CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library BX9225.B165 B16 Life of the Rev. Robert BalrdD. p.. by olin 3 1924 029 477 654 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029477654 £n,e H^&HBitcbi* lY/bui^Juffi asisi&C THE LIFE REV. ROBERT BAIRD, D. D., BY EIB SON HENRY M. BAIRD, PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ffl"E CITY OF NEW YORK. NEW YOEK: ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH, No. 770 BROADWAY. 1866. T Entered, according to ActorCongress, in the year 1866, by ANSON D. F. KANDOLPH, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United Statos for the Southern District of New York. NEW YORK: EDWARD 0. JENKINS, PRINTER, 20 NORTH WILLIAM ST. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAGE PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD SCHOOL DATS AT UNIONTOWN 9 CHAPTER II. 1816-1819. STUDENT IN WASHINGTQN AND JEFFERSON COLLEGES, PENNSYLVANIA, AND TEACHER AT BELLEFONTE — HIS CONVERSION 19 CHAPTER III. 1819-1822. ENTERS THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PRINCETON — BECOMES A TUTOR IN THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY 81 CHAPTER IV. 1822-1827. BECOMES PRINCIPAL OF THE ACADEMY AT PRINCETON — HIS MARRIAGE -*- HE IS LICENSED TO PREACH THE GOSPEL — HIS EFFORTS TO SECURE THE REPUBLICATION OF VALUABLE RELIGIOUS WORKS — REV. MR. BICKER- STETH — OTHER PLANS FOR DOING GOOD 86 CHAPTER V. 1827-1828. LABORS IN SUPPLYING THE DESTITUTE IN NEW JERSEY WITH THE BIBLE — THE NASSAU HALL BIBLE SOCIETY — DISCOVERY OF THE' GREAT DESTITU- TION — RESOLUTION OF THE NASSAU HALL BIBLE SOCIETY — MR. BAIBD AND PROFESSOR MACLEAN SUPERINTEND THE MOVEMENT — ITS SUCCESS — THE EXAMPLE FOLLOWED IN OTHER STATES OF THE UNION 41 CHAPTER VI. 1828-1829. ORDINATION — REFLECTIONS ON THE OCCASION — PROJECTED BIBLE MISSION TO COLOMBIA — ABANDONMENT OF THE PLAN IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE " APOCRYPHA " DISCUSSION — LABORS IN CONNECTION WITH THE NEW (3) 4 CONTENTS. JERSEY MISSIONARY SOCIETY — THE PLAN TO RAISE FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR SCHOOLS — HOPES ANn FEARS — PROVIDENTIAL INTERPOSI- TION — A FAITHFUL CONVERSATION — WRITES A SERIES OF ARTICLES URGING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM IN NEW JERSEY, AND PROPOSING A METHOD — EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS IN AWAKENING PUBLIC ATTENTION — THE PLAN ADOPTED BY THE LEGIS- LATURE 49 CHAPTER VII. 1829-1834. ENTERS THE SERVICE OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION — THE PLAN TO ESTAB- LISH SUNDAY SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI — SUCCESSFUL APPEALS IN THE EAST -— TRAVELS, ESPECIALLY IN THE WEST AND SOUTH — MR. BAIRD REMOVES WITH HIS FAMILY TO PHILA- DELPHIA — A NARROW ESCAPE — OPPOSITION AT AUGUSTA — ITS RESULTS — THE DUEL BETWEEN MAJOR BIDDLE AND MR. PETTIS — VISITS MR. PETTIS ON HIS DEATH-BED —FRUIT OF WORDS SPOKEN IN SEASON — HIS ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO FRANCE — LITERARY LABORS — HIS VIEW OF THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI — LIFE OF MISS ANNA JANE LINNARD. 68 CHAPTER VIII. 1835. THE ORIGIN OF THE FRENCH ASSOCIATION — MISSION TO PARIS — APPREHEN- SION OF WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES — INSTRUC- TIONS — EMBARKS FOR HAVRE 87 CHAPTER IX. 1835-1838. CONDITION OF PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE AT THE PERIOD OF HIS ARRIVAL — REVIVAL OF RELIGION SINCE THE RECOGNITION OF THD REFORMED CHURCHES BY THE STATE — BIBLE, HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES INSTITUTED — HIS VIEW OF THE MOST EFFICIENT METHOD OF OPERATIONS IN FRANCE — HIS DIVERSIFIED LABORS — (t SATURDAY EVEN- ING MEETINGS " — PREACHING 93 CHAPTER X. 1836. INTEREST FELT IN THE TEMPERANCE REFORM — HE WRITES THE "HISTORY OF TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES," WHICH IS PUB- LISHED IN FRENCH — UNDERTAKES TO VISIT NORTHERN EUROPE IN BEHALF OF TEMPERANCE — LONDON — HIS " LETTER TO LORD BROUG- HAM ON THE SUBJECT OF AMERICAN SLAVERY" THE DUKE OF SUSSEX — HAMBURG — THE BARON VON VOGHT AND BENJAMIN FRANKLIN — COPENHAGEN — INTERVIEW WITH THE KING OF DENMARK — THE MUSE- UMS AND THE BATTLES OF COPENHAGEN — A MONUMENT OF INFAMY ... 105 CONTENTS. 5 CHAPTER XI. 1836. FROM COPENHAGEN TO GOTTENBURG — THE GOTHA CANAL — STOCKHOLM — KING CHARLES XIV. JOHN (BERNADOTTE) — THE CROWN PRINCE OSCAR — PRESENTATION OF MR. BAIRD TO THE KING — HE IS RECEIVED WITH REMARKABLE FAVOR — THE KING PROPOSES TO TRANSLATE AND PUB- LISH HIS HISTORY OF TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES IN SWEDISH AT THE ROTAL EXPENSE — HE PRESENTS A GOLD MEDAL TO MR. BAIRD AS A BENEFACTOR OF SWEDEN — THE COMMENCEMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UPSALA , 115 CHAPTER XII. 1836. EXERTIONS IN BEHALF OF TEMPERANCE IN GERMANT, HOLLAND, AND BEL- GIUM — INTERESTING INTERVIEWS WITH THE KING AND CROWN PRINCE OF PRUSSIA, WITH PRINCE JOHN OF SAXONY, AND KING LEOPOLD OF BELGIUM — VIEWS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND LITERARY MEN OF GER- MANY 1S3 CHAPTER XIII. 1837. PROSPECTS OF PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE — TOUR IN ITALY — AVIGNON — PALACE OF THE INQUISITION — GENOA — ROME — CEREMONIAL OF THE HOLY WEEK — ANTIQUITIES — NAPLES — FLORENCE — VENICE — MILAN ■ — TURIN — EVANGELICAL LABORS IN ITALY — THE WALDENSES — COLO- NEL BECKWITH, BENEFACTOR OF THE WALDENSES. 143 CHAPTER XIV. 1837. A SECOND TOUR IN NORTHERN EUROPE — BELGIUM — HOLLAND — MR. GROEN VAN PRINSTERER, THE HISTORIAN — HE SEES THE CROWN PRINCE OF PRUSSIA, WHO GIVES HIM A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION TO HIS SISTER, THE EMPRESS OF RUSSIA — THE ' UNIVERSITY — INTERVIEW WITH THE EMPRESS — ST. PETERSBURG — MOSCOW — POLAND — CHARACTER OF NICHOLAS I. — THE RUSSIAN CHURCH — SALT MINE OF WIELIECZKA — OLMUTZ — VIENNA 155 CHAPTER XV. 1837-1839. WRITES AND PUBLISHES A TREATISE " ON THE UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE IN NEW ENGLAND " — LETTER OF FREDERICK WILLIAM OF PRUSSIA — ■ RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES — IS APPOINTED CORRESPONDING SEC- RETARY OF THE ASSOCIATION — THE ASSOCIATION BECOMES THE FOREIGN EVANGELICAL SOCIETY 165 171 183 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVI. 1839-1841. RETURNS TO EUROPE WITH HIS FAMILY, TO RESIDE AT PARIS — INTERVIEW WITH THE KING OP HOLLAND AND THE DUTCH MINISTER FOR THE COLO- NIES IN BEHALF OF THE MISSIONS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD IN NETHER- LANDS INDIA — TOUR IN SOUTHERN FRANCE — SERIOUS AND PROTRACTED ILLNESS — INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS PHILIPPE RESPECTING THE SANDWICH ISLANDS CHAPTER XVII. 1840. THIRD TOUR IN NORTHERN EUROPE — DECREASE OF RATIONALISM — THOB- WALDSEN — CHRISTIANIA — HE IS RECEIVED WITH GREAT HONORS IN SWEDEN — BERNADOTTE AND PRINCE OSCAR — TRIP TO HUDDIKSVALL — REV. GEORGE SCOTT'S LETTER RESPECTING HIS USEFULNESS IN SWEDEN — FINLAND — SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS IN RUSSIA — OBSTACLES — INTER- VIEW WITH THE EMPEROR — IMPORTANCE OF GOING DIRECTLY TO THE SOURCE OF POWER — THE EMPEROR THROWS OPEN TO HIM THE NA- TIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS OF ST. PETERSBURG — TEMPERANCE IN GERMANY — INTERVIEWS WITH THE KINGS OF DENMARK, PRUSSIA, SAXONY, BA- VARIA, AND WURTEMBERG CHAPTER XVIII. 1841-1843. VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES (1841) — PUBLICATION OF HIS " VISIT TO NORTHERN EUROPE " — REMOVES WITH HIS FAMILY FROM PARIS TO GENEVA — WRITES HIS WORK ON " RELIGION IN AMERICA " — AGAIN VISITS THE UNITED STATES — RETURNS TO AMERICA WITH HIS FAMILY.. 200 CHAPTER XIX. 1844-1846. * PUBLISHES HIS " PROTESTANTISM IN ITALY " — REVISITS EUROPE IN 1846 — ATTENDS THE SWEDISH TEMPERANCE CONVENTION — LETTER OF RESPECT FROM PROMINENT SWEDES — HE FALLS SICK AT ST. PETERSBURG — VISIT TO PETERHOFF — IS INVITED BY THE EMPEROR TO ATTEND THE MAR- RIAGE OF THE GRAND DUCHESS OLGA — TRAVELS THROUGH POLAND — DINES WITH THE KING OF PRUSSIA 211 CHAPTER XX. 1846. HIS EARLY ADVOCACY OF CHRISTIAN UNION — AMERICAN ORIGIN OF THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE MOVEMENT — HIS PARTICIPATION IN IT — FIRST CONFERENCE AT LONDON IN 1846 — THE ARTICLE ON FUTURE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS — UNHAPPY . INTRODUCTION OF THE QUESTION OF AMERICAN SLAVERY 227 CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XXI. 1846. TRAVELS IN THE SPANISH PENINSULA — GIBRALTAR — SIR ROBERT WILSON — TANGIER — CADIZ — SEVILLE — CORDOVA — MADRID — MARRIAGE OF THE QOEEN OP SPAIN — ILLNESS — TOUR TO MALTA, ATHENS, SMYRNA, AND CONSTANTINOPLE — THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH AND THE AMERICAN MISSIONARIES — RETURN BY TRIESTE — MILAN — PASSPORT REGULATIONS — LOUIS PHILIPPE — MEETINGS HELD IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND — REFLECTIONS 236 CHAPTER XXII. 1847-1851. HIS ELECTION AS PRESIDENT OF JEFFERSON COLLEGE, AND AFTER*WARDS OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA — FORMATION OF THE AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CHRISTIAN UNION — LITERARY LABORS — VISIT TO EUROPE IN 1851 — THE PEACE CONGRESS — TOUR IN IRELAND 251 CHAPTER XXIII. 1851. HIS SPEECHES BEFORE THE CONFERENCE OF THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE AT LONDON — THE ALLIANCE IN AMERICA — REASONS OF ITS FAILURE — DISCOURTEOUS TESTS — INTRODUCTION OF THE QUESTION OF AMERICAN SLAVERY — DANGERS WHICH THREATEN BOTH ENGLAND AND AMERICA — INCREASING DISTRUST AND HOSTILITY — RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES 259 CHAPTER XXIV. 1851. THE CONVENTION AT ELBERFELD — VISIT TO THE MISSIONARIES AT PESTH — BETURN TO GENEVA — GREAT PREACHERS AND GREAT MEN — INTERVIEW WITH LORD PALMERSTON — ADDRESS BEFORE THE COMMISSION OF THE FREE CHURCH ASSEMBLY OF SCOTLAND — RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES 275 CHAPTER XXV. 1851-1855. THE MOVEMENT IN BEHALF OF THE MADIAI — THB EFFORT TO SECURE LIB- ERTY OF WORSHIP AND THE RIGHTS OF BURIAL TO AMERICANS ABROAD — RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN SWEDEN — HE RESIGNS THE POSITION OF SEC- RETARY OF THE AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CHRISTIAN UNION — VISIT TO EUROPE IN 1855 — THE ALLIANCE MEETING AT PARIS — LECTURES ON EUROPE — THE WALDENSES 281 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVI. 1857. EIGHTH TISIT TO EUROPE (1857) — RESOLVES TO SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE TO INDUCE THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW THE PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE IN MODERN RUSS — HE LAYS HIS PLAN BEFORE THP AMERI- CAN BIBLE SOCIETY, BY WHICH IT IS APPROVED — CONFERENCE WITH THE COMMITTEE OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY — INTER- VIEW WITH THE KING OF PRUSSIA — OBSTACLES — IS ADMITTED TO AN AUDIENCE BY THE EMPEROR — MEMORANDUM TO PRINCE GORTCHAKOFF — THE PRINCE OF OLDENBURG AND THE HOLY SYNOD — ENCOURAGE- MENT — THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE AT BERLIN — THE MEMORIAL — RESULTS — THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN RUSS 290 CHAPTER XXVII. 1859-1861. BECOMES SECRETARY OF THE SOUTHERN AID SOCIETY — LITERARY LABORS — HIS RETURN TO THE AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CHRISTIAN UNION — NINTH AND LAST VISIT TO EUROPE (1861) — THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE AT GENEVA — RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES . \ 307 CHAPTER XXVIII. 1862-1868. DECLINE OF HIS HEALTH — HE CONTINUES HIS LABORS — SOLICITUDE FOR THE COUNTRY — HIS LAST DAYS — SICKNESS AND DEATH — HIS CALM- NESS AND PEACE OF MIND — FUNERAL EXERCISES — COMMEMORATIVE SERMON BY REV. WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D. D. — RESOLUTIONS OF RE- SPECT PASSED BY THE BRITISH BRANCH OF THE EVANGELICAL ALLI- ANCE 814 CHAPTER XXIX. THE LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD AN EMINENTLY SUCCESSFUL ONE — SOME REA- SONS FOR THIS SUCCESS — HIS HIGHLY FAVORED INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CONSTITUTION — UNTIRINO INDUSTRY AND INDOMITABLE PERSE- VERANCE — DEEP AND ALL-PERVADING PIETY — LARGE HEARTED CATHOL- ICISM — ESTIMATE OF GOODNESS — IMPRESSION MADE ON ALL BY HIS SELF-SACRIFICING SPIRIT — LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION — IN THE FAMILT CIRCLE — HIS CHEERFUL SPIRIT — DEVOTION TO HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN — MRS. BAIRD 825 APPENDIX. EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER OF DR. BAIRD, STOCKHOLM, SEPTEMBER 3, 1840, TO THE REV. E. N. KIRK, D. D., HIS COLLEAGUE IN THE FOREIGN EVANGELICAL SOCIETY 341 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. CHAPTEE I. PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD. SCHOOL DATS AT UNIONTOWN. 1798—1816. ROBERT BAIRD, the subject of these memoirs, was born on the sixth of October, 1798. His father's family, ■which was of Scotcli extraction, after a sojourn of several generations in the northern part of Ireland, near London- derry, had emigrated to the American colonies, and settled in the neighborhood of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Here, on the 26th of December, 1756, Robert Baird, Senior, was born. His youth fell in the most exciting period of American his- tory. His childish recollections were associated with inci- dents of the French war, some of the most thrilling acts in the border warfare having occurred not far from the home of his early years. When, after a brief icterval of peace, the colonists of the Atlantic coast felt themselves con- strained by a due regard to their rights to throw off their submission to the British crown, the young Robert Baird shared the feelings of his countrymen. We find him, when barely twenty years of age, in the ranks of the pa- triot army of the Revolution. He does not seem to have been present in any considerable engagement, but his com- 0) io . LIFE OF REV. DE. BAIRD. pany was among the forces of Washington at the battle of Long Island. Prom his sick bed at Amboy he heard the distant rumbling of artillery which gave intimation far and wide of the commencement of that conflict whose unsuccess- ful termination was the prelude of the disheartening retreat through New Jersey. Before the conclusion of the Revolutionary war, Mr. Baird was united in marriage, on the 20th of February, 1781, to Elizabeth Reeves, a young lady of little more than eighteen years, whose parents, of English and Welsh de- scent, were natives of Long Island. Taking with him his wife, whose strong native sense, unbending perseverance, ;and ardent affection had much influence in the formation of the character of her children, Mr. Baird, soon after quiet had been restored to the borders, removed to a region which was then upon the very outskirts of civilization. He fixed upon what is now the county of Payette, which, from the fertility of the soil and its proximity to the navigable waters ■of the Monongahela and Ohio, as well as to the important town of Pittsburg, then rising on the site of the famous forts Duquesne and Pitt, offered unusual attractions to the settler. The boundary line between the States of Virginia and Pennsylvania had not been accurately defined, and the tract of several hundred acres which he purchased, be- tween the present towns of Union and Brownsville, and near the hamlet now called New Salem, was for some years ■afterwards supposed to lie within the limits of Virginia. A survey proved that it was situated in Pennsylvania. The young couple saw a numerous family born to them on the farm which was cleared in the hitherto almost unbroken forest. Of their thirteen children, eight lived and survived them — four sons and four daughters. Robert was the youngest son. His sisters, with but a single exception, were older than himself. The scenes in which childhood is spent are said to be po- PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD. n tent in forming the tastes, moulding the habits, and direct- ing the entire course of subsequent life. If this be true, we may ascribe much of that clear and sober judgment, that untiring industry and that resolute perseverance, which were characteristic of him whose life we have undertaken to narrate, to the wholesome influence of the farm, where, in the midst of primasval forests, he was occupied, in com- pany with his father and brothers, in the labors of the field, far from the dissipations of the city and the feverish ex- citement of political life. His father was a man of staunch integrity and of exem- plary deportment ; and, as such, he had won the esteem and confidence of all his neighbors. Unostentatious, but with very decided views, which he never avoided expressing on all suitable occasions, he was a man who left his imprint upon all with whom he came in contact. His habits of in- dustry and thrift, formed in youth, he strove to inculcate in connection with the higher obligations of religion. Often did his children, in later years, advert with pleasure to the instruction given to them in the Westminster catechism un- der the parental roof. On Sabbath evenings, when the entire family was gathered around the blazing hearth, the father was accustomed to hear his children recite that admirable summary of the great truths of the Gospel. His memory was extraordinarily tenacious, and he had himself been so thoroughly drilled in his childhood, that he expe- rienced no difficulty in conducting the exercise, and never required a book in order to recall either the form or the order of the questions. He always began at the very com- mencement of the catechism, and went regularly through it to the last answer with those of the older children who had advanced so far. His son Robert often blessed God for the familiarity which he thus acquired with the matchless com- pendium of Biblical theology of the Westminster divines ; and expressed regret that Christian parents generally are 1 z LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. not more faithful in laying in the minds of their offspring, at an early age, the foundations of an intimate acquaintance with the all-important doctrines of the Christian religion. The first school which young Robert Baird attended was that which was held in the neighborhood during the winter months. Here he learned to read and write, and if his teachers were incompetent to lead him very far on the road to knowledge, they at least helped to encourage him to de- sire further attainments. He manifested at this early age a very decided taste for reading ; and it was noticed by many of his friends that instead of joining the boys of his own age in their boisterous amusements, he was more fre- quently engrossed in perusing some volume of his father's scanty library. History and her handmaid Geography were his special delight. A copy of the valuable manual of ge- ography published by the Eev. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., in 1 791, in two octavo volumes, fell into his hands, and many an hour was devoted to the study of its pages. Thus was n foundation laid for that minute and accurate acquaintance which he afterwards acquired with the physical structure, and the intellectual, moral and religious condition of every portion of our globe. At the same' time the perusal of those pages developed within him an intense longing to ren- der himself familiar with the progress of civilization in foreign lands by travel and personal observation. It was also, while mastering the contents of such historical works as he had access to, and reading the journals of the day containing intelligence respecting the wars of Napoleon Bonaparte, that his liveliest interest was enlisted in Berna- dotte, the French soldier of fortune. At that time nothing could have been more remote from his expectations, than that he would at a future day be led, in the discharge of a philanthropic mission, to become personally acquainted with the distinguished Gascon, then king of Sweden under the title of Charles the Fourteenth. PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD. 13 The aptness of young Robert Baird for studious pursuits led his parents and friends at a very early period to express the belief, which indeed was little more than a hope, that the way would open for him to acquire a collegiate educa- tion ; but as years passed away tliere seemed to be little likelihood that the prophecy would receive its fulfillment. And yet the heart of his father was firmly fixed upon this object ; and he was heard more than once, in later years, to say, that if ever he had prayed with sincerity and earnest desire, it was that his son Robert might become a useful minister of the Gospel. " Until the fall of 1813," wrote Mr. Baird at a subsequent date, " I lived with my father, work- ing with his family on his farm, having no expectation of receiving a liberal education. It is true, I can remember I was often told when quite a boy, that I should one day be a minister. But this I know was only the wish of parents, who soon relinquished the idea of giving me more than an ordinary education ; and I heard no more of my going to school to learn Latin, until the autumn above-mentioned. Their purpose was then revived by the fact, insignificant certainly in itself, of my committing to memory, and fre- quently speaking, a mock sermon written in broken German. The minister of the congregation in which my father lived, hearing of my aptness to commit such things to memory, persuaded my father to send me to Uniontown, to a gram- mar school there under the care of the Rev. Dr. Dunlap." There were serious obstacles, however, to be surmounted by his parents, not the least of which was the lack of suffi- cient funds to support their son during his necessary course of study at school and college ; for there was a large family to be provided for at home. It was here that maternal solicitude was fruitful in expedients. The mother, anxious that the project should not be a second time abandoned, proposed herself to spin the material for his clothes, and to defray the additional expenses that must be incurred, by the 14 LIFE OF REV. DE. BAIBD. proceeds of her dairy. And this proposal was carried into effect ; so that it was in great measure the industry and economy of his mother, that provided the young student with the means of support while at school and at college. The scenes in which he was placed at the academy (now Madison College), at Uniontown, were new and trying. His fellow scholars were rough and uncivil, and they did not spare their ridicule of the boy fresh from the country, who had come into their midst. To this source of discourage- ment it must be added that he was behind his companions in his studies, and that his heart was nearly broken by be- ing separated for the first time from home and friends. It was on a Monday morning that he rode with his father to the school at Uniontown ; on the next Saturday he was again at his father's gate, having walked the entire distance homeward. Altogether disheartened by the unexpected difficulties he had experienced, he was ready to renounce his cherished hopes and content himself in future with a farmer's life. His father and his brothers and sisters en- deavored to reassure him ; while his mother persuaded him, as none but a mother can, that the obstacles which were now so formidable would soon vanish, and that a lit- tle resolution would render his course of study easy and attractive. These gentle assurances and the influence of a quiet Sabbath spent in the familiar home circle, imparted fresh strength, and he was induced on the following morn- ing to return to school, and make another attempt. But the same trials returned. His companions renewed their raillery with greater zest, as they perceived that their power to annoy the timid boy continued. And again and again the shelter of home was sought, until even a parent's heart was almost cast down. To use his own words in the " Review " already cited : " Frequently did I return home, but was as often persuaded by my mother and bro- thers and sisters not to relinquish the undertaking. At PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD. 15 length, after having wearied the patience of my father, and being sensible that he was grieved with my foolish caprice, I determined never to ask him to permit me to return home to remain more than a vacation." And this resolution he maintained with such constancy as to evince that beneath the timidity which was so formidable a barrier to his pro- gress at this stage of his course, there was an underlying steadfastness of purpose which when called into play could be relied on with implicit confidence. The very annoyances which thoughtless boys inflicted upon him, were intended by Providence as a means of fur- thering his improvement. " During the first part of the time which I spent in Uniontown," he relates, " I was com- pelled to stay much at home, on account of my fear of those who were my equals in age. Having come from the coun- try, I was greatly subject to their derision. And I have reason to thank God that it was so. For by this means I was saved from many temptations." Sensible of the disad- vantages under which he labored in consequence of not having enjoyed the same opportunities for preparation as his schoolmates,, he applied himself with untiring industry to his lessons, while they were engaged in recreation, and it was not long before the results of his application became apparent. Soon the very boys who had ridiculed him gave him a large place in their esteem and confidence, and were glad to come to him for assistance in their studies. Nor ought we to fail in this place to do justice to his re- spected instructor. In a notice of the life and character of Rev. James Dunlap, D.D., which Dr. Baird furnished in 1850, for Dr. Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, he pays this tribute to his excellence : " Notwithstanding Dr. Dunlap was highly respected as a faithful and even eloquent preacher, it was as a scholar and a teacher of youth that he was perhaps chiefly distinguished. His knowledge of the classics was exceedingly minute and. accurate ; and even in 16 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. his old age, it was his delight to devote a part of each day, unless other more important engagements claimed his at- tention, to his favorite Latin and Greek authors. The copies of Homer, Horace, Virgil, Cicero, and, above all, the Greek Testament, which he was accustomed to use, were witnesses to his great love of classical literature, — being almost literally worn out in his service." But the altered feeling of his schoolmates towards him, caused not mo: - c by his industry, than by those gentle and courteous manners which in later days contributed so much to his success, by giving him ready admission to the hearts of all, rich and poor, high-born and lowly alike, was fraught, as he himself informs us, with great peril. He became fond of the company of trifling boys, and he records with bitter self-reproach the light conversation and flippant reading to which they enticed him. But the principles inculcated by faithful parents did not permit him to go far astray, for God had glorious purposes concerning him, and restrained him from those vices into which some of his young compan- ions plunged. In the midst of the retrospective view, doubt less intended to be seen by no eye but his own, and in which he is a severe censor of failings which to others must have appeared trifling, if perceived at all, he states that he was never addicted to profanity or drunkenness. Intemperance was one of the crying sins of the entire region in which he was born. The free use of intoxicating drinks was univer- sal. Many of the farmers had small distilleries of their own, and it was thought indispensable to furnish whisky to their assistants, whenever any important or laborious undertaking was commenced. Robert Baird had been an eye-witness of the incalculable evils flowing from this abuse, and when very young— long before he had ever heard of a Temperance Society— he made a solemn resolu- tion to abstain from all inebriatiDg liquors. It was thus that by observing the quarrels and other mischief produced PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD. 1? by the liberal distribution of whisky among the farmers at harvest time, he was prepared at a later period to enter with so much philanthropic zeal into the advocacy of the great Temperance Reformation, abroad as well as at home. Thus did the three years of study at school pass rapidly away ; and towards the close of July, 1816, Robert Baird left Uniontown, to join the Sophomore class of Washington College, Pennsylvania, during the ensuing month. Up to this important point in his history, he # had made no public profession of religion, nor, indeed, had he, al- though brought up in an exemplary family and instructed in the truths of the Gospel, become a child of God by re- generation. Of the impression which the preaching of his faithful minister and the other means of grace made upon him, while yet a child at home, he writes : " I recall to mind the convictions of sin which I frequently had, and the fear of death with which I was sometimes troubled. But these feelings were very transitory ; they had but little effect upon my life." While at school his mind does not seem to have been deeply affected by the consideration of the vast importance of attending to the concerns of eternity, and at most there was a very formal observance of the duties which had been inculcated upon him in childhood. " During my stay at that place (Uniontown) my indifference about religion was very great. I do not think that I more than once attempted to pray with any degree of earnestness. It is true, I still adhered to the use of the Lord's Prayer, ex- cepting when I forgot it, which was very frequently the case ; but I did not attempt to use my own language in prayer." But in the midst of his thoughtlessness and his disregard of the claims of God and eternity, the Saviour had merciful designs respecting the young student. He was not to be permitted to consecrate his natural endowments, and the discipline of mind gained by education to the service of the 2 1 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. world ; for a superior power had already set him apart for an important work in the service of Him whose authority over his heart and life he had not yet been brought to acknowledge. CHAPTEE II. STUDENT IN WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON COLLEGES, PENN- SYLVANIA, AND TEACHER AT BELLEFONTE. 1816-1819. THE year which Mr. Baird spent at Washington College was the turning point of his entire life. Coming from the school where he had so long been the most advanced scholar, into the midst of young men gathered from various parts of the State of Pennsylvania and the neighboring States of Virginia and Ohio, he was soon led to detect im- perfections in his previous course, of which he had hitherto been unconscious, and he resolved to remedy these defects in the most thorough manner. Besides the regular studies of his class he undertook to review the entire curriculum pursued in school, and this task he succeeded in accomplish- ing within the limits of the year. By this time he found that he could compete with those members of his class who had enjoyed the best opportunities for preparation. The town of Washington in which the college is situated, from the circumstance that it was the county seat, contained a number of intelligent and pleasant families, in whose society Mr. Baird found not only recreation, but improve- ment. Hitherto he had gone but little into company, and he experienced some of the disadvantages of his scholastic seclusion in the encouragement it gave to his native timid- ity. Accordingly, a lady whose home he frequently visited during his residence at Washington, and with whose hus. (19) zc LIFE OF REV. DR. BAISD. band he entertained an intimate friendship that lasted until his death a few years since, describes him as, at that time, one of the most diffident persons she ever knew. The kind reception which these and other friends gave him was ever a subject to which he loved to recur. Equally important was the influence exerted upon him by many of the young men in the college, to whom he felt himself powerfully drawn. In place of the light and trifling companions of his school-days, whose sole aim was to withdraw his mind, as well as their own, from all serious thoughts, he found more congenial intercourse with a circle of men who, appreciating the value of a Christian education, had no other object in view than to qualify themselves for the performance of the work which God might assign them. To these he alludes in the following passage in the review of the first twenty- five years of his life, from which we have" already made several citations : " This was a very important period of my life. I then began to study in earnest. Being exceedingly ambitious, I devoted much of my time to my studies. I there came in contact with many very valuable young men, several of whom, I hope, are now in glory. Their conver- sation and example made me ashamed of my former course of living, and effected a great change in my moral prin- ciples." An incident which seems to have been by no means insig- nificant in its bearing upon the formation of his character, was his taking for the first time a class in the Sunday School. His distrust of his own qualifications to impart religious knowledge inclined him to seek the lowest place, and he accepted as his pupils a number of young negro children whom he taught to read the holy Scriptures. The effort to present the great truths of the Bible in their most simple form, that they might be grasped by his uncultivated hearers, was blessed to his own soul. He obtained clearer views of the plan of salvation than he had ever enjoyed STUDENT LIFE. zl before ; although he was not at once brought to rejoice in the assurance that his own peace was made with God. " My conscience, too, was often most pungently addressed," he tells us, " by the preaching of Rev. Dr. Brown, who was for some time the President of the Institution, and pastor of the church in that place. During the latter part of the time which I spent there, my mind was very serious, partly on account of the solemn appeals which were made to me from the pulpit, and the books which I read, and partly on account of the deaths of several of the young men with whom I was acquainted." Some college essays written during this year, possess considerable interest, as they are the earliest papers from his pen that have been preserved. With an occasional want of polish and of grace of diction, they are character- ized by sound common sense, and there is a healthy moral and religious tone which pervades them all. Their subjects are, " The Practice of Duelling" (endorsed December, 1816), " The Bible," " Industry," and kindred topics. In the last- mentioned essay the necessity of constant application is enforced by a comparison of the human mind to the Indian's bow, ever tending to resume its original position. The essay on " Education" is interesting when viewed in con- nection with its author's labors ten years later, to promote the establishment of a complete system of common schools in a neighboring State. That on " The Slavery of the Blacks" contains an eloquent denunciation of the iniquitous system, as ignoring the first principles of the social com- pact. " Such," he writes, "is the condition of the Africans in our country : a people deprived of their rights, standing as living monuments of the ingratitude of freemen ; a people held in subjection the most barbarous, in slavery the most abominable, without the least show of justice. For what cause are the blacks held in slavery ? For what crime are they thus punished? The Africans are the most 22 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. unhappy people in the world. Will any one dare to say that they are lawfully held in slavery, or that they have become lawful subjects of the United States ? Let him examine the necessary agreements which are implied in the social contract. He will find that the blacks of this coun- try have never entered into one of these agreements. Never was the interrogatory put to them, ' Will you consent to. live in, and be a member of our society ? ' Their consent was never asked. They were taken by force. Have they ever given their consent to any particular form of govern- ment ? No. Have they entered into a mutual agreement, on their part as subjects, on ours as rulers ? No. They were dragged from their own country, brought to ours, and cruelly sold as slaves. This is the agreement into which they have entered ; a poor one, indeed, — equalled only by the protection which they have received I think it must appear evident to every person that something should be done for this unhappy people. If there is nothing done, something of no trivial consequence will happen. The cries and prayers of the African slave will not ascend unheeded to Heaven." After declaring in no measured terms the guilt of Europe, for having inflicted upon this western con- , tinent the curse of slavery, the writer adds a prophecy of ■which we have seen too faithful a fulfillment : " And thou, too, America ! young in years, but far advanced in the per- petration of crimes, know this truth, that at no very distant day thou shalt experience the avenging wrath of a just God ; thou who hast been blessed with Religion, Science and Liberty, but who illiberally denies t these blessings to the poor African, remember that thou art not only oppress- ing this wretched nation, but thou art also destroying thine own happiness." Mr. Baird's stay at Washington College extended over the Junior year, of his course. "Being dissatisfied with some occurrences which took place in that college," STUDENT LIFE. 2? he writes, " I left it and went to Jefferson College and entered the Senior class, November 1, 1817." The Board of Trustees of Washington College had passed a resolution " separating the duties of Principal of the college from those of Pastor of the congregation," with a view of remov- ing the Rev. Matthew Brown, D. D., from the presidency, and had then elected the Rev. Andrew Wylie — under whose auspices it was hoped that the two neighboring institutions might be merged into one — to the vacant position. A great part of the students espoused the side of Dr. Brown, whom they believed to have been unjustly treated ; and, not long after, about fifty, if we are rightly informed, joined Jefferson College at Canonsburg, a village only six miles distant from Washington. It was whilst Robert Baird was still at Washington College, that " James Monroe, who was then President of the United States, came to Washington and met the students of college and many others, in a large room, where Dr. Wylie welcomed him in a sort of congrat- ulatory address." " It was done," says Dr. Baird, in a notice of Dr. Wylie in the Annals of the American Pulpit, " with uncommon felicity, and showed that he had great aptness for meeting a special occasion." His sojourn at Canonsburg, interrupted as it was by sick- ness, was of consequence to Robert Baird, even more in a religious than in a literary point of view. To use his own words : " The year which I spent in that college was all- important to me. Soon after joining that college, I became much concerned for the salvation of my soul, and after a few weeks, I joined the church. I was very far from being qualified for a step so solemn as this. But it was of great service to me ultimately, as, not finding that peace which I expected to find in communion with the people of God, I was more excited to seek earnestly the favor of God and the lighj of His countenance. I trust that my eyes were in some measure opened to see the importance of religion. I 2 4 LIFE OF BFV. DS. BAIBD. was extremely ignorant of the doctrines of grace, and was much in darkness, and most of the time destitute of hope. My desire for worldly honor was wonderfully diminished, and the words, ' What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' (Matthew xvi. 26) made a great impression on my mind." But while lamenting his own darkness and the impossi- bility of attaining the high standard of Christian excellence which he had set before himself, Robert Baird did not make these an excuse for abstaining from labors to advance the cause of the blessed Saviour, in whose righteousness, weighed down though he was by self-distrust, he placed his entire confidence. On the contrary, from the very com- mencement of his religious course, it was eminently charac- teristic of his piety that, while it was simple and unostenta- tious, it was also active, thoughtful and aggressive. Among his classmates and at home among the friends of his child- hood, he commenced at once to exert a decided influence in behalf of the religion of Christ. The thoroughness of his convictions overcame his natural diffidence, and made him a valuable accession to the band of pious students. The character of the essays which he wrote during this year, as college exercises or to be read on special occasions, displays the altered bent of his thoughts. In one, " On the Forma- tion of a Bible Society," he urges his fellow students to rally to the support of a society auxiliary to the American Bible Society, which a few of the students had organized within the walls of Jefferson College. Considerations of duty, of honor, and of sympathy are successively marshal- ed in support of the cause. His fellow students are en- treated to seize the auspicious moment when peace with its olive-branch seems to have just dispersed the horrid attend- ants of war, to help in sending the Gospel to the heathen to the ignorant in Christian lands, to the unfortunate inhabi' tants of South America, who strive in vain for freedom un- HIS GRADUATION. 