all-sufhciency of the gospel plan of redemption, and supply ' a cunningly devised fable ' of their own : to reject virtually, if not confessedly, the merits of an almighty Saviour, even an incarnate God, by the substitution, or at least addition of some fancied merits of their own as necessary to salvation. Ah, it is cursed uifi- delity, however disguised ; it is the enmity of the carnal mind against God, that jn-oduces such delusions. In the work of repentance, wrought by God upon my heart, this ' root of bitterness ' has, I humbly trust, been extracted for ever ; and now my prayer to God is, that every high thought and vain imagination may be laid 1om% and that, as the only fit preparation for an entrance into that ' rest which remain- eth for the people of God,' I may be ' washed in the blood of the Lamb,' be ' sanctified ' by divine grace, and be '■jus- tified in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' ** It is a great source of humble praise and thankfulncsa HELiaiOUS CHANGE. 153 to Almighty God, that he has led me to love and obey him, or to attempt, in some sort, to do so ; that he has endeared to me the word of truth ; that he has opened to me a door of access, in prayer and supplication, through the blessed Mediator ; that he has revealed to my mind, by his Holy Spirit, some sense of pardoning grace for past transgressions ; and that he has given me a humble, but firm hope in the promises of the gospel," The remainder of the letter is occupied with considera- tions calculated to guard his friend and himself from the entanglements of business, and from the beguilings of pleas- ure ; accommodating to these dangers the language of Solo- mon, when speaking of a peculiar class of perils, "Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned ? Can a man go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned ?" and closing with this reference to a future improvement of the means of Christian steadfastness : " We shall find, in their daily use, a comfort and security, that will minister to our souls' peace, and arm us against the fiery darts of the Evil One, and against all the efforts of his followers to seduce us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Although he supposed that the above would be his last letter from Washington, yet, on the evening of the same and the morning of the next day he wrote another, a few ex- tracts from which will close the account, furnished by this correspondence, of the development of his religious views and character. " March 6 and 7, 1813.— What, another letter ? Yes, my friend; but, wdth more truth than the announcements of our theatrical gentry import, ' positively the last perform- ance in this city.' " My lameness, thank God, nearly removed, my accounts settled, and my passage taken in the close coach for Balti- more on Monday next, I shall, with divine permission, be then on my homeward way. What pleasure have I in the 74^ 154 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. prospect of a permanent reunion with my family and friends during the residue of such term on earth as God, in his wis- dom, may be pleased to allow me. may he grant to you and me, when we are ' ready to be offered, and the time of our departure is at hand,' that complete and glorious assur ance which enabled the great apostle, in view of death, exultingly to exclaim, ' I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.' Let us avail ourselves of the last encouraging assurance, and seek, devoutly, perseveringly seek to be of the number of those who love the Lord's appearing." " In my former communications I have said but little on the awful subject of death ; but much, I hope, having a relation to the requisite preparation for that event. The truth is, that without meaning to undervalue the solemn incitements to duty, arising out of the denunciations of the gospel against the finally impenitent, which often affect me with deep and afflicting anxiety, I have to praise God that he has brought my mind to a realizing sense of religion rather by the soothing and inviting p^-omises than by the soul-awakening terrors of his word. I feel as if I must love my Saviour for himself , for his own intrinsic excellence of character, independently of his love to me, undeserving as I know myself to be of the smallest of his many favors. But when I look into my past life, and view myself the slave of sin and the bond-servant of iniquity ; living at the full meridian of gospel light, yet choosing darkness because my deeds were evil ; being almost without a sense of God's righteous government, and of my accountability to him ; and offering him external worship, the service of the lips, while my heart was far from him ; when I consider that, in so hopeless a condition, his love should have reached even me, * the chief of sinners,' and given me a comfortable prospect RELiaiOUS CHANaE. 155 of pardon and acceptance ; I find abundant cause for cleav- ing to him, even if an eternity of punishment did not — as assuredly it does — await a contrary course. So fully do I feel a Saviour's love shed abroad in my heart, that methinks, though a dreadful hell did not await my desertion of him, I could never leave or forsake him. In this view of the * constraining love of Christ,' the terrors of the laAV seem absorbed and lost, and the soul contemplates the great Je- hovah only as ' the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.' Although I would not take from this sublime description of his character the remaining essential attribute of justice, exhibited in the concluding clause, that he ' will by no means clear the guilty,' yet the idea which I wish to convey is, that the drawings of his love, rather than the threatenings of his law, have been the means of turnmg my heart to God. " Under such feelings, how do an attachment to life and a fear of death diminish I This it is that destroys the come- liness of all created things, and disrobes the tyrant of his terrors whenever he may approach. This it is that makes us see the mercy of God in all our earthly afflictions, and death itself to be but the passage to ever-enduring happiness The love of God in Christ disarms him of his sting, and robs the dark valley of the shadow of death of all its horrors. It was this that could make the great apostle say, ' For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain ;' and with all his desire of usefulness to the Church on earth, and of some prolongation of his life for that purpose, yet to acknowledge his ' desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.' " He had recently been 'reading Lindley Murray's "little book, called ' The Power of Ueligion on the Mind in affliction and retirement, and at the approach of death ;' " and had been much affected by its contents. He had also been study- ing " the eloquent and impassioned sermons of the late Pres- ident Davies, of Princeton college ;" and gives a striking 156 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. extract from one of the president's letters to a friend, descrip- tive of his happy feehngs on a supposed near approach of death. He adds, further, some extracts from the sermons, of great interest ; with one of which, and a few remarks thereon, he closes the correspondence with Mr. Bradford. This last extract from President Davies' sermons, with Mr. Milnor's remarks thereon, is as follows : "Fmally," says the President, "let me congratulate my reverend brethren on their being made ministers of the New Testament, which reveals that glorious and delightful sub- ject — ' Christ crucified' — m full light, and diffuses it through all their studies and discourses. ' The Lamb that was slam,' is the theme that animates the songs of angels and saints above ; and even our unhallowed lips are allowed to touch it without profanation. Let us therefore delight to dwell upon it. Let us do full justice to the refined morality of the gospel ; let us often explain and enforce the precepts, the graces, and the virtues of Christianity, and teach men to ' live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world ;' but let us do this in an evangelical strain, as ministers of the crucified Jesus, and not as the scholars of Epictetus or Sen- eca. Let us labor to bring men to a hearty compliance with the method of salvation through Christ, and then we shall find it comparatively an easy matter to make them good moralists. Then, a short hint of their duty to God and man will be more forcible than whole volumes of ethics while their spirits are not cast in the gospel mould." *' I have little prospect," adds Mr. Milnor, " that I can be useful in the way suggested ; and yet I wish I could be, for I think I always loved my fellow-men ; and never so much as since I have convincingly felt the love of Christ on my own soul. The thought of being instrumental in saving one soul out of hell besides my own, would be more to me than the wealth of the Indies." This letter, as a whole, furnishes a fit close of the series to which it belongs. His experience in beuig drawn to Christ RELiaiOUS CHANGE. 157 by love rather than driven to him by terror, furnished the key-note to the harmony of his subsequent preaching of the gospel. He dehghted in winning souls to heaven by the love of Christ, more than in terrifying them from hell by the thunders of w^rath. And it is probable that every faithful preacher of Christ, when he comes to proclaim the Saviour to others, unstudyingly follows the course of his own experi- ence under the work of conversion. John's preaching A^as fullest of love; Paul's, of light; James's, oi practice ; and Peter's, of loarning and conjirnuition for the brethren. His last extract, moreover, from President Davies, shows that a radical change had taken place in his own theological sys- tem, as well as in the temper of his heart. Formerly, he used to put morals before the gospel, and even as a substi- tute for it, while yet he never reached a morality which was more than superficial and earthly ; but noio, he had learned to put the gospel before morals, not because morality is use- loss, but because he had found in the gospel the power of God for producing such morals as live in heaven. And finally, his closing remarks on that extract prove that his mind was already ripe for the work of the ministry of recon- ciliation. His last words breathe the true spirit of Christ and of Paul, and of every largely successful preacher of the Cross : " The thought of being instrumental in saving one Boul out of hell besides my o^n, would be more to me than the wealth of the Indies." Allusion was made, some time since, to several letters to Mrs. Milnor and others, written during the progress of the foregoing correspondence, and containing passages of interest in their bearing on this period of Mr. Milnor's life. Those to Mrs. Milnor in particular, as breathing intense desires for her salvation, furnish the best evidence of the genuineness of his conversion. A few of these passages, therefore, will now be given ; and with them will close the view, proposed to be taken, of the work of grace in his heart, as presented m his own prolonged account. The letters to his wife, from which 158 MEMOIU OF DR. MILNOR. extracts have already been given, spoke mainly of external conformity to the ordinances of the church. Those from which passages are now to be furnished, say little on those subjects, but abound in thoughts calculated to awaken her mind, and to lead her to an immediate turning unto God. "Jan. 30, 1813. — Do you begin to feel the power of religion upon the heart ? Do you ever dare to hold commun- iofi with your Saviour in the privacy and stillness of your chamber ? Do you find pleasure and consolation in reading the sacred book of God ? Oh, it is to the true Christian a most invaluable treasure of knowledge and of comfort ; and if my heavenly Father enables me to overcome the seduc- tions and temptations of a wicked world, I will regulate my faith and my practice by its blessed doctrines and precepts. I am covered with shame and remorse at my past inexcu- sable folly and neglect. Boundless riches of grace before me, and I so poor, and needy, and miserable, and naked I A garden, abounding in every variety of spiritual pleasure, so near me, and I roaming in pursuit of the gilded but perish- hig vanities of this world ! What madness I What infatu- ation I But, thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, this winter has been to me a precious winter ; and, since I left you, almost every day has given me new cause to adore and magnify the goodness of God in opening my eyes to a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin ; of the abso- lute want of personal merit in myself, and of any ability to save myself; of the astonishing display of divine mercy in the gospel scheme of salvation ; and of my duty reverently and gratefully to accept its beneficent terms." " Give your mind to the contemplation of this all-impor- tant subject. I will pray daily for you, as for myself, that we may each receive the openings of divine illumination. Only remember one thing, God requires the lirarf, llu^ irlwle heart, to be surrendered to him ; and when this is done, ho will change it, regenerate it, wash it from every defilement, and prepare it Cor its final state of perfect happiness." RELiaiOUS CHANaE. 159 "Feb. 12, 1813. — From the brevity, infrequency, and' reserve of your letters to me this winter, I conclude that those with which I occasionally trouble you, afford you but little pleasure." [They had not, like those of the previous winter, abounded in pleasant details of gay life in Washing- ton. The truth was, as he goes on to say,] " The experi- ment has been long tried of making a compromise between religion and the world. I find it will not do ; and if I am strengthened by divine grace to maintain my resolution, I am determined to abstract myself as much as possible from the haunts of pleasure. All associations inconsistent with the innocence and purity at which I desire to aim, must by me be laid aside, because the book of God and the teachings of his Holy Spirit direct such a course of self-denial as abso- lutely necessary to a soul resolutely bent on the cultivation of the Christian life. 0, my dear Ellen, can you not be my companion and ' help-meet' on the way to heaven ? Thith- erward all my desires and wishes tend. Come with me, my best earthly friend. " I doubt not your willingness to renounce the gayeties of life. In these you have hitherto little mixed. In this respect, I have abundantly more to answer for than you. But, my love, you must do more than this. You must not talk of intending to be serious. Consider the brevity and uncertainty of life, and the awful consequences of dying in an unconverted state. ' Noiv is the accepted time ; noiv is the day of salvation.' Now, if we call on the blessed Saviour, he will hear our voice, and grant our humble supplications. let us see in its proper light the deformity of sin. It was that which nailed our bleeding Lord to the accursed tree. It is that which now separates us from him, and prevents tliese cold and flinty hearts from breaking out in rapturous Btrains of love and praise for such an astonishing display of grace and mercy to a perishing world. Shall he have bled and died for us in vain ? Assuredly this will be the case, if we refuse to accept the terms proffered in the gospel. What IGO MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOK. are they ? A turning unto God by faith in Christ, and repentance for past transgressions ; and even these things are not expected to he done by us in our own natural strength : divine assistance is promised to every humble penitent. Christ's all-sufficient grace will never be with- held in time of need. No matter what have been our offen- ces, though they be red like scarlet or crimson, he will make them white as snow. He requires nothing on our part but the surrender of ourselves into his hands, as a faithful Shep- herd, who never abandons his flock. Neither does he expect us to come to him in a state of holiness : he knows our infirm- ities, and the natural depravity of our hearts. We are to approach the footstool of sovereign mercy juU as ive are, owning ourselves sinners by nature, and sinners by practice ; giving up every claim of self-righteousness or self-dependence, and relying wholly upon him to make us what he would have us to be. Be persuaded, my Ellen, to read the Scrip- tures, especially the New Testament ; and try to lay hold, by faith, of the gracious promises which there abound. Doubt not the love of the adorable Saviour. By his Spirit, he will fan the fading embers of piety in your heart into a flame of glowing devotion ; and you will find a pleasure, and take an interest in the exercises of public and private w^or- ship, such as you never before experienced. I am awfully convinced, that if we are not finally saved, it will be our own fault ; for G od has put all the means immediately within our reach. Let us cordially, and with full purpose of heart, make use of them. Neither let us be ashamed of assuming the Cross of Christ. I mean not by putting on any aflectation of extraordinary sanctity — that was the vice of the Pharisees, which Christ so severely reprehended — no, let our faith and piety be evinced by the holiness of our lives ; by attending regularly on public worship ; by joining in the ordinances of the church ; by reading attentively the word of God, which contains the message of eternal lite ; by charity and kindness to our fellow-men ; by a renunciation RELiaiOUS CHANaE. 161 of all sinful pleasures ; and, dare I venture to suggest it ? by family prayer. These things will recommend us to the favor of our heavenly Father" — [a remnant of his olden phraseol- ogy still cleaving to him, which, a month later, he would have cast away as a filthy rag of self-righteousness] — " and though a gainsaying world may sneer at our course, Ave shall yet have inward peace, and the hope that ' we may die the death of the righteous, and that our last end may be like his.' " do not give me a cold answer, in a single sentence, to these well-meant suggestions. Lay them to heart. Take up this letter a second and a third time, and then tell me unreservedly your feelings. If I did not love you most sin- cerely, I would not write thus to you. If I had not, in a measure, felt the grace of God on my own heart, I should not dare to invite you to seek after a change of yours. My attainments are infinitely small, but I have ' laid my help upon One who is mighty to save,' and who will ' save, to the uttermost, all who come unto God through him.' I solicit you to do the same ; and then there is no danger but that, persevering in the ways of his appointment, we shall spend a happy life, so far as it is attainable in this vale of tears, and a happier eternal life in the Paradise of God." The only remaining letter to Mrs. Milnor from which we shall quote, was dated, "Feb. 27, 1813. — If," says he, "the cause of your increased reluctance" to write " arises from a secret dislike to the serious tenor of my letters this winter, it would grieve me much more" than if it were found in your mere want of fondness for the pen. " For, as I wish you to be a partaker w^ith me in every earthly enjoyment, so do I most ardently desire that we may be joint participants in that happiness which is laid up for the righteous in the world to come. Every day enamours me more and more with the beauties and consolations of religion. It has been the pleasure of God to turn my heart to it with increased ardor, and to cheer me 162 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. with the prospect of that great 'recompense of reward,' which has been purchased for us by the atoning blood of the dear Redeemer, on whose merits only do I desire to rely for every hope of future blessedness. There is no enthusiasm, no delusion, in these enlivening prospects. They are found- ed on the immutable promises of God in the word of truth, and are of more value than all the riches, and honors, and pleasures of an unsatisfying world. My future life must, therefore, be conformed, so far as weak and wavering human nature will permit, to the rules of the blessed gospel. All other things must be held subordinate to this ; and you too, my endeared partner, must arouse your slumbering afiections, take up your cross, and follow after Christ." Perhaps God was then teaching her to do what her hus- band so earnestly urged, and thus her neglect of writmg may have had no other than its old cause. The other contemporaneous letters, to which allusion has been made, were addressed to Bishop White and the Rev. Jackson Kemper, the latter an assistant minister in the par- ish of which the bishop was rector. From those to the lat- ter a few extracts are subjoined. " February, 1813. — Rev. and dear sir, I write to you con- fidentially as a friend, and most seriously and respectfully as an ambassador of God, and one of those appointed to minis- ter among us in holy things. It is on a subject upon wliich, though, in the Laodicean state of too many among us, it may be unusual for individuals to make their feelings known to you, yet, if I rightly apprehend the measure of your zeal in the cause of religion and the salvation of souls, a disclosure, whenever made in sincerity and from right motives, will be properly appreciated, and receive its merited attention. Religion has, in a vague and unsettled manner, afi'ected my mhid occasionally from my earliest recollection. Sometimes it has warmed and animated my heart. Sometimes I have been involved in S})ccu1atio7is calculated to lessen its eflect as the governing principle and rule of life and conduct ; and HELiaiOUS CHANaE. 163 sometimes, by subtracting from the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, I have weakened its divine authority, and made it a mere system of morahty, which the human, mind, limited as it is, might have been competent to frame withqut the intervention of the wisdom of the Most High, or the suffer- ings and death of his blessed Son, " In the providence of God, I have had my mind drawn to this interesting subject in a way which I have never before experienced." He then proceeds to a brief account of the progress of his change, coincident with that already laid before the reader in the extracts from his letters to Mrs. Milnor and his friend Bradford ; after which he adds, " I do not state these things to you boastingly. * God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.' My heart tells me that I have nothing to boast of It is of the goodness of my heavenly Father that my eyes have been partially opened, and I rely wholly upon his all-sufficient grace to enable me, ' forgetting those things which are behind, to press towards those things which are before — towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' " Then follows a proposal to present himself for confirma- tion and the Lord's supper, at the first convenient opportu- nity after his return to Philadelphia ; to which he subjoins, " I am suitably aware of the awful responsibility of such a measure ; but entering upon it, as I trust, under the direc- tion of God's word impressed by his Spirit upon my heart, with a confirmed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in his atone- ment for the sins of a lost and ruined world, and in the gra- cious promises of his gospel, on them will I depend for the performance of the duty, and for aid to follow it by a corre- sponding obedience to the commandments of God in my sub- sequent life and deportment. " I am sure you will pardon this egotism. It is an ob- servation of the great Lord Bacon, that ' the communicating 164 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. of a man's self to his friend, worketh two contrary effects ; for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in half; and there is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more ; and no man imparteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieveth the less.' Such is the only apology I now offer for opening my mind to you, whom I desire to consider not merely in the formal relation of my spiritual instructor, but in the still more tender one of a friend and brother in Christ." To this letter, Mr. Kemper returned the answer formerly noticed in the correspondence with Mr. Bradford, after which Mr. Milnor addressed him a second, dated, "Feb. 27, 1813. — I thank you sincerely, my dear sir, for your kind and affectionate letter, and cordially accept it as a pledge of our union in the cause of Christ. For myself, I can promise but little. Every day furnishes new evidence to my mind of the necessity of abandoning self-confidence, and of placing my reliance upon Him only who is ' mighty to save.' Since my attention has been turned with more closeness than heretofore to the interesting concerns of relig- ion, the dangerous hinderances with which I meet to the Christian's progress in holiness have filled me with appre- hensions, such as, in my recent state of self-security, were wholly unknown to me." " I entreat your prayers that I may be succored by the aids of divine grace, so that I may fall ' into no sm, neither run into any kind of danger.' " I rejoice at the intimations given in your letter, of an increased concern in some of our members about their im- mortal souls, and pray God that it may manifest itself in an open profession of religion on the part of many. How strange, that we should be ashamed to be known as C-hrist's real dis- ciples I Yet I speak both from observation and from expe- rience, when I say, that a fear of tliis AMuld'.si censure and criticisms, and of an abridi^mont of its pleasures, deters many, who are not without a icspi^ct for religion, nor without oc- casional alarms in their consciences for their want of -vin- EELiaiOUS CHANaE. 165 formity to it, from openly acknowledging themselves the followers of Christ. Even at this moment, with all my strong desires after a saving interest in his merits, and reso- lutions to embrace every means of grace which his goodness has provided, the tempter often assails me with such sug- gestions. A loss of business, arising from more scrupulous- ness in its selection ; a loss of acquaintance, proceeding from the same cause ; a relinquishment of some long-established schemes of pleasure ; the world's scorn, and evil imputa- tions ; a dread of singularity, and a numerous train of simi- lar difficulties, are powerful in weakening good determina- tions, and in diverting the. mind from ' the one thing needful.' And yet, when rightly viewed, some of these have no foun- dation ; and with respect to others, religion would be valua- ble, independently of its holier ends, if its only effect were to destroy an ill-judged fondness for many things alike unprofit- able both for this world and for that which is to come. But when considered in relation to our duties to God, as the great author of our existence, and in relation to ourselves as rebels against his divine authority, yet reconciled to him and freely pardoned through the sacrifice of his Son, how insignificant appear all other things compared with * the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord,' and an assurance of an interest in his blessed atonement ! Here, by his gracious aid, WILL I TAKE UP MY REST \ in all my weakness relying upon his strength, and in the midst of trials and tempta- tions depending wholly upon him, who has promised that he ' will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear.' " Such, then, viewed in the light of his private journals and of his own letters at the time and since, was that emi- nent work of grace in his heart which — after long years of indulgence in the dream of a universal salvation, in "a mis- chievous conceit of the merit of human works," or of man's virtual sufficiency to save himself, and in a strenuous warfare against evangelical truth in g'eneral and Calvinism in par- 166 MEMOIR OF DP.. MILNOR. ticular — the Holy Spirit accomplished in the once unbelieving and worldly subject of this memoir. It has been supposed that the process had its beginning durmg his congressional career, and that it might be traced to particular incidents lying within that period of his life ; but our researches have shown that, in reality, it dates from a point much farther back in his history. =^ It is plain that his first step towards * His son's " Eecollections " give the following remarks: "There have been many reports respecting the instrumental cause of his con- version ; none of them, I believe, entirely correct. Some of the cir- cumstances related very probably promoted the change ; but none, I think, originated it. One incident doubtless made a powerful impres sion. On one of his visits to Philadelphia, during his term in Congress, his little daughter Anna met him, as he entered the house, with the exclamation, 'Papa, do you know I can read?' 'No,' said he; 'let me hear you,' ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,' were the words which she happened to select. A chord in his heart vibrated in harmony. It seemed to come as a solemn admonition. Out of the mouth of babes God was teaching him. Still, human agency had little to do with his change. The Spirit of God was mov- ing within him, and gradually drawing him from worldly thoughts and scenes to the retirement of his closet, where he could commune with his own heart and be still." His friend Bradford also, in his "Reminiscences," mentions the following incident. " Religious subjects were evidently interesting to him for a long time before his conversion, though he was not distinctly aware of it. I well remember calling upon him one evening at his house in Walnut-street, when he remarked, that he had just read 'The Dairyman's Daughter,' and had wept over it; and that his wife had read it, and Patty the cook had read it, with similar feelings." The following also may throw a ray of light on the progress of his mind in religious knowledge. Some years before his death. Dr. Milnor was conversing with a friend in New York about events which occurred while he was in Congress. He stated, that while walking, one day, with the eccentric John Randolph, their conversation turned on moral subjects; and, in proof of some sentiment which he had advanced, he quoted a text from the Bible. Randolph, thinking the passage misap- plied, turned on him suddenly and severely with the exclamation, "You quote Scripture, Milnor? Why do you quote Scripture? You know nothing of the Bible. Go home and study it," The doctoi added, to his New York friend, "I felt the justice of the rebuke, and EELiaiOUS CHANaE. 167 the truth, under the divine leadings, was taken soon after the receipt of his friend Bolton's pungent letters, durmg the second year of his married life. He began his course by- resolving to search the Scriptures, that he might see whether they taught his creed of a universal salvation. This, hoAV- ever, drove him, as a preparatory step, to examine the evi- dences of revelation, the claims of the Bible to divine inspi- ration. In this search, he seems to have acted like a lawyer only, in the weighing and sifting of testimony ; and he ac- cordingly came to no more than a lawyer's conclusion, a mere faith of the rational understanding, that the Bible is God's word. He now proceeded to the reading of its contents, and, in doing so, soon found that they do not teach his then favor- ite theory of the salvation of all men. Still, he was not prepared to receive their plain, obvious meaning ; he there- fore set himself to his protracted labor of interpreting them in accordance with what now became his equally favorite theory of the merit of works, of man's supposed ability to save himself. Thus he entered his long warfare against the truth — at first under the Presbyterian ministry of Linn and Wilson, and afterwards under the Episcopal teachings of White and Abercrombie, Kemper and Pilmore. In that warfare, evidently, he was now and then hit by the arrows of light, shot by the hand of some evangelical archer ; so that, when he fnially entered the strife of the political arena, he went with a strange mixture of light and darkness, and with the risings of a mysterious interest in religion, which, as yet, he did not comprehend. His political career lay amid scenes agitated by the awakening of the savage demon of war ; at first stirring the blood of the nation for fight, and then maddening that blood with the hot passions of conflict. Against all this, his spirit and his prmciples, derived perhaps resolved that I would no longer continue in practical ignorance of the word of God. I at once entered on a more serious study of it, and thus far through life have Continued that study with increasing pleasure." 168 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. from early association with the peace-loving Friends, and fostered by his own peace-making dispositions, led him, with unusual vehemence, to protest on the floor of Congress. Pol- itics, as embodied in war-making and war-waging measures, became more and more the loathing of his soul. His heart sickened at the exhibitions which he beheld, of strife, intrigue, and party bitterness. His difficulty with Mr. Clay, though met and averted with firmness and dignity, may well be supposed to have deepened the sentiment, already settling down into his nature, of utter aversion to political life, as distinguished from political scie?ice. In the longings of his spirit, he turned away towards something quieter and more loving, as better fitted to a right disciphne of mind and a rational enjoyment of life. His first thoughts seem to have been of union with the Church by compliance with its out- ward forms, in connection, it is true, with some creditable measure of his former habits of easy conformity with the world. Even these thoughts, however, brought him, more directly than ever, into secret intercourse with himself; and, ere he was aware of it, the Holy Spirit was leading him down, below outward, visible forms, into deep, inner expe- riences. Doubtless, there was much in his condition favorable to some new development of character. A man in Congress, who cannot grow fond of its business and excitements, will very likely be driven into himself, or towards some form of life different from those around him. This tendency in Mr. Milnor's case was even pecuharly strong. Peacefully and domestically attempered as he was, he was yet compelled to hear war thundering almost at the gates of the capitol, and politics filling every place with its din of angry Avords. Home, too, with its endearments, to him peculiarly dear, was far away ; and even the fashionable amusements of Washington, however agreeable in themselves to his old, long-cherished tastes, were so identified with tlie actors and the actings of the strifeful scene around him, that he grew more and more RELIGIOUS CHANaE. 169 sated and incapable of finding in them what his earnest long- higs asked. Hence, his own private chamber became the place of his frequentest resort, and books and thought his pleasantest entertainments. The very wearisomeness of the outer world drove him into the home of his own mind, and to the company of his own reflections ; and, considering the current of his thoughts before he entered Congress, it is not surprising, that the influences by which he was now sur- rounded, led him into meditation on those aspects of religion which had hitherto lain nearest his view, its outtvard msti- tutions. But there the train of tendencies must have stopped, or turned, had there not been a higher impelling and guiding power. That power was not absent. Far back in his soul, behind the disgusts and longings which he felt ; deep in his heart, underneath the movements and tendencies to which he yielded, the Holy Spirit was doing his own proper work. AYhile the weary congressman was thinking of union with the outward Church, that divine Agent opened his heart to a sight and a sense of his sins ; uncovered and touched the sore which self-delusion had so long been hiding ; stripped him of every remnant of his old self- righteousness ; showed him his utter inability to save himself by any work or merit of liis own ; opened, as though at his left hand, a door into the world of woe, through which, for a moment, came up low but deep whisperings of the wrath and misery which he had deserved ; and then, closing the dismal pit, and opening golden portals at the right, led him gently on, till he stood more and more fully in the light of the love of Christ, and felt his whole soul drawn and bound to the glorious Re- deemer by responsive gratitude and praise : in a word, till he learned to love Jesus for his own sake and lovehness ; and religion, because he saw in it the spirit of Jesus, and found in it so deep a spring of pure and heavenly joy. This, doubtless, by those who have read the foregoing pages, will be recognized as, though a condensed, yet a true history of the process by which the mind of Mihior was led Mem. Milnor. 8 170 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. frpm its earlier darkness and hostility to the truth, to its later light and love for Him who is the truth. He knew well what is meant by deep convictions of sin and of his own de- servings of everlasting death ; and yet he was, in an eminent sense, drawn to Christ by the power of love. He felt the terrors of wrath ; but he yielded to " the attractions of THE Cross." In his case, the most powerful teachings of the Father were given in the light of love ; and in the light of love the offices of the Son stood most winningly manifest. Hence, the character into which he was formed, was one of ardent love for Christ, and of realized loYefro?n Christ. He felt much, because he had received much, of that love which is unspeakable, in that it " passeth knowledge." These were the earlier rudiments of his Christian character ; and they came out in all its after-growth and combinations, amid the changes and the trials of life. He was from the first a lov- i7ig disciple ; and all his further activities were truly the *• LABOR OF LOVE." HIS MINISTEY. 171 PAET III. DR. MILNOR'S MINISTRY FHOM 1814 TO 1830. SECTION I. Mr. Milnor's ultimate dislike of legal practice was more a principle than a sentiment, as his distaste for political life was rather feeling than judgment. He loathed political life, because he saw it steeped in so much strife and corruption on the part of others : he dreaded the practice of the law, because he saw it would be dangerous to his own new-born faith and hope. He abandoned political life, because his soul was sick of its unprincipled demagoguism : he shrunk from the renewed practice of the law, because his conscience was afraid of what seemed its almost necessary dishonesty. He could have loved politics, had politicians been all fair men and true ; he could not have been satisfied with the practice of the law, unless the very principles of that prac- tice, as too generally held, had been reformed. Hence, so soon as he found, clustering in his heart, evidences that he was indeed become a new-born child of God, he came to the simultaneous conclusions, that he would not continue in political life if he could, and that he could not resume the practice of the law if he would. His heart leaped to get away from. Congress ; his judgment dreaded a return to the bar. 'No sooner, therefore, was the great question for eter- nity settled, than uprose a subordinate question for time : How should he spend the remainder of his life ? Upon what new course of action and of usefulness did duty now call him to enter? During his last weeks in Washington, a dimly traced shadow from his future profession seemed to fall upon 172. MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. his mind, but it soon passed off; and it was not till after his return to Philadelphia that it reappeared. There, however, its reappearance was in clear and distinct outlines, because he stood in stronger light and nearer the reality from which the shadow fell. A thought, that he might be called to preach the gospel, glided, for a moment, into his mind while at the capital, and then flitted out again ; but when he reached home, it came back and settled with him, and grew into a big conviction, and got to be imperative, and finally ordered him, as by a voice from God, to go his way, put his hand to the plough, and never look back, till he should have sowed and reaped — till, from the harvest in eternity, he could remember and rejoice over his going forth to the work in time. Upon that portion of his life, spent in obedience to this divine behest, we are now to enter. It commenced when he was about closing his fortieth year. His decision in favor of the work of the ministry as his future profession, seems to have followed very closely his return to Philadelphia. He left Washington the 9th of March,- 1813, and on the 3d of April "waited on Bishop "White, and acquainted him with his determination to relin- quish the profession of the law, and with the views which he entertained of entering on the study of divinity." On the 5th, he announced the same determination to his friend and pastor the Rev. Mr. Kemper, and on the 7th applied, through Bishop White, to the standing committee of the diocese, for admission as a candidate for orders ; having al- ready, as he remarks in his communication, *' entered upon the course of studies preparatory thereto, as directed by the Plouse of Bishops." Illustrative of his period of study, from the spring of 1813 to the summer of 1814, several passages in his diary and letters will here be inserted. The first will show by what feehngs his mind was agitated when he came, amid old friends and associates in Philadelpliia, amid the scenes of his former gayeties and the clusteruig of his former niter- HIS MINISTRY. 173 ests, to the practical task of puLlicly announcing his total change of religious views, and his proposed change of pro- fessional pursuits. The hold of fixed habits m gay society upon one of its cherished votaries, and of flattering prospects of honor and emolument upon one of their favorite candi- dates, was seldom stronger, or called for greater firmness ol soul in order to their breaking, than in the case of him v/hose character and course we have been tracing. He felt deeply the power of the associations by which he was be- girt. There was a sacrifice to be made, a cross to be taken up, and he realized how heavy, to mere nature, they were to prove ; but he also found how light, to the power of grace, they may be made, and rejoiced in giving up, for Christ's sake, all that forty years of intense existence had made most attractive to his heart. He writes, in his diary, under date of " April 2, 1813. — It is some time since distant prospects of entering the mhiistry have glanced across my mental vis- ion. A sense of my unworthiness of so high a calling, in respect to the qualifications both of head and of heart, has, however, soon obscured them ; until, more recently, an abiding impression of duty has pointed me to the assump- tion of this cross as on my part indispensable. My decision, therefore, can be no longer delayed. I resign, I trust cheer- fully, all prospects of fame, fortune, and worldly pleasure, to enlist myself as a soldier under the Captain of my salvation; and trust in his support to aid me in every trial and conflict to wdiich this measure, so strange and unexpected to my friends, will expose me. It were idle, however, to conceal either from myself or from others, the conflicts through which my mind has passed in reaching this result. The natural man assents not readily to sacrifices of wealth, am- bition, style of living, acquaintances, and a thousand other ligaments which tie him to the Avorld and its enjoyments. But through God's grace, I hope to overcome the world, and wiUingly to reUnquish every thing that may come in con- 174 MEirOIR OF DR. MILNOR. flict with the work of religion in my own heart, or the improvement of such humble means as the Lord may voiich- sale me of being useful to others. " Nevertheless, God, let me presume on nothing in my own strength. Grant me the all-sufficient aids of thy Holy Spirit ; and enable me thereby, when I shall have laid my hand to the plough, to look not back, but to follow the leadings of the heavenly Guide, and become, if not a highly useful, at least a truly faithful laborer in the vineyard of Christ. I ask it in his name, and for his blessed merit's sake. Amen." He evidently felt that now, of a truth, he was at the great turning-point of his life ; and every step which he took was with much pondering of liis way, and with much prayer for guidance. " I have," he writes, " crosses and trials to meet m ful- fdling my intentions ; but the Lord, in whom I trust, and whom I desire to serve, will support me in them all, if I steadily maintain my faithfulness towards him. Yes, blessed God, my confidence is in thee only. enable me to perse- vere manfully in the work which thou hast assigned me. Enlighten my mind with a knowledge of thy truth, and en- due it with ability, when the time shall come, to communi- cate that truth to others ; and 0, gracious Father, grant that, if it should be thy will to prolong my life until the al- lotted term of preparation for the ministry of thy word shall elapse, I may be enabled to preach thy gospel in its own purity ; and that, while I warn others, I may not myself become a castaway. Give me solemn views of the immense importance and responsibility of the office on which I pur- pose to enter. Grant me the refreshings of thy Spirit from day to day. Open to me more and more the mysteries of thy word ; and forbid, merciful God, that I should either hold the truth in unrighteousness, or in any manner mistake the meaning and intention of the divine oracles. Grant me mental activity and persevering diligence in the acquisition HIS MINISTRY. 175 of religious knowledge ; ability profitably to digest whatever I may read or Hear ; and both the disposition of heart and the capacity of mind to render all my attainments beneficial to myself and others. But, God, in a more special man- ner keep me constantly and fervently affected with love for thee and thy dear Son ; fill me with brighter and more evan- gelical views of the greatness of that salvation, wrought out by Him for perishing sinners ; and fix indelibly on my mind the determination to know only Jesus Christ and him cruci- fied. May the great atonement, and the divine character of the blessed Saviour, be prominent objects of my daily con- templations ; and may I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Strengthen my faith in the all- sufficiency of his blood and cross for the salvation of sinners ; and when utterance shall be given in his righteous cause, enable me to hold him forth as a propitiation for the sins of the world, in such a manner as may induce many to accept his merits, to exer- cise a lively faith in him as a Saviour, and to renounce for ever the filthy rags of their own righteousness for that wed- ding-garment of the Lamb, which can alone qualify them to be guests at the marriage-supper provided for the redeemed of God in the blood of Christ." A truly appropriate prayer to be left lying on record amid the trials of the period in which he broke from the entanglements of human law, and sought seclusion for the study of the divine counsels. Meditating the work of the Christian ministry with such views and aspirations, and under the pressure of those all-constraining motives which his spirit felt, his subsequent abounding usefulness was but a result of God's faithfulness to his gracious promises. At the time of his entry, April 5, we find him engaged " in secular concerns," but not without minghng therewith an eflbrt to do good to his friend J S , whom he found to be "feeling somewhat after religion." He also records an account, " as singular as it was pleasing," of tiie 176 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. conversion of L M , " an eminent lawyer in Balti- more, advanced in years, who had been equally celebrated for his powerful eloquence at the bar, and for his notorious sacrifices at the shrine of Bacchus." After noticing tliis man's appearance at a public religious meeting, where he engaged in exhortation and prayer, in a manner " which for fervor and sublimity astonished all Avho heard him," the adoring diarist exclaims, " Thanks be to God, liis power is infinite. He shows mercy where he will show mercy, and can as easily convert the flinty heart of the oldest and most obdurate offender, as the soft and tender one of the most willing and yielding suppliant at the throne of grace. Glory be to God for the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus." Amid the incessant activities which now engrossed him, we hear nothing further from him till, in the settlement of his temporal all airs, he was ready to leave Philadelphia for Norristown, where he purposed to pursue his studies. He then felt that his severance from the world, so far as out- ward associations were concerned, was complete, and was enabled to look back upon what }ie was leaving without a sigh. "The separation," says his diary for June 1, "from so many objects of attachment, I am thanliful to God, has not cost me many pangs. To my beloved partner, it has been a more severe trial ; but her mind at length acquiesces more cheerfully than I could have expected ; and when once we shall be quietly seated in our new abode, I have no doubt she will be better pleased, than she has been with the gayety and frivolity of a city life." Having taken possession of their new abode, he proceeded to record a suitable act of dedication, in which, amid the hallowing strains of prayer, he consecrated himself, his house- hold, and his little study, to Him whom he had covenanted to serve. Bending in that quiet retreat which was to witness his sacred toils, we may easily conceive with what fervor he poured forth his heart's dedicatory act, in the following fer- vent but chastened strain. HIS MINISTRY. 177 " Vouchsafe, God, thy special presence and direction in all the exercises in which I may here from time to time be occupied. Aflbrd the aids of thy Holy Spirit in every act of devotion, that so I may learn to pray aright, and offer thee the unadulterated homage of the heart. Open thou my understanding, that I may understand the Scriptures. Chase away every rising doubt incited by the subtlety of the Tempter. Banish error, unbelief, and every unhallowed thought from this place. Teach me to know, and reverence, and love thee with all the faculties of my heart and mind, and to hate sin and all its defilements with a perfect hatred. Cleanse me from all my impurities, keep down rebellious passions, and arm me with strength efiectually to resist every temptation from without and from within, I desire, mer- ciful God, to consecrate myself unreservedly to thee and thy service. But I am humbled and abased at my own unwor- thiness of the least of thy favors, and my inability to make thee any adequate return. Yet, through Christ, my weak- ness may be made strength, and the imperfect performances of an imbecile and sinful creature may be accepted for the infinite merit's sake of the blessed Redeemer. For his sake, then, merciful Father, accept of me and mine ; make us happy in the smiles of thy countenance here, and elevate us hereafter to the joys of thy heavenly kingdom." Having thus appropriately set in order both his outer and his inner house, he proceeded, on the following day, to settle the course in which his daily duties should proceed. Though constitutionally inclined to system, he had yet found it diffi- cult to reduce either the labors of legal practice, or the pur- suits of legal study, to any thing like invariable rule. He felt that his mind needed stricter discipline, and resolved, at this important crisis of his life, to make an effort to bring it under the power of fixed habits of thought and application ; knowing that if he were ever to feel the benefits of such a disciplhie, now was his best, if not his only time to insure them. 8^' 178 MEMOIR OF DU. MILNOR. But systematic study, in connection with necessary busi- ness, was not the only occupation of his retired life. He endeavored to gain some practical acquaintance with pastoral duty. Hence, he not only engaged as lay-reader and cate- chist in St. John's, Norristown, but also availed himself of his vicinity to the parish church of the E-ev. Levi Bull, a cousin of Mrs. Milnor, to become familiar with other forms of parochial usefulness. He writes, under date of "June 21, 1813. — I have just returned from a visit to Mr. Bull, with w^hom I spent the evening of Saturday, and the whole of Sunday. Sunday morning, at 8 o'clock, we went to St. Mary's church, in the vicinity of Mr. Bull's resi- dence ; and found a considerable number of people assembled to attend a iirayer-meeting, which is held during the summer season for one hour before the regular service of the morning begins. The exercises consist of prayers by the pastor and different members of the church, offered extemporaneously, and accompanied with singing and a short exhortation. For the first time ^V^ imhUc, I was induced, at Mr. Bull's solici- tation, to address the throne of grace. I felt the presence of that God who, when two or three are assembled in his name, has promised to be in the midst of them ; and was much refreshed in the inner man by the various services of the fore- noon, as well as by those of the afternoon at Churchtown, to which place, distant eight miles, I rode with Mr. Bull." His services as catechist and lay-reader were soon inter- rupted by a dangerous illness. Having taken a journey into Virginia, and returned, first to Norristown and then to Phil- adelphia, lie thus writes, under date of " Nov. 17, 1813.— The sedentary life which I had passed at Norristown, had unfitted me for exercise of so constant and severe a kind as that which I used during my fortnight's absence ; and the consequence was, that I became indisposed on my way home, and the night of my arrival I was taken seriously ill. My complaint at first appeared to be a nervouff debility without fever, and so continued for a fortnight, when HIS MINISTRY. 179 it assumed the type of an intermittent, and after some time was accompanied with a most distressing bowel-complamt, which lasted for eight weeks, and brought me to the verge of the grave. Soon after I became convalescent, Mrs. Milnor was attacked with the same complaints ; and when appar- ently recovering, relapsed into so low a state as to be despair- ed of by her physician and friends. Her illness lasted about the same time as my own. But, for ever praised be the adorable Giver of every good and perfect gift — the God of our lives, and the Saviour of our souls — ' though he has chastened us, yet he hath not given us over unto death. ^ We shall yet live to praise the name of the Lord.' " In a review of this providence of Almighty God, I desire to be humbled under a deeper sense of his justice as well as mercy. That my sins deserved such an infliction of divine correction, I submissively acknowledge ; that I am wholly undeserving of the sparing mercy which has continued my life and that of my beloved partner, I most sensibly feel ; and that our dear children have been preserved in life and health, is a cause of unceasing thankfulness. ' What shall I render unto_ the Lord for all his benefits towards me ? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.' *' Since the recovery of Mrs. Milnor and myself, in conse- quence of a great desire on her part to return to the city, and a belief on my own, that it would tend to the advance- ment of my studies and to my growth in spiritual improve- ment, I have taken a house in Tenth-street, near Arch, into which I have now removed my family. The afflicting dis- pensation through which I have passed, and my beloved Ellen's long and dangerous illness since, have interrupted my regular plan of study ; and I am now only about to resume it. God grant that I may do so in his fear, and with a sincere desire to proceed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit ; to be preserved from all false doctrines ; to advance in piety towards God, and in love to my fellow -men ; and 180 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. steadily to keep in view the blessed Jesus, as ' the Author and Finisher of the faith' set forth in the gospel." During his journey hito Virginia, letters reached his resi- dence at Norristown, earnestly soliciting his acceptance, or his promise to accept, of two important parishes ; the one at Baltimore, the other at Richmond. He embraced what he supposed to be '* the first moment of returning strengtJi' — though it proved to be but an intermission of his disease, and was followed by all its most perilous stages — to return the following answers. To Mr. Coales, Baltimore. "Norristown, August 4, 1813. " My dear Sir — I returned yesterday week from a long journey, so much indisposed as to compel me to keep my bed almost continually since, and to disable me from either read- ing or writing. I embrace the first moment of returning strength, though with a feeble hand, to answer your kind letter of the 25th ult., and sincerely to thank you and the other gentlemen of our communion in Baltimore, for the very flattering offer of so respectable a situation as that which the Rev. Mr. Beasley's removal to Philadelphia has left vacant. " On a subject of so much importance, I shall be glad of an opportunity of consulting with our venerable diocesan, to whose friendship I am greatly indebted, and without confer- ring with whom I should hesitate, at this stage of my prog- ress towards ordination, to take any decisive step in regard to a settlement. He has more than once intimated, m the most afl'ectionate manner, that he calculated on my remain- ing in his diocese ; and many of my friends in Philadelphia speak in very determinate terms, of the expectation there that my labors should be commenced among them. With respect to myself, as my views in proposing to enter the ministry have, so far as I know my own heart, no selfish considera- tions mingled with them, I am willing to render my little portion of service to the cause of religion wherever the prov- HIS MINISTHY. 181 idence of God may seem to direct. My present impressions, however, are, that it would conduce neither to the good of the church, nor to my future usefulness, to undertake the duties of a reader and continue them for so long a period as will elapse before, according to the canon, I can expect ordi- nation. A year from my annunciation as a candidate will not have expired till the middle of April next. For the intermediate time, 1 have removed to this pleasant little village, among Mrs. Milnor's friends, where I am retired from all bustle, and have very much the uninterrupted command of my own time, except as my attention is, now and then, unavoidably engaged in the winding up of my professional and other concerns in the city ; which, indeed, for some time to come, require me to be within convenient distance of" my successor in the law. I have also, at the request of the vestry of a new parish in this place, consented, under a license from the bishop, to officiate as a lay-reader for them during the time of my stay ; so that, all things considered, a change of my situation, at present, would be attended with considerable inconvenience. " Another very important consideration affects my mind : and that is, the apparently unbecoming presumption of a candidate for orders, in anticipating his duties in a place of so much importance as your city, and perhaps standing in the way of a regular clergyman, who would be more acceptable, and to whom the situation might be very desirable. In short, after repeating my thanks for your kind intentions, I have to express my wish that you may be successful in find- ing a faithful pastor, of better qualifications than myself, to take at once full charge of the church, and prevent the incon- veniences of such a plan as that which you have suggested. I thhdt it, however, due to so unexpected and friendly an intimation to say, that I will avail myself of the first oppor- tunity, after God shall be pleased to restore my health, to speak with Dr. White and one of two other friends upon the subject ; but beg that I may not, in the meantime, stand in 182 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. the way of any arrangement for the welfare of your church, that Providence may offer to your acceptance. " "With affectionate regard, yours sincerely, "JAMES MILNOR." The letter which he next answered, was from a clergy- man of Alexandria, who appears to have written in behalf and by the authority of the congregation in Richmond, over which Mr. Miluor was urged to think of a settlement. To the Rev. Oliver Norris. "NoRRlSTOWN, August, 1813. " My dear Sir — I thank you very sincerely for your affectionate letter of the 14th ult., to which I should have made an earlier answer ; but, at the time of its arrival here, I was absent on a journey of a fortnight, from which I re- turned about twelve days ago, so much indisposed as, for the greater part of the time since, to have been confined to my bed. My sickness is still such as will oblige me to write this short letter with many intervals of rest. " You appreciate justly my motives in venturing, as I humbly trust iinder the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to take upon me a portion of the ministry of reconciliation. ' I am as a wonder unto many,' who, unacquainted either with the duty of submission to the manifested will of God, or with the operations of divine grace upon the renewed mind, whereby alone true Christian obedience can be produced, are aston- ished at my voluntary surrender of a lucrative practice, of associations of the most varied and attractive kind, and of encouraging prospects of public honor and distinction. Yet, strange as it seems to them, to me not one relinquished object of former attachment occasions the smallest regret. But it is a source of painful reflection to me, that so much of a short lifetime has been so unprofitably spent, and that I am now able to make an offering to God of the small remnant only of my days, when the whole ought to have been his. " With respect to the future sphere of my labors, my best HIS MmiSTRY. 183 reflections and the advice of friends have led me to postpone, for the present, any decisive determination. My probation- ary year will not expire till the middle of April next ; and there seems a want of delicacy towards the proper authorities of the church, in anticipating their decision upon my quali- fications, of which every day's experience opens a humbler view to myself; or in entering into engagements at present which circumstances hereafter may render it diflicult, per- haps impracticable, to fulfil. " I trust I shall not be so misunderstood as to be supposed to set a light value upon so very respectable a proposition as that of a settlement at Richmond, if, besides the general reason above stated for now withholding a decision, I were to add, that, honorable as the post will be, an4 extensive as may be the good tp be done by him who fills it, I doubt whether it is adapted to my opinions or habits. My im- pressions against slavery were early and deep ; and, with my present views of the universality of divine love, they are strengthened and rendered unalterable. I do not think I ought to go voluntarily into the midst of it, and perhaps become, from necessity, a partaker in it. " There is also, I understand, at Richmond, a fashiona- ble gayety of manners and disposition, far exceeding the general style of those to which I have been accustomed in Philadelphia, in which it would be painful for a Christian minister to be compelled to participate, and which, perhaps, it would be useless, nay, destructive of even partial useful- ness, to oppose. " To these suggestions I might, as a subordinate consid- eration, add, that the heats of summer are extremely unfa- vorable to my health ; and that, even in this cooler climate, I scarcely ever pass through July and August without an attack of sickness : and, as a more important item, might again add, a friendly wish, more than once expressed by our venerable diocesan, that I would not leave this state ; and the kind and earnest requests of my Episcopalian friends in IS'i MEilOIE, OF DR. MILNOR Pliiladelpliia, tliat I would remain in that cily, Avhere many circumstances lead to the belief" that my poor cxerlious may be so directed as to be profitable to many. " To every thing now said, 1 should be unjust to my own feelings if I did not add, still further, that considering the grand scale on which the church in Richmond has been commenced, and the expectations raised with res})ect to the services to be performed in it, the moderate estimale Avhich I am taught to make of my talents and acquirements would render me apprehensive of falling very far below the standard which has been set up. To the gay and volatile, ' Christ Jesus and him crucified' is but a dull and simple theme, poorly su])plying the place of those flowers of rhetoric and charms of diction with which genius delights to embellish the merely moral theme. Yet it is my determi uat ion, through grace, to preach nothing else to the people whom (lod, in his providence, may allot to my charge, than the gospel of Christ ; for ' I count all thhigs but loss for the excellency of tiie know- ledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ;' I believe it to be ' the now er ol'lnd unto salvation U) every one llia1 be'lieveth ;' and that tliere is great danger of pieachiug'in such ' wisilom of words as to make the Cross of" Christ of none e!iec1.' " In all that 1 have said, it is fir froni my intention to give oflence. The friendly natnic dl' your et-uununicaiion required thai 1 sliould de'.ail .-oiiie ei' my reasons for doubting whether liichmond wei-e an eligiMe situation lor lue ; and I have done so. I leave you to^idge (d' their weiglit. "With sentimenis of sincere a:!i'ction, "Your f"aithl"ui friend and bn;llier in the truth, ■■.i.\M ,:s MILNoli." Tlicse loiters are interesting, both as the ])roductions of a sick man, ^•ca^ceiy ahh' to hohl his pen, and as proofs that the good work' of the S; irit in Iiis heart was in progress, shaping hiui more and moi'c perfectly according to tlie pn.l- teiamd'the true minister of Christ. To this latter poiut. all the traces which he h.as left of his fc(.din!':s at the close of his HIS MINISTRY. 185 long and perilous illness, bear a decided testimony. It is particularly manifest, that at this time the spirit of jjrayer in him was actively alive. It mingled in all his engagements, and breathed through no small part of his diary. Thus : "Nov. 18, 1813. — The unsettled state of my family," he writes, " for some time past, has prevented attention to the interesting duty of family worship. My dear Ellen's state of health now admitting of her attendance, and our arrangements in a new residence being made, I this morning commenced prayers, and hope to continue them every day, morning and evening. May God give us the aids of his heavenly grace to perform this duty with cheerfulness and regularity ; to enter upon it, at all times, with prepared J warts and with engaged minds ; and to profit by our daily communion with him on the throne of his mercy. Grant, Almighty Father, to thy servant, a spirit of prayer and supplication ; enable him to pray with the heart and with the understanding ; put thou, Holy Spirit, right words into his mouth, and grant that we may never be found offering the sacrifice of fools. may every member of this family rejoice in the privilege of access by prayer to God, through the blood and intercession of the Redeemer, and pay their daily vows, with unvarying fervency and zeal, to the blessed and triune God, to whom be ascribed never-ending praises. Amen." His return to the city enabled him, with increased expe- dition, to close the settlement of his temporal afiairs, and at an earlier period k to give his mind to uninterrupted study. He writes, " Saturday, Nov. 27, 1813. — My beloved partner's bodily health being restored, her strength in some measure regained, and many tcmp&ral cares, being either removed or lessened, 1 hope, hereafter, to be more closely and methodically en- gaged in theological studies. My prayer to Almighty God is, that I may be enabled to pursue them with a zeal and industry proportioned to their importance ; but that, while 186 ' MEMOIE OF DR. MILNOR. the head is acquiring knowledge, the heart may not lose the ardor of its aflections ; its love to God and the Saviour ; its desires after more grace and inward holiness ; its unceasing gratitude for countless mercies and undeserved blessings ; its wrestling with God for their continuance, unworthy as I am, for the Redeemer's sake ; and its faith and hope in his pre- cious sacrifice and intercession. Let me not lose, merciful God, my convictions of sin, my hatred of its contaminations, my sense of unremitting dependence on thee for ability to resist its baneful influence, and my continual applications to thee for thy support. Be thou, ' Lord, a shield for me, my glory, and the Ufter up of my head.' The following letter, found among Dr. Milnor's papers, though without name or date, yet leaves no room for doubt on the question to whom it was addressed. It was probably written, whether earlier or later, about this period, and is therefore here introduced. It excites a somewhat sad fore- boding as to the close of the religious life of his old friend, Aquila M. Bolton. And yet, who knows but that this later remonstrance from one whom that friend so early warned of the peril of impenitency, may have proved the means of re- awakening his own soul, and of saving him from the peril of apostasy ? The letter was as follows : " My dear Friend — I have received the first number of a miscellany, of which the well-known letters on the cover apprise me you are the editor. Has the long interruption of epistolary intercourse so far deadened our sensibilities to one another's interests, and so completely estranged us from each other, as to preclude a free and candid intercommunication of sentiments ? I trust not. The evidence which you have just given me that I still live in your remembrance, and the throbbings of my own bosom as I am now communing with you, convince me that our friendship is not dead, though it has slept ; and it is this persuasion that encourages me to unburden my mind with the most unbounded frankness. " For several years past I have heard but little of you HIS MINISTRY. 187 for we had ceased to interchange letters, and I seldom met with any of your friends who could tell me any thing about you. You have now suddenly risen to my view in a shape so new and unexpected as greatly to surprise me, without aflbrding any of that delight which those precious commu- nications — still preserved and frequently recurred to — from Jersey, from Spain, and from Wheeling, have afforded. 0, my valued, my earliest friend, has your relish for divine things deserted you ? Has the love of God in Christ Jesus, once, as I believed, so liberally shed abroad in your heart, waxed cold ? Does religion no longer court your feelings by those sweet endearments in which you once so much delight- ed ? Can you have become willing to relinquish the solid and durable pleasures of piety for the light and frivolous amusements of the day, even though they court you under the mask of literature and taste ? Believe me, when I look at those awful admonitions with which you once addressed me, and in which your whole concern was to induce me, like yourself, to take up the cross of the Hedeemer, and to ' count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord ;' when I recollect my being told, by one of your friends, that you had become a public cham- pion of his glorious cause, and when I look at the title and contemplated plan of your miscellany — useful as some of its proposed objects may, no doubt, be — I am at a loss to decide whether astonishment or grief be the predominant feeling of my mind. Not one word in your prospectus, or in your first number, of Christ or his blessed religion ; and but a trivial glance towards even onorality, good as the product of the Spirit, but a mean and barren substitute for genuine religion. Ah, this, I fear, evinces too plainly, that you have become satiated with the fountains of ' living water,' of whose de- lightful streams you once partook, and have betaken yourself to ' cisterns, broken cisterns, that will hold no water.' " With such apprehensions, permit an old friend, who has abandoned the pursuit of the wealth, and honor, and pleasures 188 MEMOIU OF DR. MILXOR. of this world, for the riches of eternity, the unfading honor ol" his Redeemer's crown of rigliteousness, and the enjoyment of the hght of his divine countenance, to sohcit you to panse and consider the awful danger of apostasy from the laith of Jesus. Can it be possible that he who once, with so much feeling, admonished the friend — who now sincerely thanks him for, while he reciprocates the kindness — of the necessity of closing with tlie oilers of mercy, is willing to become a castaway ? beware, my friend, I entreat you, that the evil spirit which has gone out from you, do not ' return into his house, and find it empty, swept, and garnished,' ior tlie reception of himself and ' seven other spirits more wiciccd than himself,' and so make your ' last state w^orse than the first.' I shall probably hereafter write you more fully, and give you some account of the Lord's dealings with my soul ; but in the meantime will conclude with an apposite quota- tion from an author with whose style you are well ac- quainted." The manuscript closes without the quotation, and our notices ol" his iriend Bolton's religious life must be dismissed without any certain light as to its issue. From the close of the year 1813, Mr. Milnor continued his theological studies until August, 1814, four months after his required term of candidateship had expired — apparently m consequence of the long mterruption of those studies by his own illness and that of his wile, in the summer and la 11 of 1813. He would have continued them for a still longer period, but for a circumstance which hastened his ordination, and which he thus records in his last entry in his diary : " August 9, 1814. — Once more I resume my brief anno- tations. Since my last entries, my life has been that of a student, much abstracted from the world, and laboriously eiig.iged in llic acquisition of theological knowledge. My prospect has been to apply for orders in October next : but circumstances of au uuexijccled n;i1nre \\n\c liashMiinl llie measure. The Rev. Mr. Kemper having b-.H-n inviird hy HIS JIINISTHY. 189 the Society for the Advancement of Christianity to go upon a mission through the state, the vestiy have requested me to anticipate the time of my ordination, that I may supply his place during his absence. The desire of the bishop and of all my friends concurring in this arrangement, I have consented. My ordination, with God's permission, is to take place on Sunday morning next, in St. James' church." In a record which he soon after opened, for the simple purpose of " preserving a note of each sermon preached by him during his ministry," he adds, " I was ordained deacon by the Rt. Rev. William White, in St. James' church, Phil- adelphia, on Sunday morning, August 14, 1814." So brief was his notice of that interesting event, which lay between all his past life of pleasure and of politics in the great world of men, and all his coming life of labor and of usefulness in the sweet service of Christ I His first sermon was preached in St. Peter's, the afternoon of the same day on which he was ordained. The text, chosen with peculiar appropriateness, was Rom. 1:16: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ; for it is the power of God unto salva- tion to every one that believeth : to the Jev^ first, and also to the Greek." We can well conceive the interest with which a sermon before such an audience, from such a text, and by such a man, must have been received ; preached, as it was, in the very centre of that round of fashion in which, for so many years, he had been moving ; before many of his former companions in gayety and business ; and on a text which called him to exhibit the gospel of the lowly Jesus in all its humbling peculiarity, and with modest boldness to take up the cross of proclaiming Christ crucified among men. That he was, for once, " a prophet not without honor in his own country, and among his own kin," may be inferred from the fact, that on the 21st of December next after his ordina- tion, he was " unanimously elected by the vestry a muiister of the united churches." The three churches beinj? now furnished with a rector 190 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. and three assistants, each had one "leisure" Sunday out of every four. This leisure each seems to have spent in preach- ing in the neighboring parishes and destitute places. Such was the use w^hich Mr. Milnor, at least, made of his leisure Sundays, as appears from his record of the times and places of his labors. The first fruit of this arrangement was the organization of St. John's church, Northern Liberties. Mr. Milnor commenced this enterprise by preaching, Sunday evening, February 19, 1815, "in the Commissioners' Hall," or town-house, in that dense suburb. The service was in " a large and crowded room," and the sermon to "a deeply attentive people." On Sunday morning, August 27, 1815, he was admitted by Bishop White, in St. James' church, to the order of pres- byters ; and on the next Sunday morning, September 3, in Christ church, he " for the first time administered the holy communion." The two following letters, written during this period, in- dicate very distinctly the acceptableness of liis labors ; the stand which he at once took as an evangelical preacher ; his temper in regard to ecclesiastical dissensions ; and the man- ner in which he sought to do good " in season, and out of season." The former was addressed To the Rev. Levi Bull. "Philadelphia, January IG, 1815. " Rev. and dear Brother — I thank you for your kind communication of the 10th ult. The good opinion of so ex- perienced a fellow- Christian as yourself is confessedly grate- ful to my feelings ; whilst I desire that neither that, nor any other expression of human approbation may seduce me into those ' vain imaginations and high thoughts,' which are so destructive of true religion in the soul. Every day's expe- rience tends to lower me in my own estimation ; for I know the inadequacy of my talents and attainments, and that I am neither so ardent and laborious in my external labors, HIS MINISTRY. 191 iior so devout and spiritual in my inward exercises, as be- comes the sincere follower of Jesus, more especially a worm who has taken upon himself to speak to others in his holy name. My prayer to God is, for daily- supplies of his all- sufficient grace, to strengthen me in his work, and to enable me to press forward with a steady aim to the promotion of his glory, and the good of souls. " In relation to the character and conduct of others, asso- ciated in the same duties, I think myself bound to act, where I believe error to exist, with much moderation. Many such act honestly, according to the conclusions, however wrong, of their own judgments ; and give no offence to religion in their lives and conversations. Others let religion sit more loosely upon them ; and the injury, which their errors in doc- trine might otherwise occasion, is prevented by the ill ap- pearance which its practical influence exhibits in their con- duct. * To their own Master they stand or fall.' The course of those who profess deeper views ui divine things, and endeavor after a closer conformity to the requisitions of the gospel, is, in my opinion, to remain firm to their principles ; to adhere to that strictness of life wliich conscience and the word of God exact ; and to proclaim the evangelical truths of religion with holy boldness, but without useless offensive- ness of language. Parties in the Church, my dear friend, should not be countenanced. If an upright and consistent discharge of duty invite odium or persecution from others, let us receive with meekness and resignation any consequen- ces to which it may lead. But opposition to the persons of men, the distinction of names, and the array of each other into confficting ranks, must produce, whatever be the sin- cerity of mtention, disastrous consequences to the interests of our Zion. My views lead me to shrink from any situation that may excite in my mind those turbulent and unruly pas- sions which divine grace has yet so partially subdued ; and religious controversies, of all others, do excite them in the most lamentable and pernicious degree. Forgive the ego- 192 MEMOIU OF DR. MILNOR. tism into which your suggestions unavoidably led rae, when I declare my persuasion that God has not formed me for an agency iii any such scenes. " But, whilst I Avish to meddle little with others, God has clearly pointed out to me my own line of duty. For myself, I am * determined to know nothing,' in my ministe- rial labors, ' save Jesus Christ and him crucified ;' to preach nothing but his precious gospel to perishing simiers ; and, according to my poor measure of ability, to call men from a reliance on their own works to an entire dependence upon the free grace and mercy of God in Christ. The native depravity of man, his utter helplessness, the necessity of repentance and conversion, the agency of the Holy Spirit in these evangehcal exercises, and the manifestation of the blessed fruit of a change of heart in the work of holy obedi- ence to the revealed will and word of God, are themes which fill my mind, and upon which, both publicly and privately, I shall continue to dwell. If others preach differently, may God forgive them, and bestow upon them better views. I trust the Spirit of God will illuminate the minds of many, to discern where the truth rests ; and that he will not leave his faithful servants without the reward of their labors. Without finding an apology in tliis trust for any negligence on my part, I feel, my friend, more and more deeply con- vinced that we do not sufficiently refer to the faithfulness and the omnipotence of God, in our estimate of the eflects to be produced by the labors of the ministry. Let us rely upon his promises and his power, and we shall feel less de- sponding as to the success M'hich in his own time will attend his preached word. Although the pleasing occurrence has not taken place within the pale of our own communion, yet the late revival of religion in the college at Princeton is a just evidence of the truth of this position, and a cause of pious felicitation among Christians of every denomination. I have heard the letters of Dr. Green on the subject read with astonishment and delight. One'of them contains fiity- HIS MINISTEY. 193 two names of young men, a part of whom, it was believed, had ' passed from death unto life ;' while another part were ' not far from the kingdom of God,' and the remamder were under strong convictions of sin. Surely, * this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.' May the dews of his heavenly grace descend more copiously on that part of his vineyard, in which his providence has called you and mo to labor. We have, it is true, very great discouragements ; and latterly not many appearances here of a contrary descrip- tion. But, ' as the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and the latter rain,' so let us also ' be pa- tient.' Let us ' establish our hearts ; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.' " Believe me, in the bonds of that everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, wherein we desire ever to abide, " Your faithful brother in Clirist, "JAMES MILNOE." The latter of the two comm.unications was addressed to a young gentleman — ^possibly one of the '■'■ fifty -two ^^ to whose case reference was made in the former. " Philadelphia, Aug. 3, 1815. " My dear Sir — I acknowledge, with great pleasure, the receipt of your letter of the 15th ult. How sorry am I that a communication which encourages me to think so favor- ably of your religious steadfastness, should give so disheart- ening a prospect of that of some of your associates. This is lamentable, indeed, as it respects the individuals, for it is a tenfold increase of their guilt and condemnation, to have been placed, by the grace of Almighty God, in the road to eternal happiness, and then wilfully to forsake it ; and the shocking sin of ingratitude for past miercies lessens awfully the hope of those mercies being renewed. Surely, these in- fatuated youth are sinning against the clearest light, against Mem. Milnor. 9 194 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. the convictions of conscience, and have abundantly more reason than its author to adopt the language of the heathen poet — and to fear the righteous vengeance of Almighty God for its presumptuous truth — ^who declared of himself, ' Video raeliora proboque; Deteriora sequor.' Let us not, however, cease to pray for them, and remon- strate with them ; and let us beware how we ourselves, by the indulgence of sloth, by exposure to temptation, or by any of that infinite variety of means wliich Satan and our own evil hearts are so ready to suggest, fall into thp hke condemnation. " But if the effect of these secessions from the truth as it is in Jesus be thus deplorable upon the individuals them- selves, it is equally injurious to the general interests of re- ligion. Already the enemies of evangelical righteousness begin to take great credit to themselves for th> truth of their predictions as to the instability of the subjects of the late revival ; infidels find in these events excitements to blasphemous merriment, and cold moralists plume them- selves on the superiority of their unfeelmg system of reason and expediency over one which they allege to have no foun- dation but in the effervescence of animal excitement. " But let none of these things, my dear young friend, move you. However ignorant blasphemers may revile, or lukewarm Christians undervalue the work of gi'ace begun by the good Spirit of our God in your seminary, I trust that in the hearts of many it will be carried on unto perfection, and that you, who have, in some good degree, * tasted and seen how good and gracious the Lord is,' will maintain your con- fidence, ' knowing in whom you have believed, and that he is able to keep that which you have committed unto him against that day.' Never, however, expose yourself to the seductions of temptation, and the arts of the adversary of souls ; never yield to the suggestions of that remainder of a corrupt nature, which you will find still luring you back to HIS MIKISTEY. 195 former habits, or lulling you into indifference about holy things, or beguiling you into self-security and satisfaction with your present measure of attainments : strive to ' forget those things that are behind, and to reach towards those that are before ; pressing daily towards the mark for the prize of your high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' How anxiously should we aim at that glorious assurance which, after the most trying conflicts, crowned the religious experience of the great apostle, and enabled him to say, ' I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' " Accept, my Christian brother, the humble prayers of an unworthy aspirer after these blessings, for your attain- ment of so happy an advancement in the divine life ; give him an interest in your approaches to God, and believe him to be, with that love which the true Christian only knows how to feel and to cherish, " Your fellow-traveller to Zion, and faithful friend, "JAMES MILNOR." From the former of these two letters it is evident, that his early ministry was received with such flattering com- mendations as made him feel the need of a strong guard against high thoughts of himself; and that he found that guard in those teachings of the Spirit, which filled him with lowly self-esteem. It is also evident, that he was early urged to assume the attitude of a controversial leader of the newly rising evangelical interest in the Episcopal church ; and that, from the first, he took the stand, which he ever afterwards maintained, of avoiding religious controversy, and especially iiarty names, except as he was forced to bear them in his adherence to what he considered matters of 2)rincij)le. His temper in this respect was beautiful. Where his views of truth and duty required, he tpok his stand fear- lOG MEilOIR OF DR. MILNOR. lessly and firmly, and then calmly met the consequences of his stand. His position often drew upon him violent as- saults ; but he always contented himself with the dignified defence which self-respect demanded. Assaults upon others he never made. The eyes of thousands were early and long turned upon him as one of the most prominent men, if not the most prominent, among the evangelical portion of the American Episcopal Church ; but no one was ever able to look upon him and say, " Milnor is the leader of our "party y The letter on which these comments are made, may be taken as an index, not less true than early, to his whole course as an evangelical minister in the church. The latter of the two letters, while it shows his aptness to do good as occasion was offered, exhibits also the interest with which he ever regarded the great question of re\avals «f religion. He never doubted that such revivals are in full harmony with the genius of the gospel, and with the prom ised influences of the Spirit ; although he never shut his eye to the perils attendant on remarkable seasons of revival, through the wiles of Satan, the frailty of man, and the de- ceitfulness of the sinful heart. He was disposed neither to overrate the good found in revivals as the work of God, nor to be blind to that good because of sometimes attendant evils as the work of man. He prayed for God's blessings through revivals, and he labored to avert man's abuses, when they came. From the period of his admission to the order of presby- ters, in August, 1815, he continued to labor in Philadelphia, as one of the ministers of the united churches, until his removal to New York, in September, 1816. During this early period of liis ministry, the only recorded incident of im- portance out of the line of his uniform and diligent labors, was the part which he took, in the winter of 1816, in the action of the Philadelphia Bible Society. This Society under- took, at that time, to extend its operations by the formation of Bible associations throughout the 'city and its populous HIS MINISTUY. 197 suburbs, and for this purpose appointed a committee to carry its resolutions into eflect. Of this committee Mr. Mihior was a member, and at its first meeting was appointed secre- tary. The committee detailed itself into four subcommit- tees, and under this distribution, carried out the work with which they were intrusted. In doing so, they incidentarlly took measures for organizing a " Marine Bible Society." They also ordered the circulars, which were intended to accompany the Society's report when published in the news- papers, to be sent to each of the presidents of the Bible Soci- eties of Boston, Hartford, Providence, New York, Albany, Baltimore, Charleston, Richmond, Savannah, and Lexington, as well as to the presidents of the Auxiliary Bible Society, and of the Female Bible Society, of Philadelphia. These proceedings were had in January, 1816, and it is worthy of remark, that on the 1 1th of May of the same year, the American Bible Society was organized in the city of New York ; ah organization which brought nearly all the discon- nected Bible Societies of the country into union with one central agency for the dissemination of the word of God among all the families of the earth ; a fit associate in this work, with the British and Foreign Bible Society of London. How far this grand central movement in New York grew out of the measures adopted in Philadelphia the preceding January, it is not intended to inquire ; but it is pleasing to know, that Mr. Milnor not only became most actively en- gaged in the American Bible Society immediately after his removal to New York, but was similarly engaged in the Bible cause before its central organization had a being. Early in the month of May, 1816, Mr. Milnor became aware of a movement in St. George's church, New York, tending towards his future rectorship of that parish. After a preparatory correspondence, the way was open for decisive steps. Accordingly, on the 6th of June the vestry of St. George's met, and made out their official call, accompanying it with the following brief, but interesting letter. 198 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOH. To the Rev. James Milnor. "St. George's Church, New York, Jiine 6, 1816. " Rev. Sir — It is with feelings of great satisfaction, that we present you the resolution inclosed. Convinced we can offer you no motive for accepting this call but the prospect of more extended usefulness in the cause to which you have so disinterestedly dedicated your future life, permit us to observe, that our congregation, now large, is capable, under the blessing of God, of being very greatly increased ; and considering the anxiety prevailing among us to hear the tidings of salvation, we cherish the confident hope, that under your ministrations, our Zion may be brought to rejoice in the strength of her Lord. We believe the harvest may be great, but the laborers are wanting ; and we trust you will not decline what we hope you and all of us may be led by the Spirit of God to consider the summons of the Lord of the harvest. " We are not conscious that any circumstance can exist, to induce a doubt in your mind of this being a call of duty ; but, anxious to omit no proper means of securing to our con- gregation your useful labors, if any such circumstance exist, we trust you will give us an opportunity to explain ; which we believe can be done, on all points, in a manner entirely satisfactory. " Requesting your communications may be addressed to either of the undersigned, we remain, with sentiments of great respect, reverend sir, " Your friends, " GERRIT H. VAN WAGENEN, ) " HARRY PETERS, J wardens. The following was liis first reply To G-errit H. Van Wagenen and Harry Peters, Wardens. "PniLADELPiiiA, June 10, 1816. ** Gentlemen — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the Cth inst., and to return you my thanks for the HIS MINISTRY. 199 friendly and obliging terms in which you have been good enough to communicate the call of the wardens and vestry of St. George's, to the rectorship of that church. " Flattering as I consider an invitation to that respect- able charge, I trust that on a subject so interesting as that of a permanent removal from the place of my birth, to which so many attachments, relative, social, and religious, bind my affections, you will not be surprised at any hesitation which has been manifested on my part, in encouraging the measure, or that may now be evinced in regard to a compliance with your offer. " Of one thing I assure you, gentlemen, that if, after proper consideration, duty appears to require of me the sur- render of personal convenience, it shall be made ; and that, should divine Providence direct my course to New York, as a measure of respect towards the congregation of St. George's, and with a view to a better determination of a point of so much importance both to them and to myself, I propose to visit New York the latter part of the present week, and if it be agreeable, preach in your church on the ensuing Sunday. " In the meantime, the subject will be deeply reflected on by me ; and I trust I shall have your prayers associated with my own, imploring such a result as shall be for the glory of God, and the promotion of the kingdom of his Son. " I am, with sentiments of great respect, " Your obedient servant, "JAMES MILNOU." In pursuance of the intimation thus given, Mr. Milnor was m New York on Saturday, the 15th of June; and on Sunday, officiated all day at St. George's. His first sermon there was that which he first preached after the event of his ordination — from Rom. 1:16: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ;" and it was received, as were all his ser- vices there, with the greatest satisfaction. Assiduous atten- tions gathered round him from all parts of the congregation ; and before the close of the visit, it became evident to his own 200 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. mind, that he could not, consistently with duty, decline the call which he had received. He intimated as much in his letters to Mrs. Milnor ; and in Philadelphia, before his return, it was known to be a settled matter, that they were to lose him from among them. His official acceptance of the call was signined to the vestry while he was in New York. He wrote thus : " To the "Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Greorge's." "New York, June 20, 1816. *' Gentlemen — Having suspended my decision upon your obliging call to the rectorship of St. George's, until I had an opportunity of visiting the congregation, and they of hearing me perform divine service and preach, the unanimity which, I am since assured, prevails both in your body and amongst the people, leaves no doubt in my mmd of its being my duty to comply with your wishes. "I accordingly accept the call, and implore the great Head of the church to accompany with his blessmg the con- nection thus formed between us. " Some time will be requisite for procuring a dissolution of my present engagement in Philadelphia, and for settling my concerns there. Any accommodation, therefore, in regard to the time of commencing my labors, that may be found convenient to you, will be acceptable. *' I remain, gentlemen, with gratitude and respect, " Your obedient servant, "JAMES MILNOR." He had prepared a longer form of reply, in which he pro- posed to place the call again in the power of the vestry, to be renewed or suflercd to expire, as they and the people might feel disposed, after having heard him in their desk and pulpit ; but, upon second thought, he laid aside the letter which he had written, and trusting to the evidences which he saw around him, of a unanimous desire for his acceptance, penned and sent the brief letter just given. His institution , or xrt*. tnoieoTT»:< AHE B-ZCTORT, BEEKMAN St. NEW YORK. 59 BEEKMAN St HIS MINISTE.Y. 201 by Bishop Hobart, as rector of the parish, took place on Mon- day, September 30, The severance of one of the last links in the chain of his connection with Philadelphia, was effected by his receipt of a check from the accounting warden of the united churches for the balance of his salary ; accompanied by a kind note, in which the writer signified that his brother wardens in New York might send Mr. Milnor bigger checks, but could not give him better love. SECTION II. Mr. Milnor now entered on that long and uniform period of his ministerial career, which closed but with his life. With the hearts of his people from the first united in him, and kindly yielding to his wise and gentle sway, his labors were not long in assuming that direction which, with little variation, they held to the end of his ministry. To his reg- ular services in the pulpit, were soon added those of his favor- ite Tuesday and Friday evening lectures ; of his unceasing attention to parochial Sunday-schools ; of his management of the parish organization for the promotion of missionary and other benevolent operations ; and of his watchful care of the social meetings of his communicants for prayer and exhortation. "Within his own parish, the stream of his ministerial life ran ever smooth. His preaching was always most favorably received, and encouragingly blessed. His Sunday-schools became large, prosperous, and, in a short time, several in number. His Friday evening lectures, which, when given in the lecture-room, were always opened with forms from the prayer-book, but usually closed with extemporaneous prayer, were uniformly to large audiences, and often scenes of deep and powerful interest through the evident presence of God's 9# 202 MEMOIE OF DR. MILNOR. Holy Spirit. The benevolent operations of his parish, con- ducted with wise reference to system, and sustained by con- stant manifestations of liberality, were steadily prosperous and mcreasingly productive. And the weekly meetings of his communicants for social prayer and conversation, some- times attended by himself, but more frequently without his presence, were seldom if ever omitted, and not often destitute of truly pleasing tokens of the divine favor. Out of his parish, however, his course of labor lay through much opposition, and his day of action was often stormy. The extemporaneous close of his lecture-room exercises, and the meetings which he countenanced among liis communi- cants for social prayer without forms, encountered the con- stant and earnest displeasure of his bishop ; while the pubhc stand which he felt it his duty to take, in cooperatmg with Christians of other denominations in distributing the Bible without note or comment, and in circulatmg religious tracts of an unsectarian character, drew upon him reiterated ex- pressions of disapprobation, not only from his bishop, but also from a large portion of the Episcopal church. The manner, however, in which he met all this opposition, stand- ing as he always did, mildly firm to liis principles, his rights, and his sense of duty, displayed at once the strength of his character and the beauty of his religion. Ofiensively or officiously, he urged his peculiarities upon none : from the ground which he felt constrained to take, he was moved by the reproaches of none. He blamed none for the difl'erent views of ministerial duty to which they chose to adhere : he suffered the interference of none to disturb him in those which he was led deliberately to adopt. He sought no party dis- tinctions and no personal ends, either for himself or for others : he suffered not the stigma of offensive names, by whomsoever fastened on him, to withdraw his eye for a moment from the one great cause of Christ in which he was enlisted for life, and in which he sought to enlist his fellow-creatures ; but true to the line of duty by which a scripturally enlightened HIS MINISTRY. 203 conscience bade him walk, and intelligent of the rights with which the laws of his church and of his country invested both himself and his brethren, he quietly took his course, and neither turned from it, nor faltered in it, until death. His interest in the cause of the Bible before he left Phil- adelphia, has already been noted. It has also been seen that the American Bible Society was organized May 11, 1816 ; at the very time when he was in correspondence with the vestry of St. George's. At his settlement in New York, therefore, in September, this central organization was but just beginning to put its machinery in motion ; and as he lost no time, after his removal to this city, in identifying himself with its friends, and had been previously engaged in those expanding activities of the Philadelphia Bible Society, which, if they did not originate the general institution m New York, were at least in close connection and full sympa- thy with its originating causes, he may be considered, if not one of the first founders of that blessed institution, yet one of that noble band of Christian spirits of various name, but of harmonious views, and of united hearts, through whose influ- ence its earliest foundations were laid. The history of his valuable labors ui this Society belongs properly to a later page in this memoir. The mere fact of his early connection with its operations, is all that it is here necessary to state. For the present we have nothing to do but to trace the course of his labors and his life as well as we may, by the help of those few letters which have been recovered, and which he either wrote or received in the course of his prolonged and very varied correspondence. The following from a doubting parishioner, together with ita answer, presents us with an interior view of his parochial life. To the Rev. Mr. Milnor. "New York, July 31, 1817. '* E,EV. Sir — Emboldened by the permission which you gave me, of stating to you some of the impediments which 204 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. prevent me from joining the company of travellers to Zion, I have taken the liberty of enclosing a few thoughts. I hope I have not written with too much boldness and disrespect, on a subject of which I wish to think and speak with rever- ence ; and that you will favor me with your opinion of them, and say whether you do not think that one so faithless and wavering had better abstain from the table, lest, partaking with an unbelieving heart, she eat and drink condemnation to herself Your candid sentiments on this subject will much obhge, " Rev. sir, your friend, "C P . "I am much pressed by those interested in my spiritual welfare to come forward as a public professor, and join the number of those who seal their faith and love by partaking of an ordinance recommended by the Saviour as a memorial of himself. My not doing so is, I fear, misunderstood as obstinacy or indillerence. But it proceeds from neither. Indeed, I feel sincerely sorry that I cannot go up with the assembly of saints, and feed upon those precious memorials with true faith and a thankful heart. But v/hile I feel no assurance of faith ; wliile I know I do not experience the power of rehgion in my soul ; while I do not embrace the whole gospel plan with all my heart ; Avhile I cannot place such dependence on it as to say, * Here is firm footing, here is solid rock' — would it not be acting the hypocrite to substitute appearance for reality, the shadow for the substance ? " Let it not be said I indulge a sceptical mind. Oh, I lament the disposition. I would fain believe with all the simplicity of a little child. But, alas, the evil spirit of unbe- lief is continually rising and starting objections. Some stumbUng-block is ever in the way. Some doubt that can- not be solved constantly impedes my progress in the Christian course, and renders me cold and indiflerent. Am I asked to mention some of these doubts ? They are not always pres- ent ; but often show themselves in many differing forms HIS MINISTRY. 205 One of the most besetting and hardest to answer, is, that the gospel plan of salvation appears a confined one, allowing its utmost latitude, except as explained by the Universalists, and* theirs is a creed which I dare not adopt. The Predes- tinarians say, that Christ's blood was not shed in vain; that human nature is so depraved, so averse to good, so far gone out of the right way, that, although a remedy is pro- vided for them, they will never turn and embrace it ; but that Christ, by his sufferings, purchased the redemption of all that shall be saved ; that they are bought with a price ; that they are his ; and that therefore none of them shall be lost, but his Spirit will operate so powerfully on their minds, as to transform them, and make them willing to accept his offered grace. This is generally rejected as a cold, contract- ed thought ; as derogating from the generous motive that brought the Son of God from the abode of unceasing happi- ness to suffer and die, that guilty man might be fitted to par- take of his endless glory. '"He left his radiant throne on high, Left the bright realms of bliss, And came to earth to bleed and die ; "Was ever love like this ?' " 'Tis, indeed, a proof of love and mercy enough to thaw the frozen heart of apathy itself into feeling and devotion. "Why, then, is mine so refractory ? Why will it not believe and accept ? Alas, because I am a doubting Thomas. I have not faith, even as a grain of mustard seed. When I am about to stretch out the withered arm, and make a feeble attempt to lay hold on the hope presented in the gospel, this thought arrests it : Can it be that those transactions have taken place, and were necessary for the salvation of men ? And is it also necessary that they should believe and depend on them to be saved ? Then, why is the knowledge of them so confined? If Christ came to save the world, and the world cannot be saved but by faith in him, what is to be- come of the greatest part of its inhabitants, who cannot exer- 206 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. cise faitli for want of knowledge ? How many of the ancients, who were endowed with great capacities, and seemed illu- mined by a light divine, have died without faith I They could not believe what they had never heard. How rr>any good men have died ignorant of the contents of the Bible I Nay, how many in modern times have been sceptical, who have appeared to be sincere searchers after truth, and who have possessed capacious minds I Are we not taught to believe this to be the first stage of bemg, that we are now fitting for the stations which we are hereafter to fill ? Does it not seem probable, then, that a comprehensive mind, which here just began to unfold, will expand and enlarge when it enters that world where faith shall be swallowed up in vision ? And if so, was it — with powers superior, in the order of being, to common minds — created for no purpose ? Does it not appear to have some part to act hereafter, and that its powers of perception will increase, when, freed from its dark prison-house, it can soar and view what mortal eye hath not seen, ear heard, or heart of man conceived ? Yet many of these have died unbelievers, and we are told, that ' without faith it is impossible to please God.' " There are other difficulties, not so formidable, indeed, which still create doubts. One is, the want of charity among professors. If the fruit of the Spirit be love and gentleness, if Christ said, ' By this shall all men know ye are my disci- ples, if ye love one another,' what testimony to the fulfilling of this command do different sects exhibit in their charity for each other ? Although travelHng to the same place, they yet obey not the injunction, ' Fall not out by the way ;' but because they understand not all the directions alike, a spirit of acrimony and contention usurps the place of brotherly kindness. Forgetting that they are all equally sincere in their interpretations of their Master's commands, and that he alone can judge who has best undersstood his orders, they ' snatch from his hand the balance and the rod,' and are often more inveterate against their fellow-Christians that HIS MINISTRY. 207 difler from them, than they are against infidels. "Wliere, says unbelief, is the transforming influence, in all this, of a religion that changes a sinner into a saint ; or if so many paths lead astray from the right one, why are we left, blind as we are, to grope our way with such obscure directions ? " I do not encourage these difficulties ; they force them- Belves upon me : they weaken my confidence in revelation ; take from me that prop on which my hopes, my affections, would fain lean, and leave, instead, a cold, insensible, doubt- ng heart. Would such a sacrifice be acceptable ? Or can .t possibly be brought to the table of the Lord ?" Answer To Mrs. C P . "New Yokk, Aug. — , t817. "My dear Madam — To the question with which you close your communication, I answer, without hesitation, in the negative. With your present feelings, it would be wrong in your friends to press you on the subject of communion. But the circumstances which now restrain your approach to the table of the Lord, are of vastly more importance when viewed in reference to eternity, than when considered in ref- erence to this preliminary ordinance. They form a most alarming barrier to those hopes which its participation is designed not to create, but to strengthen and confirm ; and therefore, in regard not to this measure alone, but to that heavenly happiness after which its faithful recipients aspire, it is of infinite interest to you that the doubts with which you are harassed should be removed. Nothing, indeed, but a superior Power can do this ; but if he be appealed to with earnestness and sincerity, and if fervent prayer be accompa- nied by the use of all those means of knowledge with which we are favored, I have no doubt that the truths of revelation "wdll shine into your mind with a radiance that shall dispel from it every cloud of unbelief " Your letter, though leading to a fear that your mind is disturbed on other points, yet appears to me to embrace, sub- 208 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. stantially, but two difficulties ; the latter of which, as the less important, I will notice first. This is, the want of char- ity among professing Christians. The existence of this evil, to a lamentable extent, cannot be denied ; yet perhaps it is not so generally prevalent as you imagine. Where the errors of some sects affect the vital truths of religion, those on which salvation is deemed to depend, they are assailed by others with a vehemence and even intemperance of lan- guage, which the maintenance of truth, important as it is, will not justify. And yet, where this is the case, so far from hostility to individuals being felt, the unhappy persons who are believed to be in error are often borne on the hearts of their opponents in secret prayer to God, and in sincere sup- plication presented in their behalf. Acrimony, violent and unpardonable, it is admitted, is sometimes indulged, and not unfrequently on points of minor importance. But may not much sincerity in these persons, though so improperly man- ifested, really exist ? And even where blamable motives prompt contending parties, does this aflect the truth of that religion, all whose principles and precepts are directed to the rectification or removal of those motives ? It proves the deep and radical corruption of human nature. It furnishes ground for apprehending, that the persons in question have not ex- perienced the transforming influence of that religion whose very basis is love, or that it has but partially operated its efTects on their minds. If, on a recurrence to the system in which they profess to believe, that is found to justify, even towards enemies, hatred and animosity, then reject it as inconsistent with the nature and attributes of Deity ; but if, on the contrary, it is seen exacting of all its professors the cultivation of love to God and man ; if its great object of conscientious pursuit, as there delineated, be that ' wisdom which is from above,' and which is characterized as being ' first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and with- out hypocrisy ;' then, surely, it is wrong to transfer the HIS MINISTRY. 209 blame, to whicli false or mistaken professors are justly liable, to a system which condemns their conduct. ' All are not Israel that are of Israel.' Hypocrites and self-deceivers have ever infested the Church of Christ, and on other minds than yours have produced prejudices against the religion which they disgraced. Might we not as well condemn the eleven apostles, because their remaining associate was a traitor ; or the blessed Jesus and his instructions, because they failed in producing the same benign effect on the heart of Judas, which we know they did produce on those of the others ; as to say that, because hypocrites obtrude themselves among the sincere, or because the inveterate depravity of the human heart has, in many professors, been but partially subdued, therefore that system which stamps condemnation and pro- nounces the most fearful threatenings on their misconduct, is false and unfounded ? " But is the spirit of which you speak of universal prev- alence ? Are all, or the greater portion of Christians, charge- able with a want of charity ? If it were so, this would justly excite doubts of the power of Christianity to trans- form even its sincere adherents. Do the various methods by which the hostility of Christian sects has, in our day, been so much lessened, furnish no answer to your objection? Is there no proof that this acrimonious disposition is every day yielding to the bland afl^ections wliich swayed the soul of the Redeemer, and which his precepts and example are calcu- lated to infuse into all his true disciples ? Do Bible socie- ties, composed of all religious sects ; missionary associations, uniting several denominations heretofore deemed hostile to each other ; charitable institutions for the succor of the miserable and the instruction of the indigent, embracing a harmonious union of almost every department of the Chris- tian world : nay, does the intercourse of private life afford no testimony that, if not in all, yet in many hearts the doc- trines of the gospel have produced the happiest, most glori- ous effects ? I really think, that on consideration, you will 210 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. perceive there is, in your suggestion, some indication of the very fault in yourself whicli you condemn in Christians ; and that, in fact, one of the strongest evidences of the truth of our blessed religion is the obvious effects which it has pro- duced in ameliorating the manners and feelings of society, and in its begetting a love among its professors, which we m.ay in vain look for in any country where it has not obtained an entrance. " The other difficulty which besets you, you state to be the confined character of the gospel plan, * allowing the utmost latitude, except as explained by the Universahsts ; and theirs,' you say, 'is a creed which you dare not adopt.' I am glad of this latter remark, because this, as well as other expressions of your letter, shows that your mental embar- rassments have not only failed to prepare you for rejecting wholly the system of revealed truth, on which our immor tal happiness depends, but also left you sufficient discern- ment to see the iniquity of a plan that, with a fair show of benevolence, would prostrate all distinctions between good and evil, and consequently between the opposite results, which reason, even without revelation, teaches us ought severally to follow. " You allude to the confined aspect of the predestinarian scheme. Except under modifications which its strict adhe- rents will not admit, my past reflections have not led me into this view of the gospel plan. Of course I am not obliged to defend Christianity attended by this incumbrance. Reject- ing, then, this view of it, where is the ground for your ob- jection ? So far from being liable to it in its own nature, the whole system is predicated on the purest and most exten- sive principles of universal benevolence. " The race of mankind lose their integrity and become rebels against God. A restoration to purity and a title to forgiveness are, by human means, unattainable. Mere mercy, under the direction of infinite wisdom, in accordance, too, with the principles of justice, provides a method whereby HIS MINISTRY. 211 both may be procured. This is oflered to all, urged upon all. Not one of the human family is excluded from a right to its participation on the terms prescribed. A church, a ministry, and ordinances, are established for the promulga- tion of this expanded scheme of beneficence to all the nations of the world. Through the agency of these, with the writ- ten word and the accompanying influences of the Spirit, it is making progress over the earth, is now daily accelerating its march, and will not stop till all ' the kingdoms of the earth become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.' " But ' it has not been m.ade known everywhere at once. Why,' you ask, ' is the knowledge of it still so confined ? What is to become of those who, for want of knowledge, cannot exercise faith ?' Might not the question be as well settled, first. Why does not God conduct all the operations of his providence by miracle ? AVhy does he operate at all by human means ? As to the gradual progress of Chris- tianity, though it would be easy to advance many conjec- tural reasons for it, I find the difiiculty, if it be one, answered in my own mind by a reflection, which, I believe, ought to satisfy yours. Not only according to the declarations of Scripture, but necessarily, it is of the very essence of Deity, that his ways should be ijiscrutable. If our finite appre- hensions could fathom all his plans, then indeed Avould be realized the fallacious promise of the tempter to our first parents : we should 'become as God.' If we could under- stand, or reconcile his transactions in a thousand other par- ticulars, on which we are equally blind ; if we could, for instance, without falling into Atheism, account in any other manner than that in which Scripture accounts for the origin and continued prevalence of evil ; if we could tell why Om- nipotence has made the circumstances of nations, and the lots of individuals, and their grades of happiness so unequal — one nation free and happy, another enslaved and miserable ; one individual born in a climate mild and genial as Eden^ another freezing near the poles or burning under the Ime ; 212 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. one almost uninterruptedly prosperous and happy, another ever unsuccessful and wretched ; and if, in innumerable other instances, we could see the reason of circumstances and events which, if we believe in a God, w^e must certainly admit to be under his control, then we might, perhaps, be able to say why, by an instantaneous and of course miraculous opera- tion, he does not communicate the light of the gospel to every portion of the globe. I forbear, therefore, to assign reasons for the Almighty, which it has not been his pleasure to reveal. I bow in silent submission. ' Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.' ' We know not the thoughts of the Lord ; neither understand we his counsels.' It is a presumptuous arraignment of his providence in me to doubt, though I cannot by searching find out the reason of his ways, that they are ordered in infinite wisdom and good- ness, and will issue in those results that shall most promote his glory. "As to the condemnation of those to whom the gospel has not been revealed, your difficulty is founded on an as- sumption, to which, I apprehend, but few enlightened Chris- tians would accede ; that is, that the heathen will be con- demned for not exercising that faith which his want of knowledge makes it impossible for him to feel. This is not my creed. St. Paul says, ' When the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the thhigs contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts ; their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean- while accusing, or else excusing one another.' The heathen world are certainly in a deplorable state of ignorance and wickedness, and every endeavor should be made for their illumination and conversion ; but my mind rejects with ab- horrence the sentiment which involves them indiscriminately in a sentence of condemnation. Notwithstanding the pas- sage which you quote, that ' without faith it is impossible to please God' — which I think should be restricted to those HIS MINISTRY. 213 who are capable of its exercise — there are many considera- tions furnished by the Bible in support of the rational con- clusion, that God, who is ' no respecter of persons,' will not condemn, for the want of this grace, those who, without fault of their own, are incompetent to its attainment. This oj)inion is advanced and supported by Drs. Macknight, Whit- by, Clarke, and many other writers of unquestionable piety and learning. It is assumed in an approved body of Calvin- istic divinity now before me ; and if many of a persuasion deemed so rigid are willing to allow, as the author declares, that ' the heathen will not be condemned for not believing in Christ, whom they never heard of, or for not complying with the gospel overture, that was never made to them ; and that invincible ignorance, though it be an unhappiness and a consequence of our fallen state, is not a crime ;' I see not why we should perplex ourselves with a difficulty which is of our own creation, and which arises not out of any just view of the declarations of God's word. ' ' But if we were constrained to leave the question of the possible salvation of unconverted heathen undecided, to me it seems not to aflect that of solicitude about our own. Wo have the light of the gospel ; and whatever may be the doom of those who have it not, if we remain heathen amid the blaze of divine light with which we are surrounded, we can- not doubt our own. And this remark contains my answer to your difficulty about those modern sceptics, who appear to you to have been sincere inquirers after truth, and who, with eminent talents for its discovery, have yet continued unbelievers. If you are acquainted with the writings of these persons, I ask you whether they seem to have ever sought after truth in a disposition suited to its attainment, or in a manner that will excuse an ignorance which I can- not but believe to be wilful ? I declare that my knowledge of their writings convinces me, that their only search was after fresh food for scepticism ; that the depravity of their hearts is manifest in the manner as well as in the substance 214 MEMOIR OF DH. MILNOR. of their assaults upon religion ; and that there is no evidence of any of them having availed themselves of the assistances with which God is ever ready to supply real inquirers after truth. As a believer in the Bible, I give full credence to its declarations, that ' the world by wisdom knows not God,' or his ways ; that ' the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foohshness unto him ; nei- ther can he know them, because they are spiritually dis- cerned.' These men were strangers to prayer, deniers of the supernatural light which we Christians believe to be requisite and attainable, and presumptuous admirers of their own natural and acquired powers. Can it be wondered that they were left in spiritual blindness, and destined to endure the consequences of wilful unbelief ? " And now, madam, will you allow me, with a frankness which the candor of your commmiication justifies and calls for, to make an encouraging suggestion, and to follow it by a recommendation of that course which I believe it to be your duty and interest to pursue ? Many of your expres- sions indicate a sensibility that would seem inconsistent with actual unbelief; especially that desire which you say you feel for the attauiment of a true faith, and your aversion to entertain doubts, which, nevertheless, mvoluntarily obtrude themselves, and appear to be the causes of much mental uneasiness and distress. On these favorable circumstances do I rest my hope — what pleasure will it give me to see it realized — that God's blessing will attend your endeavors to come to a better mind. " Now the recommendation, with which I am encouraged to follow this suggestion, is warranted by my own experi- ence of its benefits." [Here follows the account of his own experience, given in a former extract, vide pp. 87, 88 ; after which he thus proceeds : ] *' I know the charge of egotism, to which this plain nar- rative would, in many minds, subject me. But I hope I shall be acquitted of any desire to boast when I declare, that my HIS MINISTP^Y. 215 only view is to incite you to pursue a course wliich, from a persuasion of its efficacy, I can safely recommend ; and this, not on the ground of any very elevated personal confidence to which it has raised me, hut on that of its having dismissed from my mind every shadow of douht as to the true way of salvation, and of its having excited in my heart fervent desires and a humhle hope of an ultimate attamment of that happiness to which it leads. " No exertions of our own, unblessed by the great Su- preme, can give us genuine faith, or qualify us to bring forth the fruits of righteousness. After all that we have done, we shall, if properly enlightened, be brought to a simple reliance on the merits and atonement of the Saviour for acceptance with God. Still, we are called upon to strive ; and we are encouraged to do so by many great and precious promises. But if, instead of ' working out our own salvation with fear and trembling,' and imploring God to ' work in us to will and to do of his good pleasure ;' that is, if instead of uniting laborious effort with implicit faith, we neglect our awn inter- ests, and are cavilling at the revealed declarations, or the providential arrangements of God ; if we entertain every phantasy which the enemy of our souls or our own wicked hearts may raise ; if we neglect prayer, and instead of attend- mg to our own souls, and ' striving to enter in at the strait gate,' we are impatiently asking whether there be ' few that be saved,' or involving ourselves in other matters too high for us to reach, we shall probably be left to the delusions of our own hearts, and fail of our hopes of heaven. 0, madam, as you value your soul, let me entreat you to turn your thoughts inward ; and instead of employing yourself on sub- jects which the wisest heads have never been able fully to unfold, go to Christ with the simphcity of a little child, and be willing to learn of him. You will find one evidence of his favor an ample substitute for a thousand conjectures ; and he will succeed it by tokens of love, that shall fill you with joy unspeakable and 'full of glory.' For 'they sJiall 216 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. know, who follow on to know the Lord.' ' If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.' ' Wait on the Lord : be of good courage ; he will strengthen thy heart.' Persevering m your endeavors, you will be made ' free from sin ;' and becoming the ' servant of God, you will have your fruit unto holmess, and the end everlasting life.' " I pray God to give you his blessing ; and remain, " Your obedient servant, and affectionate pastor, "JAMES MILNOR." This may be called a wise as well as faithful piece of Christian teaching and advice ; and if she to whom it was addressed be not finally found one of the gems in Mihior's crown of rejoicing, it will not be because his letter failed of the duty which he OAved as her spiritual guide. The next two letters also give us an interior view of his parochial life. To the Rev. James Milnor. "New York, August 18, 1817. " Sir — You will, I hope, excuse the liberty I take in troubling you with the perusal of these lines ; but the urgency I have to be informed respecting many points in religion, has prompted me to this method of being satisfied, and must furnish my excuse ; while the high ground on which you stand as an ecclesiastic, pointed you out as one fully competent to satisfy my inquiries. "I have, within this last year, imbibed — lioiv, I scarcely know — ideas that vary very little, if any, from the princi- ples of Deism. I have lately commenced an acquaintance with a young man, who has advanced many things to stag- ger my faith in the authenticity of the Bible, and, of course, in the being of a Saviour. You will probably start at a young person's avowing so much ; for I am but nineteen, and was brought up with strictness in the Episcopal per- suasion. His chief argument is the contradictions wliich HIS MINISTRY. 217 appear in the Bible, and which would not he found had it been written by inspiration of God." The letter then proceeds with a catalogue of these alleged contradictions from the pentateuch ; after which it thus con- cludes : " I have, as yet, proceeded no farther in conning the dif- ferent parts of the Scriptures ; but a satisfactory explanation of the preceding passages will go far, if not entirely, to re- move my doubts, as I am open to conviction. I hope you will think me right in proclaiming my doubts, that I may have them, if possible, removed. I shall wait with impa- tience till I receive an answer. " I remain yours, etc. " P. S. Please direct Charles H. Fitz Edmond, to be left at the post-office till called for." This anonymous young sceptic seems to have been one of those sincere inquirers after truth, who boast of their open- ness to conviction, wdiile evidently deeming their objections against the Bible irremovable. He had an answer probably different from what he expected. To Charles H. Fitz Edmond. "Beekman-street, No. 27, Aug. 20, 1817. *' Sir — With the sincerest disposition, I trust, to assist, so far as I am able, any sincere inquirer after truth, it will afford me very great pleasure, should such be your pursuit, to be serviceable to you. But it comports neither with my sense of propriety, nor with my personal convenience, to do this through the raiedium of an epistolary correspondence, which may run mto much length, and in which, for want of explanations too minute to be put on paper, misunderstand- ing may take place. If you have been seduced into a con- nection with a person who has hardened his heart into Deism, and, with the malignant disposition which characterizes the infidel, is not content to destroy his own soul, but seeks to Mem. Milnor. 1 218 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. make you his companion in misery, I beseech you, my young friend, break off your intercourse with him ; seek the estab- lishment of your mind in the most interesting of all con- cerns ; and when God has enlightened you to a clear discov- ery and reception of religious truth, he may make you a means of converting the unhappy young man. He has my prayers that he may not, by cold unbelief, experience a fate as calamitous as that of the Egyptian prince, Avhose being given over to the delusions of his own heart, instead of ex- citing a cavil against the Bible, should be a warning to us, lest we also fall into the same condemnation. " Every objection stated in your letter has been succes- sively urged by all the infidel writers who have, in turn, opposed their puny efforts to the truth of God, and as often been with readiness refuted. They constitute but a small part of the trivial weapons by which a system has been assailed, whose foundations are as eternal as the heavens, and by no exertions of mortal man can be overthrown, or even shaken. On them, as well as other difficulties, I shall be happy to converse with you at any time, in my own house, provided you are disposed with seriousness and sui- cerity to seek satisfaction on points that have unhappily dis- turbed your belief in the Scriptures. " I have myself knowai the evil of an unbelieving heart. I bless God that I have been brought by his mercy into a steadfastness of faith that men and devils cannot shake. It is my daily happiness to enjoy a confidence that smooths every difficulty in life, inspires a serenity and peace which the infidel cannot know, and directs my view to an eternity of happiness which God has reserved for those who beheve liis promises, and devote themselves to his service. Such, my dear sir, will be your experience, if you use those means which a merciful God has given us for attaining his forgive- ness and favor. " I am your sincere well-wisher, "JAMES MILNOR." HIS MINISTRY. 219 Judiciously differing responses to sceptical inquirers, ac- cording as their appeals were prompted by a serious solicitude to know and obey the truth, or by the spirit of precocious and self-complacent cavil. It is evident from both appeals, that the first year of Mr. Milnor's ministry in St. George's had given him a deep reach into minds of various habits ; and that his teachings were working with power among the surrounding elements of scepticism and unbelief, as well as among those of humble honesty and earnestness in the con- cerns of our higher life. The summer of 1817 was occupied by the vestry of St. George's in erecting the Sunday-school and lecture rooms, which have long stood on the rear of the church-grounds : rooms consecrated by better forms than those of man's de- vice — the overshadowing presence and the in working power of God's ever-gracious Spirit — rooms in which some of Mr. Milnor's best labors were performed, and many of his best fruits gathered. The building in which these rooms are contained being finished and ready for use, it was first opened for religious services on the evening of Sunday, November 9, 1817. The occasion was one of abiding interest. It was an evidence to Mr. Milnor of his first year's prosperity in his work ; and it opened means by which, for nearly thirty years longer, his labors were rendered increasingly effective and fruitful. Many plants of his heavenly Father's planting, are now growing in heaven, whose roots first struck into the good soil of graciously prepared hearts in old St. George's Sun- day-school and lecture room. From the summer of 1817, a period of almost four years is, so far as letters and other documentary traces of his course are concerned, an almost total blank; but little, touching that period, having been recovered from the absorbing gulf of the past. Of his life, however, during that period, a sufficiently distinct idea may be formed from the following letter. 220 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. To the Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine. "New York, April 9, 1821. •' Rev, and dear Brother — I am happy to have it in my power to reciprocate your kindness in making known to me your friend, Mr. Robinson, by presenting to you one of •mine, the Rev. Mr. Tyng, a recent pupil of Bishop Griswold, who is anxious to be employed without delay in the work of an evangelist. I have thought, my dear friend, that God has given me an opportunity in him of gratifying all Mr. Robinson's wishes. He is a young gentleman of good talents and acquirements ; of personal piety and agreeable maimers ; of decidedly evangelical views ; a moderate churchman, who loves his own communion, but does not exclude from his affec- tions any who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and a pleasing speaker. I am persuaded that Mr. Tyng's heart is so much in the work as to promise great success to his exertions ; and that, should he become an inmate of our friend's family, he will commend himself to their friendship and esteem. " Although I feel myself very much to blame in delaying so long to write to you, yet I hope you are prepared to receive an apology which will mitigate in some degree the severity of your censure. Since last fall, I have had two lectures in the week, besides my services on Sunday ; catechetical exer- cises ; superintendence oifive Sunday-schools ; various agen- cies in public institutions ; and from my peculiar situation here, a greater amount of parochial and extra duty than usually falls to the lot of a single presbyter. I do not men- tion these things boastingly. Alas, I am afllictingly sensible how little I do for Him who has done so much for me. A better qualified man would, no doubt, with much greater facility get through such a course of duty as that in which I am engaged. But for me, the situation which I fill is an arduous one, and requires my unremitted and laborious at- tention to go through its exactions with any tolerable satis- faction to my own mind. " I wish I could give you more favorable accounts than HIS MINISTRY. 221 I honestly can of the state of spiritual things amongst us. Lultewarmness and formality, error in doctrine and latitu- dinarianism in practice, deform, in a greater or less degree, all our churches. In all of them are to be found a few who have not bowed the knee to Baal ; but I am afraid our city, large as it is, would not, out of the Episcopal churches, fur- nish the prophet's number. In St. George's, we continue to have a goodly number of devoted, praying people ; our Sunday-schools are flourishing ; and every season of com- munion exhibits some addition to the number of Christ's true disciples. The congregation have now, for near five years, been proof against every attempt to sow dissension among them ; and those who have not experimentally felt its power, are still willing to hear the truth. But what cause of grief is it to any minister, whose heart's desire and prayer is the salvation of his people, to see so many, young and old, still strangers to a crucified Saviour ; still living to the world ; still unmindful of the interests of their never-dying souls. It is a ground of unspeakable gratitude that any should, through the divine blessing on our labors, be plucked as brands from the burning ; but when we are filled with a sense of the value of the souls committed to our charge, how feelingly alive should we be to the consideration of the immense dan- ger to ourselves, if one be lost through our negligence or remissness I God grant, my endeared fellow-laborer, that neither you nor I may be the subject of this awful guilt. " If much more serious consequences than I have occasion to apprehend, were to follow my adherence to that ministerial course which the finger of God marked out for me at its beginning, and to which, by divine grace, I have been ena- bled hitherto to keep, I trust nothing would terrify or allure me from it ; unless, which may God prevent, I should merit the withdrawing of those influences from above, which ale no can enable any of us to persevere to the end. " Your aflectionate brother, "JAMES MILNOR." 222 MEMOIU OF DR. MILNOE.. As to the account, contained in the foregomg letter, of the engrossing character of his avocations, it might be taken and spread over his entire life in New York, and be found a sufficiently accurate description of the whole. His thorough business habits before he entered the ministry, made him a thorough business man after his entrance. Wherever eccle- siastical interests called for business talents, he was sure to be called ; except, indeed, in those quarters where opposition to his theological views and his ministerial course kept him, to some extent, out of posts of labor which he might other- wise have filled with profit. This, however, only left him a more available man in the general religious institutions of the city, with many of which he became, as years rolled by, more and more closely identified, and through which he be- came more and more widely useful. In consequence of his rare qualifications for business, he became emphatically a busy man, not in the select world of letters and of author- ship, but in the great world of action and of Uve results. He became embodied in the living Christianity of his age, and his memoirs will be found best written, not on the pages of any book, but in the effects of the many institutions which he served — in the souls of those multitudes whose salvation he has been, and yet will be, one of the instruments of se- curing. During the period which we have seen so blank of let ters and other documentary traces of his course, he received from the University of Pennsylvania the degree of doctor of divinity. Passing, now, with the current of time, we meet an event which suggests a reflection. No man is perfect. Perhaps he is onost perfect, or most likely to become perfect, who cannot sleep well, till in the ear of a wronged fellow-Tiian, he has acknowledged his infirmity, and any act of hijustice into which it may have betrayed him. Miserable sinners that we are, we can confess our trespasses to God with ten- fold more courage than that with which we can acknowledge HIS MINISTRY. 223 a wrong to 2i fclloiv-sinncr . Dr. Milnor was not perfect, but lie was perfect enough to do this difficult tiling. Witness the following interchange of letters, which are to the credit of both the parties concerned. The individual whom Dr. Milnor addressed, is still living ; his name, therefore, is withheld. To the Hey. Dr. . " Beekman-street, Wednesday Evening, Nov. 13, 1822. " My dear Sip.. — I have felt concerned, since I left you this afternoon, lest, under a momentary warmth of feeling, excited by the expression of opinions on your part, in refer- ence to Bible societies, for which I was wholly unprepared, I may have made a remark or two calculated to wound you. The institutions which you condemned, have a stronger hold on my affections than any in existence of merely human ori- gin ; and to their support I have devoted, and shall continue to devote my best exertions, under the impression that, next to my immediate duties as the pastor of a congregation, I can in no other way so efficiently subserve the cause of Christ. But on this subject you have a right to your opin- ion, as I have to mine ; and therefore, though I lament the change of sentiment which you professed, yet I also regret that any allusion to it should have been made, in the rapid conversation which passed between us, that might interfere with our future good understanding upon the many subjects in which, as ministers and Christians, we no doubt agree. "Although I acknowledge myself as tenacious as any man of opinions formed after as long consideration as I have given to the Bible cause, and shall not shrink, on all proper occasions, from their maintenance ; yet I wish to hold these, and all others, in a spirit of meekness, and if at any time betrayed into improper warmth of expression, it will give me as great pleasure as it now does, to own my sorrow. I write to you in Christian confidence, being, with much regard, " Your brother in the Lord, " JAMES MILNOR." 224 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. To the Rev. Dr. Milnor. "New York, Nov. 18, 1822. "Rev. and dear Sir — I have been prevented, by an engagement which completely occupied my thoughts, from replying to your note of the 13th inst., and beg you will excuse the delay. " My feelings, it is true, were somewhat wounded by your remarks, particularly in imputing to me unworthy mo- tives for changing my opinion on the subject upon wliich we formerly agreed, but now differ. But attributing those re- marks to a momentary excitement, which it was very natural to expect, I did not sutler the unpleasant impression to remain on my mind ; and I most cordially reciprocate your desire, that, though we may continue to disagree in opinion on a particular mode of disseminating religious knowledge, yet nothing that has passed should interrupt the harmony and brotherly love which ought to subsist between us as ministers of the same church and disciples of the same Lord. " In haste, but Avith great respect and esteem, I remain, " Yours, Here, again, another period, of more than two years, must be passed over, with no other notices of his life than those which lie on the silent records, and live m the spirit- ual results of his ceaseless activities. At the beginning of 1825, traces of his course again be come visible. He was then suddenly seized with gout in the stomach ; and the attack proved so severe that, at last, he seemed to be yielding up liis spirit. His family, his physician, himself, believed, on Sunday morning, that while his parishioners were mournfully entering the doors of their sanctuary, he was in articulo 77iortis, passing through the very gates of death. Indeed, it was reported through the city that his decease had actually taken place ; and the writer of this, who was then a member of the General The- ological Seminary, remembers with great distinctness, the HIS MINISTRY. 225 sensation which ran through the hearts, making itself visi- ble in the saddened countenances, and audible in the low- sighs of his fellow-students, when the announcement came that morning that Dr. Milnor was dead. The afflictive in- telligence, however, was soon contradicted ; and it was found that, at the time when he was pronounced in a dying state, he was passing a critical point in his disease, after which he began sensibly to recover. In the rapid progress of his dis- ease, he sunk, lower and lower, till his feet touched the earth at the very brink of the grave ; but at that point, as if the touch had brought him where the power of God was wait- ing to arrest his descent into the dark chambers of the dead, he at once rebounded, and by slow but steady degrees sprang up again to the cheerful day of health and duty. His first sermon after his illness was preached the 13th of March. The peril through which he thus passed, made the public aware of the great value of his character and influence ; and showed, in the most touching manner, the depth and strength of the hold which he had obtained upon the respect, the love, the veneration, of his fellow-citizens. For weeks, the whole religious community of New York, without distinction of name, were laboring in prayer for him unto God. From Sabbath to Sabbath scarcely a sanctuary was open in which the throne of mercy was not besieged with most earnest sup- plications in his behalf. The lecture-room and prayer-meet ings of his own dear flock, in particular, became almost daily scenes of solemn, tearful, trembling wrestlings with the angel of tfie covenant, that yet a little while he might be spared. Faith, hope, pleading faith, humble hope, were there ; bowed down, indeed, and almost awed to silence ; but laboring all the more intensely and strugglingly, from the very pressure under which they bent ; and seeming to say, though in words it came not, " Lord, we cannot give him up ; his work is not done : we cannot give him up." And the Lord heard and spared ; and many were the adoring disciples, who thence- forth went on their way, and still go on their way, strong in 10* 226 MEMOIR t)F DR. MILNOR. the feeling and tlie faith that the twenty added years of their pastor's life Avere the gracious gift of a Father in heaven to those unwontedly earnest and persevering prayers. But it will be asked, what were his otvn views while passing through the scenes now described ? His own pen and those of his nearest observers shall answer. Here is a letter, which he wrote from his chamber after he had re- gained strength to write. To the Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine. "New York, Feb. 22, 1825. •* My dear Brother — I thank you for your kind favor of the 15th. In the eighth week of confinement to my chamber, it is refreshing to my spirits to hear from my Christian friends ; and among them I can name no one whose letters are more acceptable than yours. " On the evening of the 3d ult. I was suddenly attacked in the street with the gout in my chest, and soon became so ill as to be obliged to take shelter in the house of a friend until I could be conveyed home in a carriage. The com- plaint continued to resist every effort for its removal, and daily to increase in violence until the Sunday following its commencement, although four of our firstrate physicians were in attendance upon me, and their exertions unremit- ted. On the day just mentioned, the impression of all around me was, that a few moments must terminate my existence. Such was my own persuasion ; and, blessed be God, the prospect was unaccompanied by the least alarm. There was given me not only a spirit of calm submission and quiet resignation to the divine will, but a hope full of immortality. how precious was the Saviour to my re- joicing soul in that never-to-be-forgotten hour. "With what an unshaken faith, as a helpless, heU-deserving sinner, was I enabled to rest my assurance of pardon and expectations of approaching glory on his righteousness and blood. Al- though drenched with medicines, which, under other cir- HIS MINISTilY. 227 cumstances, would not only liave taken away my reason, but been destructive of life itself, yet my understanding was unimpaired, and my speech articulate and clear ; so that I was permitted to bear testimony before my surrounding friends to the unspeakable consolations of the Holy Spirit, to the unfailing faithfulness of God, and to the abundant love of the Redeemer, of all which I had the joyful experience. " After an awful season of bodily suffering, during the whole of which faith in a crucified Saviour was triumphant, my pains were, for a short tione, alleviated ; but it proved to be merely a transfer of the disease from the chest to the bowels, which by no means lessened the prospect of dissolu- tion ; and when it again returned to its original seat, every hope seemed to vanish from the minds of my mourning rel- atives and friends. But God was pleased to answer the prayers of his believing people, and to spare me, perhaps for some further usefulness in the church. A long life of the utmost devotion to his service, if allowed me, will very in- adequately repay the manifestations of his loving kmdness, with which, during this providential visitation, I have been favored. " I am now quite well as it regards my general health ; but have had several slight attacks of gout in my feet during my convalescence, which, added to the excoriations occa- sioned by blisters and mustard applications, disable m.e from walking more than a turn or two at a time across my cham- ber. I endeavor to be patient under this long suspension of the delightful duties of the ministry ; but it is somewhat ot a trial. " Kind regards to Mrs. Mcllvaine, and to all our brethren. " Affectionately yours, "JAMES MILNOU." Here is another document, from his family physician Dr. Steams, who, after the year 1821, attended him through all his sufferings from repeated attacks of the gout. "These attacks," says Dr. Stearns, "however painful, 228 MEIvIOIE, OF DR. MILNOR. never disturbed that placid equanimity which so remarkably characterized his whole deportment in every condition ol life. Always cheerful, always communicative wliile strength remained, he improved every opportunity for producing recip- rocal feelings in others. In 1825, the gout, for the first time, was translated from his feet to his chest. This hap- pened while he was walking in the street. He was imme- diately taken into an adjoining house, and thence conveyed home. A few minutes after his arrival, I found him labor- ing under a great oppression in his chest, a great difficulty of breathing, and intense agony. His symptoms were of the most dangerous character ; and the paroxysms continued to increase until the following Sunday, when the disease assumed its most critical form. So violent were the parox- ysms, and so short the intervals, that, upon every succeed- ing attack, it seemed impossible for him to survive. Con- scious that every breath might be his last, he improved every interval of relief in expressing his resignation and his reli- ance upon divine grace. Never did I hear such impressive words from a dying man. The solemnity of the scene, the anguish of his countenance, now and then yielding to smiles, an index to the peace within, like the occasional brilliancy of the sun shining through a dark cloud, his great efibrts to speak, and his deep-toned utterances, made impressions never to be effaced, melted every heart, sufiused eveiy eye, and palsied every tongue. The solemn silence was never broken, save when he spoke. Often and impressively did he bear witness to the great truths Avhich he had preached, and often and fervently did he repeat his love for his congregation. Addressing me, he said, ' Tell them how I love them ; and that, if God spare my life, I will improve it in doing more good than I liave done. Tell them, also, to call a successor who will preach the same evangelical doctrines which I have preached, and not a formalist.' And then he exclaimed, '0 my precious Jesus. How I love my God. How I love the Son of his love. How I love the Holy Comforter.' HIS MINISTRY. 229 " At another interval, addressing the Rev. Dr. Lyell, he gave him the following message for Bishop Hobart, who was then in Europe. ' Tell the bishop I have always loved him from our earhest acquaintance ; that, although I have been obhged to difier in opinion with him on some points, partic- ularly in reference to Bible societies, yet I have always loved and respected him. I did think he had done wrong in intro- ducing my name into the controversy with Mr. Jay ; but I freely forgive him. Tell him, also, that I have never been the author of any publication against him. Although I have been often urged by some of my friends to do so, yet I have never, in opposition to him, put pen to paper.' " Such was our beloved rector, and such the evidence which he exhibited of the true Christian character, during that dangerous illness when he and all around him supposed that he was on the verge of death. "JOHN STEARNS." Here, finally, is another, though a briefer note, from one who bore to him a still nearer relation, and who was his medical attendant for several of the last years of his life. The note is from the " HecoUections" of his son. " How often have I seen his Christian faith and hope tested, when sufiering excruciating torture, which, appar- ently, death only could relieve I That faith never wavered, that hope never sunk ; but steadily the Christian soldier bore himself through the conflict. The infidel may smile at the assertion, but it is certainly evident, that the efficacy of prayer was strikingly manifested, when, in his roost dreadful attack — his case surrendered as hopeless by the ablest phy- sicians — the united prayers, not only of his own church, but of Christians of other denominations, went up to the mercy- seat, and the hand of the destroyer was suddenly stayed. 1 remember, that on the Sunday when his death was momen- tarily expected, it was proposed to stop the ringing of his church-bell," (the parsonage being closely alongside of St. George's tower :) " ' No, no,' he murmured ; ' let it ring on : 230 MEMOir. OF DR. MILNOR. to me there is no sweeter sound on earth, I shall soon listen to the harmonies of heaven.'" [Not so soon, dear saint: even then prayer was entering into the ear of the Lord of Sabaoth, and he was yet to live.] " Like good old Heze- kiah," continues the " Recollections, " " he was spared for longer years. His measure of usefulness was not yet full." Dr. Milnor soon preached his first sermon in St. George's after his long confinement. The interest of the occasion may possibly be conceived, though not easily described. His afiec- tionate congregation received him as a messenger from heav- en, come back to speak to them of things which he had all but seen and heard ; while he, on his own part, looked like one new-born into the world. His face shone with a heav- enly radiance ; so freshly beautiful was the glow of new health, and so joyous, so divinely peaceful the expression which the inner man sent out, to talk silently through his transparent countenance with his devoutly listening flock And then, from the fulness of the heart the mouth spake ; and his words had, plainly, the same secret with his looks. Twenty-two years ago that scene was present, and that sermon preached. During that time ivorcls have passed away ; but the messenger from the borders of the grave ; the face which looked as if it had just come, not from Sinai, but from Zion ; the feelings, which rose fresh and pute from their spring, as though they flowed, not through a defiling world, but from a heaven close by- — these are still like things of yesterday, not only to the writer, but also to multitudes besides. It was, while yet in his chamber, though able to attend to various afliiirs, that he received a visit from some of those who were most active in the steps which its friends were then taking towards the formation of the American Tract Society. As this truly great institution is founded on the principle of publishing those religious works only, in the cir- culation of which all evangelical Christians may unite, the object of this visit was to enlist Dr. Mihior in its organiza- HIS MINISTRY. 231 tion and support, as a suitable representative of the Episco- pal church. Weak as he still was, he entered with zeal into the proposed measure, and became, from the first, one of the founders, and to the end of his life, one of the most active officers of the Society. The following account of the visit just mentioned, from the pen of one of the visitors, with a few other notices con- nected with the same period, will be read with interest. " When I came to this city," says the Uev. Mr. Hallock, Corresponding Secretary of the Society, " as a medium of communication between the Tract Societies then existing in New York and Boston, Dr. Milnor lay apparently at death's door ; and the hope of his recovery seemed to rest much in the unceasing prayer, ofiered by Christians of different name, that he might yet be spared to the Church of God. When he had so far recovered that he could be seen in his chamber, we had drafted a Constitution of the proposed Society ; and I called on him with Mr. Arthur Tappan, to lay the subject before him. Frorai the public reports of his relations to insti- tutions already existing, I had imagined that he was a very grave and aged father in the Church, whose aspect and manners might indicate him as belonging rather to the past than to the present age. Judge of my surprise, when, as health was rapidly returning, and the delicate flush on his cheek was perhaps increased by his late confinement, I be- held all the bloom of youth, and one of the most bland, buoyant, and attractive countenances, I had ever seen; with manners correspondent, and breathing out a heart full of benevolence. He entered at once into the design ; took the draft of the proposed Constitution ; examined carefully every item ; suggested a few verbal improvements, which yet re- main in it ; and, while he intimated a fear that Christians might not be ready to engage in such a union, expressed his strong and decided wish that, seeking direction from God, the enterprise might go forward, and his own willingness to do whatever he could to promote so excellent a design." 232 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. A feeling in favor of organizing a national institution at New York, awoke so early as the preceding August, in tlie summer of 1824. At that time, important and flourishing, but separate Tract Societies existed both at Boston and at New York ; and the question at first was, which of the two should become auxiliary to the other. This question, how- ever, w^as ultimately decided by a determination to organize a national institution at New York, independent of both ; and that to it both should be invited to become auxiliary. Negotiation was somewhere near this point when Mr. Hal- lock and his friend made their visit to Dr. Milnor's chamber. Thenceforward, progress in the formation of a national Tract Society was rapid. On the 1 1th of March, a public meeting of the friends of the cause from New York and its vicinity, preliminary to the organization of such a Society, was held at the City Hotel ; at which a temporary Executive Com- mittee, and officers for the receipt and management of funds, were appouited ; and twelve thousand five hundred dollars, soon after raised to about twenty-five thousand, towards the building of a Tract House, were subscribed. On the 15th of March, the first meeting of the temporary Executive Com- mittee was held at Dr. Milnor's study, apparently in accom- modation to the still tender state of his health, when he was requested to act as their chairman. On the 10th of the following May, delegates from various Tract Societies throughout the United States met in New York, at the call of the Corresponding Secretary. Of this meeting, also, Dr. Milnor was appointed chairman, and the Constitution of the proposed Society was calmly considered and matured. The next day, May 11, 1625, at a large public meeting in the City Hotel, the Society was solemnly organized, by the adoption of the Constitution, and the elec- tion of officers ; and immediately afterwards the corner-stone of the Society's house was laid. Dr. Mihior was placed on the Executive Committee; was made chaimian of that and also of the Pubhshing Committee, and held both places till HIS MINISTRY. 233 tlie day of his death : places, too, of the highest importance, and filled with large and most fully accredited ability. Very soon after this, the first anniversary meeting of the Society, a delegation from the national institution in New York was appointed, and proceeded to Boston, to meet a delegation from that city, for the purpose of finally settling the deeply interesting question, whether the American Tract Society, located in Boston, would identify itself with the na- tional society in New York, which had taken the same name. Of this delegation also, Dr. Milnor was made chairman. The joint action of the two delegations was completed before the 30th of May ; and Dr. Milnor's influence on the happy result which followed, was felt and acknowledged. Twenty years after this. Dr. Woods, of Andover Theological Seminary, one of the vice-presidents of the Society, writing to apologize for his absence from the anniversary meeting in 1845, thus al- ludes to the doings of this delegation in 1825 : " I take this occasion to express my increasing conviction of the usefulness of the Society, and my entire confidence in the wisdom, integrity, and untirmg diligence of those who manage its concerns. It is one of my comforts, that I had a part in the first planning and early labors of the Tract So- ciety. I remember with unutterable satisfaction the time when we met, in Boston, a committee from New York to deliberate on the best way of promoting the Tract cause, and when we knelt together in the parlor to seek wisdom from above, and our dearly beloved Dr. Milnor led us in prayer. The Lord be praised that that excellent man was continued to us so long ; and that, by his labors and prayers, and holy example, he did so much to promote the prosperity of the American Tract Society." 234 MEMOIR OF BU. MILNOR SECTION III. We approach now that part of Dr. Mihior's ministerial life which will be somewhat more copiously illustrated by his own letters. The first which occur shed a beautiful light on that trait in his character which presents him as the generous and fatherly patron of those young brethren in the ministry, and in their studies for the ministry, whom Providence brought within the sphere of his influence and kind offices. These letters, indeed, were addressed to a sin gle student ; but his was a case by no means solitary. Oth- ers, as well as the individual alluded to, have had occasion to take grateful knowledge of the lovely trait about to be exhibited. To a Theological Student. "St. George's, June 20, 1825. " My dear Brother — The object of the present brief communication is to assure you of the lively- interest and sincere sympathy which have been awakened in my breast towards you by our interview on Saturday evening, and to proffer you, along with my earnest prayers in your behalf at the throne of grace, any personal service that may be helpful to you in your future course. "With all the difficulties that may arise out of your happy change of views on the most interesting of all con- cerns, I am persuaded you will find that you have chosen the path of true wisdom ; and that God, who has called you by his grace from darkness to light, will fulfil, in your re- joicing experience, all the encouraging promises of his word to his faithful servants. How thankful will you have rea- son to be, if besides filling your own heart with a hope that maketh not ashamed, he should honor you, even before the commencement of your public ministry, by making you an instniment of good to some of your present associates. How HIS MINISTRY. 235 delightful a hope to indulge, that holy example, and a word fitly dropped, and fervent prayer — means which I trust a gracious God will enable you to use — may, with his bless- ing, be rendered effectual in bringing to right views of divine truth even one of your fellow-students. How animating the thought, that the consequence of so happy an occurrence may be the salvation of multitudes, whom, instead of helping onward, by his own errors in doctrine, to their everlasting ruin, he may, by his work of faith and labor of love in the ministry of reconciliation, conduct to eternal blessedness in heaven. " I am well aware of the delicacy of your situation, and how much religious prudence and discretion will be requisite in union with the desire which, as a disciple of Christ, I know you must feel for his honor and the truths of his glo- rious gospel. My counsel is, that you should ever act in the spirit of meekness ; that, by your deportment, you convince your young friends that you are influenced by feelings of love only in connection with deep convictions of truth ; that you avoid every thing which might bear the aspect of dictation, or of assumed superiority ; and above all, that you give them a large share of your intercessory supplications in the closet, and in those social prayers which I rejoice to hear a few of you daily have in your chambers. "Be of good courage, my dear friend : I pray God that your faith fail not ; and if it be the product of God's Holy Spirit, I know it will not. His providential dealings with you will be as propitious to your success in the work which he has for you to do, as his grace has been in calling you to enter upon it. Make the promises of his word your constant dependence, and believing prayer will not fail to supply you with contmual evidences of the truth and faithfulness of God. " In our conversation, you intimated, I think, a prefer- ence, of which I approve, for the completion of your theo- logical course, by remaining another year in the seminary ; 23G MEMOIE, OF DR. MILNOR. but intimated that circumstances, which you did not explain, might render it impracticable for you to do so. I believe I am not a stranger to those circumstances ; and trust that I shall not offend you by the intimation, that, if they be such as I suppose, they will be remedied in a way that shall not be offensive to your feelings. To be quite plain on the sub- ject, whatever reasonable addition to your present pecuniary resources may be necessary to your contirmance in the semi- nary, will be made by the agency of " Your faithful and affectionate brother in Christ, "JAMES MILNOR." The generous offer with which this letter closes, it did not become necessary to accept. The student addressed received an unexpected appointment to a tutorship in col- lege, and therefore did not return for his closing term of study in the seminary. The following letter was addressed to him about the time of his entrance on his new duties. "New York, September 17, 1S25. ** Dear Sir — I have been gratified by the receipt of your favor of the 12th inst., to which it would have been con- venient, on some accounts, to have delayed a little my an- swer. But you mention a circumstance, in which I presume it may be in my power to render you a small service ; and that is my motive for writing so soon. The books which have a relation to the department assigned you in the col- lege, you must, as soon as possible, be supplied with ; and you must allow me to assist you in their purchase, and to make the necessary advances in your belialf. Let me, there- fore, be forthwith furnished with a list, and every exertion shall be made to obtain the best editions with as little delay as possible ; and if besides this there be any other particular, in which it may be in my power tp assist you, I pray you not to be reserved in your communications, but frankly tell me how I can oblige one to whom I rejoice in bearing the relation of a brother. HIS MINISTRY. 237 " oil, how SM^eet and endearing that tie which unites fellow-Christians in the bonds of the gospel ! Among the other evidences of our being real disciples of Christ, how delightful that of our loving one another. It is one of the most gratifying circumstances of my earthly pilgrimage, to live in affection for my spiritual kindred in Christ, and to believe that I also live in their love for me ; and that we mutually bear each other in our thoughts, when approach- ing the throne of grace in the grateful duty of mtercessory supplication. " While I heartily congratulate you, my beloved brother, on your accession to a situation which, while you occupy it, may, with God's blessing, enable you to prepare for a differ- ent and more extensive field of usefulness, I sympathize with j^ou in your anticipation of some difficulties in the way of spiritual improvement, with which it will certainly be at- tended. It is good, however, to foresee evil, because it will excite to watchfulness, and set invention to work in the con- trivance of the best means for averting the eflects of expo- sure to that most awful of calamities to a renewed Chris- tian, spiritual declension. Set out, my friend, with the resolute determination, that, by the help of divine grace, you will daily redeem sufficient time from your secular studies and employments to attend to ' the one thing needful ;' and often revolve in your mind the solemn inquiry suggested by Him who died for our redemption, * What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?' There is no such help to our growth in grace as frequent retirement to the closet, there to investigate, with no eye upon us but that of the Omniscient, our true character and condition ; to look back impartially on our outward walk ; to dive into the secret springs and motives of our actions ; and, with fervency, to pray to the Author of all our mercies for those which we especially need. It is good, too, in our seasons of devotional retirement, to open our Bible, not for criticism — let that employ some other moments than those 238 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. of secret communion with God — ^but to warm our hearts, and elevate our desires, and strengthen our resolution, and increase the ardor of our love. " In reference to your time of life, and your recent expe- rience of the goodness of God, allow me to suggest to you a thing, which I have made multiplied duties and cares an apology in my own case for too much neglecting — the keep- ing of a religious diary. It will be a wholesome as well as pleasing exercise ; and it will be hereafter cheering and en- couraging to look back upon all the way in which God has led you ; to see the dangers from which he has delivered you ; and to be able, from past evidences of divine benignity and power, to maintain the persuasion, that you will be ' kept by his power through faith unto salvation.' "But pleasing as it is to me thus to converse with one in whose present happiness and future usefulness I think I feel a most affectionate interest, I am so near the limits of my paper, that I must defer to future occasions much of what my feelings of attachment would lead me to add. " On your part, my dear friend, you need not hesitate to communicate with the greatest freedom to him who rejoices to have a place in your affections, and to subscribe himself, " Your faithful brother in the Lord, "JAMES MILNOR." To the same Student. "New York, October 15, 1825. "My dear Friend — Before this reaches you, you will probably have heard of the return of Bishop Hobart from Europe. The clergy attended him yesterday at St. John's, to return thanks for the goodness of Almighty God in restor- ing him to his diocese and family. I never saw him when he looked better, thougli he says he is still subject to attacks of dyspepsia. He made a very feeling address to us in the vestry-room ; in which he declared t*hat he came home with the liveliest feelings of affection towards all his brethren , that he was sensible of his infirmities, and besought for them HIS MINISTRY. 239 the indulgence of his friends ; that he would at all times be ready to receive counsel from them ; and that, whatever might have been, or might still be, his errors, he trusted those who most difiered from, him would not impute to him other than pure and disinterested motives. Nothing could be more conciliatory or affectionate than his demeanor towards myself; nor could congratulations be warmer than those which he expressed on my merciful preservation last winter. I am to dine with him on Monday next, and he with me on the following Thursday. " I mention these things as a source of gratification, because indicative of an enlargement of views on the part of Bishop Hobart, which he has acquired by his general inter- course during the last two years, and which, if maintained, will greatly contribute to his own peace of mind and the prosperity of the Church. I have ever entertained a warm personal friendship for the bishop, with whom I have been intimate for at least five and thirty years ; but I have ever regretted his intolerant views, and determined, at all haz- ards, to maintain my own convictions upon religion and church politics, until convinced of their error. I do trust in God, he will see the necessity of allowing to others a liberty which he so largely claims for himself; and then, with a very considerable diversity of opinion, harmony and Chris- tian love may be maintained. I am persuaded that firmness, united with moderation and meekness, on the part of those who wish to see our church not only advancing in outward prosperity, but growing in evangelical purity and attachment to the distinguishing doctrines of Christianity, will, in the end, be blessed of God ; and that, when our opponents shall be convinced that we have no personal objects in view, and are under the influence neither of fanaticism nor of party spirit, they will feel more charitably disposed towards us, and approximate more nearly that course of sentiment and of action which the providence of God is now so manifestly forwarding v/ithin the limits of our church. 210 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. " God bless you, my beloved brother. Every letter you write me gives you a deeper seat in the affections of your faitliful '•JAMES MILNOR,." The next letter was mainly in reply to one in which its writer had stated some difficulties on the subject of inter- course with the world ; and it shows how thorough, on this point, had become the change in Dr. Milnor's views, in pass- ing from his natural to his religious life. To the same. "New York, Nov. 29, 1825. " My dear Friend — I thank you for addressing me by a title to which I hope you will always allow me to main- tain a claim. And I pray God, that when we are both removed from our terrestrial conflicts, the friendship now begun may be continued with more purity and fervor in that better state to which, I trust, we are looking forward with delight. If there be one thought which, more than others, fills my mind with sweet anticipations in hours of retired ijieditation, it is that of the renewal of those cherished inti- macies which a common love of our dear Redeemer has led me to form with kindred minds on earth, and which, I verily believe, will be cemented and made eternal in the paradise of God. Let us deport ourselves so as to insure that bless- edness, and find an alleviation of all the difficulties and trials of life m the delightful prospect of the peaceful enjoyments of the heavenly state. " The steady contemplation of tliat state will, I think, remove every embarrassment in regard to the extent in which we should mingle in the pleasures of this. I am free to say to you, my dear brother, tliat I feel every day growing ap- prehensions of worldly conformity, and that I find my peace of mind requiring an unequivocal renunciation of amuse- ments such as you have mentioned. Since I consecrated myself to God, it has been no cross to me to reject them. HIS MINISTTlY. 241 When I acquired a taste for religious enjoyments, I lost, in a good degree, my relish for such trifling. But the censure of the world it was, for a time, unpleasant to encounter; until I found — as I believe, by a mild but firm perseverance in duty, you also will find — that it is better, if need be, to incur the world's displeasure, than that of God ; and that, in truth, he is pleased so to regard his faithful servants as to constram even that world secretly to admire what it afTects to disapprove. I never yet knew a minister, whom a con- duct inconsistent with his profession did not bring into con- tempt, not merely with the pious, but even with the ungodly themselves ; nor one, whom unaflected, earnest piety has ever permanently injured. Let the manner of rejecting or evading the calls of fashionable pleasure be discreet and tem- perate, and the general tenor of conduct show the hallowed motives by which abstinence from the gayeties of life is in- duced, and you will find, as I have done, that you will be left to pursue your course with no more of censure than, as a good Christian, for Christ and conscience' sake, you can, by the help of your divine Master, very easily bear. Nor dees this required sacrifice imply, that cheerfulness is in itself sinful, or that our dispositions are to become sour and mo- rose, or that intercourse with those who live not by our rule, is to be entirely withheld. But I would say, that it should not be more frequent than circumstances render necessary ; that, when allowed, it should not be long continued ; that, if practicable, it should always be improved to some religious end ; and that, on no account, should the world be permitted to entrap us into scenes where we can receive no benefit, but must return to our closets with mmds unfitted for com- munion with God, less inclined to all our spiritual duties^ and harassed with intimations from the inward monitor of vows forgotten, character lowered, and usefulness impaired, and with the apprehension not only of having wounded the feelings of the pious, but also of being sneered at and de- spised by the very persons who have delighted to find us, Mem. Milnor. 1 1 242 ilEMOlR OF DR. MILKOR. with all our professions, so much like themselves. There is a clergyman, not many days' ride from your present residence, whom I have heard mentioned by the very persons whose worldly pleasures he habitualij shares, in terms corrobora- tive of what I have said as to the estimate wliich such peo- ple form of Christians, especially ministers, who thus dese crate their characters and destroy their usefulness. I know many similar instances. But I never knew a real man of God, who did not ultimately, by forbearance and moderation in the article of pleasurable intercourse, where he united with them suavity and kindness of feeling and demeanor towards all men, command the respect and esteem of all whose opinions were worthy of regard. A bishop of our church once said to me on this subject, ' Let a minister of God begin his course by marking out for himself a strict line of conduct, and then take care to keep a great way within it.' ' The tongue of the wise is health :' ' A word spoken in due season, how good it is !' But I am fatiguing you with remarks which, I trust, your own feelings have anticipated, and at present will say no more on the subject. " On the proceedings at our late Convention, I wish to say but little. My conscience acquits me of any ill design ; and as I wish, in no unnecessary way, to incur censure, I am glad, in this matter, to have been involved in none, on the part of either the bishop or his friends. By the latter, if I desired the praise of men, I was abundantly complimented. The former remarked to me, after the rising of the Conven- tion, * You behaved towards me personally, in that instance, as you have always done, like a gentleman and a Christian.' I would not mention this but to allay any fears which per- sons of our acquaintance might excite in your mmd, lest some new offence had arisen between the bishop and myself He is more cordial than I ever knew liim ; and as I have not a tittle of animosity against him, so long as I am allowed to pursue the ministerial and religious course wliich I believe duty requires, I will endeavor not to make his cordiality less. HIS MINISTRY. 243 But I will never sacrifice principle for tlie sake of retaining any man's regards. That I very partially concur in tlie cliurcli politics of this diocese, I am obliged to avoAV. But as I cannot alter a course of which I am obliged to disap- prove, I am content to be put out of the question in every thing but what relates to my immediate duties. With these, I will allow no man, except in the way of counsel, to inter- fere. While I walk according to the law of God and the written rules of the church, and continue to discharge my duties in the fear of God, I feel no inward disquietude, noi any apprehensions of what man can do unto me. And all this I hope to find consistent with the avoidance of schism, and of any improper disrespect towards those who are set over us in the Lord. " I have many more things to say to you ; but though you see how I have husbanded my paper, yet it is run out. I have still room, however, to invoke on you and your pur- suits the blessing of God, and to reiterate that I am *' Your faithful and afiectionate brother, "JAMES MILNOH." In order to understand the allusion to Bishop Hobart and the Convention, towards the close of tliis letter, it will be necessary to give a short explanation. Soon after the bishop's return from Europe, and upon the assembling of the Annual Convention of his diocese, it was deemed higlily proper to pass resolutions expressive of the feelings of the clergy and laity upon again receiving their diocesan in health and safety ; and responsive to the affectionate, unbosoming salutations, with which he had just greeted them in his annual address. In doing this, a strong desire was felt to frame the resolutions in such language as should insure their unanimous adoption ; and as there were known points in the bishop's course of church policy which could not be unanimously approved, it was determined, in reference to those points, to avoid any expression of opinion, and to construct one of the resolutions in the shape of a simple pledge of devoted, personal confi- 244 MEMOIR OF DR. MIL^^OR. dence, friendsliiii, and afTectiou. Accordingly, the "bishop having temporarily retired from the Convention, the com- mittee to whom the subject M'as referred, introduced a series of resolutions, which were received with unanimous appro- bation. But on presenting them to the bishop, he expressed his decided dissatisfaction with that which referred personally to himself; and declared, that if the resolution were to stop short of an approval of his whole episcopal course, he nmst decline receiving it. This unexpected stand threw on the majority of the Convention the necessity of either abandon- ing their complimentary measure, or withdrawing the un- satisfactory resolution for a substitute framed in accordance with the bishop's wishes. Of course, the latter part of the unpleasant alternative was adopted ; and a resolution, ex- pressing the confidence of the Convention in " the soundness of his policy," was introduced, in company with those which greeted his late return and responded to his pathetic address. This movement raised a debate on the passage of the reso- lutions ; and this debate brought Dr. Milnor upon the floor in a speech, which, for ability and Christian courtesy, pre- sented him in a most attractive light as an accomplished debater and as a Christian gentleman, and raised him high in the esteem even of those who most diflered from him in his views of church polity. AYliile he did full justice to the personal and Christian excellence of his bishop, and to the known friendship subsisting between them, he did not hesi- tate freely and frankly to avow his dissent from some of the opinions of his diocesan, and openly and manfully to vindi- cate his own resistance to measures calculated to bring odi- um upon him for the exercise of what he felt to be his Chris- tian liberty. The scene which this debate presented, has long since faded from general remembrance ; but it was thrilling, and constituted a beautiful' triumph to one who, although he moved in a little minority, was yet able to com- mand admiring approbation from an overwhelming ma- jority. HIS MINISTHY. 245 The letters which date next m order, are part of a cor- respondence with the Rev. 0. P. Mcllvaine, then proles- sor at West Point. His labors as chaplain of the Mihtaiy Academy had already been largely blessed ; and before the summer of 1826 the academy was agitated with the move- ments of that great awakening, from the fruits of which our church has selected several of her bishops and other clei-gj. About the first of June, Dr. Milnor was uiduced to visit West Point, for the purpose of spending a Sunday with his friend, and assisting him in the arduous labors to which he was then specially called. It was about the same time, that the correspondence, of which a portion has been preserved, was opened. The first of the series from Dr. Mihior is wanting. The second is as follows : To the Rev. C. P. Mcllvain^. "New York, June 8, 1826. "My dear Brother — My mind dwells with inexpressi- ble delight on the transactions of the last Sabbath. Espe- cially when I reflect on our evening interview with those dear youth who had given themselves to the Lord, and with their anxious companions, I cannot be sufficiently thankful that, in the kind providence of God. I was permitted to wit- ness such a scene. The Lord God Almighty be with you, direct you to the best means of prosecuting a work so mani- festly the product of his Spirit, and be your ' refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,' should persecution assail you on account of the unexpected reward bestowed on your labors in his service. In the fulness of my grati- tude to God, of my love to you, and of the deep interest which I feel in the increase of this wonderful instance of the Spirit's power on the heart, I have hesitated whether I should say a word to you that might operate as a discour- agement. Perhaps some things in my former letter are calculated to have that efiect, and what I am about to add may increase it ; but, on the whole, I think it best to ac- 246 MEMOIE. OF DE. MILNOH. quaint you with any thing coming to my ear that may have a bearing on the subject ; trusting that it may be the means of preparing you for those difficulties which some are plot- ting to throw in your way, and of enabling you, by prayer- ful meditation, to determine on the best method either of evading or of removing those difficulties. The enemies of truth are busy in spreading liere the grossest misrepresenta- tions of the character of the revival, of your manner of con- ducting it, and of its * unhappy' effects on its subjects. From various quarters, since my return, I have heard it declared to be a mere burst of enthusiasm, a sudden excitement of the animal passions of the young men, produced by your eloquence : as having led to actual insanity in one, and, ac- cording to the comforting prognostications of these sagacious opponents, being likely to have the same eflect on many others ; and as having disgusted the officers, and so alien- ated them from you as to make them forsake public worship on Sundays : in short, it has been said that measures would be taken either to stop these disorderly proceedings, or to effect your removal. " Yesterday I met a gentleman in Broadway, who wears the title of major in our militia, which, of course, makes him, in his own opinion, a competent judge of all matters connected with military life. He began his remarks by say- ing he had been disappointed in his hope of hearing me last Sunday ; but understood that I was at West Point. He then made some complimentary remarks on your talents as a preacher ; but soon followed them by an expression of his deep regret at your fanatical proceedings. ' You were,' he said, ' turning a military academy into a theological semi- nary, and aiming to make young men soldiers in the Church militant' — he meant ministers — * whom the government in- tended to train for its army ; he understood that you met them for prayer every morning at daylight, and encouraged them to neglect other studies for that of religion ; that the most serious apprehensions were entertained of the conse- HIS Ivil^sISlT.Y. 247 queiit degradation, if not ruin of the institution ; and tliat the subject would be brought before the board of visitors, with a view to an expression of a disapprobatory kind to the Secretary of War.' Some of his representations I contradict- ed, others I explained ; and left him with a declaration of my belief that no investigation Avould result to your preju- dice in the estimation of the wise and good ; and that every subject of God's grace at West Point would, by his deport- ment, prove himself faithful to every duty incumbent on him as a member of the academy, without abandoning his enlist- ment under the banner of the Captain of liis salvation. " Now, my endeared brother, let not these thmgs alarm you. It is right that you should know the machinations of the enemies of truth, that you may be prepared to meet them ; but to you, and the precious seals of your ministry, I would say, * Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled ; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts ; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear : having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as of evil-doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ ;' and then, ' if the will of God be so, it is better that you suffer for well-doing than for evil- doing.' Yet it must be admitted, that your situation is in- expressibly trying, and that you have much need of prayer, and patience, and self-denial, and forbearance towards op- posers. May God give you the wisdom of the serpent, and the harmlessness of the dove, and overrule all for his own glory. " Your affectionate, "JAMES MILNOR." After an answer to this letter, he wrote again. To the Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine. "New York, June 14, 1826. " My vee-y dear Brother — You have rightly understood every intimation which I have ventured, on the subject of 248 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. prudence and discretion in conducting what belongs to hu- man agency in the Avork of grace at West Point. 1 would do nothing from mere motives of regard to self, nothing from the fear of man ; but I would, so far as may be consistent with the paramount duty which you owe to God and the souls of men, avoid all that would furnish a ground of objec- tion to the world, with whose opposition you will be sure to see associated that of nominal, lukewarm, unevangelical professors. I would put no weapon in the hands of enemies, nor furnish them with even a pretence for objection. Espe- cially would 1 have our dear young brethren confute, by practical arguments of the most conclusive kind, that which I now hear from many quarters, of the deleterious effects of this revival on the immediate duties of the students — its interference with the proper objects of the institution at "West Point. I feel a most intense interest in the uninter- rupted progress and propitious result of this work of God, and every day wish to know whether more are added to ths awakened, whether the inquiring are advancinjr to the con- summation of their desires, and whether the dear brethren who have assumed Christ's yoke bear it as they ought, and enjoy the sweet comforts of their calling. '* When does your examination close ? How will mat- ters stand next Sunday week ? That is the day of our next communion, and if all thingS suited, the company of as many of our young disciples as could come would be gratifying. I dare not say a word of the delight which it would give me to have him present who, under God, has been made an instrument of good to their souls, because such an event is not, I presume, within the compass of probability. " Last Sunday, hot as it was, I preached three times, besides preaching the previous evening. I am looking as anxiously for the descent of the dews of divine grace on my thirsty spiritual viiu^yard, as the husbandman is now desiring that of the rain upon liis parched fields. The Lord gratiiy the expectations and desires of both. On Sunday night a HIS MINISTE,Y. 249 crowd of believers joined me in supplications which, I hope, reached the mercy-seat, for a rich blessing on you, and all interested in your present trying labors. Give my warmest Christian salutations to the dear cadets, to Mrs. McTlvaine, to your amiable sisters, and to all whom we salute as breth- ren hi Christ, and accept for yourself the assurance of my undiminished affection, "JAMES MILNOR." To the Eev. C. P. Mcllvaine. "New York, June 17, 182C. "My dear Brother — Your letter of the 15th, just re- ceived, has relieved my mind of some distressing apprehen- sions in regard to the character and influence of the opposi- tion which I found was rising to the work of divine grace at West Point. I pray God that the only retribution awarded the enemies of truth, may be the conquest of their own hearts, and their introduction into the ranks of the soldiers of the Cross. Tell our dear young friends, each of them, to make, in his private devotions, every inveterate opponent the sub- ject of special prayer ; to forgive from the heart every inju- rious expression which that opponent may have used, and to manifest, in necessaiy intercourse with them all, feelings not of resentment, but of love. " I think the course which you have resolved to pursue in regard to the Wednesday evening meeting a very proper one, and have no doubt your much-respected superintendent will find in the written assurance of the cadets a solid pledge of the most dutiful and exemplary behavior on their part. What can even unbelievers object to the operation of inward religion on the minds of these young men, when its practical effects are seen, not in the deterioration, but in the improve- ment of their character as members of your very excellent and useful institution ? To the mind of your colonel, hap- pily not given over to the delusions in which some others are enveloped, it will give a confidence in the maintenance 11* 250 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOR. of his present course, which I am sure all your personal agency in the aflair will strengthen and confirm. " I thank you for the explanation of that ominous 'amen;'' and hope that every Christian cadet, whatever prudence may direct in regard to the utterance of the Z^/?s, will al- ways be ready, with the feelings of his inmost soul, to make this response to such a desire as that which you expressed at the conclusion of your sermon in behalf of the beloved youth whom you had baptized into the name of Christ, and the open profession of his gospel. " I have just finished a discourse for to-morrow morning, from Rom. 15 : 13 : "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and pecae in beHeving, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.' The object of the discourse, as you may suppose, is to explain, and as ex- plained, to defend the doctrine of assurance. ' The God of hope ' be praised, that some of our dear young brethren have experimentally realized its truth by the witness of God's Spirit with theirs, that they are his children. The Lord keep them by his power through faith unto salvation. Though 'it doth not yet appear what they shall be,' yet may every day's advance in the divine life enable them more assuredly to * know, that when he shall appear, they shall be like him, for they shall see him as he is.' " My family having removed to Flushing* last Thursday, I am left without the means of inviting our young friends to domicile with me during their stay in New York. But I shall rejoice in giving them all the aid I can in facilitating their acquaintance with our religious institutions, and hope they will attend the Tuesday evening prayer-meeting of the brethren of my congregation. It will particularly delight me to find you their fellow-traveller. Tell dear little Bled- * For several years, during his rectorship of St. George's, Dr. Mil- nor owned a farm and a summer residence at Flushing, L. I.; but finding considerable inconvenience in the arrangement, it was subse- quently abandoned, and his residence confined wholly to the city. HIS MINISTlir. 