2 c less their minds become enlightened from on high. In other essays we find the new convert urging the danger of delay, the sinfulness of profane swearing, and the pernicious influ- ence of plays and novels. The year spent at Canonsburg was not less important in a purely intellectual sense than that at Washington. Mr. Baird had striven to improve its opportunities to the utmost, faithfully exerting his powers to acquire useful knowledge. At the close of this year no assignment of honors was made to the Senior Class. It was composed of young men who were highly attached to each other, and who desired that no rivalries should disturb at parting the harmony of their friendship. Accordingly, all those who could have competed for special honors, if not the entire class, peti- tioned the Faculty to make no distinctions between them, and the Faculty cheerfully acceded to the request. At the annual commencement in 1818, Mr. Baird, on taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts, delivered an oration. He now returned home; but, after remaining no great length of time, again took leave of his parents and friends in Fayette county, and started for the town of Bellefonte, where he had been offered and had accepted the position of principal of a grammar school. His father gave him a good horse, on which he traveled the considerable distance which he was obliged to traverse, in order to reach his des- tination. The journey was a pleasant one over the succes- sive ridges of the Alleghanies, and it took the young travel- er further away from the parental roof than he had ever before been. At the same time, his mind naturally filled with apprehension, as it endeavored to fathom the untried future and read the secrets there concealed. Not without solicitude did the young graduate picture to himself the scene of his future .labors, wondering whether he would bo competent to direct the studies, and gain the submission of the youth to be committed to his charge. Occasionally, his 2 6 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. heart almost failed him when in contrast with the quiet scenes of the home of his childhood, he anticipated the re- sponsible positions which lay in store for him. Bellefonte, the shire town of Centre county, occupies almost the exact centre of the State of Pennsylvania, standing upon the banks of one of the tributaries of the western branch of the Susquehanna river. Here Mr. Baird was soon installed as sole teacher of a school which boasted some twenty scholars of various ages. While some were small and en- gaged in the most elementary studies, others were as old as, and a few even older than, their teacher himself. Thus he found occasion to review all the branches which he had him- self pursued, and he was accustomed to say that there was not a study to which he had devoted himself, either at school or at college, which he was not called upon to teach others. In this manner he laid the foundation of the great accuracy and thoroughness that were his distinguishing qualities as a teacher as long as he engaged in the instruction of youth. At the same time a remarkable tact for the government of his school was manifested — a combination of gentleness and firmness — which while convincing the pupils that the direc- tions of th'e teacher must be obeyed to the letter, at the same time forced them all to admit that he was their true friend, upon whose assistance they could rely in every time of difficulty. Not content, however, with merely discharg- ing in a creditable manner the responsible and laborious duties of his position — for laborious they became in conse- quence of the conscientious views which he took of every employment in which he engaged — after his six hours in the school he spent his leisure time, far into the night, in private study. On first coming to Bellefonte in 1818, he found himself exposed to severe temptations, which, he often blessed God that he had received strength to resist successfully. Reli- gion was at a low ebb in this portion of the State. Even CHRISTIAN CONSISTENCY. 27 professed Christians allowed themselves great latitude in their conformity with practices at variance with the spirit of their covenant vows. The county seat was frequented by lawyers and others, many of whom, if not avowed infi- dels, were undisguised enemies of true, spiritual religion. In such a community, where there was an abundance of wealth, intelligence, social elegance and wit — everything, in short, with the exception of vital, energetic, zealous god- liness — it was no easy thing for a stranger, and a young man, too, to take a decided stand in opposition to the pre- vailing tone and practice of the place. To this, however, duty called, and the call of that voice he determined to heed, whatever the consequence might be. Some friends to whom he had been recommended, and who were eager to do everything in their power to render his stay in their midst as agreeable as possible, resolved to make an entertainment in his honor which partook of the character of a ball. They had perfected their arrangements before they men- tioned their intention to him, for they little expected to meet with any opposition or even reluctance. The gentle- man who gave him the first intimation of the design, was surprised and somewhat offended, when Mr. Baird calmly, but firmly announced to him the impossibility of his attend- ing, and vainly endeavored to persuade him to reconsider his decision. Mr. Baird laid before him the true state of the case, the duties which he as a follower of Jesus felt to be incumbent upon him, and the injurious effects which his compliance with the invitation must have upon the cause of religion, of which he was in some degree a representa- tive. He closed his reply by a direct appeal, asking him what he himself felt to be most in accordance with his duty, and what he would candidly advise him to do. " I cannot in good conscience recommend you to do otherwise than as you have said," was the rejoinder ; " and I respect you all the more for your consistency and strong principles." 2 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. This decision, difficult as it was for a young man just en- tering a strange place, was of incalculable importance to his future usefulness. Had he yielded to the solicitations of his friends, his influence upon the irreligious would have been irretrievably lost ; but his firmness, while it gave them a feeling of respect for the sincerity of his convictions, did not, as he had feared, diminish their friendship. On the contrary, he found to his surprise that he was met with in- creased cordiality. So powerful is the effect of an unflinch- ing, uncompromising devotion to the dictates of duty, to the neglect of those of pleasure and apparent interest. Mr. Baird was permitted to converse with many upon the sub- ject of personal religion, and not a few were induced to bless God for his faithfulness in laboring for their salva- tion. Among the opportunities that were afforded him for doing good, during his residence at Bellefonte, none seemed to promise more immediate and yet lasting results, than that of influencing the public mind through the press. The Bellefonte " Patriot" was edited by a gentleman who, while by no means a professed friend of religion, was glad to re- ceive contributions from the pen of Mr. Baird, for whom he entertained both friendship and respect. Accordingly, many an hour was spent by the young teacher, during the inter- vals of respite from his engrossing toils in the classroom and study, in composing articles on various moral and reli- gious subjects, which, inserted in the midst of the acrimo- nious disputes on party politics that constituted the staple of most of the country papers of that day, found their way into many a home in which the Bible and more lengthy reli- gious treatises rarely penetrated. Some of them, we have reason to believe, bore abundant fruit in the religious im- provement of the community. Only one of these essays has come under our notice, bearing date of June, 1819. It was, doubtless, the success that attended his efforts in this direc- tion, that induced Mr. Baird to form a high conception of CHRISTIAN EFFORTS THROUGH 1HE PRESS. 29 the good influence which the Press is calculated to exert when under suitable guidance. None estimated it higher ; few ever had more frequent recourse to it for philanthropic purposes. We shall see that at a later period, when deeply, interested in promoting the cause of education, and again in missionary operations at home and abroad, he was a fre- quent contributor to the journals, both secular and religious, of America and England. " An address to a female class at Bellefonte," which has been preserved, seems to have been one of the last produc- tions from the pen of Mr. Baird during his residence at that place. It is a rapid survey of the importance of the various branches of study which these pupils had pursued under his instruction, in which " although he cannot flatter them with the name of proficients, yet he may truly say that their improvement is highly creditable." And it closes with an earnest recommendation that they should build well, upon the foundation of knowledge thus laid, by the reading of books " which give substantial benefit," to the exclusion of those " that lead to imaginary scenes of happiness, which will never prepare for the trials and disappointments of real life." Above all, it enjoins a serious consideration of the claims of Christ and the world to come, and a bold and unhesitating profession of the Saviour. In such pursuits this year of labor came rapidly to its close, and in accordance with his previously-formed plan, Mr. Baird prepared to leave Bellefonte for the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. By industry and fru- gality he had saved an amount sufficient to support him while pursuing his professional studies. Parting, therefore, with regret, from the friends whom he had made, and who in vain endeavored to retain him at the head of the school to which he had given a life which it never possessed before, he left Bellefonte for the new scenes in which his lot was to be cast. Alluding to the period which had now closed, he 30 LIFE OF REV. LB. BAIRD. says in the " Keview" of his youth : " The goodness of the Lord was very great there. He raised up to me dear friends to whom I shall ever be attached ; and He led me along, inexperienced as I was, and enabled me to do a little for His glory." CHAPTER III. ENTERS THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PRINCETON, AND BECOMES A TUTOR IN THE COLLEGE OP NEW JERSEY. 1 1819-1822. IN the autumn of the year 1819, Mr. Baird, now nearly twenty-one years of age, set out for Princeton, New Jersey. His mind, after a serious consideration of the question respecting- his duty in the choice of a profession, had been led to the conclusion that the work of the sacred ministry was that to which he was called of God. He longed to enter the wide field of usefulness that spreads before the faithful minister of the Gospel, even though dis- trust of his own qualifications would have deterred him from seeking so responsible a work. Confident, however, that the same Hand which had conducted him thus far, opening the door in an unforeseen manner for his obtaining a liberal education, would continue to guide him in the future, and would assign him the position that was best adapted for his powers, he pressed manfully forward to prepare himself for the pulpit which his parents had in his childhood hoped that he would one day fill. The " Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States" had been founded, seven years before the period to which we are now referring, in the same quiet village of Princeton, where the college of New Jersey had, for more than a half century, been lending a powerful support to the cause of education and religion in America. (81) 32 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. To the Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., appointed first professor in 1812, had been added, in the following year, the Rev. Samuel Miller, D. D. On a catalogue of the insti- tution (published in January, 1820, and occupying but a single page of a large sheet of paper), which Mr. Baird sent to his aged parents in Western Pennsylvania, these two clergymen comprise the entire faculty ; Dr. Alexander, as professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology, and Dr. Miller, as professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government. " The Instruction in Biblical Literature and Pastoral Theology," a note informs us, "is conducted by Dr. Alexander — that on the Composition and Delivery of Sermons, by Dr. Miller." The lists of the three classes, comprising in the aggregate sixty-nine names, contain a large number of those who have worthily filled the sacred desk, some of whom are now no longer among the living. In the " First" or Senior Class, we meet the familiar names of David M. Magie, Howard Malcom, Samuel S. Schmucker, Benjamin B. Wisner ; in the "Second" Class, Alfred Chester, Joshua N. Danforth, James V. Henry, William Scott, Charles S. Stewart ; in the "Third" or Junior Class, besides Robert Baird, Arte- mas Bishop, John Maclean, Franklin G. Smith and Hugh Wilson. The long letter that accompanies this catalogue allows us an interesting glance at the feelings of the young theo- logical student in the middle of his first year in the Semi- nary. After giving expression to the joy he experienced when he last heard from home, he assures his beloved parents that time and absence have only deepened his affec- tion. The opening spring recalled more forcibly than any other season of the year the bustling scenes of the old famil- iar life upon the farm, and the days that were gone. The new home of his student sojourn also furnished its reminders of the dear absent ones. A favorite walk was upon the THEOLOGICAL STUDIES. 33 principal road leading from Philadelphia to New York, and ■which acquired ever fresh interest from the thought that his father had trodden its weary length, forty-three years befqre, when marching at the call of his country to repel its enemies. On turning in another direction, he found himself musing in that consecrated spot, where, side by side, repose the sainted forms of the lamented Dickinson and Burr, Edwards and Davies, Finley and Witherspoon. His studies were interesting and absorbing ; yet he felt deeply im- pressed with the conviction that, after all, true piety was to be preferred above all human knowledge. Justly estimating the privileges he enjoyed, his applica- tion to study was intense. Although of a naturally social disposition, his diffidence conspired with his ardent thirst for learning to restrain him from entering to any great extent into the society of the place ; and an informal gathering, in which he could meet a few genial spirits, and converse as in the unrestricted intercourse of home, always possessed more attractions for him, than the larger assem- blages in whose badinage he by no means professed himself an adept. But the congenial pursuits of a student of the- ology were far from engrossing his entire time and atten- tion. His was an active, philanthropic nature, never con- tented with sluggish or selfish repose, while there was any- thing within his reach that could improve or elevate the physical or moral condition of his fellowmen. Accordingly, a number of different schemes for doing good occupied his spare hours, prominent among which was the instruction of the negroes, of whom there was a considerable number in Princeton and its vicinity. Sabbath-schools for their espe- cial benefit were instituted about this time, and found in Mr. Baird a warm supporter. Many were the children, as well as grown persons, whom he taught how to read. Numbers of these, after the lapse of so many years, still remember him with liveliest interest, and the very mention 3 34 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. of his name touches a chord of sympathy and affection in their breasts. We remember in particular the emotion that one aged negro displayed when telling us the kindness and patience which our father had evinced, forty years ago, in instructing him, at that time a slave, not only in the letter but also in the spirit of the Gospel. During the first two years of his stay as a student of the- ology, Mr. Baird devoted some hours in each week to a few private pupils. His excellent scholarship in the Seminary, as well as the reputation of a successful teacher which he had acquired in Bellefonte, now led to his receiving the offer of a tutorship in the college of New Jersey — the ven- erable Nassau Hall — which became vacant at the close of his second year, in 1821, by the promotion of Mr. John Maclean to the professorship of mathematics and mechanics. The appointment was all the more honorable, because rarely conferred upon any young men, except those who to fine abilities and scholarship, added the recommendation of being graduates of the college. Mr. Baird did not hesitate to accept the position, and assumed the duties of the office at the commencement of the new session. He remained tutor for a year — that is to say, to the close of the third and last year of his theological course, whose studies he pursued at the same time with his engagements at the college. This was an eventful year in his history, and one to whose striking incidents he was wont to advert often with great pleasure. As tutor, his duties were not comprised merely under the head of instruction. Besides these there were executive functions of a most important character entrusted almost entirely to those college officers who, from the cir- cumstance that they roomed in the college buildings and presided at the refectory, were brought into hourly contact with the students, and were mainly responsible for the good order of the institution. TUTOR IN THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. 35 The year 1821-22 was marked, by its full proportion of outbreaks of an insubordinate spirit on the part of the stu- dents of Nassau Hall. Indeed, it may be safely said, that the last forty years have witnessed a very marked improve- ment in the relation of the students of all our old colleges to their Faculties. With a great increase in the number of young men gathered within their walls, there has been a remarkable decrease in the number of occasions demanding the exercise of discipline. Whether this is attributable to the riper age of those admitted — cases of graduation at six- teen or seventeen years of age, which were formerly fre- quent, being at present quite unheard of — or to the disci- pline of mind gained in preparing for the advanced standard of requirements for matriculation — or, as we would fain hope, to the wider prevalence of correct moral and religious sen- timents — certain it is that there are far fewer aggravated offenses, especially of a malicious character. CHAPTER IV. BECOMES PEINCIPAL OP THE ACADEMY AT PRINCETON. HIS MARRIAGE. HIS EFFORTS TO SECURE THE REPUBLICATION OF VALUABLE RELIGIOUS WORKS. IS LICENSED TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. ' 1822-1827. FOE, some time before the completion of his theological course of study, Mr. Baird's thoughts had been much engrossed with the consideration of the particular field of labor in which he should engage. On the one hand, he felt himself strongly attracted to the pastoral office, of whose importance and responsibility he entertained the highest estimate, and whose opportunities for doing good he ear- nestly coveted. On the other hand, he had a very low opinion of his own abilities, especially as a public speaker. His few oratorical exercises in the presence of the profes- sors and students of the Seminary led him to believe that his delivery was defective ; his eyes were riveted upon his notes from one end of the discourse to the other, and his diffidence was painful to his audience as well as to himself. While sensitively alive to these disadvantages, which he almost despaired of overcoming, he was admitted on all sides to be a thorough scholar, and a teacher of marked success in commanding the respect of his pupils and in im- parting instruction. A good classical academy had long been needed at Princeton, and some gentlemen of the place offered to erect a suitable building for such a school, if Mr. (36) HIS MABBTAGR 37 Baird would consent to become the principal. After much reflection, and consulting a number of his friends, -whose opinions were favorable to the enterprise, he consented to accept the position, with little expectation, we believe, of filling it longer than a year or two, and still retaining his purpose to enter ultimately upon the duties of a settled pastor. Having employed a friend to take charge of the school for a month or two, until the close of his engagement at the college would allow him to teach in person, Mr. Baird remained a tutor in Nassau Hall until the end of the. scholastic year, and became principal of the academy in the summer or autumn of 1822. Five years and a half were spent by Mr. Baird in the in- struction of youth. During this time he declined a number of invitations to other fields of labor. One of these was made to him in 1824 by the Rev. Philip Lindsley, D.D. — who had been professor and acting president of the College of New Jersey during Mr. Baird's connection with it as tutor, and had now become chancellor of the University of Nash- ville — to a professorship in that young institution. The success of Mr. Baird as a teacher was no less signal in the academy at Princeton, than in the school at Bellefonte and in the college. Many of his scholars afterwards rose to public distinction, and few remembered his instructions without gratitude. Among others, William B. Napton, afterwards and for some years Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, and Joseph Addison Alexander, son of the Rev. Archibald Alexander, D.D., at- tended his school and there prepared for college. On the 24th of August, 1824, Mr. Baird was united in marriage at Philadelphia to Miss Fermine 0. A. Du Buis- son, a young lady of Huguenot extraction. It was perhaps in some degree through this union, which was a source of undiminished happiness throughout the remainder of his life, that his interest was kindled in a particular manner in 3 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. behalf of French evangelization, and that he was induced a few years later to attempt to establish a society having for its object to enlist the cooperation of American Christians in the furtherance of this work. In 1822, Mr. Baird who had placed himself under the care of the Presbytery of New Brunswick, was licensed to preach the Gospel, at the same time with Mr. John Breckenridge. While he did not seek a pastoral settlement, he by no means neglected the opportunities of speaking in public, for Christ, which were offered him, early becoming a sort of minister at large, and never hesitating to respond to the invitations of his brethren or of neighboring churches. A mind continually upon the alert for the discovery of new methods of doing good, suggested several enterprises of an unostentatious character, which he pursued with great self-forgetfulness, and, as it is believed, with no little benefit to the community. One of these was the republication of English religious works which he hoped would prove valu- able accessories to the literature of the country. Among these we may enumerate the "Life of Col. Gardner," Scougal's " Life of God in the Soul of Man," and Bicker- steth's " Scripture Help." The mention of the latter recalls an interesting passage which we find in a letter of Dr. Baird to the New York Evangelist, written from London nearly a quarter of a century later than the period of which we are speaking. After a meeting to promote the Evan- gelical Alliance, held at Hertford, just before the conclusion of the sessions of the first conference of that noble organiza- tion in 1846, Dr. Baird with the other speakers — Rev. Messrs. Tholuck, Adolphe Monod, La Harpe, Kirk, Lord Wriothesly Russell, Hon. Mr. Cowper, and others — was invited to spend the night beneath the hospitable roof of Mr. Bickersteth at the Rectory of Wotton, five miles dis- tant. " The ride was delightful, amid the sweet hedges, which border so generally the roads in England." The VISIT TO REV. MR. BICRERSTETH. 39 house was filled with guests, and Dr. Baird was put in Mr. Bickersteth's library. " In the morning," he writes, " I was up early, not only to survey the beautiful grounds which surround this rectory, and render it one of the most charm- ing spots in the world, but also to rummage among Mr. Bickersteth's books. In a snug corner I found all those which he himself has written, and which have done so much good ; amounting to some twenty duodecimo volumes, to say nothing of pamphlets and tracts. I will not trouble your readers with the names of them, although I sincerely wish that every one of them had the entire series. Among them I recognized an old friend, the " Scripture Help," which, in its original smaller form, Prof. Maclean of Prince- ton and myself caused to be republished in that village in the year 1822, and which was the- first of Mr. Bickersteth's books that was ever published in America — if I am not mistaken. Mr. Bickersteth was much pleased when he learned it, and I was delighted to become acquainted with one whose name was first associated with my humble efforts in the way of publishing good books." No doubt the seed thus sown produced fruit. The valu- able religious works which Mr. Baird and his associates were the means of introducing to the notice of many, into whose hands they might otherwise never have fallen, were not without their appropriate influence. The enterprise was, however, frequently the source of considerable pecuni- ary loss. About the same time, we find Mr. Baird an active mem- ber of an association instituted December 24, 1824, having for its object " to promote the circulation of correct opinions upon Religion, Morals, Education, etc., excluding Sectarian Theology and Party Politics." It was the duty of each member, as laid down in the constitution, " at least once a month to publish in any convenient way, some article de- signed to answer the object specified above ;" and the co- 40 LIFE OF REV. BE. BAIRD. operation of all the members was pledged in support of the sentiments or object advocated, so far as the "judgment, con- science, and circumstances " of each might permit. Besides the signature of Mr. Baird, we find those of Luther Halsey, jr., Archibald Alexander, John Maclean, Charles Hodge, J. W. Alexander, James Carnahan, and others, appended to the constitution ; together with those of Edward N. Kirk. Charles Hall, Win. S. Plummer and other well-known clergymen, who joined the society in succeeding years. CHAPTER V. LABORS IN SUPPLYING THE DESTITUTE IN NEW JEESEY WITH THE BIBLE. 1827-1828. IN the summer of 1827, Mr. Baird's interest was enlisted in a new enterprise, bearing more directly than any in which he had hitherto participated, upon the advancement of the cause of Christ. Nineteen years had elapsed since the first Bible Society was established in the United States. That society — the Philadelphia Bible Society — was not long- suffered to toil alone in the work of benevolence. " Soon after its origin a constellation of Bible Societies arose, dif- fusing light and happiness through many of the moral wastes of our land. One of these was the New Jersey Bible Society which was organized in the year 1809. For many years this was one of the most efficient societies in our country ; and from it the American Bible Society may be said to have originated, as the first proposition, on this subject, was made by the Board of the New Jersey Bible Society ; and its president (the late Hon. Blias Boudinot r LL.D.) was chosen, the first President of that noble institu- tion."* Between 1809 and 1827, thirty-two other Bible Societies had been formed within the borders of the state. * We quote from a pamphlet entitled, "A statement of what has beei* recently done to supply the destitute in the State of New Jersey with the- Sacred Scriptures ; published at the request of the Executive Committee Ot' the New Jersey Bible Society ' (Princeton, 1828). This statement was read by Mr. Baird to the Committee, which requested him and Mr. Mac- lean " as general agents in carrying this enterprise into effect, to- publish- said statement, in such manner as they shall judge best." (41) j. 2 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. With so many agencies, having for their sole object to promote the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, it might have been anticipated that there would have been little call for special effort to supply a destitution of the sacred volume. Such was the prevailing belief to which Mr. Baird and Prof. Maclean allude in the " statement" already cited. " Had any one," say they, " ventured to estimate the num- ber of families in New Jersey destitute of a Bible, eighteen years ago, wheu the New Jersey Bible Society was formed, he doubtless would have supposed the number very small. He would have imagined that in a State so old, containing so many churches and so many excellent ministers of the Gospel, of various denominations, there could be but a small number of persons without the Sacred Scriptures. Indeed, the opinion was commonly entertained throughout the country, that there was no need of Bible Societies, be- cause there were few, if any, that did not possess the Bible. But how astonishing is the fact now ascertained, that after all which has been done by more than thirty Bible Societies In the State, after the distribution of many thousands of Bibles within a few years, more than seven thousand fami- lies have been found without a Bible." The first startling proofs of the alarming destitution of the Sacred Scriptures in the State of New Jersey, seem to have been noticed by the Rev. Job F. Halsey, while dis- tributing Bibles in Monmouth County. Astonished at the unexpected discovery, he called to it the attention of some of the former members of the Monmouth Bible Society — an ■organization that had been allowed to fall into neglect. They were induced to revive the society, and resolve with the Divine blessing, to supply every destitute family in the county within a year. But the Nassau Hall Bible Society, which held its fifteenth annual meeting at Princeton, on the 3 Lst of Jjily, 1827, took a more enlarged view of the work which the provi- THE BIBLE IN NEW JERSEY. 4.3 dence of God had laid out before the Church. We cannot better describe its proceedings, than by quoting from the " Statement " written by Mr. Baird, and published in the ensuing year : " The assemblage of its members and friends on that oc- casion, was large and respectable. After the reading of the report, which gave an account of the success of the society during the past year, addresses of an interesting character were delivered by the Rev. Mr. Christmas, of Montreal, and the Rev. Mr. Patton, of New York, who at- tended as delegates from the American Bible Society ; and by several young men of the College and Theological Sem- inary. The Rev. J. F. Halsey, who with Dr. John T. Woodhull attended as the delegate from Monmouth, pro- posed that the society should resolve to supply, within one year from that meeting, every destitute family in New Jersey, with a Bible. This proposition was warmly advo- cated by some of the friends of the society ; and it was as warmly opposed by others who were not less friendly to the cause, upon the ground that the work appeared too great to be accomplished with the means proposed. During the protracted discussion which ensued, so much interest was felt in the proposed object, by the young men who were present, that upwards of thirty of them agreed to spend their succeeding vacation in laboring to effect it. This cir- cumstance, together with other facts of an encouraging nature developed in the course of the meeting, rendered the work apparently practicable : and a resolution, so constructed as to embrace the views of those who were op- posed to the proposition in its original form, was presented by the Rey. Dr. Alexander, and unanimously adopted, which was: " That in reliance upon Divine aid, every desti- tute family in the State of New Jersey shall be supplied, if possible, with a copy of the Holy Scriptures within one year, by this Society, in cooperation with the other Bible +4 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. Societies in the State." At the close of the meeting, and during the early part of the next day, nearly four hundred dollars were subscribed to aid in accomplishing the object. Never since the origin of the society, had so interesting a meeting occurred. There was but one desire manifested at its close, that of accomplishing the glorious work. And the meeting terminated in the universal felicitations of the friends of the Bible ; all considering the commencement of the work as highly auspicious, and all breathing devout aspirations for the Divine blessing on the undertaking." Delegates were appointed by the managers of the Nassau Hall Bible Society, on the following day, to attend the an- nual meetings of several of the other societies, which were to take place before the beginning of the autumnal vaca- tions of the College and Seminary (September 26), and Rev. Luther B. Halsey, jr., and Rev. Robert Baird were appointed a committee to write to the sister societies, as well as to distinguished gentlemen throughout the State, requesting their countenance in the work. "The Lord," they said in their letter, " seems to smile upon the under- taking. Several counties and townships have combined in the cause. "Will you have the goodness to help, by stirring up the Bible Society of your county, or township ; or if none exist, by endeavoring to form one ; by devising some way to have the township in which you live explored, so that its wants may be ascertained ; by collecting money to aid in purchasing the Bibles needed ; and by assisting those persons who may be sent from this place to your county in the coming October?" They recommended the setting apart of a portion of every Tuesday evening for prayer " that God would give success in the undertaking, and also send His Holy Spirit with His word to sanctify the hearts of men by His own Truth." And they announced the object of their labors to be : " 1. To visit every family. 2. To ascertain who are destitute of the Bible, endeavoring BIBLE DISTRIBUTION. 45 to engage them to pay for it in whole, or in part, when it shall be delivered to them. 3. To induce those who have the Word of God to contribute something in aid of this benevolent object." ' Mr. Halsey and Mr. Baird, at the same time, drew up a circular, which was kindly inserted at their request in almost every newspaper in the common- wealth. But little time, however, was lost in making these prepa- rations ; for the active labors of the exploration and distribu- tion were commenced at the end of September. The execu- tive committee of the Nassau Bible Society appointed Mr. Baird and Prof. Maclean, to superintend and direct the whole work. " The latter visited several counties, and also attended the meetings of several ecclesiastical bodies, and obtained their approbation of the undertaking/ The for- mer, during the vacation, visited most of the counties twice, and endeavored, both by personal exertions and corre- spondence with the societies and the agents in different parts of the State, to aid the cause." Forty-five young men, members of the College and Theo- logical Seminary, gave their personal efforts to the good work. The instructions that were given them directed them, while engaged in Bible distribution, to collect infor- mation on " several important topics not immediately con- nected with their Biblical operations ; such as the number of persons of adult age who cannot read, the number of children between five and fifteen years of age that 'receive no education in common schools, together with the number of the deaf and dumb." Within the first six weeks the work for whose execution an entire year had been thought by many to be too short a term, was in great degree accomplished, partly by local efforts, but chiefly through the labors of the students from the institutions at Princeton. The entire enterprise was virtually terminated long before the year, or even the first + 6 LIFE OF REV. DM. BAIRD. half of it, had elapsed. Mr. Baird's exertions were untir- ing. During the vacation he was continually absent from home, endeavoring by public meetings and by personal supervision to give greater vigor to the prosecution of the necessary labors. And his heart was early cheered with the prospect of success. , On the 23d of October, from Woodbury, he wrote: "The Lord has granted a good de- gree of prosperity to the undertaking." In January, 1828, in the " Statement," after a particular narrative of what had been accomplished in each county, he says : " Our readers will perceive from what has been stated, that the work of supplying the destitute of the State of New Jersey with the Bible, is nearly completed. . . We rejoice that so much has been accomplished within less than six months. We trust that if any families have escaped notice, they will yet be discovered and supplied by the county and other societies. To suppose that none have escaped the vigilance of the agents would indeed be unreasonable. We believe, how- ever, that the number of such is not great. We have done all that we could to accomplish the resolution to put a Bible in every destitute family in the State. To keep up this sup- ply, and to perpetuate it, will require the county societies to explore their limits very frequently." The friends of this Biblical movement had certainly no cause to regret the part which they had taken in it. For the destitution was found to be far greater, not only than strangers, but even than Christians residing in the places themselves, suspected. "When our agents went to some counties," says Mr. Baird, " and told the people their object, they were informed that the number of the destitute in the county was certainly small, and, indeed, too inconsiderable to call for such extraordinary efforts. In one county where we were assured, by a letter from one of the best informed men in the county, that not more than fifty or sixty Bibles would be needed, more than four hundred have been distri- TEE BIBLE IN NEW JERSEY. 47 buted ! . . In a single township which lies within two or three miles of Princeton, in the vicinity of which place many Bibles had been distributed, upwards of eighty Bibles were needed. And in another not more than ten miles dis- tant, nearly seventy families were without the Bible." More than seven thousand families were discovered, in a State whose population was about three hundred thousand souls, entirely destitute of the Holy Scriptures ; and in a few instances copies were given to families in which there were persons that seemed to be true Christians, and yet were too poor to be able to obtain even a New Testament. It was calculated that nine thousand copies of the Bible would have been distributed before the completion of the work ; and we believe that the event showed them the esti- mate ought rather to have been ten thousand. The attention of the Christian public of the entire Union was early drawn to the successful prosecution of the work of the friends of the Bible in New Jersey. " The efforts of New Jersey the present year in distributing the Scriptures," says the report of the American Bible Society for 1828, " are doubtless familiar to most of the friends of this so- ciety. What she has done will long be told as a memorial of her. It is sufficient here to say that one of the auxilia- ries of this State, at its last annual meeting in July last, re- solved to supply, in co-operation with other auxiliaries, every destitute family in the State with a copy of the Bible within one year. The auxiliary referred to, is the Nassau Hall Bible Society. The work proposed seemed at first, even to some of our wisest and best citizens, who were present at the meeting, to be rash and impracticable. Yet wishing to have all possible good accomplished, the society was encouraged to go forward in the strength of the Lord. .... Most of the societies throughout the State soon re- solved to co-operate, meetings were held, ministers preached, the churches prayed, and it soon became evident that the 4 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. arm of the Lord was with them, and the work must prevail. There is time but to add, that this noble undertaking (ex- cept in one or two towns) was completed before the pre- scribed year was half expired." We may further state that the splendid example of New Jersey induced other States to make similar exertions, and even suggested the under- taking to supply every destitute family throughout the United States, with the Word of God. Among the most pleasing features of the prosecution of this work was the cordial co-operation in it of Christians of all denominations. Although opposition might have been apprehended where an enterprise arose in a Bible Society whose members were so generally of a single branch of the Christian Church, it was with devout acknowledgments to God that Mr. Baird was enabled to say that there had been manifested " great kindliness of feeling towards the object, among all that believe in the Bible." CHAPTER VI. HIS ORDINATION. PROJECTED BIBLE MISSION TO COLOMBIA. LABORS FOR THE CAUSE OP EDUCATION IN CONNEC- TION WITH THE NEW JERSEY MISSIONARY SOCIETY. SUC- CESS IN EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH THE PRESENT COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM OF NEW JERSEY. 