251 soe," a very serious young cadet, " that that declaration and promise, ' I love them that love me ; and they that seek me early shall find me,' are assuredly his, if he persevere. Sa- lute all your beloved flock with the truest aflection. God bless them, and keep them, and make them ministers of good to all Avith whom, in his gracious providence, they may be called to associate. My kindest regards await Capt. D. and your own dear family. Let me continue to occupy a corner of your hear-t, and an interest in your prayers. " Your brother in the best of bonds, "JAMES MILNOR." Some of the cadets, with Mr. Mcllvaine himself, having paid their desired visit to St. George's, and to the religious institutions of the city, especially the newly erected Tract Society's house, whence they carried back large supplies of the Society's publications, Dr. Milnor, after their return, writes thus : To the Eev. C. P. Mcllvaine. "New York, June 28, 1826. "My deah Brother — The refreshing intercourse with which we were lately favored, has left so sweet a savor in my mind, that I feel as if I wanted, every now and, then, a few minutes' converse with you. And yet, I do not know that you require a word of encouragement or of counsel from one so incompetent as myself to offer either ; for your heart is fixed on your Master's work : you are as fully aware as any of my suggestions can make you, of the difficulties which you have to encounter ; and you see the necessity of uniting, in the required conflict with them, the wisdom of the serpent with the harmlessness of the dove. Still, I feel an anxiety, greater than words can express, in regard to the progress and issue of this manifest visitation of the Spirit to the dear youth at West Point. I wish it to proceed in a way which, if it fail to convince infidel gainsayers, will les- sen the apprehensions of its running into enthusiasm, which 252 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. many professors who have inadequate views of such matters, are begiuiiiug to express. lor that wise, discriminating spirit which may enable them to distinguish between the extraA'agances sometimes exhibited in revivals, and the deep, silent work of grace now in progress with you. I fear that the accounts, given by a clergyman of our church from , of the revival in-that place, will have the effect of increasing among our brethren their opposition to every thing of the kind. Allowing for some exaggerations in the statements of this clergyman, there are many circumstances, which he narrates as facts positively known to him, which certainly prove a great want of sound wisdom, and no in- considerable religious error, on the part of the leaders in that revival. And yet, while w^e lament these aberrations, which, 1 doubt not, too much of what Bishop Hobart calls ' animal excitement ' has produced, I have as little doubt that signal interpositions of divine mercy have occurred ; and that, while some have mistaken the workings of their own unaginations for those of the Spirit, many have been truly born of God, and will look back to this revival with rejoicing through eternity. " I have hesitated, but upon the whole think it best to state to you, that I have conversed with one of the visiting committee,* who has left "West Point with strong prejudices, which I hope I have somewhat diminished. He stjited to me that a veiy general impression in the academic staff was, that your proceedings were fanatical, had a tendency to in- terrupt attention to study, and made it indispensable that there should be some interference ; and that the subject was discussed by the board of visitors, and an attempt made to express a very unfavorable feeling towards you and your doings. But it was at length concluded that it should not be done in their official document, though my informant regretted that your removal would probably be the result * A committee annually sent by government to conduct the ex amination of the cadets in their studies at the national academy. HIS MINISTUY. -- 253 of a less formal exhibition of the matter to the war depart- ment. " What he expressed as a matter of regret, I feel; for if your removal should take place, though I am sure the Lord would give you the ability to suffer patiently in his cause, yet the effect would be disastrous as it respects West Point, and injurious in a vast variety of ways, which will as readily suggest themselves to your mind as they have to my own. One thing, my very dear friend, I do desire you to bear in memory, and that is, that the peculiar circumstances in which you are placed require a course of conduct very dif- ferent from that followed in ordinary revivals, and that, as far as duty will permit, those circumstances should be con- stantly regarded. *• We are full here of ecclesiastical builders, busily en- gaged in the construction of the external temple. that every heart were the place of His hallowed residence, for whom that temple is designed. Christian regards to all our dear brethren in the Lord. " Your faithful brother, ''JAMES MILNOR." Here close the letters touching the West Point revival. If more were written — and this is probable — they have not been preserved. Those which have been given are charac- teristic of their author, full of love and zeal for his Master's work, and equally full of sanctified wisdom and prudence in guarding that work from danger. His fears of the removal of his friend from his professorship were not realized. The work of gi'ace at the military school was fruitful in blessed results ; and our church herself has reason to rejoice in what God there wrought among the youth of our national institute. We have next another letter to the theological student, by this time in orders. By a committee of his fellow-citi- zens of different religious denominations, he had been invited to deliver a Fourth of July address in a Presbyterian meet- 254 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. ing-lioiise, at a religious celebration of the first semi-centen- nial anniversary of our national independence ; and, though opposed by his clerical brethren in the college and neighbor- hood, yet, on account of the superior size of the building, he had accepted the invitation. It is to his conduct on this occasion that a part of Dr. Milnor's letter alludes. To the Rev. "New Yohk, July 13, 1826. ' *' My dear Friend and Brother — I was actually mus- ing, with feelings of painful regret, on the interruption of our correspondence, when your very welcome letter of the 7th was handed me ; and my feelings were probably a little more excited than they would have been, by having just read, perhaps for the twentieth time, the first letter which you ever wrote me. The ingenuous statement which that contained of an experience so correspondent with the course through which the Lord led me between thirteen and four- teen years ago, has always deeply affected my heart ; and its undoubted sincerity has inspired me with a personal af- fection for you, which I can allow no trammels of ceremony to prevent my expressing in a manner the most hearty and unreserved. And I cherish the grateful sensations with which it fills my bosom the more ardently, because I do be- lieve that aflection to be reciprocal ; while I long to see you freed from the shackles which I know hold you back from the formation of such alliances, and from the direction of your talents in such a way, as your love for Christ and his dear people would render gratifying to yourself and most use- ful to his blood-bought Church. I want to see you neither a fanatic nor a disorganizer ; but I do want to see you where you can give free scope to those animated conceptions of your high and holy calling, with which, I trust, the Spirit of our divine Master has filled your heart ; and where, with every required attention to matters of form, the grand pur- poses of the gospel ministry can be kept steadily in view, HIS xMI2sISIIlY. „^.. 255 and prosecuted by you without the fear of man. Your con- duct on the Fourth was exactly such as became you, and will commend itself to the approbation of God and of good men as it does to your own conscience. I am more and more persuaded, that while we should not forget the meek- ness which becomes us as the followers of our lowly Sav- iour, we gain nothing, even in the estimation of our opposers, by a want of firmness in maintaining that ground which duty to God and love for the souls of men require us to take. Notwithstanding my apparent difficulties, I find more peace of mind, more free communication with a throne of grace, more respect from my opposers as well as from my friends, and more animation in my various duties, when I can rise above the fear of man, and go straight forward in the path which I believe the providence of God has marked out for me, and which his grace directs me to pursue. Do not understand me, my endeared brother, as recommending in- civility of demeanor, or an unrequired obstinacy in things indifferent, or a hasty self-determination, taken without cautious inquiry and earnest prayer. But where we know we are right by the best of tests, the outward word and the inward witness, let us beware how we make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, in accommodation to the views of ungodly men, or of misjudging Christians. " You see how I open all my heart to you, and I want to open it still wider ; expecting in return just as much of your confidence as you are pleased to give. "Ever yours, "JAMES MILNOR." About this time an incident occurred, which, coming in silently along the track of his customary labors, must have greatly gladdened the heart of this faithful minister of Christ. One of the Episcopal churches in the city of New York hav- ing been closed for two months during the summer, a mem- ber of its congregation who had been a wretched backslider, attended, durmg that period. Dr. Milnor's ministry, both on 2-56 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. Sundays and at his weekly lectures. While thus engaged, the Spirit of God fell upon him, reached him as he lay m the blood and guilt of his fall, and reawakened him to the trembling but blessed hope, that he might yet be embraced in the love of his all-gracious Hedeemer. Upon the reopen- ing of the closed church, and his return to its regular minis- trations, he addressed a letter of warm and glowing thanks to Dr. Milnor, as the instrument, in God's hands, of the new life which he felt stirring within himself, and of deep and humble supplication that they might meet in glovy at the last great day. The fact is mentioned as one among a multitude of instances in which the labors of Dr. Milnor were blessed to others besides the members of his immediate charge. He had now passed another of the annual conventions of the diocese of New York, and soon after wrote again to his friend, the theological student in college. Parts of his letter furnish perhaps as strong a view as was ever exhibited of those points in his character and opinions in wliich he dif- fered from his distinguished diocesan. To the Rev. "New York, Oct. 25, 1826. *' My valued Brother — Your esteemed letters of Au- gust and September are before me. " The bishop's charge at the late Convention was an official array of the leading parties in our church, and a for- mal vindication of that denominated ' High Church,' against the imputation of bigotry, fondness of power, formalism, and non-evangelism. 1 heard the substance of it more than two years ago, in a sermon delivered by Bishop Hobart on a Sun- day evenhig in St. Paul's. Every division of it abounded with language not to be misunderstood against those whom I indignantly refuse to call, in the sense intended, * io^^> Churchmen,' the pious, devoted, and liberal members of oui Zion. In the bishop's subsequent address to the Conven tion, he denounced, in unqualified terms, our associating HIS MINISTEY. 257 with other denominations in Tract Societies and Sunday- school Unions. Persoitally, to me the bishop is as kind as ever ; but he designs to wound me, and all who think with me, in every official communication which he makes. Be it so. If persecution unto death were the penalty of my persevering dissent from what I deem his most exception- able system, I feel confident that God would enable me to sustain the trial ; and 'I have no apprehension that my con- stancy will fail under any less fearful expressions of that spirit which only wants power to make it issue in acts of unqualified oppression. I mourn over this spirit, as I do over the daily proofs which I see of greater and greater op- position to the truth. More hereafter. At present, I have room to say but that I am, *' Yery aflectionately, yours, "JAMES MILNOR." The language of this paragraph has no little strength ; perhaps it may be thought to carry somewhat of severe ear- nestness. But when the circumstances of the writer are considered — placed, as he was, at the centre of an opposi- tion more easily felt than counteracted, and the more irritat- ing in proportion as it was irresponsible — his expressions, perhaps, will not be deemed too strong. The letter is im- portant in its place, as disclosing more plainly than any yet presented, the relation in which he stood to the ruling influ- ences of the diocese — a relation coeval in its origin with his rectorship of St. George's, and encompassing him with its more or less painful pressure to the end of his days. To the same. "New York, Feb. 20, 1827. " My dear Friend and Brother — It is with great pleas- ure that I now congratulate you on your emancipation from the drudgery of teaching as a secular instructor, and the assumption of your more appropriate work of teaching men how they may become ' wise unto salvation.' Now that you 258 MEilOlE OF l)R. I-IlLIsOr.. arc settled down in a new parish and a new diocese, I want a long letter from you to tell me all your feelings and doings, with all your prospects and hopes of usefulness. I hope, my dear brother, you will excuse the interest which I feel in whatever relates to you ; for I have lost none of that cor- diality of attachment which I have so often had occasion to express, and which, I trust, will be continued beyond the little time we shall be allowed to converse together this side of eternity. There is a hallowed character in Christian friendship, which gives it a stability as well as a warmth unknown to the friendships of the world. It is this cher- ished enjoyment, that fills my breast with some of its most delightful emotions. Next to the love of Christ, how sweet to love his disciples, to mingle our sympathies with theirs, to interchange evidences of affection, to repose in each other's faithful counsels, and to pray for spiritual- blessings on each other's behalf. I bless God, that wliile I am compelled to mourn over the coldness of feeling among our clerical breth- ren, and am obliged, here, to look for what seems lacking in them, to those of other names but of kindred minds, I am still solaced by the correspondence which it is my privilege to hold from week to week with distant brethren of more congenial sentiments and views. "It will give you pleasure to hear, that Christians in St. George's have become more alive to the necessity of com- bined prayer and effort in behalf of the unconverted. Though a few only of encouraging indications have appeared among the latter, yet there is evidently more intense interest mani- fested both in the services of the church, and in my weekly lecture ; which latter I continue to find profitable to myself and to those who hear me. How stand matters with you ? "Will your people bear the truth ? I am sure you will preach it, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. The Lord bless and prosper you in all things. " Affectionately yours, "JAMES MILNOR." HIS MINISTllY. 259 To the same. "New York, May 28, 1827. *' My dear Brother — I feel ashamed, on recurring to a large bundle of unanswered letters, to find two from you, for which I believe no return has been made. I will not waste my paper and your precious time in long apologies ; but only beg you to believe, that I do not intend to forego the pleasure and advantage of your friendship, nor, little as is its value, to withhold from you mine, until the one or the other of us shall have severed that bond of union which connects us — our common love of the Redeemer — or have received his summons to that blest abode, where I pray God we may be permitted to dwell together for ever. That faith which I find the great support of all my hopes and exertions, encour- ages the persuasion that the former event is not likely to occur. The latter we will unite in leaving to the disposal of Him who doeth all things well. *' I was much interested by your account of the state of religion in your parish. What with the prevalence of im- morality in some, and of formalism and cold-heartedness in others, your difficulties are no doubt great ; but God can magnify his grace in overcoming all these obstacles to the spread of his own truth ; and I trust the encouraging symp- toms of awakening, noticed in your letter of last month, have already strengthened your faith and animated your exertions. I am not opposed to such a prudential regard to circumstan- ces as may consist with a faithful discharge of duty ; and I feel confident that it will be your study to combine wisdom with harmlessness. While we should not flatter the wicked, nor withhold, either in public or in private, needful and timely reproof, it is both lawful and expedient to temper all our communications with Christian suavity, and thus convince those who would oppose themselves, that we really love them, and seek to do them good. It has been my aim to withhold no part of the counsel of God ; to give ho coun- tenance to either error in opinion or viciousness in life ; and 260 MEMOIR OF DE.. MILNOR. to let all my views on every point, whether of doctrine or of duty, be fully known. But I have never thought that there was no hope of a sinner's conversion but by making him angry. Our best intended communications may have that effect ; and, in such a case, whether they harden or convert, we must be satisfied with having done our duty. Certainly, however, we should not study to offend ; and ever should we keep a most prayerful and watchful guard upon our own spirits, and be well assured that our motives are such as will commend themselves to the great Searcher of hearts. So doing, we may confidently leave our labors to the disposal of his providence and grace. " I have much to write you on various topics ; but 1 have now only room to solicit your prayers, and to assure you that, so long as you will allow me, I will remain, " Your afiectionate fi'iend and brother, "JAMES MILNOR." About this time he met with an accident, which came near proving instantly fatal. In passing to the city from his summer residence, he was thrown upon the pavement, his head striking the curbstone, with a violence which for some days rendered his recovery very doubtful. To this he refers in his next letter. To the same. "New York, Aug. 21, 1827. "My dear Friend and Brother — I have before me your letter of the 2Gth of June ; and if it were not that I presume you to have heard of my calamity in falling from the Flushing stage the early part of July, I should deem it necessary to apologize for my long silence. This is the first day since the 1 1th ult. that 1 have taken a seat at my desk ; and I wish you to consider it as one evidence of my con- tinued and warm aflcction, that one of the first hours of my recovered strength is devoted to you. "During my confinement, I have often looked for the HIS MINISTRY. 261 letter which you ought to have written me ; but if this he the means of drawing from you an early communication, I wdll not complain. Indeed, 1 fear you will not discover much of any other object in my writing to you ; for a prisoner, just released from a protracted seclusion from the world, is much better fitted for receiving than for communicating infor- mation. "I have, however, some melancholy tidings to transmit. Our friend and brother, Mr. Duffie," the originator and first rector of St. Thomas's church, New York, " died last night ; and, if my strength permit, I am to assist as a pall- bearer at his funeral this afternoon. A few weeks ago he was at my house, and had much more reason then to antici- pate his being called to such a service for me, than that I should be called to assist in the last respects to his remains. Thus mysterious are the ways of God's providence. how unutterably important to be prepared for the most sudden call ! The Lord grant that all these visitations may have their due eflect upon all our minds. No reflections should be more abiding with us of the ministry, than the importance of a fixed and continued assurance, that while we preach to others, we do not ourselves become castaways. My personal warnings have impressively taught me the value of personal religion, and the absolute necessity, in the midst of all our complicated duties to others, to see that matters stand right between God and our own souls. " Your ever aflijctionate "JAMES MILNOR." To the same. "New York, Nov. 30, 1827. " My dear Friend and Brother — I have abundant cause for discouragement in the little fruit which results from my own labors, and m the opposition of the enemies of truth- within our church. But, so long as God allows me, I will strive to do something in his service ; and will pray for 262 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. grace to enable me to meet the difficulties which will ever, more or less, attend the faithful laborer in his vineyard. AYe have need of much firmness, in union with great meekness of temper, in the present state of things. By divine aid, I will not barter the hopes of eternity for the approbation of man ; nor swerve from a course of clearly indicated duty, whatever offence it may give. At the same time, I am willing, and do desire to put my feelings under proper re- straint, where undeserved injuries are offered ; and therefore I have refrained, though much incited to it by my friends, from answering the partial and unfair representation of a conversation between the assistant-bishop of Pennsylvania and myself, which has been appended to the reasons pub- lished by the Episcopal college for the consecration of that most strenuous of high churchmen. I hope you have read the well-considered, moderate, and able pamphlet of dear brother Mcllvaine. Though I felt averse to his writing, yet I am satisfied that what he has done will not only vindicate his character — that was unnecessary — but give information to the public, which was much wanted, as to the sentiments and opinions of the evangelical clergy. Eveiy minister and layman on the moderate side, from whom I have heard any expression of opinion respecting it, has given it his unquaU- iied approbation. " Farewell, my very dear brother. I love your letters, and I love them to be lo?2g— not in coming, but in comjpa?&. "With the warmest affection, ** Ever yours, " JAMES MILNOR." To the same. "New York, April 21, 1828. " My dear Brother — The Lord be thanked, that you are still able to work, and that he is pleased to give you souls for your hire. Should the encouraging account which you give me of the state of things in your congregation be fol- HIS MINISTRY. 2G3 lowed by the result of a manifest revival, you must avoid a name so offensive to many, and call it ' an increased atten- tion to religion.' All Avill then be well. It is a pity, when the Lord has of late years been so evidently pleased to ac- comphsh the work of his grace by special effusions of his Spirit, that in such a church as ours, the operations of that Spirit should be denied, though proved by the very evidence to which Christ himself refers as decisive — ' their fruits' That there have been alleged revivals which deservedly lost all credit with considerate Christians for want of this evi- dence, none of the best friends of those merciful visitations will deny ; and it cannot be questioned, that many enthusi- astic excesses and censurable circumstances of various kinds, have accompanied true revivals. But with every needed abatement, I have not the least doubt of their having been, in countless instances, the means of salvation to multitudes ; and that they are, and will be among the means of hasten- ing the latter-day glory of the church. Let us pray ear- nestly that an anxious concern for the best interests of our fellow-men may be revived in our own hearts, and in those of our lay-brethren ; peradventure the covenant-keeping God whom we serve, may grant us a more signal blessing, in pouring out his Spirit upon our people, than we have yet known. " Our increase of communicants in St. George's has not, of late, been very rapid ; and yet my Sunday and week-day services were never better attended, nor the prayer-meetings more regularly held and fervently conducted, nor the six Sunday-schools of my church better supplied with teachers and pupils. Nor does God leave himself without witness among us, in the ingathering of souls. Since the last Con- vention, I have received to communion about twenty. We have now some earnest inquirers ; but still, I mourn the coldness of my own heart, the feebleness of my labors, and their inadequate results, and would hail with unspeakable gratitude Fuch an ovidcnce of the divine faA^or as has been 2C)4 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOH. afforded to many congregations in our land, to whatever odi- um it might subject me in the minds of many around me. "Can you tell me whom I ought to appouit to the Mil- nor professorship in Kenyon college ? If I had dared to hope that a certain friend of mine, not a hundred miles from you, would have accepted it, he would have been promptly named. But I have had no hope. What thhdi you he would have said to such a proposal ? " With unabated afl^ection, ever yours, "JAMES MILNOR." At the close of the year 1828, and the beginning of 1829, Dr. Milnor passed through one of the most trying scenes of his ministerial course. It was the part which he took in the organization and dissolution of " The Protestant Episcopal Clerical Association of New York." During the summer of 1828, a feeling, w^hich had for some years been rising in the church, began to express itself in a half-audible call lor some association of a specially cler- ical character, " for the purposes of prayer, religious conver- sation, expounding the Scriptures, and other similar exer- cises." One of the first utterances of this feeling was in the ear of Bishop Hobart, by " the rector of one of 'the principal congregations of the city." This address to the bishop Avas evidently prompted by a desire to engage him as the head and leader of the movement, it being well known that what- ever of a religious character he should either favor or oppose, would be either favored or opposed by the great majority of the clergy and laity of the diocese. Unfortunately, although the suggestion came to him from one with whom he had " the happiness to agree substantially as to principles and policy," yet, while he " approved the contemplated object," he had *' various objections to the proposed plan of accom- plishing it." But as the interview was friendly and unoffi- cial, tlie subject being "kindly discussed" between the par- ties, it was not supposed that the bishop's objections would lead him openly and officially to oppose the movement. HIS MiNismr. 265 Accordingly, when the Annual Convention assembled, in. October, 1828, it was determined by the clergy who were favorable, to proceed to the contemplated organization. A preparatory meeting was held, and a second appointed for '• consummating " it. In these steps, no further consultation with the bishop was had, because it was thoroughly felt that all such con- sultation would be unavailing, and because it had been deter- mined to proceed in the prosecution of an object, which the movers considered of great importance, and from the prosecu- tion of wliich no earthly power had a right to restrain them. A few hours, however, before the meeting for " consum- mating" the organization, the bishop " accidentally heard" of what was passing, and "immediately resolved on seeing two of the four or five clergy of the city who, as far as he could learn, were as yet engaged in this measure, in order to a frank and friendly communication with them." These two clergymen were the Rev. Drs. Wainwright and Milnor. " To them he stated earnestly and solicitously the reasons which convinced him that the plan which they proposed for accomplishing their object, was inexpedient and unneces- sary." Still, as in these interviews, especially in that between Bishop Hobart and Dr. Milnor, the former expressly disclaim- ed addressing the latter in an official capacity, and more than once desired to be considered as conversing with him "not as his bishop, but as a friend," it was not deemed either necessary or advisable to desist from the work upon which they had so seriously entered. They therefore persevered, and on the evening of that day completed the organization of " The Protestant Episcopal Clerical Association of the City of New York," having " for its object the promotion of the personal piety and the official usefulness of its members, by devotional exercises and by conversation on missionary and such other religious subjects as might conduce to mutual edification." From its inception, this society was composed of ciergy- Mem. Milnor. 1 2 266 MEMOIE. OF DIl. MILNOPc. men representing the various shades of opinion in the church, and was otherwise guarded against the danger of abuse. Its meetings were opened and closed with approved forms of devotion ; any clergyman of our church in New York and its vicinity, of whatever shade of opinion, might hecome a mem- ber by signifying his wish to the secretary in writmg, with his approbation of the nature and object of the association ; and any member might invite any other clergyman ^f our church, not resident in either New York or its vicinity, to attend any of the regular meetings of the society. Besides, by mutual consent, the ordinary topics of theological and ecclesiastical controversy were excluded from the discussions of the members, and their exercises directed to "the promo- tion of harmony of feeling and of character," and- not to that of " perfect uniformity of opinion." This latter result they professed to consider "just about as feasible as to regulate the proportions of the waves of some mighty river." Thus organized, constituted, and designed, this most praiseworthy association commenced its regular meetings. It was some months, however, before the printed constitu- tion and forms of devotion could be furnished for the use of the members. The pamphlet containing these documents, pruited, not published, came from the press at the close o*' the year 1828 ; but being " at first inaccurately printed," "many corrections were necessary," and it was not ready for distribution until several weeks later. At length a copy of the corrected impression, bearing the imprint of 1829, fell into the bishop's hands. Indeed, " it had been intended to send a copy to each Protestant Episcopal clergj'man in the city." Before this could be done, however, and even " before Ihe members received their copies," one " accidentally" met the bishop's eye. He immediately issued his memorable " Pastoral Letter," addressed " to the clergy and laity" of the diocese. TJiis document appeared the 21st of February, 1829, " before the first meeting of the association" after the correction of their constitution and forms of devotion ; so that HIS MINISTRY. 267 the members received the Pastoral, m all its formidableness, before they were favored with a sight of their own simple regulations and ritual in print. It came " not merely to the surprise, but to the utter astonishment of every member, some of whom would not believe the rumor of its publication, when it reached them." To rumor, however, quickly suc- ceeded ocular demonstration, and they were left with nothing to do but to gather up their scattered powers of reflection, and forthwith consider the question, whether they would dissolve the association, or continue it against the officially expressed disapprobation of their bishop. Meanwhile, they published to the world their constitu- tion and forms of devotion, with " Prefatory Remarks," explaining, and mildly defending their course, and taking a brief but respectful notice of the " Pastoral Letter." This drew forth a "Vindication" of the "Letter," anonymous in form, but evidently from the pen of the bishop. This, in its turn, was followed by a full " Account of the true Nature and Object of the Association," with "A Defence" of the same from objections which had been urged against it. And this, finally, was succeeded by a " Brief Notice" of the Account and Defence, probably from the same pen with the "Vindication." The public papers, too, took up the doings of the bishop and the association ; the noise was heard from end to end of the land ; even from beyond the eastern limits of the states came back an echo of the sound ; and various movings in the atmosphere of feeling disturbed the quiet of the church. Li the midst of this controversy, the fate of the associa- tion was decided by the movement of one of its members, who had been the first actor in the business. He withdrew, and in a published letter to his brethren of the association, assigned his reasons for the step. Immediately after the receipt of his letter, the remaining members decided upon dissolving the organization. Their " Account cmd Defence " was accordingly accompanied with a statement of reasons 268 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. for the dissolution. The feehng of the association had pre- viously been in favor of its continuation, but the withdraw- ment of one of its leading members changed the aspect of the question before it, inasmuch as its continuation after that event, would have seemed to justify the charge of j)artisav design. The members, therefore, no longer deliberated, and the dissolution was publicly announced in their very able "Account and Defence" of the organization. Such is the history of the brief-lived " Protestant Episco- pal Clerical Association of New York." It has been given because Dr. Milnor was one of the two leading presbyters under whose auspices it was organized, and that one emphat- ically on whom the heaviest weight of. odium fell, in conse- quence of the hostile position assumed and of the arbitrary course pursued by Bishop Hobart. His next letter, on the list of those Avhich have been recovered, was on a subject deeply interesting to its writer, that of a school for training colored missionaries to Africa. To the Rev. J. P. K. Henshaw. "New York, Jan. 27, 1830. " Rev. and dear Brother — I sympathize sincerely with your young friend, whom I presume to be Mr. Cleveland, in the anxiety which he has so long felt to direct his efforts into a channel of usefulness, for which there has yet appear- ed no opening. The school attempted some years ugo in New Jersey, for the instruction of colored youth having a view to the ministry of the Presbyterian church, fell through, partly for want of support, and partly in consequence of the licentious conduct of some of the pupils. A subsequent attempt, principally by gentlemen in Newark, and, on their invitation, a few from other states, who consulted together at a meeting in that place which I attended, was followed by no beneficial results. It was then hoped that a considerable sum left by General Kosciusko, might be secured for this purpose ; and Mr. Lear of Washingtx)n, who is administrator, HIS MINISTRY. 2G9 cwni testamcnto annexo, and who has the funds in his hands, gave encouragement for such a hope. Afterwards, however, General Kosciusko's will was contested hy his relatives ; and whether it is still in litigation or not, I do not know. " In the African mission-school at Hartford, there are four young men, and the wife of one of them, receiving instruction preparatory to a removal to Africa. Three of these young men Bishop Brownell intends to ordain. One is not expected to have all the qualifications requisite to a clergyman, but is to go out as catechist and schoolmaster. The woman, it is hoped, will make a good schoolmistress. That school is ready to receive other pupils of piety and promise, who, like those already there, will be taught by a suitable instructor in secular learning, and by Bishop Brow- nell and Mr. Wheaton in theology. The bishop allows them to hold a weekly religious meeting for colored persons, and to exercise themselves in extemporaneous preaching. " ' But what are these among so many V If the wants of Africa received the sympathy and commiseration to which they are entitled, a large seminary, with a special view to their supply, would be at once established. But the variety of other calls, the distance of the object, the supposed diffi- culty of obtainhig well-disposed pupils having a view to emi- gration to that country, the prevalent denominational distinc- tions, and the monies required to accomplish any thing on an extended scale, all seem to be barriers in the way. If we had, I will not say a Wilberforce, but an Anthony Benezet among us, who would arouse public attention to this inter- esting object, something perhaps might be done. But tal- ents, exertion, and what must be their associate influence, are required ; and our young friend, with all his zeal and abilities, could effect nothing until some master-spirit should arise among the class of more advanced Christians, whose hold upon the public mind would enable him to rally in his cause not only those who wish well to Africa, but also those 270 MEMOIP. OF DR. MILNOE.. who would prove the sincerity of their feelings hy liberal contributions to her spiritual relief. Unhappily, almost all our colored population in this city are opposed to colonization, and of course look with jealousy on all attempts that may seem to favor it ; and many of their white friends partake of their feelings. The result of the whole is an entire inability on my part to suggest any thing that would assist the benev- olent aims of your young friend. " I wish I had room for more than the assurance that I remain " Your affectionate brother, "JAMES MILNOR." The letters which have filled so many pages of this me- moir, though they furnish no connected view of the incidents in the outer life of Dr. Milnor, yet, as revelations of his inner life, are peculiarly valuable. They show how various cur- rent events affected him ; and illustrate the position in which he was providentially placed in relation to his own church, and to various religious institutions in our country. Pro- foundly actuated by convictions so different from those wliicli governed the majority of Episcopalians, particularly in the diocese to which he belonged, he was, for many years, called to few posts of action and of influence among them. AVitli the fewer engrossing cares, therefore, was he left to devote whatever of time and of talent he could command to the working of those great Christian associations, with which our country was beginning to abound, which were designed to embody the influence of all truly evangelical denomina- tions, and of which both his judgment and his heart con- strained him to approve. Originally, it is true, he engaged in the service of those noble institutions because he loved their spirit and their objects, without stopping to inquire whether there were not other channels through which he might pour the resources of his influence into the general stream of Christian benevolence. But it is likewise true, that the mere withholding of his cooperation from those HIS MINISTHY. 271 institutions Vv^oukl not have opened to liim, as substitutes, any important places of trust and. influence in his own church. Under a sj-stem of ecclesiastical tactics which effectually excluded him, tliose places were alv/ays care- fully, or at least controllingly, filled by others of very dif- ferent religious views ; and never would have been opened for any effective exertion of his influence, save on an aban- donment of those Christian principles and sympathies which he cherished, and which constituted an indestructible part of his character and experience as a disciple of Christ. Vir- tually, therefore, the question with him was, whether he would throw his main strength into such institutions as the American Bible and Tract Societies, or be content with those narrow limits of a parish, which would practically shut him out of the great world of Christian action and movement. Such a question, proposed to such a mind, could not remain an hour undecided. He knew, indeed, that his decision would expose him to opposition ; he knew the quarter from which, mainly, that opposition would come ; and he knew that it w^ould be an opposition all the more formidable because backed by the forces of an early and still sincere friendship. Yet all tliis could not move him from his course. Many, now living, know well the peculiar pain which it gave him to differ from, his early friend, especially when appearing in the later character of his bishop. Still, he felt that, so long as he walked with scrupulous care according to all the pre- scriptions of his own church, he had a Christian man's lib- erty to walk, in other things, accordmg to his own best judg- ment of duty. It was, doubtless, a difficult path to tread ; and if, while following it, his private correspondence shows, that in alluding to the measures of his diocesan, he expressed himself, though never with discourtesy, yet sometimes with warmth, it must be ascribed to the peculiar shaping and power of that influence in which early friendship and later office were brought to bear against him. For it must be confessed, that if any thing can excite a Christian to speak il ir.* ■■ ■■ ■> i- fir 272 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. with an earnestness beyond what his own calmer thoughts would prompt, it is that influence with which office arms itself, when it attempts, through the tenderness of friendship, to enforce what authority may not enjoin, or to prevent what authority may not forbid. Precisely this sort of influence was Dr. Milnor repeatedly compelled to encounter. It can- not, therefore, be a matter of wonder if his letters sometimes show, that the sensibilities both of the Christian and of the friend had been somewhat disturbingly touched. The dis- turbance was always momentary ; for his nature was of the kindlier sort, that " carries anger as the flint bears fire — "Which, much enforced, doth show a hasty spark, And straight is cold a^ain." MISSION TO ENaLAND. 273 PART IY: MISSION TO ENGLAND. SECTION I. We have now reached the period at which Dr. Miliior was called to undertake an important agency — that of dele- gate from the American Bible Society and other religious institutions in this country, to those noble kindred associa- tions in England, which the month of May annually brings together in the city of London. These societies, though originating in different lands, yet have the same parentage. They were all born of the active benevolence of Protestant Christianity. The same spiritual blood flows in all their veins. No wonder, then, that they desired to know one another face to face ; and it is much to the credit of the American sisterhood, that they were the first to propose and bring about the meeting. The idea of sending Dr. Milnor as a delegate from the American to the British and Foreign Bible Society, had for some time been entertained, but never till now could those who conceived the idea bring it into realization. The feelings with which he undertook tliis enterprise, were characteristic at once of his usual modest estimate of himself, of his pious devotion to the cause of his Master, and of his heartfelt interest in the societies which he was to rep- resent. Illustrative of this is the following extract from a letter to the present writer. "New York, Feb. 20, 1830. "Rev. and dear Brother — You will be surprised to learn, that I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you as you pass through New York, and still more so when you know 12=^ 274 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. the cause. I have yielded to the importunity of my friends, and with the unanimous consent of my vestry, have agreed to sail for England on the i6th of the ensuing month. Per- haps it might, by some, be considered affectation in me to say, that I have acceded to this measure with reluctance, and that nothing but a sense of duty would have led me to consent to so long an absence from my family and flock. But I am sure you will believe me when I say, that with ad- vanced age, much of the curiosity that would have made such a proposal delightful in my earher years, has subsided, and that, besides other feelings of repugnance to crossing the ocean, a conviction of my incompetency for many duties which will probably be consequent on my arrival in England, has oppressively increased it. I shall, if God permit, attend the principal anniversaries in London, and perhaps may be called to take some part in their proceedings ; and much as I have spoken in pubhc in my own land, I do shrink at the thought of doing so before such assemblages as those occa- sions bring together. But if God enable me to become an instrument in opening a more effectual communication, and of exciting a more feeling interest between the evangelical clergy of England and those of this country, and between the great benevolent institutions there and here, it will be no imbittering reflection, during the residue of my brief term of existence, that I have been so honored, and to God shall be all the glory and the praise. Let me ask of you your earnest supplications in my behalf, for divine preservation and support in the enterprise to which his providence ap- pears to direct me. " Your faithful and sincere brother in Christ, "JAMES MILNOR." So soon as it was publicly known that Dr. Milnor was going to England in a public capacity, and for purposes of business, commissions of various kinds flowed in upon him in an overwhelming stream. A more striking proof could not well have been given of the high estimate in which he MISSION TO ENaLAND. 275 was held, and of the thorough confidence which he enjoyed, as an able and faithlul Christian man* of business, than that furnished by the number and A^ariety of the trusts which he was urged to assume, and of the commissions which he was called to execute. He had enough to load a minister plen- ipotentiary to a foreign sovereign ; and to discharge them all, seemed to require the assistance of a secretary of lega- tion. And yet he undertook them all alone, and discharged them all alone. By his uncommon quickness and skill in reducing matters of business to system, and ui doing every thing in its proper time, place, and order, he left nothing uncared for, and few if any trusts undischarged. Some idea of the force of these remarks may be had from a simple enumeration of the formal commissions which he bore, and of the informal matters of business with which he was intrusted. He was clothed, then, with more or less formal commis- sions and instructions from the American Bible and Tract Societies, the American Sunday-school Union, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the American Education Society, the American Temperance Society, the American Seamen's Friend Society, the Prison Discipline Society, the General Union for Promoting the Observance of the Christian Sabbath, and the Domestic and Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; all of which operate throughout the broad bounds of our political union, while some of them aim to throw their blessed influ- ence over all the earth. Most of them, likewise, accomipa- nied their commissions with masses of documents, reports, and other pamphlets, for his examination and use in man- aging their interests abroad. Besides these, he was intrusted with mformal, though important business commissions from the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, Bishop Chase and Kenyon College, the Savings- bank in New York, and the patrons of the Episcopal Re- corder, Philadelphia ; while private commissions also were 276 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. numerous, and involved, some of them, no small amount of attention to business details, and to topics for inquiry. Charged with matters of such grave public import, and already known in the best religious circles of Europe through his long connection with our great benevolent institutions, Dr. Milnor stood in little need of letters of introduction, or of " epistles of commendation ;" yet, with such he was most amply furnished from the best sources at home to many of the best characters m the Christian community of Great Britain and of the continent, assuring him of a cordial re- ception from all the great and choice Christian spirits in those noble lands of zeal, benevolence, and enterprise in the cause of Christ. But besides all these, the letters which poured in upon him from all quarters, expressive of warm afiection for him- self, of tlevout aspiration for his welfare, and of a high ap- preciation of the importance of his mission, were numerous and gratifying. " Had it been in my power," writes Dr. Bedell, " I should have made a journey to New York on purpose to express my pleasure, and to bid you farewell ; but duties, and roads, and imperfect health, all combined to forbid me. I wish, indeed, that I could even go with you to England, just to enjoy one such feast as that which must be spread out before the spir- itual appetite during the month of May in the British me- tropohs." "While earthly kings," remarks the president of the Tract Society, "with their views confined to things of time and sense, are sending their ambassadors from one nation to another, you, sir, are about to occupy a more important sta- tion. You go as an ambassador from the King of kings ; and when the transactions of princes shall have dwindled into insignificance, your mission, if you find grace to be faith- ful in its discharge, will tell on the sacred records of eter- nity." Thus qualified, accredited, and cheered, Dr. Mihior took MISSION TO ENGLAND. 277 his departure from New York on the promised day, March 16, 1830, ill the packet-ship Florida,'^apt. Tirikham. He took leave of his family and a number of friends at the par- sonage, about 9 o'clock, A. M., and on proceeding to the steamer which was to convey him to the Q^uarantirie ground, whither the day before the ship had dropped down, he met a much larger number, both of parishioners and of other Christian friends, who had assembled there to bid him fare- well. Some of them " accompanied him to the ship," and there, with every expression of Christian kindness, bade him adieu. By half past four, he was at sea ; and before the pilot, on his return to the harbor, was out of sight, he had entered systematically on the business of his mission. In a brief note which he sent by the pilot to his wife, he says, " I have begun my journal, and if preserved from sea-sick- ness, intend to keep it regularly." The following paragraph shows what he had to accom- plish, as a man of business. " I propose, now that my health will admit of my read- ing and writing" — he had had the usual experience of sea- sickness — " to employ myself in the examination of various documents referring to my mission, and in making such notes as may be useful on my arrival in England." And the following shows what he delighted to do as a Christian man. " Saturday, March 20. — Hose at six o'clock this morn- ing in health, after a good night's rest. I trust I was ena- bled to appropriate those lines of the poet, wliich came with feeling to my mind soon after I awoke : " Arise, ray soul, with rapture rise, And, filled with love and fear, adore The awful Sovereign of the skies, Whose mercy lends thee one day more. And may this day, indulgent Power ! Not idly pass, nor fruitless be ; But may each swiftly passing hour Still nearer bring my soul to thee." 278 MEMOIU OF DH. MILNOR. " I propose to let no day pass without connecting with my devotional duties the reading and meditating upon a por- tion of the sacred Scriptures. Of these duties I do not contemplate noting hi general the character in my journal. Sometimes, however, it may he expedient to do so. This morning I commenced reading St. Paul's epistle to the Ro- mans. In contemplating the awfully wicked character of the heathen of his day, as described in the first chapter, and comparing it with the present state of most of the uncon- verted nations of the earth, we are at once struck with their similarity. And what a powerful incentive does the melan- choly comparison furnish to enlarged efforts on the part of the Christian Church for their conversion. " Shall we, whose souls are lighted With wisdom from on high — Shall we, to men benighted, The lamp of life deny? Salvation, Salvation ! The joyful sound proclaim; Till earth's remotest nation Has learned Messiah's name." He was accompanied on his way, by the usual incidents of a voyage : fierce storms, and dead calms ; fair winds, and head winds ; beautiful scenes, and appalling sublimities ; swift sailing, and sudden perils. The first and last Sabbaths of the passage were fine, and admitted of worship and preach- ing aboard ship ; but the two intermediate were so tempest- uous as to render the enjoyment of those privileges impossi- ble. The ship reached Liverpool the 14th day of April. In our notices of Dr. Milnor's visit to England, we shall simply follow his steps by giving some of the most impor- tant passages from his journal. " Before we reached the dock," he observes, " a gentle- man came off in a boat, offering to convey me to the pier, and bringing me a very kind letter from Mr. Augustus W. Gillet, of Birmingham, requestuig me to accept the hospi- MISSION TO ENaLAND. 279 talities of his house on my way to London. I found, on the wharf, waiting to receive me, my friend Mr. Thomas Sands, who gave me a hearty welcome, and insisted on conveying me, in a carriage which he had ready, to his house in Ever- ton. I went with him ; and the evening being wet, I re- mained till the following morning within doors. Mr. Sands had invited two pious and intelligent friends to spend the evening and sup with him. After a month's separation from my religious friends in New York, it was gratifying to meet with kindred spirits immediately on my arrival in Eng- land." After recording some brief visits which he made the next day, he went with Mr. Cromy, a member of the Meth- odist persuasion, to visit the Liverpool institution for the instruction of the deaf and dumb. " I asked his opinion," he observes, "as to the advantage of teaching this unfor- tunate class to articulate. He was decidedly in favor of its constituting a part of their instruction. I stated, as objec- tions to the plan, the labor and difficulty attending it, the limited extent to which it can be carried, and the imperfect, disagreeable, guttural enunciation, painful to the hearer and apparently so to the speaker, which I had observed in our country in all with whom the experiment had been tried ; for which reasons, I presumed, it had not formed a part of the system of the Abbes De L'Epee and Sicard. To con- vince me that our failure must have been owing to the want of proper instruction, he proposed that we should visit a family of his acquaintance, in which there were a young gentleman and his sister, both deaf mutes, the former of whom had learned to speak in a manner free from the ob- jections which I had urged. We found them at home with their mother, a lady in independent circumstances ; and were favored with an interview of some length, in which I was much gratified by the talent exhibited, and the im- provement made by them in various branches of their edu- cation. Both produced a variety of drawings and paintings 2S0 MEilOm OF DR. MILNOR. copied by them, and beautiful specimens of ornamental writ- ing, to which the young lady added some ingenious work in worsted, which she had just completed. The latter had made very Utile proficiency in speaking ; and the young gentleman's attempt, instead of removing my objections, was calculated to increase them. His voice was so weak, and his articulation so indistinct, that, when he addressed himself to his sisters, I could distinguish scarcely a single word ; and when he addressed himself immediately to me it was little better. He repeated the Lord's prayer in a tone by no means pleasant, and in an articulation far from dis- tinct. My unfavorable impressions in regard to this branch of instruction were rather confirmed than removed by this instance of its failure." His " expected engagements in London obliging liim to hasten on to that metropolis without delay," he was not able '* to wait upon the gentlemen to whom he had letters of in- troduction" in Liverpool, "or to see more than the exterior of the public builduigs" of that city. He started for Bir- mingham the morning of Friday, April 16, and arrived at 8 o'clock in the evening. On reachhig Birmingham, he adds, " I found Mr. Gillet waiting my arrival, with a carriage to take me to his house at Edgbaston, a pleasant situation, just beyond the limits of Birmingham. Mrs. Gillet was deeply aflected on my ar- rival ; and the eldest of her little boys, who had been much attached to me in New York, clung to me and cried for joy. After talking about friends and affairs in New York, and conducting family worship, I retired to rest about 11 o'clock." On Saturday, the 17th of April, he received calls from the principal clergy of Birmmgham and an invitation to dinner with the high-bailiff. He observes, " In the course of our conversation at diimer, a curious fact was developed in relation to Dr. Kewley, my predecessor in St. George's. Mr. Mayer, a Christian Jew, said that he had seen him in MISSION TO ENaLAND. 281 Italy, and was well acquainted with him. He passes there by the name of 'rather Kewley;' but Mr. Mayer says he knows his true name to be Lawson, and that he has a brother of the latter name, now living in Liverpool, with whom also he is acquainted. He believes that Dr. Kewley was a Jesuit during the whole time of his residence in America." Sunday, April 18, he spent in attending worship with the family of his friend Mr. Gillet. The parish church of St. Martm includes " the whole of Birmingham, except two churches, which form another of small extent. With the exception of one clergyman, the Rev. E. Burn, now far advanced in age, there were, a few years ago, no clergymen of decidedly evangelical views in Birmingham. At present, full one half of the whole number are of that character." He speaks in terms of high commendation of all the sermons which he heard during the day, especially of that by Mr. James. This he calls " one of the finest discourses to which he ever listened ;" and adds, " After family worship, I re- tired to rest with, I trust, a heart full of gratitude to God, for enabling me to spend, both agreeably and profitably, this ray first Sabbath in England." On Monday, April 19, Dr. Milnor started for London, intending to spend one day in Oxford ; but when he reached that city, he found that so short a time would give him but little acquaintance there ; and as, with the exception of two slight showers, the weather was fine, he determined to pro- ceed at once to the metropolis. Accordingly, he arrived in London about 10 o'clock at night, and took lodgings till morning at " The "White Horse, Fetter-lane." " Tuesday, April 20," Dr. Milnor thus continues his journal. " This morning I proceeded to the Bible Society's house, Earl-street, Blackfriars. I found there the Rev. Mr. Brandram, the principal secretary, who conducted me through the whole establishment, in which there are now not less than 700,000 volumes of the sacred Scriptures in 282 MEMOIE- OF DR. MILNOR. various lan^ages. The house is in a narrow street, and its interior aspect is rather gloomy ; but blessed be God, there is light emitted from it which will one day enlighten all, as it has already enlightened many, of the dark comers of the earth. Mr. Brandram detained me with the expectation of introducing me to Lord Teignmouth, the president, who was to be there, by appointment, to make some arrangements for the approaching anniversary; but exactly at the desig- nated hour, a servant came with a note from his lordship, stating that the unpleasantness of the weather and the state of his health would prevent his fulfilling the appointment. The next day he had the delightful satisfaction of receiv- ing a letter from home, and the pleasure of a visit from a New York acquaintance. In a letter to Mrs. Milnor, after the rambles of the day, he says, " You may well suppose, that in this wilderness of houses, I feel myself very much a stranger ; and if I did not anticipate a change, should scarcely be able, separated from all I hold most dear on earth, to keep up my spirits. But to-morrow I shall begin to deliver my letters of introduction, and I trust that, ere long, I shall have some with whom I may converse. My thoughts tend continually towards home, and the happiest day I shall know, if Providence permit me to see it, will be that in which I shall rejoin my beloved family and congre- gation." " Thursday, April 22. — Heceived a note from the Rev. Mr. Brandram, inviting me to accompany him in liis gig to the anniversary meeting of the Bromley and Beckenham Auxiliary Church Missionary Society. On account of my desire to deliver some of my letters of introduction to-day, I waited on Mr. Brandram, and endeavored to excuse myself; but he was urgent, and I concluded to acquiesce m his wishes. "We reached the village of Bromley, in Kent, about 1 2 o'clock, where I was introduced to Mr. Cater, the presi- dent of the society, the Rev. Mr. Bickersteth, one of the principal secretaries of the parent institution, and the com- MISSION TO ENGLAND. 283 mittee of the society. The meeting was opened with prayer, and a concise but appropriate address hy the president." After giving an account of the exercises, in which he took part, Dr. Mihior thus adverts to one of the charitable institutions of the place. " I was shown, at Bromley, an establishment for the support of forty clergymen's widows. The object is excel- lent, but there are many reasons for believing, that the money annually expended in this way would be better laid out in annuities to the objects of the charity, leaving their places of residence to their own option. What I had seen of an institution for the support of poor widows in America, convinced me of the inexpediency of congregating them into one family ; and on inquiry, I found that this widows' house was not free from the same jealousies, slanders, and strife, which I knew to have existed in the one referred to at home." " In the evening, Mr. Brandram, Mr. Cater, and two or three other gentlemen, with myself, dmed by invitation at the seat of Mr. Inglis. The situation is beautiful, the man- sion spacious and elegant, the furniture in the first fashion, the grounds finely improved, and the whole establishment excelled by few in the coimtry. It may be supposed that the entertainment was in correspondence with the place. It was indeed far too sumptuous. Mr. Inglis had been taken ill the day before, and was unable either to attend the meet- ing, or to join us at dinner ; but his partner, a lady of veiy affable and unassuming manners, manifested a great desire for the happiness of his guests, which, besides those already mentioned, consisted of ten ladies, most of whom had at- tended the meeting, and as Mr. Brandram informed me, were decidedly pious. It was pleasant to find the conversa- tion taking very easily a rehgious turn, and the sentiments of the company harmonizing so agreeably on the several subjects which were introduced. " I accompanied Mr. Brandram to his house at Black- 284 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. » heath, four miles from Bromley, where I lodged ; and in the morning, we returned to London in the Blackheath coach." " FniDAY, April 23. — Went out and dehvered princi- pally such sealed letters as I had brought with me from New York." " Saturday, April 24. — I was employed till eleven o'clock this morning in business connected with the objects of my visit to England. At that hour, I for the first time mounted the top of a coach, and proceeded to visit my friends Dr. and Mrs. Parker, at Woolwich. On our arrival we received a hearty welcome. They proposed to me a walk through the grounds enclosed within the barracks. Some of the scenery is very pleasing, being in sight of the Thames, on which a great number of vessels are constantly moA^ng, and the build- ings and walls being so disposed as, united with a stream of water here formed into a lake, to give a fme eflect to the whole landscape. Within this enclosure are many curious things — among them, an immense gun, taken from one of the conquered nabobs in India ; the hearse, brought from St. Helena, on which Napoleon was conveyed to his grave ; and various trophies of victories gahied over the French in the last war of Great Britain with that country. On the plain, in a peculiarly fine situation, stands the marquee under which the Prince Regent gave a banquet to Alexander, Emperor of Russia, the Emperor of Austria, etc., when on their visit to England. It was removed to this place from the grounds in the rear of the palace of St. James', London, where the enter- tainment was given ; and, having had its sides enclosed, forms a large and beautiful circular room for models of mili- tary implements, curious armor, etc. There was not time to visit half the curiosities of this canvas-covered room ; for such is the material of which its roof is composed. This apparently slight structure is rendered entirely impervious to the rain, and beautifully ornamented within by ribs of heavy gilded cord. On my return to London, I found I had been called upon by the secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary MISSION TO ENGLAND. 285 Society, and tlie secretary of the British and Foreign Seamen and Soldiers' Friend Society ; who had severally left docu- ments of their respective institutions. " Sunday, April 25, — This morning, when I awoke, the sun shone brilliantly into my chamber, and my heart was at once raised to my heavenly Protector in thanksgiving for the sweet refreshment which I felt from my night's repose, and for his mercy in sparing me to awake in health to the light of my second Sabbath in England, and my first in this great city ; with earnest entreaty that I may be enabled suitably to improve its privileges, and that it may be made a day of special blessing to my dear people of St. George's. "11, A. M. — Attended the church of St. Mary-le-bow, commonly called the Bow church, Cheapside, where the anniversary sermon for the benefit of ' The City of London National Schools,' was preached by the Rt. Rev. Charles James Blomfield, bishop of London. The lord-mayor, a ven- erable-looking old gentleman, very much resembling Col. Fish, of New York, with the recorder, the two sherifls, etc., etc., attended in full costume. The bishop is a pleasing, but not very forcible preacher. He uses no action whatever, but his enunciation is very clear and correct, his manner solemn, and his whole delivery without the least ostentation. His sermon was without division, destitute of all figure, plain, practical, and evangehcal. " In the afternoon, I went to St. Stephen's, Wallbrook, and heard the Rev. Mr. Brandram preach in this beautiful church to a congregation of not more than a hundred persons besides Sunday-school children. A principal cause of this smallness of the congregation, is the situation of the church in a parish, filled with merchants' counting and ware houses, whose residences are generally in the country. The church is one of the works of Sir Christopher Wren, and is said to be his masterpiece. "At half past 6, I went to the evening services of the church of St. Bride's, Fleet-street, another of the works of 286 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. the same arcliitect. All the pews and aisles were filled with a congregation attracted by the preaching of the evening lecturer, the Rev. Mr. Denharn, a young man of great piety and very engaging elocution, who was appointed to the office by the present bishop of London. His lordship, since his accession to the see, has done essential service to the cause of evangelical piety in the city, by bestowing three lecture- ships upon able, spiritual young mhiisters. Mr. Denham's tones and cadences are very pleasing ; his diction little orna- mented, but perspicuous and impressive ; and his thoughts those of a mind apparently holdmg habitual intercourse with heaven. More energy and warmth in the delivery of his sermons would, I think, be looked for in our country, m order to give a preacher so large a measure of popularity as Mr. Denham here enjoys. " This has been the first day entirely without rain since my arrival in England." " Monday, April 26. — Arose before 5 o'clock. An old drone of a watchman is crying the hour under my wdndow, while I am shaving, by the light, not of a candle, but of the broad day." " Passed a portion of the morning in reading and writing ; and then employed myself in delivering sealed packages and letters committed to my charge. "Was able this morning to complete the delivery of all the communications brought with rae for public institutions. I attended at noon the stated meeting of the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society. I was introduced by Mr. Brandram, and received in the most cordial and aflectionate manner. I made a com- munication of the objects of my mission ; my credentials were then read ; and after some remarks from Mr. J. "Wilson, chairman pro tern., expressive of the feelings of the com- mittee at this mark of aflection and respect from the Amer- ican society, they proceeded to the reading and consideration of their annual report. I remained till near two o'clock, when I was conducted to the stated meeting of the com- MISSION TO ENGLAND. 287 mittee of the Church Missionary Society in SaHshury-square, by whom I was very kindly received. AYith this committee, who were also occupied on their annual report, I remained until the close of their session. "At 5 o'clock I dined, by invitation, with Counsellor Marriot, dueen's- square, Bloomsbury, who was and still is one of Bishop Chase's warmest English friends, and one of the trustees of the fund raised in this country for the benefit of Kenyon College, Ohio. The college, and the interests of religion and learning in the western parts of the United States, formed prominent subjects of conversation. Among other topics, however, Mr. Marriot himself introduced that of temperance ; with the measures for promoting which im- portant object he was considerably acquainted. He thought them very intimately connected with the well-being of soci- ety, not merely through the moral reformation at which they immediately aim, but through the increased influence of true religion, which they promote by the removal of one of the principal hinderances to its advancement. On my mention- ing that I had found the subject in some instances, since my arrival in England, rather coldly received even by serious people, I was pleased to learn from Mr. Heap, that a society had actually been formed in his neighborhood at Bradford, under encouraging auspices ; and that already, under the influence of its proceedings, they were enabled to rejoice in the apparent reformation of several habitual drunkards. "Tuesday, April 27. — At 8 o'clock this morning, I attended by invitation the w^eekly meeting of the committee of * The Religious Tract Society ' in Paternoster-row, and breakfasted with them. At the request of the chairman, I offered prayer ; after which a blessing was asked, and busi- ness immediately proceeded simultaneously with their simple meal, consisting of a cup of black tea only, with bread and butter. I communicated to the committee the resolutions of the American Tract Society appointing me their delegate to London ; and made a short address on the subject. Nothing 288 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOE. could be more satisfactory than the manner in which these were received, or more kind than the expressions of the chairman and of several of the members of this respectable board. *' At 11 o'clock, I went to St. Bartholomew's church, near the Exchange, for the purpose of hearing the stated weekly lecture of an aged minister, the Rev. Mr. Wilkinson, who has preached this Tuesday morning lecture for the last twenty-seven years. He is a man of small stature, of very venerable appearance, and near eighty years of age. His voice is rather weak; but the deep silence observed by a crowded congregation during the delivery of his sermon, enabled me, though seated near the entrance of the church, to hear him distinctly. He read his text from a small Bible, and without spectacles ; and preached with great vivacity of manner for three-quarters of an hour, and entirely without notes. The sermon was for the benefit of the charity-school of the parish, in which are instructed fifty boys and thirty girls. These are clothed, and furnished with books ; taught the elements of English, with needlework, etc., to the girls ; and when of proper age, bound apprentices to trades or to service. A handbill stated that between two and three thousand children had received the benefit of this charity. The pupils sat in the capacious chancel of the church ; were very clean, and neat, and healthful in their appearance ; and sang very SAveetly an appropriate hymn." " Mr. Wilkinson is a very thorough-going Calvi??ist. He is, I am told, one of the few remaining pupils of old Mr. Komaine, who, in the early part of his ministry, was said to be the only living and avowedly Calvinistic minister in the Church of England. It would seem that many of its pres- ent members in London do not disrelish the system of the Genevan reformer ; for not only were all the pews of St. Bartholomew's to-day completely filled, but the aisles also were crowded ; and I understand this is constantly the case, though the church stands in the very throng of bushiess, and MISSION TO ENaLAND. 289 the liours of service are those of its greatest press. The occupants of the pews were of very respectable appearance ; those in the aisles, of the poorer class ; and the whole exhib- ited the aspect of great seriousness and devotion. " At the close of the service, I conversed with Mr. Poyn- der, one of the committee of the Bible Society, and an emi- nent solicitor, who told me that, whenever it was possible for him to leave his business, he did not fail to be one of Mr. Wilkinson's hearers at this lecture ; and that he always found Hmself edified and comforted by his instructions." Having been waited on " by two of the secretaries of the Wesley an Missionary Society," with a request from their committee that he would make one of the addresses at their anniversary on the Monday following, and also breakfast with the committee at the Mission house, Hatton Garden, on Friday ; he " spent the remainder of the evening in making some preparation for his expected engagements next week." He spent the next day in business engagements at his lodgings, and at the Bible Society's house ; in visiting the Rev. Samuel Charles Wilks, editor of the Christian Observer; and in dining with the Rev. Mr. Woodruffe, of Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park. In speaking of the dinner at Mr. WoodrufTe's, he characterizes the hostess as " a pious woman of fine mind," who, "in the course of some religious discus- sion, displayed much acquaintance with the sacred Scrip- tures, and an intimate knowledge of the doctrines of Christi- anity." He adds, " After tea, at the request of Mr. and Mrs. Woodruffe, I read and expounded a portion of Scripture, and prayed ; the servants of the family being first called into the dining-room." This mode of closing social entertainments presents a feature in the highest religious circles of England, ^vhich is almost as common as it is interesting. Society in this country is highly imitative of that in Europe, but un- happily we copy its worst, more frequently than its best peculiarities. Mem. Milnor. 1 3" 290 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOH. The next day, till a late hour, he spent in business, and closes his note for the day by saying, " I was surprised to-day by the receipt of a letter from my dear friend and brother, the Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine, of Brooklyn, informing me, that on account of indisposition, he was to sail for England on the 8th of the present month. While I lament the cause that brings him from home, I shall rejoice to have with me such a friend and coadjutor in my mission, and such a companion in my travels. I shall now be looking for liim daily. The Lord send him safely to my embraces." Friday, April 30. — At breakfast this morning at the Methodist Missionary house, Hatton-garden, he met several of the leading ministers of the Methodist church, and " spent nearly two hours very agreeably and profitably with those intelligent and pious m.en ;" durmg which, after the reading of the Scriptures by one of the company, and prayer by him' self, " an interesting conversation ensued, in which many inquiries were made respecting the state of religion in the United States, especially in regard to the progress of Popery and of Unitarianism, of which," he adds, "I think they had received exaggerated accounts." After breakfast, he " attended the stated meeting of the committee of the Prayer-book and Homily Society. The committee," he says, " received me with great respect and kindness. Mr. Pritchett, secretary of the Society, then went with me to Freemasons' Hall, where the Irish Society of London were holding their anniversary. The object of this society is the education of the L'ish through the medium of their own language. " The Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, Dr. Ryder, was in the chair, supported by the Bishop of Chester and by Lord Harrowby. I staid until I had heard two long and impas- sioned speeches from the Rev. Messrs. Daly and Beamish, two of the clergy of the established church in Ireland. " In the evening I went to Poultry chapel, Cheapside, to MISSION TO ENaLAND. 291 hear an anniversary sermon for the Hibernian Society for establishing schools and circulating the holy Scriptures in Ireland. The society supports at present 950 day-schools and 400 Sunday-schools, containing together upwards of 76,000 scholars, at an expense each of about three shillings sterling per annum. It distributed last year 22,966 Bibles and Testaments ; and, since its institution in 1806, has cir- culated 230,000. It also employed 67 persons as scripture readers. With such claims to public patronage, I was sur- prised to see a very thin congregation." The next day, Saturday, May 1, Dr. Milnor spent in sight-seeing ; but, as he indulged sparingly in this amuse- ment, and gave but slight accounts of what he saw, his record for the day may be omitted, saving its concluding paragraph : " Spent the evening in the retirement of my little parlor, in duties preparatory to those of the sanctuary to-morrow." SECTION II. We now come to the week of the principal anniversaries in London ; and will give a condensed outline of the engage ments which it brought upon Dr. Milnor. He had already attended the preparatory meetings of the committees of all the leading societies, and was favorably known to most of the actors in the stirring scenes on which he was about to enter : scenes in which are brought together larger and denser masses of Christian life, where is felt a more vitally organized and intensely beating heart of Christian faith and feeling, and whence are sent forth more powerful and far- reaching pulsations of Christian benevolence and activity, than are to be found elsewhere within the sphere of evangel- ical operations. The first anniversary, Monday, May 3, was that of the 292 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. VYesleyan Missionary Society. " The Rt. Hon, the Earl of Mountcashel presided. As I went to the vestry-room," fays Dr. Milnor, " half an hour before the commencement of the exercises, and his lordship arrived soon after, I was intro- duced to him, and was much pleased with the pious charac- ter of his conversation. He was plainly dressed, with no decoration to distinguish him from a commoner. His man- ner was perfectly friendly and familiar, and his sentiments those of an experimental Christian. In the course of" the conversation, he spoke of a motion wliich he intended to bring forward to-morrow in the House of Lords, of which he had given notice, for an inquiry into the income of the bishops. He stated that his object was, not the abduction of any part of its property from the church, but the ascertainment of the actual revenues of the bishops, with which none but them selves were acquainted ; and, where the amount was unrea- sonably large, its reduction to a more moderate but still gen- erous support ; the surplus to be appropriated to the increase of the salaries of the poorly provided, hard-working clergy. He seemed not to expect present success, but hoped to awaken parliamentary attention to the subject, and event- ually to get something done. He expected opposition both from the bishops and from the radicals : from the bishops, because they wanted nothing done, and from the radicals, because they wished to do more than he proposed." When the hour for the exercises arrived, he " opened the meeting with an address of a very catholic spirit, and evin- cive of a mind imbued with much spiritual feeling. His manner was by no means graceful, and his utterance very hesitating ; yet his sentiments were so entirely consonant with the object of the meeting, and the whole address so replete with frank and unafiected Christian kindness, that it was followed by a universal burst of applause." After a glowing account of the various speeches delivered on the occasion, and a very modest allusion to his own, he thus concludes his narrative for the day : MISSION TO ENGLAND. '^93 " I was never present at so animated a public meeting But the cries of ' hear him, hear him,' jjie clapping of hands.. and knocking of the floor with umbrellas and canes, within a place of worship, sounded rather oddly to ears unaccustom- ei to such expressions of feeling. " At the close of the meeting, I went to dine with Mr. Haslope, treasurer of the society, at Highbury Lodge, Islmg- ton. His residence is in the most beautiful part of the environs of London which I have yet seen. His lodge, as it is termed, is a spacious three- story house, of four rooms on a floor, situ- ated within an enclosure of eight or ten acres, with gardens, lawns, hot-house, etc. The arrangements of the house and table, and the dress of the females of the family, are some- what beyond the style common among the members of the Methodist society in America. Mr, Haslope, however, bears an excellent religious character, and his family attend in part the established church, having accommodations in the parish church of Islington, of which that distinguished minister, the Rev, Daniel Wilson, is vicar. " Tuesday, May 4. — Attended the anniversary of ' The Church Missionary Society,' at Freemasons' Hall. It was full to overflowing ; and the assemblage of ladies and gentle- men presented a very imposing appearance. The Rt. Hon. Lord Gambler in the chair. " His lordship opened the meeting with a short address, and then read from the Bible one of the psalms, as peculiarly expressive of the feehngs of gratitude which should now animate every heart. Mr, Bickersteth followed by offering a prayer, copies of which had been distributed through the meeting." Various resolutions were, as usual, offered and seconded. Dr, Milnor's speech was in seconding the resolution offered by the Bishop of Winchester. The following is his modest allusion to it : " I was honored with an invitation to second the resolu- tion. My reception was mimeritedly kind ; and though I so 294 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. far transgressed as to extend my remarks to three-quarters of an hour, yet I was constantly encouraged to proceed ; and when I concluded with an apology for their length, it was answered by a cry, * No, no, not too long,' and an alarming volley of applause. I received it as a strong evidence of English courtesy towards a stranger, and of respect towards the country from which I came." At the close of this day's account, he remarks, " This was to me a very interesting meeting. I confess I liked the sober dignity and comparative silence by which it was char- acterized, better than the more violent expression of feeling witnessed yesterday." We may judge of the deep interest of the meeting by the feeling which, even at this later day, arises in the mind at the mention of the great fact in the history of English mis- sions, referred to in the following paragraphs of Dr. Milnor's account : a fact then for the first time proclaimed, with all its newly thrilling power, in the ear of Christian England. The Bishop of Chester " was followed by Thos. Fowell Buxton, Esq., M. P., a large, fine-looking man, of command- ing eloquence. The recent abolition of the Suttee, or burning of widows in India, formed a principal topic of his speech ; in the course of which he paid a comphment to Mr. Solicitor Poynder, as a chief instrument in effecting that humane and excellent measure, for which the labors of mis- sionaries had previously prepared the way. It was, he said, Mr. Poynder' s persevering and able exertions with the Board of Directors (of the East India Company,) that led to the final abolition of a practice so abominable as to have been an increasing disgrace to the government which allowed it, every day that its existence had continued. " As soon as Mr. Buxton sat down, Mr. Poynder arose for the purpose, he said, of disclaiming all personal merit in the pleasing transaction referred to, and of making a public acknowledgment to Almighty God for the support of his Holy Spirit, in the discharge of an incumbent duty ; and he MISSION TO ENOLAND. 295 called upon all present to give glory to God for the singular and unexpected success with which that discharge of duty- had been attended." After the exercises of the day, he went, at six o'clock, to dine with Mr. Solicitor Forster, at his house, Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park. " The evening," he says, " was passed very agreeably, the conversation being entirely of a religious character, and the ladies sustaining their part in it in a way alike evincive of deep interest in the various topics which it embraced, and of much acquaintance with them. I like exceedingly the practice which I find prevalent at these late dinners, of the gentlemen, soon after the retirement of the ladies, leaving the dinner-table for the drawing-room ; and still more, that of closing the evening, before the separa- tion of the company, by religious exercises." We reach now the most important of the great London anniversaries, to attend which had been the moving-spring of Dr. Milnor's mission to England ; we therefore give his account of it entire. " Wednesday, May 5. — This day was held the anniver- sary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in Freema- sons' Hall, "No ladies are admitted at this meeting. The room was exceedingly crowded with gentlemen, including a very large body of clergy, with many noblemen and persons of distinction in society. The president, Lord Teignmouth, was prevented by indisposition from attending. Lord Bex- ley occupied his place, and opened the meeting with a short address, in which he felicitated the meeting on the continued prosperity of this great institution, and on the spiritual bless- ings which it was shedding on the world. " The Bishop of Winchester moved the adoption of the report, after an abstract of it had been read by the secretary, Mr. Brandram. He spoke about ten minutes, and was fol- lowed by Lord Calthorpe for about the same space of time. " The Bishop of Chester moved the second resolution. 296 MEMOIE. OF DH. MILNOR. His address occupied a quarter of an hour, and was seconded by Mr. Wiiberforce, in a speech of great interest, delivered with as much animation as his wasted frame and now feeble voice would admit. " I was then introduced to the meeting as a delegate from the American Bible Society, and was received with greetings of a kind that almost overpowered me. I made my communication, however, as well as I could, in an ad- dress of thirty-five minutes ; and had reason to be very grateful for the afiectionate manner in which it was received, and for the many kind notices of the society which I repre- sented, and of our beloved country, which several of the subsequent speakers took occasion to introduce. The prev- alent sentiment seemed to be, that a friendly communication and harmonious cooperation between the great national relig- ious institutions of the two countries, besides the effect upon their immediate objects, would have a most salutary influ- ence in preserving that friendship, which it was so much the political as well as the moral interest of both to preserve and cherish. " The Hon. Charles Grant, M. P., whose standing in the national legislature is of the highest order, and whose pat- ronage of religious institutions has been so able and long continued, seconded the motion of thanks to Lord Teign- mouth, with which I had been charged. He is a charming speaker, and merits my grateful acknowledgments for the obliging manner in which he adverted to my mission. " The Rev. Daniel Wilson, who had been to Paris and attended the anniversary of ' The Protestant Bible Society,' gave an account of the meeting, and of the state of religion in France. " The Hon. Charles G. Shore, son of Lord Teignmouth, in a short address, acknowledged the society's vote of thanks to his venerable father. " The Rev. Mr. Dixon, a Wesleyan Methodist minister from Ireland, next addressed the meeting in a speech of sin- MISSION TO EN&LAND. 297 gular vehemence of manner and of great originality and point. w " I should have mentioned, that after Mr. Grant, that aged minister of Christ, Rowland Hill, who, if he has been noted for singularity, will be remembered and respected by posterity for his long-continued and useful services to religion, made what he expected would be his last speech before this society. It partook of the peculiar manner by which his public communications have been distinguished, and was received with great applause. " The treasurer, Mr. Thornton ; the Dean of Salisbury; Mr. Newman, a lay gentleman from Ireland ; and Sir Thomas Bloomfield, each made a short address. The motion of the last was a vote of thanks to Lord Bexley, wliich was sup- ported by an address from the Bishop of Lichfield and Cov- entry. The latter had been prevented by indisposition from coming to the meeting till near its close. With scarcely an exception, the whole audience remained without the least evidence of impatience, until it broke up, near five o'clock, P.M. " Lord Bexley, in acknowledging the vote of thanks to himself, just before the meeting was dismissed, referred, in a manner exceedingly respectful and kind, to America, to its Bible Society, and to my mission and address. Immediately afterwards, he approached me with eagerness, seize'ci my hand, and observing that he needed no introduction, for my address had made us friends already, invited me to dine with him on Wednesday next. I was then introduced to each of the bishops who had been speakers on the occasion, and to a large number of clergy and laity ; and amid a hundred Enghsh hands stretched out to greet me as a visitor to their country, I felt deeply thankful for the favor which the cause I came to advocate procured me. Never will the scenes of this day fade from my memory. " At half past six, dined with Mr. Wilhams, M. P. for the county of Devon, where he has a splendid seat. He is 13* 298 MEMOIK, OF DR. MILNOR. a banker, and his town residence is one of the most elegant in Grosvenor-square, and the most richly embellished and furnished of any house which I have entered since my arrival in London. There were eight liveried servants in attendance on a dinner-party, which consisted of about twenty, one-half at least ladies. In this respect, I observe a difference be- tween New York and London ; the females, on such an oc- casion as this, bearing a much greater proportion to the gentlemen, on this side of the Atlantic. Mr. and Mrs, Will- iams are professors of religion in the established church ; and Mrs. Williams bears the character of a deeply spiritual Christian, to whom a less splendid style of living would be far more agreeable. Her manners are very courteous, though unassummg, and wholly free from all fashionable afiectation and the company, Mr. Phillips assured me, were all profess edly pious. The only clergymen present, besides myself were Mr. Phillips, and Mr. Grimshawe, author of the life of the lamented Legh Richmond, with whom I had previously become acquainted, and whose character and conversation are in consonance with the spirit which pervades his inter- esting memoir. " The conversation at dinner slid very easily into a rehg- ious channel, and was agreeably maintained during the even- ing. Soon after the ladies had retired to the drawing-room, we were invited to follow them, and found there some acces- sion to their number. After tea and coffee, the servants placed on a large circular table in the centre of the room a Bible and a number of hymn-books, sufficient to supply the company. A hymn was then sung, accompanied by Miss Williams on the piano ; after which Mr. Phillips read a chapter, expounded, and prayed. This w^as a pleasant sequel to the enlivening duties of the day ; and if I retired under gome fatigue of body to my rest — the walk to my lodgings being long — it was with a grateful sense of the kindness shown me by the friends of religion, to whose acquaintance this visit to England has already introduced me, and with MISSION TO ENaLAND. 299 prayer for God's continued support iii the duties still be- fore me." At 8 o'clock on Thursday morning, Dr. Milnor attended by invitation a clerical breakfast in Sackville-street, in one of the large rooms of an edifice used for business offices by several of the benevolent societies. Near one hundred of the clergy of the established church were present, besides several laymen of distinction : Lord Mount Sandford, Sir Thomas Baring, Col. Phipps, Capt. Gambler, and others. The breakfast Avas as usual a plain meal, and was followed by the customary religious exercises, the Rev. Daniel Wilson presiding. In the religious exercises, parts were borne by the Rev. Mr. Stewart of Liverpool, the Rev. President, the Dean of Salisbury, the Rev. Mr. Beamish, and Dr. Milnor. "At the conclusion of this very solemn and interesting ser- vice, the hour had arrived for the assembHng of two anni- versary meetings : that of ' The Religious Tract Society's General Western Meeting,' and that of ' The Prayer-Book and Homily Society.' " By appomtment, Dr. Milnor went first to the Tract So- ciety's anniversary, where the Marquis of Cholmondeley pre- sided ; and where the exercises partook of the customary interest of the occasion. In an address of five and twenty minutes, Dr. Milnor "endeavored to comply with an intima- tion given by the committee of this society, as had been done by most of the others, by furnishmg all the information in his power as to the operations, and their results, of kindred institutions in the United States." "Soon after I sat down," he proceeds, "I received a message from the committee of the Prayer-Book and Homily Society, urgently requesting my attendance at Freemasons' Hall. Accordingly, I stepped into a coach, which they had sent for me ; and on my arrival, found the president. Lord Bexley, in the chair, supported by the Bishops of Chester and Winchester, and several pious noblemen. Several speak- ers had addressed the meeting before I entered. Captain 300 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. Gambier and the Rev. Daniel Wilson spoke immediately afterw^ards. " I was then called up, and was graciously supported in an address, in a great degree unpremeditated ; wherein I dwelt on the value of the liturgy as a vehicle of devotion, and as a bulwark against error ; and upon the homilies, as an admirable illustration of the evangehcal doctrines of the articles of our church. I noticed also the attachment of the American Episcopal church to the liturgy, as evinced in the recent general disapprobation of certain alterations which had been proposed ; while at the same time I paid the re- spect justly due to the motives of the very distinguished prelate with whom those proposed alterations originated. The Bishop of Winchester was pleased to express himself very kindly towards me and the remarks which I had made ; and supposing ray address to have been written and com- mitted to memory, he afterwards sent me a message by the Rev. Mr. Raikes, requesting me to allow of its separate publication in a pamphlet form, which I verj^ respectfully declined." This reference to his address before the Prayer-Book and Homily Society is important, as we shall hereafter see, in con- sequence of the unhappy controversy to which the report of his remarks led, between Bishop Hobart and himself Dr. Milnor dined to-day with Mr. Bickerstetti, at Isling- ton, in company with several pious and literary men. Of his host and some of the guests on this occasion, he thus writes : " Mr. Bickersteth, who has rendered such essential service to the Church Missionary Society, is about resigning his secretary-ship, having accepted the rectorship of the par- ish of Watton, in Hertfordshire. He is one of the most excellent of men, uniting respectable talents with a truly Christian spirit. It is only necessary to knoAV him in order to admire and love him. Mr. Pratt, son of the Rev. Josiah Pratt, is curate to his father, a modest and unassuming young man, of disposition and feeling entirely in harmony with those MISSION TO ENGLAND. 