1828-1829. AT New Brunswick on the 22d of April, 1828, Mr. Baird was set apart to the Gospel ministry as an Evangelist. How deeply his mind was exercised with doubts and fears, in view of the solemn nature of the vows which he was about to take upon him, we learn from a letter written to his wife on the preceding day : " I have been much dejected since I came here. When I look forward to my ordination to-morrow night, I find my heart shrinking back from the great work. I never felt so unfit to preach the Gospel. I am almost tempted to tell the Presbytery that they must put it off for a while. Oh, it is a solemn thing to assume the office of preaching in the name of the Lord ! My mind is very dark. I have not that clear evidence that I am called to this work, which I desire to feel, nor indeed of my being a child of God. Oh, if I should go forward without the approbation of God, and run without being sent, how awful will be my guilt, and how terrible my condemnation 1 May the Lord direct me. If I know my heart, I wish to serve Him even in the ministry, if it is 4 (49) 5 o LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. His will, unfit as I am. Pray for me ! oh, devote to-morrow to prayer for me, that I may have the spirit of that office, with which I expect to be invested." In connection with the services of his ordination, Mr. Baird preached an effective sermon on " Ministerial Duty and Ministerial Fidelity," from I. Thessalonians, ii : 4 : " But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, even so we speak : not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts." In the conclusion of this interesting discourse, after describing the faithful minister as one who seeks to please God rather than man, who uses no flattering words, nor assumes the office pf the ministry for a cloak of covetousness, and who thirsts not for the glory of men, he makes an application of his theme, not only to his hearers, but to himself also. Reiterating the sentiments of his letter to his beloved companion, he ex- claims : " And, when I turn from the contemplation of the greatness and sacredness of the work, to that of my great unfitness for it, I am ready to doubt whether I am called of God to this holy office. If I know my own heart, I desire to serve God in the Gospel. But I feel so little of the spirit of the Gospel, so little love to God, that I often fear lest I am running without being sent. And I would most respectfully and earnestly request my fathers and brethren in the ministry, and those dear children of God, who are now present, that they would pray that I may, with the im- position of the hands of the Presbytery, receive the anoint- ing of the Holy Spirit, for this holy office ; that I may enter this work with a heart dead to this world, its pleasures and its sorrows, its smiles and its frowns, and alive to God, who is able to make, by His gracious Spirit, the feeblest of human instruments capable of accomplishing much good. May this be the case with us all ! To His grace we com- mend ourselves." Entering the ministry with such exalted views of the MISSION TO COLOMBIA. 51 sanctity of the obligations it involves, and with such fer- vent aspirations, in dependence upon the divine assistance, to become the means of glorifying God and doing His holy will, it is not strange that Mr. Baird was enabled to dis- cover ever new paths of usefulness, in pursuing which he was blessed with fresh proofs of the favor of Him whom he attempted to serve. Mr. Baird retained the principalship of the Princeton Academy until the spring of the year 1823. For some time previous to this, he had entertained the thought of re- signing that position and entering more directly into con- nection with some of the great benevolent enterprises of the day, for which his success in the New Jersey Bible move- ment had shown him how well he was adapted ; although he had given to that work only such time as he could ob- tain in the vacations of his school, or during the hours when he was not employed in active instruction. He there- fore received with favor the invitation which was addressed to him by the American Bible Society to enter its service ; and he was actually commissioned to go out to Caracas, as a special agent, in order to superintend the distribution of the Holy Scriptures in the Republic of Colombia, and else- where in South America. It was his intention to start from the United States in the winter of 1827 — 8, and visit the field of his future operations for the purpose of learning what was the prospect of success. After a few months' stay, he was to return and take out with him his wife and child, who were meanwhile to remain in Princeton. For the object of securing as favorable a reception as possible, Mr. Baird was provided with letters from many of our most distinguished statesmen. The Hon. Henry Clay, at that time Secretary of State, gave him a general letter of recommendation, in which he says : " The Bearer hereof, the Reverend Robert Baird, a citizen of the State of New Jersey, one of the United States of America, being about 5 2 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. to -proceed to the Republic of Colombia, as an agent of the American Bible Society, with the view of disseminating such parts of Holy Writ as may be permitted, but without any sectarian object, I take great pleasure in recommending him to the kind and friendly treatment of all persons with whom he may meet. Besides the claim to such a reception, which is founded on the pious object of his agency, Mr. Baird carries with him the esteem and the good wishes of numerous friends, and a character of high respectability." In a private note of December 13th, 1827, which enclosed this letter, he writes : " I shall be gratified if you should find it of. any service." But shortly before the time when Mr. Baird was to have sailed, an event occurred that changed the aspect of the work in which he was to have engaged, and prevented him from taking a step that would have given, in all human probability, an entirely different bent to his labors, during the remainder of his life. In order to promote the circular tion of the Scriptures in countries filled with an exclusively Roman Catholic population, it had for many years been the practice of the British and Foreign Bible Society to publish and distribute the Bible with the apocryphal books. In this, the American Bible Society followed, for many years, the example of its great prototype, and procured plates for the Roman Catholic Bible in Spanish, for circulation in the South American Republics. The course thus adopted was early looked upon with deep regret by a large ' part of the friends of the Bible in Great Britain ; and at length, after a long and stormy discussion, the British and Foreign Bible Society arrived at the resolution " to distribute henceforth, in all languages, the sacred canon exclusively." This de- cision was not without weight in determining the course of the American Bible Society. Its managers deliberated long on the lawfulness of circulating, in connection with the pure Word of God, an uninspired compilation, in whose favor no THE MISSION AS AND ONES. 5 3 Protestant could urge anything more satisfactory, than that it would facilitate the introduction of the Sacred Volume into Koman Catholic homes. At length they decided to adopt the step dictated by a regard to Christian principle, irrespective of expediency. " To perpetuate that harmony which now so happily prevails among their auxiliaries," says the report of 1828, " and to prevent an evil which has shaken the mighty Society of England as with the heavings of an earthquake, your Board have with great unanimity resolved, that no book containing the Apocrypha shall henceforth be issued from your depository. The plates of the Spanish Bible (the only one containing this uncanonical accompaniment) are therefore to be speedily altered, and the inspired books alone to be circulated, as their own Divine Author prepares the way." Upright and consistent as this course incontestibly was, it aroused the latent spirit of opposition throughout Mexico and South America. The clergy, from the bishops down, denounced the Bible which was introduced by the English and Americans, as a Protestant book ; and great difficulty was at once experienced in inducing the people to receive the whole Bible, or even the New Testament. This state of things necessarily modified the action of the American Bible Society respecting its proposed South American agency. " A special agent will also be sent thither," says the document already cited, " should the prospect of distri- butions justify a measure so desirable to all the friends of revealed truth." Under these circumstances, Mr. Baird definitely renounced the idea of undertaking a mission for which his preparations had been nearly completed. In the spring of 1828 he resigned the position which, for over five years, he had occupied as principal of the Acad- emy at Princeton, and entered the service of the New Jersey Missionary Society. The circumstances that occasioned this change of relation were the following : The explora- 54 LIFE OF REV. DM. BAIED. tion of the State of New Jersey undertaken with the view of supplying all, the destitute with the Word of God, be- sides its direct bearing upon the excellent end contemplated, proved to be of much incidental service, by revealing the great amount of ignorance that was prevalent in various districts. The executive committee of the Bible Society had, as we have seen, directed its agents to collect informa- tion on a number of important points, several of which had a reference to the condition of education within the limits of the State. It is true that these instructions were strictly followed by comparatively few. The time of their service was limited. It was feared that if the young men allowed themselves to be detained while making the proposed in- quiries, the success of the main project within the time allotted to it, might be placed in jeopardy. Indeed, the managers of some of the auxiliary societies expressly advised them to neglect this important part of the work. Yet the results of the partial reports returned were such as to make a deep impression upon the reflecting. For instance, it may be mentioned that Warren county alone was found to contain over eleven hundred persons above fifteen years of age that could not read, while in Monmouth county there were about three thousand persons equally ignorant. And the proportion of children deprived of > all opportunities for obtaining instruction, either through the neglect of their parents or the insufficient number of schools, was equally alarming. It was in view of these discoveries that the Rev. Job F. Halsey, already mentioned as the gentleman who first sug- gested the propriety of making an attempt to supply all the destitute families in New Jersey with the Holy Scriptures, at a meeting of the inhabitants of Princeton, on the 13th of December. 1827, suggested and advocated the adoption of measures to supply the destitute parts of New Jersey with preaching and with common school instruction. At this meeting these resolutions were adopted : THE GOSPEL AND EDUCATION. 55 " 1. Resolved, That in reliance on Divine aid, and with the co-operation of other friends of knowledge and religion, we will use our utmost efforts to assist in raising, within two years from this date, the sum of forty thousand dollars for the support of missionaries and the establishment of schools in destitute parts of the State. " 2. Resolved, That the funds so raised shall be placed under the control of the Domestic Missionary Society of New Jersey, on condition that the said society will appro- priate these funds to the purposes specified. "At this same meeting a committee was appointed, charged with the execution of this enterprise. As soon as practicable, the committee gave the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Missionary Society official information of their appointment, and of the steps taken by the committee in the prosecution of the business assigned to them. By a unanimous vote of the directors, the above resolutions were approved ; and the committee were requested to continue their superintendence of the efforts to raise the contemplated sum of $40,000, and to assume the name of the ' Correspond- ing Committee of the New Jersey Missionary Society.' At a subsequent meeting of the managers, -the entire disposal of the funds was left to the discretion of the committee. " The committee commissioned the Rev. Job F. Halsey and the Rev. William H. Cox, then, or recently, a member of the Seminary, to visit the Presbyterian churches in New Jersey, to solicit funds, and to make known to the churches the views and plans of the committee. At the same time, the Rev. Robert Baird was appointed to visit the different parts of the State for the purpose of selecting the best sta- tions for the establishment of schools ; to interest persons residirg in the vicinity of such stations in support of the schools, and, as far as practicable, to awaken the attention of the community at large to the importance of a general diffusion of knowledge among the people. 56 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. " As a sufficient number of competent teachers could not at once be obtained, it became a part of Mr. Baird's duty to select suitable young men •who were willing to devote themselves to teaching, and to place them, with the approval of the committee, under the care of competent instructors ; that they might be prepared to take charge of the schools under the patronage of the committee. The whole number of persons thus selected and taught was twenty-one ; all of them members of the Presbyterian, Baptist or Methodist Church. The average number of scholars in the schools under the care of the committee was about seven hundred and fifty ; and the number of Sabbath-school scholars about the same. These children were all under the care of teach- ers hopefully pious. There were twenty-eight schools in all, and the whole number of teachers in the service of the committee was thirty-three."* In prosecuting these labors, Mr. Baird was called on to traverse the State from one extremity to the other. The frequency and the extent of these tours, as briefly set forth in his familiar letters, are truly astonishing. Throwing himself, as was his wont, with all his soul into the benevo- lent undertaking in which he was engaged, and seeming to live for it alone, he disregarded all considerations of per- sonal ease and comfort. It was this absorption of all his faculties in the one end in view, with the energy that was its inseparable concomitant, that constituted one great secret of the remarkable success that attended all the move- ments in which he took a leading part. The consideration of the means to attain the object was continually present to his mind', and no opportunity was suffered to pass by unim- * We are indebted for the valuable information wo have given respecting the origin of this enterprise to an interesting letter written to the author of this biography by the Rev. Dr. Maclean, President of the College of New Jersey, who speaks of the effort as one " in which your father had a promi- nent, and I may say the principal share." SI OPPOSITION. 57 proved. No man could have been more engrossed in build- ing up his own fortunes than Mr. Baird was in advancing the interests of these benevolent enterprises. No one had a more exalted conception of the demands of Christian fidelity. But above all, his heart glowed, as all his words and actions demonstrated, with uuextinguishable love for the cause of his Saviour ; and he undertook no enterprise during the varied course of his life that had not a bearing very distinctly marked to his eye, upon its progress. Con sequently, his letters to his most intimate friends are tinged with alternate feelings of joy and sadness, as the work of the Lord committed to him appeared hopeful or otherwise. Mr. Baird and his fellow laborers in this good under- taking met with the most encouraging success. At Capo May between seven and eight hundred dollars were sub- scribed, at Fairfield five hundred, at Monmouth over one thousand, and in Bridgeton fully that amount. Yet there were not wanting difficulties. Some members of other denominations misunderstood the nature and objects of the society, and consequently attributed to it, with too great readiness, some covert designs. To one of these accusa- tions, Mr. Baird refers in a letter from Bridgeton, June 25, 1828 : " I find that at a camp-meeting which has just been held about two miles from this place, Mr. P , the pre- siding elder, abused our forty-thousand dollar business very much, and represented the whole work as a Presbyterian scheme to injure the Methodists. He said that Mr. H had said in some of his speeches that the object of raising this money was to convert the ' Methodist heathen ' in New Jersey. What effect this will have upon our operations I do not know, but trust that it will not be so injurious as might be apprehended. We shall meet with opposition enough. But I hope the Lord will give us wisdom to walk correctly, and that He will pour out upon all His children 58 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. a spirit of love and zeal for His glory and not their own petty interests." A providential incident occurred, which although at first sight unfortunate, tended greatly to remove this unhappy misunderstanding between brethren, who at heart. were one in the Lord Jesus. We cannot better relate it than in the words of a letter, which, at the same time, may serve as a specimen of the record of the unremitting labors of the year : " Batsto, July 30, 1828. " The evening I left you I went to Mr. Woodhull's, and on the next day, which was rainy, six miles to Dr. Gilbert Woodhull's, and stayed with Mr. Norton. On Wednesday I went to the Comt House, and held a meeting on the subject of Common Schools, and stayed that night at Mr. Scudder's, and was much unwell. I dis- tributed that evening, sick as I was, sixty or seventy copies of Kit redge's Address among the people who were at the court. On Thurs- day I went down to Squankum, Butcher's Wort and Toms Biver. On Friday I went down [the coast] to Cedar Creek, and stopped a while at the camp-meeting which had begun the day before. Just as I was ready to leave the ground, some men frightened my horse, which had rubbed its bridle off, and it ran and broke the sulky almost to pieces, and excited the greatest alarm among the people. I had then to go back two miles and have the sulky repaired, which compelled me to stay until Monday at four o'clock. . .... I believe that the Lord ordered it all for good, although it is. a little pecuniary loss. The Methodists were very kind, and insisted upon my staying with them. Indeed, I never met with so much kindness in my life before. I stayed much of the time with them, and preached for them on the Sabbath, and became acquainted with their ministers, and particularly with Mr. P , the presiding elder, and I hope that I removed many prejudices. I do believe that it was a most provi- dential circumstance that detained me there ; and I cannot but be- lieve that throughout eternity God will be praised for it. Perhaps some poor sinner has been called into the kingdom by my labors there ; if so that will more than counterbalance our loss." It was wliile thus delayed at Cedar Creek that a conver- sation was held, which he more than once repeated in after AN INSINCERE INQ UIRER. 5 9 years, to illustrate the nature of the causes that hinder men from entering the service of God. The inn being crowded, the landlord could not accommodate him with a separate room or bed. The person into whose company Mr. Baird was thus casually thrown, was a man of middle age, who, when his roommate, as was his wont, led the conversation to the subject of religion, evinced no reluctance to its con- sideration. He stated that he entertained a deep concern for his soul, and that he had given long and anxious thought to the truths of revelation. He even asserted that he had prayed with earnestness to the Lord to reveal to him his duty and to bring him to to a saving knowledge of the truth ; but, although this had been his practice for years, his prayers had never been answered. Mr. Baird responded by expressing his. surprise to hear such a statement ; for he was sure that God never neglected the prayer of any poor sinner for light, guidance and renewal, when offered in the sincerity of his heart. He then solemnly asked his com- panion whether there was nothing in his occupation or in his modg of life which he knew to be sinful. But the man strenuously denied that there was, and persisted in his asser- tion that he had done everything that he could to obtain the Christian's portion, but that his prayers and exertions had all proved unavailing. After a faithful conversation, and after warning him of the danger of neglecting the great salvation, Mr. Baird retired to rest. But on the folio-wing morning his curiosity impelled him to inquire of the land- lord respecting this man who maintained that if he was not a Christian it was no fault of his. The reply which he ob- tained was that he was notoriously a bad man, that he was of corrupt life and manners, and that no man in that vicinity had been instrumental in causing the ruin of so many young men. The cause of the refusal of God to answer the prayers of such a man, if indeed his professions were worthy of any credit at all, was evident enough. " If I regard iniquity in 6o .LIFB OF REV. DR. BAIRD. my heart, the Lord will not hear me," said the Psalmist. " We know that God heareth not sinners : but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He hear- eth ;"— this is the language not alone of the blind man that had been healed by the Lord Jesus, but of every candid and thoughtful mind. " It was while engaged in this work," writes President Maclean in the letter from which we have already made quotations, " that the Rev. Mr. Baird awakened the attention of the people of this State to the great importance of estab- lishing, without further delay, an efficient system of common school instruction. For although others took part in this work, and rendered important service in it, yet I think it will be conceded by all familiar with the history of our common schools in New Jersey, that Mr. Baird's labors were the most efficient in directing the public attention to this subject ; and in inducing the Legislature to pass the requisite laws for the establishment and maintenance of a system of common schools." Convinced that private enterprise, or even a combined movement of large numbers in the community, could accom- plish little of what was imperatively demanded by the exi- gencies of the case, he had come to the conclusion, after some months of labor in the service of the Missionary So- ciety, that the flood of ignorance could be successfully stem- med only by the prompt and decisive actioif of the Legisla- ture. But the Legislature must be urged on by the force of an enlightened public sentiment. He resolved therefore to resort to the press, and by a calm and temperate survey of the entire subject, to point out the course that must be adopted in order to renovate' the intellectual condition of the masses. For this purpose he wrote, on the 13th of August, 1828, the first of a series of short essays on Educa- tion, which he addressed " To the People of New Jersey." These communications were couched in a plain and unpre- ■ED VCA TION IN NE W JERSEY. 6 1 tending style, adapting themselves to the comprehension of every sensible man ; but they were at the same time earnest, thorough in their treatment of the subject, and eminently practical. That they met a recognized want, is proved by the fact that they were speedily reproduced in all the prin. cipal newspapers of the State, and made an unmistakable impression in favor of the measures proposed. In view of their importance, we must be permitted to give a slight sketch of their contents. The first four essays treated of the general subject of Education, its importance both to rich and poor, to the community at large as well as to indi- viduals. The necessary qualifications of the teacher, espe- cially of the instructor in schools designed for the elemen- tary education of the great majority of the population, were next briefly discussed. A distinct article is consecrated to the consideration of the moral character and traits of the teacher who would properly conduct the moral culture of the youthful mind. This examination was regarded as being more important, in view of the large number of teach- . ers in the common schools, particularly in some of the east- ern counties, who were reported to be men incapable of obtaining the respect of the community, from the barrenness of their acquirements, and, what was much worse, highly injurious to their pupils, from the examples of coarseness, profanity and Sabbath -breaking which they displayed. Many of the teachers were known to be habitual drunk- ards ; one had recently fled from the State to avoid punish- ment for attempting the virtue of some of his female schol- ars ; and another had, not long since, been executed for the crime of murder. In the fifth and sixth communications, the results of the inquiries into the state of education made during the recent Bible effort, were recapitulated, and some reasons assigned for their unfavorable character. The most prominent cause of the existence of so large a proportion of ignorant adults and untrained children was traced to the 6z LIFE OF REV. SB. BAIRD. neglect of the Legislature to adopt any comprehensive sys- tem of education, and its confiding the whole care of public instruction to ignorant or parsimonious local school com- mittees. Next, the writer attempts to point out a feasible plan, which, if adopted by the Legislature, would at once secure to the State an adequate system, rivaling that re- cently introduced intp successful operation in the neighbor- ing commonwealth of New York. The general features of that plan were these. The Legislature had, " during tho preceding ten or twelve years, acquired for the State a very considerable school fund ; with commendable zeal, embrac- ing every opportunity that occurred, of increasing this fund without imposing a burden upon the people." This fund now amounted to $223,000, and its interest produced about $11,000 annually. Nearly $11,000 were yearly added to the fund, as the avails of the Bank-tax of the State. It was evident, therefore, that twenty thousand dollars could be ex- pended in promoting education without touching the princi- pal of the fund ; indeed, about $2,000 would remain to aug- ment it. It was proposed that this sum of $20,000 should be distributed by the State Treasurer, who might be also appointed " Superintendent of Common Schools," to the sev- eral counties, allotting a portion to each according to its population, or to the number of children between the ages of five and sixteen, as was the case in New York. Then let the proper committee of each township be required to raise by means of the ordinary system of tax-levy, a sum not less than twice as large as that which was received from the State as the share of the township ; or let the payment on the part of the State be contingent upon the decision of the inhabitants of the town to raise the sum above men- tioned. This general plan, it was urged, would secure the appropriation of at least sixty thousand dollars, an amount quite sufficient for present purposes. Meanwhile the Legis- lature, by permitting the school fund to receive the benefit CORRESPONDENCE. 63 of minor sources of income, such as the revenue derived from oyster-beds, etc., could readily add a considerable sum to the capital. In the remaining twelve essays, a survey is taken of the common school systems of every other State in the Union which possessed one, as well as of the provision made for popular instruction in Europe and South America. Mr. Baird had addressed letters of inquiry to a large number of prominent friends of education, who in reply gave interest- ing statements respecting this subject. These letters are inserted. They are from Hon. A. C. Plagg, Hon. Roger M. Sherman, Rev. Francis Wayland, Jr., Governor Ezra Butler, Rev. Dr. Humphrey, President of Amherst College, Governor John Bell and Hon. John Holmes ; and describe the systems adopted in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. The letters of the gentlemen, all men of great respectability and worth, and some of them holding high official positions, were admirably adapted to further the benevolent ends which Mr. Baird had in view. The publication of these essays, which were so widely disseminated and read, made a far deeper impression in favor of the immediate establishment of a thorough system of common schools in New Jersey, than the author's most sanguine expectations could have led him to anticipate. It is true, objections were raised against the plan he sug- gested ; but this rather proved the interest with which the people had been induced to consider the question. It was urged that the school fund was not large enough ; that it ought to be allowed to accumulate, until it amounted to one or two millions of dollars, before any of the interest was used ; that twenty thousand dollars would be inade- quate for the ends which it was intended to accomplish ; that the tax would be unpopular ; that the system was de- signed to benefit the poor alone ; and even that it was sec- 64 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. tarian — having as its object to aggrandize one denomination of Christians ! All these objections were answered in the course of these essays, although the writer adds in conclu- sion, " we have not heard them mentioned by twenty men in the State." In reference to the accusation that the scope of the enterprise was sectarian, he says : " But will any Christian hold back because he beholds another, of a per- suasion or denomination different from his own in some unessential points, active in the cause ? No ; we are confi- dent that this will not be the case. Otherwise we shall have to wait until men who are not Christians at all first lead the way in good enterprises ; which we do not think will soon come to pass. But our Legislature has taken up this whole subject, and will legislate upon it in such a way, we trust, as will be beneficial to the whole State, and not to any denomination^ sect, or party, exclusively." That feature in the system which would require the imposition of a tax upon the counties, he regarded as highly important to its success. " Only require all," he eaid, " to pay a tax for the support of schools, and you will see the rich man, whose tax is increased by the operation of the act two or three dollars, and the poor man who has to pay twenty cents more than usual every year, take a prodigious interest in the subject. They will both fasten an eagle-eyed supervi- sion upon the trustees of their school districts and the school committee of their township. They will both determine to have the worth of their money. The poor man will even send all the children he has got before he will be cheated out of his twenty cents ! Depend upon it, there is nothing about mankind so tender, so acutely sensitive, as their purses." But he did not confine his exertions to the press, impor- tant as that instrument must be deemed. He traveled over the entire State, holding public meetings at which the sub- ject of common schools was discussed at length, and the eyes of the people opened to the importance of at once ini- HOPES AND FEARS. 65 tiating some comprehensive system, which would no longer permit considerations of expense to interfere with a liberal provision for the instruction of the young. Such meetings he caused to be held at Newton, Morristown, and many other places, to which his private correspondence alludes. When the Legislature convened at Trenton, Mr. Baird em- ployed all the personal influence he possessed to insure the subject a fair consideration. " I spend my time," he wrote in January, 1829, "in seeing the members of the Legisla- ture, and conversing with them on the subject of education. I think that if a suitable system can be devised, it will suc- ceed. There appears to be a general feeling in favor of it." Two weeks later, while expressing his great disappointment at being detained from home, he writes : " I am in hopes that everything will yet go right, but things are in a criti- cal state as regards our school system." A few days after- ward he sends the gratifying intelligence that " the bill has just been passed in the lower house. How it will succeed in the upper, or Council, I am not certain, but think it will pass." The enterprise, however, was not destined to be spared those fluctuations which almost every such undertak- ing must encounter. Sad, yet resigned to the will of God, whatever it might be, he writes the next week : " I fear that our school bill will, after all, fail in the Council. If so, I shall regret it much. But the Lord reigneth, and He will order all things so that ultimately great glory will redound to His name. Oh, for more holiness and sincere devotedness to His cause ! " Another week passed ; and the prospect appeared still more dark and unpromising. "I fear that all my efforts to get a system of common schools established during this session of the Legislature will be fruitless. I feel often much dejected when I think of this ; but the Lord will be glorified at last, and all things will work out right in the end." These gloomy forebodings were not to be fulfilled. The 5 66 LIFE OF BEV. DR. BAIKD. consummation for which Mr. Baird and other friends of the cause had so ardently prayed and labored, was attained when the Council passed the bill establishing a common school system, in almost all respects identical with that which he had proposed and advocated in the twenty letters on Education, written during the previous summer and au- tumn. What an intelligent observer could prognosticate with regard to its beneficial effects, can be judged from a passage in a letter of the Rev. James W. Alexander, D. D., then pastor in Trenton, New Jersey, dated March 2, 1 829 : " The school system lately adopted by our Legislature promises more for the good of New Jersey than anything which has been known for a long time in our State. It owes it passage to the zeal and labor of a single man, Rev. Robert Baird, who has been keeping the subject before the minds of the people, in newspaper essays for some months. If we aspire to usefulness, I know no way in which we can promise ourselves so much real success, though without noise or eclat."* But the wisdom of the measure is still more clearly proved by the results of its working after the lapse of thirty years. In 1858 the annual appropriation to schools on the part of the State, had risen to over $86,000, while more than $338,000 was raised by special tax ; thus confirming the prediction of Mr. Baird, that a sum given by the State would be much more than doubled by that which the ambition of the people would prompt them to contribute to the support" of suitable schools. The school fund, far from being stunted in its growth, as the opponents of the law of 1829 suggested, had more than doubled. And what was still more gratifying, the number of ignorant adults had increased but slightly— and had probably de- creased if persons of foreign birth were left ' out of the * Forty Years' Familiar Letters of James W. Alexander, D, D. ; edited by Rev. John Hall, D. D. Vol. i. pp. 128-4. CHEERING RESULTS. 67 account — while the population of the State had risen from about 300,000 to 6*75,000 in 1860. None of the private letters of Mr. Baird which we have seen, allude to the success which had crowned the great undertaking. This is probably owing to the fact that after his long and frequent detentions at Trenton in urging the passage of the bill, he brought home himself the glad news that his labors in the service of popular education had not been in vain. And his heart impelled him to undertake fresh enterprises and devote his energies to their accom- plishment, when they promised to conduce to the advance of Christ's kingdom and the improvement of the condition of his fellow men. It was his natural disposition, corrob- orated by his habits of industry, to forget the things that were behind, and to press forward to enter new fields of Christian and philanthropic usefulness. He did not fail, however, to retain his interest in the cause to whose advancement he had consecrated so much of his time and labor. Shortly after the system of common school education became established, he wrote three more essays, under the title of " Remarks on the ' Act to establish Common Schools,' recently passed by the Legislature of New Jersey." In these articles he endeavored not only to explain the working of the several sections of the law, but to suggest some improvements that might be made, in the course of time. CHAPTER VII. LABOES IN BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS. HIS " VIEW OF THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI," AND " LIFE OF ANNA JANE LINNARD." 1829—1834. IN the spring of the year 1829, Mr. Baird received and accepted the appointment of General Agent of the American Sunday-school Union. He had for some months received intimations that this position would be offered him, and he had given the subject a prayerful consideration. The great interest which he felt in the religious instruction of the youth of our country, and the conviction that far more ought to be done than had as yet been attempted, to rescue the rising generation from the curse of ignorance, or of a positively unchristian education, especially in the new states of the West, determined him to assume what he could not but regard as certain to be a laborious and highly re- sponsible post. In his official capacity it was a part of his duty to employ all his energies in endeavoring to awaken a greater interest in the noble work of the Sunday School, and incite to a more liberal support of the Sunday-school Union. The task was an engrossing one, and it entailed the necessity of far more frequent and protracted absences from home than had been found requisite in the prosecution of the schemes in which he had hitherto been engaged. As an evidence of his success, it may be mentioned that " at the time when he entered on his duties, the revenue of the so- (68) SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN THE WEST. 69 ciety was about $5,000 ; and it employed five or six labor- ers. When he retired from it in 1835, its revenue was $28,000, and it employed fifty laborers." In prosecuting this enterprise he had free scope for the exercise of his constitutional energy and vigor, and for his talent for organizing by the selection of the best means for the accomplishment of the objects in view. In all the chief cities of the United States he readily saw that much could be done to enlist the sympathies of the Christian community, by holding large meetings in the most capacious churches or public halls,, at which the wants of the destitute and the great responsibility devolving upon the Church could be set forth by prominent clergymen and laymen, who from their well-known character and abilities would be heard with attention by the audience. This plan was at once put into operation, and its results must have been far more successful than even the most sauguine advocate could have anticipated. The experiment was first tried in the great centres of influence on the Atlantic seaboard — in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore, as well as in Pittsburg, and other important cities of the interior. Obstacles were to be met with, and an immense amount of labor must be performed, in order to prepare for a harmonious and satis- factory presentation of the subject ; and the conclusion of one effort was only a prelude to its renewal in another lo- cality. Still, in spite of occasional discouragements and rebuffs, the work was nobly carried forward. At the anniversary of the American Sunday-school Union held at Philadelphia on the 25th of May, 1830, the follow- ing resolution was introduced and, after able speeches by the Rev. Drs. McAuley and Beecher, unanimously adopted : " Resolved, That the American Sunday-school Union, in reliance upon Divine aid, will, within two years, establish a Sunday School in every destitute place, where it is practi- cable, throughout the Valley of the Mississippi." 7 o LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. The scheme was a noble one, and in keeping with the plans recently executed to supply several States with the Holy Scriptures. " That it should be accomplished," said a committee appointed by a meeting of members of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church then in ses- sion at Philadelphia, " is admitted on all hands to be desira- ble ; but to accomplish it will require the most energetic and persevering, as well as immediate efforts. To estab- lish properly 7,000 schools, and gather 500,000 youth into them, and all this in two years, is one of those stupendous undertakings which a little while ago would have been deemed the extreme of rashness and folly, and which even now; when the Church is beginning to awake in some de- gree, to a sense of her duty and strength, must appear to be very great, and very difficult to be accomplished." " May the blessing of the Lord attend this work!" writes Mr. Baird in concluding an account of the first public meeting at Philadelphia to the Neiu York Observer. "Let every heart that is touched with love for the souls of dying men, be raised in supplication to God for His blessing." A brief sketch of the great meeting which was held, through Mr. Baird's efforts, in the Masonic Hall on Broad- way, New York, June 9, 1830, will give a better conception than any general description could convey, of the mode of conducting these important gatherings, and of their signal efficiency. " The doors were open at. seven o'clock, and the great interest of the occasion, together with the an- nouncement in the public papers that the Hon. Mr. Freling- huysen, of- Newark, would be present and deliver an ad- dress, caused an overflowing assemblage long before the time appointed for opening the meeting. At a quarter be- fore eight o'clock, Chancellor Walworth was called to the chair, and the Rev. Dr. Cox, and Horace Holden, Esq., were appointed secretaries. "The Chancellor opened the meeting by reading the MEETING AT NEW YORK. 71 resolution (adopted by the society at its anniversary), after which he made some very eloquent and appropriate remarks respecting the importance of the object, and concluded by observing that he could speak with feeling on this subject, for he had himself recently witnessed with his own eyes the moral desolation in some parts of the western country, and particularly in one part of his journey, he had passed over a distance of one hundred and fifty miles without seeing one house erected to the worship of our blessed Redeemer. After prayer by the Rev. Dr. Spring, the Rev. Dr. Rice stated what had been done at the meetings in Philadelphia. . . The whole amount subscribed in that city, we under- stand, is between $20,000 and $30,000, and it is expected that before the effort is suspended, the amount will fully equal the latter sum. Dr. Rice estimated the number of counties in the Valley of the West at three hundred and fifty, and reckoning twenty schools as necessary for each county, the whole number of schools required will be seven thousand. . . Rev. Mr. Young of Lexington, Kentucky, followed in a speech setting forth the difficulties of estab- lishing Sunday Schools in the West, and maintained the proposition, that if Sabbath Schools are ever established throughout the Yalley of the Mississippi, it must be by the aid of the Atlantic States. A letter was read from Mr. Prelinghuysen who had been announced as one of the speak- ers, in which he stated that, when about to start, he had received the intelligence that a very near relative was ap- parently at the point of death, and desired his presence. His place was ably filled by Rev. Dr. Cox, Rev. Mr. Pat- ton, and Rev. Absolom Peters, Secretary of the American Home Missionary Society, who read the following resolution of the Executive Committee of that Society : " The Executive Committee of the American Home Mission- ary Society, from the spirit manifested by their missionaries, and from the results of past labors, feel warranted to engage. 7 z LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. through them, to establish one thousand Sabbath Schools in the Valley of the Mississippi, within two years." This was an offer to supply one-seventh of the number of schools needed in the West, and Mr. Peters expressed his regret that the committee had not said two thousand instead of one. " Mr. Baird returned thanks in behalf the American Sun- day School Union, for the interest manifested by the meet- ing in the great object of the society .f^Mr. B. will set out in a few weeks as agent of the society to superintend the operations in the great valley. He deeply felt the respon- sibility devolved upon him. He considered the temporal and spiritual prosperity of the country as closely connected with the success of the Union, and stated that not one-tenth part of the youth west of the Alleghany mountains were members of Sabbath Schools, while in the Atlantic States the proportion is one-fourth." After addresses from Rev. William S. Potts of St. Louis, Rev. Dr. Spring, Professor Storrs, and Rev. Mr. Lathrop of Ohio, the. exercises closed. The account we have given of this meeting is derived from the report in the New York Observer of June 12; 1830, which appears to have been fur- nished by Mr. Baird. Writing-to his family at a late hour in the night, after the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Baird says :_" Monday, yesterday and to-day, we went on with our preparations, and to-night had a very large meeting at the Masonic Hall, and nearly twelve thousand dollars were subscribed. The Lord has been truly and wonderfully good." Of a second meeting in support of the same object, held on the 21st of the month, it need only be said that it in no wise fell behind the preceding one in interest. The Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen on that occasion delivered an ad- dress of such elegance and force of diction, combined with sterling sense and sincere piety, that it strikes the reader MEETING AT NEW YORK. 73 as being fully as appropriate now as when first uttered, more than a score and a half of years ago. Mr. Baird added a few practical remarks to this and the other speeches ; and the fruits of the meeting, besides the augmented interest of all present in the noble cause of Sunday School educa- tion, were the swelling of the contributions from New York City to upwards of $15,000. In the summer of 1829., he made a tour through New England, and met with encouraging success. " I trust that my visit," he writes, " will tend to the advancement of the cause for which I labor. Great difficulties and trials I find must be encountered in every field upon which a man at- tempts to labor. I hope that you will pray much for me that God would grant me that degree of assistance by His grace which I need, and those measures of heavenly wisdom, without which I shall be able to accomplish nothing that will be for the glory of God." A few weeks later he was in the central part of Pennsylvania, and revisited the scene of his first toils as a teacher. The cause of Christ had un- happily made but little progress during the intervening decade. " The state of religion," he writes, August 22, 1829, " is low in this part of the country, and but little attention is paid to Sabbath schools. I do not expect, therefore, to obtain much for the American Sunday School Union. In- deed, it is surprising and truly grievous to see how little Christians throughout our country care for the low state of Zion. None seem to care half so much for the glory of God and the salvation ?pf men, as for their own interest. Surely, if ever the kingdom of Christ is built up in the world, as it is predicted it will be, a new and better genera- tion of Christians must be raised up. Well, let us do all that toe can to glorify God and save lost men from destruc- tion, during the little time which God grants to us ; and, if we are not allowed by our wise and good heavenly Father to possess talents of an extraordinary kind, nor riches, nor 74 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. influence among the great, let us be contented, and always say, 'Even so, Father, for so it hath seemed good in thy sight.' Seek resignation to the will of God, which separates us for a season. I hope, however, that a delight- ful eternity remains for us to spend together, never to part any more." But when to the occasional discouragements and want of apparent success incident to the prosecution of so great and yet so new an enterprise as that of a society barely five years old, was added the reflection that he must necessarily look forward to long and repeated absence from home, and must leave the entire charge and training of his young children to their already overburdened mother, Mr. Baird was at times almost ready to resign his position. Under date of December 17, 1829, he says : " At times, when my spirits become low, when I am fatigued and discouraged by want of success, I think that I cannot stand this heart- breaking business, and that I must relinquish it for one more congenial to my nature and feelings. But when I look at the magnitude of the work, and reflect how desira- ble it is that this great cause should succeed, I feel that if my feeble exertions can in any way promote its success, I ought to be willing to encounter all the self-denial and all the labor which must lie in my path whilst occupied in this work." In July, 1830, Mr. Baird removed his family to Phila- delphia, which became his home for the ensuing five years. He hoped by this change to be able to shorten the length of his frequent absences, Philadelphia being the centre of the operations of the Society. In the summer and autumn of the same year, he made a tour through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky, and suc- ceeded in giving a great impetus to the enterprise in which he was engaged. More than five thousand dollars were subscribed to the fund for establishing Sunday Schools A NARROW ESCAPE. 75 throughout the Valley of the Mississippi, in Cincinnati, Lexington, Frankfort and Louisville, and as mucli more in Pittsburg and Baltimore. Although suffering from an at- tack of bilious fever during much of the time, he mentions the fact in one of his letters that he had spoken thirty-eight times in public, in six or seven weeks, and had traveled (chiefly in stages) the distance of one thousand miles. When homeward bound and expecting to meet his family, from which he had already been detained beyond his original intention, he was exposed to imminent danger ; and, al- though, in the good providence of God his life was spared, he was subjected to much suffering by an unfortunate inci- dent, which he thus describes in a letter from Pittsburg, September 15, 1830 : " I fear, however, that I shall not be able to reach Philadelphia quite as soon as I anticipate:!. I met on Friday morning last, about forty miles from this place, with an accident of a painful kind, and one which had well nigh proved fatal to me. To accommodate some ladies who got into the stage at New Lisbon (Ohio), which place we left at two o'clock in the morning, I rode with the driver. After having come about fourteen miles, we were entering a village called West Union, where we were to breakfast, when the driver struck the horse just before me with his whip, as the stage was ascending a little hill. The horse at that instant reared, and the next moment struck my left leg a most severe blow about three or four inches below the knee. I thought at first that the bone was broken. As we were just at the place where we were to stop for break- fast, I was enabled to have it dressed in a few minutes by a physician. It was badly cut across the bone ; and nearly two inches in depth After breakfast I set out in the stage, sitting on the front seat and laying my leg on the middle seat, and got on without much pain to this place, where I arrived about eight o'clock at night. I had a most affectionate set of passengers with me, especially two or 7 6 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. three devoted Christian ladies of this place, who manifested much sympathy and rendered every assistance which they could What a mercy that it is no worse ! Had it been the other leg, upon which my weight was then resting, it would probably have been broken. How good God is to us ! Let us not be impatient under these trials, nor too desirous of meeting again. Perhaps our selfishness in this particular has been offensive to God." In the month of December, 1830, he again left home for an extended tour in the service of the American Sunday School Union, which was not completed until the following May. On this journey he descended for the first time the Mississippi, stopping at St. Louis, Memphis and other im- portant points. Prom New Orleans he returned by way of Mobile, Augusta, Savannah, Charleston, Columbia, Raleigh and Richmond. In all these, and in a number of smaller cities, the claims of the " Great West" upon the sympathies and Christian activity of the inhabitants of the older and wealthier East, were presented at large public meetings ; and the effect was in every instance good. Yet opposition to the scheme of the Sunday School Union was not wanting, and in at least one instance it assumed an organized form, as we learn from a letter of Mr. Baird in the New York Observer of April 9, 1831. At a public meeting in Augusta, Georgia, after Mr. Baird had fully stated the object pro- posed, and the Rev. Mr. Mallory had offered a resolution approving of the great Western effort, " a Mr. B , at the head of a host of Sunday-school friends, of whom as such nobody in Augusta had ever heard before, proposed a sub- stitute, advocating the propriety of the people of Augusta confining all their efforts to their own city, where he did not seem to be aware that anything had yet been done!" A Mr. R- — - followed in the same strain, and had much to say in favor of that kind of benevolence " which requires no money." One Dr. C— — was more consistent, for in his OPPOSITION. 77 remarks lie expressed himself as opposed to doing anything either at home or abroad. The friends of the cause, not so much of the Sunday-school Union as of religion, stood up manfully in its defence. " Mr. Gould, a lawyer, a son of Judge Gould of Connecticut, spoke in an able manner. A. Dr. R , on the same side, gave the new friends of the Sunday School cause some information about the seven or eight schools in Augusta. The Eev. Mr. Smith of the Epis- copal Church proposed to circulate subscription cards to promote both objects." A second meeting was held, when an equally animated discussion occurred between General Glascock and other friends of the West, and the volunteer champions of Augusta and Richmond county. This oppo- sition did much good ; for it fixed the attention of truly Christian men upon the importance of the work of the Society, and after the subscriptions had fully satisfied the expectations of its friends, " they held the opposers to their own proposition," insisting that they should do what they had so strenuously maintained to be necessary for Georgia itself, and for Augusta and its vicinity in particular. " It is to be hoped," writes Mr. Baird, " that those who have been so late in coming into this good work, will work hard and atone for their tardiness ! But I stand in doubt of them. Still, who can tell ? I hope that they will do some- thing, and not let their zeal evaporate in words I was glad to see that there was not one Christian, or rather I should say, professor of religion, in the opposition." After a brief stay at home, he again undertook a journey of several months. Starting in July, 1831, he passed through Richmond and Lynchburg to Western Virginia, and thence through East Tennessee to Nashville. His health during this trip was feeble ; but this circumstance did not prevent him from enjoying the beauties of the natu- ral scenery of the region through which he traveled day and night in the stage, and the picturesque aspect of many 7 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. a secluded settlement upon the mountains' side, to -which he refers in his correspondence. Murfreesboro was next vis- ited ; then Louisville, whence St. Louis was reached by steamboat. At the last-mentioned city a meeting was held, at which a noble appeal in behalf of the establishment of Sunday schools throughout the West, was made by men who have since attained the highest position in the conduct of our national affairs — H. R. Gamble, Esq., since Gover- nor of. Missouri, and Edward Bates, Esq., Attorney General of the United States. Mr. Baird, as washis custom, intro- duced the subject of the meeting with some general state- ments. A melancholy incident occurred on the very day upon which he reached St. Louis. Major Biddle, of the United States army, and Mr. Pettis, a member elect of Congress from the State of Missouri, were impelled by political dif- ferences, which had created deep personal animosity, to settle their quarrel by duel. Major Biddle had attacked Mr. Pettis in an anonymous article in a newspaper ; the latter had foolishly replied, and the discussion becoming acrimonious, Major Biddle had at last attempted to horse- whip Mr. Pettis in his own room. A challenge, which was accepted, was the result. The time and place of the en- counter appear to have been currently known beforehand ; but, strange to say, the friends of neither of the parties made any earnest attempt to reconcile them, or to invoke the intervention of the law. The spot fixed upon was a lit- tle island opposite St. Louis, and belonging to Illinois. The fatal duel took place at four o'clock p.m. " I was amazed to find," writes Mr. Baird, " that there was so little feeling manifested by the people before it occurred. (Gamblers in the city were engaged in betting on the event of the duel ; in other words, on the nerves of the contending parties !) Everybody knew it, and yet there was no excitement. With me, although an utter stranger to both of the parties, A FATAL DUEL. 79 it was, I confess, far otherwise. I stood with melancholy interest on the bank, and watched the boat that carried Major Biddle and his party over. Mr. Pettis and his friends had gone before — perhaps an hour. "When they met at the upper end of the island, under the shade of the trees, where many a duel had occurred before, the affair was soon over. They spoke to each other. The seconds measured off the ground— -five feet I At the signal, both turned and fired simultaneously. Major Biddle fell at once, and was for some time insensible, being shot in his side just above the hip. Mr. Pettis was shot higher up, through the breast, just above the pockets of his waistcoat ; he immediately clapped his hand on the wound, and was assisted in lying dowu by his second." Both were mortally injured. The former lingered in a state of excruciating suffering for nearly three days ; the latter died within less than twenty- four hours. " I stood upon the banks, with .hundreds," writes Mr. Baird, " and saw Mr. Pettis carried on a mat- trass to his boarding-house. The next day, sick as I was, I called to see him, at the request of one of his friends." Mr. Pettis's language, he remarks, was most solemn, as he said, in an impressive tone, " I want you to unite with me in praying that a soul situated as mine is, may, if possible, obtain salvation." " I did so," says Mr. Baird, " and preached Christ to him and his ungodly companions. Oh, it was a solemn time. He was in great distress, and died in an hour after I left him." Reaching home in the beginning of October, Mr. Baird started, in the latter part of the same month, upon a tour through New England, preaching or organizing meetings in behalf of the Society, at Boston, New Bedford, Concord, and Exeter, N. H., and Portland, Me. The months of March, April and May, of the ensuing year, 1832, were taken up with a journey, the furthest point reached being Nashville, Tennessee. On this, as on all his other trips, 80 LIFE OF REV. DM. BAIRD. his liveliest interest was elicited by the spiritual condition of the region through which he traveled. Not content with presenting the claims of the Sunday School Union, lie generally preached several times on Sunday, and addressed religious meetings held during the week. The following extract will give an idea both of these and other extraor- dinary labors, and of their blessed fruits which he was some- times permitted to see : "As there was a 'three days' meeting' there, I resolved to stop at Sparta, and stay until Monday, and then return in the stage from East Tennessee. I accordingly spent Saturday and Sunday there, and preached three times, and was treated with great kindness by a little band of Chris- tians. A revival took place at Sparta, and gathered nearly twenty persons into the Presbyterian church, which has been lately organized, and has now twenty-five members. I hope that my labors there were not in vain. I found a man there to whom I had talked much in the stage last summer, in going from Sparta to McMinnville. He has now become pious, as well as several of his family. He met me, at the close of my sermon on Saturday morning, on the steps of the pulpit, and reminded me of what I had said to him about his soul at that time, and exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, that ' it had done him a heaj> of good !' " In March, 1833, his duties called him to Washington, in which city and its vicinity several meetings were held in behalf of the Society. His visit to the national capital occurred at one of the most critical points in the history of the United States. His own views respecting it sufficiently appear from a letter dated March 1st : " I have spent almost the whole of this day at the Capitol. I had an opportunity to hear some fine speaking in the Senate, on the final vote on Sir. Clay's tariff bill, or Compromise, as it is called. It . passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, and to- day passed in the Senate, by a vote of '29 to 16. I stayed THE COMPROMISE MEASURES. 81 from half-past twelve to half-past five o'clock, listening to the debate. Calhoun, Frelinghuysen, Dallas, Clayton, Ew- ing, Webster, Forsyth, M.angum, Wright, Smith, Sillsbee, and Clay, spoke. Mr. Frelinghuysen spoke admirably, as did Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Clay. I think Mr. Clay the most interesting speaker that I ever heard. I do not know that I was ever more • delighted than I was at the close, when the vote was taken. It is a matter of rejoicing that this bill is likely to restore peace and concord to the coun- try. It is what Mr. Frelinghuysen beautifully called it, ' a great peace-offering, made by the friends of the protec- tive system, to restore harmony to this distracted country.' Matters now wear a delightful aspect. I had an opportu- nity of seeing several men whom I have known slightly — such as Grundy, Clay, etc. I hope on Monday to see more of them, as I expect to attend the inauguration of the Pres- ident and Vice,-President." Another journey of greater length than any of the pre- vious tours consumed about seven months — from October, 1833, to April, 1834. The route Mr. Baird pursued varied but little from that adopted in his first visit to the South. Going down the Mississippi to New Orleans, he returned by Mobile, Augusta, Savannah, Charleston, etc. At Au- gusta there was " no opposition this time," but on the con- trary, his advocacy of the cause of Sunday schools was re- ceived with much favor. From Charleston he wrote : " We are to have our public meeting here next Monday. I almost tremble about it. This is a hard place. Nullification and the dissensions which it has created here, have embit- tered everything. You can have no idea of the great evil which these political difficulties have occasioned. Families, churches and neighborhoods have been rent asunder by them ; and everything good is prostrate. But a better day, I think, is about to dawn." From the town of Cheraw, S. C, on the bank of the Great Pedee, and near the border 6 8z LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. of North Carolina, lie writes that the congregation of the little church, in which he had preached three times on the Sabbath, were desirous that he should settle as their pas- tor. " And if it were fall" he adds, " instead of early spring, I think I should be inclined to do it ; but they can- not wait, and it would not do for us to come here in the spring." How greatly do the circumstances which we in our ignorance call trivial and accidental, but which are essential elements in God's great plans, shape the destinies of our lives, and doubtless also the more weighty events that concern the progress of Christ's kingdom ! Who can say to what an extent the cause of evangelical truth in the papal countries of Europe, and that of the temperance reform in the northern portions of the same continent, might have been retarded, had it been deemed prudent for Mr Baird to remove his family to that small parish in an interior town of South Carolina, or had the church been able to wait a few months for a pastor ? At all events the conduct of those noble enterprises in which he was at a later time to take a leading part, would necessarily have been confided to other hands. Towards the close of the year 1834, Mr. Baird, after mature reflection, determined to resign the position which he had held for over five years. Not less interested than at first in the Sunday-school cause, but even more so, as he became more familiar with the demands of the work, he had seen the enterprise of planting a Sabbath school in every destitute part of the West, and the similar enterprises undertaken three years later for the South, if not wholly accomplished, at least advancing satisfactorily. The inces- sant journeys which the superintendence of so vast a field imposed were exceedingly trying to his health, as his letters abundantly testify. And his own longings for a more quiet sphere of usefulness, were strengthened by the claims of his family, now beginning to stand in particular need of a INTEREST IN FRANCE. 83 father's direction. It was only at the urgent request of the friends of the Society, who were even now extremely averse to allowing him to leave, that he had retained the general agency so long. Several propositions addressed to him had for this reason been dismissed — one or two from relig- ious journals in the Bast and West to assume the editorial chair, another from the American Board to enter their service, and others from the friends of other societies. But the plan which was most congenial to his Christian prefer- ences was one which he had long since indefinitely framed, and for the execution of which the providence of God seemed now to have opened the door. Mr. Baird had even in early youth conceived an extraor- dinary interest in the history of Prance, the land of the Huguenots, the native land of Calvin His own marriage with one whose ancestors had been driven from their native country by the persecuting frenzy of Louis XIV. and his successors, to find a home and liberty of conscience beyond the seas, lent additional force to what had before been little more than a fancy ; while it gave a new direction to his thoughts and to much of his reading. Cannot the Protest- ant world, now that the intolerant sway of the elder branch of the Bourbons is overthrown, and the favorite of the peo- ple has assumed the sceptre, do more than is being done for France ? Can America put forth no exertions ,in behalf of a country whose exiled confessors were the progenitors of many of her best citizens ? Such were the questions that forced themselves upon his mind. At least one intimate friend, the distinguished Rev. Dr. Wisner, pastor of the Old South Church at Boston, had urged Mr. Baird to ex- plore the field and learn the prospects of success that would attend an effort of the American churches in that direction. As early as on the 6th of December, 1831, Mr. Baird wrote to his wife from New England, which he was then visiting, in behalf of the American Sunday School Union : " Dr. 84 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. Wisner is anxious that we should go to France." The project did not, however, assume a definite shape until three years later, as we shall see in the next chapter. During the period of Mr. Baird's life which we have just been considering, his literary activity was astonishing, if we take into view the engrossing and laborious character of his ordinary pursuits. He was a regular and frequent correspondent both of the New York Observer and of the Sunday-school Journal. Of his long tours in the West and South he gave a full and accurate account in the col- umns of the former. At one time he wrote two series of letters, under the title of " Letters from the Valley of the Mississippi," and " Letters from the West," which appeared contemporaneously, and sometimes side by side. It was characteristic of these articles that they contained not nar- ratives of startling personal adventure, but a minute and graphic account of all that was most worthy of being seen, known and remembered, by one who traveled through re- gions much less generally understood than they are now. All bear the marks of that careful scrutiny, conscientious investigation and power of discrimination which were lead- ing traits of Mr. Baird as a traveler, at a later period, in the Old World. He was also the contributor of several articles, for the most part on topics kindred to the work which received his principal attention, to the " Biblical Eepertory and Prince- ton Review," founded by Rev. Charles Hodge, D. D. The number for April, 1830, contains a treatise on Sunday Schools, based upon the annual reports of the American Sunday School Union from 1825 to 1829 inclusive ; in which the foundation, character and prospects of this benevolent institution are admirably sketched. A shorter article in the number for July, 1831, discusses the utility of the Sun- day school, and an extension of the plan so as to remedy the palpable defects in the organization and management LITERARY LABORS. 85 of the common schools of the country ; and makes several important suggestions respecting a religious education. The article on Common Schools in the " Repertory" of April, 1833, exposes more fully the feasibility of a system in which this feature shall be prominent. Besides contributing largely to the periodical press, Mr. Baird wrote two volumes. The first, a duodecimo of about 350 pages, published in 1832, was entitled a " View of the Valley of the Mississippi ;" and appeared without the au- thor's name. The letters which Mr. Baird had written to the New York Observer, at the request of the editors, had been read with great interest by the many readers of that widely-circulated journal. Describing the condition and prospects of so large a part of the newly-settled portions of our country, they contained a vast amount of statistical and other information for which few knew where else to look. It was suggested that this information ought to be rendered permanently serviceable by incorporating all that was not of ephemeral interest in a book, which might thus prove a reliable guide for the intelligent emigrant or trav- eler, as well as a work of reference for the scholar in his study. In point of fact, however, the volume derived a very small part of its contents from the letters, while a completeness was given to it which the limits of a news- paper correspondence precluded. It was accompanied by accurate maps. More directly bearing upon personal religion is Mr. Baird's second book, "A Memoir of Anna Jane Linnard," a volume of 223 pages, written in 1834, and published in Philadelphia at the commencement of the following yean with an introduction by the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen. This is one of those Christian biographies of which, blessed be God, there have been so many within the present century, in which the bright example of a character of unaffected and simple, yet zealous piety, is held up for imitation, not 86 , LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. in the spirit of blind admiration, but of love for all that bears the impress of the operation of the Holy Ghost. The subject formed a noble study, worthy of the pen of a Chris- tian writer. Nor was the author disappointed in his hope that the portraiture of a young lady adorned with all the fruits of grace would prove a valuable accession to the religious literature of the age. Not only did it enjoy a sat- isfactory circulation in this country and in England, but translated into German it was perused with profit, it is believed, by many a reader on the continent. CHAPTER Vm. OEIGIN OP THE FEENCH ASSOCIATION. MISSION OP THE REV. EOBERT BAIED TO PARIS. WAR BETWEEN PRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES APPREHENDED. HIS INSTEUCTIONS. EM- BAEKS FOE HAVEE. 1835. FOR a long time previous to Mr. Baird's appointment by the French Association, the religious, as well as the political state of France, had excited a very lively in- terest in many minds in the United States. This solicitude became deeper, when the general peace of 1815 restored tranquility to that long-agitated country, as well as to all the rest of Europe. During the reigns of Louis XVIII. and Charles X., however, there was no opportunity for the sym- pathy of American Christians to exhibit itself in a practical manner. Meanwhile, it was not suffered to expire. The interesting statements made by the Rev. Jonas King (since then a missionary to Greece), and of others who visited France within this period, gave it additional strength and diffusion. In 1830, the hopes of the friends of evangelical religion acquired a new impulse from the revolution of July, which promised to effect a great extension of civil and religious liberty throughout the dominions of the French monarch. The very next year, at the anniversaries of the religious so- cieties in the city of New York, a meeting was held to con- sider the best method of promoting the desired object. mi) 88 ' LIFE OF REV DR. BAIRD. Among its results were the raising of two thousand dollars, and the appointment of a committee to consult with Chris- tians at Paris respecting the propriety of establishing a co- operative " Benevolent " society in France. The latter project was abandoned, in accordance with the advice of the Trench brethren ; but a committee was instituted in that country to be entrusted with the funds sent from this side of the ocean. Within a year or two, however, the Evangelical Society and new Theological Seminary of Ge- neva, and the French Evangelical Society of Paris, were established, to no slight extent in consequence of the urgent advice of a number of American gentlemen, who justly ap- preciated the importance of such organizations. French Christians, on the other hand, were desirous that a society, in some sense auxiliary to their own, should be formed in the United States. Hence arose, in 1834, the French As- sociation, under whose auspices the Rev. Flavel S. Mines sustained for a year an American service at Paris. On the abandonment of this plan, and the return of Mr. Mines, the committee resolved to select some suitable person, who should make Paris his -home for a few years, and render himself fully acquainted with the religious condition and prospects, not only of France, but also, as far as practicable, of other countries on the continent. He was to communi- cate the result of his observations and inquiries to the religious societies of this country, and he was desired to render all the assistance in his power to the benevolent enterprises recently initiated in the country where he should sojourn. The committee invited the Rev. Mr. Baird to undertake, this important and delicate mission.* Having accepted the appointment, Mr. Baird spent the * "We have adopted, in this summary view of the circumstances, that led to the mission of Mr. Baird to France almost the language of the " First published Keporfr of the Foreign Evangelical Association" (May, 1838), which was written principally, if not altogether, by Mr. Baird himself. A WAR APPREHENDED. Rg last two months of the year 1834 and the month of January 1835, in visiting a number of gentlemen in New York, Boston, Albany and Philadelphia, whom he interested in the contemplated enterprise, securing at the same time the greater part of the funds necessary for its support during the following three years. It was not, however, without considerable solicitude respecting the stability of the peace, ful relations between the French and American Govern, ments that he made his preparations for departure. The claim of the United States for the indemnification of its citizens for losses sustained at the hands of the French at various times between the years 1800 and 1811, after having been frequently admitted as just by the French authorities, had been recognized officially in a treaty signed at Paris on the fourth of July, 1831. The French monarch thereby promised to pay to the United States the sum of 25,000,000 francs, in six equal annual instalments, the first within one year from the interchange of the ratifications. But so far was the French Government from fulfilling its engagements, that, in spite of frequent remonstrances, months and years rolled by, without the voting of the necessary appropriation by the Legislative Chambers. A draft of the United States for the first instalment " was dis- honored by the Minister of Finance." The King, mean- while, threw the blame upon the Legislature, and was pro- fuse in his apologies ; but his failure to press the subject on its consideration, and his unseasonable proroguing of the Chamber of Deputies, sufficiently evinced his own culpa- bility. Under these circumstances, Andrew Jackson, then President of the United States, sent to Congress his famous annual message of December 1, 1834, in which a vigorous policy was foreshadowed. After rehearsing at length the history of the entire transaction, the President said : " It is my conviction, that the United States ought to insist on a prompt execution of the treaty, and in case it be refused, 9 o LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. or longer delayed, take redress in their own hands. After the delay on the part of France of a quarter of a century in acknowledging these claims by a treaty, it is not to be tolerated that another quarter of a century is to be wasted in negotiating about the payment." And he recommended " that a law be passed, authorizing reprisals upon French property in case provisions shall not be made for the pay- ment of the debt, at the approaching session of the French Chambers." " You will perceive from the Message," writes Mr. Baird on the 5th of December, " that there is some prospect of an unhappy collision between our Government and that of France. But I presume that these things will not stand in the way of our going, inasmuch as it is not apprehended that there will be any immediate difficulty. Let us hope and pray that our Heavenly Father will interpose and pre- vent auything like a war. from taking place." A glanoe at the instructions which Mr. Baird received from the committee of the French Association, when about to set out upon his mission, is sufficient to establish the ex- tent of the duties confided to him, and the importance of the matters that were left to his discretion. He was requested ' at once upon his arrival at Paris to call upon the most prom- inent and active Christian gentlemen living at Paris, both Englishmen and Americans. "He was to learn what were their feelings respecting the English- American chapel. He was directed to express to the officers of the various benev- olent societies the lively interest which was " felt by Amer- ican Christians in the success of their labors, and their dis- position to aid them by their contributions and their prayers ;" while disclaiming " the slightest disposition to dictate as to the measures in which those labors shall be prosecuted." It was the desire of the committee that he should " form an early acquaintance with the evangelical French pastors who reside in Paris, among whom are F. INSTRUCTIONS. 91 Monod _fils, J. Chasseur, H. Pyt, Grandpierre, Audebez, and others of like character, whose zeal and purity, of life render them most deserving of our fraternal affection." At the same time he was reminded of the advantage that would accrue in the prosecution of his work, from the co-operation of such laymen as Admiral Ver Huell and M. Lutteroth. Nor was he to confine his investigation into the spiritual wants of the country, and the best methods of relieving them, to the single city of Paris. Other parts of France claimed his attention, and especially Lyons, "where he would find a tried servant of the Lord in the Rev. Adolphe Monod." It would be well to inquire on the spot whether new Sunday Schools could not be founded, and additional evangelists be employed. He was directed further to see whether there were not pastors whose inadequate support from Government, or from voluntary contributions, impaired their efficiency, by compelling them to engage in secular pursuits, but whom a small annual sum might enable to devote their entire strength to their higher calling ; and to investigate the propriety of establishing schools, the advantages and disadvantages of the system of colportage, the feasibility of sending a few devoted young Americans to study in Prance or at Geneva, in order to qualify them for preaching accep- tably to French audiences, or of educating pious French- men in the United States for the same purpose. Finally, after reminding him of the unfortunate misunderstanding between the Governments of the two nations, and the great service that he could render his native land, by sedulous search for " suitable ministers to labor among the Swiss and German emigrants in the West," the Committee con- cludes : " We look to the results of your labors with great hopes, and (we would not conceal it) with great solicitude. The singular ability and success with which you have con- ducted the agencies hitherto entrusted to you, have been such as to inspire us with the strongest confidence ; indeed, 9 2 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. your past life appears to us, in many respects, a providential education for the important duties on which you are now entering." On the 26th of February, 1835, Mr. Baird embarked at New York with his family, on the ship Poland. Of the trip to Havre, which occupied eighteen days, he wrote : " I will not attempt to describe very particularly my voyage. It was short, stormy, and, of course, sufficiently rough. As to the miseries of sea-sickness, I can say but little, inasmuch as I was mercifully preserved from them. The weather was such as to render it impossible to enjoy ocean scenery. Yet there was much to interest my feelings. There is a strange sense of the insignificance of man which constantly steals over me, when looking out on the wide ocean, and behold- ing nothing as far as the eye can reach but rolling waves and the encircling heavens, Ocelum undique, et undique Pontus. How forcibly is one reminded, when thus placed in the power, as it were, of the elements — of his utter dependence on that Great Being, in whose hands are both the winds and the waves !" CHAPTER IX. CONDITION OP PROTESTANTISM IN PRANCE AT THE PERIOD OF HIS ARRIVAL. REVIVAL OP RELIGION SINCE THE RECOGNI- TION OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES BY THE STATE. BIBLE, HOME, AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES INSTITUTED. MR. BAIRD'S VIEW OF THE MOST EFFICIENT METHOD OP OPERATIONS IN FRANCE. HIS LABORS. " SATURDAY EVEN- 1835-1838. ON his arrival at Paris, Mr. Baird was received with great cordiality by many Protestant gentlemen, both native and foreign residents, who rejoiced in the prospect that American Christians would permanently interest them- selves in the resuscitation of the truth in France. At the time of which we write the condition of evangel- ical religion in France was such as to afford much reason for encouragement, in consequence of the decided progress which was everywhere noticeable. Yet coldness still per- vaded a great portion of the Protestant Church, which sad- dened the heart of those who remembered the high hopes entertained by the reformers. The Huguenots, whom neither the cruel persecutions nor the fiery civil wars of the sixteenth century had been able to exterminate, after a brief period of partial toleration, had been vexed with restric- tions ever more and more stringent. At length the series of perfidious violations of solemn engagements had culmi- nated in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, by a formal 93 94 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. abrogation of all the rights of the members of the '' pre- tended reformed religion," as their faith was contemptuously designated by their oppressors. They were now bidden to conform to the established religion, and were not even al- lowed the poor alternative of voluntary expatriation. If several hundred thousand Protestants succeeded in reaching foreign lands, with little of their wealth, but with the in- dustry and skill that had enriched their native country, it was only by eluding the vigilance of the cordon of soldiers which encircled them, and guarded the frontiers. Their beloved pastors, whose pious counsels were so needful to sustain their faith, were driven into exile with the threat, not unfrequently put into execution, that their return to France would subject them to an ignominious and excruciat- ing death. Such continued to be the depressed condition of Protestantism till the very moment when the insane fury of the leaders of the revolution, in the first transports of successful reaction against priestly assumption and arro- gance, led them to attempt the subversion of all the forms and ordinances of religion. " It was not until the iron des- potism of Bonaparte reduced this chaos to order," writes Mr. Baird in a letter to the Boston Recorder (December 16, 1835), " that the Protestants knew what it was, in some good degree, to enjoy their rights. But where were they then ? Persecuted and trodden under foot for two hundred and fifty years, is.it wonderful that they did not exceed a million and a half in numbers, or that the light of the pure Gospel was flickering in the socket ? On the contrary, is it not amazing that it was not wholly extinguished ? Every effort had been made to detach the children of Protestants from the religion of their fathers. The avenues to honor and wealth, in almost all offices under the government, had been closed to them during 'the greater portion of these two centuries and a half. But during that same mournful period, the church of Christ in this land had the honor of INFIDELITY IN THE CHURCH. 