301 of his estimable parent. Mr. F. Cunningham, brother of the author of The Velvet Cushion, is a mj?,ji of talents, and one of the most exemplary ministers of the establishment in the laborious discharge of all the duties of his station. He is among those whose acquaintance I have considered one of the most pleasing gratifications of my visit to London." On Friday, Dr. Milnor's engagements were at another clerical breakfast, given at Freemasons' Tavern, the Rev. Mr. Hawtrey presiding ; at the anniversary of " The London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews," Sir Tliomas Baring in the chair ; and at dinner with Mr. Hatch- ard the bookseller, a;t Clapham. The evening was spent and closed in the usual Christian way ; after which Dr. Milnor went with his friends Mr. and Mrs. Gilliat, and spent the night at their house, about a mile from Clapham. How delightful must it have been, after so many days of incessant and intense mental excitement amid the crowded throngs of the city, to awake, as he did, on the morning of Saturday, May 8, between five and six o'clock, and find himself in the sweet, still country, with " the weather de- lightfully balmy and refreshing, the birds gayly carolling their matins, and the whole landscape covered with the greenest verdure of spring." " I took a walk," he writes, " through Mr. Gilliat's beautiful grounds ; and being soon joined by him, our conversation took a direction in conso- nance with the evidences of divine beneficence exhibited in the charming scene before us, I found Mr. Gilliat's senti- ments on spiritual subjects such as, under the blessing of God, are usually produced on minds having the advantage of so faithful a ministry as that on which he has from his youth attended. Our conversation was reluctantly ended by the announcement of breakfast ; before which, however, I read and commented on one of the Psalms, and prayed with the assembled family." Returning to the city after breakfast, he learned that his friend McHvaine had reached London, and taken lodgings at 302 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. the same hotel with himself. But as his friend was out on a morning walk, and as he was himself under an engage- ment to be at Blackheath, six miles distant, to attend, at 12 o'clock, the anniversary of the Branch Bible Society of that eastern suburb, he was compelled to defer, till his re- turn, a meeting with one so recently from home. At the Blackheath anniversary, Lord Bexley presided ; and after the reading of the report, " several addresses were delivered," among which was one by Dr. Milnor. His anx- iety to see his friend Mcllvaine led him to solicit and obtain a release from an engagement to spend the night with Dr. Parker at Woolwich, and the Sabbath following with Mr. Symonds, at Paul's-Cray. He was therefore soon in London again, rejoicing in the safe arrival of his friend, and in the " many letters of a cheering character from family and friends" which he had brought from home ; though grieved to find the health of that friend so much impaired by the complaint which induced him to visit England. " Sunday, May 9. — My breakfast this morning was taken with increased thankfulness, being enlivened by the company of my beloved brother, who is, blessed be God, better in health than he was last night. After breakfast, we united in rendering praise to God for his goodness, and in suppli- cating his continued favor ; and just before going to public worship, we again knelt to ask a blessing on the duties of the day, and the special favor of Almighty God upon our respective families and congregations." They attended morning service at St. Stephen's, Cole- man-street, and heard a charity sermon by Dr. Ryder, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry ; and evening service at the venerable church of St. Arm's, Blackfriars, " where Mr, Romaine so long endured the opprobrium of faithfully and ably teaching and enforcing, as the si?ie qua non of a right belief of the gospel of Jesus Christ," that very doctrine of justification by faith which formed the subject of this afternoon's discourse. Dr. Milnor remarks, in his journal MISSION TO ENaLAND, 303 that Mr. Clemenson, the afternoon lecturer, "prayed ex- temporaneously both before and after s^rmon." At night they walked to " St. Martin's-in-the-Fields"— the fields having now become a wilderness of houses — where they heard an excellent discourse from a young cler- gyman, the Rev. Mr. Harnage, who was evening lecturer there at that time. And then "they returned home, read together a portion of the word of God, prayed, and retired to rest." So ended with Dr. Milnor the first week of the London anniversaries for the year 1830 ; a week which brought him into personal and profitable acquaintance with many of the noblest citizens of Christ's true kingdom upon earth, and set the buds of many a holy friendship, which will be blooming and fragrant for ever amid the better airs of that kingdom in heaven. During the week, on the active engagements of which he now entered, he attended the following anniversaries : that of " The Port of London and Bethel Union Society," Monday, May 10, the Rt. Hon. Lord Gambler presiding ; that of "The Sunday-school Union" on Tuesday, George Bennet, Esq., in the chair; that of "The Naval and Mili- tary Bible Society," the same day. Lord Lorton in the chair ; that of "The London Missionary Society" on Thursday; that of " The Religious Tract Society" on Friday, the Hon. Mr. Ersldne presiding; that of "The Society for promoting the principles of the Reformation," the same day. Lord Vis- count Mandeville m the chair ; and that of " The Anti- Slavery Society" on Saturday, Mr. Wilberforce in the chair. Dr. Milnor was among the speakers on Monday, before the Port of London and Bethel Union ; on Tuesday, before the Sunday-school Union; on Thursday, before the London Missionary Society ; and on Friday before the Society for promoting the principles of the Reformation. During the week, he also attended public breakfasts, accompanied by religious exercises, on Tuesday, "Wednesday, Friday, and 304 MEMOIR OF DR. MILKOR. So-turday ; while his dinner engagements were with Mr. Purvis, at Nottingham Place, on Monday ; Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel, Waltharnstow, on Tuesday ; Lord Bexley, at his city residence, on Wednesday ; the Bishop of Winches- ter, St. James' square, on Friday ; and Mr. Ewbank, of Peckham, on Saturday. It is needless to follow him closely through these numer- ous engagements, so similar to those already noticed. A few extracts from his journal, however, may furnish an interesting illustration of his course through this busy week. Alluding to the religious exercises with which he was called to close the evening, after dinner at Mr. Purvis', he says, " This manner of sanctifying social intercourse is both pleasing and profitable. Although I would always prefer being a hearer, yet the circumstance of my being a stranger often devolves on me the duty of conducting these religious exercises. My prayer is, that my unstudied and unpre- tending communications may be accompanied with a divine blessing ; so that, while unable publicly to preach the gos- pel, I may be an instrument of some good in this more pri- vate way." Of the anniversary of " The Naval and Military Bible Society," he writes, " This was, on several accounts, one of the most interesting Bible society anniversaries which I have attended. It is a much older institution than the British and Foreign Bible Society itself; and a great pro- portion of its supporters are naval and military men. " I was urgently solicited to make an address at this meet- ing ; and consented to do so, provided my friend Mcllvaine did not previously arrive. In case of his seasonable arrival, I had a particular desire to devolve the duty on him, from the circumstance more especially of his having held a pro- fessorship and chaplaincy at the military academy at West Point. I was happy both in his arrival, and in his being well enough to speak. In his address, he gave an account, as far as was suitable for the occasion, of the work of grace MISSION TO ENaLAND. 305 among the cadets which took place under his ministry at West Point ; and the efTect of his solemn and interesting narrative was very striking." The Rev. Baptist W. Noel also made " a most eloquent address. A fine effect was produced by so powerful a speech from a young clergyman, who justly enjoys a large portion of popular favor, and possesses talents admirably adapted to such a duty. Mr. Noel has the singular felicity of having associated with him in Christian feeling four brothers, three of whom are in the ministry, and the fourth an officer in the navy, who made one of the previous addresses." " I can scarcely conceive of a more interesting spectacle than that of so large a body of gentlemen of the army and navy, associated with so much zeal in the benevolent and pious work of circulating the Bible among their destitute fel- low soldiers and seamen. An unusual spirit of evangelical piety distinguished their addresses. No faintheartedness oi equivocation was manifested in the avowal of their religious sentiments. Several expressly adverted to affecting circum- stances in their own religious experience, and declared their firm adherence to their beloved Saviour, and their determi- nation, through evil report and good report, to live to his glory. Every speech was full of fervor ; and several, alike excellent for display of fine talents, and a manifestation of ardent piety. That of Lieut. Rhind was characterized by a flow of delightful Christian thought, which his spirited delivery sent home with powerful interest to every heart." It is a sign of the importance attached to the array and navy in Great Britain, that at this anniversary, " notes were read from the Duke of Gloucester, and from the Archbishop of Canterbury, apologizhig for unavoidable ab- sence." Dr. Milnor and his brother McTlvaine " were much grat- ified with their visit" to the Rev. Mr. Noel at " his charm- ing residence at Walthamstow, seven miles from London, where they dined and spent the night" of Tuesday. Mr. 306 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOE.. Noel's chiircli in London, ** St. John's chapel, Bedford- row," is the place where the celebrated Cecil and the present Bishop of Calcutta, Daniel Wilson, formerly officia- ted. Alluding to Mr. Noel's residence in the country, Dr. Milnor writes, *' I cannot but remark on the very inconvenient arrange- ment to which so many London clergymen subject them- selves, of having their family residences in the country at distances from three to ten miles. Mr. Noel's duties call him to the city almost every day ; and yet he subjects him- self to the trouble and loss of time unavoidably attendant on the arrangement, and that throughout the whole year. But the practice is more objectionable in another view, and that is, its injurious effect on the j)astoral relation. This I found to be a frequent complaint among the laity. AYhere they are perfectly satisfied with the public services of their ministers, they charge them with remissness in visiting, and express regret that they have so little religious mtercourse with their pastors. In this respect, curates are less cen- sured than rectors ; but it certainly is one of the evils of the establishment, that the pastoral office is so feebly sustained by a great portion of its clergy, whose independence of their congregations allows them a license in neglecting their flocks which with us would soon lead to a separation. This cen- sure, however, by no means attaches, in all its extent, to those ministers whose hearts are in their work; though many of these are apt to depend upon their assistants for the principal performance of the duty in question." The public "clerical breakfast" of Wednesday morning was "given by the Rev. Daniel Wilson, at the vicarage" of Islington, to " a party of about thirty clergj^men, and half that number of ladies ;" and the religious service which fol- lowed was in Mr. Wilson's " study," " a spacious room, with an uncommonly lofty ceiling, and having its walls lined with ranges of neatly constructed bookcases, containing a library of 6,000 volumes." The repast was closed by Mr. Wilson's missio:n to eng-land. 307 " giving out a verse of thanksgiving, which was sung by the company standing. He then proposM that they should amuse themselves for fifteen minutes in his garden — a beau- tiful spot, and kept in the neatest order — and reassemble in his study" at the expiration of that time. The exercises in the study were opened with prayer ; continued in the discussion of certain topics suggested by the vicar, " with intervals for prayer and private medita- tion ;" and closed as they opened — leaving an *' impression on the minds of all, that their coming together had been for the better, and not for the worse." Mr. Wilson "proposed, as the first topic" for discussion, " The best means of obtaining correct views of the 7nind of the Spirit, as revealed in the sacred Scrijjtures f and, " after a few explanatory remarks," called on Dr. Milnor, *' without any previous notice, to give his views upon the subject." " In the presence of so many gentlemen more competent than myself," he remarks, " I would willingly have been excused from this duty ; but understanding that it was not usual, at meetings such as this, to decline any required service, I proceeded to give such an answer to the inquiry as I was enabled to do on so sudden a request. Heading, as the basis of my remarks, a part of the second chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, I suggested, and in an address of fifteen or twenty minutes, a little enlarged upon the following means of obtaining the pro- posed end : " 1. A competency of human learning. "2. A renewed heart. "3. Close and patient study, * comparing spiritual things with spiritual.' "4. Implicit submission of our imperfect reason to the clear discoveries of God in his holy word. "5. Reliance on the influences of the Holy Spirit. " 6. Continual prayer for the dispensation of that Spirit. ** The want of attention to one or more of these particu- 308 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. lars I considered as the main cause of the heresies, supersti- tions, and errors, which have deformed and distracted the Christian church." After prayer and secret meditation, Mr. AYilson proposed, as the second topic for discussion, " The mind of the Spirit, as revealed in the sacred Scriptures, in regard to tlie person and grace of Chrht ;"" and called on the Rev. J. Haidane Stewart to speak to the point. He obeyed in a discussion of some length, evinchig famiUarly deep acquaintance with his theme. Another interval for prayer and secret meditation ensued, and then Mr. Wilson proposed, as the third topic for discus- sion, " That depravity of heart in the unregenerate, and that remainder of evil in the regenerate, which obstruct right aiiiorehensions of the person and grace of Christ'' and called on the Rev. Mr. Darby for his views in illustration of the same ; and they were given in a way which showed, that like the preceding speakers, he was " a scribe w^ell instructed unto the kingdom of heaven." Need it be doubted, that after discussion, by Christians of such heavenly ripeness, of topics like these, sprinkled with so much of the incense of holy prayer and silent musing, many of the members of that favored circle went forth and preached Christ with a clearness and an unction which had never before marked their teachings on this great theme ? At the anniversary, on Friday, of the Society for pro- moting the principles of the Reformation, Dr. Milnor's feel- ings were not a little disturbed by an untimely and ** vehe- ment" discussion, by the Rev. Hugh McNeile and the Rev. Mr. Dalton, of " the prophetical question ;" exhibiting their " views of the coming of the Messiah," and urging " the high doctrines of Calvin as among the purest principles of the Reformation." They " reflected severely on the evan- gelical clergy" in general, as not coming up to their stand- ard, and at the same time, " in very severe terms denounced MISSION TO ENGLAND. 309 dissent, and seemed to rest the claims of the estabhshed church, as a true church of Christ, .upon its connection with the state." " Nothing," adds Dr. Mihior, " so appar- ently out of place as the remarks of these gentlemen, had occurred in all my attendance upon the public meetings. They are both talented men, and Mr. McNeile, who is son- in-law to Dr. Magee, archbishop of Dublin, is a fine-looking man, and a remarkably fluent and powerful speaker." The dinner-party, this evening, at the Bishop of Win- chester's, was one of great interest. Much conversation was had on the subjects of prison discipline, the progress of the temperance reformation in the United States, and the violation of the Sabbath, especially in London. " The Bishop of Winchester also mentioned a singular custom which prevails in the island of Guernsey, a part of his dio- cese." In that little by-place, of which so little is gener- ally known, it seems that ' ' they have popular elections for several officers, occurring several times in the course of the year. These are held 07i Sunday, after service in the par- ish church, and are often accompanied with brawls and bat- tles. He said he was assured by the rector of one of the churches, that at a recent Sunday election, he was the only sober person present. The bishop has been laboring to get the time and place of these elections changed ; but it seems to be claimed as a matter of internal arrangement, by the authorities of the island, where the assent of three estates is necessary to bring about this salutary measure. I am not certain," says Dr. Miliior, " that I remember their sev- eral denominations, but I think they were the clergy, the magistrates, and the constables. The first two orders have met and deliberated, and are in favor cf the proposed change ; but the constables are for adhering to this odious desecration of the Sabbath, and therefore absent themselves from the meetings, to prevent the accomphshment " of the bishop's measure, " their presence being necessary to form a quorum." 310 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. The evening being thus agreeably spent, " after tea m the drawing-room, the company were invited into an ad- joining parlor, when Mrs. Sumner seated herself at a grand piano, and accompanied by the chaplain, played and sung a fine piece of sacred music. We were then provided with hymn-books, and sung, standing, the hymn, ' How sweet the name of Jesus sounds In a believer's ear ;' after which the bishop gave out the Doxology, 'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,' which was sung to the tune of Old Hundred, and we took our leave." Dr. Milnor's account of the breakfast on Saturday morn- ing, also has much interest. " Having been invited to breakfast this morning with Capt. Gordon, in St. James' Place, for the purpose of meet- ing Dr. Chalmers, I proceeded thither at the appointed hour. I found the doctor there, and was introduced to him ; but regretted that he could stay but a few minutes, being under a previous engagement to breakfast elsewhere. In the short conversation which I had with him, he observed, that he was very happy to hear of the rapid progress of learning and religion in the United States. He had read with great satisfaction the writings of several of our American divines, and referred especially to those of Dr. Stuart of Andover ; adding, that he had lately read and much admired the work of Dr. Alexander of Princeton, on the canon of Scripture. The doctor kindly said, he hoped he should meet with me before he left London ; but if not, would expect me to call on him if I went to Edinburgh. I was sorry that my friend Mcllvaine, who had spent the night out of town, arrived with the Rev. B. W. Noel too late to see a man whose writings have so much instructed and delighted us at home. " Captain Gordon, our host, is a countryman of Dr MISSION TO ENQLAND. 311 Chalmers ; a man of great muscular strength, and of a proportionably vigorous and sturdy mind. He is the great champion of the Reformation Society, a thoroughly informed evangelical Christian, and particularly well acquainted with the whole merits of the controversy between Protestants and Roman Catholics. The Rev. Mr. Dalton was also of our company at breakfast ; and we did not fail to express to him our regret, that the current of good feeling at the meeting yesterday, should have been in any degree inter- rupted by the introduction of topics on which a difierence of opinion prevailed, and which had no connection with the object of the meeting; more especially, considering that the opinions introduced had been received by so small a portion of the audience, and that the doctrine of the almost immediate coming of Christ was known to have had the effect of leading many of its advocates to abandon most of the great religious institutions. Mr. Dalton, how- ever, was unconvinced of the impropriety of his course. He considered the doctrines which he had promulged to be true and very important ; and being so, it behooved him on all occasions to urge them. Millenarianism and supralap- sarian Calvinism were, in his view, such fundamental doc- trines, and their rejection had such a tendency to lead the mind into the corruptions of popery, that he considered his duty to God and the souls of his fellow-men required him, yesterday particularly, to dwell upon them. It was in vain to argue with a man under such feelings and impressions of personal duty. In answer to an intimation from me, that his views of Christian doctrine might lead to antino- mianism, it is due to Mr. Dalton to say, that he utterly dis- claimed the right to draw such inferences from his doctrine as should lead to the least allowance of sin. He admitted that, in due proportion, the whole gospel scheme should be developed ; and its duties and obligations, both religious and moral, urged upon men. Mr. Dalton himself bears the character of a man who walks strictly according to godli- 312 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. ness. Our conversation was spirited, but in good temper, and was concluded with prayer." The anniversary meeting of the Antislavery Society, after breakfast, was a scene of most intense excitement. Free- masons' Hall was crowded with an almost impenetrable mass ; so that when " the committee, headed by Mr, Wil- berforce, the veteran advocate" of the oppressed African, entered, they were obliged to " force their way through the dense crowd. Every one seemed to feel for the distinguished champion of African liberty, whose appearance was now that of a shadow of a man, and who was quite exhausted after accomplishing the labor of getting to his place. In a few words of address from his colleague, the venerable Thomas Clarkson, he was proposed as chairman ; and his appointment to that office was carried by an astounding acclamation. " On taking the chair," continues Dr. Milnor, " he made an address of some length, with much energy of manner, but in so feeble a voice, that I presumed those at the greatest distance, notwithstanding the profound attention of the audi- ence, could scarcely hear him. He was repeatedly cheered with loud applause, and at the close, with a long reiteration of it, in which several well-dressed sons of Africa on the platform most heartily joined." A scene of the most animated and stormily sublime ex- citement was produced at this anniversary by an attempt of Mr. Hunt the radical, though not a member of the society, to introduce his peculiar views, and to bring odium on the society for expending all its sympathy on the suffering slave of the West Indies, to the neglect of the more suffering oper- ative of England ; and the strong spirit of eloquence being thus stirred, a discussion subsequently sprung up, which brought out some of the most powerful speakers of the day. Mr. Hunt, after being received at first with fierce English defiance, finally obtained the floor through the intercession of Mr. Brougham ; .but " his language became at length so MISSION TO ENaLAND. 313 offensive," that by a unanimous vote of the society, he was compelled " reluctantly to take his. seat j-'-^'-and when it came to be Mr. Brougham's turn to speak, he " honored Mr. Hunt with a severe answer to his animadversion on the support- ers of this institution," and showed that the friends of the "West India slave " were, with very few exceptions, the very men who manifested most anxiety for the moral and social welfare of the poorer classes at home." When Dr. Milnor and his friend Mcllvaine left the meet ing, " it was past five o'clock, and others w'ere still to speak." " With some difficulty," he writes, we " made our way out, being under an engagement to dine with Mr. Ewbank, of Peckham. We were so delayed in finding a conveyance, that it was near seven o'clock when we arrived at Mr. Ew- bank's. Dinner, how^ever, had been delayed. Before the company rose from table, I regretted that my friend found himself so fatigued by the length and excitement of the anti- slavery meeting, that he was obliged to retire for the night. *' Before the company retired, I was called upon to read, expound, and pray ; and, being under an engagement to spend to-morrow with this hospitable family, I went to bed, not like my friend, sick, but uncommonly weary with the exercises of the day." SECTION III. The great London anniversaries were now at an end ; and it only remained for Dr. Milnor, during his stay in Eng- land, to cultivate and perfect the many delightful and valu- able friendships, which, during their progress, he had formed, and to dispose of the numerous subordinate details of busi- ness with which he had come charged from his native land. His Sunday at Peckham, May 16, was spent in attending service, with his hospitable entertainers, morning and even- Mem. Milnor. 14 ni4 - MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. ing, at Camden chapel, in the suburb of Camberwell, where the Rev. Mr. Melvill preg-ched ; and, in the afternoon,- at a neighboring chapel, where the Rev. Mr. Springett offici- ated. Mr. Melvill came to breakfast the next morning at Mr. Ewbank's, and they enjoyed his " pleasing conversation until near 11 o'clock;" when Dr. Milnor and Mr. Mcllvaine went with Mrs. Ewbank and her three sisters to " Dulwich col- lege, a deUghtful establishment about four miles distant," to see " the Bourgeois collection of pictures," so called from the donor, Sir Francis Bourgeois. "The institution, 1 hough called a college, is so only in name. It has a consideraljle endowment, which supports a few old people, pays the sala- ries of certain officers, and maintains the exhibition of these pictures." After spending about two hours at this charming place, they proceeded " through a very pleasant range of country, including the fme town of Deptford, on the Thames, to Greenwich," " to dine with Mr. Locker, one of the commis- sioners of Greenwich Hospital, and secretary to that institu- tion." Before dinner they took a view of " this magnificent establishment ;" the apartments of the veteran tars ; the schools for the children, boys and girls ; the gymnasium, where the lads are trained to wonderful strength and expert- ness in all the exercises of nautical athletse ; the cooking and washing establishments, and the dormitories, all worthy of this vast palace of England's scarred and superannuated sailors and their families. They visited also its " beautiful park, two and a half miles in circumference," and stocked with two hundred of the king's deer ; the Royal Observatory on the eminence, overlooking wjilks made shady by *' elms more than two hundred years old ;" and the chapel, with its altar-piece by West, representing " St. Paul's preservation from shipwreck," an idea most appropriate to the leading design of this grand naval hospital. " IIow lamentable," writes Dr. Milnor, " lliat, in an institution contaijung such a MISSION TO EKGLAND. 3l5 number of inmates, there should be, as we understood, a great want of solid spiritual instruction; especially when the further fact is added, that two hundred of the aged ten- ants of Greenwich annually sink into the grave." At dinner, they found their host to be "a scholar of Eton, a gentleman of great intelligence, and a decidedly pious man ;" who informed them " that this great institution is supported by funds of its own ;" and that, of its "board of five commissioners, all, except Mr. Locker, were at that time titled persons, who paid great attention to its affairs." At 8 o'clock, they " took a row-boat to convey them to London ;" and as they reached " the steps leading down to the Thames, in front of the hospital, they had a fine view of the whole from the water," with its terrace on the river, nine hundred feet long ; the grand square between the wings, more than two hundred feet broad ; the statue of George IL, which ornaments the centre ; and the entire mass of building, "of white stone, richly wrought, and forming a pile of palaces far too gorgeous for the purpose to which they are now applied." Dr. Milnor's first engagement on Tuesday morning. May 18, was to attend a public breakfast at the E.ev. J. Haldane Stewart's, very similar in character to that at Islington, of which an account has been given. The principal point of difference was, that instead of three separate topics for dis- cussion, Mr. Stewart proposed but one, on which he invited different speakers to give their own favorite views. The interest of the discussion may be inferred from the theme proposed, "What part of the character and offices of Christ had any of us found most serviceable to our own souls, and to the souls of those committed to our charge?" and from the names of those who were invited to discuss it, Daniel Wilson, Dr. Milnor, and the author of " The Velvet Cushion," J. W. Cunningham. Mr. Mcllvaine, who had been too ill to be present at breakfast, "joined them in the course of their morning duties." "At their termination," says the 316 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. journal, *' we agreed that it was, to each of us, a season of peculiar spiritual enjoyment ; and humbly did we trust that we had with us the divine presence and blessing." Such are the entertainments which true British Chris- tians prepare for their foreign brethren of kindred soul ; and which draw from noble ranks guests who are not ashamed to sit openly at the feet of Jesus, amid the oflerings ol" prayer, and spiritual song, and holy teaching. Wednesday morning, May 19, he "rose early, and was busily engaged in various matters relating to the religious objects committed to his charge." At twelve o'clock he " went to the Caledonian chapel," Mr. Irving's, " to hear Dr. Chalmers preach a sermon for the benefit of the Society for the support of Schools in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. His subject was, Popu- lar Education ; and his discourse, written in his usual ele- vated style, occupied an hour in the delivery." Says the journal, " Nothing but the sterling good-sense and piety that pervaded this discourse, and the fine language in which the thoughts of the preacher were clothed, could, for so long a time, have so enchained the attention of a crowded audience. For though the doctor's manner is very earnest, yet in other respects his delivery is very unpleasant. His pronunciation is strongly Scottish ; so much so, that some of his words, though loudly uttered, were lost upon my ear. His voice appeared to be so painfully exerted, as at times to become almost a scream. His gesture was confined to an awkward up and down motion of his right hand ; and his eyes were pretty closely confined to his notes. And yet the distin- guished talents of Dr. Chalmers, hi? loftiness of thought, and grandeur of expression, together with the practical util- ity of his discourses, raise liim so far above his contempora- ries, that you are willing to excuse all the disadvantageous circumstances of voice, and accent, and manner m their delivery." Much of Ins time for several days was now spent in a MISSION TO UNaLAND. 317 social manner, and in visiting and describing the sights of great London, too f anriiliar to readers of foreign travel to need a place in this work ; and too briefly described by Dr. Milnor to increase the interest of his memoir. On Thursday, May 20, he dined again with his friend Mr. Gilliat of Clapham, wliere, among others, he met thb Hev. Mr. Hughes, one of the secretaries of " the British and Foreign Bible iSociety, a man of learning as well as of sound understanding and eminent piety ; a minister of the Baptist denomination ; and tJue man ivitJi luliom originated the idea of fanning a grand national society for the distribution of the Bible y Friday afternoon he went to Woolwich " to dine with Dr. Olinthus Gregory, principally known to us in America by his excellent Letters on the Evidences of the Christian religion. Unhappily," he writes, " we found Dr. Gregory in his cham- ber, having been ill for several weeks past. He came down stairs for about an hour after dinner ; and while he was able to remain, conversed with great vivacity and interest. He is a man of very pleasing manners, as well as great talents, and learning, and piety." In the evening he met, at his friend Dr. Parker's, a com- pany of ladies and gentlemen. The occasion of this assem- blage was a custom which, "for twenty years past," had prevailed among " a few pious famihes in Woolwich, to meet at each others' houses in rotation every Friday evening, for the readhig of the Scriptures, religious conversation, and prayer." After the close of the exercises, Dr. Milnor ob- serves, " How rational and charming a way of increashig the delights of social intercourse, and of making our very pleas- ures conduce to our growth in religious knowledge and prac;- tical piety." Havhig spent the night with Dr. Parker, he went on Saturday to view " the Woolwich arsenal, one of the grand- est establishments of the kind in the world ; covering a plot immediately on the Thames of more than two hundred acres," 318 MEMOIR OF DR. MILXOR. and filled with " all the munitions of war ;" in looking upon which, a Frenchman, with a customary national expletive, exclaimed, " Here are oceans of guns, and mountains of shot." Sunday, May 23, he rode " to Paul's Cray, seven miles distant," to spend the day with " the Rev. John Symonds, the rector of the parish." His friend Mcllvaine accompa- nied him. Of this visit the journal gives the following account. " Mr. Symonds is now seventy-five years old, and has been for fility years rector of this parish. He is a tall, spare, pale-faced old gentleman ; but of an amiable countenance, aliectionate manners, and great piety. He has the reputa- tion, along with his many excellent qualities, of being not a little eccentric. " Though his curate was present, yet the old gentleman read the morning service and preached extemporaneously for nearly an hour. His manner was very lively and ener- getic for a man of such advanced age." His text being Heb. 2 : 6-11, *' he dwelt earnestly on two topics, of which he is said to be peculiarly fond : full assurance, which he seemed to consider a necessary evidence of true faith, and claimed as the undoubted privilege of eveiy real believer ; and the spiritual union of Christ with the believer, which, as he con- siders, is not maintained, in its just extent, by even the evan- gelical clergy of the church. " After morning service, a loaf of bread was given to each of a crowd of thirty or forty poor persons ; a custom which the aged rector has long observed every Lord's-day morning. He says it relieves their bodily wants and brings them to church, where, peradventure, they may find a sup- ply of their spiritual." The journal questions the expediency of such a motive to attend church, but adds, " The rector stood at the door to give a word of religious counsel to his beneficiaries, and pronounced upon them his pastoral bene- diction." In the afternoon the curate read prayers and preached ; maSlOls TO EKGLAISD.- 319 and in the evening, after tea, the company engaged in a re- ligious service, to which the servants \Yere not invited. " I was surprised," says Dr. Milnor, " that at this, which I. sup- posed to be the family service, the domestics were not called in ; but I found my mistake, when, later in the evening, Mr. Symonds intimated that the hour had arrived for his stated family devotions. Six or seven servants were then called in, and a second service of a similar kind took place. The benevolence of the old gentleman was particularly exhibited hi his expositions of Scripture, and in his kind addresses to his domestics. About an hour was afterwards spent in con- versation, in which Mr. Symonds recurred to his favorite topics, full assurance as inseparably connected with a vital faith, and the indissoluble union of the believer with Christ. To these doctrines he adds a firm persuasion of the speedy personal coming of Christ to reign with his saints upon the earth. He does not, like Mr. Irving and his associates, dog- matize as to the place in which his throne is to be established, or as to the period of his reign, and many other circumstan- ces, which are expected to attend that great event. But by calculations, founded on the prophecies of the Old Testament and the book of the Revelation, he is persuaded that, about the year 1836, Christ will appear, the saints will awake from the dead, and the living believers be changed. He expressed a confident belief, that if he should live six years from the present date, John Symonds would never die." Returning to London Monday morning. Dr. Milnor at- tended " by appointment the Institution for the mstruction of the Deaf and Dumb in Surrey," where he witnessed a much more favorable result of the experiment of teaching this class of pupils to articulate, than that which he had witnessed at Liverpool. " I conversed some time," says he, " with a deaf mute, who is a tutor in the school, of consid- erable intelligence. He spoke plainly, grammatically, and agreeably ; and, with now and then a repetition of my words, understood me by the motion of my lips. I was allowed to 320 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. see several of his compositions, w^liich evinced a finely culti- vated mind, an accurate acquaintance with the construclioa of sentences, and, what to me was most pleasing of all, an evident knowledge of the truths of religion, and a practical impression of them upon his own heart. " But an exhibition, by which 1 was particularly de- lighted and surprised, was by a beautiful boy twelve or thir- teen years of age, who, standing on a form, recited hi a sweet, pensive voice, with good accent and emphasis, and without the smallest error, an address, which he is to deliver at the annual meeting of the patrons ol' the institution, shortly to be held, at which the Duke of Gloucester is expected to pre- side. I held the printed address in my hand while he de- livered it, and am persuaded that no one not apprized of the fact, would have imagined this interesting child to be an object for the care of such an institution as this." Alter visiting " the model school of the British and For- eign School ISociety," Dr. Milnor " proceeded to a meeting of the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society. I respec'J'ully hitimated," he writes, *' the anxious desire ol cur boaid of managers, that this committee would send a delegale, or delegates, to represent the British and Foreign Bible Society at the aiuiiversary of the American Bible So- ciety in May next. The suggestion was kindly received; but I did not urge, in reference to it, immediate action." On Tuesday, May 25, Dr. Miluor and his friend dined with the Rev. Mr. Raikes, examining chaplain to the bishop of Chester. " A young Cantabrigian," he says, " made many inquiries about America, indicating a singular unacquaintance with every thing in our country. I was not more surprised at this in him, than 1 have been at the same thing in many others, especially the clergy. The merchants are the best informed persons respecting American aflairs." On Wednesday he dined "with Zachary Macauley, Esq., first editor of the Christian Observer, one of the excellent of the earth." Dr. Milnor remarks, " As the company consisted MISSION TO EI{G^LAKr). '321 almost entirely of ladies and gentlemen of his OA\ai family and connections, I had the privilcfre of the evening's conver- sation with him almost without hiterruption. He is well acquainted with America, and has for our country a great regard. It supplied many topics of conversation. " Mr. Macauley expressed great regret at the dissensions arising out of the existing controversies in regard to proph- ecy. Though by no means concurring in opinion with the Millenarians, as to the speedy personal coming of Christ to reign upon the earth, yet he was willing to allow them the credit of a conscientious persuasion of the truth of their views, and \^'as not, therefore, disposed to break friendship with them on account of their diflerence on this point. But it unhappily occurs, that most of the Millenarians adopt novel opinions upon other subjects of more vital importance ; Mr. Irving and Mr. McNeile insisting on the peccability of Christ ; and both, with many of their friends, separating from the Bible {Society and other benevolent institutions. Mr. McNeile also claims exclusive jure divino right for the established church, principally on account of the king being its head. Of course, he would unchurch altogether our American Episcopacy. He also pretty strongly intimates the superiority of Jewish faith to that of those imperfect behevers in Christ, who do not concur in his Millenariari views ; his mind inclinhig to the position, that their firm persuasion of a coming Messiah, who is to reign at Jerusa- lem, will more avail to their salvation as Jews, than that of antimillenarians will to them as Christians." Between the 26th of May and the 16th of June, the remainder of his residence in London, Dr. Milnor transacted Various matters of business with the different religious bodies to M'hich he had brought commissions ; continuing, at the same time, to cultivate and extend his social and fiiendly relations with those accomplished and estimable Christian men, who are to be found at that great centre of English society. 14* 322 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. Among the many gentlemen in London to whom he be- came warmly attached, was that eminent man of God, Daniel Wilson, "than whom," says he, "no one in England has been more anxious to show me kind attention. He cal- culates on my spending a week at his dehghtful residence in Islington ; but that will not be practicable." Nevertheless, he spent there the afternoon and night of Thursday; and from that time until Tuesday morning, June 1, in the en- joyment of the peaceful and blessed family scenes amid which that faithful servant of Christ was then moving. At the Thursday evening dinner he met Mr. Bickersteth again, and the Rev. Mr. Natt, "the latter of whom had just been presented to the living of St. Sepulchre's, Newgate-street. He is," says the journal, " a decidedly evangelical man, and succeeds a drone in a parish of 15,000 souls, within the limits of which, in the very heart of the old city, there is not another place of worship, except the adjacent chapel in Newgate prison. And this important station has for forty years been occupied by a man who has left no fruits of his ministry for a blessing on his memory. Mr. Natt's first measure was, to dismiss a useless young curate, and appoint in his place one who is able and willing to work where the required labor will be immense." The same evening, after dinner, he attended a meetmg of the committee of the Islington Church Missionary Society, in Mr. AVilson's study ; and, after the transaction of the reg- ular business, gave, at the request of the members, important information touching "the origin, design, proceedings, and success of temperance societies in the United States." He adds, " The impression produced on the minds of the gentle- men present, was quite favorable to the idea of attempting something of the same kind here. Mr. "Wilson invited two or three gentlemen, most likely to take up this business in Islington, to meet me at dinner to-morrow for further con- versation." " Our family devotions this evening were peculiarly inter- MISSION 10 EInG-LAND. 323 estiiig. Two young female relatives read the Scriptures by alternate verses ; Mr. Wilson, and I at his request, inter- spersing remarks from time to time. Miss AVilson, an elderly sister of the vicar, then read a hymn, and I concluded with prayer. The intelligence and piety of Mr. Wilson, in his explicatory and practical remarks, were delightfully mani- fested, and his manner was exceedingly edifying ; it was plain and unpretending, yet full of interest and instruc- tion." Between breakfast and dinner, the next morning, he visited the house of the Society for the promotion of Chris- tian Knowledge, and transacted business involving the mu- tual relations of the English and American churches, and the interests of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the latter. At dinner, he writes, " The Kev. Mr. Sandys, minister of a newly erected chapel in Islington, w^as, besides myself, the only guest ; and he stated his impressions from my address last evening in regard to temperance societies, to be such that he was persuaded it was his duty to attempt soraetliing next week towards the commencement of a society in a portion of this parish. I promised to do what I could to assist him. "After dinner, I accompanied Mr. and Miss Wilson to drink tea wdth Mrs. Fowler, at Stoke-Newmgton. Besides meeting a very sensible and devoutly pious woman, the visit was rendered interesting from the circumstance, that the house in which Mrs. Fowler resides was, for thirty-five years of his life, the residence of that excellent man, Dr. Watts. We went into his study, and saw a portrait of him which hung there in his lifetime, and has come down as a sort of heirloom with the house. We walked through the beautiful grounds in the rear of the dwelling, and especially a shady avenue of considerable length, terminating in an arbor, which was his favorite resort. I can hardly conceive of a retreat more suited to the feelings of such a man as Dr. Watts. The house is spacious, with every convenience usual 324 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. in the countiy residences of the wealthy ; and though I sup- pose it to be one hundred and fifty years old, it is yet in per- fect repair. In the hall are chairs of a very antique appear- ance, which were there in Dr. Watts' time, and which are fiaid to have belonged to the stadtholder of Holland." He spent the next evening at Barnsbury Park, with the vicar and the clergy cf his parish, at their stated weekly meeting. From the fact that the parish of St. Mary's, Isling- ton, is very large, and that the building of chapels for its l^opulation has been a favored measure, " Mr. Wilson had the control of five churches, holding from 1,500 to 2,000 persons each, the ministers of M^iich were all men of senti- ments congenial with his own, united in the closest bonds of Christian aflection, and 'striving together for the faith of the gospel ' and the good of souls." It was with propriety, thenfore, that Dr. Milnor added, " The situation of the vicar of Islington is one of arduous duty, and great responsibility, and yet it is truly enviable. In connection with his own private means, it supplies him with a large fund for chari- table eflbrt, which he most faithfully applies. Universally respected and beloved, his influence within his important sphere is unbounded. Besides, his writings are extensively read, and his agency in useful public institutions is emi- nenlly beneficial." The religious exercises which followed tea were concluded by Mr. Wilson " with a prayer, in which he poured out his Boul in fervent B\ipphcations, not only for the Church in England, but also for the Church in America, for the con- gregation of St. George's, and in a most touching maimer, for myself and the object of my mission. May the Lord make this sweet opportunity of brotherly communion pro- motive of the best results." So passed, till Tuesday morning, his time with the be- loved vicar of Islington, during his sojourn with whom, in addition to numerous other engagements, he took part in measures for organizing in that important portion of London MISSION TO ENaLANr. 325 a society for promoting the better observance of the Lord's day. " Tuesday, June 1. — Mr. Wilson brought me to town in his carriage this morning, and we attended together a meet- ing of the committee of the Church Missionary Society. An opportunity was ofTered me of making a full exposition of the views of the directors of the American Episcopal Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, in relation to intercourse with this excellent institution. It was received with the utmost kindness, and a resolution was passed expressive of their regards tow^ards our society, and another directing copies of their publications to be presented to it." We pass to his account of " the anniversary meeting of the children of the charity schools, held on Thursday, June 3, in the cathedral church of St. Paul's. " There were in attendance," he observes, " about 6,000 children ; and every part of the church, from which any view could be had, was crowded with spectators. The spectacle was most imposing. The children were ranged in seats elevated one above another around the circumference of the pavement under the grand dome, and clothed in dresses of various forms and colors, according to the costume used in the several schools. The girls were all in close caps, some plain, others ornamented with bows of ribbons. The boys were in new clothes, of many fashions ; and some of them looked awkward enough in their long, broad-baclied coats, and short breeches, the latter of which I observed, in one of the schools, to be of leather. The cloth and the cut are, in most of the schools, what they were at their first institution. " The exercises commenced a little after twelve o'clock, by the children singing, accompanied by the organ, the hun- dredth psalm. Morning service was partly read and partly sung by the cathedral choir, the children joining, whenever it occurred, in the Gloria Patri. In that part of the service where prayer is made for the king, the choir and the children 326 MEMOIR OF DE. MILNOll. Bung the coronation anthem with astonishing power and effect. By invitation,. we occupied seats in the pew erected for the members of the ' Society for the promotion of Chris- tian knowledge,' one of the most favorable positions for see- ing and hearing ; but the pulpit being placed immediately under the great dome, the preacher's words were so drowned in reverberations that much of the sermon was lost upon me, and I presume that in some parts of this vast building, not even a sound of his voice was heard. The sermon, by the Rev. Dr. Monk, dean of Peterborough — a professed eulogy on the Christian Knowledge society — ^was about forty min- utes long, and the whole service lasted from twelve till near three. To secure places, we were obliged to be in church a little after ten. " There are few circumstances which I should have re- gretted more than absence on this occasion ; and I was much indebted to Mr. "Wilson for his kindness in attending us, and lending me gown and bands for the purpose of obtaining an entrance at the clerical door, which led to the comfortable situation with which we were favored. The children kept good time, and their voices, made loud by the multitude from which they ascended, were at the same time thrillingly de- lightful. The whole scene was in a high degree affecting to every one present, who loved the rising generation and the improvement of their minds and hearts in the duties of re- ligion and morality." His engagement next day led to a very pleasing acquaint- ance with that distinguished member of the society of Friends, Joseph John Gurney. Calling at the counting-room of his brother, Mr, S. Gurney, Dr. Milnor learned that the former, who resided near Norwich, was then in London, and would ditie with the latter at his residence in Upton, five miles from town. He accordingly accepted a very urgent invita- tion, and accompanied the brother to dinner. " Mr. J. J. Gurney had been detained in town, at a meeting, which lasted several hours, of members of the com- MISSION TO ENGLAND. 327 mittee of the British and Foreign Bible Society and their friends ; the object of which was, to confer in a friendly manner on a proposition which has been made, for opening the meetings of the society and its committee with prayer. He, of course, as a Friend, was opposed to the measure, and lamented its being brought forward, as likely to lead to un- happy divisions. He is, himself, president of an auxihary society, a situation which he must resign if the measure should be adopted, because he cannot, consistently with his principles, either make a prayer at a fixed time or call on another person to perform the duty. The gentlemen of dis- senting churches who were present, though opposed to the measure, yet put their opposition wholly on the ground of regard for the feelings of the Friends. It was evident, how- ever, that they apprehended difficulty to themselves, in the event of the adoption of prayer, from a claim to precedence in the performance of the duty which would probably be urged by the clergy of the establishment. In fact, before the discussion closed, it was directly stated by a clergyman, that such precedence would be claimed, and also the use of a prescribed form. Mr. Gurney bore an affectionate testi- mony to the good spirit in which the discussion was con- ducted, and declared that if it should be decided against him, he would not withdraw from the society himself, and would use his influence to prevent others from withdrawing. " The question is evidently a very embarrassing one; and if, as Mr, Gurney anticipates, it should be carried af- firmatively, it is greatly to be apprehended that it will dis- affect many Gluakers and others towards the society ; Avhile, if it should be negatived, great offence will be given to those who very conscientiously insist on the introduction of prayer. And whatever be the result, as to the adoption or rejection of the measure, I much fear that the harmony of this noble institution will be interrupted ; a result, in my view, much more to be deprecated than the neglect of an outward ex- pression of that sentiment of gratitude to God, and of depend- 328 Ml^lHOm OF BE. MlLNOR ence on him, which I have no doubt is felt by the function aries of Bible societies at all their meetings. " ' Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered, or unexpressed ; The motion of a hidden fire, That trembles in the breast. Prayer is the burden of a sigh, The falling of a tear ; The upward glancing of an eye, When none but God is near.' " I felt so much interest in the conversation of this intel- ligent and amiable man, that I acceded to an urgent request to pass the night at Upton. Our evening was spent in con- versation on the unhappy dissensions among the Friends in America, excited by Elias Hicks, whose heresy, it was stated, had found no entrance among the Friends in England, the late yearly meeting having been perfectly unanimous in maintaining the doctrines which Hicks and his partisans have opposed. The conversation also turned on the subject of Unitarianism generally ; on the eli(3Cts, hi various partic- ulars, of our republican institutions in America ; on the bene- fits derived from our rejection of any estabhshed religion; and on the progress of infidelity, slavery, etc." " Satuudav, June 5. — Mr. S. Gurney's family were con- vened this morning, including seven female-servants, several men-servants, and seven children, two others being absent. Mr. Guruey read a chapter, the company sitting a few min- utes in silence both before and after the reading. " This place was the residence of the late Dr. Fothergill, and is as beautiful as a perfectly level plain of seventeen acres can be made. It is a place of perfect silence and se- clusion in the midst of a dense population, alibrding both in ils buildings and in its grounds a delightful retreat from the noise and smoke of Londtjn, and every comfort that wealth, family union, love, and Christian piety, can yield." "SfiNDAV, June G. — In the religious exercises with 'whicb MISSIOIT TO ENGLAND. 329 I, with my fellow-lodger, Rev. Geo. A. Smith" — ^lately ar- rived from the United States — "began. pur preparation for the public duties of the day, my thoughts were turned with intensity of interest to my dear family and flock in New York. They are indeed daily with me in my contempla- tions and pi-ayers ; and it is the frequency with which my mind dwells upon every thing connected with their temporal and spiritual well-being, that prevents my speaking often on the subject in my journal ; for it would fill all its pages if I were to note the various thoughts — sometimes full of hope, at others checked by fear — which, from time to time, cheer or depress me. The Lord grant that a special blessing may descend upon them in the duties of this day." After this note, he attended morning service and the Lord's supper at St. John's chapel, Bedford-row, and en- joyed a precious season under the muiistry of his friend and brother the Rev. B. W. Noel. In the evening, he went to Longacre chapel, and heard its minister, the Rev. Mr. How- ell, a preacher of such strong Welsh accent and tone as to render it somewhat difficult to apprehend the scope of his discourse. One of his entries in the journal for Tuesday, June 8, shows the stamp of liis morals in matters of business, as well as in matters of religion. " Received a letter to-day," he writes, " from a Mr. , dated Derby, June 7, in which he states, that a benevolent gentleman in his neighborhood was about to send out to our Tract Society a set of stere- otype plates of a work about which he had corresponded with Mr. Hallock," our secretary, " and inquires whether I could take them with me as passenger's baggage, in order to avoid the heavy duty chargeable upon them in the United States. If I could do so, he requests me to return an imme- diate answer. If not, he says / need not ivrite. As these plates are unquestionably dutiable, and as passengers' bag- gage undergoes the official inspection of the custom-house, and I understand the passenger also makes oath that he has 330 lIEIvlOIU OF DR. MILNOU. no dutiable articles among his baggage, even if the act pro- posed were not morally wrong, I could not accede to the proposal. But 1 hold any contravention or evasion of the revenue-laws of my country to be morally wrong ; and therefore, if I could by stealth get these plates to their desti- nation free of duty, I would not : so I returned no answer to the letter." His dirmer on Friday, was again with his beloved brother of Islington, in company with such men as Dr. Ryder, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry ; Dr. Sumner, of Chester ; Lord Bexley ; Sir George Grey ; the Hon. Mr. Ryder, brother to the bishop ; Zachary Macauley ; the Rev. Mr. Pearson, author of the Life of Archbishop Leighton ; and Mr. McH- vaine. After dinner, the company proceeded to attend the anniversary of the Islington Auxiliary Church Missionary Society, which drew together a crow^ded assemblage of the inhabitants, to listen to several truly interesting addresses. The spirit which pervaded the whole proceedings of the afternoon and evening, was so sweetly Christian as to prompt, at the close of his journal for the day, the brief, but emphatic entry, " Tlih Avas a day of as much pure, rational, and relig- ious enjoyment, as any that I have spent in England. God's name be praised." Mr. "Wilson's influence at Islington must indeed have been as blessed as it was "unbounded." On Saturday morning, after having spent another night wdth his kind entertainer. Dr. Milnor went through the buildings of the Church Missionary Institution at Islington, of which he says, " There are now under instruction in this school twenty- seven students — the buildings will accommodate forty-five — taught by Mr. Pearson, professor of divinity ; Mr. Ayre, son- in-law of Legh Richmond, professor of classical learning ; and, for four months hi each year, by Mr. Lee of Cambridge, as professor of oriental languages. The object of this estab- lishment is, the preparation of pious young men of good talents, who consider it their duty to devote themselves to MISSION TO ENGLAND). 331 the work of preaching the gospel to the heathen. It has ah'eady sent out some excellent missionaries ; and I pray God that it may become a mighty engine in the destruction of idolatry, and in the extension of Christ's kingdom, especially in the East. " Besides a short but pleasant interview with Mr. Pear- son, we had the pleasure of being introduced to the amiable and pious daughter of the late Mr. Richmond, whose letter in the memoir of her father's life has excited so much inter- est. She informed us that the family have it in contempla- tion to publish a volume of his papers, and a memoir of his httle son Wilberforce which he had not completed at the time of his death. " We were desirous of knowing the present state of Mr. Richmond's late parish. Mr. Ayre told us that the parish church, which used to overflow with worshippers, had not now in general a congregation of more than thirty persons ; the bulk of the population attending at two dissenting chap- els. The religious views of the new rector are directly oppo- site to those of Mr. Richmond ; and he consequently not only dissatisfies them with his preaching, but refuses to give them a curate of evangelical feelings and views. Yet he treats Mr. Ayre, when he goes to Turvey, with complaisance ; mvites him to preach ; expresses approbation of his sermons ; and evinces particular pleasure at the large congregations, which, on such occasions, assemble ; and when the last chapel was dedicated, he insisted on entertaining the dissent- ing ministers in attendance, and expressed a hope that the blessing of God would attend their undertaking." " At two o'clock," he proceeds, " I took coach for Stoke- Newington, where I was engaged to dine with William Allen, that leading member of the society of Friends, so well knowTi both as a man of science and as a philanthropist. He has a beautiful retreat ; the 'New river' running in front of his house, and the rear being adorned with a fine velvet lawn, a delightful garden, a spacious hot-house for his large 332 MEMOIR OF DH. MILNOR. collechon of exotics, and an observatory, with a telescope for his astronomical observations. " 1 was glad to meet there that singularly benevolent female, Hannah Kilham, who has compiled several books on an original j)lan, for the instruction, in their own language, of the WoUoiij or Jolloif tribe of negroes, at and near tSierra Leone. She acquired a knowledge of the language from natives brought to England; and then embodied her infor- mation in several elementary works, designed to teach the Jolloifs both their own and the English language." Hannah Kilham had visited Sierra Leone twice ; aiid though she had nearly fallen a victim to the chmate, intended to make a third visit, and if possible, extend her travels to Liberia, with a view to prepare herself for writing similar books in the Bassa language. " III the course of the afternoon, besides presenting me with several pamphlets, of which he is the author, Mr. Allen communicated to me his plan of domestic colo?iies, by the establishment of which he would supersede the necessity of emigration among the poorer classes. His plan is, to give them agricultural emplojTnent, by assigning to each family a small portion of land at a moderate rent ; they undertaking to cultivate it according to a prescribed method, insuring the largest product at the smallest expense. Besides the httle book which he has published, entitled, ' Colonies at Home,* he has exemplified his system on a farm of his own, at Lhid- field, forty miles from London. This he has divided into little farms of five acres each, and smaller lots of an acre and a quarter, on which are erected small cottages ; and in the vicinity a common school for the education of the chil- dren of the cottagers, who, if I remember rightly, pay each a small sum per week ibr the instruction of each child. Mr. Allen urged me to visit his establishment, which I regret it will not be in my power to do before 1 leave England for the continent." Tliis visit to the philanthropist of Stoke-Newington had MISSION TO ENGLAND. 333 wellnigli proved fatal to the rector of St. George's ; for, immediately after the foregoing entry in hig journal, he writes thus : *' I have reason to be very thankful to the special provi- dence of a gracious God, by which my life was preserved this evening under circumstances w^hich put me in the utmost peril of its loss. A servant was sent to take places in the London coach for Dr. Pennock of Philadelphia and myself, at seven o'clock ; but he returned with an answer that all the inside seats were taken. We therefore concluded to r ie out- side. When the coach came to the door, it appeared that one inside seat v/as still vacant, but I declined taking it, as that would separate me from Dr. Pennock. While he was taking leave of Mr. Allen I attempted to mount the rear out- side seat, which accommodates two, and is conveniently sep- aiuted from the other passengers. When I reached the entrance to the seat, I found it too confined for me to pass through without turning sideways. In attempting this, I was obliged to let go my right hand hold ; as I did so, my left hand gave way, and I fell immediately to the ground on my back, a distance often feet. I was unable to rise with- out assistance, and was conveyed into the house, w'hen it was ascertained that I had broken no limb, nor received any ma- terial contusion. I was, however, most dreadfully strained in my back and chest. I resisted the importunity of the kind family to remain durhig the night ; and, getting into the coach, rode in great pain to town. On my arrival, I sent for a physician in the neighborhood, who took from my arm twenty-two ounces of blood, prescribed some medicine, and recommended that my back and chest be rubbed with opo- deldoc. With the assistance of my friend Mr. Smith, tliis was done ; but I passed a most painful night." "Sunday, June 13. — Found myself unable to rise with- out assistance, my back and chest being in such a state as obliged me to keep as still as possible. I w^as to hav« taken a family dinner to-day with our ambassador, Mr. McLane ; 334 MEMOIR OF DR. IIILNOR. but I sent an apology, and endeavored to improve my soli- tude by reading, meditation, and prayer." "Monday, June 14. — I have passed an almost sleepless night, and am this morning in much pain. We liad intend- ed to leave London this morning for Brighton, and thence proceed to the continent ; but my situation has compelled us to abandon that intention. Endeavored, though with much difficulty, to prepare some dispatches for America. Last evening had been unavoidably employed until a late hour in correcting proofs of very brief sketches of my addresses at several anniversaries, to be inserted in the Christian Regis- ter, an annual publication of the proceedings of the public religious meetings. Wer^t to bed, worn out with fatigue, and suffering exceedingly with bodily pain. Slept only three or four hours during the night ; but hope I had no feelings but those of gratitude to God that matters, after such a fall, were not far worse." " Tuesday, 'June 15. — E-ose in considerable pain, and so stiff as to be unable to walk but with great uneasiness. Wrote notes of apology to the Rev. Henry Raikes, and Joshua Bates, Esq.," excusing liimself from engagements ; "it being our design, if I am able to go by coach to the steamer to- morrow morning, to take our leave of London for Calais. This change of route is induced by the hope that rest on board the steamer will so far recruit my health as to enaUe me to bear the subsequent journey to Paris. Was laboriously engaged in various matters necessary to be attended to, before taking my departure from London, and went to bed again perfectly worn down by fatigue." ' Wednesday, June 16. — Contrary to my exjjectation, God has graciously favored me with a comfortable night's rest ; and though still very stiff' and sore, I have ventured to take coach to the steamer for Calais." VISIT TO FRANCE. 335 SECTION lY.- Dr. Milnor's chief object in visiting Paris, was to engage an instructor for the New York Asyhim for the Deaf and Dumb ; but his passage to Calais came as near putting an end to this and all his other designs, as his late Saturday evening's attempt to mount the rear outside seat of Stokc- Newington coach for London. The first note in his journal after entering the steamer, is as follows : " The Thames was crowded with vessels of all descrip- tions ; so that if the habit, for weeks past, of passing in coaches and cabs through defiles not much broader than the carriage itself, had not familiarized me with the seeming danger, I should have wondered how a steamer could possi- bly make her way in safety through such a throng. This, however, she would have done, had not a collier vessel, some distance ahead, unexpectedly veered round so as to bring her bowsprit directly across our narrow passage. The captain of our boat immediately reversed the engine, at the same time hailing the collier to turn his bowsprit out of our way. He did not, however, and it carried away the shrouds of our hind-mast ; when, very unexpectedly, as soon as the bow- sprit came in contact with it, the mast itself gave way, and fell across the after-deck. Messrs. Mcllvaine and Smith and myself were, at the moment, standing within a foot or two of the mast. They sprang to the right far enough to escape it, and it fell to the left of me. As it fell, I turned round, and saw it crush several of the passengers, and knock one boatman overboard and several hats into the water. The boatman knocked overboard was saved without much injury ; but another, on whom the end of the mast fell, was killed, and the wife of Admiral Rouse was taken up senseless. She bled excessively, and at length revived sufficiently to be put" into a boat and taken ashore. The agony of her husband, and that of a brother of the deceased boatman, were inde- 336 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. scribable. One other lady was mucli injured ; but several of" the passengers, who I thought were crushed beneath the mast, were m fact uninjured, having merely crouched be- neath its descent, which was arrested by the companion-way. Thus the result, melancholy as it was, proved more favor- able than we anticipated. Melancholy indeed was it for the poor man so suddenly called into eternity, if unprepared for the awful change. It was a consideration of most serious import, as well as of grateful acknowledgment, that within a very few days, I should have been twice exposed to immi- nent peril of death, and yet have been — I pray G od it may be for some good purpose — twice preserved." They had a smooth passage across the channel, and reach- ed Calais about eight o'clock in the evening of" the same day on which they left London, and Paris at ten o'clock the Fri- day evening following ; noticing only the ordinary features of the country as they passed, and the mendicity which to such a great extent prevails. Dr. Milnor writes, " Whenever the diligence stopped, even at night, we were assailed by beggars. The cry everywhere was, ' Ah I pauvre miserable I Mon- sieur, quelque cho.se I tres miserable I' At every hill, Avhere the slow progress of the vehicle admitted importunity, we were followed by old men, women, and children. This arises from the fact, that m this country no public provision is made for the poor." On Saturday, June 19, the travellers took an exterior view of Paris, Dr. Milnor closing his brief journal for the day with the following note : "I do not think it necessary to describe particularly all the public places which we have seen, as this is already done by so many travellers, and far better than 1 can do it from such casual observation." The spirit of this remark will apply to most of his journal while in France. We shall not therefore attempt minutely to fol- low his course in this country. A few of his notes, howovor, are worth preserving. Returning from a third Protestant service ou Sunday, VISIT TO FHANCE. 337 June 20, he passed the Catholic church of St. Roch ; and as it was still open, evidently for some public service, he enter- ed, and had an opportunity of vi^itnessing a most gorgeous exhibition of the ritual of the Romish church, in "the Fete Dieu." After describing a scene in which at least sixty performers were engaged, and which was closed by a well- dressed lady going round and soliciting from each an offering " pour repose" — or for redeeming souls out of purgatory — he gives utterance to his feelings in the following strain : " Now, in all this parade of worship, in this superb church maintaining such a retinue of ecclesiastical function- aries, and lasting from an early hour ui the morning till after nightfall, not one word of edification was addressed to the assembled multitude ; but the whole was conducted in a language unknown to by far the greater part, and with all the idle pageantry of heathenism. when shall * Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth,' be destroyed? Hasten this event, Lord, in thy time." In his many wanderings about Paris, he once found him- self in the vaults beneath the Pantheon, where he observed a remarkable phenomenon. " There is," says he, " in these vaults, a most wonderful echo. Standing at the end of one of the passages, it responded, not as usual the last word of a sentence, but the whole, as articulately as we ourselves uttered it. Our attendant, striking the skirt of his coat with a ratan, produced a sound like near and very loud thunder, and by some variation of his strokes, the effect of the loud firing of cannon. A part of us remaining at this spot, and the remainder going off in the windings of the passage to a distance of one hundred and seventy feet, we could converse together in a whisper, and even the rubbing of the hand on the coat-sleeve could be heard at the same distance." A part of this description reminds us of such worship as he had before witnessed at the church of St. Roch. So far as the efiect of such worship on the multitude is concerned, it is but Mem. Milnor. 1 5 338 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. ecJio in dark vaults artificially lighted, and imposingly rever- berating upon wondering ears the rattle of ratans and the rustling of coat-sleeves. On Tuesday, June 22, Dr. Milnor called on several gen- tlemen for the purpose of delivering letters of introduction, most of whom were at home and received him courteously. " Professor KiefTer," he remarks, " received me in his library with great kindness, and tendered me any service in his power during my stay in Paris. My valet acted as inter- preter, the professor, though able to read Enghsh, not ven- turing to speak it. He handed me the last monthly extracts of the British and Foreign Bible Society ; pointed to my address, which he was so kind as to say he had read with great pleasure, and added, he was delighted to hear of the resolution of the American Bible Society, pledging a general supply of the sacred Scriptures — a measure which they find it difficult to accomplish among the scattered Protestants of France. I was very favorably impressed with the piety and meekness of this distinguished scholar and Christian." Wednesday, June 23d, after walking till his feet were sore, he says, " Both my friend Mcllvauie and myself find a great vacuum here, wliich we did not feel in London. There, though we occupied a part of the time in seeing what was curious and novel, we yet had, almost daily, the associ- ation and converse of the pious ; something to relieve that secularity of feeling to which the mind is prone. But here, we are deprived of that enjoyment. We endeavor to supply its place as well as we can, by uniting regularly, every morn- ing and evening, in reading the Scriptures, religious conver- sation, and prayer, in our little parlor." On Sunday, he heard Bishop Luscomb preach in the morning ; and in the afternoon preached for him, in the church of the Oratoire. At five o'clock, he dined with the bishop, " whose easy, unconstrained hospitality, and inter- esting conversation, detained his guests till between nine and ten." " He is/' says Dr. Milnor, " a very hiofh churclniian, VISIT TO FRANCE. 339 but — thougli to be tolerated in England for the present, as a necessary evil — strongly opposed to the ^ynion of church and state. He has had considerable epistolary discussion with the bishop of London, respecting the claims of the latter to jurisdiction over all English Episcopal churches in foreign countries. The claim he deems to be, as it certainly is, pre- posterous, when applied to churches not situated hi British colonies . or provinces ; but for peace' sake, and to secure a certain pecuniary aid which the government affords these churches, he has so far acquiesced in the claims of the bishop of London as to grant licenses to ministers, subject to his approbation, which is always, as a matter of course, accord- ed. Almost all the Episcopal churches in France and the Netherlands, have acknowledged the episcopal superintend- ence of Bishop Luscomb. Mr. Way's chapel, in the Hotel Marbosuf, which is his private property, forms a somewhat galling exception, as his congregation embraces some of the most respectable Episcopalians in Paris. Our American ambassador's family attend that chapel, because they prefer the more evangelical style of preaching which prevails there, as well as its more agreeable situation. Perhaps, too, eti- quette may interpose some objection to an attendance on the morning service at the British embassy ; and the Oratoire is neither a pleasant church, nor, for the English and American population, conveniently situated." Having recently suffered from a slight access of gout, he indiscreetly took a pedestrian excursion on Monday to the celebrated cemetery Pere la Chaise. " The state of my foot," he observes, '* was not improved by our protracted walk through those beautiful grounds. We returned very much fatigued ; but being under an engagement to spend the even- ing at the house of our ambassador, Mr. Rives, we repaired thither, and were very kindly and unostentatiously received and entertained by him and his excellent lady. I met there M. Serrurier and his lady, whom I had known in Washing- ton as the ambassador of the Emperor Napoleon to the gov- 340 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. emment of the United States. Madame Serruricr was then only seventeen years of age. She is still a beautiful woman, in the bloom of life ; but he is so much altered that I should not have known him. It seemed to be agreeable to him to have met, thus incidentally, with an American acquaintance ; for he professed to remember me, though so many years had passed. He made numerous inquiries about men and things in Washington, and our country generally ; with which, by the by, he showed himself more familiar than most of the gentlemen wath whom I conversed in England. I suffered, the whole evening, violent pain in my foot, but made no complaint ; though, upon taking my leave, I was unable to get to the carriage without assistance." *' Tuesday Morning, June 29. — I am, this morning, in a state of complete disability for locomotion, and consequently have to remain at home, and that in much pain." Of his sufl^erings in the evening he writes, the next day, " My foot was so exceedingly painful and sore, that I was compelled to resort to laudanum ; and though I took, in three doses, 150 drops, yet I obtained no sleep, nor abatement of pain, till near daylight of Wednesday, June 30th." When he awoke, however, he was " greatly relieved," although his foot was excessively swollen and tender. The next three days he spent in the quiet of his room, receiving a few visitors, writing letters, and on Sunday, July 4th, penning reflections on American freedom, and on the lib- erty wherewith the Son makes free. On Monday, after receiving various visitors, and trans- mitting sundry documents of business to institutions in Amer- ica, from which he had brought commissions, Dr Milnor dined with Mr. Yaysse, whose son had engaged to go out as instructor in the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. Five French gentlemen, none of whom understood English, dined with him. Through his amiable interpreter Miss Vaysse, however, he collected the substance of their conversation, which was principally on the "very critical VISIT TO FRANCE. 341 state of the country." " The elections," says his journal, "which are now going on, it is generally agreed, will termi- nate in the choice of a majority of deputies of the liberal party. This will compel the king to change his ministry, or come to an open rupture with the lower house ; for it is said, they will withhold supplies, unless their wishes are complied with. The gentlemen of our circle at dinner, pro- fess to be inclined, in general, to the views of the liberal party, at least so far as to wish a change of ministers, as the best means of quieting the feelings of the nation. But they lament the violence of some of the journals, and also the excesses that have taken place in, some of the depart- ments ; and deprecate any direct opposition to the executive government, as likely to bring back the horrors of the Revo- lution. An old gentleman present, recently one of the edi- tors of the Journal des Debats, was twice condemned to be guillotined, and once an actual account of his decapitation was published." In truth, they were, without knowing it, on the eve of the historic " three days " of July, 1830 — a convulsion which heaved Charles X. from his throne, and placed upon the brow of Louis of Orleans the crown, not of France, but of " the French." Having described the pursuits and productions of his five fellow-guests, " for all the company were literary men," Dr. Milnor adds, " I had a specimen of a real French dinner ; and while I was surprised at the needless variety of unknown condiments, and the protracted use of them, I was much more astonished at the immense quantity of food which each guest devoured, and at their copious libations of various light wines. Our dinner — the eating part of it, I mean — lasted from seven till after nine o'clock ; and when the eating was over, all was over : for the gentlemen and ladies immediately retired together to the drawing-room, where a cup of coffee and a small glass of eau de vie — of the latter, of course, as a tem- perance man, I did not partake — closed the evening's repast." 342 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. On Tuesday he visited that monument of the splendid extravagance of the grand Monarque, the palace of Ver- sailles ; despatched various business matters ; and, with regrets at being unable, in consequence of his long confine- ment, to return the many civilities which he had received, addressed notes of apology to those who had paid them. Thus prepared, he took his departure from Paris. His re- turn course lay through Rouen, and by way of Dieppe to Brighton, on the south coast of England. He left Paris, Wednesday the 7 th, and reached Brighton early in the morn- ing of Saturday, the 10th of July. SECTION V. With his companions in travel, Mcllvaine and Smith, he passed directly from Brighton, through Portsmouth, to the Isle of Wight, and spent the Sabbath of the next day at Ryde. *' It was cheering," he says, " on thia^eautiful morning, after the bad weather, and miserable roads, and half-starved horses, and crazy carriages, and dirty villages, of France, to find ourselves in a well-constructed stage-coach, drawii by elegant horses, as neatly caparisoned as those of a noble- man's private carriage, over roads perfectly dry and smooth, through towns neatly built, and a country richly variegated with delightful scenery, and studded with buildings, some of beautiful, and almost all of comfortable appearance. The comparison certainly places France far behind England in the career of improvement." After reaching the Isle of Wight, he spent one of his most comfortable and heavenly Sabbaths, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Sibthorpe, and in company with the Rev. Mr. Hatchard, vicar of Plymouth ; and he gave, in his jour- nal, very full notes of the two sermons which the former lliSSiOlS^ TO ENGLAND. 343 preached, and which demonstrated him to have been at that time as far as any man hving from the'tiews of Dr. Pusey and the church of Eome. His subsequent lapse into those views forms one of the most melancholy chapters in the history of the evangelical men of England. Speaking of his Sabbath in Ryde, Dr. Mihior remarks, " This Avas a delightful day to myself and my friends. What a contrast to the business, and bustle, and noise of Paris, the quiet of this pleasant town and peaceful isle ; to the defiling superstitions of popery, the chaste worship of our church ; and to the senseless pomp and pageantry of their corrupt and miserable forms, the pure gospel as preached by a gifted minister of God I" It is well known that one of the very important princi- ples adopted for its guidance by the American Tract Society, is that of publishing no narrative tract which is not sub- stantial truth. One of Dr. Milnor's objects, therefore, in visiting the Isle of Wight, was to verify, if it admitted of verification, the descriptive part in the narrative of that in- comparably useful tract, the Dairyman's Daughter, by Legh Kichmond ; as well as that of the Young Cottager and the African Servant, by the same "almost hallo w^ed" pen. To the Christian reader, therefore, this part of his journal as- sumes more than its usual interest, and will, for this reason, be more closely followed. "Monday, July 12. — The Rev. Mr. Sibthorpe and the Rev. Mr. Hulme kindly proposed to accompany us to-day on a part of our ride through the island. They went in a one- horse vehicle, and we with a fine pair of horses and an ex- cellent coach, immediately after breakfasting with Mr. Sib- thorpe. And now, at the close of our journey, I find myself utterly incompetent to describe the scenes of natural gran- deur and beauty through which we have this day passed. ' I had often read and heard of them ; but the reality every way surpassed the expectation which I had formed. " The town of Ryde, where we spent the last two nights, 344 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. and enjoyed so sweet a Sabbath, is opposite Portsmouth. It is situated on the side of a hill of considerable elevation, and affords a fine view of Portsmouth, its celebrated harbor, and several other important naval stations in its neighborhood. Some of the houses of Ryde are elegant, and present a neat appearance, with great attention, on the part of their occu- pants, to the cultivation in front and around them of trees and shrubbery ; a species of ornament so easy, and affording so great an addition to the beauty of a dwelling, that one is surprised it should be anywhere neglected. Yet, in all the villages which we saw in France, the odor of filth and mud seemed more agreeable to their inhabitants than that of flowers ; and a glaring sunshine, when it could be had, than the relief which the English think is aflbrded by over- shadowing foliage. " At the commencement of our ride, the weather looked a little inauspicious ; but it soon cleared off, and became very pleasant, though the temperature is exceedingly cool for the season. Our road was not very broad, but it was smooth and winding, bordered on each side by luxuriant hedges, and often by lofty trees. Its serpentine course was produced by its conforming, in a considerable degree, to that of the beach, along which, until we passed the village of Bonchurch, and turned more inland towards Arreton and Newport, it principally lay. The circuitous course of the road over hill and dale sometimes conducted us close to the water's side, and gave us a full view of the noble harbor of Portsmouth, in the first part of our ride, and subsequently of the great Atlantic ; and at other times, receding a little, and causing a temporary interruption of our prospect by intervening hills, it only increased our delight at emerging again to some more extensive view. Every one knows how a change of position will alter the appearance of a landscape, and disclose at eveiy turn new beauties. Here we enjoyed this pleasure in a high degree ; and besides seeing every object in a variety of views, new scenery, which the pen of MISSION TO ENGLAND. 345 a Riclimond could describe, though mine cannot, was con- tinually bursting on our sight. We noticed a beautiful build- ing in the form of a castle, and of recent erection, the seat of Lord Vernon ; and another on a lofty hill, belonging to Sir Richard Simeon ; and within three miles of Ryde, six or eight other country-seats of various architecture, yet all seeming to harmonize with the delightful and enchanting scene around. '* Soon after passing Helen's Green, a small village of neat cottages, we saw the tower of its old church, on which the sea encroached till it was abandoned to ruin, and an- other was built in a safer position. We soon came to Brad- ing harbor, which, at high tide, forms a lake of several miles in extent ; but at low water, is an uncovered flat. The tide flows in through a narrow inlet, which we crossed in a small boat, our carriage being taken over in a larger. We walked up the hill on the side opposite to Bembridge chapel, recently built by a Mr. Wise, and in which an excellent clergyman. Sir Henry Thompson, officiates. We regretted our disappointment in not seeing the incumbent, to whom Mr. Sibthorpe was desirous of introducing us. " We were now approaching Brading,^ where Legh Richmond commenced his ministry ; were passing through the rich and delightful scenery which he so tastefully de- scribes ; and were about to behold, and in some instances to press with our footsteps, those almost hallowed spots, where occurred the events, the memory of which he has perpetu- ated in those admirable tracts, the Young Cottager, the African Servant, and the Dairyman's Daughter. " We had these invaluable narratives with us, and em- ployed ourselves in reading such parts of them as were specially calculated to direct our attention to the several places which he does not name, but describes with such =^ The journal, from this point till the travellers reached Newport, was, soon after Dr. Milnor's return, presented to the American Tract Society as a part of his report to that institution. 15* * 34G MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. fidelity to nature that the observant traveller needs no other guide to point them out. " I am glad that we can bear our testimony to the ac- curacy of his descriptions, because many have supposed them to be principally fancy ; and on this account, much that adds greatly to the interest of the narrative, and is highly instructive in showing the Christian with what religious feelings the works of the great Creator should be viewed, and to what profitable use their contemplation may be ap- plied, has, in many editions of them, been omitted. Though not so intended by the curtailers of these tracts, the retrench- ment is yet, in my opinion, an injustice to their lamented author, and an injury to the narratives themselves. " On arriving at Brading, we drove directly to the church- yard, where are interred the remains of ' Little Jane,' the young cottager. Several children were playing near the gate ; and I asked a fine-looking little girl if she could show us the grave of Jane. * yes,' she said, and advanced be- fore us as our guide. After conducting us to the grave, over which we stood for some time in silent but affecting meditation, she said she would • show us the verses on Mr. and Mrs. Berry's tombstone, tvliat Jane had got by heart and repeated to Mr. Richmond.' * Well, my dear,' said I, * the reading of these verses helped Jane to become a good girl and to die happy, did it not ?' She answered, ' Yes, sir,' as she did my next inquiry, whether she would try to be as good a girl, and die as happy as little Jane. " The epitaphs which little Jane committed to memory, especially that on Mr. Berry's tombstone, wliich was proba- bly, under God, the means of her first serious impressions, are both pious and affecting ; and their influence on the mind of this youthful candidate for heaven, shows what sim- ])le instruments the Holy Spirit often employs to accompUsh the conversion of the soul to God. " From the graveyard we went into the church, a very ancient structure, not less, the sexton assured us, than eleven MISSION TO ENGLAND. 347 hundred years old. It has been enlarged smce its first erec- tion, and is remarkable for nothing in its interior but two smgular tombs with wooden effigies of the deceased ; several plainer, but apparently very old monuments of stone ; and a most helter-skelter and inconvenient arrangement of the pews. Its location, however, is at once sequestered^ and near the village, above which it is slightly elevated. The l^arsonage, a comfortable-looking abode, is immediately ad- jacent to the churchyard. From the church, the view of Brading Haven, the bay beyond, the elevated hill on the right, and the sloping bank on the left, with the other sce- nery described by Mr. Richmond in ' The Young Cottager,' as seen from this spot, are all just as there represented. " On our way from Brading to Sandown Bay, the pros- pects were variegated and pleasing ; and as we passed the fort, we emerged upon one of the grandest views of the ocean through the bay, that we had yet seen. Here was pointed out to us the high down which Mr. Hichmond de- scribes in ' The African Servant,' the perpendicular cliff in which it termmates, and the jutting rock, under which he discovered and so interestingly conversed with his sable com- panion. Nothing can be more true to nature than his de- scriptions, in that tract, of the surrounding scenery. We saw the cottage of the celebrated John Wilkes, ui the gar- den of which are flourishing several rosebushes said to have been planted by his own hands. " We then proceeded to the village of Shanklin, consist- ing of a few neat cottages, and stopped at a residence bearing nothing of a tavern aspect, but affording us the refreshment which we needed — some excellent cold roast beef and lob- sters. After lunch, we walked down to what is called Shanklin Chine, a large, romantic fissure, or chasm, in the cliff that fronts upon the sea. The descent to the beach is by an ordinary road ; and then you return through the chine to the village. No description extant of this singular spot is either so beautiful or so minutely accurate, as that given 348 MEMOIR OF DE. MILNOR. by Mr. Richmond in ' The Young Cottager,' as one of his places of soHtary, rehgious meditation. We occupied the same * Uttle hollow recess in the cliff,' from which he sur- veyed and delineated the surrounding scenery. "We there read deliberately his graphic description of the various inter- esting objects that lay before him, and could discern no dif- ference between it and the noble scene in actual view, save that a mist hid from us the ' towermg spire' of Chichester cathedral ; that in these peaceful times, we beheld no * frigate standing into the bay ;' and that but a few vessels of any size happened, at that moment, to enliven the prospect. AYe lingered long upon and near the beach, and then proceeded up the chine, along the side of which the fishermen have cut a convenient footpath, with a resting-place or two by the way, where an interesting point of observation happened to present itself. Several neat cottages, with small gardens, have been built within the fissure, each of which, while shel- tered from the weather by its lofty sides, and embowered amid the rich foliage of shrubs and overhanging trees, en- joys at the same time an extensive prospect of the sea. " Returning to the village, we resumed our carriage, and passing by the neat old church of Shanklin, came to Bon- church village, quietly seated on what is called ' the uuder- cliff.'" This, as its name implies, is a cliff under a cliff. For a considerable distance, the road runs along the top, and at times near the brink of one cliff which rises directly above the sea ; while, for the same distance, it runs along the ha^c of another cliff, which rises, a few rods inland, per- pendicularly above the traveller's head. The singular wild- ness of this scene may be judged from the circumstance, that the upper chff towers, at some points, near a thousand feet above the level of the ocean. " We got out of the carriage, and proceeded along the brink, for the sake of the view which it presented of some exquisite scenery not before dis- closed. Below the village, we threaded our way down a footpath to the road, and got mto our carriage ; our course MISSION TO ENaLAND. 