95 furnishing more martyrs to the truth as it is in Jesus than all the rest of Christendom." " Even after the overthrow of the Empire, and the resto- ration of the Bourbons, the oppression of the Protestants was recommenced, and some eight or ten thousand of them were murdered in the riots excited against them in the south of France, by the fanaticism of the Catholics, during 1818, '19, and '20. And it was not until the occurrence of the late revolution of 1830 that this people, ' peeled and scat- tered,' and long trodden under foot, were reinstated in the full possession and enjoyment of their rights." But persecution and other causes had not been altogether favorable to the internal purity of the church. "A defec- tion from sound doctrine, and a consequent declension in vital piety, had begun to pervade the Protestant Churches on the continent, before the middle of the last century. In this lamentable departure from the truth and power of the Gospel, the Protestant Church of Prance shared tod largely. So destitute of piety was its ministry, when the revolution of 1789 began to send the surges of infidelity throughout the realm, that not a few of its members united with their Catholic brethren in embracing open infidelity ! Of those who did not apostatize, many preached nothing but moral lectures, in which the great doctrines of the Cross found no place. One of the oldest and best of the evangelical pastors now living, told the writer, a few months sinee, that when he entered the ministry he actually knew some minis- ters who had no Bible in their study, and whose chief au- thors were Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau ! He him- self was not a converted man until years after he had entered the pulpit. And so low was the state of evangel- ical religion, that in 1817 there were not known to be more than four or five clergymen who preached the doctrines of the Gospel fully." Such a declension was indeed deplorable ; but the gener- 9 6 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRB. ation that had passed since the Protestant Church had rfr ceived, through Napoleon's influence, ' official recognition, had witnessed a marvelous change. Many of the uncon- verted and worldly young men who had flocked into the ministry, in order to occupy the pastorates which the gov- ernment now undertook to support, had been succeeded by men of higher principle who assumed the sacred office with the intention of laboring earnestly for the salvation of men. The number of churche3 had also increased. The appro- priations made from the national treasury, in 1836, for the maintenance of religious worship during the succeeding year, contained the item of 890,000 francs, or $166,875, for the support of 366 pastors of the Reformed Church, and 230 of the Augsburg Confession (Lutheran) — that is to say, 596 Protestant pastors in all.* And besides the established Protestant churches, whose pastors were appointed, and, in part, salaried by the State, there were a few independent chapels, in which the Gospel was preached with great purity. It is interesting to see the advance of evangelical religion in the capital itself. Paris, in 1835, boasted of only three National Protestant Churches, as we learn from a letter of Mr. Baird, of January 13, 1836. Two of these were Re- formed — the Oratoire and the church of Ste. Marie, in the Rue du Temple. Five pastors preached in succession in these two edifices, and in a suburban church at the Batig- nolles. Until recently, all these clergymen had been op- posed to evangelical truth ; but within a few years, two of a more Scriptural faith had been appointed — Rev. Frederic Monod and Rev. M. Juillerat. Of the remaining three, one — the Rev. M. Coquerel, a man of great talents, very popular as a preacher, and the editor of the paper Le Libre * At the same time 34,076,600 francs, or $6,389,362, were appropriated to the support of 30,429 priests and dignitaries of the Roman Catholic church. PROTESTANTISM IN PARIS. g7 Exarnen — was considered a decided rationalist of the Ger- man school. Thus were the Protestants of Paris condemned to listen to erroneous teaching for three Sundays out of every five ; and much of the good that was done by the preaching of the evangelical teachers was liable to be coun- teracted by that of their heterodox colleagues. " With re- gard to the church of the Augsburg' Confession, or Luthe- ran, in the Rue des Billettes," writes Mr. Baird, " I am sorry to say that it is in a worse state than are the churches of the Reformed. There are three pastors attached to that church, none of whom are reckoned to be strictly evangel- ical. The number of Germans in this city is about fifteen thousand, of whom not more than two hundred, it is said, attend that church. It is to be feared that few of the others go to any place of Protestant worship." But besides these churches sustained by grants from the national treasury, there were five places in the great French metropolis in which there was evangelical preaching in the- vernacular, supported by the voluntary contributions of those who found their spiritual wants unsatisfied in the es- tablishment ; besides four English Protestant services for the benefit of visitors from Great Britain and America. Undoubtedly the most important of the independent French chapels was that in the Rue Taitbout, under the pastoral charge of Messrs. Grandpierre and Audebez, men of warm piety, and, as Mr. Baird tells us, among the very best preach- ers he had ever heard. Their labors had been blessed. Their congregation crowded the hall in which worship was held ; some of their hearers were very distinguished and influential persons, and a large number of the members of their church had been converted from Romanism within the past three or four years. In another part of the city, the religious instruction given to the elder pupils of a school,, had paved the way for a service to which the parents of the 1 children had been gradually attracted. Faithful and pru- 7 y8 LIFE OF BUY DB. BAIBD. dent efforts had been rewarded by the gathering of an au- dience weekly to hear the Gospel, composed of persons who were, or had lately been, with scarcely an exception, Roman Catholics. As evangelical Christianity began to revive in France, it evinced its vitality by the institution of a number of those benevolent agencies which Christian experience all over the globe has discovered to be indispensable at the pres- ent day to the efficient exertion of the energies of the Church. First, as might be anticipated, came a French Bible Society- — soon to be followed by another, the French and Foreign Bible Society, when it was found that the fatal mistake had been made of committing the management of the former to persons of high official position, but of little religious activity. Each of these had its numerous auxili- aries in the departments. Next a Tract Society was insti- tuted. Then, as the first instinct of a genuine piety invari- ably prompts him in whose bosom it is planted to a world- wide charity, a " Society of Evangelical Missions among non-Christian nations," was established at Paris in the year of 1823. " It is a fact , of much interest to Americans," says Mr. Baird, " that it owes its existence, under God, in a great degree to, American effort." The Rev. Jonas King, who had been for some years at Paris studying the Arabic under De Sacy. with the view of qualifying himself for a professorship in Amherst College to which he had been appointed, received a letter containing a powerful appeal from Mr. Fish to come to Palestine and supply the place left vacant by the death of the lamented Parsons. The mind of the young scholar had been already impressed with the importance of the missionary service, and the let- ter of his friend came to him as a message from heaven. Before starting on his mission, which was limited at first to three years, Mr. King succeeded in interesting the French, English and American Christians at Paris in his work, and FRENCH MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 99 in laying the foundation of this important missionary or- ganization, of which he became the first missionary. From this small beginning the French Missionary Society had grown until, in 1835, it had a missionary institute at Paris, a missionary station in Southern Africa, and an income of about $7,125. It may be of interest to add, that in 1863, the number of its missionaries was fourteen, with nine sta- tions and nearly fourteen hundred converts from among the heathen, and its receipts were not much less than five times as large as they had been twenty-eight years before. This circumstance may serve as a partial measure of the growth of effective Protestantism in France during the period in which Mr. Baird was more or less intimately connected with the work of advancing the revival of religion in that country. Of more recent origin was the Evangelical Society of Paris, with which Mr. Baird in his labors in France was destined to stand in much closer connection. " The- Evan- gelical Society of Paris," says Mr. Baird in another letter to the Boston Recorder, written from the French capital, April 4, 1836, " was formed about three years ago. The formation was suggested by the French Committee of New York, consisting of Messrs. Eleazar Lord, Arthur Tappan and S. V. S. Wilder, appointed at a public meeting in that city some four years ago, after the return of the Rev. John Proudfit from Europe. Other circumstances, besides the proposition of that little committee, concurred to lead the friends of Christ in France to form such a Society." Its objects were principally these : to employ pastors to min- ister to churches too poor to sustain them by their own efforts ; to support evangelists while building up new churches ; to assist in the erection of new church edifices, or in hiring suitable chapels ; to institute schools ; and to educate and send forth colporteurs to distribute the Bible and other religious works, and give instruction to the peo- ioo LIFE OF BEV. DR. BAIBD. pie in a familiar way. But the operations of this Society. like those of the other Protestant benevolent agencies in France, were still on. a very contracted scale. Instead of scores of colporteurs, " the Society," writes Mr. Bairdin 1836, " now employ six or seven of these laborers, who sell some thousands of copies of the Scriptures, tracts and books." Such were the principal native associations. Beside these, the Continental Society (since known as the Europ- ean Missionary Society), the Wesleyan Missionary Society of England, and the American Baptist Missionary Society, supported altogether some thirty-five or forty laborers in that country. The very efficient Evangelical Society of Geneva must also be mentioned, with its excellent Theo- logical Seminary, and its thirty evangelists and colpor- teurs in several of the eastern departments of the kingdom. Such was the position of evangelical Protestantism in France, and such the instrumentalities, native and foreign, already put into operation for the advancement of the Gos- pel there, at the time of Mr. Baird's arrival at Paris. His attention was naturally given, in the 'first place, to the con- sideration of the practicability of the diffusion of Protestant- ism in France by means of American labor and funds. He accordingly soon discovered that the present state of France was such, in consequence of the more liberal tone of the government since the revolution of July, 1830, that more open and direct attempts at reaching the Roman Catholic population would be tolerated, than were possible before the overthrow of the older branch of the Bourbons. No ■general scheme of resistance was to be expected. The oppo- sition would take the form of vexatious annoyances on the part of local authorities — the prefects of departments and the mayors of the communes — at the instigation of the clergy. And caution was to be observed chiefly in the avoidance of even the appearance of conflict with laws which, if in any way "susceptible of a hostile interpretation, MOW TO EVANGELIZE FRANCE. 101 would certainly be perverted, from their original intention, in order to throw hindrances in the way of evangelical labors. But ought the American Churches to attempt a separate organization, and employ their own missionaries in France, or ought they to become simple auxiliaries, leaving the choice of men and fields to the brethren upon the ground, and confining themselves to the task of furnishing the needful means ? This was a vital question, affecting the entire policy to be adopted. Mr. Baird examined it with becoming carefulness and deliberation, consulting freely the Christians upon whose judgment he could rely with the greatest confidence, and making himself familiar with their views and experience. And the opinion at which he ar- rived, and whose correctness he never had any occasion to doubt was, that foreign Churches could take a more effec- tive share in the evangelization of France by acting through existing organizations, than by attempting any separate operations. He believed that the native Christians of any country so highly civilized as France were in general much more likely to be intimately acquainted with the true spirit- ual necessities of the people, with the relative promise of dif- ferent portions of the field, and with the best methods to be adopted for accomplishing the objects aimed at, than a com- mittee or board at the distance of three thousand miles, and deriving all its impressions of the actual state of things from others. He was no less strongly persuaded that the cases in which a foreign clergyman or colporteur could labor as effectively as a native, perhaps himself a convert from the ranks of Romanism, were only exceptions to the general rule. A long course of years would not suffice to render an adult, if born abroad, so ready and exact in his command of the French language and pronunciation as to be acceptable to a French congregation. National jealousy might not be so serious an impediment in the way of an 102 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. American as in that of an Englishman ; yet the truth would meet with a cold reception when coming from a foreign apostle to those who prided themselves on belonging to a nation at once the most Christian, the most enlightened, and the most polite on the face of the globe. And apart from the consideration of language and nationality, it must be conceded that there is a tact manifested by the French, especially in dealing with their own countrymen, which a stranger to their manners, their traditions, and their modes of thought, cannot be supposed to possess. Much of Mr. Baird's time was necessarily occupied in making himself familiar with the destitution of the Gospel that prevailed around him, and in acquainting the commit- tee, under whose auspices he had gone out, with its extent and the best means for removing it. Besides this special work, he interested himself in procuring grants of books from the American Bible and Tract Societies, as they were required for distribution in Prance. In these departments of labor, however, his exertions were so multifarious that they can scarcely be described in this connection. The spiritual wants of the Americans sojourning at Paris, and more especially their deprivation of those opportunities of social intercourse of a religious character, to which many of them had been accustomed at home, appealed to the heart of Mr. Baird, and induced him to establish a regular gath- ering at his own house which was kept up during the entire stay at the Prench capital, from 1835 to 1842, the only in- terruption of importance that occurred being in 1839 and '40, whilst Mr. Baird was in America. Every Saturday evening a considerable number of Americans, -with some English persons, and occasionally a few of other nations, met in his parlor. An hour was spent in devotional exer- cises. Mr. Baird or some other clergyman conducted the services, which consisted of short prayers, singing and med- itations upon the Holy Scriptures. Some book of the New " SA TURD A T EVENING MEETINGS." 1 03 Testament— the Gospel of St. John, the Acts, or the Epistle to the Romans, for instance — was taken up, and a chapter in course furnished the theme of the evening. After some introductory words of an exegetical or practical char- acter, an opportunity was given to all present to ask ques- tions, or to make remarks tending to the elucidation of the passage, or to its personal improvement. The exercises were so regulated that, while nothing of an irregular or captious nature was permitted, the utmost freedom consist- ent with decorum and reverence prevailed. After the ter- mination of the religious services, the greater part of those present remained to spend another hour in pleasant conver- sation. It was the oft-repeated testimony of many that no incident in their foreign travel had more forcibly reminded them of home, and dispelled the feeling of loneliness which those especially must endure who are journeying alone, than their presence at these informal " Saturday Evening Meetings." And there were some that had come abroad without any decided religious impressions, who here, in the apartment of one to whom they had until lately been entire strangers, were first brought to a knowledge of the vital power of Christianity, and tvho blessed God for having put it into the heart of one of their own countrymen to establish such a meeting in one of the most worldly capitals of Europe. Mr. Baird's labors in behalf of his countrymen were not, however, confined to these social gatherings. Rev. Mark Wilks, an English clergyman who had come to France for benevolent purposes, had revived an English service which was originally instituted by Rev. Mr. Bruen in 1817, and had maintained it until Mr. Baird's arrival. " It was prob- ably," says Mr. Baird, " the first regular Evangelical service commenced in the English language. At that time (in 1819) it was almost impossible to find an evangelical French Christian. By patient continuance in well-doing, he has 104 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. seen a great change take place — a change which is, how- ever, only introductory, 1 hope, to a far greater and more glorious one." On account of the countenance which was given to this enterprise by some of the diplomatic repre- sentatives of the United States, it was known as " the ser- vice of the American Embassy." During the absence of Mr. Wilks in the summer of 1835, and, we believe, during some succeeding seasons, his place was supplied by Mr. Baird. More than two hundred and fifty persons, English and Americans, attended this service during the summer referred to, many of whom would otherwise have been for several months deprived of the opportunity of hearing the Gospel. During his first year's residence at Paris Mr. Baird wrote, for private circulation rather than for publication, as he states in the introduction, a " Memoir of the Rev. Joseph Sanford, A. M., Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia," an interesting biography which appeared in 1836. CHAPTER X. INTEREST PELT BY EEV. ME. BAIRD IN THE TEMPEEANCE RE- FOEM. HE WEITES A HISTOET OP TEMPEEANCE SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES, WHICH IS PUBLISHED IN FRENCH. UNDERTAKES A VISIT TO NORTHERN EUROPE IN BEHALF OF TEMPERANCE. LONDON. LETTER TO LORD BROUGHAM. HAMBURG. COPENHAGEN. 1836. THE great Temperance Reformation in the United States had elicited, from its very commencement, Mr. Baird's cordial approval and interest. In fact he had been, in a certain sense, as the reader has already seen, a pioneer in the movement ; for, long before total abstinence had been suggested, and while as yet he had not even heard the men- tion of temperance societies, the fearful effects of whisky drinking, as he witnessed them among his father's neigh- bors, had produced so thorough a conviction of the objec- tionable character of the practice, that he had renounced all forms of intoxicating liquors, and discountenanced their use by his friends and associates. It was therefore natural for him to watch with the most devout gratitude the gradual development of Christian public sentiment, as it slowly but surely came to the position that, in view of the flagrant abuses which even a moderate employment of ardent spirits as a beverage seemed to encourage, the only proper course, even for those who esteemed themselves too strong to be (105) 106 LIFE OF REV. DR. BA1RD. led astray, was to be found in entire renunciation of their use, in deference to the frailty of their weaker brethren. Mr. Baird had kept himself well informed in respect to the wonderful progress of the American Temperance Society and its affiliated organizations, from the foundation of the former, on the 13th of February, 1826, to the date of his departure for Europe, when such associations in the United State3 were to be counted by thousands, and their members by hundreds of thousands. He had not been long in Prance before he became convinced that a similar refor- mation was needed on the continent ; nor did any more feasible plan for the accomplishment of good in this direc- tion present itself, ( than was suggested by the lack of any sufficiently authentic account of the progress of temperance principles in America. Several esteemed friends urged him to supply this want. " You have already been informed," he writes to John Tappan, Esq., in a report dated Paris, Sept. 21, 1836, " that it was at the suggestion, and even re- quest, of the late Hon. Edward Livingston, who was the American Ambassador at this Court when I arrived in France (in March, 1835), as well as that of several excel- lent French gentlemen, that I undertook to prepare a work which should embrace a brief history of the Temperance Societies of the United States and other countries, together with as full a view of the principles of such societies and of the facts and arguments by which these principles are es- tablished, as could be included in a volume of moderate size. The wide diffusion of information respecting one of the most remarkable moral enterprises which the world has ever witnessed, by means of a language which is read by almost every well-educated man in Europe, was the motive which suggested the publication of this work. A minor but still important consideration, was the hope that such a work might be the means of awaking Prance to the evils of the increasing use of brandy and other intoxicating liquors HISTORY OF TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES. 107 in all the northern, and especially all the manufacturing cities and villages of the kingdom." With such objects in view, Mr. Baird prepared during the winter of 1835-6, and caused to be translated and pub- lished at Paris in an octavo volume of 263 pages, his work entitled " Histoire des Societes de Temperance des Etats Unis d'Amerique." This history was rendered far more valuable by incorporating in it, though without destroying its unity, the most important of the treatises and permanent documents accompanying the reports of the American Tem- perance Society. An edition of over two thousand copies was printed and distributed among the most influential men of Prance and other countries ; the expense being. defrayed by a grant obtained for the purpose from that society. Re- specting the results of the reading of this work in Prance. Switzerland and other portions of western and southern Purope, little need be said in this place, except that they were highly encouraging. Prom the island of Jersey, for instance, whither a few copies were sent, Mr. Baird writes that he received the most gratifying accounts of their having been already the means of doing much good. But the story of the reception of this work in northern Purope, and of the remarkable reformation which appeared to have been direct- ly traceable to its perusal, especially in the united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, will require considerable notice in the succeeding pages of this biography. The accounts of the fearful prevalence and rapid spread of drunkenness among the inhabitants of the Scandinavian peninsulas, and in Finland and Russia, determined him to make a visit to northern Purope during the summer months of the year 1836. Accordingly, near the end of April, leaving his family at Paris he started for London, where he spent a few weeks, chiefly in attendance upon the anniver- saries of the principal religious societies. Here he became acquainted with many of the best and some of the most in- 108 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. fluential men in the English capital. With the Rev. Dr; Reed, the Rev. and Hon. Baptist Noel, and other eminent clergymen, he had valuable conferences respecting the pro- gress of the truth in Europe. At the anniversary of the Con- gregational Union, he was received, as he informs us in one of his letters, as a delegate from France, and was requested to speak of the moral and religious condition of that coun- try. His visit was an eminently friendly and agreeable one ; and this, notwithstanding an attack to which he had been subjected in one of the professedly religious journals of London, in consequence of a defence of the course of Christians in the United States which he had published un- der the title of "A Letter to Lord Brougham on the subject of American Slavery. By an American." (London, 1836.) * One of his most pleasant interviews during this visit to London was with that> excellent man, the Duke of Sussex. When in that city for a. short time in the previous year, he had presented a letter of introduction to his royal high- ness from Mr. Van Buren, then Vice-President of the United States, and shortly after elevated to the presidential chair. But he had been unable to obtain an opportunity to con- verse with the duke, who was at that time suffering from a failure of his eyesight, for which he expected to shortly un- dergo a surgical operation. On the present occasion, Mr. Baird was more successful. The duke resided at Kensing- ton Palace, under whose roof the Duchess of Kent with her * The positions which Mr. Baird attempted to establish in this pamphlet of forty four pages were that, contrary to the belief expressed at the late Anniversary of the Anti-slavery Society, at which Lord Brougham pre- sided, " the people of the United States are neither now, nor ever have been, contented with the existence of slavery amongst them ; and that there is good reason to believe that the benevolent anticipations pf your lordship will be realized." The writer traced the history of the institu- tion of slavery, its progress and its abolition in the free states, and gave reasons for hoping that their example would soon be followed in the re- mainder of the Union. VISIT TO THE DVKE OF SUSSEX. 109 daughter, the Princess Victoria, still lived. While waiting to see him, Mr. Baird was permitted to look at the exten- sive grounds attached to the palace, and at the library of the duke, the most attractive portion of the building. It contained no less than forty thousand volumes, exclusive of manuscripts. "As it regards Bibles and other works re- lating to the Christian religion," writes Mr. Baird, " this library is one of the most interesting in the world. With the exception of one library on the continent (that of the King of Wurtemburg, I believe), the library of the Duke of Sussex contains the greatest collection of the sacred Scriptures, in all languages, which is to be found in the world. Here are eighteen hundred versions and editions, in all the languages in which any portions of the Scriptures have been printed, including a copy of the first book ever printed with movable types. Then there is a perfect col- lection of lexicons, Rabbinical writings, ecclesiastical his- tories, commentaries, etc." The duke himself, he found to be very cordial and affable. "He entered at once into the most animated conversation respecting my country, the objects for which I have visited Europe, etc. He stated that he had always felt a very deep interest in the United States, adding that if two brothers should have a quarrel, it was no sufficient reason that their children should continue the animosity." Of the more private remarks of the Duke of Sussex, Mr. Baird was silent in his correspondence ; having laid down for himself as a rule from which he never deviated, to commit no statements to writing which, however interest- ing they might be, could in any way be unpleasant to those by whom he was admitted to such unreserved conversa- tion. On the 17th of May, he left London on the Columbine, " the worst of the four Hamburg steamers." In consequence of the roughness of the passage, his first experience of the North Sea was far from agreeable. While confined to the no LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRB. cabin by indisposition, his ears were shocked, as on many other occasions, by the fearful profanity of a portion of his fellow travelers, English merchants on their way to the German fairs. " Eeally," he notes, " it is no wonder that the French, and even far-distant heathen nations (as Gobat assures us is the case in Abyssinia), have given them a cog- nomen derived from their favorite form of imprecation. And so common is it, in Prance, to apply that epithet to them, and to the Americans (to whom as a nation it is quite as appropriate as to the English), that children and servants use it without having, in many cases, the slightest idea of its meaning." Passing by the island of Heligoland — a barren rock in the North Sea, and opposite the mouth of the Elbe — a spot chiefly noted for its naval importance to the British during the wars of Napoleon, and for the facilities its po- sition affords for smuggling English fabrics into Germany, the steamer reached in a couple of days, the entrance of the river. The ascent to Hamburg, a distance of eighty miles, was effected by day, and for hours the travellers watched the low banks of the Elbe, with, its numerous islands, often dividing the stream into several wide but shallow channels. There were few important towns or cities to be seen except in the immediate vicinity of Hamburg. Then came into view the rural retreat of Blankenese, and Altona, the last town of the Danish territory, and appearing on the river's bank to form but one city with Hamburg. Happily for the success of his labors in behalf of the mission for which he had visited northern Europe, Mr. Baird was provided with letters of introduction to some of the most influential gentlemen of Hamburg by Mr. Rumpff, diplomatic representative of the Hanseatic cities at Paris. Soon after installing himself in the hotel " Stadt Peters- bourg," he called upon Mr. Doorman, by whom he was kindly invited to drive with him to his country seat, where 8 YNDIO SIE VEKING. \ 1 1 he was introduced to Mrs. D., a sister of Mrs. Bumpff, and a daughter of the late Mr. John Jacob Astor. On the first Sunday after his arrival, he preached in one of the English chapels. On subsequent days, he made the acquaintance of Mr. Sieveking, one of the syndics of the city, living in the suburb of Ham, and of the Baron Von Voght, living in the country, at the distance of three or four miles from Hamburg. This venerable man, who died not many months later, and before Mr. B.'s second northern tour, had been in his youth the intimate friend and warm admirer cf the great national poet of Germany, Klopstock, as well as of the philosopher Schelling. Prom his own lips Mr. Baird obtained some interesting facts in relation to his history. " He was the son of a wealthy merchant of Hamburg, who gave him a good education, and sent him forth at an early age to travel throughout Europe, and acquire the improve- ment which nothing but this mode of instruction can give. Among the countries which he visited was Prance, where he was received very kindly at the court of Louis XV., and had the honor of being invited to the table of the monarch. On that occasion, as he related to us, his attention was arrested by the remarkable face of a gentle- man dressed in a plain suit of green, who sat opposite to him at the table, and who he learned, upon inquiry, was no other than our illustrious Pranklin, who was at that time in Paris, as the commercial agent of the Colonies, and was even then the object of no little attention, in conse- quence of the celebrity which his philosophical investiga- tions had given him." To these and other gentlemen of influence, Mr. Baird unfolded the nature of the object for which he had under- taken his present journey. By all, his efforts were highly appreciated. " I find," he writes, " that the object of my visit excites much interest here. Nothing whatever has hitherto been done for the Temperance cause in Hamburg." 112 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. " I found no Temperance Society in existence at Hamburg," he elsewhere tells us, " though there is much need of one ; a large quantity of ardent spirits being consumed by the laboring classes of society. I conversed with many persons on the subject, and found several desirous of doing some- thing. A few pious young men were resolved to attempt to form a society among themselves. As I had letters to several men of distinction in that city, I found all the faci- lities requisite for learning the state of things there, and also for distributing judiciously several copies of the His- tory of Temperance Societies, and for making arrangements for the distribution of many more of the German edition when it shall have been printed." A short stay at Hamburg sufficed to accomplish all that Mr. Baird found could be done by him in the promotion of the cause of Temperance. Avoiding the shorter but more tedious route to Copenhagen, he took the " diligence" through Altona, and over the level but fertile neck of the Danish peninsula to Kiel. In this part of his journey, he remarks that he was struck, as he rode through the belt of well-cultivated fields, with the aspect of loneliness and of a sparse population, not confirmed by statistics. This delusive appearance was owing in great measure to the circumstance that the cultivators of the soil, instead of living on their farms as with us, were gathered together in towns and villages, being frequently compelled to walk several miles to reach the scene of their daily toil. This singular custom, prevailing likewise in France and other countries of the eastern continent, evidently had its origin in those days of lawless violence, when the timid serfs were wont to cling to the feudal castle, as to a central point for mutual protection against organized robbery and rapine. Prom Kiel the sail was delightful among the islands of the Danish archipelago, and through the Great Belt and the Sound. At length; on rounding the point of the island of INTER VIEW WITH KING OF D1WMARK. . 113 Amager, the city of Copenhagen itself burst upon the view, appearing to rise from the bosom of the sea. The week which Mr. Baird spent in the Danish capital gave him an opportunity to open the way for the introduc- tion of the subject of Temperance to the notice of the most influential men in the kingdom. He found that little or nothing had hitherto been attempted in this direction, although drunkenness prevailed to a lamentable degree, especially among the lower classes. He therefore caused a number of copies of his book on this subject to be distributed among those benevolent individuals who it might be hoped would give countenance to the effort. A copy was also pre- sented in his name, through the American Charge dAffaires, to the king. His majesty received the gift with many thanks, and promised to read it with attention. This circumstance led to an invitation to an interview with the King of Den- mark, in which Mr. Baird endeavored to produce an im- pression favorable to the cause for which he was laboring. Whatever time he could spare during his stay was given to the museums and other important buildings of the city, as well as of its environs. He was particularly interested in the great Royal Museum of Arts, and that of Northern Antiquities, excelling all others in the completeness of the series of Scandinavian remains which it possesses. " It is admirably arranged," says Mr. B., " and is kept in the finest condition, through the efforts of Professor Thomsen. Beginning with the earliest times, before the use of iron was known, you advance, in examining this collection, through the antiquities of the succeeding ages. The num- ber of specimens amounts to many thousands. Bunic re- mains form an interesting portion of this museum." The libraries and galleries of paintings were likewise explored with pleasure ; and Mr. Baird familiarized himself with the scenes of the two great attacks upon Copenhagen by the English, in 1801, under command of Lord Nelson, and six 8 1 1 4 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. years later under Lords Gambier and Cathcart. Among the objects of minor importance that attracted his notice, was the very singular monument erected in one of the pub- lic squares to signalize the popular execration, and which, for little less then two centuries, had been retained in the very midst of the haunts of trade-. On the rough sides of a granite base, surmounted by an equally rude obelisk, he found the unenviable inscription rudely chiseled : Til aevig Spott, Skam og Skjendsel Forraaderen Cor. Ulfeld — To the everlasting contempt, shame, and reprobation of the traitor, Corfitz Ulfeld. It was a fearful immortality, or infamy, to attain, and probably the only instance in modern times of an imitation of that ancient Athenian practice, in accordance with which a tablet was set up on the site of the razed house of an enemy to his native country, with the words : " Antiphon the Traitor." Mr. Baird had expected to make Copenhagen the fur- thest point in his tour, and thence to return by Berlin to Paris. But, in the providence of God, he was induced to alter his plan so as to extend his journey to Stockholm. He found that this could be accomplished with little loss of time, and he was so strongly urged to visit Sweden, that he determined to comply with the request. So insignificant are often in the eyes of men the occasions of actions whose results are as lasting as eternity. CHAPTER XL FROM COPENHAGEN TO GOTTENBURG. THE GOTHA CANAL. STOCKHOLM. KING CHARLES XIV. (bERNADOTTB). THE CROWN PRINCE OSCAR. PRESENTATION OP MR. BAIRD TO THE KING. HE IS RECEIVED WITH REMARKABLE FAVOR. THE KING PROPOSES TO PUBLISH MR. BAIRD's HISTORY OF TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES IN SWEDISH AT HIS OWN EXPENSE. HE PRESENTS A GOLD MEDAL TO MR. BAIRD AS A BENEFAC- TOR OF SWEDEN. COMMENCEMENT AT UPSALA. 1836. ON the 3d of June, Mr. Baird left Copenhagen on the royal Norwegian steamer Prinds Carl for the city of Gottenburg, in Sweden. The Cattegat Sound, through which the ship made its way. was in most places so wide that but one coast, and that the Swedish, was visible. But at Elsineur, some twenty-five miles north of Copenhagen, the channel was not more than three miles broad, and the vessel passed near the too famous fort of Kronberg. Built in 1567, when Denmark held possession of the three southern provinces of. Sweden, it was supposed, in conjunc- tion with its sister fortification on the opposite coast, to command the passage. But the successful attempt of the British fleets in 1801 and 1807 to run the batteries "satis- fied the world that there is nothing to be dreaded even from such a fortress, when the channel is so wide, and that, with a good wind, the danger of passing is very trifling." Passing this ill-omened fort, in which the unfortunate mo'her of the reigning king of Denmark — a daughter of (115) 1 1 6 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. George the Third of England — had spent long years of im- prisonment on a charge of complicity with the noted Struen- see, and leaving on the left hand the mythical site of the garden of Hamlet, the steamer brought our traveler, in the course of a few hours, to Gottenburg, on a high, bleak and rock-bound shore, presenting a very striking contrast with the low plains of Germany and Denmark. " The islands and the coast, as far as the eye can reach, appear to be nothing but pure masses of granite of a dark gray color. Not a tree, and scarcely a shrub, is to be seen on them." The very city of Gottenburg is built in part on the side and at the base of these forbidding hills, whose jagged points are to be seen in places interrupting the continuity of the town. At this stage in his journey he was kindly received by Mr. Commerce-Rad Olaf Wyk, a member of the Swedish Diet, to whom he bore letters of introduction, and beneath whose roof he met, among others, Bishop Wingard, the worthy prelate of Gottenburg, who, when Mr. Baird next visited Sweden, had been elevated to the archbishopric of Stockholm, and the primacy of the kingdom, and resided at Upsala. After a brief stay in this important town, Mr. Baird em- barked for the capital on the small steamboat Daniel. Thvrn- berg, preferring the trip through the great Gotha canal to the more expeditious route by post. This enabled him to se^ some very striking natural scenery, and to follow through its entire length the remarkable work of art which has sup- plied the links to complete the connection between Stock- holm and the ocean, formed by a succession of rivers and lakes. The small vessel, named after one of the projectors and early superintendents of this work, and adapted to the narrow waters through which it was intended to pass, slow- ly made the ascent of the Gotha river. " The scenery along the banks is exceedingly varied, picturesque, and beautiful. The hills on either side are high, irregular in their shape, FALLS OF TROLLHATTA. 117 and exhibiting all possible variety of outline on the deep azure of the sky. They are almost wholly masses of gray rocks, covered with a thin verdure of spruce and birch. They presented, indeed, an aspect of barrenness, but it was much softened by the numerous valleys and glens which are interspersed among them." About thirty-five miles above Gottenburg, the little vil- lage of Edet was reached, where the first falls presented themselves to view. By far the most striking object to be seen on the journey, however, was the great falls of Troll- hatta. Improving the time while the small steamer was elevated by a series of locks to the level of the waters above, a height of more than one hundred feet from the surging river below, the travelers clambered over rocks to reach the points from which the most striking views could be ob- tained. " To describe them adequately," writes Mr. Baird, " would require an abler pen than mine. Indeed it is im- possible for any pen to describe them adequately. I was prepared to see much at these falls, which are, perhaps, the most remarkable in Europe ; but I confess that all my ex- pectations were far below the reality. We spent hours looking at them, and my only regret was that I could not spend days." Entering the small steamboat once more, a short distance above the falls, Mr. Baifd and his fellow travelers soon found themselves at the spot where the river issues from lake Wener. To traverse this noble sheet of water, which derives great beauty from the multitude of islands that stud its bosom, required eleven or twelve hours ; for, next to Ladoga, it is said to be the largest lake in Europe. A second artificial channel was next followed, connecting lake Wener to its sister lake Wetter, over the high table-land that intervenes. " The people, like the rustic population of all parts of Sweden which we have seen, seemed to be a light-hearted, plain, frugal, hard-working folk. Many of 1 1 8 LIFE OF REV. DR BAIBD. the women and children, as we passed along, came to the locks, with baskets of strawberries, and other fruits of the season, which they sold to the passengers." From lake Wetter, by a third 'canal, the Baltic was reached at a point fifty miles south of Stockholm. On reaching Stockholm, he presented the letters of intro- duction which had been furnished to him to persons of in- fluence in that city, to several of whom he gave copies of his work on the history of Temperance Societies in America. Nor did a full acquaintance with the condition of the people fail to convince him that his visit was most op- portune. It had not escaped the attention of intelligent men throughout Sweden, that a disastrous change had been gradually stealing over the entire population. The Swedes, who in time of the great Gustavus Adolphus, and even in that of Charles the Twelfth, had been accounted one of the most sober nations in Europe, had within a remarkably brief period become the slaves of intemperance. The laws placing no obstructions in the' way of the manufacture of ardent spirits, it was now so extensively practised that the number of distilleries in Sweden, with its population of scarcely more than three millions of inhabitants, was said to have reached the almost incredible total of one hundred and sixty thousand ! " Indeed," writes Mr. Baird, " in many parts of the country, almost every farmer has an apparatus more or less extensive for the manufacture of this dreadful poison. Vast numbers of these distilleries are on a very small scale, intended chiefly to distill the potatoes which are grown on the farm ; while in many cases they are on a far greater scale and manufacture large quantities. It also appears, from the statistics published by Colonel Porsell, that about forty millions of gallons of this whisky are an- nually consumed in Sweden, by a population of a little more than three millions !" " It is obvious that this country will be ruined if thi8 INTEMPERANCE IN S WEDEN. 1 1 9 dreadful evil be not arrested. Should it continue as it has for the last twenty years, augmenting at a fearful pace, the Swedish nation, distinguished for hardiness, courage, activ- ity, energy, amiableness, morality and other excellent traits of character, must descend from the proud eminence which it has occupied — the days of its glory being numbered. No Gustavus Vasa or Gustavus AdolphUs will hereafter astonish the world by the feats of valor of Swedish armies, if the physical energies of the nation continue to be thus undermined." It is true that some efforts had been made to check the growth of the monster that threatened to de- stroy the national life. But the societies formed on the principle of partial abstinence had signally failed, and al- though some good had undoubtedly been effected through their instrumentality, they had fallen into general contempt and become virtually extinct. Happily, the work written by Mr. Baird and placed in the hands of educated and reflecting men, in a language which they could understand, reaching Sweden just at the moment when the evils which it was intended to combat had assumed such threatening dimensions, touched a chord whose vibrations thrilled the entire kingdom, and, under God, was blessed to be the instrument of a reform which, for its extent, rapidity and depth, has perhaps been rarely equaled in our days. Among the friends of the Temper, ance movement whom the good providence of God raised up from among the powerful, to the King, the Crown Prince and the Count Augustus von Hartmansdorff must undoubtedly be assigned the first rank. But of the active workers, to whom in no small degree its success is attrib- utable, the Rev. George Scott of the Wesleyan Methodist Church deserves the most honorable mention. Charles John— formerly known as Bonaparte's intrepid general, Bernadotte — whom it was his fortune to see on several occasions, and to become well acquainted with in 1 20 > LIFE OF REV BR. BAIRD. the course of a number of private interviews to which he was admitted, was ever admired and highly respected by- Mr. Baird. While not denying that the old king might not always have adopted the most judicious course in his conduct towards the friends of progress in Sweden, he be. lieved that Bernadotte had endeavored to do his duty, and had been the occasion of incalculable advantage to his adopted country. In his work on Northern Europe, written a few years later, Mr. Baird says of Bernadotte. : " It has happened to us to see this distinguished man several times ; and though he is now not far from eighty years of age, and is truly the Nestor of kings, yet he walks with much elas- ticity of movement, and seems in fact to be a man of scarcely more than fifty years. He is tall and erect ; his air and carriage are exceedingly dignified, and he looks like a man who was born to command." Of his relations to Napoleon and "the motives that influenced him in his course with ref- erence to that wonderful man, he writes : " There are many persons who believe that Bernadotte owes all his greatness to Bonaparte. He was a republican general of considerable distinction before Bonaparte had attained to any high com- mand. But he was a very different man from Napoleon. He was guided less by ambition than by the disposition to do his duty to his country. He was a republican, and a sincere one, we have reason to believe. He was opposed to Napoleon's overturning the Directory and destroying the Bepublic ; and, if he could have had his way, it is probable that he might have prevented that act. But when it was done, and Bernadotte saw that the French nation submitted to it, he considered resistance as vain. Through the per- suasion of Joseph Bonaparte, who is his brother-in-law, he became reconciled with Napoleon, and agreed to serve under him. This he did with great distinction for ten years. That he was always hated and feared by Napoleon, there is every reason to believe. What made him King of Sweden, so far BERNADOTTE. 121 as relates to secondary causes, was his humane and noble treatment of the two thousand Swedes whom he made prison- ers when he compelled Blucher to surrender with his army of thirty thousand men, in the neighborhood of Liibeck, in the month of November, 1806. These men, upon their return, to Sweden, filled the country with his praise. And it was this that turned the eyes of the Diet upon him when they had to select a Crown Prince, upon the sudden death of Prince Christian Augustus of Holstein, who had been chosen for that high station. " That Bernadotte has been a blessing to Sweden is certain. He has ruled well, considering the many difficul- ties which have surrounded his path. It has been unfortu- nate for him that he has not known the Swedish language. He has therefore been obliged to learn everything through interpreters. This is not only inconvenient, but absolutely dangerous. Still he has done well. The country never was in a more flourishing state than at present. The na- tional debt has been extinguished, and the people are pre- paring gradually for extensive ameliorations. " That there are many men in Sweden who think that the king has been too much opposed to the reform which they suppose the state of the country demands, is quite probable. But it is also probable that the opposition party, however honest they may be, may expect too much from their good old monarch. It belongs naturally to old men to be cau- tious, and even timid, according to the opinions of the young and ardent. But the Swedes ought to remember, that if their venerable sovereign in his old age is averse to approv- ing measures which he deems to be inexpedient, at least at this time, they ought to bear with him in consideration of the services which he has rendered to the country during a long and critical period." The only account that Mr. Baird has left of his interest- ing and important interview with Bernadotte, we find in a 122 LIFE OF BEV. LB. BAIBD. sketch, evidently written con amore, which was published a few months' after the king's death : * "It was in the month of June, 1836, that the author of this article first saw the good old king. The occasion was the kind invitation of his majesty to a special audience, a few days after his arrival at the Swedish capital, in relation to the Temperance cause. Upon reaching Stockholm, he had sent to bis majesty, by the hands of our most attentive and courteous charge" d'affaires, Christopher Hughes, Esq., then the diplomatic representative of the United States at that city, but now performing the same functions at the Hague, a copy in the French language of the history of the temperance societies, which he had a few months before written and published at Paris, at the request of the late Edward Livingston, accompanied by a brief and respectful note. In the course of two or three days a message was received from the king inviting him, as well as a friend from the city of Philadelphia, who was at that time visiting the north of Europe, to what is called a private and special audience. The hour appointed for our reception was ten o'clock in the evening. " At that season of the year, it may be said that night is scarcely known at Stockholm and other cities in Europe equally far north. The sun indeed descends below the horizon ; but so great is the twilight in these northern re- gions, that there is no more darkness, even at midnight, than with us in the same month at an hour after sunset. " A broad gray light, sufficient to enable one to read with ease, even in the parlor and the retired chamber, spread over the city. The crowds were fast disappearing from the great thoroughfares and promenades, and the remaining portions of the town and surrounding country were fast * Life and Character of the Late King of Sweden, by Robert Baird, D. D., in " Graham's Magazine" for November, 1844. INTERVIEW WITH BERN ADO TTE. 123 assuming that solemn aspect which midnight gives to the scene. " Stockholm is by far the most picturesque and beautiful city in Scandinavia. It has often been called the Venice of the North, but not with much propriety. The central portions stand on six or seven islands which lie in the outlet of Lake Maelar, just where it falls into the great estuary, abounding witli islets, which puts up from the Baltic. On the western side of a central island, which rises to an eleva- tion of at least fifty feet, stands the royal palace. It is one of the most imposing in size, structure and situation, of all the edifices of the sort in Europe. " At the hour appointed we rode to the palace. Ascend- ing to its western entrance, we passed through a company of royal guards sitting quietly on their noble horses. In an instant we found ourselves at the foot of the great stair- way that leads up to the apartments of the king, which were in the north side of the palace. Mounting up three im- mense flights of stone steps, and passing by another com- pany of guards, whose duty it is to defend the immediate approach to the royal abode, we entered a vast ante- chamber. Here we were met by one of the aids of the king and conducted through a long and splendid hall, or salon rather, whose walls were adorned with some admirable paintings, and where are found some exquisite statues chiseled from the purest marble of Carrara. From its fur- ther end we were ushered into the throne-room, where we found his majesty waiting to receive us. He had just been holding an audience with some of the foreign ambassadors. " Dressed somewhat after the manner of a general of the highest rank, wearing on the breast of his closely-buttoned coat the various insignia of the four or five orders of the kingdom, as well as those of other countries which have been conferred upon him, he received us with the dignity which characterizes the manners of a gallant and veteran 124 LIFE OF- REV. DR. BAIRD. general, and the grace and suavity of an accomplished prince. Entering at once upon the subject which occasioned the interview, he returned his thanks for the history of the temperance societies, said he had read it through with great interest, and that ' if we would permit it'— to use his own polite and kind language — ' he would have the volume trans- lated into Swedish, published at his own expense, and cir- culated throughout the kingdom.' In reply, he was assured that nothing could give greater satisfaction to the friends of the temperance cause in America than to hear that his majesty had adopted such a resolution. A conversation then ensued in which the king spoke in a manner every way worthy of an enlightened and excellent ruler, of the evils of intemperance, deplored their prevalence in Sweden ; and while he expressed his fears that these evils were too widespread and inveterate to admit of remedy, yet he avowed his readiness to encourage any measure which ex- perience had demonstrated to be useful in other countries in effecting their diminution or extermination. "After having spoken at length on the subject of tempe- rance societies, and of the good which they had accom- plished in the United States, his majesty took occasion to express himself in the kindest manner respecting our coun- try ; said he had been, familiar, from his earliest years, with its history, and that he had followed, with the deepest in- terest, the rapid and most astonishing progress of its pros- perity. ' The world,' said he, ' has never seen anything like it. It is wonderful, truly wonderful. I see,' he con- tinued, with a smile, ' that you have a surplus revenue* and are really at a loss to know what to do with it. If you will send some millions of dollars to the Old World, I will engage to find some countries which will be most happy to relieve you from the embarrassment which it seems at * This interview, the reader will keep in mind, was in the summer of 1836. INTER VIE W WITH BERN AD TTE. 1 2 5 this moment to give you.' He was told that there was every reason to believe that the embarrassment to which he had alluded would not be of long continuance, and that without doubt our Government would soon find some way of reducing the revenue to the standard of its wants, if not below it. 'But let me say one thing,' replied the venerable old king, ' let me say one thing— you must keep united. For whatever be the evils which you may experi- ence whilst united, they are nothing in comparison with those which will flow from division. For, if you become divided, then will you inevitably have civil war— the worst of all wars. And if that should happen,' said he, in a slow and decided manner, and with a tone that indicated deep feeling, ' if that should happen, perhaps another Napoleon will be raised up to be another curse to humanity.' This is language whose import it is not possible to mistake, and it ought to be pondered well by those among us, whether in the North or the South, who talk so lightly about the separation of these States, so happily and so long united.* And what an opinion does this remark convey of the ' modern Alexander,' uttered by one who knew him well, and spoken not in the irritation and excitement of personal disappointment, but after more than a quarter of a century had passed away since any collision between them had oc- curred, and in the calm and reflection of old age. " In the course of this interview, his majesty inquired whether we had become acquainted with General Lalle- mand, who came to the United States after the downfall of * Elsewhere Mr. Baird wrote, in allusion to the same topic, disunion : " There is too much said about division, for this cause and for that, as if division were practicable without blood. No ; the man who even dares to whisper the proposition to divide these States and rend to pieces our happy- Union, should be at once arraigned as a traitor, and brought to condign punishment. On this subject there ought to be but one sentiment through- out all our land." 1 26 LIFE OF BEY. DR. BAIRD. Napoleon. "We replied that we had not ; that we knew him only by reputation ; that he had married a niece of Mr. Girard, one of our wealthiest citizens, and shortly afterward died, and that his wife (who had married a second time) and daughter are now living in the city of Paris. The king said that he had heard of the death of General Lallemand, and remarked that he had known him well, and also his brother, a member of the Chamber of Peers in Prance, for both had been generals under his command when he was a French marshal. He then related the following interesting anecdote respecting one of these Lallemands : ' In the battle of ' (the name is not distinctly remembered) ' at a most critical moment I gave orders to my division to advance to the charge. Just at that instant a musket-ball struck me in the neck. Peeling the sharp and cutting pain, I applied my hand to ascertain what was the matter ; and finding that I was wounded, I pressed my pocket hand- kerchief between my neek and the stock to stop the blood. The soldiers and officers around, seeing this, came to a halt, fearing lest I was seriously wounded. When I recovered myself, and had time to look about, I perceived that the line was getting into confusion by the falling back of the' party immediately about me. Seeing General Lallemand near me, I said to him, " Lallemand, why are the men halt- ing ? there is no time to lose here, it is nothing (meaning the wound is nothing), death itself is nothing ; glory and the country are everything, and let the men advance to the charge." This they did, and left me behind till the surgeon could dress my wound. This happened,' said ihe king, ' when I was in the service of the emperor. In the fall of 1813, after the battle of Leipsic, whilst the allies pursued Napoleon towards Prance, I led my army against Denmark, and on my way marched to Lubeck, which I had captured in 1806 from the Prussians, as a French marshal, and now I had to capture it from the French, as Crown Prince of INTERVIEW WITH BERNADOTTE. 127 Sweden, having the same two thousand Swedes under my command whom I had taken prisoners there several years before. To my surprise, I found my old friend and fellow- officer, Lallemand, with fourteen thousand men, holding that important place for the emperor, and I summoned him to surrender ; but he sent me back word that he had, years ago, learned, under an old general, " that death was nothing ; that glory and the country were everything," and that he would not surrender. The next day, however, he sent me an officer to say that he knew he could not hold the place long, and that if I would allow his officers and men to march out of the place with their arms, he would surrender Liibeck, and retire toward France. And I told him he might do it. So I obtained possession of Liibeck, that time, without the loss, on either side, of one man. And I value this achievement more than any victory which I ever won ; for I never wished to cause one human being to lose his life if I could possibly prevent it.' " Who can refrain from admiring the humanity of this simple and noble remark, made by one of the greatest com- manders of his age ? What a contrast between such senti- ments and those which we often hear expressed by some among us who would be considered brave men, and who re- gard the life of a human being as little better than that of a beast ! And how excellent must have been the heart of that great general, whom a hundred battles, and more than thirty years spent in wars, could not harden ! Would to God that all military men possessed a similar spirit ! " The interview lasted about an hour. The conversation was of the most interesting character, and related to various subjects, suggested by the then state of things in the old and the New World. Like all other audiences, special and public, at which it has been our lot to be present, the con- versation was of the most familiar and easy nature, and altogether like that of three or four gentlemen standing in 128 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. a little group in the middle of the room. There was no officer or other attendant present. As is the custom in snch interviews, the king took the lead jn the conversation; and of course spoke of such subjects as were deemed by him to be most proper for the occasion. At the close of the inter- view, he expressed much gratification at having seen us, and regretted that our stay was likely to be so short in Stockholm. "As we retired from the palace, we found the streets deserted, save by a sentinel posted here and there to guard the slumbering inhabitants. A deep silence reigned every- where ; and yet it was not night ! We made our way to our hotel with a sort of awe, for we seemed to be passing through a deserted city, or rather through one whose in- habitants were all dead, with here and there a solitary exception. But solemn as was this, to us, most unusual scene, it could not efface from our minds the very favorable impression which the appearance, the manners, and the con- versation of the excellent old Bernadotte had made upon them." Mr. Baird had, very soon after his arrival, sent a copy of' his work on Temperance Societies to the Crown Prince Oscar. This circumstance led, in a very unexpected man- ner, to an invitation to a private audience, at which the Princess Royal was also present. The conversation, he tells us in one of his familiar letters, turned almost entirely on the subject of Temperance, in which both the Prince and his wife (a daughter of Eugene Beauharnais, and grand- daughter of the Empress Josephine) expressed the liveliest interest. " The Prince stated that he was ready to do any- thing which he could to advance it. He said that he had, as commander-in-chief of the army, witnessed the baneful effects of ardent spirits in that branch of the public service ;, that he had for several years abandoned the use of them ; and that he did not allow them to come upon his table for RECEIVES A MEDAL A8 BENEFACTOR. 129 the use of others." It was natural that one who had arrived at such just conclusions from the result of his own observa- tion, should welcome the effort which it was Mr. Baird's desire to see inaugurated in Sweden. Accordingly, he placed himself at the head of the movement, and, as patron of the National Temperance Society soon after instituted, his influence was powerful for good. For Mr. Baird him- self he cherished to the close of his life the most kindly feelings. To the American Minister, Mr. Hughes, Bernadotte ex- pressed his intention of giving to Mr. Baird a mark of his high appreciation of the Christian philanthropy that had induced him to come so far from his native land, in order to contribute to the moral amelioration of the inhabitants of Northern Europe. Accordingly, before his departure, a' large gold medal was presented to him on the part of his majesty, such as is from time to time given to those who have distinguished themselves by special philanthropic ef- fort, and confers upon them admission into the rank of pub- lic benefactors. On one side this medal bears the portrait of the king with the words " Caeolus xiv. Johannes Rex Steciae et Norvegiae ;" and on the reverse, surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves, the legend " Illis quorum meruere labores," — To those whose labors have diservedit. His efforts were not, however, restricted to these impor- tant interviews. " I did not fail," he writes, " to employ every occasion of giving all the information which I could to the many persons with whom I became acquainted, in regard to this important subject ; and I trust that, with God's blessing, all will not be in vain." The twenty-five copies of his work sent to prominent persons in Norway, and the one hundred and twenty distributed in a similar manner in Sweden, were not without their fruit. Of this he received abundant testimony soon after his return to Paris. 9 130 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. During Mr. Baird's stay at Stockholm, he had an oppor- tunity to make an excursion to the famous University of Upsala, and to witness the triennial Promotion of the can- didates for honors in the faculty of Philosophy, which cor- responds in part to the annual Commencements of our col- leges and universities. Upon the graduates of the Theo- logical, Medical and Legal Schools', the customary degrees are privately conferred by their respective professors ; but those of the Philosophical School are, at the close of every third year, advanced to the title of master of arts in the presence of a large concourse of people. As he could not avail himself of the steamboat which ran up to Upsala on the previous day, nor of the " diligence," that started too late in the morning to enable him to reach the scene of the literary exercises in time, he was forced to resort to posting in true Swedish fashion, in a rough, springless vehicle, not unlike an ordinary cart. Starting at ten o'clock in the evening, with the western sky still lighted up by the sun that had set an hour before, at half-past twelve he reached the first station. " At eight in the morning," he writes, " I was at Upsala, having made the journey chiefly in the night, if night it may be called, during which I could read with the utmost ease, though there was no moon, nor more than one or two stars to be seen. The illumination which the setting sun had made in the north-west gradually moved around to the north, where it was at midnight ; and-then it advanced to the north-east, where it remained increasing in splendor until the sun rose at three o'clock." The hotels being full to overflowing with guests, Mr. Baird called upon Professor Geijer, the distinguished his- torian of Sweden, to whom he presented a letter of intro- duction. He was most cordially received, and accompanied the professor to a public breakfast given by himself at the "orangery" in' the botanical gardens of the celebrated Linnseus. Here were gathered not only the professors, but COMMENCEMENT AT UPSALA. I3 j the students who were that day to receive their degrees, and a large number of the most prominent gentlemen of the kingdom. " I was received," he writes, " with great kind- ness by many persons of distinction, among whom was the Archbishop of Sweden." A few spare moments enabled him to look at the house and grounds where the father of botanical science lived, labored and died ; and he mentions, in particular, that he saw the daughter and only surviving child of Linnasus, herself then at a very advanced age. From the breakfast the company marched in procession to the great cathedral of Upsala, a noble shrine, the most worthy of being seen in all Sweden, and under whose Gothic arches are interred some of the most celebrated men of that land — Gustavus Wasa and Linnaeus among the number. After a musical prelude, the promoter, who on this occasion was Professor Geijer, delivered an address in the Latin language, and proceeded next to confer upon the candidates the doctorate of philosophy, equivalent to the degree of master of arts in England. The formalities were striking. " Each one of the ninety young men who graduated on this occasion, came before the Promoter on an elevated platform, with a crown of laurel in his hand, which the Promoter received from him and placed, as he stooped, on his head, afterwards putting a ring on his finger and a little book in his hand. At the very instant when the crown was imposed on the head of each, a cannon was fired in the adjoining yard. This was done with the utmost precision, the signal being given by a person appointed for the purpose. After all had been in this way crowned, one of the graduates delivered a Latin salutation, and another an address in Swedish to the ladies. This was all the speaking which was done by the students." A sermon preached by a dis- tinguished clergyman, music by the band, and a march in procession around the cathedral closed the exercises ; and there followed a public dinner in the orangery of the new botanical gardens. 132 LIFE OF REV. DR. BA1RD. From the dinner the company adjourned to the surround- ing gardens, where the students "chaired" the Promoter, and after marches and countermarches and joyous songs, paid the same honor to a graduate of fifty years' standing, who chanced to be present on the occasion. Leaving the assemblage, about to engage in a grand ball, Mr. Baird returned by night to the capital as he had come ; and some- what fatigued, he tells us, by his travel of nearly one hun- dred miles within thirty-six hours. The only feature that marred in his eyes the pleasant festivities, had been the un- sparing use of brandy at each of the meals at Upsala, by young and old alike. The sight was not encouraging to one who had come to Sweden for the express purpose of endeavoring to check this great abuse. CHAPTER XII. EXERTIONS IN BEHALF OP TEMPERANCE IN GERMANY, HOL- LAND AND BELGIUM. INTERESTING INTERVIEWS WITH THE KING AND CROWN PRINCE OF PRUSSIA, PRINCE JOHN OF SAXONY AND KING LEOPOLD OF BELGIUM. VIEWS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND LITERARY MEN OF GERMANY. 1836. AFTER having accomplished everything that seemed feasible, during so short a sojourn as it was in his power to make at Stockholm, Mr. Baird started by steamer for St. Petersburg, much to the regret of many friends who thought that great good could be accomplished by his pro- longing his stay. But he was not permitted to see the Russian capital at this time ; for the vessel upon which he made the attempt had not proceeded more than fifty miles on its way, when owing to an accident to the machinery, it was compelled to return to Stockholm for repairs. As no other means of reaching St. Petersburg would present itself for a fortnight, it was out of his power to proceed according to his first intention. He therefore availed himself of the departure of a steamer for Liibeck, to set out upon his re- turn. The sail down the Baltic was pleasant but monoto- nous ; and the travelers were doubtless glad to arrive at Travemunde, the small port of Liibeck, whence they soon reached the city itself. A few hours were spent in visiting the principal objects of interest in Liibeck, now sadly fallen from her former prosperity, when an extended commerce (133) i 3 4 LIFE 0F REV - DB - BAIEI> - enriched her citizens with the silks and other costly mer- chandize of distant lands ; and when as head of the Hanse- atic league, the delegates of eighty-three free cities and towns met within her walls. Yet the very antiquity of Lubeck was a source of interest ; and the houses and churches of curious architecture, carrying one back to the confines of the Middle Ages, seemed in no way unworthy of its traditions. Prom Liibeck he posted in company with an agreeable Russian gentleman through the level plains of Mecklenburg and Brandenburg to Berlin. On reaching this place the interests of the Temperance cause first occupied his atten- tion. A slight sketch of his labors is given in one of his familiar letters : "I commenced at once, when I arrived, calling upon the persons to whom I had letters, who were Count Groben, Major Van Gerlack, Professor Neander, Rev. Mr. Ayerst, and one or two more. At first I was much discouraged. But soon matters went better, and be- fore the end of last week I had made all the arrangements for having my History of the Temperance Societies trans- lated into German and published, Mr. Ayerst and one or two excellent men of the little Temperance Society here having engaged to see the work well done. This was, therefore, off my mind, and I had time to see many of the objects of interest here, at Potsdam (nearly twenty miles from Berlin, where Frederick the Great lived, and where the King and royal family now live much of the time), and at Charlottenburg. I had also seen the Crown Prince and been most kindly received by him, obtaining a letter of introduction from him to Prince John of Saxony. I had sent a copy of my book to the King, through Prince Witt- genstein, one of the Ministers whom I had called upon ; and all things being arranged, as I supposed, I engaged my place in the diligence for Dresden, with the expectation of setting off on Saturday morning. But on Friday night, BINES WITH THE KING OF PRUSSIA. 135 when I had made the last visit to my friends here and re- turned to the hotel, I received a message from the King saying that I must dine with him the next day at the Palace of Sans-Souci at Potsdam, at half-past one o'clock. This altered all my plans. It was thought by some excellent men here that I ought to accept the invitation ; I did so, and went out and spent most of the day. It was a most interesting season to me. I met there about forty gentle- men and ladies of the first rank in the kingdom. I was presented to the King and had much conversation with him on the subject of my visit, and also with his sons, the Crown Prince and Prince Charles, and their wives, the Princess de Liegnitz, the wife of the King (not the Queen, she is not living), with Baron Humboldt and others. It was a most important matter for the Temperance cause. I was received most cordially." In another letter Mr. Baird describes more particularly the members of the royal family of Prussia by whom he was so kindly received, and with some of whom an intimate acquaintance continued for their entire life. " The king," he writes, " is sixty-six years of age, and more vigorous and firm than I had expected. I had thought that he was very old looking and feeble, but he is not so. He is tall, though he stoops a little, is affable, and is no doubt a maD of good dispositions. The Crown Prince I should suppose to be about forty-five years of age. He is universally beloved, and is unquestionably a very good man. The Crown Prin- cess is a sister of the King of Bavaria, and is a most lovely lady and greatly beloved by the people. The Prince Wil- liam and his wife I did not see. They were not present. The next son of the King in age is Prince Charles. He is a man probably of more energy than most of the others. The youngest son of the King appears to be quite a youth. Besides four sons (whom I have just mentioned), the King has three daughters, who are all married — the oldest to the 13 6 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. Emperor Nicholas of Russia, another to a Prince of Meck- lenburg-Schwerin, and a third to Prince Frederick, second son of the King of Holland." " It is something remarkable to see so large a royal fam- ily which contains so many members who are virtuous and good people. The family of the present King of Prussia has been unquestionably well brought up, and his children show that the good training which they have had has not been in vain." And he elsewhere writ.es respecting the reigning family in connection with the political govern- ment : " There is no freedom of the people. The censorship is very rigid. Such a thing as an opposition journal does not exist. There are only three political papers in Berlin, and they are advocates of whatever is .done by the Govern- ment. And yet I do not believe that there is in the world a better conducted government of the unlimited monarch- ical kind. The king is unquestionably a man of kind, up- right, honest intentions. He is beloved, and justly so, by the people ; for he seems to be intent upon promoting their interests. The members of his family are liked because they are amiable, kind, affable and moderate in all their conduct. There is no haughtiness or arrogance seen in them. The princes, it is notorious, are bringing up their children in a simple and proper manner. They do not differ from those of the people, except that they are perhaps better taught and possess better manners." Mr. Baird left Berlin, as we have seen, with a warm ad- miration of the royal family, and especially of the Crown Prince (the late King Frederick William IV.), with whom he maintained to the end of his life a cordial attachment, strengthened in repeated visits to Prussia. Although he could not but disapprove of the reactionary course of the prince after his ascent to the throne, he always gave him credit for great sincerity of character, and a true desire for the welfare of his people. Having made arrangements PRINCE JOHN OF SAXONY. 137 for the publication of his History of Temperance Societies in German, in a somewhat enlarged form, and under the auspices of the Crown Prince, to whom the translation was to be dedicated, Mr. Baird left Berlin for Dresden, for the purpose of seeing Prince John of Saxony. And here again, Mr. Baird's correspondence furnishes us with some account of his visit : " You are aware that this prince, who is a brother of the present king of the country, is distinguished for his literary acquirements and for his philanthropic efforts for the welfare of his fellowmen. He is a young man. I had an interview with him of consider- able length, having been introduced to him by a letter from the 'Crown Prince of Prussia, who is his brother-in-law. The prince has not organized a Temperance Society in Sax- ony, as I had heard ; but has disseminated much information on this subject. And he told me that a sensible diminution of the quantity of ardent spirits used in the kingdom has taken place, not only occasioned by increased light on the evils of that use, but also in consequence of the enactment of laws which are calculated to repress the sale of intoxi- cating liquors, especially that of brandy. The prince stated that he had met many difficulties in this enterprise, and that he was at times well nigh discouraged." He expressed great pleasure at the prospect of publication of Mr. Baird's work in German, and promised to endeavor to have it widely circulated in Saxony. The time which he had spent in making this tour through northern Europe had far exceeded the limits which Mr. Baird intended to allot to it, when he left Paris, where his duties now imperatively demanded his presence. His return was, therefore, as speedy as practicable. It was deemed important, however, that he should visit Holland and Bel- gium on his way. For this reason, after reaching the Ehine at Mayence, he descended that river and entered Holland at Nimeguen. In his rapid journey through central Ger- 138 v LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. many, he stopped for a short time at Leipsic, and again at Halle where he made the acquaintance of Prof. Tholuck, the distinguished theologian, and visited the celebrated Or- phan House, established by Franke, where he found two hundred children clothed and taught— this great benevo- lent institution having had its birth in the faith of that ex- cellent man, on whose monument Mr. Baird read the simple words " Er vertrauete Gott," He trusted in God. Throughout Germany Mr. Baird had received the kindest attentions from the gentlemen to whom he bore letters of introduction as well as from others, and had been admitted to private audiences at two of its regal courts. But these circumstances did not blind his eyes to some lamentable truths respecting the political condition of the people : "The governments interfere with everything. The most rigid police is employed. The least appearance of a politi- cal movement at once excites the suspicions of the rulers. Many of the smaller states are exceedingly oppressed. Hundreds of students in the universities either are now in prison, or are under arrest for having belonged to the Bur- schenschaft. Many have been condemned to five, six, and even-to ten and fifteen years' imprisonment. Now, though I am no advocate for students meddling with politics, instead of attending to their studies, and think them very unfit to take the lead in 'such grave matters, yet I do think that the treatment which they have received, in many cases, is cruel in the extreme. My blood boils when I think of thoughtless young men, who may have beeji imprudent, and quite culpable indeed, being punished in so rigorous a man- ner." But there were other peculiarities of German society, as then constituted, that called forth his severest reprobation : " I do not like the subserviency of the men of learning, and even the ministers of the Gospel, in Germany, to the powers that be. In many cases, instead of manfully holding up the LIBERTY IN GERMANY. 