349 now lying up an inland valley, between gently sloping but lofty hills on either side. Landscapes^ ^of peculiar beauty and variety, exhibiting numberless fields of grain, nearly ripe for the harvest ; herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, with here and there a company of haymakers, busily em- ployed, presented themselves in ever-changing aspects, as we ascended or descended the successive slopes of this de- lightful valley. " We had long in sight, and at length passed, at some distance, the splendid seat and extensive park-grounds of Lord Yarborough, called Appuldercomb. Travellers have given rapturous descriptions of the interior, and its rich collec- tions of paintings and sculpture. Of these, we shall proba- bly never have a sight ; but it was commended to our notice by circumstances of a very difierent kind. It was there that the sister of 'the dairyman's daughter' died, whose funeral Mr. Richmond attended, at the request of the latter ; and it was there, that about a week after, he had his first conversa- tion with her whose religious experience, as narrated by that faithful minister, has had a more extensive influence hi the world than ever attended any similar publication. " He gives, in ' The Dairyman's Daughter,' a correct account of the situation and appearance of Appuldercomb, and of the surrounding scenery. We saw ' the summit of the hill adjoining' the venerable mansion, to which he as- cended after the visit just referred to ; and the triangular pyramid of stones, near which he sat down to meditate ; and the magnificent prospect which lay around him. In full view of this elevated spot, we read his extended description, and turned southward and southeastward, and northward and Avestward, and admired, as he had done, the unequalled beauty of the scene. Certainly neither of us had ever read the descriptive part of ' The Dairyman's Daughter ' with the like interest and emotion. My feelings obliged me to resign the book to my companions ; and under the various emo- tions excited by the narrative and the scene, it was difficult 350 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. for any of us to prosecute our reading ; but with an intensity of interest, we gazed upon the lovely prospect until it could be no longer seen. " We now approached Arreton, the village, in the church- yard of which lie interred the mortal remains of Elizabeth Wallbridge, the sainted daughter of the dairyman. About a mile from it, we stopped before the cottage from which her soul ascended to its rest, and were kindly received by her surviving brother, a man now advanced in years, and still a resident in the cot of his birth. He showed us Eliza- beth's Bible, in which was simply written, * Elizabeth Wall- bridge, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Wallbridge ; born 1771, died 1801.' He also took us up stairs into the room in which she expired. We added our names to a long list, in a book kept by her brother for the purpose, and then took our leave, Mr. Wallbridge in a very respectful manner thanking us for our visit. " Our simplicity in finding satisfaction in such a visit, would be a fruitful subject of derision to men of the world ; but if they will indulge our simplicity, and we can enjoy feelings such as these scenes excited, let them laugh : we will delight in every thing calculated to cherish the memory of the pious dead. " On leaving the cottage, our path was the same with that over which moved the funeral procession of the dairy- man's daughter, in the manner so affectingly described by Mr. Riclmiond. It lay along a naYrow but excellent road, winding between high, green hedges, and sometimes under an arch formed by the trees on either side; a lofty culti- vated hill on the right, and a charming view of the luxuri- ant valley now and then breaking upon us to the left. As we read the account of tho solemn passage of the mourning, yet rejoicing relatives and friends of the deceased, we were almost ready to realize its actual vision, and to hear the pious strains of melody, as they filled the air and ascended to the skies. MISSION TO ENG-LAND. 351 " Thus prepared, we reached Arreton church ; and leav- ing our carriage to ascend the hill Avitjjout us, we went to the grave of Elizabeth ; read the beautiful lines, which love of her character and the recollection of her triumphant death have caused to be inscribed on her simple monument ; meditated a while on her present glorious state ; dropped a tear of sympathy but not of sorrow, and silently retired. " From this to Newport, our resting-place for the night, we could talk on none but things connected v/ith the scenes, and incidents, and reflections of the day ; uniting in the sentiment that Paris, with all its palaces, and gardens, and pamtings, and statues, had afforded no such gratification to our eyes as the glorious works of God, on which they had dwelt in this enchanting island ; and none of its multi- plied attractions, such an inward feast as the religious asso- ciations of this day's travel had supphed." A sudden and unexpected return of Mr. Mcllvaine's illness prevented the party, for a few days, from prosecuting their tour round the island. In the meantime. Dr. Milnor visited old Carisbrook castle, in the neighborhood of Newport, with its ancient Roman well, and the ruins of the chamber in which the ill-fated Charles I. was a prisoner ; and spent a day in crossing over from Cowes to Southampton, for the purpose of visiting his friend Mrs. Gilliat, and of obtaining letters from home, which he had ordered to be sent thither from London. After a pleasant visit with his friend and her family, though without finding the letters which he expect- ed, he returned to Newport on Thursday, July 1 5, the day appointed for the funeral of George IV. As his fellow-trav- eller, Mr. Mcllvaine, was still too sick for journeying, Dr. Milnor and his remaining companion, Mr. Smith, resolved upon the western tour of the Isle of Wight. Accordingly, on Friday morning, immediately after breakfast, they took a carriage, and favored with a beautifully cool summer's day, set forth on their pleasant jaunt. " Our road," says the journal, "lay through Carisbrook, 352 MEMOIE OF DR. MILNOR. a villatye adjacent to Newport, and remarkable for little save the pJeasantness of its situation, the neatness and rural dec- orations of its dwellings, and the fine view which it presents of the venerable ruin, Carisbrook castle, already described. As seen in passing along the road, one has a much higher idea of the ancient importance of this castle as a pla;e of military defence, as well as a much more interesting view of its ivy-mantled gateway, its lofty round towers, the frag- ments of its gray walls, in great part buried in foliage, and the elevated keejJ, from which we had enjoyed so delightful a survey of the beautiful country around it. Our host at Newport hiformed us that the mayor of that city is, by im- memorial usage, sworn into office in the chapel of the castle. The present mayor is the clergyman of the church in New- port, and 1 presume a good officer, from the fact of our host's complaimng of him as ' ruling the publicans of the city with a rod of iron.' One thing is certain, during the time which we have spent in his jurisdiction, there has been every ap- pearance of the utmost quiet and order. We have seen no drunken men, or mendicants ; have heard no profane lan- guage ; nor witnessed the least disorder of any kind. The stillness of the place has been very propitious to the recov- ery of my sick friend. "We continued our ride through the village of Shorwell, which has a pretty, antique church, and near which we passed a cottage of the larger size, literally buried in ivy, no part of the building being visible, save the doors and win- dows. It is astonishing with what luxuriance this plant grows in England ; how it seems to love stone waUs ; and how greatly it adds to the picturesque appearance of the buildings which it invests. " Soon afterwards, a magnificent view of the ocean broke suddenly upon us, as we cleared a high verdant bank by which it had hitherto been intercepted. We passed through the village of Brixton, in which, as in Shorwell, the princi- pal objects of interest were its antique httlc church and its MISSION TO ENaLAND. 353 comfortable cottages imbedded in the greenest foliage. Again the sea was hidden from view, and again it appeared in all its grandeur, as we passed over hill and dale in this enchant- ing ride A little way from Brixton, we passed through the hamlet of Mattisone, lying at the foot of a high down, and then through another, called Brooke, quietly recessed in a deep valley between tivo lofty downs, its church being hon- ored with a more elevated site just without the cluster of cottages which shelter the worshippers. " After leaving Brooke, our road, in its continual wind- ings, conducted us over several very elevated tracts, called Shalcombe, Compton, and Afton downs, on which are nu- merous flocks of sheep, apparently thriving on the short pas- turage which these tracts afford. Except such parts of them as have been gradually brought under cultivation, they are generally without tree or shrub, the soil being a hght loam on a substratum of chalk. They are, no doubt, generally susceptible of cultivation ; but until thus improved, they serve principally for sheep-pastures, and for gratifying trav- ellers with uninterrupted prospects of the most varied and extensive character. " Our ride over Afton down brought us to Freshwater- gate, the inappropriate name of a very interesting spot, which forms one of the great objects of attraction to this part of the island. We stopped at an inn upon the beach, and the tide being down, were able at once to enter a large cav- ern, a few hundred yards off, in the face of a very high cliff. Its principal opening towards the sea is under a natural archway thirty feet high, and about the same width; and it extends into the rock above a hundred feet. There are other chasms in the vicinity, of smaller dimensions. " To the north from this place, lies a range of chalky cliffs of great height, often exactly perpendicular, and some- times overhanghig the ocean with a terrific frown. After viewing the caves at Freshwater-gate, we resumed our car- riage, and by a circuitous road of about three miles, reached 354 ilEMOlll OF LR. illLNUll. the lighthouse on Needles'-point. This is a singular prom- ontory, extending from the main body of the island into the sea, and lashed on either side by its waves. The Avhole of the scenery here presented is truly grand and impressive. After a full enjoyment of it, we returned to our carriage, and proceeded back to the inn at Freshwater-gate, and then re- turned to Newport by a different road from that travelled in the morning. On this road, we passed through a finely cul- tivated country, and in view of many elegant mansions, the seats of the nobility or gentry who spend part of their time on this fascinatmg island." SECTION VI. The party left Newport on Saturday, the 17th of July, and proceeded to Southampton ; passing that exquisitely beautiful ruin, Netley Abbey, standing near the right shore of Southampton Water, about three miles below the toAvn. That day, and the succeeding Sunday, were cold, blustering, and stormy. In his room, Sunday morning, while the storm was raging without, Dr. Milnor thus writes : " May the Lord give me peace within, by renewed evi- dences of his pardoning love, and by the communication of larger measures of his sanctifying grace. May he graciously accept my prayers for the dear family and the beloved flock at home, and make this his hallowed day a blessing to their souls ; and may he, by his Holy Spirit, prepare me and my companions for a right engagement in the solemn duties of the sanctuary, and, to use the language of tliis day's collect, * pour into our hearts such love towards him, that we, loving him above all things, may obtain his promises, which exceed all that we can desire, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' " Monday, 19th, the party rode to Winchester, and after viewmg, and confessing his inability to describe its ancient MISSION TO ENaLAND. 355 cathedral, Dr. Milnor remarks, " We attended the evening service at three o'clock, and heard the chdl: chant the hymns and the psalter. The jDrayers were read in recitative. On the whole, we plain American Episcopalians found hut little to admire, either in the music or in the worship of this splendid church. An anthem, sung in the course of the prayers, might, so far as the raiusic was concerned, be con- sidered an exception." From the cathedral, they went to visit the famous Win- chester school, founded by William of Wykeham, and still kept under the iron rule of its founder's times. It dates from the close of the fourteenth century. " The school-room," says Dr. Milnor, "which holds two hundred pupils, has a lofty ceiling, but is not only destitute of all ornament, but mean and inconvenient in its arrange- ments. Only a few have the accommodation of a desk for vrriting. The rest straddle their rude benches, and write on little chests, brought from their chambers and placed on the bench before them. The attention of the tyro, on entering this school, will soon be attracted to the ominous capitals on the wall, ornamented with the likeness of a hand- whip, "'aut disce, aut discede : Manet sors tertia — C^di.'=* " The play-ground is not large, and neither there, nor anywhere within the close, are the boys allowed to wear their hats. In the open yard is a reservoir of spring water with half a dozen cocks, where the junior pupils perform their ablutions, and then carry water in their basins into the chambers of their seniors, to whom they are fags ; in other words, menial servants. It is astonishing, that so brutal and unnecessary a practice should be continued ; or that parents of respectability should be willing to place their children under the tyranny of the older pupils, who may chastise them with stripes, if they disobey. * "Either learn, or leave: A third lot remains — be flogged." 356 MEMOIR OF DE-. MILNOR. " We were shown the dormitories. Several boys occupy the same chamber. They have but little of the appearance of comfort. The boys are not allowed tea or coflee, their breakfast being bread and beer. Their dining-room is a spacious apartment, with a very narrow table placed around the sides ; and they eat off of small boards or trenchers, each about eight inches square. The prefects — some of the senior pupils having that title — are allowed plates, unless when the official visitors are present, and then the trenchers sup- ply their place. The guide told us that the pupils sometimes by stealth make tea and coffee, and provide other comforts at their own expense, in their rooms ; and he thought the practice was rather winked at ; but if these superfluities came under the notice of their teachers, they were taken away." Admirable discipline for a false theolog}', breeding in the young bone and sinew those inseparable concomitants, abject submissiveness and Jesuitical secrecy. From Winchester, they passed through Salisbury to Ex- eter. Of this city, the journal remarks, " Being the empo- rium of this part of England, it is a lively place, and rendered more so at present by one of those nuisances and nurseries of vice, a fair. We went this morning (Wednesday, July 21) to the cathedral service, Avhich, like that at Winchester, was attended by only two or three persons of respectable appearance, and a few of the poor brethren and sisters, be- sides the persons actually engaged in the services. These were two clergymen, who divided the duty, six men-singers, and ten boys. " It is to me a matter of surprise that so much should be thought of cathedral chanting, on the score of its music. There is such a sameness, such a long reiteration of the same cadences, that it tires the ear, and becomes fatiguing to the spirit. The fact, too, that these are paid performers, and that there is, in most of them, an absence of devotional feel- ing, gives the whole an air of formality and lip-service, which, notwithstanding the solemnity of the place, very much di- MISSION TO ENGLAND. 357 minislies its effect. 1 suppose the thought will, by some, be considered quite puritanical. But I could not help wishing that such noble structures as these English cathedrals might be devoted to more practical purposes, and rendered more subservient to the great end of the gospel of Christ — the salvation of perishing sinners. As these daily services are conducted, they approximate much too nearly the pageantry and formality of the Romish church, and have but little in connection with the interests of evangelical piety." " The monuments, ancient and modern, spread through- out this edifice, are numerous. There is one of a prelate, who attempted to fast during the whole of Lent, and, it is said, actually did so until the thirty-eighth day, when he died. An effigy on his tomb exhibits his appearance after death. It is the ghastly figure of a skeleton I A similar instance of fatal superstition is commemorated in the same manner on a tomb in Salisbury cathedral, though that dev- otee died on the thirty-first day. Q-uery : Will piety of in- tention in such cases acquit the victims of the guilt of sui- cide ? Scit Deus, non ego" — [God knows, not I.] On Thursday, July 22, the travellers left Exeter, via Tiverton, Barnstaple, and Ilfracombe, and along the south shore of Bristol channel, to Bristol city. We give a few of Dr. Milnor's notes on his passage through this picturesque region. " The road between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe is a turn- pike, cut at an immense expense, along the side of a hill, and requiring a wall for its support, on the lower side, almost the whole distance. It passes along a deep valley between high hills, though at a considerable height above the bottom of the valley, following on a perfect level, all the Aviridings, gome of them very short, of the hill along the side of which it pursues its devious course. In some instances, the steep and lofty hills on the opposite side of the valley were culti- vated to their very summits ; but for many miles they were covered with fine plantations of forest-trees, thickly sot, and 3/)8 MEMOIR OF DH. MILNOR. their tops often so uniform in height as to resemble the sur- face of a field of grass." " In passing through the English villages, one is some- times amused with the signs which they exhibit. A tailor, for instance, informs the public, that he ' makes all sorts of ready-made clothing,' and a grocer, that he is ' licensed to hrew and sell beer, spirituous liquors, and tobacco' " " The situation of Ilfracombe is singular. It lies on the Bristol channel, embosomed on all sides by lofty hills, except a narrow opening to the water, which affords an entrance into a sheltered and commodious harbor for vessels of 250 tons burden. It is a natural basin, the only artificial im- provement being a stone pier, on one side of the entrance, running a short distance into the channel, principally to pre- vent the accumulation of sand at the mouth of the harbor. At low tide, as we saw it, the recession of the water leaves the vessels high and dry on the sand. " In the circle of hills around Ilfracombe, those lying inland are loftier than those which rise from the beach, and afford delightful sites for dwelling-houses, commanding a full view of the whole interesting scenery, and of the channel and ocean beyond. Along the summit of the chain of hills which rise immediately from the water, a path has been made which forms a charming promenade in fine weather for the visitors who resort to Ilfracombe — for Ilfracombe is a watering-place of some note, and the number of taverns and lodging-houses indicates that it is not a little frequented. Some of the private residences on the heights have a fine appearance, and few finer than that which was pointed out as the residence of Mr. Bowen, the rector of the parish. " The church, as might be expected, occupies a very ro- mantic spot. It is on a hill, rather difficult of access to the aged and infirm, yet surrounded by hills still higher than its own, which protect it from storms and tempests. The safety of its position cannot be questioned, for it is said to have Btood aheady for 1 ,200 years. It is a truly venerable struct- MISSION TO ENOLAND. 359 Tire, carefully kept in repair, and of late greatly improved in its interior. " We left Ilfracombe in a postchaise about mid-day. As we advanced, we were enveloped in a thick fog, until we approached Linton, the scenery around which we were par- ticularly desirous of seeing. It now broke away, and per* mitted us, as we descended without intermission a wind- ing slope of at least two miles, to survey a most romantic succession of ever-varying views. Immense hills, some at fording pasturage for innumerable sheep, others cultivated to the very tops ; vales of enchanting beauty, and occasion- ally the most picturesque clusters of buildings at the bottom of the deepest glens, or on the steep sides of the adjacent acclivities, as our road turned, now in one direction, now in another, attracted our admiration. Suddenly, a full view of the channel, presenting here the appearance of a sea, broke upon us through a deep valley on our right, at the termination of which, and close to the beach, is seated the little town of Lynemouth. Its appearance, from the vast height which we occupied above it, was pleasing as it was singular. Several of its white houses, being new and of very tasteful construction, added to its beauty. A turn to the left brought us, by a short ascent, to the town of Lin- ton ; the position of which, notwithstanding our long descent towards it, was still high above the water, and commanded an almost boundless prospect. It has a small church : and from the churchyard, the view of Lynemouth beneath ; the wide expanse of water in front ; the hills and vales, with their various appendages, on either side ; and the stupen- dous elevations in the rear, formed an aggregate of beau- ties and sublimities such as is rarely found concentrated at "the same spot. " We dined at Linton, and then, with fresh postchaise and horses, proceeded to Minehead, where we had arranged to spend the night. After travelling over a good road, across an elevated tract, at one of our turns the villao:e of Porlocif 360 MEMOIR OF BR. MILNOR. was unexpectedly seen reposing at the very bottom of an exceedingly deep valley beibre us, amid fields of the most flourishing grass and grain. They reminded me of the gar- den at Versailles. It seemed at so small a distance from us as to make it impossible to reach it, save by an almost per- pendicular descent. And steep enough it was ; but the road, winding as the surface of the hill allowed, first in one direc- tion and then in another, proved to be five or six times as long as one would have imagined, and brought us in safety to the village. This, however, on entering its narrow street of low and mean habitations, lost all the beauty which it appeared to have from the heights above. We stopped a moment at its best, though, at the best, its miserable inn. I asked the landlord if the church, at some distance from his house, was a handsome one. ' Why, much like the town,' he replied ; ' it's very old : they say how it's three hundred years old, but I can't believe any' house would stand that long.' 'Why, my friend,' I observed, 'they say the church at Ilfracombe is twelve hundred years old.' 'Ah,' he answered, 'I was burn (born) at Ilfracombe, but not so long ago as that.' I inquired about the minister of Porlock. ' Why, he sarves another parish about two miles oft', and the church has a tower and a bell ; but they're a queer sort of people. In the winter it's too co-aid to ring, and in the soomer it's too warm ; and so they don't often have sarvice.' Finding my host so intelligent and commu- nicative, I inquired of him about a tower on one of the hills oi the vicinity of Porlock, which is said to be of great height, but was hid from our view by the clouds and mists around it. 'He had never measured it,' he said, 'but he was told it was as high as I had stated.' I asked if it was built of stone ; to which he sagely answered, ' He believed it was built of stone, and such like co77ibustibles' " Saturday, July 24. — As we approached Bristol, the embellished residences of the wealthy multiplied, and pre- sented a constant succession of objects deserving of notice. MISSION TO ENOLAND. 361 We came iii sight of Bristol while it was yet six miles dis- tant, lying in a valley far below the eminence from which we beheld it ; our road being one almost continuous descent until we entered its crowded streets. The election of mem- bers to Parliament being at hand, the city was in a great bustle, owing to the canvassing of the candidates. One of the streets was rendered impassable by a throng of people listening to a speech from one of these solicitors of popular favor. We concluded that a residence at Clifton, two miles from Bristol, would be more pleasant, during our short stay, than at so noisy a place ; and therefore, after we had dined at the 'White Lion,' and inquired for letters at the post- office, we took a coach and made our quarters at the Bath Hotel, Clifton. Mr. Mcllvaine and I having each a letter of introduction to Mr. Prust, a pious dissenting merchant, whose family residence was at Clifton, we sent them to him, and he soon called upon us, sat the evening with us, and kindly offered us any service in his power. It was agreed that we would accompany him to-morrow morning to the chapel of the Rev. Robert Hall, whose celebrity as a preach- er, as well as his evangehcal piety and Christian Catholi- cism, have made him so well Imown and so much admired in this country and in ours. " Sunday, July 25. — On going with Mr. Prust to Mr. Hall's chapel, we found he was not to preach until evening ; we therefore went with our guide to that of Mr. Leifchild, an Independent minister. The service of the Episcopal church commencing at a later hour in the morning, we then went to St. Mary's, RedclifTe, and heard its rector, the Rev. Mr. Whish. The church is so spacious, having in fact the aspect of a cathedral, that the voice of the preacher was too indistinctly heard to allow my mind to go along with his discourse. After service, we were introduced to him, and walked through the church to survey its monuments, some of which are very ancient. The whole interior of this venerable Gothic edifice is uncommonly beautiful. Against Mem. Milnor. 1 6 862 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. one of its pillars hangs the armor of Admiral Penn, father of the founder of Pennsylvania, and two of the now ragged colors of his ship. His tomb is in the adjacent aisle. *'At half past six P. M., we rode down to Mr. Hall's chapel. He did not come from the vestry until the conclu- sion of the preliminary services, being much indisposed. He appeared feeble as he ascended the pulpit, and delivered his sermon extemporaneously, in a low voice, and entirely -wdth- out action." According to his custom, Dr. Milnor took full notes of both the discourses which he heard to-day ; and those of Mr. Hall's show it to have been, in richness of thought at least, one of his ablest efforts. " We had the pleasure," adds Dr. Milnor, " of being introduced to Mr. Hall, and went into his vestry. This distinguished man appears to be in declin- ing health. He has for many years been afflicted with the * tic douloureux' in his back, which obliges him to take large quantities of opium, and to keep as much as possible in a reclining posture. A sitting posture and the labor of writ- ing are very irksome to him. He is now also distressed with a determination of blood to the lungs. After a few moments' conversation, we took our leave, promising our endeavors to comply with a kind invitation to visit him at his own house. "Monday, July 26. — Clifton is about two miles from the centre of Bristol. In fact, however, it is but an exten- sion of the city from the valley up a steep acclivity, on the sides and top of which merchants and gentlemen retired from business have planted their residences. The ascent is continual, till the eminence is reached. This overhangs the river, the frequent windings of which, and its high banks, covered on the opposite side with lofty forest-trees, give great interest to the scene. Much of the summit of the hill is left open for a promenade ; and is greatly frequented by the inhabitants, and by strangers, who resort to Clifton for tlie benefit of the hot wells, or for cool air in their morning and MISSION TO ENaLAND. 363 evening walks. On the open space in front of our inn, are constantly standing little carriages, on two hind wheels and one fore, each drawn by a stout man, for the accommodation of invalid females ; many of whom may be seen, from time to time, taking their airing in that way. A dozen little donkeys also stand ready saddled, the saddle of each cov- ered with a clean linen cloth, for hire to the numerous children of the gentry, who ride about the grounds for exercise. " At half past two o'clock, we visited, by appointment, Mrs. Hannah More, now in her eighty-sixth year, and for two or three years past a resident at Clifton. Her house is very agreeably situated, having a pleasant prospect both in front and in rear from the apartments which she occU' pies. She has no inmates except her servants and Miss Frowd, a niece of Lord Exmouth, who is her constant com- panion, and devotes to her, with all the affection of a daugh- ter, the most assiduous attentions. Mrs. More rose, and received us in the kindest and most courteous manner ; offer- ing her hand to each of us, with an expression of the pleas- ure which it gave her to receive our visit. On inquiring the state of her health, she said, ' It was as good as usual ; she never had enjoyed perfect health ; and yet, through the mercy of God, she had attained her present advanced age, having survived her six healthy sisters. Her removal from Barley- Wood had been a trial, being much attached to the place, and having expected to end her days there. Her trial, too, had been aggravated by the cause which led to her removal — great dishonesty discovered in servants who had lived with her twenty years. God, however,' she said, ' had overruled it for good, especially in one particular. The minister of the parish at Barley- Wood, unhappily, did not prize the peculiar doctrines of the gospel ; and an attend- ance on his ministry was, in fact, lost time, from the utterly unprofitable character of his instructions. But here she had the comfort of being visited by three evangelical clergy- 364 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. men, who were always ready to assist her with their coun- sels and their prayers.' ." I adverted, in the course of conversation, to the cur- rency which her works had obtained in our country. With great humility of manner, she said she was thankful for any good which, under God's blessing, they might accomplish. The Bible Society and Sunday-schools were spoken of. She mentioned that she had engaged in the Avork of the latter immediately after its commencement by Mr, Raikes ; and that, in Shipham and two other parishes adjacent to her late residence, her schools had ever since been continued ; tliat she regretted her inability now to visit them personally, but that her friend Miss Frowd went ^ occasionally in her behalf; that the people were very poor and ignorant; but she hoped that the four or five hundred of their children, who were constantly receiving religious instruction in those schools, would be profited by them. She said she had been much pleased with learning that one of the worst pupils they ever had had been converted, and was now a mission- ary among the negroes of Cafiraria. " The welfare of the African seemed much to engross her thoughts ; and she expressed an anxious hope that Mr. Protheroe, her favorite candidate for Bristol, might succeed in his election. He had called on her, she said, yesterday ; but she never received visitors on the Sabbath, and had therefore declined seeing him, but requested he would call at another time. " She asked if we had seen the last volume of her pub- lications, consisting of short pieces, written at difierent pe- riods of her life ; and requesting Miss Frowd to hand her the volume, she turned to ' The negro boy's petition to his master to be allowed to learn to read the Bible,' and put- ting the book into my hand, asked me to read the piece aloud, which I did. She subsequently turned to another, and requested Mr. Mcllvaine to read a part which she point- ed out ; and again, at her request, I read another beautiful . MISSION TO ENaLAND, 365 passage — all on the same subject :" [Mrs. More remarking, that his enunciation was so purely EngKsh, that it would never have occurred to her that he was from a foreign land. J " The name of Robert Hall being mentioned, she spoke in high terms of his piety and talents, and mentioned that, many years ago, her dear friend Bishop Porteus had request- ed her to use her influence with Mr. Hall to enter the estab- lished church ; declaring, if he would do so, he should have any preferment in the bishop's power to bestow ; and that she had conferred with Mr. Hall on the subject, who said that he would have no difficulty in subscribing to the thirty- nine articles of the church of England, but that he was con- scientiously opposed to infant hapthm ; besides, that his entering the church would be ascribed to motives of self- interest ; that his usefulness would be impaired by such an imputation ; and that therefore he declined. " Mrs. More expressed a great interest in America, and much pleasure in the prospect of every family there being supplied with a copy of the sacred Scriptures. She adverted to the late Mr. Bethune, and to Mr. Eastburn," father of the present Bishop Eastburn, " and spoke of them in terms of high regard. " I cannot mention more particularly the various topics that occupied our visit of an hour to this estimable lady ; but her conversation was such as elevated her in our esteem, and made us regret, so far as we dare, that a life so useful should be drawing to a close. For herself, peacefully as her days may have glided away in the practical duties of relig- ion, in offices of benevolence, in literary employments, and in refined as well as pious social intercourse and correspond- ence, and much as her works have contributed to give her a well-earned fame, her approaching departure can be a sub- ject of no regret ; for her faith in the Redeemer, attested by her whole life, has fully prepared her for the change. She said, in the course of our conversation, that God had been 366 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. very gracious in prolonging lier days, and thus giving her time for lamenting her past sins and preparing to meet him in judgment. She said she had not been out of her apart- ments since her removal from her former residence, and added, with calm resignation, ' she did not expect to leave them till she was carried to her tomb.' When we were leavmg she rose again, and extending her hand to each of us, said she considered our visit to her a favor, and desired an interest in our prayers at the throne of gi-ace ; adding, ' No one has more need of them.' " I pray God that the remaming days of his venerable servant may be full of Uvely faith and cheerful hope ; and that, with an aged scripture-samt, when the hour for her transition to glory shall arrive, she may be enabled, in tran- quil confidence, to say, ' Lord, now lettest thou ihj servant depart in peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.' " Tuesday, July 27. — This morning we took a carriage and called at the house of Mr. Hall ; but he was so much indisposed after his last Sunday's service, that his friends had prevailed on him to seek the relaxation of a journey to Weston." At the close of the day he made the following entry in his journal : " I received, to-day, a newspaper from New York, con- taining a letter addressed to me by Bishop Hobart, under his signature, complaining of my address before the Prayer- book and Homily Society, as reflecting improperly on him, in relation to his proposition for altering the Liturgy. No improper reflection was intended by me ; nor would he have tliought so, had it not been for the miserable manner m which the speech has been reported. It will require con- sideration and prayer to enable me to adopt a proper course in relation to this unexpected attack. The bishop's letter, though it contains some kind expressions, is yet evidently designed to injure me, by conveying the impression of a mis- MISSION TO ENGLAND. 367 statement of facts on my part, and of an intention to make the British pubhc beheve that he was uri:Q:iendly to the Lit- urgy. I thank God, that whatever may be the effect of this pubhcation of the bishop on the minds of others, my own conscience acquits me on both these points. I stated nothing but the truth on the occasion referred to ; and my manner of doing it was neither designed nor calculated to produce any such unfavorable impression as to the bishop. If he had himself exercised the judgment of charity in the case, he would have drawn no such false inferences, even from the mcorrect newspaper report which he has made the basis of his letter. But had what I said been stated as delivered, it would have been impossible for him to do so." "Wednesday, July 28, 1830. — I left Clifton this morn- ing in the coach for Bath, fifteen miles distant. In passing through Bristol, we found ' the Bush inn ' sheltered by a high board fence in front, put up in consequence of the windows having been broken by a mob in the interest of Mr. Bailly, the candidate for the House of Commons opposed to Mr. Protheroe, whose committee sat at ' the Bush.' We were told thirty-seven wounded persons had been carried to the infirmary, most of them struck down by bludgeons in the hands of drunken sailors. These disgraceful scenes, it is said, cannot be prevented by the police. I was glad to see a hand- bill from Mr. Protheroe's committee, earnestly entreating his friends to abstain not only from violence, but from all irritat- ing language and conduct towards his opponents. I think our English friends must cease to abuse the democracy of our country. Such excesses as have disgraced the contest in Bristol rarely there occur." In passing from A¥orcester to Birmingham, he witnessed a pleasant sight, of which he thus writes. " Near the town of Droitwich, a fellow-passenger told me that between twelve and thirteen years ago, a poor woman had four daughters at a birth, all of whom were still living ; and that the event had brought the parents about 368 MEMOIR OF DR. MILJTOR. £1,000 In presents from visitors. It was a little extraordi- nary, that as he pointed out to me the house, the children actually appeared, two of them witliout, and two of them just within the front door. They wore comely girls, and decently dressed ; and the apparel of the four being exactly alike, increased their resemblance to each other." "Saturday, July 31, — This morning I took the mail- coach for Holyhead. My only fellow-passenger inside was a gentleman of the bar, who left us at Wolverhampton, being engaged to attend the election for members of Parliament in the borough of Bridgenorth, as counsel for Mr. Arkwright, a new candidate, opposing a wealthy family, under whose influ- ence the members have for many years been returned. He told me the expense on both sides would be enormous ; the voters being about 1,200 in number, and 900 of them out- voters, that is, residents in other parts of the kingdom. These are to' be hunted up and coaxed — in many instances, no doubt, bribed — into the interests of one or the other of the combatants, and their expenses borne to, and at, and from the place of election. With all its corruptions, the populai branch of the national legislature is, doubtless, a valuable- part of the British Constitution ; but, if it could be accom- plished peaceably, a reform is very desirable to equalize the representation, and impart more purity to the exercise of the elective franchise. A large number of the members of the House of Commons are returned by small boroughs, over the few voters of which some nobleman or other rich individual has the entire and absolute control. Mr. Brougham lately asserted, that peers had actually received so large a sum as £10,000, for returning a member to the lower house; and this, while by a strange anomaly many very considerable places, such as Manchester and Birmingham, are not repre- sented at all." [True ; but was not William IV., sumamed, some time. The Reform Bill, already on his throne ?] " We soon crossed ' the lovely Dee,' whose praises I learned, when a child, to recite in a pensive ballad of that MISSION TO ENGLAND. 369 day. After feasting my eyes with a succession of scenery of most surpassing beauty throughout the whole length of this sweet vale, as we approached its termination the views va- ried from unbroken verdure and fertility to smiling meadows overtopped by uncultivated hills ; the road now and then diverging from the river to avoid a hill so close upon its mar- gin as not to admit the passage of the road, and then return- ing to its bank in view of fresh objects of attraction." " A few miles from Cor wen," having left the source of the Dee, "we entered another vale," through which flows, in an opposite direction, one of the head-waters of the Con- way, " only inferior in point of interest to that which we had left. Among a thousand objects deserving of notice, a beau- tiful cascade of the river presented itself in a deep glen by the road-side ; and further on, at a place, the name of which I dare not attempt to spell, a small, old church, which I should not have noticed but for its parsonage of uncommon stateliness, leading me, perhaps not in the most charitable temper, to some practical meditations on the rebuke of the prophet Haggai, 1:4: ' Is it time for you, ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste ?' " Other evidences than the language of the coachman and hostlers, now convinced me that I was in the midst of "Wales. Beyond the inn just mentioned, we crossed the Con- way on an iron bridge, and the country at once completely changed its aspect. Below us ran the river, at an amazing depth, the view downwards being at times perpendicular to the bottom of the glen through which it rolled ; and on each side, rose craggy, naked mountains, of most formidable aspect. It was now night, but the nearly full moon shone brightly ; so that, but for the unpleasant sharpness of the air, I should have found still greater pleasure than in the day- time, from thus beholding the wonderful works of God in this wild rogion. " At Bettws, besides a singular bridge over a ravine among the rocks, there is an iron bridge over the Conway of 16=^ 370 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. 105 feet span, to which, from its having been built about the time of the battle of Waterloo, the name of that bloody field has been given. Our passage through the mountains was a distance of sixteen miles. Snowden is the highest. Down the shaggy side of this mountain, my fellow-passenger to England, the elder Mr. Thomas, precipitated into the valley beneath a large portion of rock, which he detached by push- ing against it. This rugged scenery, from its contrast with that through which we had so lately passed, increased greatly the interest of this day's journey, without making any difference in the smoothness of the road, over which our horses conveyed us at the uniform speed of ten miles the hour. By winding along the side of the mountain, curving and recurving, with scarce a hundred yards of straight road in any place, its builders have been able to keep it almost on a perfect level, though often at a great expense for its secu- rity, arising from the necessity of laying the foundation of its wall far down almost precipitous declivities on the side next the narrow valley beneath. In the midst of this im- mense range, we passed Onv/ig lake, a beautiful httle trout- water, about a mile long and half as wide." As this was at night. Dr. Milnor little realized the gran- deur of the scene by day ; the awfully shaggy cliff, wliich at one moment beetles above the traveller's head as he rides along the shore of that lovely water, and the suddenly fright- ful chasm which, at the next, yawns beneath the roadside ; while the outlet of the little lake leaps, from under the bridge that crosses it, into lower air, and reaching at last the bot- tom of the gulf, sends its waters away in a fine, silvery thread, distant and noiseless, through the narrow, green meadow- vale hundreds of feet below. " The last town of any importance that we passed, was Bangor, in Caernarvonshire, situated between two high ridges of rock at the head of Beaumaris bay. On leaving it, one of the most curious objects is the chain-bridge across the Menai strait, an arm of the sea, that separates the Isle of MISSION TO ENaLAND. 371 Anglesea from Wales, aud adds much to the beauty of Ban- gor. This bridge is 30 feet wide, 560,^feet long, and 100 feet above high-water. As you approach, its appearance is very fanciful and light, and you can scarcely realize that it is a structure of sufficient solidity to admit the passage over it of vehicles so heavy as that on which I was mounted. Its great height above the water, also, is sufficient to inspire a momentary apprehension of danger ; but when you are once upon it, this entirely vanishes, from the evident strength of its supports, and the security against accidents of the de- fences on its sides. My moonlight view of this beautiful object, and of the scenery visible from it, probably presented them in a more interesting aspect than they would have borne, had I seen them by the light of day. " I have so extended my note of this day's gratifying, though long and fatiguing ride, that I will mention none of the objects of remark between Bangor and Holyhead, except the lighthouse of the latter, alternately seen and hidden for eeveral miles before reaching it, as our motion changed the apparent position of intervening hills. " Holyhead is on a small island at the northwest point of Anglesea, and is considered the best point of embarkation for Dubhn, the distance across the channel being only twenty leagues. We arrived a quarter past one o'clock A. M., hav- ing travelled, smce eight the previous morning, 151 miles, with only one meal on the road. *' Though I felt little or no fatigue durmg'my ride, yet I found myself sufficiently weary at its termination, to solicit a berth immediately on going aboard the packet, which I took, and in a few minutes fell into a profound sleep. I did not awake till aroused by the captain, with the information that we had arrived at our destination ; not Dublin, indeed, but nine miles below the • city, where the packet stops. During, the night there had been a severe storm, and our vessel had encountered an exceedingly rough sea — of all which I had been entirely unconscious. 372 MEMOIR OF DIl. MILNOR. " In consequence of my late sleep, all the seats in and on the mail-coach were occupied before I was ready for the start. I was, therefore, obliged to put up with one of those elegant vehicles called a 'jaunting-car,' with a miserable-looking horse and driver, and went forward at a pace — which, for want of a whip, poor Patrick was unable to quicken — of about four miles the hour." Dr. Milnor's visit to Ireland was so short, and his notes so few, that extracts from the latter would be of little inter- est to the reader. We give, however, a single incident and a single paragraph. At Dublin, he unexpectedly met his interesting fellow-passenger across the Atlantic, Captain O'Connor, who was of great service in introducing him to valuable acquaintance, and in pointing out to him interesting objects in that beautiful city. From Dubhn to Belfast, his ride was of the most unpleasant kind. "Yesterday," he says, " being a fine day, and hoping for a continuance of fair weather, I took an outside seat. This I had reason, soon after our departure, to regi-et. "When the coach started, at half past six, the morning was lowering, and we had not proceeded far before it began to rain ; and in a little while we were driving through a most furious tempest. Unfor- tunately, too, I had the windward seat, and it seemed, at times, as if my umbrella would be torn into shreds. Besides, the rain soon penetrated through, so that it afibrded but little protection, while those of other passengers poured their drip- pings upon ntb, and in a short time wet me to the skin. When we arrived at Drogheda, our breakfasting-place, I had a violent ague, which disqualified me not only for taking my breakfast, but also for changing my clothes. I would have stopped, but the inn was a shabby one, and crowded to overflowing by people attending the election. I swallowed, however, some hot tea ; and, in consequence of the vacation of an inside seat, rode the rest of this stormy day, upwards of one hundred miles, to Belfast, under shelter, but in my wet clothes. My landlord at Belfast was very kind. A warm MISSION TO ENGLAND. 373 fire, a comfortable supper, a hot bath for my feet, and a good bed, procured for me a delightful iiightV rest ; and I awoke in the morning with a heart grateful to God for my preser- vation from the anticipated bad effects of such an unusual exposure to cold," SECTION YII. At twelve o'clock, Friday, August 6, Dr. Milnor was in the steamer Fin<^al, for Glasgow, where, after a tranquil passage, he arrived the next m(»ning at four, and remained till Tuesday afternoon, August 10 ; making himself acquaint- ed with the principal religious and benevolent institutions of that beautiful and flourishing mistress of the Clyde, and with several worthy families, to whom he had letters. He paid particular attention to the tract operations of the city, and to the institution for the education of the deaf and dumb. Speaking of the religious operations of Glasgow, he says, " The building called ' The Rehgious Institution,' is the property of all the societies bearing that character in the city ; no less than twenty-five holding their meetings within the commodious building, which they own. They have a secre- tary of the institution, with a clerk to assist him ; and he issues all the notices for the meetings of the several societies, or of their committees. Each society has also its own secre- tary, to record its proceedings ; but this united arrangement saves the proper officers of the societies considerable mechan- ical labor." [Why is not the plan of such an institution worthy of adoption in all our large cities ?] In reference to the general condition of the country, he remarks, " In one particular, I see a great difference between Scotland and either England or Ireland, and I may add France. It relates to the practice of mendicity. When I left the steamer this morning, I was assailed by no beggars • 374 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. and I have traversed the streets of Glasgow all day without a single application. The appearance of the lower orders here, with few exceptions, is much more decent than in any large town I have seen on this side of the Atlantic. Yet I was astonished to learn, that respectable as is the appearance of the town, so far as I have seen it, and decent as is that of its inhabitants, there is, in fact, a great deal of poverty ; and the reduction of the means of living has had a very delete- rious effect upon the poorer classes, in point of morals and religion. The population of Glasgow, [this was in 1830,] approaches 200,000. Mr. Heugh, a clergyman of credit, told me that the church accommodation afforded 75,000 sittings ; but that of these »ot more than 35,000 were actu- ally occupied." It would be wrong to infer, from this mode of calculation, that the means of grace in Glasgow reached no more than 35,000 of its inhabitants ; yet, with even this caution, the testimony of the above paragraph to that great truth m polit- ical economy, that the want of comfortable bodily sustenance among the lower orders is peculiarly injurious to good morals, and therefore to good government, is sufficiently striking. " Sunday, Aug. 8. — I desu'e," writes Dr. Milnor, " grate- fully to acknowledge the goodness of God in my preservation to see another sacred day of rest. May my heart be deeply impressed with a sense of the unmerited mercies wliich I am daily receiving at his hands. As the only return which I can make, and make it I cannot without thy aid, grant to me, Lord, I beseech thee, the spirit to tliink and do always 6uch things as be rightful ; that I, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." This morning he attended worship at St. Mary's cJiapel. St. Mary's, he says, " is one of the two Episcopal chapels in Glasgow — our brethren being dissenters in Scotland, are not privileged to call their houses of worship churcfies. The MISSION TO ENGLAND. 375 rector being absent in consequence of a family bereavement, a young clergyman in deacon's orders -supplied his place. His sermon excited a very favorable opinion of the piety and doctrinal views of the preacher, but not a very high one of his talents. It is to me astonishing, that the young clergy of our church should be so regardless of delivery. The effect of all that was valuable in this sermon was, in great meas- ure, lost, by the close and monotonous manner in which it was read : not a hand raised ; scarcely a look towards the congregation from beginning to end, and not even such a regard to emphasis and cadence as at all times to convey clearly the meaning of the speaker ; and yet, the sentiments good, and of such practical importance to the hearers as would have justified their enforcement by the utmost energy of manner." In the afternoon, he attended " Blackfriars' chapel, and heard the Rev. Dr. Dick." " At four o'clock, on Monday, Mr. Wardlaw, a lay nephew of the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, and a very efficient la- borer in works of benevolence and piety, called for him," and took him in his carriage " to dinner at his country residence, three miles from the city ;" and in the evening to a temper- a^.ce-meeting " in the little parish church of the village of Govan on the Clyde ; a beautiful building, and as beauti- fully situated as any which he had seen." Of this temper- ance-meeting Dr. Milnor thus writes : " The church was full ; and a most silent and respectful attention was given to the addresses on the subject from the Rev. Mr. Strothers, Mr. Wardlaw, and myself I occupied about fifty minutes, and communicated many facts in rela- tion to the success of the cause in America, which were new to the people whom 1 addressed. The poor of Govan are principally weavers, and many of them given to intoxi- cation ; while few, until temperance measures were intro- duced, wholly abstained from the use of spirituous liquors. It is confidently believed, that these measures will be at- 376 MEMOIR OF DR. MIL!s'01l. tended with most happy eiTects. The cause is looking up most encouragingly in Scotland, though, as yet, many even of the clergy withhold their countenance ; and on the pres- ent occasion, though the minister of Govan granted the soci- ety the use of his church, yet he declined personal attend- ance, ' not having made up his mind on the subject.' " After a parting breakfast with his friends on Tuesday, Dr. Milnor had time, before the coach left Glasgow, to visit the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, inspect its system of instruc- tion, and examine some of the productions of the pupils. He found that here, as in other similar institutions, articulanon was taught, though in a few cases only in which the pros- pect of success was flattering. Among the productions of the pupils, he saw "several copies of rich engravings made with a pen, and scarcely to be distinguished from the orig- inals'' One of these was " a copy of the full-length por- trait of Napoleon in his imperial robes, by a boy twelve years old. The lad observed that ' the engraving did not give a correct representation of Napoleon' syizfc, and he thought he could improve it.' And," adds Dr. Milnor, "judging from the best likenesses, and the bust of that distinguished man, he has certainly made a manifest improvement on the orig- inal." At four o'clock, Tuesday afternoon, he took coach for Edinburgh. " The Uev. Dr. Byrne, of the kirk, was his agreeable fellow-traveller," being on his way to " attend a meeting of the Commission of the General Assembly of the Established Church of Scotland." By his invitation, Dr. Milnor attended the sittings of the commission. *' This is a kind of standing committee, possessing the powers of the general assembly, and holding quarterly meetings for the transaction of its business, especially its judicial concerns, during the recess of that body." When Dr. Milnor entered the Tron church in Edinburgh, the place where the commission held their sittings, " they were engaged in the consideration of addresses to King MISSION TO ENGLAND. 377 "William and dueeii Adelaide, on the occasion of their recent accession to the throne. " A discussion then came on, which, in one shape or another, had been depending for four years, respecting the settlement of a minister in the parish of Inverness, whose orthodoxy had been questioned. A preliminary objection to the jurisdiction, arising out of some peculiarities in the forms of the church, and of the previous proceedings in the case, gave Dr. Milnor " an opportunity of hearing two eminent barristers, Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Patrick Robertson, who were employed as counsel on opposite sides of the question. Both spoke with ability, and the latter with animation. The E-ev. Dr. Cook, Dr. Byrne, and others, spoke with great energy and warmth ; and the objection to the jurisdiction was almost unanimously overruled." Thus introduced to Edinburgh, Dr. Milnor remained in that renowned capital of Scotland from the 10th to the 17th of August, cultivating the acquaintance, and enjoying the hospitalities of its religious circles. The evening of the 1 1th was a " dismal" close to what had been a stormy afternoon ; but "Dr. Walker of London, and his travelling companion, an intelligent student of the Inner Temple, dined with him at his hotel, and by their conversation relieved the solitari- ness" of his hours. And he adds, at the close of his jour- nal for the day, " Besides the respectable gentlemen above mentioned, I have had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with John Sheppard, Esq., author of ' Thoughts on Private Devotion' and some other works, who transmitted to Lord Byron a prayer composed for his lordship by Mrs. Sheppard. Lord Byron returned the reply which, since his death, has been published, and which, as coming from such a man, con- tains so singular an acknowledgment of the excellence of Christianity in communicating happiness to its true subjects. Mr. Sheppard studied medicine in Edinburgh, several years ago ; but being a man of independent fortune, and having determined not to practise the medical profession, he never 378 MEMOIR OF DE.. MILNOE.. took his degree. His pursuits have siuce been Hterary, re- ligious, and benevolent ; for usefulness in which, he sustains the highest reputation in Frome-Selwood, Somersetsliire, England, w^here he resides. He has lately published, in two volumes, a work on the evidences of Christianity." "Thursday Morning, August 12. — Mr. Sheppard pro- posed to accompany me on a long walk. Accordingly, we started for Holyrood House ; and after surveying the exterior of this venerable and celebrated building, we ascended the circular, and in some places steep road, which winds round Salisbury Craig and Arthur's Seat, stopping at various points of the ascent, to view the inimitable panorama of Edin- burgh, as presented in various aspects all the way up this lofty eminence. The striking terminations of the old town in those massy ancient structures, Holyrood House on the east, in the valley beneath our feet, and the castle on the west, upon its lofty rock ; the many intervening churches, with turrets, domes, and steeples ; the splendid column m memory of Nelson ; the elegant specimens of modern archi- tecture, presented in the unfinished temple and other struc- tures on Calton Hill ; the high-school, the jail, the bride- well, etc. ; the singular valley between the old town and the new, and the immense mass of fine buildmgs in the lat- ter ; the charming view of the Frith of Forth on the one hand, and of the Pentland Hills on the other, with country- seats of the nobility and gentry in the distance, altogether, present a scene of unrivalled grandeur. As we mounted the height, especially as we rounded the elevated summit of Arthur's Seat, the wind was so strong as almost to make our position unsafe. We persevered, however, in our course, and descended on the opposite side." But, while in Edinburgh, Dr. Milnor's object was less to see things, than to become acquainted with men and witli religious institutions. He spent most of his time in social and religious intercourse with such men as have already been named, and with the aged and veteran Dr. Peddie, of MISSION TO ENQLAND. 379 tlie Secession cliurcli ; the Rev. Mr. Imies, of the Baptist ; the Rev. John -Brown, grandson of the Rev. John Brown of Haddington ; the Rev. Messrs. Ramsay, Sinclair, and Craig, of the Episcopal church ; Dr. Chalmers, and Mr. Thomas Miller, brother to several of that name in Philadelphia — all men of piety and talents, and several of them, besides Dr. Chalmers, authors of no mean distinction. His social and religious intercourse with these gentlemen, on various break- fast and dimier occasions — similar to those on which he met so many noble ones of the church in London — was full of satisfaction and of profit, and made liis memories of " the heart of Mid Lothian" more fragrant than they could have been if gathered from the festivities of wealth and the splen- dors of fashion. Dr. Chalmers was of the company at din- ner both on Friday and on Saturday, and had the circle of friends at his own house to breakfast on Monday morning. Litercourse with this great, good man served to elevate him still higher in the estimation of those who had previously known him only hi his loftiness as a preacher and an author. The character of the social, religious entertainments to which Dr. Milnor was admitted in Edinburgh, may be judged from the brief account which he gives of the breakfast at Dr. Chalmers' on Monday morning. " He received me with great affability and kindness, and Mrs. Chalmers, with all that frankness and ease of manner which distinguishes the Scottish ladies. Before breakfast, Dr. Chalmers read a chapter to the family ; and at his re- quest, I offered prayer. " The topics of conversation w^ere various. Dr. Chalmers, being a member of the established church of Scotland, is evi- dently much attached to the union of church and state. It is true, that, like all the members of the Kirk, he utterly disclaims the idea of the king's being, in any sense, its sjoir- itual head, or of the government's having any right to in- terfere with the most entire liberty of conscience in its sub- jects. On this latter ground it was, that he advocated so 380 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. strenuously the cause of Catholic emancipation. But he fa- vors the union of church and state simply because he thinks it is of advantage to Christianity to be formally recognized as the religion of the country, and to receive the protection of government, and in various ways its pecuniary aid in mahitaining its ministry and institutions. He inquired par- ticularly as to numerous diffipulties which he supposed must in our country attend the absence of an establishment ; espe- cially in regard to the erection of churches, and the exten- sion of religion coordinately with the rapid increase of our population. He thought that, if left entirely to the volun- tary contributions of the people, religion must decline for want of pecuniary support. " On the contrary, I argued, that besides the utter incon- sistency of an establishment with the genius of our free in- stitutions, and with the character and opuiions of our people, it would be inexpedient to adopt such a measure ; that relig- ion would be more cheerfully supported under a voluntary, than under a compulsory system ; that unhappy jealousies between different denominations would be avoided, as well as those numerous corruptions and incumbrances which we saw appertaining to all long-continued connections of relig- ion with government, even to those best in the world, the English and Scotch establishments ; that although, in the peculiar circumstances of the United States, the increase of the population exceeded that of the means of grace, yet this was an evil which, in the existing divided state of religious opinion, would find no remedy in the established dominance of one denomination ; that, in point of fact — allowance being made for the youth of our country — our religious statistics would bear a respectable comparison with those of either England or Scotland ; and that in both of the latter coun- tries, the great proportion of dissenters was a proof of the unpopularity of establishments, as the number of the dissent- ing churches, the talent and learning of their ministers, and the piety of many of their people, were, of the truth, more MISSION TO ENQLAND. 381 fully demonstrated in America, that religion could be sap- ported by the unconstrained liberality of its'friends, and would lose none of its purity by refusing all secular reliances what- soever. I adverted to some of our religious statistics, and compared them with the information which I had received in Glasgow as to the proportion of attendants on public wor- ship in that respectable city ; and contended that our coun- try did not sufler in the comparison. " Dr. Chalmers listened with much attention to my argu- ment and statements, and avowed a deep interest in Amer- ica — especially in her connection with the cause of Christ throughout the world. He spoke in terms of respect of sev- eral of our religious writers ; and in answer to an inquiry whether we might hope for a visit from him, said that he feared his engagements in the university would prevent such a step ; and that extreme aversion to a sea- voyage was with him another formidable difficulty in the way." On Tuesday morning, August 17, he left Edinburgh for Carlisle, saddened by two considerations- — the shortness of his visit, and the state of the weather ; for it was " what the Scotch call 'a soft morning;' that is, it rained hard." His course lay through Selkirk and among the Cheviot hills ; along the Tweed and the Esk, and across the border grounds of olden fame. He reached Carlisle about dark, where he would have stopped, but for the wish that had come over him to see the English lakes, and the circumstance that the town was overflowing with attendants on the assizes, to such a degree as to make it difficult for him to obtain lodgings. Influenced by these considerations, he changed his mind, and in spite of a long day's ride, intense cold weather, arid an outside seat, rode on to Penrith, eighteen miles further, be- fore he found a resting for the night. "The tediousness of this night-travelling," he observes, " was somewhat beguiled by a talkative fellow-traveller by my side, who had been attending the assize court. Mr. Brougham and several other of the most eminent counsel 382 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. had been several days employed in trying a cause, in which the question between the litigants related to a right of way, which the one claimed, by prescription, from time * whereof the memory of man rmmeth not to the contrary ;' while the other contended that the claim was a recent invasion of his own rights. Fifty witnesses on each side had already been examined, and yet the battle remained undecided. The matter is of but small real importance, and the contest is clearly for victory between two angry combatants, who, to gratify their resentments, will expend each several thousand pounds." Dr. Milnor's visit to the lakes of Cumberland and West- moreland, on his devious route between Penrith and Kendal, was a source to him of unmingled delight, as such a visit must be to every true lover of nature. The scenery is some of the most lovely ever spread by the hand of God before the eye of man. "With no great height of mountains, the loftiest being little over 3,000 feet, there are still such a grouping of almost innumerable summits ; such a cleaving of each from all the rest, down to its very base ; such a sombre rugged- ness and grotesqueness in many of their forms, yet such a kind, and genial, and sunny embosoming of green fields and glassy " waters" among their deep vallies ; such a sprinkling of quiet villages, and of guileless villagers among the glens, and round the lakes below ; and such worship-moving views of God's glory from the pinnacles above, that no traveller who, with a poet's eye, has looked upon the whole, will deem it hyperbole to call this region, as a tourist of former days has named it, " the pageantry of creation." Hanging round, and hovering over those deep-sheltered lakes, Bassenthwaite, Derwentwater, and Thirlmere ; Ulls- water, Wastwater, and Winandermere ; and even little E.y- dalwater and Grasmere ; about Keswick and Rydalmount, Bowness and Ambleside, with the various lesser hamlets of their train ; in narrow Grisdale, deep Borrowdale, and name- less sister dales around ; and finally, in the dark chasms and MISSION TO ENGLAND. 383 the dim caves whicli now and then yawn around the feet of the mountains, as well as in the dashing cascades which here and there leap from their rough foreheads and rush down their rocky faces — hanging round, and hovering over all these, there is a silent or a speaking, a profound and an almost living soul of nature, which could hardly have failed to draw amid their charmed abiding-places such spirits as those of Watson and of Arnold, or those of Wordsworth, Southey, and Hemans. The retreats of Westmoreland and Cumberland are the sacred summer homes both of devotion and of poetry. Nor even in ivinter do they furnish less, though it be a rougher nurture to the soul that loves to look on God as seen in all the moods of his ever-various works. " Beaumont-street in Oxford," may please the learned lec- turer on history ; "nevertheless," says the proprietor of Fox How, penning a letter on the I7tli of January, "I prefer writing from the delicious calm of this place, where the mountains raise their snowy tops into the clear sky, by this dim twilight, with a most ghostlike solemnity, and nothing is heard, far or near, except the sound of the stream through the valley. I have been walking to-day to Windermere, and went out on a little rude pier of stones into the lake, to watch what is to me one of the most beautiful objects in nature, the life of blue ivater amidst a dead lavxUca'pe of snoiv. The sky was bright, and the wind fresh, and the lake was dancing and singing, as it were ; while all along its margin lay the dead snow covering every thing but the lake." [Life of Arnold, p. 435. Appleton, New York, 1845.] After this day of rare pleasure. Dr. Milnor reached busy old Kendal a little after dark, and the next morning, Thurs- day, Aug. 19, pursued his way to busier young Manchester. He spent Friday in taking an exterior view of the latter, and in delivering his letters of introduction. Unfortunately for him, however, the good folks of Manchester were too busy to wait at home for visitors, and he therefore, for this 384 MEMOIR OF DR.. MILNOR. day, failed of making any acquaintances, except with Mr. Thomas Smith, who subsequently called upon him, and took him to his country-house to spend the evening. On Saturday he visited the school for the deaf and dumb, and examined its system of instruction, particularly as ap- plied to the teaching of articulation. Institutions of this class he evidently made a subject of more than ordinary at- tention ; and one of his chief objects was, as evidently, to obtain some distinct and well-founded views touching the question whether the attempts to teach articulation to deaf mutes were likely to prove generally successful. His jour- nal shows that his original doubts on this point were, on the whole, confirmed rather than removed, by what he saw in the various European institutions which he visited. He also inspected some magnificent cotton-factories dur- ing the day ; and, at dinner with Mr. Smith, became ac- quainted with the Rev. Mr. Stowell, an able evangelical preacher of the established church, for whose use " a hand- some new chapel" was nearly in readiness. His Sabbath in Manchester was a day of more than usual spiritual refreshment. He attended Mr. Stowell's ser- vices morning and afternoon, and in the evening went to hear the Rev. Mr. McCall, minister of an Independent chapel. Of the three sermons he took copious notes, which 'svince that they were as full of the marrow of the gospel as they were distinguished for earnestness and ability. In his journal for Monday he has the following entry : " Breakfasted with the Rev. Mr. Stowell, and found him, as I had anticipated, a deeply experienced Christian and a de- voted minister of Christ. Nominally, he occupies the situa- tion of an assistant minister ; but in fact, he is the only ofl[iciating clergyman in the chapel where I heard him yes- terday. This chapel is the property of the Rev. Mr. , whose misconduct obliged him to leave Manchester, and who was glad to put his building in charge of a man the very opposite of himself in religious views and in moral con- MISSION TO ENGLAND. 385 duct, but whose faithful ministry would fill the chapel and bring him a handsome revenue. All the'leats being rented, he receives an interest, after paying Mr. Stowell's salary, far beyond what any other investment of his money would produce. He is so sensible of the benefits of evangelical preaching, in this point of view, that he has given Mr, Stowell the privilege of appointing his successor. I was sorry to learn that Manchester is not so highly favored in the established church as among the dissenters, with minis- ters of eminent talent ; and that the clergy of the former are considerably disunited by doctrinal varieties ; some be- ing low Arminians, and others Calvinists of the highest grade. Much coolness in their intercourse with each other is the result." " After breakfast, I went with Mr. Stowell to an infant- school supported by his congregation. It is under the charge of a male teacher, assisted by his wife, and contains 150 pupils. The teacher is a man of ordinary education, but of superior natural abilities, which he has certainly applied in a very effectual, though, in some respects, novel manner, to the business of infant-school instruction. His method of en- gaging and sustaining the attention of his little scholars is quite peculiar ; and I have seen no establishment of the kind in which a better result has followed the teacher's efforts. The history of this successful teacher of infants, as shortly given me by Mr. Stowell, would form an interesting biog- raphy ; one of the most instructive features of which would be, an exhibition of the power of divine grace in reclaiming, after a life of singular wanderings, infidelity, and vice, ac- companied with much suffering and misery, this object of the divine mercy, and transforaiing him into a meek and pious disciple of Christ, and a useful member of society. " After dinner I left Manchester, with an impression alike of its immense importance as a manufacturing town, and of its uninviting character as a place of residence, except for those interested in its business. It has some handsome Mem. Miluor. 1 7 386 MEMOIE, OF DR. MILNOR. public buildings ; but, with the exception of the exchange, they are situated in narrow streets, where they appear to no advantage. A few of the streets are wide and airy, and a portion of the environs very pleasant ; but the interior of the town is in general disagreeable and gloomy. As to aU business objects, however, it is one of the most flourishing places in the kingdom ; and those who are making fortunes in the town, have no difficulty in rendering their families comfortable in rural villas or terraced rows of genteel houses, which are every year increasing in the neighborhood. " With one thing I was much grieved. In returning from Mr. Smith's, in the Crescent, to Albion hotel, Picca- dilly, on Saturday evening, I saw more drunken men, women, and boys, than I ever before beheld in the same space of time. Temperance societies will, I hope, remedy this deplorable state of things ; and I am happy that they have been commenced with encouraging prospects of success. Intemperance is becoming increasingly prevalent among the lower orders in England ; but I everywhere find it asserted, that among the middle and higher orders, no increase of the evil is perceptible. It is therefore difficult to convince these classes of the utility of temperance societies, except for the reformation of the lower. I am, however, persuaded that there is enough of the evil among all ranks to make the universal establishment of these societies useful ; and I have consequently everywhere urged them upon the attention of those with whom I have had an opportunity of communi- cating on this important subject." In passing from Manchester to Sheffield, Dr. Milnor traversed, though without leisure to examine, the singularly fine scenery of Derbyshire, with its peak, castle, and cav- erns, and with its lovely vales succeeded by lone moorlands ; reaching Sheffield about nine o'clock in the evening of Mon- day, August 23. Here his letters soon made him acquainted with the Sandersons and Mr. Ibbotson of the busy world, with Mr. MISSION TO ENG-LAND. 387 Bronson and Mr. Brookfield of the law, and with Montgomery of the Christian Lyre. Of the last, his journal speaks thus : " I found him, as I had been led to expect, living in a retired way, with two maiden ladies, the Misses Gale«, sis- ters to Mr. Gales of North Carolina, and aunts to Joseph Gales of the National Intelligencer of Washington. During his nonage, Mr. Montgomery left the Moravian seminary near Leeds, at which he was receiving his education, and came to Sheffield, where he apprenticed himself to the elder Mr. Gales. Some years later, Mr. Gales, having encoun- tered some difficulties with the government as publisher of a newspaper, left England for America ; and Mr. Mont- gomery took charge of the Iris as its printer and editor. "While in this employment, he also offended the administra- tion by republishing a patriotic song, although it had ap- peared in several other papers, and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment in the jail at York. He endured his sentence with becoming fortitude ; wrote, during his con- finement, a little volume of poems, now very scarce, called ' Prison Amusements,' and came out with the result which generally attends unrighteous persecution — the sympathy ol his friends, and renewed patronage for his paper." " He received his religious impressions under the minis- try of the Methodist church, but continues a member of the Moravian. His piety is deep-toned and decided, though cheerful as it is ardent. Its practical exhibition is seen in his engagement in all the works of piety and beneficence for which Sheffield is distinguished. No man can be more beloved and respected for his unassuming devotion to the interests of religion, morals, and science, or for the varied talent which he has exhibited. My first interview affected me with the most favorable impressions of his character, and all my subsequent intercourse with him, and all the in- formation which I received from his neighbors, confirmed and deepened them. *' Immediately after I left Mr. Montgomery," at the close 388 MEilOm OF DR. iriLNOR. . of this first interview, " I called on the Rev. Mr. Best, of St. James' Episcopal chapel. But when he called in return, I had gone to visit my friend Mr. Congreve, a worthy dis- ciple of Christ, who first obtained a hope of mercy in St George's, while on a temporary visit of business at New York. I was delighted to find him an established, happy, working Christian, with as single a dependence as I could desire, upon the urmierited mercy of his reconciled Father in Christ Jesus." On Tuesday and Wednesday, Dr. Milnor rapidly ex- tended his acquaintance with the interestmg rehgious society of Sheffield. On Tuesday evening he lectured for Mr. Best, in the room of one of the " eleven districts," into which the Episcopal clergy of Sheffield have divided the town, for the purpose of accommodating " the working classes, as well as many of a higher grade," with stated weekly instruction ; and much of "Wednesday was spent in visithig the room of the Philosophical Society, of which Mr. Montgomery was the first president ; together with the various and vast iron and steel manufactures of Sheffield. " Thursday, August 26. — Dined with Mr. Ibbotson at the Globe works. Mr. Montgomery, and Mr. Holland, author of the Life of Summer field, were of the party. The company being all professedly religious, the conversation also was of that character. Mr. Montgomery was in one of his best moods, and rarely have I heard a more pleasing and earnest advocate of experimental religion. No controversial dillerences were allowed to give asperity to our intercourse ; and with the intellects and feelings of such men as Mont- gomery and Holland employed on so delightful a theme as that of genuine Christianity, its character, state, and glori- ous prospects, I could only regret the arrival of the hour of our separation. Mr. Holland is a layman, the present editor of the Iris, the ultimate friend of Montgomery, and like him, a poet." At eleven o'clock Friday morning. Dr. Mihior went with MISSION TO ENG-LAND. 389 Mr. Best to the stated monthly meeting of the Female Church Missionary Association, composed of pious ladies of all the Episcopal congregations of Sheffield, and lectured before them for an hour from Romans 10 ; after which, he dined with a small party of friends at Mr. Congreve's. Mr. Montgomery was detained by business from the dinner, "but came in immediately afterwards," says Dr. Milnor, " and again gratified us with the exhibition of high intellect, united with deep spirituality, and a most ardent interest in all the means w^hich, in our favored day, the providence of Grod has put in action for the advancement of Christ's kingdom in the world and in the hearts of men." From dinner they all adjourned to the public meeting, which had been called, of all the Bible associations of Shef- field. At this meeting also Dr. Milnor made an address. He occupied an hour in " giving some account of the state of religion and of religious institutions in America, especially in relation to the circulation of the Scriptures and of Tracts; and in considering what was the duty of , every Christian under the peculiar circumstances of the present times." " Mr. Montgomery made the closing speech, with a warm glow of religious feeling, and an aflectionate importunity of expression. His only difficulty seemed to lie in finding vent for the Hood of ideas that constantly rushed into his mind. This made him occasionally stammer for a moment ; but a short pause always restored his self-possession ; and his plain but forcible delivery riveted the attention of his hearers. His acknowledgments to myself," adds Dr. Milnor, "were full of Christian warmth and affection ; and his allusions to my country of most touching interest." On Saturday, he accomparued Mr. John Sanderson to his fine old country-mansion, Darnel Hall, surrounded by grounds of the most perfect neatness, and covered with the richest verdure. At this charming retreat he remained till the Monday following, attending service Sunday morning at St. James', where he heard an impressive discourse from Mr. 390 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOR. Best ; at the parish church in the afternoon, where the vicar, the Rev. Mr. Sutton, preached ; and at St. George's chapel in the evening, where the Rev. Mr. Langston officiated. He adds the following note touching the good vicar : " Mr. Sutton was, some years ago, of very different sen- timents and feelings from those which he expressed in this day's pious discourse. As vicar, he has the appointment, not only of his own curates, hut of the ministers of the chap- els, three new ones having been recently built with the aid of the Parliamentary commissioners, making the whole num- ber in the parish six. These, with the parish church, are all supplied with evangelical pastors ; men who see eye to eye, are universally beloved by all denominations, and are giving a more powerful impulse, moral and religious, to this populous town, than is, perhaps, found in any other manu- facturing centre in the kingdom. Happy are the people who have such a man as Mr. Sutton to preside over their spiritual concerns, and happy is Mr. Sutton in being surrounded by men of consentaneous views, whose only strife is, who shall most earnestly contend for the faith of the gospel, and most industriously labor, under God, to bring souls to Christ." On Monday morning, he took leave of Sheffield and its loved circle of Christian spirits ; adding, in his journal, this reference to one whose memory is dear to other hearts than his. "I had parted with Mr. Montgomery at his own house, just before evening service yesterday, when I took tea and passed an hour and a half in delightful commiuiion of feeUng with this gifted poet and most devoted Christian. I experi- enced, in parting from him, much of that painful emotion, which I am now, towards the close of my visit to Eng- land, so often obHged to suffer, and which is excited by the thoughts of taking my last leave, in this world, of some of the most estimable men who tread its surface. May it be my blessed privilege to meet them in inseparable union in a better world." MISSION TO ENaLAND. 391 According to his wish it has already Jiappened. Teign- mouth and Uyder, Gregory and Gurney, Wilberforce and Clarkson, Zachary Macauley and Bishop Burgess, Rowland Hill and Eobert Hall, Simeon and Chalmers, William Allen and Hannah More, are gone : Milnor is with them, and oth- ers of the good and noble throng with which he mingled a while on earth, are on the way : great spirits, all ; elders and saints in the one holy church universal ; citizens ever of the one great kingdom of Christ. Upon his return to London, whither he went directly from Sheffield, Dr. Milnor's engagements were almost wholly of a business character. He found himself loaded with letters and papers from New York, wliich developed, to his surprise, an anonymous controversy which had followed the appear- ence of Bishop Hobart's public letter, but of which, until that moment, he had been utterly ignorant. He reflected upon these developments like a man writing under a strong sense of injured feelings ; and filled page after page with proofs of what he had stated in his journal, and of the profound as- tonishment of the London rehgious public at the manner in which his address before the Prayer-Book and Homily Society had been misapprehended. There would be little interest in following him through the various details of business which now occupied his time in London. He attended faithfully to all the more private commissions with which he had come charged, but gave special attention to that which he bore from "The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society " of his own church. In this duty he spent much time, making himself familiar with the internal arrangements and the external operations of " The Church Missionary Society," and of " The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," and furnishing himself with all the information and documents, which could be of service to our church in the infancy of her missionary institutions. In these engagements he amply qualified him- self for the important position which he was subsequently 392 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. called to occupy in the practical direction of our own mis- sionary work, both domestic and foreign. He also devoted some time to perfecting his acquaintance with the topography of London and its environs, in cultivat- mg the Christian friendships which he had already formed, an 1 in taking formal leave of the public bodies to which he had been a delegate. The ceremonies which marked his adieus to the British and Foreign Bible Society, were of suf- ficient interest to justify in this place a fuller notice. We give it in his own words. "Monday, Sept. 6. — At twelve o'clock, attended a stated meeting of the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society ; Lord Bexley in the chair. " When I was introduced by the secretary, Mr. Bran- dram, the committee had been some time in session. Soon after I entered, his lordship rose, and addressed me to the following purport. *' ' It is my pleasing duty, reverend sir, to communicate to you the result of the deliberations in which the committee have just been engaged. They are informed that you are about to return to your native land ; and the committee cannot suffer you to depart without signifying to you the high gratification which your visit has allbrded them, and the great utihty with which it has been attended. The resolutions themselves, however, express the feelings of the committee better than I can in any verbal communication. I will read them.' Here his lordship read the resolutions, and then continued : * I will add to what is here said, my personal persuasion of the importance of uniting our most strenuous eflbrts for the universal diffusion of the sacred Scriptures ; and particularly of maintaining, between your great society and ours, a constant intercourse and coopera- tion in this great work. This is a most important crisis. There seems to be a mighty conflict, just now, between the powers of light and darkness. God is on our side, and will give us the victory ; but the battle must be fought, and it MISSION TO ENaLAND. 393 will require our most diligent and united exertions to secure success. I hope, sir, your respected society will be persuaded of the obligations under which we lie to them for sending you to us as their representative, and of our grateful sense of the acceptable manner in which you have fulfilled the hon- orable trust committed to your charge. Be assured, reverend sir, we shall retain a grateful remembrance of your public services, and of the personal intercourse which we have had with you. You carry with you our high respect and esteem, our Christian affection and regard. Our earnest prayers will attend you, that you may be favored with a safe and pros- perous voyage ; that you may meet your beloved family in health and happiness ; that your multiplied labors may be prolonged to your congregation, and to this and other useful operations of our day in which you are engaged ; and that we may at last meet you in God's heavenly kingdom.' " This address was entirely unexpected, and a little embar- rassed me. I stood during its delivery, and then answered in the same extemporaneous manner, nearly in these terms : " ' My Lord — I am much affected by this unlooked-for evidence of the kindness of yourself and the coipmittee. In behalf of the American Society, I return you my thanks for the obliging manner in which you have expressed your ap- probation of their act in sending a delegate to your interest- ing anniversary, and to confer with you on the interests ol that great work in which we are engaged, " ' For your approbation of the manner in which I have fulfilled the duties of my appointment, I beg to make my personal acknowledgments, though sensible how little I de- serve the eulogy which your lordship and the committee have passed upon my feeble services. T shall return to my country with many delightful remembrances of my visit to England ; and among them the most pleasing will be, that of my intercourse with the officers of this society, and the members of its committee. " ' In taking my final leave of them, will your lordship 17*^ 394 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. and the committee excuse me for reiterating the anxious wish which I have heretofore expressed, that one or more delegates from this society may be sent to the anniversary of ours next spring? Nothing, I am convinced, will be found more promotive of union and cooperation between the two institutions, than tliis interchange of friendly gratula- tions and mutual aid at our yearly commemorations. I venture to assure your lordship, that your delegates will be received with Christian kindness and respect in our ruder land ; and perhaps, while they are profiting us, and assisting the cause of Christ in the western world, they may find some gratification in the scenery of our country, and in a personal acquaintance with our institutions and people. *' * Your lordship and the committee wHl allow me to say with what grateful emotions I receive your kind wishes for my safe return to my beloved family and flock. I will de- tain you from your important duties no longer than to add, that I sincerely reciprocate the feelings which you have been pleased to express towards me, by imploring a blessing on your labors in our glorious cause, and praying that health and happiness may attend you individually here, and that the felicity of heaven may be your everlasting portion.' " His lordship replied, that the committee were fully impressed with the duty and advantage of sending one or more delegates to America, as proposed by me ; but the dif- ficulty of finding gentlemen who were fitted for the office, and at the same time willing to assume it, had hitherto prevented any positive measure on the subject. ' I am per- suaded,' he added, ' there is not one of us who would not consider himself liiglily honored by such a commission, though many obstacles might lie in the way of its accept- ance. We shall, however, keep the matter before us ; and if it can be accomplished, it will aflbrd us, reverend sir, the greatest pleasure to comply with your suggestions.' "After remaining with the committee a short time longer, other engagements obliged me to withdraw." MISSION TO ENG-LAND. 395 After this meeting, Dr. Milnor went to dine again with Zachary Macauley, of Christian Observer'memory ; and his account of the occasion is worthy of preservation. "Mr. Macauley's personal appearance," says he, "is that of a heavy, dull man ; but in reahty he is entirely the opposite of this. One of his friends observed to me, ' He is a library of knowledge ; and it is quite a common thing among us, on almost all subjects, if a question is asked w:hich we are unable to answer, to say, Well, we'll ask Macauley; he can tell us.' He is full of conversation, but glad to hear that of others ; and when it depends on him to give it a direction, it is uniformly to serious and important subjects. He is a man of decided, cheerful piety, and of great usefulness in many of the national institutions estab- lished for its promotion. Of the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society he is a very active member, as well as of several other societies. " Mr. Macauley is well acquainted with Robert Owen, who is giving public lectures in London, on his plans for the reformation of the world by the substitution of reason for revelation. He considers Owen, as do many others, to be partially deranged ; of which there can be no stronger evi- dence than the delusion under which his mind continually labors, that his abstruse disquisitions before his, for the most part, illiterate audiences, are actually producing a great rev- olution in public sentiment ; and that, in a shoit time, gov- ernment i^elf will openly espouse his Utopian schemes. Some years ago, before his infidelity was so well known, he had a conference, at his own request, with a number of dis- tinguished gentlemen, including several who then belonged to the administration. They listened to his strange devel- opments, and there the matter ended ; but he told Mr. Ma- cauley he was confident he had made the whole company converts to his scheme. On another occasion, he fancied that the bishops and clergy were beginning to see their errors, and would embrace his views. He called on the 396 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishop of London, who treated him civilly, and as Macauley expressed it, bowed him out of the house. Their silence in relation to his com- munications was to him conclusive evidence of entire coinci- dence in his views ; and he reported to Macauley, very ex- ultingly, his success with these dignitaries of the church. Mr. Macauley told him perhaps he was mistaken in this ; and that the right way to test the matter would be to engage them to bring before Parliament some proposition on the subject. He took the hint, and actually called upon them again, and made the suggestion recommended ; when they soon gave him to understand, what courtesy had before pre- vented, that they considered him a visionary, and his plans downright nonsense. " The community, as he termed it, at Lanark, in Scot- land, owes any success that has attended it as a large man ufacturing establishment, to his having as his associates, religious men. William Allen, the distinguished Cluaker, was captivated with some parts of his scheme, and united with him ; but at once departed from so much of it as went to exclude the services and influences of religion ; and their determmation to lay aside many other of his whims led to the necessity of jfinally dismissing him from all agency in the concern. " Mr. Macauley is on terms of friendship and intercourse with Mr. Drummond, Mr. McNeile, and others of the pro- phetical school, and speaks highly of the talents and piety ol many of them ; but he has not the slightest tincture of their errors, and thinks the absurdities into which those of them who are churchmen are now running, of uniting ultra-high- churchmanship with excessive Calvinism, rigid views of election with baptismal regeneration, full assurance as a necessary part of true faith, with declamations against obe- dience as any evidence of its being warrantably asserted ; the persuasion of the speedy advent of Christ, with opposition to Bible societies and other religious efforts : these, with other MISSION TO ENaLAND. 397 strange views about the continuance oftlie power of miracles, the universal pardon of sin, the justification of the elect before their actual conversion, etc., will be likely to prevent the general spread of their main error, that of looking for the coming of Christ to establish a ternqjoral kingdom upon earth, instead of his coming into the hearts of men by the enlight- ening and sanctifying influences of his Spirit ; and, after the millennium, appearing with power and great glory in the heavens, as the final Judge of quick and dead." It would be pleasing to read Dr. Milnor's account of his dinner on Saturday, Sept. 11, with that unostentatious Chris- tian nobleman. Lord Bexley, at his beautiful seat. Foot's Cray, in Kent, twelve miles from London ; but his journal has already occupied more space than was intended in his memoirs, and the reader must therefore hasten with us to the period of his return to America. Before his final departure from London he made an ex- cursion to Cambridge, for the purpose of becoming acquaint- ed at the university. Unfortunately most of the professors had availed themselves of the privilege of vacation, and were absent, but he found delightful intercourse with one whom he styles " an Israelite indeed," Professor Parish, " a man of learning and piety, and of most unassuming and amiable manners." Nor did he miss an opportunity for further acquaintance with " the venerable Simeon, who for fifty years had been a blessing to the university and town of Cambridge." Having despatched all matters of business, and taken all his other adieus, his closing visit in London was to the truly noble president of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Lord Teignmouth, in Portman Square. " We found his lordship," he remarks, " in his library. He is now eighty-six years of age, and experiences many of the infirmities of a man of such advanced years. He receiv- ed me with great affability of manner, and expressed much regret, that his indisposition had prevented his attending the 398 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. anniversary of the Bible Society, and deprived him of the pleasure of paying me personal attentions during my stay in England. His memory of recent transactions has become very imperfect ; and that, more than any other circumstance, has latterly unfitted him for the active duties of president, which he has chiefly devolved on Lord Bexley. " We spent an hour with his lordship, and the interview left a strong impression on my mind in favor of his piety and benevolence. His literary talents will be as highly estimated by those who have read his excellent biography of Sir Will- iam Jones. He conducted us to the door, and desired me to present his best respects to the managers of the American Bible Society ; to assure them of the benefits, in his opin- ion, attendant on missions such as mine ; and to commu- nicate his particular regards to Col. Varick, our venerable president." Dr. Milnor left London on Wednesday, Sept. 15, in com- pany with Mr. Brandram, on his way to Liverpool, taking Oxford in his route, and stopped the first night at Henley- upon-Thames. The inn at this place is a rare one, and tempts us to pause long enough to give Dr. Milnor's short account of his evening there. " We arrived at Henley about dark, and took lodgings at the house of Mrs. Dixon, an inn immediately on the bank of the Thames, and at the entrance of the town. Mrs. Dixon is a singularly pious member of the established church, has a son associated with her who is like-minded, and endeavors to make all around her partakers of the happiness which she enjoys as a consistent disciple of Christ. Her estabhshment is large, and it is impracticable for her whole household to attend on religious duties at any one time. She therefore has reading of the Scriptures and prayers three times a day, and makes her arrangements so that every servant attends mie, and most of them two services daily. Mr. Brandram being an old acquaintance, Mrs. Dixon proposed, soon after our arrival, that we should allow her to invite some of her neigh- MISSION TO ENaLAKD. 