139 duty of rulers as well as of the ruled, they indulge in dreamy speculations on the divine right of regal authority, and make the most beautiful dissertations, comparing the king to the father of a great family, and in the meantime the people are, in some countries, crushed under increasing op- pressions. Such conduct is unworthy of them. Let minis- ters preach against disobedience to the laws as they ought ; but let them also say what is the duty of the ruler. But such is the state of things in some parts of Germany, that if you were to talk about a constitution, you would find that the very word would strike dumb those who hear you. If you were to go on to speak of limited monarchy, and the justice of the people having a share in legislative and judicial proceedings, you can scarcely imagine with what a look of fear you would be viewed. And if you were to say, or even hint, that oppression might be so great as to justify the people in rising up and saying to their rulers that they will not submit to it, you cannot conceive what horror your discourse would inspire." With all these discourage- ments, it was still Mr. Baird's opinion that a brighter day for Germany would soon dawn. He could not avoid the belief that the better part of the rulers would gradually accord to their subjects a larger degree of freedom ; while the rest would defer doing this, until induced to it by com- pulsion. And the catastrophe might not be so distant as many supposed : " The press is dead, but the spirit of lib- erty and the desire for just rights are not ; and when the proper crisis arrives, it will be found that sympathy is a more powerful means than even the press, and will super- sede its necessity." Prom Nimeguen he proceeded to Amsterdam, where in the course of a few days he visited all the principal objects of interest of the great Dutch metropolis. At Utrecht and at the Hague he also stopped, and made the acquaintance of Herringa and Baron Golstein, at whose request he made 140 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. arrangements for the translation and publication of his History of Temperance Societies in the Dutch language ; these gentlemen undertaking to superintend the work, and to secure the means for defraying the principal portion of the expense. The King of the Netherlands was on the point of leaving the Hague for his country palace at Loo. It was owing to this, that Mr. Baird had no opportunity to obtain a private audience. He received, however, a letter, writ- ten at the command of the king, by the Secretary for For- eign Affairs, Baron Volkten Van Soelen, expressing the regret of his majesty that circumstances were such as to render a private interview impossible at that time ; but stating that his majesty had received with pleasure the book on the Temperance Societies which he had sent him, and would give it a speedy and attentive perusal. " You will be gratified," writes Mr. Baird, " to learn that there is no reason to believe that the enlightened and virtuous King of Holland is opposed to the object of Temperance Societies, but that he has hitherto been opposed to their formation owing to the unsettled and distracted state of things in the kingdom, occasioned in some measure by the unadjusted Belgian question, but still more by the religious dissensions which have for the last two years greatly agitated that country." , • " The unadjusted Belgian question " to which he refers was also the cause of an inconvenient detention. For in the state of hostility still subsisting between Holland and Belgium, after the lapse of six years since the successful re- volt of the latter, it was necessary to obtain the authoriza- tion of the Prince of Orange (the king's eldest son) as Com- mander-in-Chief, in order to leave the dominions of the monarch of the Netherlands, to enter those of Leopold. After a vexatious delay permission was received, and Mr. Baird proceeded to Brussels, taking Rotterdam, Antwerp and Malines, on the route. At the Belgian capital his RETURN TO PARIS. 141 labors in behalf of Temperance on the present journey closed. Some influential persons were visited and their exertions secured for the good work. Yet he was constrained to confess that he was not sanguine in his expectations respect- ing its success in Belgium. In that kingdom, composed of provinces, up to 1830, exclusively Roman Catholic, but in which religious liberty of the most complete character had been granted, by a sort of compromise between the ultra- montane and sceptical parties, '' there is not at present sufficient moral force to carry forward the . Temperance Reformation with energy." The king, however, to whom he gained access, was very favorably inclined to every effort in behalf of this benevolent movement. " He ex- pressed to me," we find it mentioned, " his deep conviction of the baneful effects of the use of ardent spirits in his king- dom, and his sincere desire that something might be done to arrest its progress." After a short sojourn in Brussels, and a visit to the battle- field of Waterloo, he returned to Paris, reaching his home in safety after a very extensive tour, which had consumed the interval between the months of April and August. It may be an evidence of his untiring industry worthy of being here noticed, that, during this period, in addition to his other arduous duties and an extensive correspondence, as well official as private, he found time to write to the Com- mercial Advertiser of New York, a series of fifty-seven letters, containing a full, exact and exceedingly valuable description of the different countries he visited — their physi- cal appearance, their cities and important localities, and the most striking peculiarities of the manners and customs, and the religious and political condition of their inhabitants. Mr. Baird has not summed up the results of his mission, but he has briefly noticed the principal difficulties which confronted the cause he advocated. The want of proper men and of sufficient means to carry forward the movement 142 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. constituted serious obstacles. In most of the countries of Europe there was a lack of the moral power requisite for successful enterprise. Several of the governments which derived large revenues from the duties on the manufacture, importation and sale of ardent spirits, naturally feared pecu- niary loss which would be entailed by the diffusion of Tem- perance principles. While another and not less threaten- ing barrier was erected by the jealousy entertained by the- rulers of all combination of the people in societies which might, by any possibility, be turned to political purposes. It was, accordingly, Mr. Baird's endeavor to exhibit clearly the fact that the Temperance Societies in the United States had never meddled with subjects which were beyond their legitimate province, nor been perverted to partisan ends. CHAPTER XIII. PROSPECTS OF PROTESTANTISM IN PRANCE. TOUR IN ITALY. AVIGNON. PALACE OP THE INQUISITION. GENOA. ROME. CEREMONIAL OP HOLT WEEK. ANTIQUITIES. NAPLES. FLORENCE. VENICE. MILAN. TURIN. EVANGELICAL LA- BORS IN ITALY. THE WALDENSES. COLONEL BECKWITH. 1837. THE autumn and the winter succeeding Mr. Baird's first visit to the Scandinavian countries, which has been described in the last chapters, were spent in Paris. The unusual marks of distinction which had been shown to him by several of the monarchs to whose society he had been admitted, with a freedom rarely accorded to private indi- viduals, and Vhich were given to him because, to use the language of one of their number, " he was one of the first foreigners that has sought an audience with no private re- quests to make," had not in the least diminished his inter- est in his work. On the contrary, he was only the more anxious to labor for the salvation of the souls of men ; and it was a source of encouragement and of hearty thanks- giving to God to believe " that in his humble way he had been permitted to do something to further the interests of the kingdom of Christ." His mind was more and more convinced of the promising character of the French mission- ary field. What had with him been a matter of conjecture, was now a certainty. The great progress of Protestantism within the past few years demonstrated the fact that the (148) i 44 LIFE OF BET. BR BAIRD. conversion of Romanists was no impossibility ; that the plain evangelist, and the colporteur with his tracts and re- ligious books, were powerful engines to batter down the structure of superstition which ages of credulity and igno- rance had erected ; and that the silent influence of the ex- ample of a pure Christianity in the midst of a worldly and dissolute community was more potent than the keenest-sar- casm or the closest logic of the polemic writer. Mr. Baird had always advocated the kindest treatment of Roman Catho- lics. He doubted the general utility of controversy, whether public or private. Not that* the errors' of a false system must not be combated in the interest of the truth, when silence would seem to lend a sanction to its assumptions ; nor that controversy ought to be banished from the sphere of the theologian. But he believed that the testimony of a consistent Christian life was more efficient in removing the objections of the unbelieving than the most elaborate argu- ments of apologists. And he was the more eager to see the light of a pure Christianity spreading in France, because no reflective man could doubt that if that land were con- verted to Christ, it would be the most powerful instrument in the evangelization of the rest of the world. As it is now the staunchest pillar of the Papacy, and the right arm of its missionary operations, it would become, an equally impor- tant auxiliary to the cause of the Truth as it is in Jesus. At the close of the winter, Mr. Baird left Paris to visit southern Prance and Italy, in order to see what opportuni- ties were presented for the gradual introduction of the Gospel into the very heart of the Roman Catholic world. He had long contemplated this tour with the greatest in- terest ; and he was led to select the present time for the execution of his project by the delicate health of his wife, whom he determined to take from the raw climate of Paris during the early spring to the sunny shores of the Medi- terranean. The ^fatigues and delay of the journey from HALLS OF THE INQUISITION. H5 Paris to Lyons were much increased by the fall of a consid- erable quantity of snow. Prom Lyons, where their party received some additions to its numbers, after a day or two spent with the French brethren of the place, they descended the Rhone, enjoying a good opportunity of viewing the beautiful and fertile region through which that river flows. At Avignon they made a longer stay. In this city the chief object of interest was the ancient palace of the Popes, now turned in great part into barracks for soldiers, with the cells in which so many of the confessors of the truth were confined during the Middle Ages, and the halls in which they were examined by torture, were tried by ecclesiastical judges, and suffered by slow burning. The walls of these scenes of their last conflicts in the flesh, at that time bore testimony to their constancy and godliness, by the simple expressions of pious resignation which their hands had traced upon them — " Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they shall be filled." " The truth of the Lord endureth forever." Since that time the Government, elsewhere so reverent towards all that belongs to remote antiquity (at the instigation of ecclesiastics who entertain greater fear of the impression which this " handwriting upon the wall " is calculated to make in this age of liberty of conscience and reflection, than its authors felt in view of the flame and the gibbet), has caused these lines and the names of the martyrs to be obliterated. Alas, that no mor- tal hand can erase the record of the barbarities inflicted upon men created in God's own image for the mere profes- sion of the truth — a record graven deep upon the pages of history, and which shall outlive the race itself. From Avignon, with its mongrel population — half Italian and half French — a symbol of the decadence of the Papacy, to which it owed its former importance, when instead of barely 32,000 inhabitants, it contained 80,000— Mr. and Mrs. Baird started for Marseilles, and there embarked for 10 146 LIFE OF REY. DR. BAIBD. Genoa. A day or two were spent in visiting the chief ob- jects of interest — the churches, palaces and educational and charitable institutions of this city. Letters of introduction which Mr. Baird carried, admitted him to the very beautiful villa of the Marquis di Negro, by whom he was kindly re- ceived. In the midst of a superstitious people, and in a city abounding in priests, Mr. Baird found only two places for Protestant worship— the first of the French Reformed Church and the other of the English Established Church, in neither of which, it was feared, was the Gospel preached in its purity. Prom Genoa the party posted along the Italian coast, through Pisa, where they paused a few hours to see the famous Cathedral, Baptistery, Campo Santo and Leaning Tower ; and on the 22d of March crossed the Tiber by the Milvian Bridge, and entered Rome by the Porta del Popolo. It was the middle of Holy Week, and several of the suc- ceeding days were principally spent in witnessing the gor- geous ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church which at- tract to Rome so vast a concourse of strangers from every part of the world. On two of these days Mr. Baird and his companions listened to the chanting of the " Miserere " in the Sistine Chapel ; on another occasion they beheld the wash- ing of the pilgrims' feet by the Pope, and oh the Saturday morning preceding Easter, they saw the baptism of a Moor- ish convert to Christianity, at the old basilica of St. John Lateran. In the ceremonial of the " Resurrection," as it is called, performed in the Sistine Chapel, to which Mr. Baird returned that afternoon, he was struck with a circumstance which he has noted in one of his letters. The assembled cardinals, ranged in their scarlet robes, knelt down for an instant at the beginning.of each prayer, and then stood in reverent attitude until its conclusion ; but when the peti- tion for the conversion of the poor Jews was reached, not a knee was bent,, but each standing erect in his place, ex- HOLY WEEK AT BO MM. H7 pressed by the contrast with the former genuflections, his abhorrence of the impiety of those who put the blessed Sav- iour to death! In the neighboring audience chamber he was struck, as have been so many Protestant travelers be- fore him and since, with the audacity of those who selected the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve for the subject of one of the immense paintings that decorate its walls. On Easter morning he was present at the services that com- memorate the completed Resurrection, and watched the pon- tiff, as with uplifted hand he pronounced his solemn bene- diction upon the assembled crowds in the spacious aisles of St. Peter's, and on the square in front of the basilica. These were sights, he notes, that pleased the taste, gratified by the beauties of arrangement and music, appealing to the eye and ear ; but strangely out of place in the house of God, and in ceremonies ostensibly in honor of His name. Of the various actors in the pageant, he says : " With few excep- tions, I think I have never seen men engaged in the solemn service of God who had so little of a devotional appearance as the cardinals. The Pope (the late Gregory XVI.) is an amiable-looking old man, and has the reputation of being a good man and of possessing considerable talent. The parish priests of Rome are not well spoken of. But I have seldom seen people more devout in appearance, and desirous of the benefits of religion than the lower classes of Rome, and of Italy generally, when in the churches. The contrast be- tween their serious appearance, and the levity of many of the priests and cardinals was very striking to my mind." It may be of interest to mention that with the small hand- ful of Christians who formed his party, and with others whom they met from time to time, the social religious exer- cises which had been held with so much pleasure and profit every Saturday evening, in his apartments at Paris, were kept up throughout the tour in Italy. And it was a coin- cidence which was particularly noted, that the passage of 1 4 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. the book of Acts which came up in course for reading and meditation on the first Saturday evening after their arrival at Rome, was the account of St. Paul's visit to the " Eternal City." The first chapter of the epistle to the Romans fur- nished the theme of discourse at the next meeting, previous to their departure. We have not room here to follow Mr. Baird and his party in their very thorough exploration of Rome, both ancient and modern. They were so fortunate as to secure for several consecutive days the company of the late Professor Nibby, at that time considered the most accurate and well-informed of all the Italian antiquarians, a polished gentleman, as well as a conscientious scholar, under whose guidance they visited the city in detail, after having first fixed in their minds its leading features by a view from the top of the elevated tower of the Senator's house on the Capitoline Hill. By this arrangement they freed themselves from the garrulity of ignorant " cicerones," and avoided associations that could not but detract from the interest of these classical scenes. In the intervals between the hours spent in viewing the remarkable objects of Rome, he called upon several persons of distinction to whom he had letters of introduction. One of these was M. Chevalier Bunsen — a disciple of Neibuhr and an eminent scholar, both in profane and in sacred anti- quities — at that time Prussian ambassador to the Holy See. The acquaintance thus formed ripened into friendship in several interviews during his stay in this city, and when he met him in Berlin, and in London, where Chevalier Bunsen spent the last days of his life as the diplomatic representa- tive of Prussia. He was also introduced to the celebrated Cardinal Mezzofanti, perhaps the most remarkable linguist the present century has witnessed, and to the sculptor Thorwaldsen, whom he subsequently saw again in his native land. After three weeks profitably spent in rendering them- CAPUA AND NAPLES. H9 selves familiat with the topography and antiquities of Rome, and of its environs, including Tivoli, Albano, Tuscu- lu'm, etc., Mr. and Mrs. Baird, with their friends, started by land for Naples. The journey was interesting because of the large number of places of note through which they passed. At Capua, besides visiting the magnificent ruin of the Roman Amphitheatre in the neighborhood, they wit- nessed a review of over 10,000 Neapolitan troops on the plain between the old and the new cities ; and had an excel-, lent opportunity for seeing the King of Naples who was present on this occasion. On the Sabbath morning succeeding his arrival, Mr. Baird attended the service of the Rev. Mr. Vallette, chap- lain of the Prussian embassy, where he found a congrega- tion of about 120 persons, chiefly Swiss. It was one of his principal objects in visiting Italy to become acquainted with Mr. Vallette and a few other active Christians, who, at various points on the peninsula, were laboring, by every means which govermental tyranny and priestly interference did not prevent, to advance the kingdom of Christ in that country. He was desirous of ascertaining facts with regard to the possibility of introducing and distributing the Scrip- tures, and the success that had thus far attended such at- tempts, which could not be committed to the press, nor even to the privacy of a letter to be sent through the mails. There was too much reason to believe that any imprudent disclosure would insure the adoption of measures to put an end even to the limited exertions then put forth to spread the truth in Italy. Mr. Baird, therefore, conscientiously avoided giving to the details which he learned, any pub- licity, that might prove injurious to the cause he had so much at heart. No Protestant minister in Italy, at the time of which we write, was laboring more effectively and unostentatiously than Mr. Vallette, who had been ten or twelve years at Naples, and had proved himself a zealous i 5 o LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. and faithful man. " He seeks in every way to do good," writes Mr. Baird, " not only to the French and Germans, to whom he preaches much, but also to the Italians, -to whom he gives or lends suitable religious books." Such was the quiet manner in which alone could any efforts be made for the evangelization of a land containing twenty- five millions of inhabitants, to almost all of whom a pure Gospel can now be preached with entire freedom. So great were the changes which Mr. Baird witnessed before the close of his life ; but which the most acute political prophet could scarcely have predicted. " There are three hundred Protestant Germans and Swiss in Naples, who are permanently settled there," writes Mr. Baird in his journal. " There are some sixty or eighty at Salerno ; some families at or near Nocera, etc. There are also 2,300 Protestant Swiss among the 5,000 foreign troops whom the King of Naples has in his service. To those of them who speak the French language Mr. Valette preaches on the Sabbath morning ; whilst there are two German Protestant ministers, or chaplains, supported by the Neapolitan Government, who preach to such of these foreign soldiers as speak the German language. One of these preachers has some appearance of true life and zeal ; the other has little, if any, of the spirit of his holy office. There are French and German preachers now at the follow- ing places in Italy : Naples, Kome, Florence, Leghorn, Genoa, Turin, Bergamo and Venice. May the Lord grant to all of them grace to be faithful in the service of their blessed Master. They occupy posts of great importance. I am happy to hear a favorable account of the greater part of them, and I cannot but hope that good will result from their labors in this benighted land." Few points on this journey were invested with more pleasant associations, or offered a greater number of objects of thrilling interest than did Naples. Nearly two weeks FLORENCE. i S i •were agreeably occupied in exploring the rich stores of statuary, paintings and other relics of antiquity from the cities overwhelmed by the lava and ashes of Mount Vesu- vius, now collected in the Museo Borbonico ; and in no less interesting excursions to Pozzuoli and Baiae, to Pompeii and Herculaneum, to the volcano itself, and to the wonder- fully preserved temples and basilica of Psestum. But these scenes have been so frequently described, that. we must pass them over, and accompany the travelers, who sailed from Naples for Leghorn, and, after a brief stay at that port, proceeded to Florence. While visiting the treasures of art in the National Gal- lery and Pitti Palace, in the cathedral with its wonderful dome, and in so many other churches of Florence, Mr. Baird did not fail to find access to the little band of Chris- tians who were striving to do something for the religious regeneration of Tuscany. " I am more and more convinced," he writes after^ an interview with some of these devoted persons, " that there is much which American Christians may do for Italy, in aiding the friends of the truth here, and at Eome and Naples, in publishing and circulating good books, in supporting faithful ministers in all places where there are French and German colonies, and in help- ing them to establish and maintain infant schools and other schools in which the principles of the Gospel shall be taught." One morning was spent in the recently-established edu- cational institute for boys, where Mr. Baird met Count Guicciardini, " a lineal descendant of the distinguished his- torian of that name, a young nobleman who takes great interest in infant schools, of which he is, in fact, the founder in Florence. Though a Catholic, he is considered to be truly pious." There were at that time three similar insti- tutions in the capital, including one for the Jews ; and twelve in Tuscany, "conducted, in a good degree, upon 152 LIFE OF HEY DR. BAIRD. evangelical principles." " May the Lord," adds Mr. Baird, " abundantly bless this excellent undertaking." On the afternoon of the same day, Mr. and Mrs. Baird called upon the Princess Charlotte Napoleon, to whom they had letters of introduction. This lady by whom they were very kindly received, Was a daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, and the widow of a son of Louis Bonaparte (the father of the present emperor of Prance) who having been engaged (in 1831) in an insurrection against the Papal Government, soon after died, as many believed, from the effects of poison. From Florence they crossed the Apennines by Bologna, Ferrara and Padua, to Venice. Here they spent several days in examining the church of St. Mark, the Doge's Palace, the Armenian Convent on the island of St. Laz- arus, with its singularly interesting printing establishment, where they received much attention from the librarian, Padre Pasquale Aucher, and other places and buildings of note. Passing by Vicenza, Verona (where they stopped over night and saw the wonderfully well preserved amphi- theatre, but little inferior in interest to the Coliseum of Rome itself), Mantua, Cremona, and Lodi they reached Milan. A few days more sufficed to bring them to Turin, whence Mr. Baird rode out to visit the Waldenses in their retired valleys. He was permitted to remain but a short time on this visit, the first of a series that he was destined to make to the small territory of this devoted people ; and his first impressions have found a place in a sketch append- ed to his work on " Protestantism in Italy," published eight years later. Under the hospitable roof of the Rev. Mr. Bonjour, moderator of the Synod of the Vaudois churches, he was so fortunate as to meet that Colonel Beckwith, whose name is indissolubly connected with every step in the march of improvement within the past half century. " This excel- lent man," writes Mr. Baird, " after losing a leg in the bat- tle of Waterloo, retired from the military service of his COLONEL BECK WITS. !53 country (England) with a handsome pension. Some twenty years ago, having heard of the Waldenses he went to see them ; and becoming greatly interested in them, he has passed all his time among then, save a few months in the summer and autumn of each year, which he spends with his mother and sisters in his native land. As he has never married, and has no relatives who are dependent on his bounty, he has it in his power to devote the greater part of his very considerable income to doing good among these poor people. And it is delightful to see what he has been enabled to accomplish. Not only has he caused to be built, and almost wholly at his own expense, some ten or fifteen large and handsome parish schoolhouses* some of which will accommodate one hundred, or one hundred and fifty scholars, but he mainly sustains the teachers who give in- struction in them. Not only so, he has been erecting ham- let schoolhouses, plain, but sufficient structures, in a great many localities. He told us, in 1837, that he hoped to see one hundred and sixty schools established in these valleys ; and we are happy to say that he has lived to see his desire nearly accomplished. " No man living is esteemed so much by the Waldenses as Colonel Beckwith. His portrait, lithographed at Paris, and neatly framed, is almost the only ornament which one sees in many of their cottages. There he is represented, just as they so often see him, with his wooden leg, his gun on his shoulder, and his dog at his side. Wherever he hob- bles, he is welcome. He is known by no other name than le brave Colonel, and le pmtvre Colonel. On one of the schoolhouses in the parish of St. Jean, is an inscription to this effect : Whosoever passes this way, let him bless the name of Colonel Beckwith. What a beautiful and touch- ing testimony to the worth and beneficence of a humble * This was -written in the year 1844. i 5 4 LIFE 0F REV - nE - BAIItD. and unostentatious Christian foreigner, whom the love of Christ and of souls has attracted to those valleys to do good to the poorest of all God's people, as a community, in any part of Christendom ! And what makes their affection for him the more honorable to both, is the fact that while, they are Presbyterians, he is an Episcopalian. Both may even be said to be staunch in their principles. " Well, indeed, may the Waldenses love the good Colonel Beckwith, who is an honor to our common Christianity ; for he is their steadfast friend, their prudent counsellor, a lib- eral benefactor to their poor people. He is continually making valuable suggestions, relating sometimes to the modes of cultivating and irrigating their lands, sometimes to improvements of their roads, the construction of bridges and paths, as well as to the better accommodation of strangers. He has aided them in almost everything ; he looks after everything ; his advice is sought in everything. His post is very important, and he has filled it with singu- lar prudence, for he has never had a difficulty with the Sar- dinian Government. And, from first to last, he has proba- bly expended among these people, from his own pocket, the sum of thirty thousand dollars." From Turin Mr. and Mrs. Baird returned to their home at Paris, taking Geneva, where they made a very brief stay, on their way. Their tour in Italy had occupied a little over three months. CHAPTER XIV. A SECOND TOUR IN NORTHERN EUROPE. BELGIUM. HOLLAND. M. GROEN VAN PRINSTERER. ST. PETERSBURG. MOSCOW. POLAND. SALT MINES OP WIELIECZKA. OLMUTZ. VIENNA. 1837. AFTER the short stay of two weeks at Paris, Mr. Baird set out (June 16) upon a second tour in northern Europe. When in Sweden, nearly a year before, he had been frustrated in his plan of visiting St. Petersburg, where he had hoped to be able to accomplish something in the way of inducing the government to allow Temperance Societies to be instituted, and to permit the Russian Bible Society, suppressed a few years previously by order of the Emperor, in consequence of the machinations of the Synod of the Greek Church, to be reestablished in the empire. He now deemed it best to make the attempt which he had then con- templated. Besides this object, he was desirous to revisit Germany, and to consecrate more time than he had been able to give on the previous occasion, to efforts in behalf of Temperance in the different states of the confederation. On the Sabbath, which he spent at Brussels, he endeav- ored to contribute to the removal of some unhappy dissen- sions in the little evangelical church that had sprung up in the Belgian capital, by counseling a spirit of moderation, prayer and faithful labor. " To-day," he adds in a private journal, " I wrote a long letter to the Crown Prince of Prus- (155) 1 S 6 LIFE OF REV. DM. BAIBD. sia, on the subject of the Temperance Societies formed at Berlin, and begged him to use his influence with the Govern- ment of Prussia to tolerate and encourage the society which has been formed on the principle of total abstinence, rather than the one which has been formed on the moderation principle." The next day, proceeding to Antwerp by railroad, he took the diligence again to Breda, where he spent the night ; and on the following day reached the Hague, having crossed the Rhine three times on the" way, and having taken a glance at Eotterdam and Delft. That evening he took tea at the house of M. Groen van Prinsterer, the eminent Dutch scholar, with whose name and successful researches among the archives of Holland and Spain, those who have perused the pages of the "History of Philip the Second" and of the " Rise of the Dutch Republic," are familiar ; and of whom, in connection with M. Gachard, the historian Prescott said, " That country is fortunate which can command the services of such men as these for the illustration of its national annals — men who with singular enthusiasm for their task combine the higher qualifications of scholarship, and a talent for critical analysis." Mr. .Baird states that both he and his wife were excellent persons — " both humble followers of the Lamb ;" and that M. Groen, who. was formerly a member of the King's Cabinet, was engaged in making historical researches, the results of which appeared in 1838, under the form of his invaluable "Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau." While at the Hague, Mr. Baird had an audience with the King of the Netherlands. The conversation turned chiefly upon the subject of the Temperance Societies. He writes : " May the Lord grant His blessing to the short interview which I had with him." At Amsterdam and Utrecht he paused long enough to make inquiries into the religious condition of Holland, which he left with the assurance on INTER VIE W WITH OS WN PRINCE. 1 5 7 the part of Baron Gnlstein and other worthy friends, that they would forward him fuller information respecting what Mr. Baird trusted was a genuine revival of religion. Cross- ing into Germany, he entered Hanover, which had been since the time of George the First united to Great Britain, but which by the death of William the Fourth, only six days before his arrival (June 20, 1837) had resumed its independ- ent existence. In remarking upon the condition of this small kingdom, Mr. Baird states that the majority of the clergy was composed of Rationalists, and that there was little or no evangelical religion in the university of Got tingen. Proceeding next by way of Magdeburg to Berlin, he ob- tained an interview with the Crown Prince of Prussia. " I have come hither," he wrote to his wife, "just at the right time. I saw the Crown Prince yesterday at the Palace of Sans-Souci, and- was received by him with the greatest kindness. Although he was on the point of setting off on a journey for two weeks, he talked almost half an hour with me, agreed with me fully on the Temperance subject, promised to do all that he could in favor of the right socie- ty, a,nd gave me a letter of introduction to his sister, the Empress of Russia. For all this I feel very thankful. I hope my visit here will be owned of God and rendered a blessing. To-day I have written to the king a letter on the same subject, which I hope will do good. I have also seen several important men* and to-morrow I am to meet the committee of one of the societies. I am delighted to find that the Temperance cause has made such progress al- ready in Prussia. My book has done great good. The government has done much to forward the work. The book has excited great interest. It is well translated." Besides visiting such objects of interest, as he had time * Among these was Professor Hengstenberg. 158 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. to devote to, he attended the University. "I went this morning," he writes, "to hear Professors Twesten and Neander deliver lectures ; the former on John, to some forty students, the latter on Romans, to some four or five hundred. Their manner of lecturing is very singular and uninteresting. Neander, Twesten and Hengstenberg arc the most important Theological Professors in the Universi- ty of Berlin." From Berlin Mr. Baird proceeded to Hamburg, and from there to Liibeck, whence he sailed for St. Petersburg. Af- ter much delay and some disappointment, he succeeded in presenting to the empress the letter of introduction with which he had been furnished by the Crown Prince of Prus- sia. He was received by her majesty at the Palace of Peterhoff, a few miles south-west of the capital, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. " She entered," he writes, " with considerable interest into the subject of Tem- perance Societies, and presented me to her daughters, the young grand duchesses. The empress is about thirty-eight or forty years of.age, and speaks English well." After having visited all the most interesting institutions of the modern Russian capital and its vicinity, he took the " diligence " for Moscow, which he reached after a ride of four days through a level and half-cultivated region, in which there were few considerable towns and cities, but a large number of villages, all built in the style which is characteristic of Russia, the wooden houses placed with their ends to the street, and entered from a courtyard on their sides. The singular city of Moscow, with its Krem- lin, and curiously-domed churches, and enormous bells, was pretty thoroughly explored in the course of the few days which he spent there. Although disappointed at not find- ing at Moscow some persons whom he had been particu- larly desirous of meeting and of influencing in favor of the Temperance cause, among whom were Professor Hervey IMPRESSIONS OF RUSSIA. I5g and the Princess Sophia Meschersky, at that time at her country residence 120 versts distant, his visit was not alto- gether in vain. Some other individuals of great weight in the management of affairs were seen, and it was hoped that a favorable impression was made upon them. Among others the Governor, Prince Galitzin, to whom a copy of the His- tory of Temperance Societies was presented, became in con- sequence of its perusal, a firm friend of the cause. Having returned to St. Petersburg, he started, after the lapse of a few days, for Riga, passing through the provinces of Esthonia and Livonia, in which he found two separate languages spoken — in the former, a dialect closely resem- bling the Finnish, and in the latter, the Lettish, a tongue altogether dissimilar both to the Esthonian and to the Russ. From Riga he went to Warsaw and thence to Cracow, at that time a free city in name, with eight senators and a president chosen by the people, but whose government was, he tells us, very much in the hands of the resident Consuls or Charges of Austria, Russia and Prussia, the Austrians maintaining there a considerable force. Being providen- tially detained at this point, he made the acquaintance of the Rev. Mr. Hitchcock and his wife, missionaries of the Jewish Missionary Society. From these and other Chris- tian laborers whom he met at Warsaw, he learned much re- specting the large Jewish population of Poland, whose de- based condition testifies to the rigor with which it has been long treated. Mr. Baird's first visit to Russia, while it left many most pleasant impressions, revealed to him the magnitude of the work that lay before the Christian and the philanthropist, if they would raise that vast empire to the rank which it ought to attain among the nations. " Civilization," he writes, " has made progress, but it is only in its infancy. The advantages of schools must be extended to all the inhabitants. The Bible must be circulated. Slavery must l6o LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. come to an end. At present it does not exist in Poland, Finland, and the three Baltic provinces of Esthonia, Livo- nia and COurland. But it exists everywhere else to an awful degree. Men, women and children are bought and sold with the soil ! And even in those provinces in which slavery has been abolished, much more ought to be done to encourage the peasants. Every facility ought to be granted them to enable them to become owners of land themselves." Of the ability oi the Emperor Nicholas, he conceived a high estimate, while he was not blind to the great defects of his administration : " The present emperor is unques- tionably a man of great capacity for governing this great empire. He has vast energy and decision. He is not want- ing in kindness, too, in most cases. He is an excellent father and husband. In these respects he is above reproach. That he has been severe towards the Poles cannot be de- nied. That he has had sufficient cause for his severity, I would not for a moment assert. I think that he is unques- tionably popular. He moves about among his people daily, like a man that knows no fear. He was much amused at Mr. Wilkins (our late ambassador), telling him that he was quite a republican in his intercourse with his people. Withal, he is exceedingly laborious in the discharge of his duties as a monarch, desiring to know all that is done, and of directing all. The nobles probably love him less than the common people." Of Mr. Baird's observations respecting the Russian Church and its adherents, we find this record in one of his letters : " The Russians have a very great regard for their religion, and great respect for their priests and churches. There is widespread superstition among them, and many erroneous doctrines and pr'acti ces exist in their church. I speak now of the mass of the Russians. They are better, however, than the Roman Catholic?, in three respects : their priests marry, at least all excepting the highest dignitaries ; THE RU8S0-GREEK CHURCH. 