399 bors to Scripture exposition and prayer in the evening, and also the following morning. Accordingly, Mr. Brandram read and expounded at nine o'clock, and I prayed ; and the next morning, at nine, I conducted lecture and prayer before a company which filled a large room. Our good landlady and her son expressed much gratitude, and we took our leave of them for Oxford about ten o'clock." We have now done with Dr. Milnor's journal of his visit to England. For, though, as at Cambridge, he saw all that was worthy of examination at Oxford, yet he found the lat- ter university still more effectually vacated than the former — not a professor, nor more than here and there a straggling student, within the shades of those venerable halls. He reached Liverpool the 20th of September, and embarked on the 27th. He kept no journal on his return-voyage to New York, had a safe, though long passage, and reached home on Saturday, the 30th of October. "When she approached the harbor, the ship received her pilot, and as he stepped upon her deck and recognized Dr. Milnor among the eager crowd of listeners for news, his first words to him conveyed the start- ling intelligence, " Bishop Hobart is dead V Thus ended every discord between those early friends. Their course ran not always smoothly through this jarring world ; but we may believe it is peaceful now, not only in their union of heart, but also in their oneness of views, as they look together on unshadowed truth, and, seeing eye to eye, admire the eternal things of God. To the American societies which he had represented in England, Dr. Milnor, after his return, made careful reports of his doings, and from them received expressions of heart- felt thanks. To himself, personally, Dr. Milnor's intercourse in Eng- land, and in the other countries which he visited, was a source of abundant pleasure, and of real profit. Not igno- rant previously of public men, and public life, he greatly extended his familiarity and intercourse with both, and re- 400 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. turned laden with profitable stores for thought and reflection as well as with delightful memories of men and things. Nor did he bring away blessings without leavkig blessings behind. His elevated Christian character, and his ready practical talents, secured him a facile and useful currency in the highest and best religious circles, and l|^t in his pathway many precious and abiding impressions of an active benevo- lence. Four years after his return the present writer was in England, and found himself, at almost every step, meeting with traces of Dr. Milnor's influence, and with proofs of the high consideration in which he was everywhere held. There was a sweet savor to his name in Great Britain, and a letter of commendation from him was itself a quick and sufficient passport both to confidence and to kindness, wherever kind- ness and confidence were most to be desired. In prefacing the introduction of his journal into these pages, an intimation was given that more would be said of the RESULTS of Dr. Milnor's mission. What those results were, as to the details of business actually transacted, the reader has had some opportunity of judging. These, how- ever, were the least important that followed in the train. The infl[uence of his mission upon the relations of our own Episcopal missionary organizations and operations with those of the mother country, has been most beneficial. He brought home an amount of practical knowledge in the management of missions, which we had not before possessed ; and he opened channels of full and free sympathy and intercourse, between ourselves and our brethren abroad, where there had previously been but little of the flux and reflux of living activities. His mission, moreover, gave him an interest and a stand- hig in the cause of education for the deaf and dumb, which he carried through life, and which made his subsequent ser- vices so important in the New York institution for that inter- esting class of his lellow-men. He obtained, too, a know- ledge of the posture of the afliiirs of Kenyon college in Eng- MISSION TO ENaLAND. 401 land, which was afterwards of great value to the interests of that young and imperilled seat of learning at the West. But without dwelling upon particulars like these, one of the happiest results of his mission is seen in the new rela- tions which have since arisen between the noble brother- hood of Christian societies in Great Britain, and their equally- noble fraternity in the United States ; especially in those mutual delegations to represent each other at their anni- versary celebrations, which have become of such frequent occurrence. It is needless to say, unless to such as have not reflected on this subject, that these great religious associations in the two countries, exhibit one of the most remarkable features of our age ; not merely in the vast amounts of money which they collect and apply to the difiusion, through the world, of correspondingly vast amounts of religious truth, and light, and living labors, but also in the immense mfluence which they exert upon society ; in the rich treasures of knowledge, facts, and statistics, geographical, historical, and scientific, which they are gathermg home from all lands ; and in their practical action upon even the governments both of barbarian and of civilized countries. These institutions have already a history and a literature, which are yearly growing richer and richer, and which will be known and felt, not only through all coming periods of the divine kingdom upon earth, but also on the pages of those who, with an enlightened and adequate after-thought, shall undertake to sketch the for- tunes of the lower kingdoms of this world. It will be remembered, then, that in relation to these grand institutions, Dr. Milnor's mission stands first in the series of delegations and interchanges, which have since characterized and given such intensity of life to their mutual intercourse, and which have contributed so largely to quicken and deepen the circulations of Christian truth and influence through the earth. Doubtless, the idea of this mission did not originate with him ; and it may not be possible to say 402 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. with whom it did originate. The truth is, hke many other great things, it seems to have originated with no one in par- ticular, hut with multitudes in common. It was the asking of the religious age. There was, in the mind of the religious puhlic, a deep feeling of the need of such a system of hving intercourse — a silent shapmg of events towards an open and sensible issue ; and it was the position which God, in his providence, had assigned to Dr. Milnor, in the affairs of active American Christianity, that pointed him out as the first, and perhaps the fittest embodiment of the idea thus distinctly conceived in the inner sense of the age, and sent him forth to be its first living, speaking, and acting expo- nent before men. Others have since followed him, from both sides of the waters, who may have possessed higher powers of personal display, and for immediate popular impression ; but few, if any, in the series, have equalled him in the prestige of name, and standing, and well-earned, well-settled influence : while none have surpassed him in qualifications for the busmess of such an agency ; and none have left behind them more hal- lowed and unstained memorials as a Christian, gentleman, and friend. HIS MINISTRY. 403 PART V. DR. MILNOR'S MINISTRY FROM 1830 TO 1845. SECTION I. In entering on an account of that portion of Dr. Milnor's ministry which followed his return from England, it will be proper to take a brief notice of his interest in the welfare of Kenyon college. Among the various efforts for the endowment of that institution, one resulted in founding " The Milnor Professor- sliip of Divinity." This professorship was endowed chiefly by members of St. George's, and the endowment was pre- sented to Kenyon college, subject to the condition that the nomination of the incumbent should reside in Dr. Milnor during his natural life. In this professorship he of course felt a deep interest, and this interest very naturally extended itself to the welfare of the whole institution. Hence, when he went to England, he went commissioned by Bishop Chase to have a friendly eye to the interests of the college in that country. About this period arose Bishop Chase's troubles with the trustees, ending in the resignation of his jurisdiction of the diocese of Ohio, and, as involved in that, his presidency of Kenyon college. During these developments and changes, the troubles of the college thickened, and days of darkness passed over its history. The Milnor professorship, the en- dowment of which was not yet quite full, was in danger of being lost ; and the college itself seemed almost sinking under its embarrassments. Through all these trials. Dr. Milnor's knowledge of the affairs of the institution in this country and in England, and 404 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. his strong interest in them, enabled and prompted him to be of great service to the bishop and his enterprise. He pledged himself to make up, out of his own private purse if neces- sary, the somewhat large deficiency in the endowment of the Milnor professorship ; and as a means of relieving the general embarrassments of tlie college, counselled the sale of the northern section of the valuable college domain. His nomination of Dr. Sparrow as the first incumbent of the Milnor professorship, placed an able and learned man at the head of the divinity department ; and when Dr. Sparrow accepted the professorship of systematic theology in the Vir- ginia Theological Seminary, the nomination of Dr. Fuller as his successor placed another sound instructor in the same important post of influence to our church at the West. In- deed, next to those who have been invested with the direct responsibility of founding and managing Kenyon college, few, it is believed, have rendered it such valuable services as Dr. Milnor ; and it is to be hoped, that through the professorship which bears his name, and which he did so much to estab- lish, preserve, and perpetuate, his influence will be felt, ages to come, in the dissemination of a sound theology and an uncorrupted piety throughout the most important portion of our country. To proceed now with matters more properly connected with this memoir. It is a long time since any reference in these pages has been made to the spiritual condition of St. George's parish. The following extract from a letter to one of his clerical cor- respondents will show that but a few months passed, after his return from Europe, before he was permitted to gather some rich fruits from his labors. To "New York, April 8, 1831. " Rev. and dear Brother — You have, of course, heard of the encouraging state of religious aflairs in New York. A time of deeper solemnity, in many congregations, has HIS MINISTRY. 405 never been known. Among Presbyteriajis, Methodists, Re- formed Dutch, and Baptists, conversions have been very numerous, and new cases are every day occurring — the greater part from among the youth, but many from the ranks of aged and apparently incorrigible sinners. In Dr. Lyell's congregation there is more attention than usual. In Mr. Mcllvaine's," in Brooklyn, " much interest prevails ; and he has the prospect of a large addition to the number of his communicants. To my own list, thirty-five were added on Easter Sunday ; and the whole number who communicated on that delightful day exceeded four hundred — the largest number to whom I have ever been permitted to administer the symbols of a dying Saviour's love. The interest still continues ; and I am looking, alas, with too small a measure of faith, for its increase. " Will you please to accept a little token of my affec- tion, 'Bridges on the Christian Ministry,' republished by Mr. Leavitt on my recommendation ? When shall we have the privilege of meeting ? I have not an absent friend on earth whom I am more desirous of seeing than yourself Let me say, my endeared brother, that few things will be more grati- fying to me, during the remainder of my rapidly passing days, than to know that I occupy a place in your heart, and to cherish you as one having a most near and intimate in terest in my own. Let us speak oftener with each other, and strengthen one another's zeal and ardor in the cause of Him whose we are and whom we serve. The Lord bless and keep you and yours. Commend me to your beloved partner, and believe me to be, in eternal bonds, " Your ever affectionate "JAMES MILNOR." The following letter to the same correspondent is given b<;cause it contains advice, and expresses views, on the sub- ject of removals from one parish to another, which ought, perhaps, in our day, to be more widely regarded. 406 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. "New York, Sept. 8, 1831. " My dear Friend — Your letter of the 5th I have just received. That I answer it thus promptly you are to ascribe, not to my preparedness to do so, but to my desire to comply as far as I can with your wishes, and to the fear that, in this respect, I should gain no advantage by delay. " You will not suspect me of affecting an interest in your concerns which I do not feel, when I say that I have thought much of you and Kentucky, since we conversed together at your own house ; and that I have never been able to think more favorably of the project than I did at that time. By information from various quarters, I am confirmed in the persuasion that you occupy a sphere of great and growing usefulness. So far as the objects of the Christian ministry are concerned, I can scarcely conceive of a more desirable position for the exercise of your office, whether it regard your immediate or your collateral influence. Now it ap- pears to me, that the influence which divine Providence has from the beginning assigned you, is of a religious character ; and this, it does not seem to me, will be increased by a re- moval to L : on the contrary, it may be impaired by its association with secular pursuits. As to the assistant-min- istership, that w^ill not be required, unless a new election for bishop should, a year hence, have a more favorable result than the late mismanaged attempt ; and I fear, that if the principal object for removal be an association with Mr. 's laudable undertaking" — a promising literary institution — " the opprobrium will be cast upon you of being biased by the pecuniary advantages which it offers, as well as of fickleness and a desire of change. Ought it not to be a principle with every clergyman, not to leave a situation of undoubted use- fulness for any other, until he has evidence, of the most sat- isfactory kind, that his usefulness will be enlarged in that to which he is invited ? Is there such evidence in the pres- ent case ? After making due allowances for very natural HIS MINISTRY. 407 feelings on the part of Mr. and Mr., , I do exceed- ingly question whether there is any real preponderance in favor of L . So far as emolument is concerned, the latter place would seem, from the statements of Mr. , to present a powerful inducement to become his associate ; hut it is pulpit-teaching, and not literary instruction, which I take to he the province assigned you hy our common Mas- ter ; and just in proportion as a minister's situation calls him from the former to the latter, I have ever seen his char- acter and influence, as an ambassador of Christ, deteriorate. There is, indeed, an apology for a partial and even an entire transition from the pulpit to the school, in the incompatibil- ity with health of the incessant discharge of the duties of the ministry. But I hope this is not your case. Your tem- porary weakness has been produced by circumstances of a special character, only now and then occurring in any con- gregation. Something also is due to the feelings of an at- tached people, who have a right to expect the minister of their choice and affection not to leave them but upon grounds of duty the most unquestioned. " You will probably think there is more of decision in this conclusion, than you had reason to expect at the begin- ning of this letter ; and I do confess, that the more I think upon the question which it discusses, the more averse I feel to say one word that might lead to the sundering of your present connection. " But after all, my dear brother, I have no such partial- ity for my own leanings on this subject, as not to acquiesce in any conclusion to which your deeper reflection and better judgment may conduct you. I feel quite confident that you will not decide upon it without a reference to that great Being, from whom ' all good counsels do proceed ;' and what- ever may be your conclusion, you will remain very dear to me, and I trust will esteem me " Your faithful friend and Christian brother, "JAMES MILNOR." 408 MEMOIR OF DH. MILNOR. In the year 1830, a " Literary Convention" was held m the city of New York, at which a committee was appointed to consider and report, at a future meeting, on " the propri- ety of studying the Bible, as a classic, in the institutions of a Christian country." About the first of November, 1831, the convention reassembled, and the committee presented their report. " After an extensive correspondence with gen- tlemen of various religious opinions," they " recommended in their report, that the Bible should receive the respect and attention due to a classic in our literary institutions." To carry this recommendation into effect, the convention, at their session in 1831, appointed a second committee "to pre- pare and report a plan of biblical instruction, especially in reference to the academical and collegiate course." This important committee was composed of Dr. Milnor as chair- man, Dr. Maclay, W. C. Woodbridge, Professor Vethake, and Professor Woolsey ; and was instructed to report its plan at a meeting of the convention in October, 1832. Preparatory to this final report, the committee, through their chairman, issued a circular, addressed to all the heads of colleges and academies, and to other gentlemen of religious influence in the country, askhig such information as might be useful to the committee in devising the contemplated plan for the general study of the Bible as an academic and college clas- sic. This great measure, however, failed of success. Sev- eral letters, among the papers of Dr. Milnor, in reply to the circular of the committee, show that it met with apparently insuperable difficulties. Yet the conception was noble ; and the place assigned to Dr. Mihior, in the attempt to realize it, shows the estimation in which he was held, and the relation which he bore to the great religious and philan- thropic movements of his age. It was not long after his return from Europe before his life assumed its wonted channel, and continued to flow on year after year in quiet but ceaseless activity. In follow- ing him, therefore, the rest of his way, we shall have little HIS MINISTRY. 409 to do but to give such letters as liaxe been preserved, illustrative of his character and course, notice some of the more important events in which he was yet to be an ac- tor, and add some general views of his position and influ- ence. The following extracts from letters to his son, revive remembrances of the gloomy times which passed over New York in the summer of 1832, when " the cholera" swept so many thousands to the grave. At the same time they are interesting, inasmuch as they show, that during all the hor- rors of that wasting plague, Dr. Milnor deserted not his post, but continued his ministries among both the living and the dead. "New York, July 21, 1832. " Dear Henry — The daily reports of the board of health will inform you of the general state of things here in regard to the prevailing disease. Yesterday's report was the most unfavorable : two hundred and two new cases, and upwards of eighty deaths. I myself awoke yesterday morning with a diarrhoea, but under Dr. Stearns' advice, took five pills of his preparing, and this morning find myself entirely relieved. I have lost but one parishioner, old Mr. Mitchell of James- street. He was at church on Sunday, sickened on Tuesday, and died Wednesday. Many die in from one to three hours after the attack. Hitherto, a very large majority of the cases, especially of those that prove mortal, are of persons of dis- solute or irregular habits ; and from the great number of drunken people seen in the streets, it would seem as if they were bent on their own destruction. There is no sickness in our immediate neighborhood. M and his bar-keeper, who kept an abominable dram-shop, were taken ill at nearly the same time, and died in a few hours. I continue my ser- vices as usual. This afternoon at six o'clock I have my lecture in the church, preparatory to communion on Sunday next. The congregation is very much diminished, but on Sunday last there were more than I could have expected. Mem. Milnor. 1 8 410 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. This week, however, has been one of considerable anxiety, and many have removed. " Your affectionate father, "JAMES MILNOR." To the same. "New York, Aug. 6, 1832. " My dear Henry — We have heard, with great regret, of the indisposition of your cousin William, and some other members of the family whose kindnesses you are receiving ; and, with much sorrow, that the cholera has begun its work in Philadelphia." [ This letter reached his son while he was resident-phy- sician in the Southwark cholera hospital, to which the first case of the disease in Philadelphia was brought. He had not informed his father of his position, lest he should occa Bion alarm.] *' With us it continues its ravages among the intemper- ate, and in some, but comparatively few instances, among those who are temperate. It is the remark of every physi- cian with whom I have conversed, that in the course of their practice, they could, with few exceptions, trace every severe case of cholera to intemperance in drinking, improper food, or some other manifestly exciting cause. The Rev. Mr. H.'s case was lamentable. He and his wife and child. Dr. A. who attended them, and a colored nurse, all fell victims to this terrible disease. In Broad-street, Mrs. T., and seven of her family besides, were cut oiF in a few days. It is be- lieved, that in both these sad cases, local causes of a noxious character had a principal share in their production and fatality. " Yesterday I officiated twice m St. George's, and, with the advice of my vestry, gave notice that the church will be closed for the remainder of the month. Probably two- thirds or three- fourths of the congregation are absent from the city ; and 'as this is about the time of our aimual clean- ing, it was thought best to close for that purpose. HIS MINISTRY. 411 " I would now willingly give the farpily a little country air, but there is great difficulty in knowing where to go with safety, and at the same time have a favorable reception. We must inquire and determine, in the course of a few days, whether to remain or go. I must be principally at my post. With our best regards to all our dear friencj^, I remain, " Your affectionate father, "JAMES MILNOR." After the removal of the scourge of pestilence. Dr. Mil- nor was left to spend a long lonely season at home, in conse- quence of the illness of his younger daughter Eleanor. She had become the subject of a nervous debility, which com- pelled her to travel ; and to enable her to do this with com- fort and a hope of benefit, Mrs. Milnor and Henry were obliged to accompany her. They accordingly took a voyage to Charleston and Savannah, with the prospect of remaining at the south till the spring of 1833. In the meantime, his elder daughter Anna fell sick at home, and was for several weeks confined to her room by an attack which threatened a result in pulmonary disease. This season, however, of domestic gloom at length passed away, and the whole fam- ily were again reunited in customary happiness, though not at once in their customary health. The following extract from a letter which his son re- ceived soon after his settlement in Philadelphia, touches a subject not yet introduced into these pages, but without a notice of which our view of Dr. Milnor's inner life would be incomplete. He had as much happiness as any father in the respect and affection of his children ; but, for long years, he had not the comfort of knowing that any of them were partakers of his own "good hope through grace." Many of his letters evince how deep were his fatherly sdlicitudes for their salvation, and how profound his Christian sorrows over the protracted delay to which the realization of his hopes in their behalf was subjected. Of this the extract alluded to furnishes an affecting illustration. 418 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. "New York, April 15, 1833. " Dear Henry — I received your letter, written imme- diately on your arrival in Philadelphia, as did your mother the one written to her, I know not that any thing mate- rial has occurred, since you left us, within the circle of our acquaintance. Our Easter election for vestrymen was peace- ful and satisfactory ; and every thing is as I could wish it in my congregation, except that my desires are not fully grati- fied in the increase of the number of those who are willing to devote themselves to a religious life. No one circum- stance preys more upon my spirits, and more imbitters my private meditations, than that neither of my dear children has done so. The unhappiness is twofold : first, on their account, for I know that without religion they cannot be truly happy in this life, and must be miserable in eternity ; and second, because I fear I have not done my duty in their education, and that, should they be- lost, their guilt and con- demnation will lie at my door. Reflections on these sub- jects sometimes agonize my heart, and almost unfit me for my necessary duties. One thing, my dear son, is certain ; if you have really listened to my preaching with the attention which your appearance from Sunday to Sunday has seemed to indicate, you must be theoretically acquainted with all the great truths of the gospel, and especially with the means by which a sinner must be saved fi'om eternal ruin. Why have not those means produced the desired eflect ? " You are the subject of my continual prayers ; and I will hope that you will not be content with avoiding evil associations, but will ' seek the Lord while he may be tbund, and call upon him while he is near.' It would give me more pleasure than your accession to a large estate, to know that you had the same interests, objects, and attachments, which I trust will engross my heart till I am called to my account. I was rejoiced to hear of the manner in which you spent your first Sunday in Philadelphia, and sincerely hope that you will uniformly observe the Sabbath-day ; and HIS ^imSTRY. 413 may the Lord, who has not made the ministry of a parent eiiectual to your conversion, give that honor to some more devoted mhiister of Christ. Accept the assurance of an un- ceasing parental anxiety for you, on the part of your dear mother, and of " Your affectionate father, "JAMES MILNOP.." The following was written soon after his return from an eastern journey. To the Rev. "New York, July 1, 1833. ** My dear Friend — I have the pleasure to inform you, that we reached home in safety on Saturday evening, and with our dear daughter's health evidently much improved ; and that I was able to preach to my beloved people on the following day in the forenoon ; while, in the afternoon, they were gratified with a discourse from our friend the Bishop of Ohio, the last to be expected from him before his depart- ure for his labors in the West." [After his consecration, the previous autumn. Bishop Mcllvaine had spent several months in a finally successful attempt to raise, in various cities at the East, the sum of $30,000, to relieve the embar- rassments of Kcnyon college, before entering on the duties of its presidency.! " He collected enough, before he left Philadelphia, to make his subscriptions amount to $28,000. Could he have gone to Baltimore, 1 have no doubt he would have completed his desired sum. "All accounts concur in giving a very favorable repre- sentation of the seminary proceedings last week. The dis- sertations of the graduates, it is said, were excellent in spirit and in style. Indeed, my acquaintance with most of them, and with many others of the students, inspires me with a very pleasing hope of an increasing tendency, in that impor- tant institution of our church, towards moderate church views, and evangelical doctrines. 414 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. •' You will see, by the Recorder of last week, the de lightful promise of the collegiate institution at Bristol, Penn- sylvania : I verily believe no attempt in the church, by those of our views, has ever been made, from which more good will result, provided the energies "of the pious are promptly put forth in its establishment and support. Let us pray earnestly for our dear brother C. and liis associates, and for the complete success of this hallowed work. " Your affectionate friend and brother, "JAMES MILNOR." This letter, placed in the light of subsequent events, shows that Dr. Milnor was disappointed in two of his most pleasing anticipations : his hope, that the tendency of our General Seminaiy would be increasingly towards moderate church views, and evangelical doctrines ; and his hope, that Bristol college would live to fulfil its first " delightful prom- ise" of good to the cause of scriptural truth and godliness. The star of Bristol college has long since fallen from our ecclesiastical firmament, into the darkness of utter extinc- tion ; while that of our G eneral Seminary is suffering an occultation, which threatens to be gloomier than the dark- ness even of extinction itself. There is blessed light within it yet ; but baleful shadows have fallen between it and our eyes, portending " trouble and darkness," and the " dimness of anguish," to those who look for the breaking forth of the true brightness. In a letter to Bishop Mcllvaine, dated January 22, 1834, soon after the bishop's full entrance on his official duties, having congratulated him on the encouraging prospects which had greeted his settlement in Ohio, and spoken of disturb- ances in the New York University — a new institution, in founding and organizing which, Dr. Milnor had taken a prominent part — he inserts the following paragraph, touch- ing another of the topics of the day. It shows the stead- fastness of the grasp by which he held his own original religious convictions and principles HIS MINISTRY. , 415 ''Your brother of , (wliom I do^jiot cease sincerely to love, ) under the auspices of a confessedly powerful advo- cate of the claims of the church, is, I think, fast ascending tow^ards the topmost step of the Episcopal ladder. I am sorry for it, on the score both of propriety and of expediency. "What does that beloved brother mean, in the address to his Convention, where, in reference to Christians of other denom- inations, he speaks of ' ivithdraiving ourselves, in a great measure, from their plans and movements for doing good V If he refer to ultra new-hght measures in revivals, etc., it is well. But Ave have never been associated with, and there- fore cannot 'withdraw from,' these things. If he mean Bible and Tract operations, his course will be disapproved by all his old friends ; and will, I am persuaded,- greatly impede the progress and prosperity of the church in his diocese." As an index to some of the movements of the day, the following may be interesting : To the Et. Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine. "New York, April 21, 1834. " Rt. Hev. and dear Sir — I cannot let my young friend, Mr. W. H. Moore, set out on his journey to Gambler with- out a short line, as well to commend him to your kind re- gards as to assure you of the affectionate interest which I constantly feel in all that concerns your personal happiness, and the interesting charge which divine Providence has thrown upon you. You have many prayers ofiered for you in this eastern region ; and I trust our gracious Lord is ren- dering answers in the acceptance and prosperity with which he is rewarding your self-denying and assiduous exertions. All the accounts are favorable to the hope, that the great loss which we have sustained in your separation from us, will prove, through the divine blessing, an immense gain to Ohio and the neighboring states. " A few days since, I received a very kind letter from Dr. 416 MEilOIPw OF DR. MILNOR. Gregory, who speaks of you in the most affectionate terms, and of the gratification which it afixjrded him to have been instrumental in the pubhcation of an EngHsh edition of your Lectures on the Evidences — a work which, he says, ' is highly esteemed by Lord Bexley, the Bishop of Winchester, Dr. Dealtry, and other competent judges, and is getting into very good circulation in England.' He speaks also in terms of eulogy of your ' faithfully simple and touching farewell sermon,' which he would have had printed for private cir- culation, had he not lost the copy which you sent him. " You have doubtless heard that the Bristol institution has been chartered as a college, and has expectations of a larger accession of students than it can accommodate. But you will probably be surprised to hear that our brother endeavored to defeat the application for a charter, on the ground that it was not connected with the church, and did not place the bishop at the head of its direction. A few months ago he deprecated such a measure. The views of our good brother are, to all appearance, changing. ** I am happy to say, that in our theological seminary here, there is an increasing spirit of evangelical piety among the students, and much more liberality of conduct than for- merly, on the part of its directors, towards those who profess themselves of the moderate school. '* The Lord have you all in his holy keeping, m time and in eternity. I remain, truly, " Your affectionate friend, "JAMES MILNOR." The letters and extracts thus given, bring us to a period in the life of Dr. Milnor, at which he was called to under- take another important mission. The operations of our Do- mestic and Foreign Missionary Society among the Indians at their Green Bay station, had become seriously embar- rassed, and it was necessary either to reduce the mission, or to place it on a more secure basis. With a view to the decision of this alternative, it was at length resolved, at a HIS MINISTRY. 417 meeting of the Board of Directors in May, 1834, " to appoint a suitable person to visit the missionary station at Green Bay, as agent, to examine and report on the state of its affairs." The appointment fell upon Dr. Milnor, and though the resolution of the board contemplated but a single agent, yet, apparently at his suggestion, two other gentlemen, Drs. Hawks and Kemper, were nominated as his associates. The former was prevented by illness in liis family from accepting the nomination, but the latter consented to engage with Dr. Milnor in the proposed visit. Accordingly, after much time, in the month of June, spent in making the necessary arrangements and provisions, and in furnishing the requisite instructions and documents for their guidance, the two agents left New York on Thursday, July 3, in time to take the steamer of the 10th from Buffalo. The documents with which they were furnished were numerous and important, involving the internal affairs of the mission, and its external relations to the government of the United States ; and the instructions with which they were supplied clothed them with all needful powers. The two agents reached Green Bay at the time proposed, and Dr. Milnor at once forwarded to his wife the followmg letter. "Mission-House, Green Bay, Michigan, > July 17, 1834. \ " My dear Ellen — I have great pleasure in now writ- ing to you from the place of our destination, which Dr. Kemper and I reached last evening in perfect health. Con- sidering that we spent our first Sabbath at Auburn, and a whole day in visiting the falls ; and that we were detained a day at Detroit, while the steamer was taking in wood, and another at Mackinaw for the same purpose, besides stoppages of a few hours each at two other places, it is considered by our friends here that we have made an uncommonly rapid journey ; and when we compare it with the month or six weeks, or even two months, during which some, in former 18=^ 418 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. times, have been employed in its accomplishment, we have great cause of thankfulness to God, both for the expedition and the pleasure with which we have been permitted to complete thus far our arduous undertaking. Of our return we cannot anticipate so favorably. . "We are likely to be dis- appointed in obtaining a passage back through the lakes by steamers, none being expected here until long after the time when we shall have fulfilled the purpose of our visit, and be desirous of returning. Hopes are held out that our passage in a good schooner may be obtained ; but it is possible that even in this we may be disappointed. Our steamer, ' the Michigan,' leaves this afternoon ; and when she is gone, the port of Navarino will not contain a single vessel larger than a barge or a canoe. " We were pleased to find the missionary family and their interesting pupils all in good health, and the mission-house spacious and convenient, and very pleasantly located on the Fox river. The Rev. Mr. Cadle, though no longer connect- ed with the mission, having removed to the settlement of the Oneida Indians about nine miles off) was yet fortunately here, and will remain for the purpose of assisting us in our inqui- ries, which will be industriously prosecuted, so that we may be ready -for the first opportunity of turning our faces east- ward. " I have many things to say, but my time is so occupied this morning, that I can only conclude with the customary salutations to all the family, and assure you that I remain, unalterably, " Your faithful husband, ♦'JAMES MILNOR." The following is a summary view of the objects and results of the agency. In their report to the Executive Committee, which is a document of considerable length from the pen of Dr. Milnor, the agents state, that their " residence at the mission-house was continued from the evening of their arrival until the HIS MINISTllY. 419 4th of August," full eighteen days. Of these, '' ten days of assiduous application were devoted to their inquiries and observations. Their subsequent detention, for want of any means of return, supplied them with a further opportunity of maturing their reflections, and preparing their statement for the perusal of the committee." This statement, drawn up in a minute and business-like manner, embraced the fol- lowing general heads: "Mission buildings and farm; mis- sion family ; supplies ; mission schools ; reduction of schools ; past beneiits of the mission; Oneidas; the Menominees ; min- isterial labors of the agents ; conclusion." For the particu- lars of this report, reference may be had to the October and November numbers of "the Missionary Record," for the year 1834. The account of their visit to the Oneidas is peculiarly interesting ; and their labors as preachers during their ab- sence, were of frequent occurrence. The " conclusion " of their report, and the "instructions" given immediately after- wards to the new superintendent by the Executive Commit- tee, will sufficiently indicate the results of their mission. The agents say, " We cannot conclude without repeating our conviction, that under the auspices of an enlightened, economical, and pious administration, this mission may be continued with great literary and religious benefit to its immediate benefi- ciaries ; with a happy influence upon society at Green Bay, and with credit and advantage to the church. " With the proposed reasonable limitation of its numbers, and suitable guards against improvident expenditure, we think that there are abundant motives for persevering in this work of Christian beneficence ; and that no thought should be entertained of its present abandonment. " On the contrary, with the rising missionary spirit of our church, we would fain anticipate a new impulse in favor of its maintenance and improvement. And if, at some future period, in the changing circumstances of our Indian popula- tion, its relinquishment should be judged expedient, wer have 420. MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. no doubt the reasons for such a measure would then com- mend themselves to all ; while its premature adoption would find a sufficient sanction, neither in the past history, nor in the present situation, nor yet in the future prospects of the mission. A certain good, of no inconsiderable extent, would be surrendered, before substitutes of unquestioned value were prepared to take its place, and a character of uncalled-for fickleness be stamped upon our operations. *' The weight of these considerations is increased by the high estimation in which our mission is held by the respect- able and good in the West. It has the regard, we believe, of the whole Protestant population there, who are acquainted with its character and doings, and whose moral dispositions qualify them to estimate aright its value. " We have done, and will still seek to do the Indians good. Our mission will continue to be conducted with ' the meekness of wisdom,' and so long as the less prejudiced shall continue their children under its care, they will be prepared by wholesome instruction to fulfil with propriety their duties to God and man ; and some of them, we hope, be invested, through faith in the Redeemer of mankind, with the most elevated expectations of his true disciples. " JAMES MILNOR." "JACKSON KEMPER." The instructions given by the Executive Committee to the new superintendent, so far as they grew out of the report of the agents, were the following : "1. To reduce the number of boarding pupils to fifty, and to give preference to full- blood Indian children, espe- cially Menominees. "2. To make arrangements for having the pupils in- structed in the difierent trades suggested in the report of the Rev. Drs. Milnor and Kemper. "3. Whenever practicable, to have the candidates for admission into the school bound for as long a term as the HIS MINISTRY. 421 law will allow ; and whenever it is unavoidably lessened. to abridge it as little as possible. "4. To receive no children into the establishment over twelve, nor under five years of age. "5. To take such measures as are calculated to give a decidedly religious character to the duties of the schools, by the formation of Bible and catechetical classes, and by hav- ing, on the first day of the week, the usual exercises of Sun- day-schools. *' 6. To have cleared and prepared annually, for tillage or pasture, a portion of the land belonging to the society ; to increase, from time to time, the number of milch-cows, and to purchase a pair of horses, a wagon, and a sled for the use of the farm, and a low-priced vehicle for the accommo- dation of the mission family." The results, then, of the agency to Green Bay were the reduction of the mission to the measure of the society's means for its support, and the maturing of a judicious plan for its future more eliective management. In reaching these results, however, extensive mvestigations were necessary, involving intercourse with agents and officers of the United States government ; interviews, through interpreters, with Indian tribes ; and careful examinations of the domestic economy of the mission family, of the schools, and of their books and system of instruction — work for which few men in our church could be found more happily qualified than Dr. Milnor and his associate. After their return and report, and under the new and somewhat reduced system of operations which they recom- mended, confidence in the mission revived, and its operations were successfully mamtained until changes in the Indian population of its neighborhood rendered its final abandon- ment a measure of no longer doubtful expediency. Upon their return, the agents proceeded together, by the lakes, until they reached Huron, upon lake Erie, in Ohio. At tliis point they separated, Dr. Kemper continuing by the 422 MEilOIR OF DR. MILNOR. lake to Buffalo and New York ; while Dr. Milnor passed down through Ohio, to Kenyon college at Gambier, and thence home by the way of Baltimore and Philadelphia. We return now to letters and extracts from Dr. Milnor's correspondence. In the month of June, 1835, Dr. Milnor attended the annual convention of our church in Massachusetts, which met at Pittsfield. His object in attending was, informally, to represent the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society at a missionary meeting for which arrangements had been made in connection with the occasion. With this reference, the following letter explains itself To the Rev. John S. Stone. "New York, June 24, 1830. " My dear Brother — On the importunate request of several of the brethren at Pittsfield, I agreed to endeavor, by the help of memory and the little memorandum from which I spoke at the missionary meetmg, to recall and note for publication in * the Witness ' the substance of what I de- livered. ^ " I reached home on Monday evening, and at eight o'clock yesterday morning was obliged to attend the annual meeting of the trustees of the General Theological Seminary, the business of which vsdll occupy us until the Commence- ment on Friday next. I mention this as my apology for sending you such a scrawl, and for asking of you the favor of examining and correcting whatever you may see to be amiss, before you send it to the printer. I leave it to your- self to call it a speech, or an address, or the substance of either, or what you please, and to introduce it in such a way as you may think proper. I hope you have reduced your speech to writing, and will also publish it. " I am suddenly called to a funeral, and remain, in haste, " Yours, most afiectionately, "JAMES MILNOR," His MINISTRY. 423 The following exhibits the interest which, until it be- came inextricably involved by the management of others, Dr. Milnor continued to feel in the concerns of Bristol college. To the Rev. J. P. K. Henshaw. D. D. "New York, Aug. 5, 1835. *' E,EV. AND DEAR Brother — You havc, no doubt, before this, received official information of your appointment as an agent for Bristol college. The president was led to believe you might be prevailed on to undertake a six months' en- gagement in this interesting service, and that it would be practicable for you to make arrangements with your congre- gation lor an entire devotion of your attention to it for that period. I sincerely hope this may be the case, as the cir- cumstances of the college are now peculiarly trying ; the press for admission being very great, and our accommoda- tions quite inadequate even to the comfortable living of the present students, and the board of trustees entirely without the means of their extension ; while the debt incurred in building the new hall, is, to a considerable extent, unpaid. If the institution should continue long in its present condi- tion, its friends who are disappointed in obtaining admission for their children will be discouraged, and much patronage be lost. It would be a subject of great regret, if an enter- prise so popular should either fail or falter in its course, for want of those timely exertions which might place it on a footing of permanency and respectability of the highest order. It wants a man just like yourself to go forth as its advocate, and gather for it present means, and the assurance of con- tinued aid, until it is placed on the basis of indejDendence enjoyed by other literary institutions of our country. " Allow me, as a friend of the college, to hope you will accept the .appointment ; and, as your personal friend, to wish you the honor of being, under Providence, the in- strument of insuring the stability and success of such a 424 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. promising means of usefulness to the church and to the country. " Yours, very faithfully and truly, "JAMES MILNOR." The next shows where he was, and intimates in what he was employed during the remainder of the month, and for a part of September. To Mrs. Milnor. "Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 1, lS3b. "My dear Ellen — I was much disappointed on Satur- day by Mr. Cairns' omission to call, as he promised he would on his way to the steamer, for a letter which I had written to explain to you the necessity under which I was unexpect- edly laid, of remaining here until the close of the Convention. Had I not expected to see Mr. Cairns, 1 should have gone down to Dr. Klapp's to give Henry the letter, and explain to him personally the reason of my not returning on Satur- day. I did not write yesterday, because I was fully per- suaded that the Convention would have closed its session last evening. That was not the case. If it had been, I should this morning have been on my way home. It is now uncertain whether we shall get through to-day. If we do, I shall certainly. Providence permitting, be at home to-morrow evening ; but you must not be disappointed if I should be delayed yet one day longer. " It will give you pleasure to be informed, that all ia harmony and peace. Never has there been a meeting of the great council of our church, at which so much has been done, and so well and satisfactorily done ; and there is every prospect that this state of things will continue to the end. We have had many interesting public meetings hi the even- hig ; one last night at St. Stephen's, of pecuhar interest. — Love to every member of the family. " Afiectionately yours, "JAMES MILNOR." HIS MINISTEY. 425 The references In this letter are to the^ well-known Gen- eral Convention of our church in 1835, and the simultaneous triennial meeting of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, at which the new constitution of the latter was adopted — proclaiming for our Zion the truth, that in her missionary operations, " the field is the woFwLD ;" and placing the two departments of this field, the domestic and the foreign, under the supervision of two distinct executive committees, with each its own secretary and general agent. The history of this important change, and of its results in our missionary operations, it is not necessary in this place to write. That history lies on our public records, and lives in our public doings. The first meeting of " The Board of Missions," the new body "intrusted with the supervision of the general missionary operations of the church," was held in Philadelphia, Sept. 1, 1835, when the two executive com- mittees were elected. The second meeting of the board was held in the same city on the 23d of the same month, when the two secretaries and general agents of those committees were elected. This election fell upon the Rev. Mr, Dorr, for the domestic, and upon Dr. Milnor, for the foreign committee. Both committees were ultimately located in New York. The question now presented itself for Dr. Milnor's con- sideration, whether he was in duty bound to accept the im- portant office to which he had been thus called. That it would, at first, be a laborious office, there could be no doubt. The whole internal economy of our general missionary society must necessarily undergo essential modification. Not only were new missions to be projected, but also a new system of management to be devised and matured. Every thing was to start upon a plan so new in the office of each secre- tary, as to require nothing less than the undivided attention of each for at least the first year of operation. Was it, then, Dr. Milnor's duty to undertake his part of the task ? The thought of resigning his rectorship, and retiring from his parish, was not for a moment to be entertained. To dear 426 MilMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. St. George's he felt himself wedded for hfe. And yet there was a manifest suitableness in the choice which had called him to the head of the foreign department. There was not a clerical man in our church, north, south, east, or west, so well qualified for the post as himself; whether by general and accurate busmess habits and experience, or by particular familiarity with the foreign missionaiy work. The whole previous course of his life had been fitting him, though with- out apparent design, yet with thorough effect, for this veiy office. The pressure of the question upon liis mind at length determined him to throw the whole upon the responsibility of his vestry, and to abide their decision of the case. He had repeatedly before called upon them for sacrifices of paro- chial to public good, and doubted not, that if duty seemed to them to point distinctly in the new direction, they would be found capable of their customary magnanimity, and without hesitation give their advice in accordance with right, though against the leanings of inclination. Accordingly, a meeting of his vestry was called, and the case submitted to their consideration. It should be stated, that the annual salary of each of the two secretaries had been fixed by the board at $2,300. The statement which he laid before his vestry in- cluded the following particulars. " That it should be proposed to the foreign committee to receive Dr. Milnor's acceptance of the office, with an under- standing that he should be at liberty to relinquish it at the next meeting of the Board of Missions : that in the mean- time he should decline all personal emolument from the office ; but that, to enable him to detach himself as much as his agency should require from the duties of the parish, , a parochial assistant should be appointed for one year, with an adequate salary, say $1,000 ; this sum to be paid out of the salary aiipropriated by the Board of Missions to the agent of the i'orcigii committee, the residue of the stipend of the agent to be at the disposal of that committee. " At the same time he apprized the vestry, that in the HIS MINISTRY. 427 event of their acceding to this arrangemeftt, the duties of his agency might be expected to be of a very absorbing nature. The office for the transaction of business must be arranged and put in order ; the minutes and papers of the late commit- tee be examined ; an extensive correspondence be forthwith entered upon ; plans be projected for widening the sphere of missionary operations, and means be proposed for an -increase of pecuniary resources, proportioned to the noble views of the church in reference to the great work of which she had now assumed the charge. Added to these duties, frequent ab- sences from the city on missionary business would be indis- pensable ; and when at home, personal attendance at the missionary rooms would be a daily duty. " Under these circumstances, he desired them seriously to consider whether, as the representatives of the congrega- tion, they could make such a sacrifice to the interests of the mission cause ; declaring, that if they should be adverse to the plan, he would decline the appointment, and content himself Avith fulfilling the ordinary duties of a member of the committee. But if, on the contrary, they should assent to his engagement in the duties of the agency in the way suggested, though he felt an humble sense of his insufficiency for the work, yet he would enter upon it in reliance upon the help of God, and with the assistance of his brethren ; calculating upon a more laborious course of bodily and men- tal service than he had yet known, and earnestly hoping that the result might redound to the glory of God and the exten- sion of the kingdom of the Redeemer," The action of his vestry on these generous and Christian proposals was affirmative ; they consented to, and advised the acceptance of the office ; while the foreign committee, on their part, at their first meeting, October 12, 1835, readily acceded to the terms on which his acceptance w^as offered. The parochial assistant appointed by his vestry was the Kev. James W. Cooke, who subsequently became one of our highly esteemed foreign secretaries. 428 MEMOIR OF DE. MILNOR. The expectations raised by Dr. Milnor's acceptance of the ofEce were not disappointed. He impressed on his depart- ment his own thorough habits of business, and imparted to our whole missionary development a before uiiattained sys- tem and efficiency. It is presumed that few if any will deny, that in its practical details and workmgs, our general missionary organization, especially in its foreign branch, owes more to him than to any other single individual. The year which he spent in the office, proved indeed one of his most laborious ; lor it must be remembered, that he held at the same time his post of great toil both in the American Bible and in the American Tract Societies, besides vaiious other places of resjDonsibility and care in connection with our own church and with the cause of general benevolence. So severe, in fact, were his labors during this year, and so pro- foundly interested, as well as engrossed, did he become in the mhdonary department, that some of his immediate friends, fearful that he might be induced to continue his agency be- yond the year for which he engaged, and apprehensive of dangerous consequences to his health from such continuance, felt constrained to expostulate with him, and to insist upon his resignation at the close of the specified term. Accord- ingly, at the first annual meeting of the Board of Missions, held in the month of June, 1836, his resignation was ten- dered, and by the following action of the board, accepted. ^'Resolved, That the Rev. Dr. Milnor be requested to continue in the discharge of the official duties of Secretary and General Agent, until a successor be appointed and ready to enter on the duties of his appointment ; provided, that the services of Dr. Milnor are not understood to be required beyond the expiration of a year from the time when he com- menced his duties. " Resolved, That in accepting the resignation of the Rev. Dr. Milnor, as Secretary and General Agent of the Committee for Foreign Missions, the Board deeply regret the necessity which dictates that measure ; and would, by this HIS MINISTRY. 429 resolution, express their grateful sense of the eminent ability, zeal, industry, and success, with which, under divine Provi- dence, he has been permitted to labor so faithfully in this holy cause." " The Rev. John A. Vaughan, of Salem, Mass., was elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Dr. Milnor." The latter, however, continued in the labors of the office until the 4th of October, 1836 ; about which time Dr. Vaughan took his place, and with distinguished abihty conducted the affairs of his department. The final report of his doings, which Dr. Milnor presented on retiring from his labors, and which recounts his various journeyings through different states, on the business of his agency, may be found in the "Spirit of Missions" for November, 1836, pp. 328-333. Nor was it in the business alone of our missionary organ- ization, that his influence was benignly felt, but in the spii-it also, which began increasingly to pervade the missionary life of our church. The different diocesan conventions, and their sinmltaneous missionary meetings, which he attended for the purpose of addressing their assembled clergy and laity, be- came, in no poor sense, scenes of missionary revival ; and the sermons which he preached at many other places on his way, were the blessed means of diffusing among our people some portion of his own pure and ardent missionary zeal. In short, the year of his secretaryship and general agency, while it was doubtless the culminating point of his ascent along the path of active duty, was also to our church a season of rich and lasting benefit, from the holy influence which he carried with him and shed along his course. His correspondence during this year had more or less direct reference to the work in which he was engaged. Much of it has been lost, and much more might be obtained by searching the papers which he left in the office of the foreign committee. Being chiefly of a business nature, however, it is not important to the memoir; we therefore 430 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. content ourselves with some of the letters which lie within reach. The following bears the same date with his resignation, to the Board of Missions, of liis office as secretary and gen- eral agent. To the Rt. Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine. " New York, June 28, 1836. *' Right Rev. and dear Sir — I return you many thanks for your very kind and interesting letter of the 10th inst,, of which I had great pleasure in laymg so much as was offi- cial before the foreign committee on the day of its receipt, the 16th. " Few circumstances were better calculated to fill my mind with pleasing anticipations, than your invitation to be present at your next diocesan convention ; and if divine Provi- dence should favor me with health, and I should then be in the exercise of my present functions as secretary and general agent of the foreign committee, I entertain the hope that I may be allowed the privilege of meeting you at Cleveland, ready to sow as God may give the ability, a portion of mission- ary seed in what I trust will prove the prolific soil of Ohio. " But I have been constrained by a sense of duty to pre- sent to the Board of Missions my resignation of the office of secretary and general agent ; consenting to act, should it be necessary, until the middle of October next, when my full year of service will expire. The board have, in very kind terms, accepted my resignation, and elected the Rev. Mr. Vaughau, of Salem, my successor. Whether he will accept the station is not yet known. From all that I ha-^o heard of his charac- ter and qualifications, I sincerely hope he may. If he should not, a special meeting of the Board of Missions will be neces- sary to fill the vacancy, as no provision is made in the con- stitution for any other method of efiecting that object, and as it would be almost ruinous to the cause of our foreign mis- sions for the committee to be without a secretary and general agent until the regular meeting of the board next year. HIS MINISTRY. 431 " From my great love to the missionary cause, and espe- cially the extension of our efforts into foreign lands, and from the gratification which the absorbing duties of my office have afforded me for the last eight months, I lamented the neces- sity of my resignation. But it was impossible to contuiue my services without abandoning my connection with St. George's ; and of this, neither my own feelings nor those of my beloved people would allow. In the missionary office, my time of life warned me that I could not for many years render efficient and satisfactory service. In my parish, with such aid as they are willing to allow me if I require it, I might, by the blessing of God, be much longer useful. He- linquishing, a few years hence, my present office, I should be left without the opportunity for ministerial usefulness during the remainder of my life. Retaining my parochial charge, there are many ways in which I might much longer serve my gracious Master, and promote the spiritual interests of an attached and most indulgent people. " My course, though professedly regretted by my friends, yet has generally been considered that which duty required me to pursue ; and I shall be happy to have the approval of one with whom it has been my delight to ' take sweet counsel' for so many years. *' Your faithful friend and servant, "JAMES MILNOR." The next letter was preparatory to his projected tour — a hint of which is contained in his last letter to Bishop Mcllvaine — to meet the diocesan convention of the church in Ohio, at Cleveland. To the Rt. Rev. C. P. Mcllvaine. "New York, Aug. 11, 1836. " Right Rev. and dear Sir — Agreeably to your kind invitation, I am endeavoring to make all practicable ar- rangements for being present at your convention at Clave- 432 MEMOIU OF DR. MILNOR. land, intending to make that tour the close of my year's service in the cause of foreign missions. " I should have returned an earlier answer to your last obliging favor, but the amount of business in hand, and the little prospect of obtaining the services of the Rev. Mr. Vaughan until the middle of September, threw so much discouragement in the way of my leaving home, that I was afraid of holding out any decisive prospect. Now, however, I have better hopes. In conjunction with my friend, or rather his substitute, of the domestic agency, I have got through the editing of the sixth, seventh, and eighth num- bers of the ' Spirit of Missions,' and the publication of the proceedings of the Board of Missions — which last will make quite a large pamphlet. I have also finished the required arrangements in regard to several new missions. By de- clining your suggestion, which I do very unwillingly, in regard to the Commencement at Gambier, and proceeding directly, by way of Buffalo, to Cleveland, I can accomplish much that will relieve the labors of my successor. " I shall be able to make many needful arrangements W-ith Dr. Robertson, who is now here on a visit of business ; finish all our transactions in reference to the mission at A-thens, before Mrs. Hill's departure, which will be on the 24th inst., and before Mr, Benton's for Crete, which will be a few days sooner ; assist, in their preparations, our two heroic young missionaries for AfHca, Messrs. Mhior and Payne, of the Virginia seminary, and tranquillize the feel- ings of two or three other anxious expectants of missionary appointments ; and finally, shall find it possible to spend a few days with Mr. Vaughan, to initiate him into the business of the office, he having just informed me, that under the circumstances which I have stated, he will come on about the 20th of this mon*h. If, therefore, Providence permit, I hope to see you at Cleveland on the 8th of next month. " I am, very truly and respectfully, yours, "JAMES MILNOR." HIS MINISTRY. 433 He left home on Monday, August 29 ;^and upon reaching Buffalo, addressed to Mrs. Milnor the following almost amus- ingly afflictive account of the manner in which he had been unexpectedly thrown upon his extemporaneous resources in speaking. To Mrs. Milnor. " Buffalo, Sept. 4, 1836. " My dear Ellen — My last was dated at Auburn. I left there on Thursday, about one o'clock, for Canandaigua, which we did not reach till ten o'clock at night. At four the next morning, I proceeded in the stage for Batavia, where I arrived about five in the afternoon. Having caused notice to be given that I would preach in the evening, I was no sooner fixed at my lodgings with the rector, the Rev. Mr. Bolles, than I went to my chamber to change my clothes ; which, having accomplished, as the hour for service was at hand, I went to the bottom of my trunk in search for my package of sermons, when behold, it was not to be found. How you could have omitted to put it into my trunk, I can- not divine. I am certain I sent it up to the chamber — I think, by James ; and now I can only blame myself that I did not ascertain the fact of your having put them into the trunk by inquiry or personal examination. Under such un- fortunate circumstances, I would willingly have declined all service, and have returned home ; but I thought myself condemned to the mortification of addressing the congrega- tion at Batavia wholly without preparation, for the time admitted of none. I did so ; and although my young friend Bolles was pleased to solace my feelings when I had done, by spying that ' my loss was their gain,' yet I was enough chagrined and dissatisfied with my performance to rob me of the comfort of sleep." [An evidence, by the way, of the manner in which the severity of his late labors for the com- mittee were known to have affected his whole nervous system.] " Yesterday, I came to this place in the afternoon, and Mem. Milnor. 1 9 434 MEMOIR OF DU. MILNOR. found that notice had been given last Sunday, that I would preach to-day, and that Mr. Shelton, depending on me for the whole day, had prepared no discourse. It happened, providentially, that I had with me one sermon, that which I preached last Sunday morning in St. George's, and which, on account of its being in the velvet cover, I threw into the top of my trunk, just before it was closed. ** To-morrow, or next day, I take the steamer for Cleve- land. You may judge with what unhappy feelings I go among a large body of respectable clergy and laity, wholly unprepared to meet the expectations which have been raised. I pray God he may enable me, however imperfectly, to do something in the cause on which, in his name, I am sent. " Immediately on my arrival in Buffalo, I went to the post-office, with the hope of at least receiving a letter, writ- ten after your discovery of the omission ; and I even hoped that you might have found, through the agency of Mr. Cooke or Henry, some opportunity, by a merchant coming immediately to thife place, to send on the sermons. But not a letter was there for me. I think I shall delay going to Cleveland till Tuesday, under the hope that the mail of to- day or to-morrow may relieve my anxiety. " But it is useless to say more on the subject. No doubt, I merit the mortification which I feel. All I fear is, its injury to the cause committed to my charge. I shall, of course, so soon as the convention at Cleveland is over, hast- en back, making no appointments to preach on the way home, and probably, God willing, reaching you the latter end of next week. ^ *' Give my love to all the family, and believe rae " Afiectionately yours, " JAMES MILNOR." From a subsequent letter to Mrs. Milnor, from Cleve- land, it appears that he preached at Buflalo Sunday morn- ing, and delivered a mission jjry address in the afternoon, followed by a collection ; and that he started for Cleveland HIS MINISTHY. 435 at nine o'clock Monday morning, in a steamer, not of the largest class, loaded with " more than eight hundred pas- sengers." " Our machinery," he says, " gave way several times, and made it necessary to stop for repairs ; but no serious difficulty occurred. I feel extremely at a loss for my ser- mons, considering the expectations which have been enter- tained of the part I was to take in the religious exercises of the convention. I shall do, however, as well as I can ; and as there is a prospect of a large assemblage of clergy, and among them Bishop McCoskry, the want of my services will not be felt. We hope to have an uiteresting missionary meeting to-morrow or next day." ^ Such, so far as it is at present accessible, is all the account that can be given of this, the last missionary tour undertaken during his agency. From his known talents as an extemporaneous speaker, and from the freshness in his mind of our current missionary statistics, he probably spoke as much and as well without his " sermons," as he would have done with them ; and possibly with more popular ef- fect, from the greater freedom of his manner. SECTION II. With the close of his missionary agency we are already acquainted ; and as Mr, Cooke continued most acceptably to labor in St. George's as his assistant, for some time after his reengagement exclusively in the duties of his parish and in his ordinary devotion to the cause of general benevolence, he speedily recovered the customary tone of his health, and the current of his life began again to flow in its wonted channel. The following brief but interesting letters from across the waters, were received during the summer and fall of 1836, 436 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. To the Rev. Dr. Milnor. " Foot's Cray Place, June 9, 1836. "Dear Sir — I had the pleasure to receive your letter of the 8th March, by the hands of Mr. Jackson" — the late Rev. "Wilhara Jackson — " and of hearing one of his able and valuable statements in Exeter Hall. I had also once the honor of receiving him at dinner ; but the hospitality which I should have been happy to show him, as well as my at- tendance at religious meetings this year, has been checked by the pressure of a heavy domestic affliction. " I was happy to receive from his conversation, as well as from other accounts, "^so favorable a statement of the progress of the Episcopal church in the United States. God grant that it may rapidly extend its limits still fur- ther, and obtain increasing success against infidelity and false doctrine. The consecration of missionary bishops not having a specific diocese, is, I think, new in the church ; but, in the circumstances of your country, it seems to me a happy novelty. The ministry of the apostles must neces- sarily have been of that character. It has also much of what Dr. Chalmers recommends in what he calls ' the ag- gressive character ;' and such I hope it will prove, against ignorance, error, and unbelief Perhaps we may consider our new colonial bishops of Madras, Bombay, and Australia, though each fixed to a particular diocese, yet, considering the vast extent and peculiar nature of those dioceses, as having a very similar character in respect to duty and juris- diction. " I hope you will not think any apology necessary when you may give another friend a letter of introduction to me, as it will always give me pleasure to receive any communi- cation from you, but especially when it affords, at the same time, an opportunity of forming so valuable an acquaintance as Mr. Jackson's. Believe me, dear sir, " Very faithfully, yours, "BEXLEY." HIS MINISTRY. 437 To the Rev. Dr. Milno'^r. "The Mount, near Sheffield, Oct. 15, 1836. "Rev. and dear Sir — I have unexpectedly caught a minute on the wing, after I had lost, as I supposed, all op- portunity of doing it, to shake hands with you across the Atlantic, to thank you for your kind note of remembrance by Dr. Fisk, and to assure you of my sincere respect and es- teem, associated with pleasant recollections of the brief but lucid moments of Christian intercourse which we had to- gether, when you were in this country. There is ' another country,' of which all of every land on earth, that are horn of God, become by that very fact natives, — even a heavenly country : there may we, and all whom we have known in the flesh as of one spirit with us in the Lord, find ourselves at home and for ever with him, at the end of our pilgrim- age. Meanwhile, I am truly " Your friend, in great haste, "J. MONTGOMERY." In the first line of this letter we see the jioet ; in every other, the Chrhtian — synonyms, severally and together, of the beloved name subscribed. In entering on the year 1837, we find little to mark the course of Dr. Milnor, save in the quiet steps which he took on his well-known rounds of parochial duty, and in his various engagements with benevolent institutions. He continued, indeed, till the day of his death, an actmg mem- ber of the Foreign Executive Committee, whose first secre- tary he had been ; and his mterest in our foreign missions remained unabated while his life was spared ; but his ac- tion in this capacity presents nothing distinctive from that of his fellow-members, as it lies on the records of the com- mittee. The few letters, therefore, which have survived for our use, still furnish us with the principal vestiges of his remaining life. Soon after the opening of the year he wrote as follows : 438 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. To Bishop Mcllvaine. "New York, January 31, 1837. " Right Rev. and dear Sir — I exceedingly lament the revival of controversy in the church." [The tractarian movement in the United States begins its development.] " I fear a new comer among us has been a very active agent in inciting to his present course. I have no hesitation in saying, that I believe the reputed author of ' Protestant Jesuitism,' who is his constant companion, has been instru- mental in prompting him to his attack on Temperance, Bible, and Tract societies. For my own part, I purpose, at the close of the year, to drop his paper, the influence of which, as for some time past conducted, is decidedly irrelig- ious ; and not a number of which, for the last twelvemonth, has been without some article, editorial or communicated, oflensive to the feelings of moderate churchmen and evan- gelical Christians. It is much to be regretted, that the very superior talents of the editor should be so employed. His influence on the students in the seminary is of the most unhappy kind, because his communication with them affords him the oj)portunity of orally impressing on them the lead- ing doctrines of his paper, and of filling their minds with prejudices against all who do not subscribe to his exclusive and ultra-high tenets. The bishop told me, to-day, that Mr. had been advised to cease from his assaults on the Recorder and Dr. Tyng ; and that he believed there would be no more matter of that sort in the paper. I have written to the editor of the Recorder, advising him to take no notice whatever of his attacks, should they be continued. " For my own part, having now reached my ' grand climacteric,' it is my sincere desire to be ' at peace wdth all men,' and much more intent on strengthening my assurance of an interest in the Saviour's love, and living from day to day in the pleasing contemplation of the enjoyment, ere long, of his presence in glory, than on mingling in the ' strifes of words,' in which some appear so keenly to delight. The HIS MINISTRY. 439 principles with which I set out in myministiy, are those which I still cherish ; and fully believing them- to be scrip- tural and true, I hope to carry them with m.e to the grave. But even for them I will not angrily, though I will ' ear- nestly contend,' as for ' the faith once delivered to the saints.' I do heartily wish to adopt into my daily experience the feel- ings intimated in the latter part of your letter ; and pray God that his Holy Spirit may enable me to be like-minded with one whose labors he has so eminently blessed, and whose exaltation to a high rank he will, I trust, make the means of enlarged usefulness to his church. " Your externalism, I am persuaded, will never be allow- ed to usurp the place of spiritual affections and ardent devo- tion to God, love to his children of every name, and a supreme regard to the doctrines of the cross. ' O si sic mnnes.'' But alas, with us, formalism, a love for externalism, which de- stroys every feeling of vital piety, a dislike of those who place inward religion above outward show, and an apparently positive repugnance to those who do not walk with us, are such offensive features in the character of many, that I am compelled, in view of the disastrous consequences, to cling to my old preferences, and most sedulously to avoid those evils which are prostrating, in so many souls, every thing most dear to the hearts of evangelical Christians. " With earnest prayers for your personal happiness and official success, I remain, " Respectfully and affectionately, yours, "JAMES MILNOH." To the Rt. Rev. B. B. Smith, D. D. " New York, April 7, 1837. "Right Rev. and dear Bishop — You will, I am sure, prefer that I should atone for my long-continued neglect of your kind letters, by now writing you a long one, to my wasthig time in apologies, the character of which your good- ness and your knowledge of my daily occupations have already anticipated. I proceed, therefore, to notice a topic to which 440 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. your favors of last wmter require me to advert : the report made to you by Mr. of our conversation about your essay in ' the Literary and Theological Review,' It is more than probable, that he has given it an unwarrantable color- ing. Certainly he did so, if he represented me as expressing any thing more than deep regret that you should have given publicity to sentiments, in regard to admission to the Lord's supper, which were apparently at variance with the univer- sal practice of the evangelical clergy of our church, with what we had understood to be your own, and with what I considered a course of bounden duty on the part of every rector of a church of our communion. At that time, it will be remembered, we were without any explanation from you of an article of which every clergyman of our views had expressed strong disapprobation ; which had occasioned severe animadversions in some pulpits, on the inadequacy and error of views entertained by even the best portion of our Zion ; and which had caused our high-churchmen to exult at the gain they had acquired, in an evangelical bishop's advocacy of principles to which they boasted of having ever adhered. And now, my dear bishop, though I feel bound gratefully to acknowledge the frankness with which you have disavowed the latitudinarian views of Christian communion supposed to be maintained in your essay, yet I am sure your candor will excuse my continuing to regret that it should have exhibited the subject in such a light as to have impressed all, both friends and foes, with a like understanding of its import. As the matter now stands, the demand of a reasonable satisfac- tion, on the part of every pastor, with the sufficiency of the religious qualifications expressly required by the church, in all who partake of the Lord's supper, I understand as having your decided approval. This is all I desire. I would not have the exercise of this judgment placed in other hands. I would not, even by the proper officer, have what I consider an undoubted right, in the overseer of eveiy flock, harshly or inquisitorially used ; and I would be very careful that no HIS MINISTRY. 441 other terms of communion be exacted thaii such, as are strictly- authorized by the gospel and the church. Of the duty of antecedent family and parochial instruction, you have not spoken in terms too strong. Of its effect, under God's bless- ing, we ought to entertain much hope. And yet, facts but too strongly prove, that education, even when best conduct- ed, will not always make our children Christians ; and Ave should beware of trusting to any other power than that of God to change their hearts and qualify them for spiritual communion in the ordinances of the church. I am sure there can be no essential difference of views on this subject among evangelical Christians. Let no means be omitted. Let a just confidence in God accompany their use. But let the final reference be wholly to the omnipotence of his grace. " Your faithful brother in Christ, "JAMES MILNOR." The next shows that, though no longer secretary and general agent, he was yet busy in our missionary affairs as an ordinary member of the board. To Mrs. Milnor. "Baltimore, June 12, 1837. " My dear Ellen — The session of our Board of Missions closed on Friday evening, in time for me to make an address at the anniversary meeting of the Bible Society of this state. On Saturday I was favored with a ride round the precincts of the city, which are ornamented with many handsome coun- try-seats. Yesterday I preached in three different chuches ; and to-day, I have been prevailed on to remain for a little repose before I start on my journey homeward. " I have received a message from General Sewell and his lady, of Elkton, pressing me to pay them a short visit on my way. I have not yet made up my mind whether I shall do so or not. If I should, I will write you from that placo, and let you know what day you may expect me home. "Affectionately yours, "JAMES MILNOR." 19# 442 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. About this time, the fever of excitement in our church, produced by the development of theological tendencies in our General Theological Seminary, began to run high. To this state of things some passages in the following letter refer To Bishop Mcllvaine. "New York, June 30, 1838. "Right Rev. and dear Sir — When I received your favor of the 21st instant, the board of trustees of the General Theological Seminary were in session, and had already pass- ed upon the question, whether they would appoint to the temporary occupation of the two vacant professorships — Evidences and Pastoral Theology — or, as heretofore, refer the business to the standing committee. The determination of the question was in favor of the reference ; and of course, not a word was said about the present incumbents. In this state of things, I thought it would be best not to lay your communication before the board, but reserve it for the stand- ing committee, provided you deem it expedient, and will authorize me either to alter the direction, or to submit it as it is, after stating the reason above-mentioned for its not having been submitted to the board. "Dr. 's extraordinary course is a subject of gen- eral conversation, and — so far as I have conversed with our clerical brethren, without distinction of party — of pretty gen- eral condemnation. A few either justify his views, or give them such a gloss as to lessen their apparent heterodoxy. " I have spent three days with the committee of exami- nation for the seminary ; the result of wliich has been satis- factory. About twenty received testimonials. The disserta- tions read at the commencement yesterday, were all respect- able, and some of them excellent ; no ' progressive justifica- tion' or Universalism being apparent. Every student with whom I have conversed, has expressed decided opposition to the views of Dr. . A very few, I understand, are his advocates. I sincerely hope, that the injurj' which he maj HIS MINISTRY. 443 do them, will be prevented by the refit^al of the standing committee to reappoint him. " Last week I attended the meeting of the Board of Mis- sions, at Boston. It was not so large as could have been wished, but was conducted in a good spirit, and with perfect harmony. "My assistant has become disabled for duty, by a rush of blood to the head ; so that I expect to have the whole charge of pulpit and parochial duty, for the remainder of the summer. " Yours, most truly, "JAMES MILNOR." To Mrs. Milnor. "Philadelphia, September 9, 1838. " My dear Ellen — On the principle that no news is good news, I presume you will take it for granted that all has been well with me since I left home. We have a full convention, all the bishops being now present. At the open- ing of the convention, we had an excellent sermon from Bishop Meade ; on Thursday evenmg, an interesting dis- course from Bishop Otey, at St. Stephen's, before the Board of Missions ; and on Friday evening, a missionary meeting at St. Andrews, at which six of the bishops made addresses. " The convention sit every day from nine till three, and at five the Board of Missions hold their sittings ; so that, with meetings of important committees as they can find op- portunity, our time is fully occupied; and, with long walks, occasioned by the distance of my residence from the place of meeting, I go to bed every night thoroughly fatigued. " Please tell Mr. Cooke, that the business of dividing our diocese has gone on well. The amendments to the consti- tution, authorizing that measure, have passed with great unanimity ; and Bishop Onderdonk will, I presume, leave this city on Tuesday morning, in order to be present at the special convention which is to sit in New York at five o'clock on the evening of that day. He will immediately return, 444 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOR. with their final action on the suhject ; when the ratification by the General Convention will take place, and all will bo complete. Believe me " Your affectionate husband, "JAMES MILNOR." Almost a year intervenes between the date of this letter and the next — the time being spent in his usually numer- ous engagements — but no letters of importance having sur- vived to mark any special incidents on its passage. The summer vacation of 1839 Dr. Milnor spent on a tour with Bishop Meade to Niagara and through the Canadas. The following marks a portion of their progress. To Mrs. Milnor. " Schenectady, Friday, Aug. 9, 1839. " My dear Ellen — I drop you a line, just to give you an account of our progress thus far. "VYe had a delightful pas- sage up the river to Albany ; and, on our arrival, concluded to proceed immediately to Troy, the owners of the boat send- ing us and others thither in a small steamer free of expense. After tea at Troy, we walked, under the guidance of a Mr. Cannon, who introduced himself to me as an old parishioner, to Mr. Walker's institute for boys, which Bishop Meade was desirous of seeing. There we spent the evening, attending the chapel worship of the school, and then went back to our inn in the town. In the morning we saw the Episcopal clergy of the place, visited Judge Buel and Mrs. Willard's seminary, and about eleven o'clock went back by coach to Albany, where we dined, and left for this place at half-past two o'clock, P. M. Here we visited the Episcopal church, took a general survey of the place, went to Union college and drank tea with Professor Potter, walked through the beautiful gardens of the college, and then returned ; Dr. Pot- ter accompanying us to our lodgings. " This morning we intend to proceed, at half-past nine, m the cars for the West, expecting to sleep to-night at An- Ills MINISTRY. 445 bum. I never felt better in my life, an^ anticipate a pleas- ant day in passing up the valley of the Mohawk. " Affectionately yours, "JAMES MILNOU." To the same. " Steamer United States, Aug. 13, 1839. " My dear Ellen — I write in the cabin of the steamer in which we left Lewiston about five o'clock this afternoon, bound down lake Ontario to Ogdensburg-, whence we propose to cross into Canada and visit Montreal, and probably Gtue- bec. We have prosecuted our journey by every species of conveyance — steam-boats, railroads, canals, and coaches — and have met with no unpleasant circumstances on our Avay. Except a little rain on Sunday, the weather has been clear and pleasant, though uncommonly cool for the season. After leaving Schenectady, we passed through Utica and Syracuse, and spent our Sunday in Rochester, where Bishop Meade preached three times, and I twice, in the two beautiful churches of that delightful city. Rochester far exceeds my anticipations, both in elegance and extent. Yesterday we proceeded by railroad to Batavia, and thence in post-coaches to Buffalo. After breakfast to-day we proceeded, by the cars, to the Falls of Niagara, and spent several hours — not so long as we could have wished — in surveying those stu- pendous cataracts. In viewing them. Bishop Meade antici- pated disappointment, but found them far exceeding his expectations. We were compelled reluctantly to leave them, at half past two, for Lewiston, in order to secure our passage this evening down the lake. Our expectation is to be in Cluebec on Sunday, and on the next day to return to Mon- treal, taking lake George and Burlington, Yt., on our home- ward way. I will, however, write you again when I can more exactly ascertain how we shall stand for time. " Your faithful and affectionate "JAMES MILNOR." 446 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. If, however, he wrote again during his absence, his letter is lost, and the above is all we know of this summer's north- em tour. Through what part of the Canadas the two friends passed during this interesting excursion, or whether they visited any part of those provinces but the cities of duebec and Montreal, we have no means of ascertaining. Indeed, it is to be regretted that Dr. Milnor either kept no journal or has preserved none ; for it cannot be doubted that he formed many new and interesting acquaintances, and met with many new and interesting incidents, in the course of his journey ; or that, if we had but some of the sweet communings of the two friends by the way, they would make a pleasant and a profitable chapter in the present memoir. SECTION III. The Oxford Tract controversy had now made an open entiy into our church through the republication, in New York, of the " Tracts for the Times." Dr. Milnor's letters, therefore, to his principal correspondents may be expected distinctly to define his position in relation to the agitating questions thus introduced. It is needless to say that position was not left doubtful. To Bishop Mcllvaine. "New York, Jan. 31, 1840, " My dear Bishop — I should sooner have answered your kind favors of the 17th of December, and the 6th instant, but that I hoped before this time to have read your anx- iously expected charge on 'justification,' and to have com- municated to you some information of the manner in which it had been here received, and of the effects which it had produced. The delay in its appearance is a little provoking ; HIS MINISTHY. 447 but no doubt we shall be amply comperrisated whenever it arrives. " I am glad my little protest against one of the many errors of the school at Oxford, meets your approbation. It has excited the disapprobation of a few ; and among them, of the editor of ' the New York Review,' who, as I presume you have seen, entirely approves of the new divinity, and charges me, without quoting a line of my sermon in proof, with advancing a view of the nature and design of the eu- charist which is positively Socinian ! It was, I fear, in a wrong spirit that the doctor put on record this unfounded charge. Some time since, I dined in his company ; and after dinner the subject of the Oxford tracts was brought upon the carpet. At that time he had evidently made him- self but little acquainted with them ; yet with very imper- fect second-hand information, he undertook to become their defender ; endeavoring, however, to controvert my represen- tations of some of their views, and to give a plausible gloss to such as he could not deny. I had just risen from a fort- night's study of the whole series of ' the Tracts,' and was therefore prepared to exhibit them in their true colors. Sev- eral clergymen of our church were present, and the Hon. Mr. Frelinghuysen, chancellor of the university. One intel- ligent clergyman remarked, that I had ' floored Dr. on every point ;' and several confessed the impression which my argument made on their minds against the tracts. The doctor, however, is much abler with his pen than with his tongue. He has since, no doubt, studied the tracts atten- tively ; and I am ready, his spirit towards me notwithstand- ing, to acknowledge the talent displayed in his review, though I regret its employment m such a cause. " And now, in reference to this dangerous system, I fear that it is to obtain an influence in our church quite equal to that which it is exerting across the M'^ater. In our diocese, the bishop expresses his entire approval of its doctrines. In answer to a clergyman who said that he could go half way 448 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. with the authors of the tracts, the bishop told him to read and study them more attentively, and he would be prepared, like himself, to go the whole. He inquires of all the can- didates for orders, whether they have read them ; and if not, urges them to do so : and many of the students in the semi- nary — though few have read more than the numbers repub- lished in New York — are yet their loud eulogists, and con- sider the promulgation of these ' primitive views ' as consti- tuting a more propitious era to the Church than that of the Reformation, the fanaticism of whose conductors carried them so far ultra mediam viam, in their correction of a few acknowledged errors hi the Roman church I We thought we had achieved somewhat, when we prevented the return of to his temporary professorship ; but, unhappily, the seminary contains a man of more influence, one too who constantly exerts that influence in favor of Puseyism, and whose reputation for learning and piety enables him to exer- cise a powerful control over the students. A few of them come to me to unburden their griefs, and especially to deplore the sad efiects of the Oxford divinity on the spirituality of some of their associates, of whose evangelical tendency they had, some time ago, the brightest hopes. I verily believe, that when about half a dozen precious souls shall have left the institution, there will remain scarcely an advocate Ibr the scriptural doctrines of our articles and homihes m their plain, unsophisticated sense. And then, when we consider the advanced age of one or two of our evangelical bishops, which will prevent their eflective opposition, the balancing state of mind in some of their juniors, and the reluctance oi others among them to engage in controversy, my fears grow still more serious, and my only confidence is, that ' when the enemy cometh in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will liH up a standard against him.' " I regret that I cannot send you a copy of the very excel lent charge of the Bishop of Calcutta. One was lent to me ; and so far as I know, it is the only one in the city. Please HIS MINISTRY. 449 remember me, my dear bishop, in your daily prayers, and believe me " Yours, most truly and affectionately, "JAMES MILNOR." To the same. "New York, Feb. 8, 1840. " E.IGHT Rev. and dear Brother — I regret that it is not in my power to send you, in the way proposed, any of my numbers of the Christian Observer, as they are all bound in volumes to the close of the past year. But although the numbers for the last two years and upwards contain much matter in relation to the Oxford tracts, and all their various errors are, more or less, the subject of remark, yet you will perceive their examination to be of less importance to you, when I mention that neither Newman's Lectures on Justifi- cation, nor Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, is the subject of a specific review. The lectures of the former on Romanism are briefly reviewed, but without any material reference to the subject oi justification ; but neither of the other works is more than incidentally noticed. I doubt whether, from any of the animadversions, scattered in brief notices throughout the period referred to, you would derive much information beyond what you already possess, in rela- tion to their avowed doctrine of justification by baptism, further justification by self-mortifying observances, etc., and final justification at the day of judgment : the same system so broadly avowed in the correspondence between Bishop Jebb and Mr. Knox, the inadequacy of which to afibrd true comfort to the dying Christian, there is reason to believe, was so powerfully realized by the latter in his last sickness. " I have made inquiry of booksellers, in hope of being able to obtain for you such numbers of the Christian Ob- server as contain the most valuable matter in relation to the doctrine which is the subject of your charge ; but they are not to be had. The Recorder has, I think, made a pretty 450 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. good use of them in the numerous extracts which it has pub- lished. The talents of Mr. Wilks as a controversialist, are far greater than I supposed him to possess ; and he enters into the battle with the altitudinarians at Oxford con amore. He is, I think, about the most annoying assailant with whom they have to contend. Here, next to Dr. , perhaps even before him, ranks Dr. , as an earnest defender of the Oxford tracts. His review of them — to which, in my last letter, I referred, and which, no doubt, you have ere now seen — is, in some instances, a direct defence of their anti- protestant doctrines, and in others an attempt, by subtle casuistry, to disguise their enormities. The bishop's mflu- ence also is very injurious ; and yoA, while he is recommend- ing the study of these tracts to candidates for orders, with a decided expression of opinion in their favor, I have very recently attended examinations at which both his questions and the answers of the candidates were any thing but in accordance with their doctrines. He has never yet intro- duced the subject to me, nor to any one in my presence ; but students have, in several instances, informed me of his high eulogy of the Oxford divinity, as being the same with that which he has taught for many years, even long before the movement in Great Britain. In that country, Dr. WolfT has avowed himself an adherent of most of the Oxford pecu- liarities. The Wilberforces are said to be coworkers with the school, and even our friend Melvill is suspected." [ Since that time, some of the suspected ones have cleared them- selves.] " God be thanked, ive have yet some bishops, and I trust a goodly number of presbyters, who will have moral courage enough to stick to the Bible as the only rule of faith, and to our articles and homilies, not merely on the ground of their ecclesiastical authority, but because they are so dehghtfuUy accordant with God's precious book. \Ye are beyond measure anxious for your charge. Pray do not delay its publication. If any thing is wanting in the first, it can be supplied in a second edition. I hope your bookseller wiJ. HIS MINISTRY. 451 send a consideralDle number for sale at the eastward, where, I assure you, it is awaited with much impatience. " Truly, yours, "JAMES MILNOR." Whatever of correspondence may have passed between Dr. Milnor and his friends during the spring, summer, and autumn of 1840, all that was valuable in it has been lost, or proved irrecoverable. He spent his summer vacation on a visit to lake George and its neighborhood ; but no trace of his tour remains, with the exception of one brief note to Mrs. Milnor, informing her of his arrival at the Springs, and of his intention to proceed to the lake the next afternoon. At the close of the year he received notice that he would soon be called to make another nomination to the Milnor profes- sorship in Kenyon college. The letter containing this notice is pertment to these memoirs. From the Rev. Dr. Sparrow. "Gambier, Dec. 17, 1840. " Rev. and deap^ Sip^ — Having concluded to remove from this diocese to that of Virginia, and accept a situation offered mie in their theological seminary, it seems proper that I should apprize you of my intention. " Years ago, when I was much younger in age, and much younger still in health and strength, you very unexpectedly nominated me to the Milnor professorship. That so much confidence should be reposed in one so young and so little known, was a wonder to me ; and I can truly say, helped, with higher considerations, to make me solicitous to discharge my duty faithfully. The value of truth, pure truth, ' the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,' in mat- ters of religion even more than in the affairs of the judg- ment-hall, I have always felt to be important ; and the inci- dent referred to was a stimulus, additional to every other, to ' give heed to my doctrine.' How far I have succeeded is certainly known to none but the mfallible Judge in heaven. 452 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. This, however, I think I may say to you, that during eleven years' duty in this station, I have never seen occasion to depart in the least from the spirit of those instructions which, when a lonely student in New York, I used to seek in the lecture-room of St, George's on week-day evenings. May they as certainly carry me, through infinite grace and mercy, to the inheritance which I seek above, as I have endeavored to inculcate them on the minds committed to my care. " I regret exceedingly, that when I was last in New York I was not able to enjoy more of your society, and have some free conversation with you about the state of religion in our church. Your long and careful study of events as they have arisen among us, would naturally give weight to your judg- ment upon such matters, and not least with me. How you interpret some of the ' signs of the times ' I cannot conjec- ture. In reference to some things, there is more obscurity, vacillancy, and ambiguity about the doings of some portions of our church, than I like to see. I think the declaration of the , whose ability and honesty I respect — that the only difference between the high and the low church portions of our communion, is one oi feeling — a question simply of more or less zeal — one of the severest satires ever inflicted on a respectable and intelligent body of ecclesias- tics. Were I near you, I should like to canvass with you in person the truth of this assertion. "But you will excuse all this irrelevancy. My only object in writing was to announce to you, as the person who nominated me and will have the nomination of my successor to the Milnor professorship, that I expect to retire from my present position about the end of the next spring vacation ; that is, about the first of May. " Present my respects to Mrs. Milnor, and believe me, " Rev. and dear sir, most truly, ** Your obliged friend and servant, '•WILLIAM SPARROW." "The Rev. James Milnor, D. D., New York." HIS MINISTRY. 453 About this period the onsets of the -^^- upon Bishop Mcllvaine appear, from his letters to Dr. Milnor, to have become marked both for frequency and for violence. To this state of things allusions are made in the following letters to the bishop. "New York, January 15, 1841. " My dear Bishop — Immediately on the receipt of your letter, I sent the accompanying communication to Bishop , and have no doubt it w^as on his suggestion that the editor of the has tried to make his peace w^ith you by personal correspondence. I am glad you have insisted on the publication of all the letters ; though I should not w^onder if, encouraged by the bishop's unqualified patronage, he should exclude your vindication from his paper, and sub- stitute some half-w^ay, unintelligible apology of his own. " I have read, with great delight, your interesting and elaborate examination of the principles of the Oxford divin- ity, and earnestly hope it may have a wide-extended circula- tion. But when this edition is disposed of, I shall look with anxiety for one of less magnitude and price ; so that it may go into the hands of many more of the clergy and laity than will buy it in its present more expensive form. I observed with "pleasure the notice of its intended publication in Lon- don, and anticipate for it a most favorable reception from the friends of evangelical religion both in and out of the church. " I had at my house, last evening, a young clergyman who has spent some time in England. He. was introduced to Mr. Newman, with whose personal conversation, which he says was not at all polemical, he was much pleased ; as he w^as with that also of one or two others of the party. He says, the great majority at Oxford are decided rejecters of Puseyism, and feel indignant that his system should any- where be supposed to meet the approval of the university, whose stamp it is, by some, thought to bear. " I had been apprized of the subject of your letter of the 454 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. 4th instant, by one received some time before from Dr. Spar- row, and have in vain been looking round for some one v^ho could satisfactorily fill his place. You may be assured that I shall have a very high regard to your approval, and shall never propose to the board of trustees one whom I do not previously know to be agreeable to you ; harmony of views between the head of the theological seminary and its pro- fessors being of the utmost importance. The portraiture which you have drawn of the man whom you would prefer, I very much hke ; while I have great fears lest, in our lim- ited circle of candidates, we shall not be able to find one in whom all its lineaments are blended. I shall at all times be glad to receive from you any intimation as to your wishes ; being, as ever, " Your affectionate brother in Christ, "JAMES MILNOR." "New York, March 16, 1841. " Right Eev. and dear Bishop — Immediately on receiv- ing your request in relation to the republication here of your work on the Oxford divinity, I called on the Messrs. , but found they had just completed an arrangement for be- coming the agents of others for publishing, or to publish on their own account, the various books issued at Oxford. I then called on another firm, but they also declined on the score of their present responsibilities. I have since conversed with one or two others ; but the fact is, that the disastrous state of the times creates, for the present, insuperable diffi- culties ill the way of almost every enterprise. A cheap edition of your book, however, ought to be out soon ; and I hope you will be able to fall on some plan by which it may be accomplished. " May I ask what you think of the ' Bishop of the Prot- estant Episcopal church in the diocese of Maryland,' laying aside this his appropriate title, and styling himself in his ojjicial papers, ' Bishop of Maryland/ and certifying the administration of confirmation ' conformably with the godly HIS MINISTRY. 455 order and administration of the Catholic Church of Christ in these United States of America ?' Though I well under- stand the grounds on which this change of title is defended, and though something of the same kind has been attempted in the convention of our own diocese, yet I lament it as, in truth, another attempt to get rid of the idea, so odious to Oxfordism, of ^otesting against the Romish church. It is another branch of the vine of Puseyism. " I have never been able to obtain the number of the to which you have referred me, and of course am unacquaint- ed with the exact nature of its assault upon you, though ] readily infer from your letters that it was of a most offensive character. The position in which the editor has placed you, by a singular disregard of common courtesy between man and man, independent of your official claims on his respect, together with the waiver of responsibility on the part of his diocesan, after what I think should be considered its official assumption, makes the case not a little difficult. As to the suggested appeal to the New York Standing Committee, I am persuaded it would be worse than useless. They would, I have no doubt, either decline interference, or decide the matter entirely on party grounds. I am also sorry, in refer- ence to another suggestion, to express a very repugnant feel- ing towards any interference whatever with the religious press on the part of the General Convention. It could as- sume no shape that would not be alarming to the minds of many. I confess, I should myself feel as sensitive in regard to any prescribed restrictions on the religious, as I would with regard to the same course, on the part of the general or state government, with the liberty of the political press. In both cases I think the principle should be — unfettered freedom, with responsibility for its abuse. Editors of polit- ical and religious papers should be alike liable for libels on personal character ; and your assailant should be presented, tried, and punished for any unfounded aspersions, whether the offensive article be editorial, or published from a corre- 456 MEMOIR OF DU. MILNOR. spondent with his sanction, especially after refusing redress to the injured party. But the times are out of joint when such an assailant is able to take shelter under the wing of a bishop, and when the appeal for justice must be made to one who is a copartner in the offence, or will at least be found to have prejudged its merits in favor of his friend and favorite. Under such circumstances, I can conceive of no course more judicious than that which you proposed, of pub- lishing the whole correspondence, though I think it might be best done in a pamphlet form. " Your friend Dr. Gregory has gone to his rest. I scarcely thought, when we saw him at Woolwich, in 1830, that he would be detained so long from its enjoyment. " "We are passing, at St. George's, a very pleasant, and I hope, profitable Lent. We have among us several exercised minds, and an unusual interest in our extra services. We have three every Sunday, and four during the week. After prayers on Wednesday and Friday mornings, we read a por- tion of our venerable homilies, and have a lecture on the evening of each of those days ; besides a domestic religious meeting in the families of our parishioners, every Monday evening. Mr. Cooke, who is indefatigable in his labors, has also a Bible class every Saturday evening. Thus, by the blessing of God, we hope to have some special evidence among us of the wisdom of the church, in appointing this season oi ' protracted meetings' in which our members may be called, in our peculiarly solemn services, to an awakened attention to the things that belong to their eternal peace. " I have now said enough, my dear bishop, to weary your patience, with but little that can apply to any practical use ; but I trust in your goodness to excuse the garrulity of an old man, and to believe me, with undiminished regard, " Your affectionate friend, " And faithful brother in Christ, "JAMES MILNOR." HIS MINISTRY. 457 To the same. --^ "New York, July 14, 1841. *' My dear Bishop — I have been in great perplexity in regard to the professorship. Dr. Yaughan has insuperable objections to its acceptance. What think you of Dr. May ? I believe him admirably qualified for the office, in point of talents, acquirements, piety, and soundness of principles. His health, too, seems to be, in a considerable degree, re- stored. His voice is excellent. I heard him make one of the best missionary addresses to which 1 ever listened, at the late Virginia convention. He is now at Wilkesbarre, and can be readily consulted ; or, if you approve of him, and should think it best to elect him without previous consultation, you may consider this as my nomination of him to the office. " I send you Tract Ninety, m the Oxford series. You will not wonder at its drawing down the official interference of which we have heard. " Yours, afiectionately and faithfully, "JAMES MILNOR." The foregoing letters are introduced together, because they were addressed to the same correspondent, and apper- tained to the same set of subjects. It will be sufficient to add, so far as the Milnor professorship was concerned, that Dr. May was compelled, by the serious and protracted illness of his wife, to decline the nomination which he received ; and that Dr. Milnor subsequently nominated the Rev. Dr. Fuller, then of Christ church, Andover, Mass., who was afterwards elected, and became Dr. Sparrow's successor. Some further letters for the year 1841, now require insertion. To the Rev. Dr. Beasley. "New York, March 17, 1841. " E.EV. AND DEAR SiR — I am glad you are so well pleased with the Christian Observer, for which my own fondness is such, that I hav5 long been in possession of all the volumes in the series, from its commencement in 1802. I had seen Mem, Milnor. 20 458 MEMOIR OF DR. MILKOR. it for several years before the beginning of my ministry. About that time, I happened to have a conversation with the venerable Dr. Wharton, of Burlington, N. J., who spoke of it as a work which he exceedingly admired, and con- stantly read, both on account of the orthodoxy of its views on the doctrines of the church, and for the talent with which it was then conducted by Zachary Macauley, Esq. Mr. Macauley was its editor for the first fifteen years of its career ; since which time, it has been conducted by the Rev. Samuel Charles "Wilks. I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with both these excellent men, when in London, in the year 1830. Mr. Macauley has since deceased. He was the father of the present distinguished member of the House of Commons of that name ; and from the extensive- ness of his reading and acquirements, was called * the walk- ing-library.' I think it Avas Lord Bexley who spoke to me of his astonishing readiness in giving information on almost every subject of inquiry, and said nothing was more comijion, in the circle of their acquaintance, when all others were posed on any subject, than to say, ' We'll ask Zachary Macauley ; he can tell us.' He was a remarkably plain, unpromising man in his appearance ; but I can truly say, I derived no such benefit from any individual in England as from him, hi the frequent interviews with which he was kind enough to favor me. Mr. Wilks was one of the most intelligent and pious of the clergy, with whom it was my privilege to be- come acquamted ; and I have few more pleasing volumes in my library than his sermons, with which he presented me, when he called to take leave of me, the day I left London. "It is astonishing to what an extent high-church prin- ciples are now carried. It was remarked to me, by the late Bishop of Cluebec," Bishop Stewart, " on one of his passages through this city, on his way to England, that he heard more about them in a three days' sojourn in New York, than in a year's residence in London ; and the late venerable Bishop of Peunsvlvania, thongh a strict oburohman, often HIS MINISTRY. 459 spoke to me, in terms of still stronger disapprobation, of the extravagant views of some w^ith v\^hom he acted, than he has done in his published w^orks. The effects of certain influences in our General Seminary are very deleterious on the unformed minds of its students. The disapproval of extreme view^s, by two of the resident professors, has but little effect in preventing those views from being embraced by the young men, under the more direct instruction of others ; and our ecclesiastical paper, by flattering them with the reception of their productions, and with compliments from its editor, has a most injurious effect on their minds, Narrowness of feeling, and illiberality of opinion, in relation to Christians of other names, are not its only bad effects. Its influence in inducing, if not in some instances the rejec- tion, at least a diminished esteem of those evangelical doc- trines which are now the continual subjects of assault from the Oxford divines, and the substitution of the new system exhibited in the ' Tracts for the Times,' is calculated to give a most dangerous character to the ministry of these the future standard-bearers of our church. For one, I sincerely rejoice that your veteran pen has been so successfully em- ployed in exposing the true character of the new divinity ; and I am encouraged to hope, that though the enemy is coming in like a flood, yet the Spirit of the Lord will con- tinue to lift up a standard against him. " What the expectations of Rome are, may be inferred from the oft-repeated expressions of approval of the Oxford measures, with which the Romish publications teem. In the English Catholic Magazine for 1839, its editors thus express themselves : ' Most sincerely and unaflectingly do we tender our congratulations to our brethren of Oxford, that their eyes have been opened to the evils of private judg- ment, and the consequent necessity of curbing its multiform extravagance. It has been given them to see the dangers of the ever-shifting sands of the desert, in which they were lately dwelling, and to strike their tents and flee the perils 460 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. of the wilderness. They have already advanced a great way on their return towards that church within whose walls the wildest imagination is struck with awe, and sobered down into a holy calm, in the enjoyment of which it gladly folds its wearied wings. They have found the clue which, if they have perseverance to follow it, will lead them safely through the labyrinth of error into the clear day of truth. Some of the brightest ornaments of their church have advo- cated a reunion with the church of all times and all lands ; and the accomplishment of the design, if we have read aright ' the signs of the times,' is fast ripening. Her mater- nal arms are ever open to receive back repentant cliildren ; and, as when the prodigal son returned to his father's house, the fatted calf was killed and a great feast of joy made, even so will the whole of Christendom rejoice greatly, when so bright a body of learned and pious men as the authors of the ' Tracts for the Times ' shall have made the one step necessary to place them again within that sanctuary, where alone they can be safe from the moving sands, beneath which they dread being overwhelmed. The consideration of this step will soon inevitably come on ; and it is with the utmost confidence that we predict the accession to our ranks of the entire mass.' " I trust, my dear sir, that though your impaired health may continue to abstract you from much engagement in the public duties of the ministry, yet you may realize to better efloct than he did by whom the acknowledgment was utter- ed, * Deus nobis liazc otia fecit ;' a leisure given, in your case, not for the purpose of indolence or self-indulgence, but to enable you, from the stores of a matured and well-culti- vated mind, to assist in healing some of the wounds which religion and the church are now receiving from those who profess to be the chief, if not the exclusive friends of both. " T am, with great respect, " Your faithful friend and brother, "JAMES MILNCR." HIS MINISTRY. 461 During the spring of this year, he visited Alexandria to attend the meeting of the Virginia convention ; intending to return to New York in company with his friend Bishop Meade, who had made arrangements for a voyage to Eng- land by the steamer from Boston of the first of June. Tlie following is an extract from a letter to Mrs. Milnor, written while he was at Alexandria, and dated May 21, 1841. " Yesterday morning, Thursday, I preached before the bishops and convention to an overflowing audience, and last night, in the Second Presbyterian church, kindly oflered for the use of the Episcopalians ; the two churches of our order being insufficient to accommodate the immense crowds that fill the city. The hospitality of the citizens is unbounded. Every house of Episcopalians, and those of many others, are filled with strangers." [Such, at that period, were Yirginia conventions.! The following, from his "sold friend" Darwel Wilson, re- minds us how much these memoirs have suflered from the elevation of that faithful servant of Christ to the see of Cal- cutta. Many of Dr. Milnor's most valuable letters were addressed to him, but their removal, with his other papers, to India, has rendered their recovery for our purpose impos- sible. To the Hev. Dr. Milnor. "Bishop's Palace, Calcutta, Sept. 16, 1841. *' My dearest old Friend — I see an old letter of yours on my table which does not appear to have been answered, I suppose from a dread of your again letting parts of the answer slip into the newspapers. I am, however, unwill- ing longer to delay inquiring after you and yours and the church of Christ in the United States. Your Episcopal church has produced one of the most splendid and valuable works in divinity that I have ever read. Nothing since your Jonathan Edwards on Justification and Dean Milner's His- tory of Luther, has at all come near Bishop McIlvaine. I have read his masterly treatise v/ith unmixed admiration, 462 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. and shall write to him, I hope by this very mail, to thank him most cordially. A twilight sermon of my own happened to come out just before the bishop's book, but was lost in his brilliancy. I want very much to see your Episcopal alma- nacs, convention papers, and chief works in divinity. If you produce a few such theological refutations as Bishop Mcll- vaine's, your country will rise most rapidly in religious influ- ence. I hope our mad traditionisls are not coiTupting the simplicity of the faith among you, as they are at home, and in some degree in India. I have an instinctive dread of this MAN OF SIN under the guise of an angel of light, and his mystic piety makes no impression on my heart. I have again and again wished to know why you inundate India with Presbyterian missionaries, but do not refresh us with even a sprinkling of Episcopalians. There is nothing I should so rejoice in as to welcome such staid, learned, well- read, evangelical laborers as your church would furnish. " "Well, and how are you yourself, my dear friend ? How well do I remember the pleasant times we spent together at Islington. My son is laboring there still, with twenty helpers, amid 56,000 souls. I contirme, thank God, in good health for my years. The cause of Christ, as I hope, is making progress. The events of the world are conspiring to widen the British territory and influence. Soon will the end come ; and may we stand in our lot at the end of the days. " I am yours, alTectionately, "D.CALCUTTA." The year 1842 will not furnish us with so many letters as its immediate predecessor. From three brief communica- tions addressed to Dr. Milnor, we learn that he was during the year elected one of the Counsellors of the Board of the New York Lyceum ; a member of the Council of tlie Uni- versity of New York ; and President of the New York City Tract Society, one of the efficient auxiliaries of the American Tract Society. The first and only letter /rawi him, for 1842, is a co2jy of his answer to that just given from the Bishop of HIS MINISTllY. 463 Calcutta ; and this the only copy found' among his papers, of all his letters to that interesting correspondent. "New York, July 2, 1842. " Eight Rev. and Beloved — In the recent receipt of your esteemed letter of September last, I was much delight- ed to be once more favored with a token of your continued remembrance and regard. That your valuable life should have been preserved for a period so much longer than that of any of your revered predecessors in the Calcutta episco- pate, and that your health should be continued in a climate which so often proves unfavorable to Englishmen, are causes of devout thankfulness to God, and should be gratefully rec- ognized as a pledge, that he has large blessings in store for his church in those distant regions. We have heard, with great joy, of the mighty work of grace which the Holy Spirit is accomplishing through British agency in some places under your jurisdiction. May the Lord encourage your labors, by many such cheering evidences of his favor. " You inquire, my Et. Eev. friend, why we do not send some Episcopal missionaries to India. The answer is as easily given as the fact furnishing that answer is by many of us feel- ingly regretted. All the efforts of such of our highly esteemed bishops as are favorable to the cause of foreign missions — and they are a large proportion of the whole — and of such of our clergy as have like feelings, have not yet been successful in awakening such a spirit among us as adequately to supply our treasury for so desirable an extension of our missionary work. I have been laboring in this cause for five or six and twenty years, and though, God be praised, there has been much im- provement in our church, especially during the last six or seven years, under our new plan of operation, yet we have still to encounter much opposition from certain influential quarters, to the foreign work ; and our means, partly from this cause, and partly from the sad state of the monetary con- cerns of our country, have allowed us to extend but little the 464 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. existing missions, and compelled us to withhold the establish- ment of any entirely new. One missionary at Constantino- ple, having in prospect some endeavors in favor of the Syrian church; our schools in Athens, and a small establishment in Crete ; a single but excellent missionary in China ; four or five clergymen and their families at Cape Palmas, on the western coast of Africa ; and two missionaries in Texas, comprise all the heralds of salvation that our church has given us the means of sending forth, either for the renovation of corrupt Christian communities, or for the conversion of the heathen. Several of the other denominations around us have far out- stripped us in obedience to the Saviour's command. "There is undoubtedly, as you are aware, a vast extent of missionary ground in our own country, which many — I think mistakingly — consider a sufficient reason for confining ourselves exclusively to its cultivation. I say ' mistakingly,' for I have invariably observed, that those who advocate this principle are, even in their contributions to the domestic de- partment, far behind those who consider the field marked out for our exertions by the great Head of the Church, to be the whole world. Just in proportion to the prevalence of vital piety in our congregations, is the missionary spirit seen to take this wide-extended scope ; and an amount of contribu- tions of a corresponding character, to be poured into the treas- ury of the Lord. While the increase of this spirit among us is a continual subject for ardent prayer and supplication, I do exceedingly rejoice in the hope that the noble Church Missionary Society of your country, under its new auspices, may be favored with such an increase of means as will sup- ply our lack of service in the foreign field, so many parts of which have been already blessed by the evangelical labors of that inestimable institution. "Your warm approval of the work of our dear friend Bishop Mcllvaine, is exceedingly grateful to my feelings, as it will be to his. I am quite confident, there is no one whoso favorable opinion he would more highly appreciate than your HIS MINISTRY. 465 own. His public testimony against Oxfordism, supported as it has been by a large proportion of his Episcopal breth- ren in this country, has had a very propitious influence on the public mind. " It is an evidence of the limited circulation of the 'Tracts' among our churches, that there has been but one American edition of them, and that this resulted in the ruin of its publisher. Out of ten or eleven Episcopal periodicals, the Churchman is the only one that has advocated the prin- ciples of the authors of those pernicious publications. May the Spirit of the Lord lift up a standard everywhere against the errors of these misguided and misguiding teachers, and lead even themselves, at length, into the way of truth. " In regard to the general state of the church in our country, I thank God that I am enabled to say, it is, in its external circumstances, prosperous ; and, in doctrinal views and evangelical feeling, improving. With our rapidly grow- ing population, its extension keeps tolerably equal pace ; and the divisions in some Protestant denominations have tended to add to our numbers. To a much greater extent than formerly, the great doctrines of the Reformation are preached to our congregations ; and though in some places, what are called the distinctive principles of the church are, in my view, suflered to occupy too much attention, yet, for the most part, I believe the latter are allowed only their just place in the communications of the pulpit. A few of our ministers are disposed to keep up a spirit of controversy, and to decry what they call low-churchmanship ; but on the whole, there is a preference for the things that make for peace. None are disposed unduly to compromise our pecu- liarities by ifiadmissible mixtures with others in the services of the sanctuary ; and our church commends herself to the regards of those who are Avithout, by maintaining towards them ' the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.' " [Very serious would have been his modifications of this portion of his letter, had he lived till the present day.] 46G MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. "Romanism, however, among us is making rapid strides. Immense numbers of immigrants are almost daily landing on our shores. Of these the major part are from Ireland, and almost all of that church ; as are also multitudes from the German states. Large importations of priests are constantly arriving ; and the popish missionary societies of Italy, Austria, and France, are pouring their thousands annually into the country for the building of churches and the support of the priesthood. When I came to my present charge in 1816, there were but two Homan Catholic churches in New York. Now there are many, and several in a course of erection. There is evidently a grand effort also to acquire a foothold in our great western country, throughout which popish semhia- ries of learning abound, and are continually increasing in num- ber. Many Protestant children are improperly sent to them. " And now, to answer your kind inquiries in relation to myself: I can only say, that I continue, at the age of nearly three-score years and ten, through the blessing of my heav- enly Father, to enjoy excellent health. My duties are the same as heretofore. I enjoy the continued affections of a large congregation ; and my labors among them are, from time to time, followed by pleasing fruits. I find time, m the midst of arduous parochial duties, for an engagement in the missionary, educational, and other institutions of our church ; and am still actively employed in the Bible, Tract, and Missionary causes, and in various other means of pubUo usefulness. I have five children ; a son and a daughter married ; and with two sweet grandchildren, these are all residing with me in St. George's parsonage. " I have the pleasure of transmitting to you a package, containing such publications as I supposed might interest you ; and beg you to accept the assurance of that high respect and sincere affection with wliich I remain, " Your faithful friend, " And obedient servant in the Lord, "JAMES MILNOR." HIS MINISTRY. 467 At the opening of tlie year 1843, Bt. Miiiior received from his friend Bishop Meade a letter, the following extract from which will serve to introduce a remark touching a part of his' course as one of the members of the Foreign Com- mittee of our Board of Missions. To the Rev. Dr. Milnor. "Millwood, Jan. 30, 1843. " Rev. and dear Brotiiepc — Besides the sincere pleasure which I take in communicating with you on all subjects per- taining to the affairs of God's church, I have a particular object in addressing you at this time. I perceive there have been letters, pro and con., as to our missionary establishments in Greece and Asia, especially the latter ; and fears have been expressed, that we are not presenting there, as we ought, the pure gospel, but are conceding too much to prevalent corruptions. I am told that the cause has sufiered in this country by reason of such apprehension ; and that the com- mittee have not been altogether satisfied for some time. How is it ? I have always thought that the attempt to introduce our missionaries into those old, decayed churches, was so delicate and difficult a task, that we must be slow to condemn those missionaries for any cautious movements which they might make. But have they erred ? And if so, how far ? And have the doubts on this subject seriously injured our collections for these missions ? I should be glad to hear from you on this subject, and on any others in which you know I am interested. "If it be permitted to descend from such a height to speak a word about myself and my poor body, and you feel any interest in it, I would say that God has been very good in giving me a more comfortable state of health than I have had for nine years. My chief defect, that of voice, still re- mains ; but it is in some measure relieved by preaching very seldom, and contenting myself with official duties and short addresses from the chancel. My mind also is much relieved 4G3 MEMOIE OF DR. MILNOR. Ly having so valuable an assistant as Dr. Johns, who is giving great satisfaction. "Let me hear from you as soon as convenient. " Affectionately, "W. MEADE." What ansvver Dr. Milnor gave to the former part of the above extract is unknown. Not so, however, his opinion on the subject involved. In common with his fellow-members of the Foreign Committee, he inclined to that judgment which finally expressed itself in the well-known unwilling- ness of the committee to sustain the Asiatic, or Constanti- nopolitan mission of our church. He advocated, as long as he could, the continuance of that mission ; and acquiesced in its continuance as long as he could, even after his judg- ment began to lean to the side of its inexpediency. But the views which the missionary himself advanced, and the measures which he adopted, at length settled the mind of Dr. Milnor, and he gave his influence to that action of the committee which, since he left the stage, has resulted in placing the mission on a separate basis of its own. It is true, that the want of funds was the reason at first assigned for the proposed abandonment of the mission ; but it is no less true, that this want of funds was, by multitudes, be- lieved to be the consequence of a want of confidence in the views which actuated the movement at Constantinople ; and in this belief the Foreign Committee almost unanimously concurred. To Bishop Mcllvaine. "New York, March 10, 1843. "My dear Bishop — I am under the impression that I have answered your two favors of last year ; or rather, I liavc been under that impression. But I am startled, on laying my hand upon them to-day, to find no endorsement to that effect ; and therefore I now fear that I have been mistaken, and that I must submit to the charge of inexcusa- ble negligence. In regard to all that relates to the profes- HIS MINISTRY. 469 Eorship, I am glad to learn, by a letter frOte Dr. Fuller, that he has accepted the appointment. I entirely approve of your choice, and hope you and he may have much happi- ness in the connection. " Of the prosperity of the college in its * students, study, order, and reputation,' I am glad to hear, but regret the pecuniary difficulties in which it is involved. I wish it were in New York as in times past, so that you might receive help from your old partial means of supply ; but every thing here, in the way of business, seems at a stand ; and many of the friends of Kenyon, I am sorry to say, have just emerged from the painful process of bankruptcy, while others are, as to means, in quite a different position from that which they once occupied. Almost all my rich men have gone to the court end of the city, or remam with us in cramped and impaired circumstances. I exceedingly regret that among your Brooklyn friends, too, so many have fallen under the weight of the pressure which has come upon them. On both sides of the river, however, some still hold their own. "It is intended to hold a semi-annual meeting of the American Bible Society at Cincinnati, in October next. We shall be glad to have your approval of the measure, and your important assistance at the meeting. " Respectfully, affectionately, and truly, yours, "JAMES MILNOR." To the Rev. Dr. Milnor. •'Gambier, April 6, 1343. *' Dear Doctor — I have no letter-paper, and cannot get any till somebody brings some from New York ; but I shall not impose on. you a whole sheet of foolscap. So you re- membered, at last, to answer my letters, after I had forgot- ten they had been written. Better late than never. " You speak of a semi-annual Bible Society meeting at Cincinnati. I shall be very happy to do what I can to pro- mote its usefulness. It is a good idea. The Episcopal clergy 470 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. in Cincinnati, and, so far as I know, all in the diocese, with one or two exceptions, will unite in heart, if not in personal attendance. The more the Romish doctrine of tradition lifts up its head, the more we must lift up our standard against it in the shape of the Bible, distributed as Bible societies do their work. It is David against Goliath — the sling against the helmet, and shield, and spear of a giant. But the difference is, that God is on one side, and not on the other ; and the truth shall make men free, no matter whose servants they may have been. " Yours, very affectionately, '^CHAS. P. McILVAINE." The spring of 1 843 found Dr. Milnor again at the an- nual convention of the diocese of our church in Virginia, in the city of Richmond, and as usual, abundant in his pulpit- labors during his absence. Like all his visits of this kind, however, it has no record, save in the customary brief letter to Mrs. Milnor, informing her of his movements, his engage- ments, and the day of his expected return. The only addi- tional reference to the period is in a letter from Mr. Brigham, of the American Bible Society, from which it appears that Dr. Milnor was duly appointed to represent that mstitution before the Bible-meeting in Richmond, held concurrently with that of the Virginia convention. During this same spring was most deeply felt the alarm which the measures of the Maryland State Colonization Society, in enforcing tnilitary duty, or military fines, on all within their colony, had previously spread through those churches at home which had established missionary stations on that part of the African coast — an alarm which, for a time, threatened to set the Christian community of the free states in hostile array against the whole cause of African colonization. Fears were entertained, that it would become necessary to remove our mission from Cape Palmas. Our Board of Missions therefore instructed its foreign committee to propose HIS MINISTRY. 471 conferences with the Maryland State Colonization Society at Baltimore, with a view to the possible settlement of ami- cable relations between that society and the board. In pur- suance of this policy, the foreign committee referred the instructions of the board to a special committee of two of its members, who, after a previous conference, conducted on our part by the secretary, the E.ev. Dr. Yaughan, and one of the missionaries, the Rev. Mr. Payne, were directed to proceed to Baltimore for the purpose of a further interview and a more satisfactory understanding with the agent of the State Colonization Society. This special committee was composed of the Rev. Drs. Milnor and Turner ; and from a letter which the former received at Baltimore, it would seem that they held the further conference required during his spring excursion to the South. The main results of these negotiations was, the undisturbed continuance of our Cape Palmas mission. The summer of this year was rendered memorable in the annals of our church by the occurrence, soon after the annual Commencement of our General Theological Seminary, of the famous " Carey ordination," an event at which Drs. Anthoii and Smith protested against the admission to deacon's orders of a recent graduate from the seminary, who had exposed himself to the charge of holding the Tridentine doctrines of the church of Rome. The convulsion which shook our church upon the announcement of this ordination, was alto- gether unprecedented. Dr. Milnor's letters to his corre- spondents on this occasion, have mostly perished ; but one, from his old friend Bishop Meade, will serve as an early expression of those feelings, among the evangehcal portion of the church, in which Dr. Milnor fully shared. To the Rev. Dr. Milnor. "Millwood, Aug. 1, 1843. ** Rev. and dear Brother — We have fallen upon strange times. We have reached a fearful crisis in the church. I 472 me:moie of du. milnor. had not supposed it possible that Romanism had so fax regained its power among us, as recent events in your city and the language of some of our rehgious papers would indi- cate. A general and distressing contest throughout our whole church, in England and America, seems now inevi- table. May God give us all grace to perform our several parts faithfully and wisely. I should like to hear from you, who are on the spot, how matters stand. I trust our breth- ren Anthon and Smith find strong supporters, not only among the laity, but also among the clergy in your city From some New York papers which have been sent me, probably by yourself, I perceive the laity are coming out boldly. I hope the pamphlet of Drs. Anthon and Smith wall be circulated far and wide, to every clergyman, at least, a copy ; and I wish the laity also could be well supphed. " I saw, a few days since, a talented, zealous layman of a neighboring diocese, who has been very active in support- ing ultra views, who said, after reading the pamphlet, he was truly surprised at it ; and unless it could be answered and disproved — and he did not see how it could — it showed a state of things which he had never supposed. The card of the six presbyters will, I presume, satisfy him that an answer and refutation are not very probable. I suppose your ap- proaching convention will, m some way or other, let us know its opinion on the subject. Our next General Convention can scarcely avoid some agitation on the questions involved. " We have been too much elated by our prosperity. Looking at the dissensions of other denominations, boasting of our unity, and proud of our advantages, we calculated oil uninterrupted and unbounded success, without relying hum- bly on God's blessing. The result has been, that while the dissensions of others are, in a good measure, healing, and we have contrived, by our exclusive claims, very greatly to increase and combine the opposition of all others, we are in a most divided state among ourselves, and are under the strongest temptation to neglect the more important spiritual HIS MINISTHr.. 473 matters for controversy atout externals. This is to me a most distressing thought — that bitter controversy is, in many of us, about to eat out the soul of religion. God have mercy on us, and avert the evil. " I do not see that any question was put to Mr. Carey about justification, sacramental grace, etc. ; on which points I can scarce think that one, holding his views on other points, could be received. Let me hear from you soon and fully. " Yours, very truly, "W. MEADE." Another, a month later, from Bishop Smith, contains a characteristic allusion to the same subject. "Kalorama, near Louisville, Sept. 1, 1843. " Dear. Friend of my early Ministry — Brother Jack- son tells me that you are to be in Cincinnati about the 1st of November. God willing, so am L He also says, that he invited you to come and see me as well as him. I thank him for it ; and I now write specially to urge this request, and that you will accompany me as far as Shelbyville, where I will take you in our little carriage, in order that the early friend of Christian and church education at the West may see what God has enabled us to begin in Kentucky. So dark a cloud has long brooded over this horizon, that I want such a friend as you to come and have it in your power to say that, through the divine clemency, daylight again dawns upon us. Besides, your presence will give a new impulse to all our affairs. Do come, kind doctor, do ; and may God's presence come with you. " I was present with you in spirit in blessed old St. Jolm's, Providence, on that day." [An allusion, probably, to the day of Bishop Henshaw's consecration.] " 0, by how many cherished memories is that temple sacred to me ! I was witness of the first revival of religion there, and in Bris- tol. The stripling Henshaw was instrumental in the revival, during which — chiefly however among the Congregational- 474 MEii;OIIl OF DR. MILNOR. ists — the mere boy, Ben Smith, was brought to serious reflec- tion. Our venerable father," Bishop Griswold, " is gone ; but we his sons are left to toil and suffer : Bishop Henshaw in the very field which witnessed his prayers and his victories, and Bishop Smith in a far-off field, where unheard-of trials have awaited him. So God works. ' Even so, Father ; for bo it seemeth good in thy sight I' " I am not worthy to unloose the latchet of Bishop Gris- wold's shoes ; but, thank God, I am still most thoroughly of his school. We have strange wonders in our days. Some of our Episcopalians are half Romanists ; and some of our high-churchmen are low, while some of the low are high. Of all sorts, hoAvever, find me out a consistent Bishop Gris- wold, and an unchangeable rector of old St. George's. " These are storms, the flashes of which we see afar off, and the roar whereof faintly reaches us, but of which we know almost nothing. Our comfort is, that Christ changes not ; that his truth never changes ; and that he is Prince of the kings of the earth, be the people never so unquiet. The church is safe ! Ever, as of old, " Your true friend and brother, "B.B.SMITH." "The Rev. Dr. Milnor." Dr. Milnor's answer to this affectionate epistle contains the only reference to " the Carey ordination,'' and its con- sequences, to be met with in his recovered letters. It also intimates his inability to attend the semi-annual Bible Soci- ety meeting at Cincinnati, to which former letters refer, and at which he had been appointed to read an essay on " The Rule of Faith ;" the design of the essay being to advocate the Protestant doctrine on that subject, in opposition to the Romish views of Tradition. To Bishop Smith. "New York, October 2, 1843. "Rt. Rev. and dear Sir — I thank you sincerely for rour kind favor of the 1st ult., and wish it were in my power HIS MINISTRY. 475 to accept your obliging invitation. But I find I am unable to comjoly with the wishes of our Bible friends, in making the proposed visit to Cinciimati ; and consequently must defer, to some future period, the pleasure of meeting you at your pleasant residence in the neighborhood of Louisville. An unexpected and indispensable journey of business to Buf- falo, from which I returned a few days since, forms one dif- ficulty in the way of my leaving home again this fall. But added to this, I fear, at my time of life, taking so long a trip at such an advanced season of the year. Besides, were I younger and better fitted for it, there is another great imped- iment, arising out of the pressingly heavy duties of my parochial charge, in which, for the last nine months, I have been wholly Mathout assistance. My prayers and best wishes will attend our beloved brethren who go on to the expected meeting. I pray God the occasion may be one of signal ben- efit to our great cause. " We live in eventful times. The changes in opinion — in too many instances, as I think, for the worse — that are continually occurring around us, are not a little alarming. Recent developments here afford reason to believe, that to a greater extent than we had imagined, the Oxford heresy has invaded this diocese. The noxious influence of the — has exceedingly corrupted the minds of our younger clergy and candidates for orders ; and indeed I am grieved to the heart, to find such a tendency to Romanism as prevails among some of the more advanced in years and standing. When I speak thus, I do not mean that any are prepared to go over to the ' mother of abominations.' To remove such a suspicion, they call her hard names, and speak strongly against some of her doctrines. But the danger lies in their exaltation of the church above Christ, the great Head ; mak- ing her, and not Him, the dispenser of renewing and sancti- fying grace, and giving to external sacraments and ordinances the inherent efficacy which constitutes so much of the super- stition of the papacy. They do not mean — until a great 476 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. many impediments are removed — to unite with Rome ; but on the principles of Tract No. Ninety, they adopt, as the means of allaying such a desire, the expedient of giving an aspect to our doctrines and observances, that shall approxi- mate them as nearly as possible to hers. The evangelical doctrines w^hich some of us have supposed were plainly taught in our articles, more fully explicated in our homilies, and embodied in their life-giving spirit in our liturg)', are now to be superseded by the dogmas of the school at Oxford. The great principle of justification by faith is by many virtu- ally abandoned, and that of baptismal justification adopted in its stead. God is impiously confined, in his communica tion of grace, to the channel of the sacraments ; and a most unwarrantable denial of covenanted mercy to all but the members of a church enjoying the Episcopal succession, is insisted on. The Reformation is now found to have been fraught with evils ; and instead of adhering to its great prin- ciples, we are to condemn its authors for having taken dan- gerous liberties, and, as far as possible, to unprotestantize the church. Such, among us, has been the baneful influ- ence of Tractarianism, as upheld and taught by too many in this most unevangelical portion of the church. God grant that they may find successful opponents in other and better instructed dioceses, I confess I am grieved and alarmed beyond measure, and especially since our convention, which has just adjourned, and in which the proceedings in the case of young Carey have been sustained by a large majority of the clergy, and by an unexpectedly large number of the laity. You will, no doubt, in the secular papers of the past week, see the full details of our stormy session ; particularly the melancholy exhibition of passion on the part of our bishop, near its close. I was not present at the disgraceful scene, being engaged in a quiet lecture to the good people of my charge ; nor have 1, save by a silent vote, taken any part in the proceedings of the convention : the speakers on the side of Messrs. Smith and Anthon, bemtr all of them eminent HIS MINISTRY. 477 lawyers, and men who have not hitherto sustained any other character than that of avowedly high-churchmen. " Though much cast down in spirit by the opposition, so extensively prevalent, to what the Lord has taught me to believe to be Bible-truth, yet I still have faith in the ulti- mate triumph of correct principles. For one, I will still pray, and labor, and hope ; and amidst all discouragements, rejoice that the Lord reigneth. I feel my mind greatly soothed and comforted by the blessed communion which we yesterday enjoyed in ' old St. George's ;' where, at least, for the few remaining years of the ministry of its rector, Christ and him crucified will, I trust, continue to be preached. Beheve me, ** Affectionately, yours, "JAMES MILNOU." The following is Dr. Milnor's letter to the secretary, an- nouncing his inability to attend the meeting at Cincinnati, and expressive of his views on the occasion. It will be read with interest. To the Rev. Dr. Brigham. "St. George's Rectory, New York, Oct. 20, 1843. " Uev. and dear Sir — -you may be assured that the im- practicability of my accompanying you to Cincinnati is to me a subject of most sincere regret. Concurring, as I did, heartily in the expediency of the interesting measure of hold- ing a special meeting of our noble institution in that region, and having been honored as one of its delegates, in connec- tion with a particular duty of an important character, my disappointment is only alleviated by the persuasion that there will be no want of far better counsellors than myself in the general transactions of your meeting, and that the performance of the special duty referred to, by my learned and respected alternate, will aflbrd the assemblage no reason to regret my absence, which I trust will, by none, be attrib- uted either to any diminution of interest in the cause, or re- 478 MEMOIR OF BR. MILNOR. luctance in the most public manner to avow my most ear- nest desires for its promotion. " However small the measure of my past eflbrts, the retrospect of thirty years' engagement in the work, twenty- seven of them in immediate connection with the American Bible Society, is among the highest satisfactions of my now declining years. " It was under the auspices and at the solicitation of my late venerable friend Bishop White, of Pennsylvania, that I first united, in my native city, with the Bible Society, over which he presided with so much dignity and devotion until his lamented death. On my removal to New York, a few months after the formation of the national institution, one of the earhest duties of my new residence was to tender my humble aid in the advancement of the glorious cause through this great instrumentality. " I now bless God that he has allowed me for so long a period to be a witness of the delightful harmony with which its proceedings have been conducted, and the ever-widening scope of its salutary influence ; and to unite in the inspiring hopes of its friends for its becoming in future years a still greater blessing to our beloved country and to the destitute in foreign lands. " If there were sufficient reasons for the organization of this plan by the parent Society in England — and the great Author of the Bible, by vouchsafing a most abundant bless- ing upon its measures, I feel assured, has sanctioned such a conclusion — we have the like reason to believe, that his providence and Spirit led to our following their good exam- ple ; and that in contributing the most vigorous eflbrts for continuing and extending the work, we are acting in con- formity to his holy will, and acceptably promoting his de- signs of mercy to our fallen world. Never were the signs of the times more indicative of the necessity of more labor, and prayer, and pecuniary means for carrying forward our hal- lowed undertaking. The dishonor done to the book of God HIS MlXISTllY. 479 by putting an uncertain tradition upon a level with it as a rule of faith, is no longer confmed to the corrupt church which has so long been guilty of that crying sin ; individuals of other communions not hesitating to embrace the same ruinous error. " One of the most effectual methods of counteracting this impious treatment of God's merciful revelation, wherever it may obtain, is the universal circulation of that blessed book which is its own best witness, and wherever read, with prayer for the light of the Holy Spirit in its perusal, will establish its claim as the only and exclusive test of Chris- tian faith and practice. " May the Lord be with you in your coming delibera- tions, and shed on all your minds the enlightening influences of his grace. " With my earnest prayers for the happiest results to your meeting, I am, reverend and dear sir, your faithful friend and brother in Christ, "JAMES MILNOR." To the Rev. Dr. Milnor. "Woodward College, Cincinnati, Nov. 29, 1843. "Dear Brother — We were all much disappointed by your not coming to the late meeting of the Bible Society in this city. But from Dr. Brigham's account, I suppose it would have been imprudent for you to venture upon so long a journey during this peculiarly inclement fall. Your alter- nate, Dr. Spring, did nobly. His essay was learned, logical, and to my mind, conclusive : clothed in a style perfectly clear and neat, and breathing throiighout a spirit eminently Christian. I hope it will be speedily published, and widely circulated ; as it cannot fail, with the divine blessing, of do- ing much good. Still, I would rather have had a paper from you ; because, besides its general argument, you could have given it a most salutary bearing upon the particular state of OUT church. Why, indeed, can you not let your essay, 480 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. which I suppose you prepared, go out to the world ? Cer- tainly there is great need of argument and information on the subject of ' tlie rule of faith,' in these days of nascent Tractarianism and reviving Romanism. There is a straight- forward, candid, common-sense way of handling subjects, which preeminently belongs to you, and which is peculiarly adapted to engage the popular mind, and carry conviction to the popular judgment. I should anticipate the best re- sults from such an efibrt on your part. " Your afi'ectionate brother, " And servant in Christ, "B. P. AYDELOTT." During the fall of this year, the Rev. Mr. Irving, our foreign secretary and general agent, was invited to assist Dr. Mihior in the labors of St. George's, and continued, more or less constantly, his valuable services during the remainder of the rector's life. The remark ought not to be omitted, that to both the brethren who, for a considerable part of the last ten years of his life, acted as his assistants in St. George's — the Rev. J. W. Cooke and Mr. Irving — Dr. Mil- nor was most truly attached. With none, perhaps, could he have held more cordial, or more brotherly intercourse ; and from few, if any, could he and his flock have received more acceptable auxiliary labors. SECTION IV. The opening of the year 1844 was signalized, in the life of Dr. Milnor, by an attack of his old complaint, which, like that of the year 1825, brought him to the verge of the grave. For weeks, his friends and the church stood trem- bling with solicitude, as life and death seemed to hang again in uncertain balance ; leaving it doubtful, from day to day, HIS MINISTEY. 481 which would preponderate. Again, therefore, as in former days, prayer was made unceasingly for him, by individuals and in the churches ; and again, as in that memorable crisis, prayer prevailed with God, and life was once more prolonged to this his faithful servant. A few extracts from letters which he received soon after his recovery, furnish pleasing evidences of the strength and tenderness of the feeling which his peril had inspired. From Bishop Eastburn. "Boston, March 6, 1844. "My dear Friend — An intention, long cherished, to address a few lines to you from this my new home and field of labor, is now quickened by the desire which I feel to con- gratulate you on your recent recovery from severe and dan- gerous illness. I am filled, as I humbly trust, with gratitude to God that he has spared you for yet further services to his church, at this period of her searching trials. Little can we afford to lose at such a time, if ever, those of God's minis- tering servants who are true to the grand essentials of the gospel, and to those standards of our church which so un- equivocally set forth the gospel. May you live, my dear friend, to see the present cloud passing away, and to wit- ness the triumph of our scriptural communion over princi- ples which, if generally prevalent, would reduce us to a condition little different from that of the dark ages : to a body without a soul, a shell without the kernel." From the Rev. Mr. Irving. "New Okleans, 14th March, 1844. " Hev. and dear Sir — A very long time had elapsed without any intelligence from New York ; and as my last advices spoke of your very serious illness, I was sufiiiring great disquietude on your account. But I have this mo- ment been put in possession of a letter from Mr. Denison, of the 4th inst., in which he delights me by saying, that Mem. Milnor, 2 1 482 MEMOIE, OF DR. MILNOH. he had that day seen you in your study * quite yourself again.' I hardly know how to express the emotions of joy and gratitude with which I have read this letter. I had heen filled with sad forebodings of mournful intelli- gence. I had been thinking of all that we should lose in the church, and especially in our foreign committee, should it please God to take you to himself. And now, my joy is in proportion to the depression under which I had been laboring. My heart instinctively blessed God that he has seen good to spare you yet a while to his church. ' To depart and be with Christ ' would, indeed, for you, be ' far better;' yet, I am persuaded, that for us, it is 'more need- ful' that you should 'abide in the flesh.' And so think many, very many of God's people. Everywhere have I found men inquiring about you with the greatest solici- tude ; and this moment, while on my return from the post- office with Mr. Denison's letter open in my hand, I met one who, hearing the news, thanked God aloud for tliis mercy to his church. " To me, my venerable friend, it is a matter of deep per sonal gratitude. When I came to New York last summer, as my place of abode, I returned to the home of my youth , yet, alas, I felt myself almost a stranger. Spiritually I seemed to be alone. But your kindness reheved me from the loneliness ; while I every day felt thankful that God had brought me into such frequent intercourse with you, to be cheered and refreshed by your society." From Bishop Mcllvaine. " Gambier, June 20, 1844. " My dear Doctor — I have often intended writing to you to express my joy at your recovery from your dangerous illness ; but almost constant absence from home on visita- tions, for three months, has prevented. For a long while I could not hear how you were ; and only judged you were better, because not hearing that you were worse. I have HIS MINISTRY. 483 no doubt you experienced the same sweet support and peace in your danger as when, many years ago, you lay expecting to depart. The Lord has raised you up to witness and share still more of the trials of his church. How we are beset on all sides ! Our heresies within ; the universal crusade against us from without ; and then, the fuel to the zeal of that crusade, which is given by such tribulations as that in Philadelphia, and the less public but quite understood case of greater evil in New York. These are trials I" While Dr. Milnor was recovering from his dangerous ill- ness, his old friend the Bishop of Calcutta was penning the following letter ; which, of course, could not have been re- ceived till a considerably later period. To the Eev. Dr. Milnor. "MoRADABAD, NEAR Meerutt, March 19, 1844. " My dear, deau Friend — I received your esteemed let- ter of July 8, 1842, just before I left Calcutta last October ; and it has been accompanying me for nearly one thousand nine hundred miles of my circuitous route, waiting to be answered, month after month. At length a delay of two days from indisposition, at this small station, has determined me to thank you for your most valuable letter, which was as cold water to a thirsty soul. It must, I fancy, have been brought by a private hand. The pamphlets also, which accompanied your letter, were most welcome ; and any rep- etitions of such favors will be equally so. " Your statement of the narrow means of your church missions is but too satisfactory as an answer to my request for Episcopal missionaries. But I cannot help lamenting that although there are nineteen Presbyterians, yet there is not one Churchman, in our sense of the word, in British India. We are so much in want of national clergy also, that I have lately formed a ' Calcutta Diocesan Additional Clergy Society,' for the support, by subscriptions, of a cer- i ,*y ^ i V ^ *' 484 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. tain number of clergy, aided by the stations where they are mtended to labor. " Tractariaiiism is on the wane, thank God, both in England and in India ; but it smothers still in the live ashes of our corrupt and superstitious nature, and will break out again unless extinguished, embers and all, by floods of graco on the dry ground, rivers opening in the wilderness itself. *' I rejoice to hear that so many of your bishops and clergy are alive and sound in the faith. I bless God espec- ially for the talent and rare faithfulness of Bishop Mcllvaine. His protest is admirable, and his late charge the very best thing that has appeared in so small a compass. Our Bishop of Ossory has also done incomparably well in another style of thought and argument ; cool, dispassionate, candid, labo- rious, mild, and yet forcible and convincuig. " The tidings of yourself, my beloved friend, are most grateful to me. My own family mercies are also remarka- ble. I have but a son and a daughter : the former at Isling- ton, with near sixty thousand souls, and twenty-four clergy ; the latter married to the Vicar of Huddersfield, with forty thousand souls, twelve churches, and fifteen or more clergy. Bless the Lord, my soul. Soon, dear brother, we must put off, each of us, this our tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed us. May we endeavor that, after our decease, our people may have the truths of the gospel still in remembrance. " Write to me, love me, pray for me. " I am your affectionate "D. CALCUTTA." "VS'ith his accustomed assiduity. Dr. Milnor now devoted his newly recovered health and strength to the performance of his parochial duties ; withdrawing, as much as he con- sistently could, from the strifes of the church, and spending what he felt to be emphatically his last days in still and sacred fellowship with his God and Saviour. How long he was to live, he knew not ; but he knew, that though many HIS MINISTRY. 485 years should be added to liis course on eartli, they might yet be justly regarded as an addition to be spent, not in reassimilating his tastes and feelings to the acerbities and contentiousness of men, but in further ripenhig the temper of his spirit for the sweet and peaceful employments of heaven. He passed a part of his usual summer vacation v^^ith his friend and former parishioner, Mr. Jeremiah H. Taylor, at his quiet retirement on the banks of the Con- necticut. But, notwithstanding his growing fondness for a calm and meditative life, he was compelled to close the year 1844 amid two of perhaps the severest trials of his pilgrimage. To the one of these trials reference is made in the following note : To the Eev. Dr. Stone. "New York, Dec. 7, 1844 " E.EV. AND DEAR Brother — My heavy domestic afflic tion must be my apology for not remembering my promise to Mr. , to return an earlier answer to your note of the 2d inst." After briefly disposing of the business to which the note related, he proceeds : "Our dear Ellen had an awful day yesterday, and as bad a night. Dr. Delafield, who was called in for consulta- tion yesterday, gives us some encouragement from the fact, verified in his practice, that few patients die of these ner- vous diseases. But her debility is extreme, and her stomach in so irritable a state as to reject all food ; so that I confess I entertain but little hope. Give us your prayers. I have more than once realized, in my own experience, the availa- bleness of fervent intercession ; and I know much is now offered for our poor afflicted daughter. " With our kind regards to Mrs. Stone, " Affectionately yours, "JAMES MILNOH." This return of his younger daughter's former malady, from which she had now enjoyed several years of apparently 486 MEMOIE OF DR. MILNOE. full exemption, was attended with uncommon aggravations in the violence of the disease, and in the disappointment of Ibnd young hopes by the sudden death of a friend. To her parents, both the malady, and the disappointment by which it was precipitated and made so dreadful, were inexpressibly afflictive ; and for months they hung in painful solicitude, as over a frail and delicate flower, which threatened every moment to drop from the parent stem. And. then, in the very midst of this bitterness came that other trial to which we have alluded. Immediately after the rising of our General Convention, in the autumn of 1844, the bishop of the diocese of New York was presented for trial on those grave charges, the investigation of which resulted in his suspension from office on the 3d of January, 1845. Of this ecclesiastical trial no account is here needed, or would be proper. All into whose hands these pages will come, know what facts were charged ; all know how long the bishop's trial, on those charges, continued to agitate the Episcopal church throughout the Union ; aiid all know how deeply this church has been humbled under the result to which that trial led. All that it will be necessary to add in this place, is to say, that during the trial. Dr. Milnor was called on to testify to an important transaction which the case involved ; that he consented to bear his testimony with the most unfeigned reluctance ; that he felt himself dragged from his loved retirement and meditations into the most painful contact possible with the convulsions which were heaving our church ; that he bore his testimony at the bid- ding of simple duty, but with all the directness, candor, and solemnity of a Christian man ; and that the character of his testimony had a manifest weight in deciding the minds of many who were sitting m judgment on the case. The most profound attention was given to his statement, and the most strenuous eflbrt made to invalidate it. But this eflbrt was in vain. He had himself once been an examining lawyer ; *nd now, as a Christian witness, he understood too well the HIS MiNisTRr. 487 nature of his duty and of his position, to be either disturbed, or driven from the coohiess of conscious rectitude, or from the course of constant truth. He did his duty and retired, leaving results with Him in whose hand are all times and all events. To his conduct throughout this agitating crisis, Bishop Smith thus refers, in a recent letter. Alluding to two things in the life of Dr. Milnor which had deeply interested him, the bishop says, after disposing of one of them, " The otlie?' relates to the impression made upon me by his singular forethought, wisdom, kindliness, and firmness, in those last sad acts of his life which dragged him near, and almost into the vortex, during the memorable ecclesias^ tical trial in New York. "I thought I already knew him thoroughly, and that I duly appreciated that suigular statesmanlike combination of boldness and firmness of principle with a just and tender regard for the rights and feelings of others, and a most scru- pulous care to preserve liis character and influence intact and unimpaired. But his whole course during our General Convention, pending the question of presentment and trial, and during his own long and vexatious cross-examination, gave me so much higher an idea than I had ever before en- tertained of his wisdom and his worth, that I could not but devoutly give thanks for the grace of God which was in him, and also greatly wonder, that he had not long before insured the suffrages of his brethren somewhere for the office of a bishop, for which I then felt, and now feel, that he was pre- eminently better fitted, in all such the highest respects, than many, his juniors, on the bench of bishops." In reference to the same period, his son, in his " Recol- lections," has the folio wmg paragraph: " One of the most unpleasant, nay, painful passages in the life of Dr. Mihior, was the part which he felt it his duty to take on the trial of his own diocesan. While he deeply deplored the necessity which called him forth, he shrunk not 488 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. from tlie obligation which Christian duty imposed. Many different opinions have been expressed, and many unkhid reflections made, on the course which he took. Those, how- ever, who attributed it to other motives than a deep sense of the duty which he owed his church and his office as a minister of God, little understood the individual whom they assumed to judge. His diocesan and himself had long been on terms of friendly intercourse. He had carefully refrained, even in the bosom of his own family, from speaking of for- mer delinquencies ; trusting, with his wonted unsuspecting generosity, to professed penitence and promised reformation. But when he fully believed that he had been disappointed, and that the probation had been abused, his resolution was taken. All personal considerations were merged in regard for the welfare of the church and tlie cause of religion. The evidence which he gave on the trial was clear and consist- ent ; and the attempts which were made to shake his credi- bility as a witness, on the score of failing memory, or on that of intentional misrepresentation, alike failed, and re- coiled on their authors. His memory was but too retentive, and his tale too truthful for many who listened ; while the doubting minds of some on the bench were settled by it in coincidence with the verdict which was rendered. Dr. Mil- nor, I know, felt deeply the exceedingly unkind remarks of one of the bishops respecting his testimony. He repeatedly spoke of them to me, and mentioned that he had been strongly advised to notice them. No diiference of opinion, he thought, should have induced a man so completely to forget Christian kindness and the respect due to age." As soon as the verdict and sentence with which the trial closed had been pronounced, and even while the chuuih throughout the land was rocking amid the agita- tions which followed. Dr. Milnor again withdrew, as much as possible, into the retirement of his own parish and his own thoughts; composed and peaceiul in tlie approbation of his conscience, and desirous above all things of cultiva^ ills MINISTRY. 489 ing closeness of communion with God'land heaven. Nor was it long ere the state of mind to which he was brought by his illness of the previous winter, was again comfortingly- regained. To each period the following remarks of his son, in the " Recollections," are equally appropriate. " The dangers which threatened the church and the cause of evangehcal religion, from the controversies and convulsions of the day, he dreaded much, and constantly deplored. But amid them all, he strove to live in a calm and sacred self possession. I heard a conversation between him and the Rev. Mr. Walter, while the latter was tempo- rarily supplying his pulpit during his dangerous illness, in which he very feehngly alluded to those controversies and convulsions, and remarked that he had long tried to keep himself aloof from all contentions, and to devote himself, with redoubled vigilance, to his own parish. Years were creeping upon him, the fire of youth was abated, and the holy calm of eternity was settling on his spirit." It would be wrong, however, to infer from what has been said, that the calm of his ripened age was spent in the contemplations of solitude. He was still a hard-working man in the cause of general benevolence, as well as in the rounds of parochial duty; and, during the winter of 1845, became deeply interested in a contemplated movement which had for its object the accommodation of many in the upper part of New York, especially of those of his parishioners who were led, by the pressure of a growing city, to remove to an inconvenient distance from St. George's. Such were the constantly increasing demands of business for space in which to operate, that the dwellings of the wealthy and of the poor in the old and lower parts of the city, were more and more rapidly transformed into shops and stores, and their occu- pants compelled to seek their residences in other and more distant neighborhoods. The regular worshippers at St. George's were, indeed, drawn towards their old place by the strong bond of personal aflection and veneration for him \s ho 21# 490 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. had so long been their chosen spiritual guide ; and not a few of them, disregarding distance, were still constant attendants on his ministry. Nevertheless, general tendencies were too manifest and too strong to be either disregarded or resisted ; and Dr. Milnor and his vestry became, during the winter of 1845, earnestly engaged in considering the question which was thus brought home to their minds. Having an ample parish-endowment, and an endowment more ample still in the liberality of the parishioners, the plan upon which they fell was that of building a chapel in the upper part of the city, which should be appropriated to free sitti7igs. The writer of the " Recollections " ascribes to liis father the following views on the subject of the contemplated move- ment. "He long mourned over the changes which every spring brought among his parishioners. His congregation had be- come a shiftmg one, and he could not stem the current. It was setting resistlessly upwards. Still, no new edifice, how- ever splendid, could ever have taken the place, in his affec- tions, of old St. George's. It had been, for nearly thirty years, the field, fruitful and extensive, of his labors ; and to no other could he ever have transferred the feelmgs of home and the interests of life. His views in relation to the pro- posed edifice were in strict accordance with the lovely sim- plicity of his character. He desired a plain, modest buildmg, in which the rich and the poor could worship God together. For the sake of the latter, the sittings were to be free. He loved the poor. He never forgot the Saviour's words, * To the poor the gospel is preached.' Throughout his ministry, they received a large portion of his care." After his recovery in the winter of 1844, he enjoyed his usual health and vigor, both of body and of mind, insomuch that but for his thin white locks, he might well have been mistaken for a man of sixty, instead of one near the opening of his seventy-third year. His form was still unbent, and his step quick and firm ; his voice was strong and free from HIS MINISTRY. 491 tremulousness, and his eye bright and full of expression ; his complexion, too, wore its usual unwrinkled and ruddy fresh- ness, and all his faculties of mind seemed as quick and un- dimmed as ever. In short, the approaches of age manifested themselves in little more than his grooving fondness for repose and quiet meditation, and an increasing aversion to the strifes and noises of the age ; and even these feelings seemed, in a good degree, the promptings of a consciousness, never absent, that his years could not be many, and that his constitutional tendency exposed him every day to a sudden arrest and sum- mons to depart. Under this consciousness, he may be said to have been now living and laboring by the day. On Sunday, the 6th of April, he preached an admirable discourse on the subject of "« charitable judgment of the opinions and conduct of others,,'"' in vt^hich, without profess- ing to do so, he yet really and ably illustrated and defended his own principles and life in all his past intercourse with Christians of different names. And on the evening of Tues- day, the 8th of the same month, he presided in his own study at a meeting of the Directors of the Deaf and Dumb Institution, of which he was one of the founders, and had long been a beneficent patron. It was at the close of this meeting, that one of the directors congratulated him on his appearance of good health, and that in reply to the congrat- ulation, he laid his hand upon his breast, and said, " I have something here, sir, that warns me to expect death at any moment." The warning was not causeless. In five hours from the adjournment of the directors, his body lay — a life" less form! What an appropriate gathering of incidents ! His last deed for the cause of Christ was amid labors of benevolence ; his last sermon to his flock was an elucidation of his whole Cliristian life;^ and one of his last words showed, that * The last sermon which he ever preached was to the inmates of the "Asylum for Respectable Aged and Indigent Females," on the afternoon of Sunday, April 6, two days before his death. Those in- 492 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. though in apparently perfect health, he was yet waitmg to die. Thus suddenly, and with little note of preparation, have we reached the event to which these pages have been tend- ing. But not more suddenly, nor with less note of prepara- tion, has it now come upon the reader, than it actually broke upon t\iQ family, on that sad night of the 8th of April, 1845, and upon the 2)ublic ear, on the sorroAvful morning of the fol- lowing day. The particulars of his death are furnished in the following letter from his son, who was his only medical attendant and nurse, and who wrote to Mr. Winston soon after the event. "Dear Sir — At your request, I will give you a brief account of the closing scene of my dear father's life. For some days previous to his death, his general health appeared to be improved. There seemed to be a rallying of the pow- ers of nature for a last effort. You will recollect with what strength of voice and energy of manner his last sermon in our church was delivered. At home, he was cheerful and happy ; engaging with all the animation and spirit of earlier years, in the new arrangements which were in contemplation. On the morning of Tuesday, the day which was to close liis career, he appeared at family prayer and breakfast as well as usual. At noon, I saw him writing at the very desk from which these lines to you will issue, complaining ol' no ail- ment. I cautioned him respecting the change of weather, and left him. " On our reunion at the dinner-table, he informed me that during his walk that morning, his oppression and diffi- culty of breathing had been much worse than usual. what a pang shot through my own heart on listening to these words. For a year past, I had been confident that he labor- mates were much attached to him, and at the close of the service, crowded around to bid liim, what they little, thought was to be, a last farewell. HIS MINISTRY. 493 ed under a disease of the heart, which was incurable, and would, in all probability, terminate instantly. Although I never distinctly told him my own opinion of his situation, and though to me the end seemed to be slowly, but surely approaching, and once that very day I had avoided a direct answer to his question, whether he had not a disease of the heart ; yet for a long time he was convinced that such was the case, and was unquestionably expecting a sudden termi- nation of life. I advised him to keep quiet at home for the remainder of the day ; and he did so" — presiding, however, as we have seen, at the meeting in his study of the Direc- tors of the Deaf and Dumb Institution, and uttering the im- pressive words which have already been quoted. "At tea I saw no change. I sat with him until eight, and then left him reading. At half past nine, I visited him again ; he was still reading, and said he felt comfortable. At ten, I heard him pass my room door on his way to bed. He called loudly on my younger brother, who slept with him, to come to bed, and then retired to his own room. I was waiting until sufficient time had elapsed for his undressing before 1 made him my usual final visit for the night, when my brother entered, and bade me come immediately. On reaching his room, I found him sitting upon his bed hi great distress, and gasping for breath ; not worse, however, than I had often seen him before, when, by the blessing of God, I had been able to relieve him. I immediately administered the usual draught. He complained of great coldness, and said, ' Heyiry, I am dying — / am dying.' I prepared a still stronger remedy, and while mixing it heard him caLmJy pi'aying, ' God have mercy ; have mercy — ' " [Something scarcely audible, the writer says, was added ; but whether it was a prayer for himself, his family, or his flock, he could not distinguish. This only could he perceive, that it was the prayer of a soul at peace, and sweetly breathing out its desires to God ] "On my presenting him the mixture, he doubted his ability to swallow. I begged him to make the 494 MEMOITl of dr. MILNOR. attempt. He did so, and succeeded. In a few moments he became insensible ; his breath grew softer ; and his spirit passed so quietly away, that I knew not the exact moment of its passing-. " So went to his gracious reward this best of fathers, full of years and of honors in his Saviour's cause. He died with his harness on. He had long stood watching at the portals of eternity, listening for the Spirit's song to call him home. That strain was sounding m his ears when I reached his bedside. It was not for human voice to call him back when the heavenly Harper was bidding him away. " Yours, very truly, "WSI. II. MILNOR." To show how deliberately and habitually, though in silence and by himself, he had for some time been " setting his house in order," in expectation of a sudden death, the fol- lowing extract from the " Recollections" is given : " The last sermon which he began to write, was from Psalm 1 6 : 8 : ' I have set the Lord ahvays before me : be- cause he is at tny right hand, I shall ^wt he moved' The manuscript is now before me. Only one page is finished, and that page closes with the following sentence, the last he ever wrote for his people : ' The faithful servant of God desires not only to cultivate an habitual regard to his pres- ence, as a matter of duty, but also to enjoy a constant s,ense of that presence, as a special j^>rm/e^e.' How soon was he permitted to enjoy, not a mere foretasting sen&e^ but the Ojd- ual presence of God himself I "As he had for some time evidently been looking for a sudden call, so all his actions seemed to have a reference to it. Thus, all his accounts were carefully made up, and use- ful memoranda were placed where they could easily be found. He had indeed ' set his house in order' " A few days before his death, his daughter Ellen's health required a change of climate, and her mother accompanied her to the South. He yielded to the necessity of the case, HIS MINISTRY. 496 but parted from them with great reluctance. He doubtless felt, that so far as earth is concerned, the parting would be final. He stood on the wharf with me gazing after them till they were lost in the distance, and then, with an attempt at cheerfulness which I saw he did not feel, turned away." The reference in this extract to his sad parting with his wife, explains an allusion in the foregoing letter, to the fact that a " younger brother" slept with his father. There was a sort of unacknowledged recognition of the truth, that it had become unsafe for him to sleep alone. Nor was Elea- nor's afflictive and protracted illness, with the consequent absence of her mother and herself, the only circumstance which, at that moment, tended to make the rectory of St. George's more than usually lonely. The youngest son was at the same time on his way to Europe, in the prosecution of the business in which he had engaged. Thus almost alone did the master of the mansion pass away. And yet he was not alone, for, besides the hand of filial tenderness that minis- tered to his case, God was with him ; and with that presence his departing soul was doubtless satisfied. He felt the Lord ''at Ids right hand;"" and therefore he was ''not moved.''' In the calmness of prayer he communed with his Father even while passing the gate of death ; and therefore breathed his soul away so softly, even as it had been a babe falling quietly asleep on its mother's bosom. From this brief notice of the good man's death, of the circumstances under which it occurred, and of his prepara- tion for the event, we must pass to dwell a few moments on the impression which it made on the public mind, and on the regards which were paid to his memory. It may be said with truth, that seldom, if ever, have sinmltaneous and wide-spread expressions of public grief tes- tified more loudly or more touchingly to the worth of a de- parted man of God, than those which were poured forth upon the announcement of Dr. Milnor's sudden demise. He had not been living in his closet alone, nor in his study chiefly, 496 MEMOm OF DE. MILNOR. perusing or producing those volumes which eHcit the w^orld's loud praises or louder strictures, to soothe or to torture the living author's ear. " Fruitur suafama'' could hideed be said of him, if not as a living scholar, at least as a living actor, moving among the multitudes whom his beneficent life had blessed, and eiijoj4ng the secret consciousness of a well-earned fame. Still, it was not during life that even as an actor in its busy scenes, his worth was fully proclaimed, and his praises fully uttered. Towards the living philanthro- pist, the living man of beneficent activity, the world often behaves not only with something of fitting modesty, lest its praises should seem like flattery, but also with something of apparent indifference, because not fully conscious of the bless- ings which it is receiving. In such cases, it is only when the instrument of those blessings is removed, that men awake to a true sense of their indebtedness, or give free vent to the emotions which had been silently growing into strength within them. It was so in the present case. Although he was a well-read divine, yet he was most emphatically a man of action. In this character, too, the Christian world knew him widely, and widely appreciated the great value ol" his services ; yet it was not till he was gone, that it was pre- pared fully to express its appreciation, or even fully to realize the value of what it appreciated. But when death came, and he no longer walked among livhig men, then his true worth was felt in the distressful void produced : grief burst forth on every, hand; and deep acknowledgments to (xod were made for the rare blessing so long enjoyed, so late removed. The religious press, of every Christian denom- ination, and in every part of the country, spoke forth the strength and fervor of the common sentiment ; nor was even the secular press either less prompt or less emphatic in its utterances. The various societies, greater and smaller, of which he had been a member, met and mourned, and gave published expressions of their sorrows and their sense of loss. The clergy of liis own church, of all orders and of all opin- HIS MINISTEY. 497 ions, united in heart-felt tributes to his memory and his worth. The great anniversaries in New York, which oc- curred soon after his death, spread throughout Protestant Christendom the loud wail of sorrow for the dead, and the equally loud note of gratitude to God that the dead had hved. The pulpit, especially of the Episcopal church, gave voice in cities and in villages to the universal feeling ; and in many of the religious periodicals of the country, obituaries of vari- ous length swelled the testimony of the day to the truth, that a greatly good and a greatly useful Christian had gone to his rest. And finally, private letters and official commu nications, from individuals and from societies, poured into the bosom of the bereaved household, in unstinted measure, the healing balms of sympathy and of a just appreciation of the character and services of its departed head. The attempt to collect what was thus, in various forms, done and said and published, would of itself require a vol- ume ; and therefore will not here be made. For this place the foregoing allusions will suffice. The funeral took place on Friday, at four o'clock, P. M., and was a most affecting and solemn ceremony. " So in- tense," says one of the published notices of the event, " was the desire on the part of the public to pay the last tribute of respect to his memory, that the galleries of St. George's church were filled some hours before the time announced for the interment ; and so soon as the doors Avere opened, and the coffin was carried into the church, the spacious building was filled to overflowing. Among those present, were clergy- men of nearly every denomination, including most of those belonging to the Episcopal church, the respective Boards of the American and New York Bible Societies, the Tract Society, the Deaf and Dumb Institution, and all the pupils." " The church was apparelled in deep mourning, and the chan- deliers were veiled in black crape." " The choir sung the anthem, ' Vital Spark of heavenly flame ;' and the Rev. Dr. Tyng delivered the funeral address — often laboring under 498 MEMOIR OF DR. MILKOR. deep emotion, only repressed with great effort ; and many of both sexes wept nearly the whole time of its delivery," A similar scene was presented the next Smiday morning, when the funeral sermon was delivered. In that scene, it is true, there were no public representatives of either eccle- siastical or benevolent organizations, and the sentiment which prevailed was somewhat sobered in its tone by the fact that ^' the narrow house'' of the dead was no longer visible to the eye. But the house of God/ was similarly crowded, and a sacredly tender solemnity breathed over the great congregation, and through the affecting services of the morning ; as if it were a consciousness, that though the form of the holy dead was sleeping beneath, yet his spirit was still hovering above, and holding, deep-felt, with his sor- rowing friends, the mystic " communion of saints." His remains repose beneath the chancel from which he so often delighted to dispense the symbols of his Saviour's love ; while in the recess, on a lofty base, rises a beautiful marble bust, which by its faithful likeness, speaks continu- ally to long-lived feelings of love and veneration in the hearts of his survivino: and affectionate flock. RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 499 PAET VI. RETROSPECT OF DR. MILNOR'S LIFE AND CHARACTER. All that now remains to be done, in giving to the world the life of this faithful servant of Christ, is to present some general views of his position, influence, and character, upon which, during the progress of the work, it has not been con- venient to dwell. Upon several points, little could be said with effect before ' reaching the termination of his course. They are seen to better advantage in looking back, and regarding them as fixed pomts, than in looking at them by the way, and regarding them as moving points. There are several things which run through his Christian and ministe- rial life, and being chiefly of uniform tenor, present few occa- sions for special remark ; but which, when seen in their com pleteness, as each a whole, well deserve particular considera- tion. Whatever was special in the matters to which refer- ence is here made, has received sufficiently special notice in passing. Hence, to general views only is the reader's atten- tion now to be directed. I. DR. MILNOR'S CONNECTION WITH THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. This connection was formed almost contemporaneously with his entrance upon the ministry, was based on principle, and was therefore consistently and perseveringly maintain- ed. The principle on which he acted in his early and con- tinued connection with that great institution, may be thus unfolded. He regarded all bodies, professedly Christian, who hold the Bible as their rule of faith, on the ground of its divine inspiration and authority, as, in some valid sense, parts of 600 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. the visible Church of Christ. He was not of the number of those who Hmit the boundaries of this Church, so as to include those millions only which are covered by an episco- pally constituted ministry and government, and who conse- quently regard the remaining millions of Christians, so called, as neither churches, nor parts of the Church, but as, in their collective states, certain nameless monstrosities, engendered, amid the outer darkness of the world, by the few rays of light which have happened to straggle beyond the favored pale of privilege. On the contrary, he looked upon these millions as lying within that pale ; as in the Church, and of the Church ; as being, many of them, highly illuminated, and as animated with much of the best life and power of the gospel of Christ. Taking this view, he held that there is a UNITY which reaches and incliides all who are thus distui- guished — a unity which holds in oke visible whole all the particular members of Christ on earth. Of this unity, there- fore, he held that there ought to be, especially among Prot- estants, some visible expression, some recognized badi^e. This visible expression, this recognized badge, so far as our country is concerned, he could find nowhere more appropri- ately than in the union of Christians of diflercnt names in THE American Bible Society, an institution whose sole work is to prepare and circulate through the world the simple standard of their common faith, hope, and practice. The question with him was not so much w^iether such a union were at present literally practicable and harmoniously main- tainable, as whether it were not desirable, and ought not, as far and as fast as possible, to be realized : whether it were not, in the highest sense, important to the efficiency, the growth, the best interests of the Church of Christ. Answer- ing this questiori as his soberest Christian judgment con- strained him to answer it, the decision left nothing in him for doubt, wavering, or hesitation. He gave to such a union his unqualified allegiance ; and it was one of the great works of his Christian life to embody, illustrate, and extend RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 501 the practicability, the benefits, and the blessedness of living ill so divine a bond. Entering this union, then, with such views, the question, naturally arises. What were the position which he held, the influence which he exerted, and the labors which he perform- ed, in connection with the American Bible Society ? To this question, an answer in part may be drawn from the fore- going narrative of his ministerial life. But an answer in full requires a farther statement. And, happily, with the mate- rials for such a statement we have been furnished by the excellent Corresponding Secretary of the Society, the Rev. Dr. Brigham, so long one of the worthy associates of Dr. Milnor in the conduct of the institution. The materials fur- nished by Dr. Brigham are, indeed, but a summary. In the following statement, therefore, they will be used without strict confinement to the language in which they have been communicated. They are valuable for the dates and facts which they certify, and for the views of character which, as the result of long and familiar intercourse, they express. "This distinguished man became interested in the cause of the Bible before his removal from Pennsylvania ; and his interest there was strongly favored by the well-known views of his beloved diocesan, Bishop White. Upon his settlement in New York, in the summer and fall of 1816, the Ameri- can Bible Society had been but a few months in existence. He lost no time in connecting himself with it as an active member ; and continued to labor in its service until the very week of his decease. "In 1819 he was appointed Domestic Secretary; an office which involved an active correspondence with the various branches, auxiliaries, and agents of the institution throughout the United States. In this capacity too, he pre- pared arid presented the fourth annual report of the society, at its anniversary in May, 1820 ; an able and interesting document of forty- five octavo pages. In 1820 he was ap- 502 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. pointed Foreign Secretary, as successor to the Rev. Dr. Ma- son ; and in this capacity he maintained, for many years, an active correspondence with the British and Foreign Bible Society ; thus bringing the experience and counsels of that great institution to the aid of the younger organization which he represented. It was in his capacity as Foreign Secretaiy, that Dr. Milnor represented the American Bible Society in London, during the great anniversaries in the spring of 1830. "But his most important services in this cause were rendered, in connection with committees and the board, in the transaction of business. For many years he was chair- man of the committee on versions ; a committee whose duty it was to examine and certify the correctness of all the Scriptures published and circulated in various languages, at home and abroad. After the publication of the facsimile copy of ' King James' Bible' in 1837, he and his associates on the committee, aided by a skilful proof-reader, compared that issued by the society with the copy referred to, and carefully noted every instance of change which in the course of two centuries had occurred. This, of itself, was a labor of no ordinary magnitude, and resulted in giving to the soci- ety a STANDARD, for which all its members and friends should be grateful. " For the last ten years of his life. Dr. Milnor was also chairman of the committee charged with the duty of making arrangements for the successive anniversaries of the society ; and it was on business with this committee that he rilade his last visit to the Bible-house. At this meeting the arrangements for the twenty-ninth anniversary were com- pleted ; the speakers were engaged, the place of meeting for the anniversary was secured, and all things were ready. But when, a few days afterwards, the anticipated gathermg of the friends of the Bible took place, he, who had done so much towards giving shape and order to the proceedings, was not there. He had been called from his willing labors, and had entered on his gracious reward." RETROSPECT OF IIIS LIFE. ^ 503 The following is the notice of his character and services which the Board of Managers took in their twenty-ninth report : " Within a few days, one who had been a devoted fel- low-laborer, and was chairman of the committee to make arrangements for this anniversary, has been called in a mo- ment from his associates, leaving a vacancy in the society which few or none can fill. It may not be improper to record, with more minuteness, some of the qualities which rendered Dr. Milnor so peculiarly useful in this institution. " One quality was his familiarity with business. Hav- hig been trained, in early life, to the legal profession, and for many years engaged in it, as well as occupied, to some extent, in legislative proceedings, he was prepared often- times to render a service here which ordinary clergymen could not. On questions connected with finance, making of contracts, charitable bequests, and rules of order, his coun- sels were often of great service. " Another quality was his candor, or freedom from jorej- ndice. In a body like this, composed of men educated and trained under very diflering circumstances, it might be ex- pected that questions difficult of adjustment would some- times arise. Occasionally they did arise. But the deceased approached all such questions with a frankness, sincerity, and kindness of manner which secured the confidence of his associates, making them feel that truth and right were the only objects of his aim. All listened with candor to what he proposed. His open and courteous demeanor in this body, for more than a quarter of a century, has had much to do in promoting that harmony and mutual confidence which so generally prevail in its deliberations. " Another, and a crowning quality, was his scriptural and catholic piety. While he was sincerely and avowedly attached to the pecuharities of his OAvn denomination, he could rejoice in discovering the image of Christ under any outward form ; and where he could consistently, h© united 604 . MEMOIR OF DP.. MILNOU. with those who bore that image, in difTusing, among the ignorant and perishing, the blessings of a common Chris- tianity. In the Bible cause, this noble, fraternal spirit had ample scope. Having one common book to prepare and cir- culate — and that the divine book — and receiving it heartily as the only infallible rule of faith and practice, he could labor with his might for its diflusion ; and, to enlarge the measure of success, could unite with all who held it in like estimation, and thus aim, if possible, to impart its light to every benighted creature. " dualities like these, united with a rare cheerfulness and urbanity of manners, not only rendered the deceased of great service to this institution, but made him, at the same time, one of the most endeared of friends. There is no one of his associates but feels that he has sustjfined a per- sonal loss, and all will cherish in sweet remembrance the bright example which has been so long before them." Thus far the annual report. The following remarks by Dr. Brigham are in the same spirit : "I became connected with the society in 182G, young and inexperienced. I felt the need of much counsel, and sought it from those who had been long connected with the board. AS Dr. Milnor still performed many of the duties of foreign secretary', and was chairman of one, and sometimes of two standing com- mittees, I was led, as a matter of necessity, to seek his advice. I was, at times, obhged to call on him when he was pressed with business, and more than once or twice to see him in his sick room, and in more or less pain. Yet in all my interviews with him, I never found him irritable or repulsive, but ever kind, afi'able, and ready to do all in his power to solve my doubts, and help on the good cause in which we were engaged. " On committees he was ever punctual, courteous, intel- ligent, and of course influential ; and it was always felt, by his associates, to be a pleasure thus to labor with him in their great common cause. RETEOSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 505 " One noble trait in his character I early noticed, and have often had occasion to admire ; I mean his candor, his readiness to recognize and follow truth, wherever and when- ever discerned, without inquiring what this or that man or party would say. I have seen him, after earnestly defend- ing one side of a question, find, on presentation of evidence, that he had been mistaken ; and then, with a disinterested frankness, say that he saw reason to change his views and his vote. I have seen him do this when very few would have done so, although all were constrained to admire his course. This sincere, cathoUc spirit of his has had much to do in giving harmony to the operations of the board ; and my hope is, that a remembrance of his example will long exert a salutary influence." It is of course impossible, from so brief a statement as the foregoing, even with the aid of what has been said in earlier pages of the Memoir, to estimate truly the amount of labor which, in the course of nine and twenty years, must have been performed by so active and ever-punctual a mem- ber of the Bible Society. But although the amount of his labors may not be easily estimated, yet the importance of his position, and the dignity with which he maintained him- self in it, may without difficulty be apprehended. In that position, indeed, he was strongly assailed by influences which it was most difficult to resist. But he stood firm till the «torm of opposition and obloquy had spent its force, and then for long years calmly maintained his standing amid the sunshine of general favor ; Christians of all Protestant names admiring his consistency and his constancy, and multitudes of his own denomination in particular, rallying round him m the heavenly cause of union for the dissemination of the pure word of God. In this latter respect his influence was precious. To his quiet perseverance the Episcopal church owes much of its present interest in the cause of the Ameri- can Bible Society. Had he quailed before the stern frown Mem. Milnor. 22 506 MEMOm OF DU. MILNOR. of opposition, spirits of feebler nerve would never have ven- tured to meet the intimidation. But he lived long enough to see that frown die of self-exhaustion ; and now the cause has a hold on our church Avhich cannot easily be broken. Henceforth, it is opposition that will be afraid to take its stand in public. It may murmur in private, but it is too feeble for overt acts. The cause of union, the union of Christian hearts and labors, without any sacrifice of essential principles, is incalculably indebted to the dignified stand so firmly taken and so calmly held by the late rector of St. George's. II. DR. MILNOH'S CONNECTION WITH THE AMERI- CAN TRACT SOCIETY. This was but the consistent carrying out of the principle involved in his connection with the American Bible Society. If the Bible contain the whole of a common Christianity, and be the only infallible standard of its truths, so as to render a union of Christians for the distribution of the Bible desirable and practicable, and at the same time a suitable visible expression of the unity which reaches and includes all really Bible Christians, then certainly there must be a unity which extends to a still further point. A unity which includes those who recognize the Bible as their only standard of infairible authority, clearly supposes that there is, in the Bible, a body of truths or doctrines which are held and cher- ished, if not by all who call themselves Christians, yet by all who really are Christians ; that these truths, or doctrines, however men may diiler about other things in the Bible, are certainly discoverable ; that the unity of true Christians, in holding them, is not a vision of something that ov.ght to be, but a verity that actually exists ; and that, therefore, of this unity also there ought to be some visible expression, some recognized badge. This expression and badge, then, of the unity of all true Christians in holding the essential and vital truths or doctrines of a common Christianity, are what the organization ^{ the Amorican Tract S€>ciQty was designed t» RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 507 furnish. This institution is organized on the principle of publishing and circulating those truths only which all evan- gelical Christians agree in regarding as vital ; that is, essen- tial to salvation, or sufficient, when blessed by the Spirit, and received into the faith of the heart, to insure the salva- tion of all who thus receive them. The institution is based on two great axioms in Christian ethics : 1. That it is idle to expect that all true Christians will think exactly alike, or adopt precisely the same opinions on all external, or even all subordinate internal points of the Christian system. 2. That it is worse than idle, it is disastrous to the best hopes of the gospel, to allow the divisions which have taken place upon external, or upon subordinate internal points of Chris- tianity, to run into total and hostile separations, so as to leave no visible sign or badge of the unity which really exists in matters both internal and essential, marking all true Christians as one saved body in Christ. Such is the standing point of the American Tract Society. It leaves all Christians unmolested in their opinions, and support of opin- ions, on points not fundamental, and seeks the union of all true Christians under at least one outward sign and badge of their real unity in whatever is essential or sufficient to salvation. In dignity and value, beauty and loveliness, it is twin sister to the Bible Society ; second in birth, and only second in its claims to profound affection and regard. Dr. Milnor felt all this in the deepest sensibilities of his renewed nature. He saw Christians of various names ac- knowledging one Bible, yet wanting something visible and tangible to show that they all belonged to one and the same body of Christ. The moment, therefore, the plan of the American Tract Society was submitted to him in his sick room, in the winter of 1825, just after he began his return from the brink of the grave, he adopted it with the freest, fullest action of his feelings and his judgment, inserted per- manent modifications into its constitution, and identified himself for life with its founders, its history, and its fortunes. 508 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. An account of these incidents lias already been given, but of all that followed little or nothing has yet been said. Dr. Milnor's labors in the Tract Society were even more abun- dant than those in the Bible cause. Its faithful Secretary, however, the Rev. Mr. Hallock, who laid the plan of the society before Dr. Milnor in his sick room, and who contin- ued to labor with him until his death, has furnished us with the materials for such a statement as is needed to bring out this part of the Memoir into proper distinctness. "New York, Jan. 29, 1846. « REV. DR. STONE : "Respected and dear Sir — I present you herewith cop- ies of letters and documents written by Dr. Milnor, to which you may wish to refer in preparing his Memoir. They may serve as way-marks of his labors for twenty years in connec- tion with the American Tract Society. But what he did and desired for this institution better appears in its nearly twelve hundred publications, stereotyped under his sanction, together with two thousand approved for circulation in for- eign lands ; in the spread of the Society's influence in this and other countries ; and in the multitudes already, by these means, brought into the kingdom of Christ, and established in the hope of their eternal salvation. It is more fully written in the hearts of those who so long and so happily cooperated with him m these works of Christian beneficence. But it is fully known to God only, who saw every impulse of his benevolent heart, listened to every prayer which he ofiered for divine direction, and watched every hour of the consecration of his active and finely balanced mind to the great results already achieved, and destined, as we trust, long to bless our revolted world. In reference to this object, his course was one and the same from the hour when it was first proposed to him, to that in which God called him to rest with his Redeemer above. " The impressions made on my mind, at my first 'inter- view during liis illness, were but deepened by his uniform EETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 509 course through twenty years. Knowing the pressure of his public duties, I felt bound not needlessly to engross a mo- ment of his time. But his ear was ever open. If the cause of Christ demanded either counsel or labor, he was ready to give it ; and I can truly say, that in all he counselled and all he did, a supreme desire to honor the Redeemer by the advancement of his kingdom in the eternal welfare of men, and a desire cordially to unite evangelical Christians of every name in the work of God, seemed the predominant motives of his heart. I think it no disparagement to any other man, living or dead, to say, that I know of no one who exceeded Dr. Milnor in genuine catholic feeling. Perhaps few, if any, ever did so much to bind together truly evangelical Chris- tians. He himself was a bond that united thousands. His piety towards God and his love towards man were deep and enduring ; and his aflection for the great foundation-truths of the gospel, of vital godliness, of the religion that humbles man, exalts God, and trusts in nothing but atoning blood and the power of the Holy Spirit, was stronger than death. " Every important measure adopted by the Society pre- vious to his demise, passed under his sanction, and received his cordial concurrence. Every annual report was prepared under his supervision, and every anniversary was honored by his presence, except the report and the anniversary for 1 830, when he went a delegate to the London Tract Society. His public addresses had a powerful interest ; and if any new modes of operation or other subjects of importance were to be presented, the duty was usually devolved on him, and was in all cases most acceptably and successfully performed. His talents for business, and for presiding, whether at large de- liberative meetings, or in the small committee; his intuitive discernment of propriety ; his promptness in decisions ; his facihty and despatch in reaching desired results ; his dignity, mingled with sweetness, and sometimes almost playfulness of manner; his uniform kindness and courtesy, and far- reaching benevolence, rendered his presence always attrac- 510 MEMOm OF DR. MILNOR. tive, and won him the love and the confidence of all who cooperated with him. "As an illustration of the reference to his 'sweetness and almost playfulness of manner,' when presiding on com- mittees, the following incident occurs to memory. At a meeting of the Executive Committee, when a letter from the Hon. Peter Browne, her majesty's charge d'afikires at Co- penhagen, had been read, expressing the most evangelical and catholic sentiments, * I presume,' said the chairman, 'that the writer of that letter must be an Episcopalian; tirst, from his orthodoxy, and second, from his love of Chris- tian unimi!' There was a mingled gravity and pleasantry perfectly intelligible in his manner, wliich very happily re- minded the circle of the confidence and Christian union which they were themselves enjoying. '* He manifested to the last a growing attachment to the Society; and perhaps no man ever presided so long over committees so unanimous, and united by so sacred a bond. I think it is a fact, that he never heard *nay' but in one single instance, to any question which, as chairman of the Tract Society's committees, he put, during the whole course of his twenty years' connection with them ; and in that in- stance the resolutions were reconsidered, and a unanimous result reached. " As chairman of the Executive Committee, his counsel was sought on all important questions coming before them ; and as chairman of the Publishing Committee, residing near the Society's house, and with the promptness and facility in business alluded to, almost every publication examined, went to him first ; and as those which he judged unworthy of further examination were not sent to the other members, he had a larger share of reading than the rest. Generally, he completed the examinations at the earliest practicable hour ; wrote his decisions in neat notes, that might be at hand when the committee should meet for final action, or that would be available in case of liis sudden death, or RETHOSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 511 providential absence ; and promptly returned the books or manuscripts, that those which were to be read by others might be transmitted without needless delay. At the hour of his death, two such notes were actually in the Society's house, prepared for meetings which he did not live to at- tend ; and one of the two was a renewed and noble expres- sion of his catholic feeling. " Near the close of his life, occurred an incident as in- teresting and as tender as any thing in the incipient stages of the Society's existence. " A highly respectable delegation from the committee of the branch American Tract Society at Boston, spent three days with the Executive Committee of the Society in New York, carefully considering the facts of its history, and the principles on which its operations had been conducted. Al- most the first murmur of complaint against the Society had recently been heard ; and it seemed to assume the form of a question whether the Society's publications and aims were thoroughly and soundly spiritual and evangelical. This led to a review of the principal facts in the Society's history, and of the aims and motives by which the members of the committee had been governed ; and called up the most ten- der recollections of what God had done for the Society, while one and another gave a narrative of the past as it had affected his own mind. A large number of the original offi- cers were present ; and all the scenes of twenty years pre- senting themselves at a glance to the tender heart of our beloved chairman, more than once excited emotions which found relief in tears, and more than once prompted him to call on some one to address the throne of grace. On the morning of the third and last day, the first president of the Society unexpectedly entered ; and addressing the chairman, adverted to the prayer, and hope, and ties of Christian love, in which the institution was founded, and to the e^ddeut smiles of God which had attended all its course. The chairman commenced a reply ; but overcome by tender recol- 512 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. lections, was obliged to sit down and compose himself before proceeding. On that occasion, he reminded the circle around him, that he had often thought his other and arduous du- ties might compel him to relinquish his labors on the Pub- lishing Committee ; but he now assured them, that while those labors should be needed, and while God spared his life, they should not be withheld. " But I will not add. His record is on high. It cannot be fully given here. It is ever pleasant to dwell on his memory. God be praised for what he was. Thousands love the Society the better for all he did in it ; and the thought makes heaven the sweeter to our hope, that we shall there join our beloved chairman in praising our Re- deemer with perfect hearts and unfaltering tongues. The oiFicial documents of the Society bespeak the preciousness ol liis memory ; and God hath said of such as he, ' They that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever ' " With great respect and esteem, " Your brother in Christ, "WILLIAM A. HALLOCK." The letters and documents which accompanied the above valuable and acceptable paper, are of themselves, as illus- trative of Dr. Milnor's connection with the Tract Society, almost enough for a volume. Considering, therefore, the size which the Memoir has already reached, it must suffice to add a small selection as a sample of the whole. In obedience to the following instructions, Dr. Milnor per- formed very important labors during his visit to London. "At a meeting of the Executive Committee, March 11, 1830, it was " Resolved, That the Rev. Dr. Milnor be requested, in his contemplated visit to London, to ascertain, as far as practicable, the origin and history of such of the publications of the Religious Tract Society in that city, as have been re- EETE.OSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 513 printed by the American Tract Society ; especially how far such of them as are narratives, are a record oi facts; and also the principles on which the London Tract Society have proceeded, in relation to the subject o^ i^smng fictitioiis pub- lications." It was also " Resolved, That Dr. Milnor be requested, during his travels abroad, to obtain all such information, and to pro- cure a copy of such publications as, in his opinion, will be useful in the future labors of this committee." These instructions, it may be proper to remark, were founded on the principle, early adopted by the American Tract Society, that religious fiction concurs wdth ordinary novels in vitiating the taste and morals of the age ; the fic- tion being read less for the valuable truths which it teaches, than for the unhealthy excitement which it supplies. On this ground, the narrative tracts of our Society are believed to be well-ascertained facts ; and in this respect, the institu- tion differs from many of the religious authors and institu- tions of the age, who have not scrupled to employ fiction as a vehicle of religious truth. The only apology for religious fiction lies in the plea, that as novel-reading is an almost universal indulgence of our times, it is better that children should read those fictions which may possibly communicate truth, than that they should devour those which will proba- bly instil error. This, however, leaves out of view the all- important considerations, that religious fictions, early placed in the hands of children, ordinarily generate a passion for the mischievous and more exciting novels of the day ; that they thus become the prime springs of corruption to their Hterary tastes, unfitting their minds to feed on more solid and wholesome nutriment, and stimulating them till they become obese, or bloated by the masses of trash which they devour ; and that it is the duty of the Christian press to counteract, instead of cooperating with, one of the most seri- ous evils that threaten the Christian Church. The following notes, a few only of the many which might 514 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. be given, present a view of Dr. Milnor's position and action as chairman of the PubUshing Committee, and are valuable as embodying some of his opinions both of authors and of doctrines. "New York, April 8, 1839. **E,Ev. Mr. Hallock — I have given the tract of Dr. Alexander, No. 393, on Justification by Faith, an attentive reading in its revised form. I believe it to be a conect, scriptural, and clear view of the important doctrine of which it treats. It forms a compendium of what I have been preaching for more than twenty years, and presents, as I believe, the true and only method of a sinner's acceptance with God. What countless contentions would have been avoided, if this precious doctrine had been adhered to in all the definiteness of the apostle's teachings on the subject ; and if the pride of men had not led to so many contrivances to find some other way of salvation than that which the Holy Ghost has so clearly revealed in the sacred Scriptures. " Your affectionate brother in the hopes of a free and un- adulterated gospel, "J. MILNOR." DR. MILNOR'S JUDGMENT OF LAW'S SERIOUS CALL. "New York, April 8, 1839. "REV. MR. HALLOCK: " Dear Brother — I very much question the expediency of paying, as proposed, for the abridgment of this work. There are, besides this, three other abridgments : one by I know not whom ; a second by John "Wesley ; and a third anonymous, published by Hatchard, London, in 1814. I do not know whether they are to be procured : but perhaps they may, and may be found preferable to this ; in which case, if it is deemed expedient for us to publish it at all, one of them might be used without expense to us. " Law was undoubtedly a most devout man ; and as this work was written before he run into the mysticism of Jacob Boehmen, it is free from the peculiarities of that sin- RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 515 gular man, and is, in truth, in one view a very useful book. As an exhibition of the folly, sin, and danger of a worldly life, and of the superior wisdom, excellence, and happiness of a life of piety and devotion, it is calculated to be practi- cally useful in a high degree. But I am not satisfied with the reason given, in the preface to the abridgment, for his not laying aright the foundation of his intended superstruc- ture. He is deficient in not beginning with 'repentance towards God, faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ,' and the renewal of the heart by divine grace, as the spniig of all true rehgion and all practical holiness. Hannah More, in her ' Strictures on Female Education,' assigns Law the merit of deep insight into tlie human heart, and skill in probing its corruptions ; but she adds, ' Yet on points of doctri7ie, his views do not seem to be just ; so that a general perusal of his works would neither be profitable or intelligible.' She adds, * Even in the Serious Call, Law is not a safe guide to evangelical light. As the mortified apostle, the holy, self- denying Baptist, preaching repentance because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, Mr. Law has no superior. As a preacher of salvation on scriptural grounds, I would follow other guides.' " As a dissuasive from a worldly, and an exhortation to a religious life ; as recommending fervent and unwearied de- votion, the consecration of ourselves and all we have to God, humihty, love, resignation to the divine will, etc., no work is superior. But the want of the foundation to which I have referred, gives a self-righteous aspect to the whole, which, though lessened by the expunging of numerous par- ticular expressions of the most exceptionable character, still leaves it without that evangelical basis which I wish all our publications prominently to display. " With so much to admire in a production which Dr. Johnson characterized as * the first piece of hortatory the- ology in any language,' I am far from proscribing it, or denouncing it as a work not to be profitably read ; but con- 516 ' .MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. sidering that there is in it scarcely an allusion of a distinct and decided character to the great subject of Dr. Alexander's tract" — which he had just approved — "I would say we might find other volumes better suited to our evangelical library than this. " Yours, affectionately, "JAMES MILNOR." The next note refers to one of the Tract Society's vol- umes, entitled " Bible Thoughts, by Melvill'' The volume consists of selections, by Dr. Milnor, from Melvill's pubUshed discourses. "New York, Sept. 14, 1839. " Eev. and dear Brother — I have read over all the sheets of Melvill ; and I think, corrected a number of errors that had been overlooked. With a good margin, it will make a beautiful volume ; and I am more convinced than ever, by a reperusal, that our labor has been well employed, and by its fruits will be well rewarded, in getting up this delightful work in its present form. I am persuaded, that from the compactness of views on the several topics embod- ied under each head, and the direction of the mind to each point by its title, it is destined to be more useful than the whole volume, of which it contains the pith and substance. " Yours, truly, " J. MILNOR." "Rev. Mr. Hallock." ON PUBLISHING VENN'S COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. "New York, Aug. 16, 1841. " Rev. and dear Sir — It is several years since I read Venn's Complete Duty of Man ; but it was at a very inter- esting time in my religious course, and has ever since left an impression on my mind of the great value of the work. I have refreshed my recollection now by turning to some of its delightful chapters ; but do not think it necessary to detain the book from the perusal of our colleagues. If it commends RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 517 itself to their approval as it does to yours and mine, no un- necessary time will be lost in enriching our volume series with it. " I think it right to add, that this work — as well as the evangelical preaching of its author — contributed largely to reintroduce into the established church, or rather to revive, the slumbering spirit of the E,eformation. Simeon, and Par- ish, and Cecil, and Scott, and the Milners, and Wilson, and a host of others, have in succession maintained the same principles. The Christian Observer and other Episcopal publications of the same spirit, are walking in Venn's foot- steps, and under God will, I trust, form an effectual barrier to the assaults on spiritual religion, which are now made by the more than semi-popish Tractarians at Oxford. " J. MILNOR." " Eev. Mr. Hallock." In October, 1842, a public deliberative meeting of the board and friends of the American Tract Society was held during most of three days in the Broadway Tabernacle, New York, at the call of the Executive Committee, of which Dr. Milnor was chairman. This call was influenced by a belief, " that careful attention to its several spheres of labor, and discussion of the principles involved, would give definiteness to the conceptions of many as to its character and objects, and thus awaken prayer, liberality, and persevering effort, to bless the world with these means of grace." Among the many valuable documents presented at this meeting, was the following from Dr. Milnor ; and most fully does it breathe the spirit which characterized and governed his hfe. " THE HARMONY OF THE SOCIETY'S PROCEEDINGS. " ' Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to- gether in unity.' " Among the many interesting topics deserving of notice on this extraordinary assemblage of friends of the American Tract Society, may be eminently ranked that of the very 518 MEMOIE. OF DR. MILNOR. remarkable liarinoii)'^ of feeling and action by which its past history has been distinguished. It would be ungrateful to that divine Being whose direction, in the management of its affairs, has been so constantly sought by its conductors, not to recognize, thankfully and devoutly, his special providence,' and the benignant guidance of his Holy Spirit in all the way in which he has hitherto brought us. " The institution had its basis in the principle of broth- erly love. It was deemed possible for the disciples of a common Saviour, honestly divided from each other on some points of doctrine, discipline, and worship, and separated into different communities, cordially to unite in the dissemination of those great truths of their religion in which they harmo- niously concur, and which are indissolubly connected with the eternal well-being of the soul. It was not entirely a new experiment. Several small associations had been pro- ductive of much good. In Great Britain a similar effort, on a large scale, had been attended with an astonishing measure of success ; and it may be added, the great Society by which it has been prosecuted still maintains its harmony, and con- tinues to bless that country and the world, through its nu- merous publications, with invaluable treasures of spiritual knowledge and practical instruction. Tract societies, both here and there, owe much of their prosperity, under the di- vine favor, to those well-considered principles of action which were adopted at the outset of these undertakings, as the basis of Christian union. " With whatever delight the Clii'istian raind may con- template the happy period, how distant none can tell but He who ' knows the end from the beginning,' when on all points the followers of Christ shall see eye to eye, be 'perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment,* and all unite under one congenial banner, it was apparent to every considerate mind, that there were existing differences of opinion and practice among evangelical Christians, which in such a combination must be left untouched. It was to RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 519 be ascertained in what doctrines of faith all of this character were agreed ; and an honest understanding was to be had, that to such their united endeavors M^ere to be imphcitly confined. Happily, little difficulty occurred in setthng these. * Man's native sinfulness ; the purity and obligation of the law of God ; the true and proper divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ ; the necessity and reality of his atonement and sac- rifice ; the efficiency of the Holy Spirit in the Avork of reno- vation ; the free and full ofiers of the gospel, and the duty of men to accept it ; the necessity of personal holiness, and an everlasting state of rewards and punishments beyond the grave ' — doctrines dear to the hearts of all evangelical Chris- tians, were the declared basis of our union. They were adopted with much deliberation and fervent prayer, and they have continued to form the inspiring topics of more than a thousand different publications, including upwards of one hundred bound volumes, which it has been our privilege to issue. By a faithful adherence to these original terms of association, has harmony been uninterruptedly preserved for the nineteen years and more through which the labors of this institution have been so happily conducted. " During this period, no tract or book has been issued but with the unanimous approval of all the members of the Pub- lishing Committee, consisting of a representative from each of the six evangelical denominations of Christians. To whatever extent any denomination may have thought it a duty to spread abroad a knowledge of its own peculiarities, this has been its own separate and exclusive work : we have scrupulously adhered to the principles on which our union is based, and on which its continuance depends. " One great object, however, it is believed, has been eftect- ed by this exhibition of harmonious action. Multitudes have become disposed to look more at the great principles of their blessed religion, in which they are all able conscientiously to concur, and less on those in which they unhappily difier. The discovery has been satisfactorily made of the inferiority 520 MEMOIP. OF DP.. MILNOR. in number and magnitude of the latter, compared with the former. The beneficial example of its divine Author has become more an object of assiduous imitation. Where dis- cussion has been had on subjects which are still in dispute among Christians, less of asperity has been seen in the pages of controversy, and the failure to convince an adversary has not often been followed by the language of bitterness and denunciation. It has been seen by Protestant churches, that just in proportion as they present a united front to the as- saults of infidelity and error, and the machinations of the Man of Sin, will the citadel of their hopes stand firm and uninjured : just as they spend their strength in mutual con- tention, will their common enemies gain advantage over them. It was a happy step towards that union, over the continued subsistence and increase of which the present oc- casion calls upon us so gratefully to rejoice, when that gi*and association the British and Foreign Bible Society originated, whose labors have given to the world more than fourteen million copies of the volume of inspiration, and multiplied the means of conveying its blessed truths to the nations ot the earth, by translations into more than one hundred and fifty of the languages into which they are divided. " The establishment of Tract Societies by Christians of different denominations, was a further advance in the way to that blessed consummation when all discord shall cease; when the principles, and objects, and modes of action among Christians shall universally coalesce ; when the genius and spirit of the gospel shall unite their hearts in Christian love ;' Avhen God shall be adored as the universal P^ather, the world become one vast family of brethen, united to him and one another by the blood of Christ, regenerated by his Spirit, and prepared to cast their crowns before the same Lord, and rend the concave of heaven with one harmonious shout of praise. " In the retrospect of the past doings of this institution and their results, they who have been most intimately con- EETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 521 nected with its transactions, have reason, with a deep sense of the imperfections of their own agency therein, to exult in multipUed evident manifestations of divine favor towards it. Especially do they rejoice in the dehghtfnl fact to which these remarks are intended to have especial reference — ^the preservation, thus far, of perfect unity and concord among its officers and members, and the confirmation which this aflbrds of every glowing anticipation of its friends as to its future progress. " For the promotion of this end let us improve our pres- ent assemblage. For this let our united prayers ascend to heaven, and our best endeavors be exerted, A dutiful spirit should delight to recur to the precepts, and a living faith to lay hold of the promises of God. Where is one to be found among the former which gives countenance to disunion and discord ? Where is there one among the latter that assures any recompense of blessing to a contentious and litigious spirit ? The religion of Jesus is a religion of love. It was this hallowed principle in which the gospel originated, and its too partial prevalence has been the chief obstacle to its predicted universal sway. Its final success can never obtain, until the same mind is possessed by his people that was in Christ their divine Head, and their combined and unembar- rassed efforts are united for his glory and the salvation of mankind. A wide field lies open before us. Millions of heathen implore, in their destitution, the exercise of our be- nevolence towards them. Other millions of nominal Chris- tians, if in their blindness they ask not, we know need our interposition, to pour into their minds the light of heavenly truth, and recall them to the simplicity that is in Christ. Still many a waste place of our own land reproaches the narrowness and lassitude of our exertions; while grateful multitudes, in regions which our efforts have availably reached, bless God for that concentrated union of action which has sent them our publications to light them on their way to heaven. Experience has proved that our plan of 522 MEMOIE, OF DR. MILNOR. union in tliis work of benevolence is not visionary or Utopian. It contemplates no improper interference with any of the de- partments into which the family of Christ is divided. " Let no means employed by individual churches for the glory of the Redeemer and the salvation of those for whom Christ has died, be disregarded or esteemed of light impor- tance. Let the living ministry be respected as a most hon- ored institution, a divine appointment, having the promise of the Church's Head to the end of time. Let each distinct branch of the vast household of faith employ the means en- trusted to it by a gracious Providence, to promote the great ends contemplated by divine mercy and goodness to our fallen race. But let the broader principle of united action, so sanc- tioned of God, so blessed in its past results, so in accordance with the long cherished expectation of Christian faitli and the opening prospects of millennial glory, never be abandoned. 0, it would grieve the soul of charity, and throw a gloom over the brightening prospects of futurity, were the sacred union of Christians, thus happily begun, and thus success- fully pursued, to be dissolved, or in any measure lessened or impaired. * But it may not be. The sacred bond must not be broken. Withered be the hand that would attempt its severance. While any portion of six hundred millions of unenlightened heathen remain to be brought into submission to the Prince of peace ; while darkness broods over the su- perstitious churches of the East; while papal Rome is seek- ing to extend her despotic sway over the minds of men ; and while multitudes, not utterly beyond the influence of gospel light and truth, are seen crowding the broad road that leadeth to destruction, let Christian union be made the means of counteracting these mighty evils. We ask object- ors to a plan so consonant with the spirit of the gospel, what would have been the number of Bibles circulated within the last thirty-eight years, if sectarian jealousy and rivalsliip had been successful in preventing the establishment of that mag- nificent monument of religious enterprise, with the thousands RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE 523 of its progeny, of the vast extent of whose most laudable exertions we have already spoken ; and how many precious souls would have gone unblessed to their great account, had not the great Tract association of Great Britain, with our own and other kindred unions, disseminated through innu- merable channels the words of life and salvation in the little pamphlet or the more enlarged volume ? " When we look at the details of spiritual good effected by this joint cooperation which stand authenticated and re- corded in the annals of our Tract Society alone, and form the most moderate conjecture of cases which have never met the public eye, we are compelled to exclaim, ' What hath God wrought r And when we are mourning over the remaining bitterness of party spirit in the Church or in the world, and are filled with grief that union is not the watchword with all that love their Saviour and their fellow-men ; and while we also join in the lamentations of our associates, that the means of such extensive good as lies before us are, by so many who profess highly to appreciate our object, injuriously withheld ; we may perceive, amid all our discouragements, sources of pious gratulation for the past, and of inspiring hope for the future, that should silence our complaints, and lead us to trust in God for an issue to our labors for which we shall have reason to praise him through eternal ages." The foregoing document may be regarded as among the last of Dr. Milnor's public words for the Tract cause. They are glowing words ; and they show that to the end his heart was as full as ever of what, at the outset, filled its affections to overflowing. The Tract Society still holds its course. Its operations have become wider than ever, and still more be- neficent ; and in all that it is through the instrumentaUty of wise counsel, and in all that it is doing by the labors of industrious toil, it doubtless owes as much to Dr. Milnor as to any other man. The present writer having been appointed to succeed Dr. 524 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. Milnor on the Executive and Publisliing Committees of the American Tract Society, has some grounds for knowing whereof he affirms. His predecessor's jiame needs but to be mentioned among the band of brethren whom he has left, to show that it is still, in some sweet respect, like his Master's, " as ointment poured forth," givmg a precious perfume. He can also well appreciate the importance of Dr. Milnor's posi- tion, and the value of his services, in an institution whose re- ceipts, equalled by its expenditures, had become, at the time of his decease, more than $150,000 per annum ; and whose hallowed influence in the cause of Christian union and of man's salvation, is increasingly felt in the speech of difi^ering nations, and almost literally from end to end of the earth. III. DR. MILNOR'S CONNECTION WITH THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION. Allusions to this have from time to time been made; and yet an adequate impression of the interest which he felt, and of the time which he spent in this cause, might not be received without directing a more special attention to the point. The additional remarks needed, however, are not many. His interest in the cause of education was all-compre- hending. It started with the application of Sunday schools to the instruction of the most ignorant and needy classes ; and from this passed up through a care for schools of every grade, till it reached the supervision of theological institu- tions designed to train men for high service in the kingdom of heaven. The parish church of St. George being in one of the most densely populated districts of the city, and there being always a large number in his congregation, both male and female, who were willing to become teachers, several dis- tinct Sunday-schools — at one time no less than six — were sustained in his parish : a body of from four to six hundred pupils, regularly instructed, and much of his own time do- RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 525 voted to a general supervision of the schools. These schools were usually very flourishing. He was fond of addressing children ; and his facility in extempore speaking fitted him admirably for the task, while his winning manners never failed to interest the subjects of his care. The first Sunday afternoon in each month he devoted to the examination of the schools in church. On these occasions,- the regular evening service was read, and then the examination was begun. Many a child, through a long life, and peradven- ture to his soul's saving, will remember the mild blue eye, the silvery locks, and the white robes of his old pastor, as he stood before the young assembly, and with kind and gen- tle yet earnest tones, bid each one think upon his Creator while he was yet young, and before the winter of life should scatter its snows upon his head. Beautiful sights were those : fathers and mothers bringing forward the firstlings of their little flocks to be set apart and nurtured for the Lord. The fidelity of this view to truth is guaranteed by his son's " E.ecollections," who was for many years one of his father's Sunday-scholars, and for thirty years an ob- server of his father's interest in Sunday-schools. The common-schools of the state of New York also shared his solicitudes. In behalf of the American Tract Society, in particular, he apphed, in the year 1842, to the Hon. Samuel Young, then Secretary of State, for his sanc- tion, as " Superintendent of common-schools," to the meas- ure of introducing into the common-school libraries of the state, so far as the trustees of each school-district should consent, that portion of the Tract Society's publications called " the Youth's Christian Library ;" believing that such an introduction would be "found of incalculable benefit to the young." To the higher educational institutions of the country he was an earnest friend. To Kenyon college his services were invaluable. From Bristol college, Pennsylvania, he hoped great things, and labored zealously to realize his hopes, until 526 MEilOIR OF DR. MILNOR. measures, over which he had no control, resulted in the tota) loss of that once-cherished and favorite institute. Of the University in the city of New York he was one of the foun- ders, and for years, a member of the council. And when the chapel in the new university buildings was opened and ded- icated to the relijjious services for which it was desisrned, he officiated in the devotional exercises of the occasion, by the offering of a prayer, which, in its humble fervor, and its comprehensive requests, told how deeply his soul felt the importance of education in its classical and scientific, legal and medical departments, as well as in those which involve more immediately the interests of religion. And finally, with all the leading theological seminaries of the Episcopal church he was more or less closely con- nected, in the capacity either of a trustee, or of a patron ; though it need not be disguised, that the diocesan school of Virginia was that in M^hich his interest arose from sympathy, while that in New York, though a general institution of our church, awoke in him mainly the interest of solicitude. In short, under whatever aspect the cause of learning presented itself before his mind, he was its enlightened, effi- cient, and true friend : enlightened, because he saw and felt its immeasurable importance to the opening and onward destinies of the world ; ejficieiit, because he cheerfully de- voted time and substance to its support ; and tnw, because he realized most profoundly the necessity of baptizing all learning into the spirit of Christ and Christianity^ in order to make it a real and an unfailing blessing to the human race. IV. DR. MILNOR'S POSITION IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Under this head an interesting history might be written, for Dr. Milnor's relation to the cause and the progress of evangelical truth and piety in the church of which he was a minister, was second in importance to that of no other RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 527 man. But for the present, history must be left unwritten. We must content ourselves with something less than even annals of the time through which we have been passing. Dr. Milnor's position must be seen, but we must be content with saying no more than may be necessary to make that position evident. After Devereux Jarratt and his few evangelical fellow- laborers left the scene of their earthly labors, successors to his spirit and in his work appeared on the stage. Almost simultaneously, Pilmore, Griswold, and Richard C banning Moore began to dispense the true light ; the first in Phila delphia, the second in Bristol, R. I., and the third in New York. Pilmore's light seemed to radiate in lucid words, gathered into a divine order, from the sacred page ; Gris- wold's was like that which shone in his own calm, clear eye — as calm and clear as ever unto the end ; and Moore's beamed through many tears, and amid much vehement pleading. As we have already seen, Pilmore's light fell, with other influences, on the mind of Milnor. From their times, it would not be easy to recall the names of all who, like Meade, and Bedell, and Mcllvaine, and Clark, and Johns, and Elliott, have arisen to swell the evangelic bright- ness, and to deepen, throughout our church, her evangelic life. But all these have been Milnor's juniors ; and all, or at least all the leading names upon the list, have been ac- customed to look to him, not as their party champion, but as their more experienced friend and counsellor. He was, by common consent, not the most highly gifted man in all their ranks — for in learning and mental endowments, some were his equals, possibly his superiors — ^but, from various causes, the most widely known and the most largely influ- ential. He stood most in the eye of the world. For thirty years he was at the very point of convergence and radiation of all our great influences and movements. He was at the centre of conflict between the evangelical and the anti-evan- gelical portions ©four church. Nay, for years h« was, in his 528 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR.' own person, the one point against which the most strenu- ous assaults of the latter were directed ; and had he fallen, many others would have heen unable to stand. From sym- pathy, as well as from respect and veneration, there was a rallying around him, as a sort of evangelic centre. He touched a greater number than others could touch, of relig- ious and theological minds in their forming state. He touched more of the causes which, under God, generate evangelical results. In a word, through the early training of his mind, the practical character of his pursuits, the fin- ished amenity of his manners, the peculiar post of labor assigned him, and above all, the eminently intelligent and elevated character of his piety, the providence of God gave him A POSITION which, during .his life, was, on the whole, more commanding than that of any other evangeUcal clergy- man of our church. A bishopric might have added to him somewhat of official weight, but it would not have enlarged, perhaps it would, in some respects, have lessened, the sphere of his influence. Under this last remark, there happens to lie before the writer an apposite illustration. One of the most highly re- spected of our bishops, having spent some days with Dr. Milnor, and observing how often his counsel was sought, and how active was the agency which he exerted in further- ing the various efforts for the spread of the gospel, and for the good of men, just as the secretary of one of the benevo- lent societies had left his door, pleasantly observed, "I see how it is. Dr. Milnor ; you have all the responsibilities and duties of the office of a bishop, but without its crown of thorns." He lived to witness great changes, and to contribute to a wonderful progress in the spiritual life of our church. Some of his letters show that there were times when he was filled with the most gladdening hopes, that the evan- gelical spirit would speedily penetrate and enliven every part of our Episcopal confederation. Long before he left RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 529 the stage of life, the terms evangeUcal and anti-evangehcal had ceased to be exactly synonymous with low-church and high-church. The lines which divide the former, were found not to be the same with those which separate the latter. He saw no reason, therefore, why evangelical doc- trine and jyiety should not become universal among us, however differences about church-theory might continue to perpetuate themselves. He loved to contemplate that doc- trine and piety in the character of a sacred leaven, which, having by the hand of the Spirit been " hid'^ in the midst of us, would silently, yet speedily " leaven the whole lump." He saw, indeed, that in several instances it became mixed with some measure of human elements, and was diverted from its silent working and leavening of the mass, and placed in the attitude of a competitor for the honors and the influence of office and authority. But, as his letters at such times indicate, he saw this with grief, and felt that the evangelical spirit had left its true vocation, and was in peril of losing its true end. As to the doctrine and piety which were the life of his soul, he felt, that as they came from Christ, so their true place was that which Christ him- self assumed, to be among the disciples " «s he that serv- eth," and to leave it for others to " strive among themselves which of them should be accounted the greatest." This feeUng governed him through life. Though he seldom, if ever, refused a post which called him to labor, yet, it is be- lieved, he never sought an office for the sake of honor, or even of increased usefulness. He saw that usefulness does not depend on office, but upon a God-given heart and wiU, and power to live, and act, and suffer for Christ. To this great end, therefore, he desired to see the evangelical spirit in our church wholly consecrated : if God, in his providence, tlirust it into office, not to refuse to serve him even there ; but like Christ, to make this its one great aim, to minister, and not to be ministered unto ; to serve, and not to be served. He knew that neither offices nor officers can make a church Mem. Milnor. 23 530 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. living and holy ; while, at the same time, a church made living and holy hy the Spirit of God, sought in prayer and by the word, will be least likely to fill its offices with spirit- ually dead and unholy men. It is needless to say, that when the movement from Oxford began to reach this country and to affect powerfully the mind of our church, Dr. Milnor first saw reason to apprehend the disappointment of his hopes as to the per- vading spread of the evangelical spirit through every part of our communion. His intelligent and discriminating piety saw too clearly the utter antagonism of the evangelical and the Tractarian theologies, and of their respective tendencies, to hope that, in a church which so eagerly and so exten- sively embraced the latter, the former could continue to spread towards a universal prevalence. Nay, he seemed at times oppressed with heavy forebodings, lest the long coex- istence of the two should be found impracticable ; lest the evangelical spirit should be doomed, amid the temporarily dark ways of Heaven, either to die on its own field, or to flee away where it could live and labor without mixture and without conflict. The foregoing remarks, it is believed, exhibit with suffi- cient distinctness Dr. Milnor' s position in our church. He belongs strictly to its evangelical history. He was one of the most eminent, luminous, and unchanging embodiments of its evangelical spirit. His was always one light, shining from ONE PLACE, and shining fairer and farther than any of its contemporaries. It may be succeeded by other lights as clear and as far diflhsed ; but while he lived, there was probably no other among us, upon which so many eyes were turned, which was so nearly central in our evangelic firma- ment. Before finaUy dismissing this topic, however, it will be proper to remark, that in one respect, Dr. Milnor held a dif- ferent, or rather an additional position in our church. In the general counsels of our body, those which find their expres- RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. '531 sion through our triennial convention, the value of his ser- vices was in some measure appreciated. As we have ab'eady seen, he was to the last one of the trustees of our General Theological Seminary, and in that hody labored as unceas- ingly, and we hesitate not to add as beneficently, as any other of its members. In our general Board of Missions, likewise, both under its earlier and under its later constitution, his labors were of the highest value ; not only as secretary and general agent, but also as a more permanently working mem- ber of its Foreign Executive Committee. But, in the coun- sels of the particular diocese to which he belonged, those which find expression through our annual New York conven- tion, he held virtually 7io ijosition. It will doubtless by many be regarded as a lasting reproach to that body, that, influ- enced apparently by a fear of giving him influence, it studi- ously "kept such a man," to use the language of one of his correspondents, "out of those chief places, where prudence, and wisdom, and business habits were wanted, and only put him where he would seem to be honored, but where he had no chance of being /e/^." To all this, indeed, he found no difficulty in submitting. Place was not peculiarly the object of his ambition. Besides, he knew that he was felt, and that it was not in the power of others to keep him in the dark or under bonds. Still, theirs was an unwise policy. It de- prived the diocese of some useful service. And, so far as it was intended as a censure upon his course in the Bible and Tract Societies, and in his lecture-room and prayer-meet- ings, it was weaker than mere hrutum fvlmen ; or rather, it defeated itself: it probably gave him more sympathy and companionship in that course than he would have otherwise enjoyed. Upon himself, it was simply powerless. Con- scious of a sincere and warm attachment to the church in which he was a minister — an attachment based, not on mere sympathy, but on firm principle — he yet discerned the compatibility of this attachment, and of his proper obhga- tions as an Episcopalian, with that sentiment of enlarged 532 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. Christian affection and brotherhood which he cherished, and with that course of cooperation which he adopted, in what- ever involved the common interests only of our common Christianity. And, believing such cooperation to be not merely consistent with principle, but also important to the be.^t interests of religion, he could well afford to meet, with undisturbed serenity, all the opposition which he encoun- tered, whether from honest prejudice or from illiberal hos- tiUty. As to his course in the lecture-room and prayer-meeting, he felt that that was his own concern ; and with it, there- fore, he allowed no man to interfere, except, as he remarks in one of his letters, in the way of friendly advice. The manner in which he met opposition on this ground may be illustrated by the following incidents : the former rest- ing for its truth on the " Recollections" of his son, and the latter certified by a clerical friend, who had it from his own lips. His Friday-evening lecture, preceded always by the shorter service from our liturgy, and concluded by extempo- raneous prayer, was at first, says the " Recollections," *' a source of much difficulty. The bishop made strong objec- tions to it, calling it an irregular meeting, and using every effort to effect its discontinuance. But Dr. Milnor was un- moved. He had not adopted his course without prayerful consideration. He felt that he was in the path of duty, and nothing could make him swerve to the right or to the left." He finally ended the matter, after sufficient listening to objec- tions, by telling the bishop, in that kind but peculiarly firm and decided manner which he was capable of assuming, that " his only proper and efi'ectual course would be, that pre- scribed by the canons in case of their violation by a presbyter, specific charges and a trial ; that his duty as bishop was plain ; and that, as the presbyter whom the charges would affect, he was ready to meet them on their trial." But, as no violation of the canons had taken place, no charges could RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 533 be preferred ; the matter therefore was dropped, and Dr Milnor thenceforward pursued this part of his course without further open molestation. At the prayer-meetings in his parish, he was not always> nor even generally, present. But he countenanced them, and was occasionally in attendance. One evening, while the prayer-meeting was in session, the bishop came to his house ; and after the usual statement of objections, desired Dr. Mil- nor to go and dismiss the assembly. The answer which he returned was, in substance, this : " Bishop, I dare not pre- vent my parishioners from meeting for prayer ; but if you are willing to take the responsibility of dismissing them, you have my permission." Of course, the praying members of St. George's remained undisturbed. Such, then, on the whole, was Dr. Milnor's position in the Episcopal church : one of the most prominent of all her evangelical clergy, yet in nothing wanting as one of her most loyal sons ; less active than he ought to have been made in her public counsels, but probably not more active in the cause of general benevolence than he would have been, had his ser- vices in our church been ever so encouragingly invited. Y. TRAITS OF CHARACTER, WITH ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES AND VIEWS. Let a few notices under this head close the Memoirs, in which we have so long been engaged. They may not amount to an adequate analysis of the character of Dr. Milnor ; cer- tainly they do not contain all that fond affection would say of him ; but they are, it is believed, on the points which they involve, a truthful picture of what he was. Intellectually, then, the subject of this notice was distin- guished for great quickness of perception, and activity of mind ; for uncommon correctness of judgment, and as uncom- mon firmness of purpose. He took at a glance a clear view of every subject presented to his examination, and rarely found it necessary to change the opinion first formed ; al- 534 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. though, when convinced of mistake or error, no man more cheerfully or more gracefully acknowledged it than himself. Bishop Hobart once remarked, " I had rather deal with Dr. Milnor than with some who in church views agree with me, because I always know where to find him." His mind was eminently 'practical. For imagination, considered as one of the loftier attributes of genius, he M-^as not particularly dis- tinguished ; though in a certain quick and agreeable humor he was very happy. He had a relish for true poetry and the higher classes of literature, yet he had nothing hke a passion for either poetry or music, or, indeed, any of the sis- ter arts. He greatly enjoyed their beauties, but made no pretensions to the genius which produces them. He was a rapid and very correct writer. His sermons are remarkably free from erasures and corrections ; and he had a talent which made him always a ready and most agreeable cor- respondent. Theologically it is scarcely necessary to characterize him. His doctrines were determined by the standing point which he finally assumed, and from which, for thirty years, he looked upon the Christian scheme. Originally a stout anti-Calvinist, grace at length made him neither a disciple nor an opponent of the Genevan doctor, but emphatically a disciple of Christ. The point to which he was thus brought, formed and fixed his whole character, both as a Christian and as a churchman ; and it is upon this point alone that any thing further need be said as illustrative of the theology which he cultivated. His theology, then, was not speculative, but practical. It was a light which he received, and which he made to shine. It was not a cold, but a warm light ; and therefore diffusive. He was not spiritually born amid the dimness of supersti- tion ; he did not theologically live amid the depths of abstrac- tion. If the illustration may be allowed, his soul was, in an eminent sense, born of the kSun ; amid the light that shineth most immediately from Christ. His new birth was indeed UETUOSPEOT OF HIS LIFE. 535 the work of the Spirit ; but it was wrought at the feet of Jesus, amid diviner teachings than fall from human lips, and under a higher sacrament than is administered by human hands ; amid the teachings of God's perfect word, and under the mystery of His mighty love in Christ. This, doubtless, was the secret of all the subsequent ''burning" of his light. It was a light fed daily and directly from the Sun. He lived habitually with his Saviour, and was surrounded continually by the intense shining of those glorious truths which meet and mingle most closely in the halo round the Saviour's head, and burn and beam forth most immediately from the myste- ries of the Saviour's work. He did not undervalue those external and formal arrangements which Christ left on earth for the conservation, the purity, and the spread of his wor- ship and his truth. On the contrary, he ardently loved the Church and her order, and was ever ready for such services as he could render, and for such sacrifices as he could make, either for her welfare, or in her defence. But as these things of the Church were not the original fountains whence he drew his light, so they never afterwards became more than the divinely contrived and beautifully arranged glasses, through which that light came tempered to his vision. The order in which he viewed the parts of the great Christian system, seems to have been not only peculiarly scriptural, but also essentially important in accounting for the strong and steady burning of his Hght. In looking at this system, his point of view was not from the earth. His soul was not doivn here, enveloped in the visibilities of ser- vice, and looking up through a dim or a gorgeous cloud of architecture and shadows, intercessors and semi-propitiators in the Church, till finally it caught a distant glimpse of a diminished and almost hidden Saviour — a little babe, half folded in the ample robes of a resplendent and queenly mother ; but his soul was up there, with the Saviour him- geli — with the Saviour, clearly and fully revealed — with the Saviour, shining in the unobscured greatness and efhilgence 536 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. of his own unshared glory on the adoring mind of his ser- vant — with the Saviour, looking down on the Church and all her decent offices and order, as a great body of instruments to be used in the conversion of a lost world to God. Or, to give a difierent expression to the idea, this was the order of his view in looking at the Christian system : Christ first, " the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person ;" then his Cross and its work of sacrifice for sin; then "justification by his blood," "the righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ;" next, the work of the Spirit, receiving these things of Christ, and showing them unto men to glorify him ; next, the deep, dark sinfulness of man, as rendering that wondrous work of Christ and that glorifying work of the Spirit necessary to our renew- al, sanctification, and eternal life ; next, the "lively oracles" of God, the word of inspiration, revealing the whole body of divine truth, and speaking with the only infallible authority beneath the sun ; and finally, as making up the externals of this dispensation of mercy, the Church, with its ministry of the word, its worship, and its ordinances — the Church, a witness divinely appointed to keep those "lively oracles" pure, and to attest their origin from God — ^the Church, a great golden candlestick, to bear up and send forth light for the world — the Church, a trumpet from the Lord, to blow the enlivening sound of his salvation to the ends of the earth. This was the order in which he viewed the connected parts of the grand Christian system : Christ first, its sun and cen- tre ; then all those truths that lie closest round liim and are in a manner his outgoing life and power ; and finally, those outward defences and helps of the Church which God hath set for carrying on his saving work among men. Hence, we see what it was that kept his light so steadily and so brightly " burm?ig." Originally lit from the Sun, that light was ever after fed from the Sun. He kept his light close by Christ; among the luminous truths which lie nearest Christ. RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 537 And are not all those truths which have been named, most divinely luminous ? Or if one alone in the circle, the sinfulness of man, seem a dark and gloomy radiance from the shadow of death, yet doth not even this, if not itself lumi- nous, reflect upwards the hght of all the rest ? Doth it not urge, yea, hurry the repenting sinner upwards, till, in the actings of his lively faith, his once-defiled soul is bathed in the clean light of life and truth, as it shines around the Son of God? Accordingly, does not this account for the fact, that even when Dr. Milnor dwelt on the sad ruin of the fall, and meditated on his own sinfulness in the sight of God, the exercise brought no stain of darkness, and cast no shade of gloom- upon his spirit ; that it did but raise him the nearer to his Saviour, and cover him more beauteously with the light of those other shining truths which lie around the Cross, and stream forth from Him who was " lifted up" to be " the light of the world?" Yes, we see here the true secret of what we are now studying in the character of this man of God. He lived habitually with Christ, and among the truths which shine forth of his unconcealable Godhead, and of his gloriously redeeming work. This it was which made his own light " burn" so steadily and so strongly. He could not be other than " a burning light," when he lived in the midst of such burning brightness, and shone down upon the world from such a watch-tower of living hght. It is only when the Christian minister wanders away from Christ, and from the central truths which burn around him ; only when he gets lost or bewildered among the mazes of the many lesser or subordinate truths, opinions, and externals, which he more or less in the distance : only then that his light burns dim, or shines into darkness, or goes altogether out. Let his " life be ever hid with Christ in God," and his light shall ever shine beyond the power of being hid. The theological system, then, indicated by the standing point from which Dr. Milnor looked on Christianity, though 23* 538 MEMOIR OF BR. MILNOR. it may, in the judgment of some, mark him as a low- churchman, yet exhibits him to the eye of all as a high- CHRiSTiAN ; it may not identify his creed with Calvinism, but it does distinguish his doctrines from Tractarianism. Perhaps his best description, so far as this particular is con- cerned, may be thus given : he was eminently a Christian THEOLOGiST j Sufficiently well read in books, but still more deeply taught by the Spirit, and therefore belonging less to any human school of divinity than to the one great body of Christ's true disciples : more and more an evangelical divine ; less and less a doctrinal disputant : an Episcopalian by coii- scientious preference, but in his highest birthright and aspi- rations, a member of "the general assembly and church of the first-born." As a preacher, he was as bold in opposing error as he was zealous in defending truth. Yet he was always more ready to win the wandering to the path of hoHness by kind invitings and gentle expostulation, than to terrify him by fierce threatenings and harsh upbraiding. Perhaps to an uncommon degree, his style of preaching was conciliatory. Though he failed not to exhibit the terrors of the law, yet above them he always displayed the love of the gospel. He was ever careful that the Saviour should appear in his teach- ing, as the winning Messenger of peace ; one to whom the weary and heavy laden might come and find rest. The power of his ministry lay in the word love. Asa preacher, he was impressive rather than strictly eloquent. His enun- ciation was remarkably distinct ; and his manner, without being violent, was earnest. You listened, and became con- vinced that the speaker felt, in the recesses of his own heart, all that he uttered ; and that his love for his flock was deep and overflowing. Such being the grand theme and the prevailing spirit of his ministry — Christ's truth spoken in love — it is but reason-* able to infer that his labors were largely successful. The inference is sustained by facts. Many *' times of refreshing RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 539 from the presence of the Lord" passed over his congregation, and dropped upon them regenerating dews from the over- shadowing Spirit ; and silent blessings were generally found waiting on his steps. From his densely populous, and lat- terly, changing parish, multitudes have gone forth, through the city and through the country, bearing the impress of his doctrine and of the mind of Christ which was in him, to be church-members, and church-officers, and preachers of Christ — some of them unto the ends of the earth. Even his occasional labors, as he journeyed round the land, were often richly blessed. How many — like the Rev. Richardson Gra- ham, late one of our missionaries to China, who refers his conversion to a sermon on James 5:9, " Behold, the Judge standeth before the door," which he incidentally heard Dr. Milnor preach at St. Paul's, on one of his visits to Philadel- phia — have been the fruits of his seed-sowing as he passed from place to place, the great day only can reveal. So, in truth, may we say of his whole ministerial life. Dr. Cutler, in a sermon delivered soon after the death of his old friend, on the text, 1 Cor. 4:15, " Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers,'' uses the following truthful language : "To multi- tudes, he was a father in a higher sense than any of which we have yet spoken. He it was by whom their eyes were first opened to see their perishing condition by nature, and their only hope of salvation in Christ. God made him a fether unto them by a tie more lasting than any which earth can originate. how many such will rise up in the day of God, and call him blessed I His paternal anxieties and patient labors will be amply rewarded when, with a multi- tude of sons and daughters, he shall say before God, * Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me.' Like the blessed Master, he even now ' sees the travail of his soul, and is satisfied.' And when God shall have answered all the prayers which he put up, and brought forward into fruit all the seed which he sowed, then both he that hath sowed, 540 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. and he that shall hereafter reap, will abundantly rejoice together." In domestic life — the bosom of his own family — ^the beau- ties of his character shone with peculiar lustre. Liberal in his household arrangements, he nevertheless discouraged extravagance and disallowed waste. His domes- tics loved him, and looked up to him as a friend. He was very regular in his habits. An early riser from youth, he preferred the morning hours for study, and always accom- plished much before breakfast. In domestic worsliip he took peculiar dehght, and was peculiarly happy. He was strict in requiring all the members of his household to be present, and nothing pained him more than the unnecessary absence of any. The most tender and devoted of husbands, the kind- est and most indulgent of fathers, he was ever seeking the happiness, temporal and eternal, of those whom he loved. He never used harshness in reproving an erring cliild, yet he never overlooked a fault, nor failed firmly to reprove the oITender. He was very regular at meals, and very temperate. For a large portion of his life, he had been in the habit — such was the custom of the times — of taking an occasional glass of wine at dinner. But many years before his death, the habit was discontinued. His medical advisers opposed the change, from an apprehension that it might prove injurious to his peculiar constitution under advancing years ; but he was firm, and afterwards used stimulants only when pre- scribed as medicine. He remained to the end a warm friend of the temperance cause. As he was an early riser, so he retired early to rest, never, save when necessity obliged him, consuming the midnight oil. As for himself, so to all about him, he successfully endeavored to make his dwelling the home of wise modera- tion, cheerful content, holy peace, and Christian hospitality. His house was always open to his brethren, and the prophet's chamber on the wall ever ready for a guest. One of his RETEOSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 541 clerical friends, the E,ev. E. W. Peet, long in habits of famil- iar and frequent intercourse with him, in a discourse preach- ed the Sunday after his death, thus embodies his impressions of Dr. Milnor's domestic life, with a special view to illustrate its social and Iwspitable character. " Who that was accustomed to step over the threshold of the blessed rectory of St. George's, was not at once con- scious of being under the roof of a godly man, whose name and character were as a sweet savor among the intelligent, and wise, and good? What forms and features are well remembered there I What zealous ministers of Jesus gath- ered round his board I How familiarly all approached him as a father and a friend ! The missionary of the far West, the diligent country rector, the student of theology, the man of benevolent enterprise, the young man just entering on the trials of city life, all found there a welcome. And there, too, gathered good men of every name and denomination. There was no need, in his case, of a mitre or a crozier. An episcopate would have added nothing to the savor of his character, or the sacredness of his influence. There is no bishop in all our wide-extended country who might not well have deemed himself peculiarly favored in the cheerful, vol- untary, irrepressible love and attachment which Dr. Milnor excited and secured in the hearts of such multitudes of good and intelligent men. This homage no official station can ever purchase. Such station may secure an outward exhi- bition of respect, but the hearts of men are beyond its reach." It is important, in estimating Dr. Milnor's character, to note more specially the sweet cheerfulness of temper which his religion favored and produced. The impression that such strict views as he was known to take must make men gloomy, is one of those subtle and lurking errors of a falsely reasoning world which ought to be met at every step, and exposed in all its falseness. Of this error, Dr. Milnor was a living refutation. His religion, instead of destroying, 542 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. heightened and perfected his natural cheerfulness of disposi* tion. Many who for a time knew him only by the public estimate of his views, were astonished, upon subsequent personal acquaintance, to find in him nothing of the gloom and austerity which they expected, and with which their in- ferences from his self-humbling doctrines had invested him. Indeed, he abounded in cheerfulness and even in humor, though his cheerfulness was always becoming, and his hu- mor ever delicate and chaste. In its indulgence he never forgot who he was, and whom he professed to serve. His peculiarities in this respect, made him a truly dehghtful friend. Says Bishop Kemper, in a letter to Dr. William H. Milnor, written after the father's death, " He was, in every respect, a charming companion, abounding in anecdotes, which he told exceedingly well, and often with much humor. You doubtless remember many of his admirable stories about the Rev. Dr. Colin, the old rector of the Swedish churches in Pennsylvania, and the Rev. William Ayres, an ancient clergyman of New Jersey, who resided two or three years in the Pennsylvania hospital with his daughter, while she was nurse in that institution. I have known Bishop White, when we have been dining with him, turn to your father, and ask him to relate some interesting event, knowing that the company would be delighted with the narrative from his manner of telling it." His flow of spirits, and his fund of anecdote, made him truly agreeable in society. He always retained the easy but dignified deportment which early mingling in the society of the world had made familiar to him. The Christian gen- tleman shone in every word and action. " I have before me," says his son, "memory's daguerreotype of his beaming face and laughing eye, when enjoying some fine sally of wit ; and of his earnest countenance, when discussing some favor- ite topic." In argument he never lost his temper. Though he expressed himself with animation, and sometimes with warmth, yet he never lost sight of the respect due to his RETE.OSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 543 opponent. His naturally hasty temper was subjected to a gracious and complete control. He would meekly bear re- proach for a season, rather than harshly resent an injury. The benevolence also of his character should receive its meed. It was, indeed, his crowning grace. Drawn to his Saviour by love, instead of being driven by terror, love was the life of his religion ; and his religion was, in a high sense, but love in activity. His whole Christian life was enlarged philanthropy — sanctified benevolence. How much he gave from his moderately ample income, we have no means of definitely ascertaining. His contributions to all good objects were liberal, and in the aggregate large. His pledge towards the building of a free chapel, made near the close of his life, was, for one of his means, munificent. But in general we find no record of his gifts. His left hand knew not what his right hand was doing. This only is certain, that, according to his ability, he gave much. But his giving, in the ordinary sense of money contributed, was not the true measure of his real benevolence. His life was one great expression of this heavenly spirit. And it will not be forgotten, that his really abounding labors in the Bible and Tract Societies, and in the general agency of our Foreign Executive Committee, were all gratuitous. So, in part, was his visit to Europe, as their first and most laborious dele- gate ; and it would have been wholly so, had not the vestry of his parish generously relieved him of a portion of the expense. Much of his benevolence expressed itself in behalf of objects of which, ordinarily, the wealthy world knows as little as it may. His ear was always open to the tale of woe, and his hand never shut against the friendless and needy. And as his private resources were inadequate to all the calls on his purse, he took peculiar pleasure in carefully cherishing and wisely applying the charity-fund of his parish. This con- sisted of the revenues of the offertory at communion sea- sons, and amounted to a considerable sum per annum. His 544 MEMOIE OF DP.. MILT7011. regular pensioners, the old, the sick, the needy, and the help- less, received each quarter-day their allotted portions. If he ■was obliged on that day to be absent from home, he invari- ably left neat little parcels for them in charge with some member of his family. He furnished them with wood, and coal, and other necessaries during the inclemencies of winter ; his own purse supplying any deficiency which unusual calls might create. Bitter were the tears which these poor old people shed, when they came, one by one, to look for the last time upon the face of their old pastor. It was the lovely benevolence of Dr. Milnor's character which gave their most touching pathos to the scenes at St. George's and its rectory, immediately after his decease was announced, and on the day of his funeral. " The moment this event was known," says Mr. Peet in his discourse, " the throng around the well-known rectory, the groups of lingering parishioners, the eyes strained with weeping, the old friends from distant parishes, whom the growth of the great metropolis had separated from his min- istry, proved the depth and sincerity of the feeling which prevailed, and bespoke the pressure of some great calamity. And on the day of the funeral, men of all ranks and profes- sions, and clergymen of various denominations, gathered around the house of mourning ; and as his inanimate re- mains were borne sadly and solemnly into the sanctuary, which for so many years had reechoed to his voice, the vast multitude crowded every niche and corner, from floor to roof; and there, in the passages and open vestibules, closely and densely thronged, were seen men of high degree, judges and senators, and doctors of divinity, mingled with the poor daughters of Africa, whose tearful faces, if apology for tl ?ir presence were needed, told the story of those emotions which had brought them thither." " To some," Mr. Peet adds, "it may seem that his death was painfully sudden. They may feel surprised, that God's faithful ones should be denied the privilege of testiiying, in RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 545 their last hours, of the grace and mercy which they have received. But not thus ought we to reason. The death of the good man is never sudden. He dies daily. He converses often with death and the judgment. He has all things in readiness, and he prefers that his whole life should testify of the grace and mercy which his Saviour has bestowed." This language is appropriate. Dr. Milnor had no dread of sudden death, and it was his special desire to make his life speak to the last. *' He had a great dread," says his son, " of being obliged to give up duty, and earnestly desired that he might be enabled to work to the very end of the day. A sudden death was to him a visitation of mercy." He had his wish ; for almost literally, " He ceased at once to labor and to live." It is true, that when he fell asleep there was no song upon his lips. But, twenty years before, those who were near him, heard him sing in the very spirit of the great apostle, when " ready to be offered." At that time he sup- posed himself to be actually in the passage of the straits of death ; dying, not with the suddenness which finally snatched him away, but with a distinct perception of the gradual yet apparently inevitable approach of his end. That was the hour of his triumph. J'heii he sung the song of the apostle. Then the grave opened before him a lighted passage to glory. Can we then suppose, that after so long an added course of ever-increasing faithfulness in labor, and of ever- increasing ripeness in grace, the scene at last proved a dark one ? No. Had not death chained his tongue in almost instant silence, we cannot doubt it would again have sung the song of tri- umph — would again, have spoken of the preciousness of Christ — would again have testified to the power of that faith which can make the dark dwelling of the grave itself a land of light. Had his passing away been ordered according to human wish, he might, indeed, have been too humble to make his last song in the precise words of the apostle ; and 546 MEMOIR, OF DR. MILNOR. yet, now that he is gone, there can be neither presumption nor impropriety in our putting those words into his mouth, and conceiving the silence of his death-bed as having been, made vocal to the ear that " heareth in secret," with this animating strain : "I have fought a good fight, I have fin- ished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing." Nor can there be any presumption or any impropriety in believ- ing that the same silence in which this was heard, brought back to his own inner ear the cheering response, " Well done, good and faithful servant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." A very few of the many anecdotes and illustrations of his character and habits, which might have been collected, remain to be added. They might have been inserted in other and more appropriate places, but having escaped no- tice till now, they are given here, by way of taking our last look of the man. HIS HABITS OF SERMON-WRITING AND PASTORAL DUTY. He made it a practice, says his son, every Sunday even- ing, to select a text for the ensuing Lord's day ; and on Monday morning, he always commenced the writing of his sermon. A portion of every fair day, generally the latter part, he spent in visiting his parishioners, both sick and well. He loved to be among his flock ; and considered parochial vis- itation as among a pastor's most important duties. HIS FAVORITE ALLEGORY OF THE CHURCH. This was suggested by one of the Saviour's well-known parables. He loved to view the Church of Christ as an extensive vineyard. Here and there different classes of la- borers are engaged in cultivating the same great vine ; their RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 547 diflerent modes of training it being determined by diversities of taste, judgment, and skill. The roots strike deep into the same soil. The branches climb aloft towards the same heaven. Its fruitfulness is dependent on the same divine influences. And one and all who labor faithfully their allotted season, receive at its close, from the same Master, the sa77ie ''penny a dayT HIS IDEA OF TRUE CATHOLICISM. " Between Dr. Milnor and the sectarian bigot there was no fellowship of feeling." In illustration of this remark, his son relates the following : *' I remember, though at the time a mere boy, listening to a conversation between him and a brother clergyman who was then his guest. This gentleman advocated extreme high-church views ; shutting the gate of heaven against all without the pale of the Episcopal church, save as the uncovenanted mercy of God might perhaps grant them admittance. After long argument on the sub- ject, my father's face glowing with animation, he exclaimed, * Why, my good sir, if I held such views as you have ex- pressed, I could not rest to-night on my pillow. I have beloved relatives and dear friends, who are without the pale, as you define it. Their hopes and mine rest on the same Jesus. Are they to be excluded from the covenanted bene- fits of his atonement, simply because they have not been baptized in an Episcopal church, and do not worship accord- ing to a particular form ?' "When recovering from a violent attack of gout, and unable to read from an affection of the eyes, I read to him one afternoon the controversy between Drs. Wainwright and Potts on the question whether there can be a church with- out a bishop. When I had finished, he mildly observed, * The difference between high-churchmen and myself is this : they magnify into essentials what I consider non-essentials.^ At another time, when reading to him an advertisement of a course of lectures on the distinctive principles of the 548 MEMOIR OF DR. MILNOR. Church, ' I should prefer,' said he, * a course on the dis- tinctive principles of the Gospel.' " HIS INDIFFERENCE TO OFFICIAL ELEVATION. It is well known to many, that he was more than once solicited to consent to a nomination as candidate for the Episcopal office. He sometimes, in his vein of serious hu- mor, refused his applicant by saying, " No ; I have long since made up my mind to accept no mitre lower than that of the diocese of New York I" At a meeting of clergy of different denominations, the subject of an election of an assistant bishop for the diocese of Pennsylvania was introduced. A friend playfully re- marked to him, " Dr. Milnor, I understand there is danger that a mitre will fall upon your head." "Not the least," he as playfully replied. " If my Presbyterian brethren made bishops, I might possibly have some chance. But, indeed," he more seriously continued, " I have no aspirations on the subject. I have seldom known a presbyter made bishop whose piety was not, more or less, a sufl'erer from the ele- vation. I have little enough, as it is." By this, he doubtless meant, that, to the true usefulness and the true dignity of a minister of Christ, personal lyiety is more important than official rank; and that, although the latter is not necessarily incompatible with the former in even its highest grade, yet, considering the weakness of our nature, there is, in all elevated official distinction, a peril to Christian character, which should deter the faithful and humble servant of Christ from coveting the exposure. To use one of his own quotations, " O s^ s,ic omnes!'^ The Church would have more peace, and the world more profit. We now leave the subject of our Memoir to his rest in Christ, to the affectionate regards of Christ's people, and to the blessing of God on his beneficent example. In this world are many kinds of greatness. There is a greatness RETROSPECT OF HIS LIFE. 549 which is terrible, and a greatness which is splendid, and a greatness which is profound. Perhaps the best idea of a great man is this : one who has enough perspicacity to dis- cern truth, though it has become enveloped in a fog ; and enough love for truth discerned, to follow it, though it lead into a fire. This is the real martyr for Christ, as distin- guished from the man who fancies himself " persecuted for righteousness' sake," when he is merely punished for self- righteousness. Of this true greatness Dr. Milnor had more than a common share. Certainly his greatness was neither terrible nor splendid ; but it was, if not in the fullest sense profound, at least in the truest sense lovely. It wants not that which commends him to our respect ; but it has most of that which wins our affection. His was the greatness of beneficent action, of a living benevolence, and of an enlarged Christian sympathy. If he astonished not by deep discov- eries in science, by brilliant displays of genius, or by pro- digious acquisitions in learning, he nevertheless blessed by a noble example, by a beneficent life, and by yielding freely AND BEING READY TO SUBMIT PRACTICALLY TO THE HIGHEST CLAIMS OF THE GREATEST TRUTHS. He penetrated greatly into the depths of Christian experience. He felt with great power the sinfulness of his nature and the imperfections of his life ; and, with great ingenuousness and self-abasement, carried all his sins and all his imperfections to the Cross of Christ, and gave to his Saviour alone all the glory of his great salvation. He took a great grasp on eternal things, and lived greatly by seeking, as the one high aim of his studies, his labors, and his prayers, the supreme glory of God in the everlasting welfare of man. May such samples of Christian character be multiplied, till all the world has learned how great is God, and how great is goodness. (v% PUBLICATIONS OF THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, D'A-nbign6's History of the Reformation a new translation, revised by the Author 4 vols., each 450 pp., cloth extra, $1 75 Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, large type. JJaxter's Saints' Rest, large type. Memoir of Jas. Milnor, D.D. Flavel's Fountain of Life. Flavel's Method of Grace. Flavel's Knocking at the Door. Mason's Spiritual Treasury. 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