161 they do not oppose the Scriptures being read by the people without note or comment ; and though they use the apocry- phal books of the Old Testament, they do not hold them to be canonical. There is, therefore, good ground to expect a gradual and thorough reformation among them, as light increases. But they pray for the dead, administer the sac- rament of the Lord's Supper to infants (as I have seen them do), pray to saints, and indulge in many other practices which the word of God has nowhere enjoined. " The interior of their churches is gaudy rather than beautiful. Their priests, with long beards and gorgeous robes, have a very imposing appearance in the performance of their official duties. In general, they have a look of benevolence, sincerity and simplicity. Most of them are very ignorant ; their duties are extremely onerous, and many are poor, very poor. Including students and all classes, the clergy of the Russo-Greek Church is said to number about a quarter of a million souls ! " In company with the excellent Christian friends whose acquaintance he had made at Cracow, he visited the cele- brated salt mines of Wielieczka, five miles distant, and within the Austrian confines. Descending by a winding stairway into the bowels of the earth, he reached the cham- bers and galleries which have been cut during the long interval that has elapsed since the mine was first worked, in the eleventh century of our era. There, in a space over eight thousand feet in length, and half as broad, he found nine hundred men constantly employed in hewing out the native salt ; of which a hundred million pounds were annu- ally raised to. the surface of the hill. The product of this mine furnished a large portion of the revenue of Austria. In traveling from Cracow to Vienna, which he next vis- ited, he passed through an interesting portion of the Aus- trian empire, in which he was not able, however, to tarry, save at Olmutz, where he visited the famous barracks in 11 ,6 2 LIFE OF REV. Dli. BAIBD. which General Lafayette was so long a prisoner. The let- ters of which he was the bearer, introduced him to a num- ber of persons whom he sought to interest in the Temper- ance movement. One of these was the Countess de St. Aulaire, wife of the French Ambassador, and a Roman Catholic, to whom he had been recommended by the Baron Von Gerlack, and who showed much interest in the object ■of his visit. It had been his intention to spend three or four days in a trip to Pesth ; but the obstacles thrown in the way of those wishing to travel in Hungary, by the jealousy of the government, were found to be too serious to be easily over- come. He was consequently compelled to attempt to ac- complish by letter what he had been desirous of doing in a more satisfactory manner by personal interviews. After having thoroughly acquainted himself, as far as this could be done in so short a time, with the religious state of Austria, and the few openings that presented them- selves for the labors of Christian philanthropists in its be- half, and having seen the most important objects of interest in the capital, he once more turned his face homeward. He reached Paris on the 12th of September, after a rapid jour- mey through southern Germany and the eastern part of France. Some notion of the fatigue which Mr. Baird was accus- tomed to endure, as well as of. his earnest desire to render -every moment as strictly available as possible to the great work to which he had consecrated his exertions, may be formed from the following summary which he appended as a postscript to a brief manuscript diary "of this tour : •" The journey which is described in this book occupied eighty-eight days, or nearly three months. It exceeded five -thousand miles in length. And thirty-one of the eighty-eight nights were spent in the ' diligences ' and post-wagons. Still my health was good." CHAPTEE XV. ME. BAIRD WRITES AND PUBLISHES A TREATISE ON "THE UNION OP CHURCH AND STATE IN NEW ENGLAND." LET- TER OF PRINCE FREDERICK WILLIAM OF PRUSSIA. RE- TURN TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1838. IS APPOINTED CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE ASSOCIATION. THE ASSOCIATION IS ENLARGED INTO THE FOREIGN EVANGEL- ICAL SOCIETY. 1837-9. DURING the year 1837, in the course of which Mr. Baird made the two tours, in Italy and to Russia, which have been noticed in the two preceding chapters, he also found time to publish at Paris in the French language, a treatise on " The Union of Church and State in New Eng- land, considered with reference to its effects on Religion in the United States."* The object of this pamphlet is expressed in the first few sentences. " I have often been asked, since my arrival in Europe, how it has come to pass that Socinianism and Universalism have penetrated into the churches of the United States, and that the progress of these heresies has been so considerable as pretended, in ' some portions of that country whose first colonists were, for the most part, men of fervent piety and pure doctrine. This question appears to me important, and worthy of a careful * L'Unlon do l'Eglise et de 1'Etat dans la Nouvelle Angleterre, considered dans ses effets sur la Religion aux Etau-Unis. Par un Amencain (pp. 84). Paris, J. J. Risler. 1837. (183) 164 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. reply. I propose to endeavor to answer it •here." After rapidly sketching the high religious and moral character of the Pilgrim fathers of New England, the author points out two fundamental errors in the organization of the colonies — the attempt to realize a theocratical State, and the entire denial of the right of dissent from the generally adopted faith. Next are considered the effects of the admission of the pernicious principle that none but church members ought to enjoy the rights of citizenship, of the adoption of the "Half-way Covenant" plan, and of a widespread belief in the Lord's Supper as a means of regeneration, in which, consequently, not only converted persons, but those also whose minds were seriously disposed could properly partici- pate. The author then traces the systematic development of the legitimate consequences of these erroneous principles, and exhibits further the mode in which the Unitarian major- ity in many communities had exerted its influence in secur- ing heterodox clergymen, and in fostering the growth of its own views among the people. He closes with a chapter devoted to religious statistics, from which he infers that, if Socinianism and Unitarianism are growing in the United States, it is neither in proportion to the increase of the entire population, nor to the spread of the denominations that hold Evangelical views. The conclusion to which the facts he has marshaled in array inevitably lead, i3 that the union of Church and State is a misfortune, not for New England alone, but wherever it exists : " Established in the name of religion, it is to religion that the union has been most disastrous. Men sought to make it a means of strengthening the truth, and it has served only to shake it. For truth draws its power from itself alone, and the sup- ports that are given to it enfeeble instead of sustaining it. You have seen it tied down by bonds which were called alliances, and unable to move freely in the struggle. You have seen it, at a later period, everywhere triumphant, be UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 165 causja nothing impeded its march, peacefully spreading its conquests wherever man subjected the soil to his "empire, growing by peace as well as by war. What instruction doc3 not this contrast afford ! " " I carefully abstain," says the author in conclusion, " from making any special application of these reflections. In writing tliem I have not had in view one country rather than another ; but as a citizen of the world, at the same time that I am an American citizen, I have thought that the experience which America acquired at its own cost might be profitable to the world. This is my prayer to God, and I supplicate Him everywhere to place His Church in cir- cumstances the most favorable to its perfection and pro- gress ! I render Him thanks at the same time, from the bot- tom of my heart, that the portion of that Church which is found in America has finally, after long groping and sad mistakes, rejected the bonds of the State ; and that the truth, which there protects liberty, is in turn gaining strength under its shadow, and is extending in every direc- tion, strong through its independence !" This interesting little treatise, written solely with the aim of explaining some phenomena in the religious history of the United States that seemed enigmatical to serious European observers, and of contributing to the progress of ecclesiastical freedom throughout the world, was never pub- lished in English. It was sent to many influential persons on the continent, by whom it was well received. During the anniversary week in May, 1836, at a meeting of the friends of the cause of evangelical religion in Eu- rope, held in the lecture-room of the Brick Church (Rev. Dr. Spring's) in the city of New York, it had been voted that there was abundant cause for encouragement in the efforts which were being made to advance evangelical re- ligion not only in Prance, but also in other Roman Catholic countries, and that it was advisable to drop the title of 1 66 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. the " French Association," and adopt the designation of the " Foreign Evangelical Association." The earnest hope was expressed that the wide field of usefulness opened to the exertions of Protestants in Europe might at once be occupied, and that the dimensions of the Christian enter- prise might be greatly enlarged. This desire was, however, for the time frustrated by the lack of a suitable person to present the claims of the European missions in the Churches. At length, in the winter of 1837-8, it was thought best to recommend that Rev. Mr. Baird should return to the United States, at least temporarily, as soon as he could make arrangements for that purpose, and should organize this important effort. Accordingly, he left Paris on the 14th of March, 1838, and reached New York on the 16th of April following, having been absent from his native land somewhat more than three years. Previously to his departure, he had forwarded to the Crown Prince of Prussia (afterwards King Frederick Wil- liam IV.) a copy of his treatise on the Union of Church and State, at the same time writing to him by mail. The reply of the prince, addressed to Mr. Baird at Paris, arrived too late to find him in France, and was forwarded to America. It is so interesting in itself, while it. shows so deep an ap- preciation of Mr. Baird's philanthropic labors, that we have deemed a translation of it worthy of a place here : " Berlin, March 20, 1838. " Your letter from Paris, my dear Baird, which I have just re- ceived, has given me very great pleasure, and I thank you for it with all my heart. I render thanks to God that he has conducted you safe and sound by so many ways, and through the midst of so many different nations. I am charmed to learn that you have seen and spoken to my sister of Russia, whom we hope soon to see here. May God bless what you have sown with so much Christian trust and constancy ! Our Tyrolese of Zillerthal, after having experienced the cholera and the scourge of a terrible winter, are beginning to LETTER OF TEE PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 167 settle in the beautiful valley of Hirachberg, on lands of the king. Their words and their manners preach the Gospel. " The little work which you announce to me, and for which I am infinitely obliged to you has not yet reached me. The subj ect of which it treats interests me in a very special manner. With you in the United States, the Church is a stranger indifferent to the State- with us, on the contrary, she is its slave. One is as bad as the other ; for both are, I think, very wrong for Christian States. " You are leaving for America. May God conduct you ! May he some day bring you back into Germany, and grant your friends the pleasure of seeing you again. Think, sometimes, when you have re- turned to your great and beautiful native land, of your devoted " Fbbdekick William, " Prince lioyal of Prussia. 1 '' It should be added, that, in a reply to this letter, Mr. Baird endeavored to convey to the Prince a more correct idea of the relation which the Church in America sustains to the State ; and to disabuse his mind of the impression so generally entertained in Europe, that our civil govern- ment ignores not only Christianity, but all forms of religion. A letter written by Mr. Baird to the Committee of the Foreign Evangelical Society, about two months before his return to America, gives an interesting glimpse at the work in which he was engaged, and of the progress of the truth in France during the three years of his sojourn at the French capital. During the past autumn and winter he had, in conjunction with the Bev. Edward N. Kirk, established and maintained a service for Americans every Sabbath morning in the chapel of a small French Church, worship- ing in the Rue Ste. Anne. The social meetings held every Saturday evening had been unusually interesting, and, it was hoped, profitable, not only to Americans, but to persons of other countries. The labors of the. various societies for the evangelization of France had never been more en- couraging. The call for laborers far exceeded the means provided for their support ; yet the number of colporteurs i68 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. was steadily increasing, and in the two important cities of Bordeaux and Marseilles, in each of which twelve colpor- teurs were at work, it was believed that there was scarcely a family that had not been visited. Nor were French Christians content to confine their exertions to their own country. Algiers had been assumed as a new field by the . French Evangelical Society, while the Society for Foreign Missions was awakening new interest in its operations in Southern Africa : " There are many things which indicate an increasing de- sire after the Gospel in this country. You have probably seen an account of a whole commune, of some fifteen hundred or two thousand inhabitants, in the vicinity of Cherbourg, turning Protestant, within two or three months. The So- ciety has sent a fine young man to preach there. But the Government has interfered to prevent ! And just so it is. At the moment when the people are becoming desirous to hear the Gospel, this Government, which is greatly pressed by the Catholics, and more so than usual of late, is throw- ing obstacles in the way. In many cases, permission to open new chapels is refused." Several suits had been carried into the courts, and in one case at Orleans the judges had de- cided in favor of the Society. An appeal had been taken to the Court of Cassation. If the decision be confirmed, the writer proceeds to say, religious liberty may be regarded as achieved ; if not, the only recourse is to the Chamber of Deputies, with petitions for the repeal of the unjust laws which are the source of the difficulties. " It may cost a protracted struggle, but religious liberty will certainly gain the 'day here, and the obstacles which now exist will be re- moved.'' Under these promising circumstances, his only regret is that the limited means at the disposal of the Asso- ciation allow him to lend so little assistance to the efforts made to spread the truth in France. Mr. Baird's stay in the United States extended from RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES. 169 April, 1838 to August, 1839. At the annual meeting of the Association, held in the month of May following his return, he gave a full account of the results of his mission, and was appointed Corresponding Secretary and General Agent. During the ensuing year, his time was taken up altogether with labors to interest the Churches in the claims of the cause of th« evangelization of the Roman Catholic countries of Europe. Leaving his family for the greater part of the time in Princeton, New Jersey, he visited almost every part of the Eastern and Northern States, and many places in the Southern and Western States, as well as Montreal in Canada. In his next annual report, in which he gave an outline of these efforts, he stated that he had preached in behalf of the Association every Sabbath within the past eleven months, with two ex- ceptions ; and had ordinarily delivered three discourses each Lord's Day. He had further addressed a large num- ber of meetings during the week, and conveyed special in- formation respecting Italy and various other countries of Europe. By means of these familiar presentations of the subject, he was enabled to induce the ladies of a number of Churches to form auxiliary associations, and pledge themselves to support an evangelist or a colporteur in France. Nor did he fail to speak more than once on the state of temperance and education in Europe — subjects in which, as we have seen, he was ever deeply interested. " In a word," he writes, " I have labored incessantly to dis- seminate all the information I could, which might, by any means have a bearing upon the promotion of the kingdom of God in the countries which constitute the field of labor of the Association. And I must say, in reviewing the whole ground over which I have passed, that I have found that our churches, in general, became deeply interested in the objects of this Association, wherever those objects were fully presented to them. And I believe that, without exception, 170 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. all those who are friendly to this Association are decidedly in favor of its enlargement into a Society, and of its taking its place among the other important religious and benev- olent societies of our country." The suggestion here made was carried into effect in May, 1839, when the "Association" became the " Foreign Evan- gelical Society." The Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, Chancellor of the University of the City of New York, was elected President, and the Rev. Robert Baird and the Rev. Edward N. Kirk, Corresponding Secretaries. It was soon afterwards decided by the Executive Committee of the new society, that Mr. Baird should return to Prance, to superintend the operations in Europe, and take up his residence, at least for the present, at Paris. Mr. Kirk, who had been at the French capital during the past two years, and had preached the Gospel with great acceptance to the American residents, came back to the United States to superintend the work at home. Before his return to Europe, Mr. Baird wrote and pub- lished at New York a small volume of Christian biography, under the title of " Transplanted Flowers." It contained a brief sketch of the lives of four devoted Christian ladies, with whose history he had become acquainted while in Paris— Mrs. Rumpff, a daughter of Mr. John Jacob Astor, to whom reference has before been made in these pages ; the Duchess de Broglie, daughter of Madame de Stael ; Mrs. Grandpierre, and Mrs. Monod. An English reprint, omitting the last two brief notices, was made by the Re- ligious Tract Society at London during the same year. CHAPTER XVI. INTEEVIEW WITH THE KING OP HOLLAND AND THE DUTCH MINISTER FOR THE COLONIES, IN BEHALF OF THE MIS- SIONS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD IN INDIA. TOUR IN SOUTHERN FRANCE. SERIOUS ILLNESS. INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS PHILIPPE RESPECTING THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 1839-1841. IN the month of August, 1839, Mr. Baird, with his family, again embarked for Europe. Leaving the vessel at Portsmouth, they crossed the English Channel to Havre, and reached Paris in the course of the next month. This city was a second time his residence for nearly three years. Within a few weeks after his arrival in France, he made two short journeys of more than usual importance. The first of these was to Belgium and Holland ; the second to Geneva and southern France. The primary object of his trip to Brussels was to confer with the little band of evan- gelical Christians that had gathered in the capital of the new kingdom which had been constructed out of the prov- inces that once constituted the Austrian Netherlands. Now, at length, true religion was beginning to revive on the ground from which the fires of persecution kindled by Charles V. and Philip II. seemed to have destroyed every trace of opposition to the Roman hierarchy. Where in 1830 there was scarcely a single Protestant to be found, so many converts had been gained from Romanism, that a Belgic Evangelical Society, for the promotion of domestic (m) 172 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRB. missions, had been recently instituted. It was the desire of Mr. Baird and of the society he represented, that America might take part in furthering the revival of true religion on this historic soil. Mr. Baird had another object in view in extending his journey to the Hague. The Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, learning that he was about to visit Belgium, had desired him, through the Rev. R. Anderson, D. D.; the Secretary of the Board, to endeavor to obtain a personal interview with the King of Holland, and procure the removal of some inju- rious restrictions tending to the exclusion of American missionaries from Netherlands India. In the letter in which the request was made at considerable length (August 26, 1839), the points to be aimed at were stated to be these : To convince the government of Holland that the missions of the Board had no connection with commerce or politics, and that the Board acknowledged a subjection to the pow- ers that be, wherever it had missions ; to obtain the removal of the regulation that confined the labors of the American missionaries to the island of Borneo, excluding them from Sumatra, Celebes, and other islands of the Indian Archi- pelago ; and to have the American missionaries destined for Borneo, freed from the necessity of spending a year at Batavia, or of even going there before they were allowed to proceed to that island. He was instructed to state to the King of Holland that the missionaries sent to Netherlands India would be for the most part, if not altogether, members of the Reformed Dutch Church of the United States. Yet the Board saw no sufficient reason why the Dutch Govern- ment should restrict the right of admission to these oriental possessions to the missionaries of this or any other Church. As soon as he arrived at the Hague, Mr. Baird called upon the American charge d'affaires, the Hon. Hermaunus Bleecker, to whom he had a letter of introduction, and in INTERVIEW WITH THE KING OF HOLLAND. 173 accordance with his advice and that of an excellent Wal- loon clergyman, the Eev. Mr. Secretan, he resolved to make application, first of all, to the Minister of State for the Colonies. This gentleman, General Van der Bosch, to whose department the subject properly belonged, was a man of great influence, who had himself been for a long time Governor-general of Netherlands India. In a first inter- view Mr. Baird presented to General Van der Bosch a full view of the entire subject, through the medium of the French language, and left in his hands a translation of the state- ment of the principal facts with which he had been furnished by the Rev. Dr. Anderson, Secretary of the American Board. The minister promised to take the subject into considera- tion. In the meantime Mr. Baird had an interview with the King of Holland. Fully aware that the monarch would certainly be guided in his decision principally by the sug- gestions of his cabinet officer, he anticipated no results of great importance. The most that he hoped to accomplish was to direct the king's attention to the fact that mission- aries had been sent from the United States by the Reformed Dutch Church, under the auspices of the American Board, and to invoke for them his majesty's fostering care and pro- tection. He endeavored to impress his mind with the strong sentiment of affection for the land of their ancestors, which the Dutch churches had evinced in 'preferring to send their missionaries to Netherlands India, rather than to any other field, although the whole heathen world lay before them. The king was evidently gratified by this statement of the case, and made a number of inquiries respecting the number and condition of the Dutch churches in the United States. And when Mr. Baird rose to leave, his majesty expressed himself highly pleased, and said that he heartily wished all manner of success to the enterprise to which the interview had reference. 1 74 LIFE OF RET. DR. BAISD. Mr. Baird had avoided entering into much detail respect- ing the difficulties which missionary labor had encountered in the Dutch oriental possessions, when conversing with the King of the Netherlands. Not so, however, in his inter- view with General Van der Bosch. The minister gave him the unexpected information that the order which restricted the missionaries to the Island of Borneo, had emanated from the home government. Indeed, little doubt is entertained that it was the minister himself who penned it. And when Mr. Baird took the liberty of asking the reasons for this action, he was able to allege some which were certainly not without force. He denied that the Dutch Government entertained any fear that the missionaries would meddle either with politics or with commerce. On the contrary, he asserted that he had, personally, the highest opinion of American missionaries, having, when in India, become ac- quainted with the character of many of those laboring in the British possessions.* It was his earnest desire to have American missionaries admitted into the islands under the Dutch rule ; but here was the difficulty. If American mis- sionaries were received, according to the provisions of the treaty of 1815, it was impossible to exclude missionaries from England, Prance or Austria. The Propaganda would soon be demanding permission for its emissaries. " Now," said he, " we do not want any Roman Catholic missionaries in Netherlands India. We fear the consequences of having men of such opposite creeds and measures admitted to labor amongst populations so peculiarly difficult to govern as are the Mohammedan and Pagan tribes of Java." And the minister even expressed the unwillingness of the Govern- ment to give an entrance to missionaries from England — . * To Mr. Secre"tan lie expressed the opinion that the American mission- aries are the best in the world, because they prosecute their work as men who expect to produce permanent results, laying a broad foundation in schools, printing presses, etc. APPARENT SUCCESS. 175 an unwillingness resulting in part from jealousy of the com- mercial rivalry of that country, but still more from the deep- seated hatred entertained towards it, in consequence of the conduct of the British Government in relation to the recent separation of Belgium from Holland. In answer to the question, " Must we then abandon the field and give up all hope of sending missionaries into your Indian possessions ? " Mr. Van der Bosch replied that, on the contrary, he was desirous that they might be sent. But he said that there was but one way in which this could be done with safety to the' national interests ; but one, indeed, which could be entertained for a single moment. The plan which he proceeded to unfold was the following : That all the missionaries hereafter sent out from America should take Holland upon their way to India, and, after forming the acquaintance of the directors of the Netherlands Mis- sionary Society, should proceed to their destination invested with the additional commission of missionaries of that so- ciety. This course would also furnish them the opportunity of commencing the study of the Malay, under the instruction of a native professor of that language residing at Breda. And having procured all the necessary works in Holland, they might prosecute the study while upon their long voy- age from Rotterdam or Amsterdam to Batavia. The sincere interest which General Van der Bosch took in this subject was evinced still further by the fact that he was at the pains of writing directly to the Missionary Soci- ety of the Netherlands (at Rotterdam) on the subject, as well as of giving Mr. Baird a letter of introduction to Baron Mackay, one of the most prominent members of the Board of Directors. Upon Baron Mackay and Mr. Ledde- boer, the Secretary of the Society, Mr. Baird called on his return to Rotterdam. In conference with these gentlemen, he learned that the Society cordially approved of the plan that had been suggested by the Minister of State for the i 7 6 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. Colonies ; and that it would gladly receive among the num- ber of its missionaries the young men who might be sent out from the United States to study and be ordained in Holland. Such were, in brief, the important results reached by the interviews of Mr. Baird, as delineated in a long letter from Paris, November 14, 1839, to the Rev. R. Anderson, I). D. It was, however, deemed prudent to abstain from giving to the arrangement indicated much immediate publicity. Un- fortunately, the Dutch Ministry seems to have soon come to a conclusion at variance with that announced to Mr. Baird, for . an order was within a year or two conveyed to the Netherlands Missionary Society, requiring them to send only native Dutch missionaries to the oriental possessions of Holland. Nor was it in the power of the Rev. Isaac Ferris, D. D., who went to the Hague, on behalf jointly of the American Board and the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Dutch Church, two years later, to effect a reversal of the determination expressed by the Government, to maintain the exclusion of foreigners from their interior possessions in the Indian Archipelago, as a principle of set- tled State policy. The journey which Mr. Baird took to Geneva in the month of November, 1839, had for its object the organiza- tion of the "American Committee of Correspondence," or "American-Swiss Committee," as it was afterwards called. The plan of such a committee originated with some of the most experienced friends of the work of evangelization in France. " The specific objects " sought in its formation, we are told, were " to furnish a more direct and intimate con- nection with this interesting field of evangelical labors ; to exercise a salutary control over the expenditure of moneys committed to us by the churches ; to give to our churches a more definite sphere of operations, for which they are thus directly and solely responsible ; and to secure a constant AMERICAN-SWISS COMMITTEE. 177 return of detailed information which may keep alive a vivid and glowing interest in the work." It was believed that these objects could be attained more satisfactorily by work- ing through such an independent organization, than by con- tinuing to entrust the funds raised in the United States for the promotion of the truth in France altogether to the French Evangelical Society, or, indeed, to the society having the same purpose in view in Geneva. The American Churches, in the opinion of those best qualified to judge, would never enter into the work with their whole heart, until they could see some of the distinct fruits of their benevolence and self- denial, and feel that their contributions were sensibly affect ing the progress of the cause of Christ. No sufficiently ap- propriate arrangements had as yet been agreed upon to attain this end, with the Evangelical Society of Paris. Yet, while instituting the American-Swiss Committee at Geneva, the Foreign Evangelical Society disclaimed all intention of inaugurating any unhealthy rivalry with the existing socie- ties, or of wholly withdrawing its cooperation from them. Indeed, the American Churches have continued to contribute yearly considerable sums to the treasuries of those societies, through the Foreign Evangelical Society and its successor, the American and Foreign Christian Union. The American-Swiss Committee was constituted under the presidency of that well-known and devoted Christian gentle- man, the late Col. Henri Tronchin, and comprised from six to ten clergymen and laymen residing at Geneva (among whom may be mentioned the Rev. Caesar Malan, D.D., and Prof. De La Harpe), besides one or more of the efficient Christian brethren of Lyons. Mr. Baird was a member as a delegate of the American Society. It began its opera- tions in France, in the course of the following year, by means of pastors, evangelists and colporteurs ; and, it may be interesting to notice that the ancient city of Vienne, below Lyons, was the initial point. 12 178 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. The plan thus adopted had been first suggested by others. Mr. Baird at first entertained grave doubts of its expe- diency. He was unwilling to alienate the French breth- ren, for whom, if he could not always agree with their views, he had a strong affection ; and he therefore insisted upon not entirely diverting the aid which had heretofore been given them. And he regarded the state of things in France, " especially since the decision, by the Court of Cassation, of the affair of Montargis," as requiring " great prudence." It was evidently necessary to avoid, as much as possible, exciting French jealousy of foreign interference, even in matters of religion. But mature deliberation, and conference with many judicious individuals in France and Switzerland, had led him to give the plan' of establishing the new committee, his hearty approval. Having adjusted, with the help of the excellent brethren of Geneva, the relations of the American-Swiss Committee to the Foreign Evangelical Society, Mr. Baird proceeded in the " malle-poste " to Lyons, where he again visited the flourishing church, to which, he tells us, many could not gain admission, at the services that he attended, on account' of the want of room. He was struck with the great pro- gress which the the truth had there made, since his last visit in 1837 ; and was more and more convinced that Lyons was "one of the most important points in all France." He found, indeed, that the number of converted Boman Catholics was so great, that a new meeting had been insti- tuted in the populous suburb of Vaize, where 120 hearers formed the germ of a new church. Promising the Rev. Mr. Cordez, their worthy pastor, to endeavor to interest the American Churches in securing them the means of building a permanent edifice, Mr. Baird continued his journey to Marseilles, where he was desirous of examining into the propriety of stationing a devoted clergyman to preach to American and English residents and sailors. Such a man, TOUR IN SOUTHERN- FRANCE. 1?9 he found, could enter a wide field of usefulness, if he could master the Arabic and Turkish languages, among the Turks. Egyptians, and other Mohammedan seamen and merchants frequenting the port. Extending his tour in southern France, Mr. Baird rode nearly three hundred miles to Toulouse. " Here I had a real feast in meeting the Courtois — three excellent brothers, bankers, rich, young, and the most simple-hearted and de- voted men that I have ever seen, on this continent. They, with the excellent Mr. Cabraud, one of the pastors at Tou- louse, are at the head of a society for the publication of religious books in the French language. The society has been in existence three years, and has already done much good. I had long wanted to see these good brethren, and consult with them as to future operations." The results of these deliberations were communicated to the American Tract Society, which was solicited to appropriate 800 or 1,000 dollars annually to the work undertaken by these efficient laborers. After spending a few days at Toulouse, and one at Mon- tauban, where he received the kindest attentions from Pro- fessors Monod, Jalaguier, and de Felice, of the National Protestant Theological School, and his venerable friend, the Rev. Mr. Marzials, president of the consistory, Mr. Baird returned to Paris, by way of Bordeaux, Angouleme, Poitiers, Tours and Orleans. This journey of fourteen hundred miles, as well as the shorter trip that had preceded it. to Belgium and Holland, was accomplished in spite of great physical suffering. For months he had been afflicted with an affection apparently rheumatic in its character, contracted from exposure in one of his journeys during his recent visit to the United States. This disease had been gradually gaining strength, and had become exceedingly painful. Although he took the greatest care that was possible under the circumstances, it could not i8o LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. but be aggravated by his long rides day and night, in the " malle-poste." On his return to Paris on the 28th of De- cember, 1839, he was decidedly worse. Unable to walk without very great suffering, he was compelled to keep to his room, and at a later time, to his bed. What had at first been regarded as rheumatism, proved to be an abscess, attended by such inflammation that recourse was at length had to the application of the moxa. This extremely pain- ful operation had the desired effect ; but the cure was slow, and it was many months before Mr. Baird regained, to any great extent, his usual health. It was feared, at one time, that the disease as yet unchecked, might leave him a cripple for life; but this result was, through the Divine mercy, averted. The first few months of 1840 were, however, passed in great suffering and weakness ; nor did he find it in his power to renew the public service on the Lord's Day for Americans and English. As he became stronger and felt himself once more capaci- tated for undertaking his wonted labors, a visit to North- ern Europe, upon the necessity of which he had had full opportunity to reflect while confined to his bed during his recent illness, presented itself to his mind as still more im- portant to the interests, of Christ's kingdom, than it had appeared previously. " I have no great desire to make the tour to which I have just referred," he wrote, early in the winter to the executive committee, " but it seems to me that it would be the best disposition of my time that I could make. I am urged to it by the expressed wish of the King of Bavaria, the Crown Prince of Prussia, and the King of Sweden ; and I think that it would not be in vain. Its ob- ject would be to show to those Governments the progress of the Temperance cause in the United States, especially in connection with legislative enactments — a point of vast im- portance, when we consider that Prussia, if induced to fol- low the example of Massachusetts or Tennessee, could by a INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS PHILIPPE. l«l law of five lines destroy the sale, and consumption of ardent spirits in her dominions. And what an example to Europe ! It may be said that all that can be done, can just as well be accomplished by printed documents, etc. But my own experience teaches a very different lesson." Mr. Baird's views met the approval of the executive com- mittee of the Foreign Evangelical Society, and it was de- cided that he should visit Northern Europe during the summer of 1840, in order to further the Temperance, as well as the Tract and Bible causes. Mention has already been made in the former part of this chapter of Mr. Baird's visit to Holland for the purpose of endeavoring to secure greater liberty to the missionaries of the American Board in the Indian Archipelago. It may not be inappropriate here to state that a few months later, he was entrusted by the same society with a somewhat similar mission to the King of the French. The object was to call the attention of his majesty, Louis Philippe, to the infamous conduct of Captain Laplace, in command of the French man-of-war "Artemise," towards the government of the Sandwich Islands. Accordingly, he sought an interview with Louis Philippe, and was invited to the Tuileries in the month of February, 1841. He was kindly received by the king and queen, as well as by the Princess Adelaide, the king's sister ; and enjoyed a brief opportunity of stating the case historically, while placing in his majesty's hands the letter which the Prudential Committee of the American Board had addressed to Louis Philippe. He particularly pointed out the injurious tendency of some of the articles of the treaty which Captain Laplace had imposed upon the feeble and imperfectly civilized inhabitants of those islands, and especially of those by which the admission of French brandy is permitted. In reply, the monarch said " that he regretted that the chiefs of the Sandwich Islands had not at once allowed the Catholic missionaries to remain, and to l8z LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. do what they could to promote their religion without viola- tion of the laws ; that there was no apparent reason why they should not have exercised this amount of toleration ; that he Relieved that either the Catholic or the Protestant religion was infinitely better than none ; that being a Catho- lic himself, he could do nothing to oppose Catholic missions, while he sincerely desired that both Catholic and Protes- tant missions might everywhere go forward together in the spirit of harmony and goodwill." Mr. Baird responded by saying that American Protestants had no desire that his majesty should do anything hostile to Roman Catholic mis- sions ; and that their sole request was that he should inquire into the conduct of Captain Laplace, as exhibited in the proclamation and treaty that accompanied the letter, in which there were some things which they were confident that a monarch of his well-known benevolent and just dis- position could not permit himself to approve. The inter- view closed with an assurance on the part of Louis Philippe that he would read with attention the documents submitted to him, and give the entire subject his most serious consid- eration. Mr. Baird took an early opportunity of conversing with M. Guizot, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with whom he was well acquainted, on the same topic. The chief obstacle in the way of securing the redress of the grievances, he found to consist in the reluctance of a ministry to review the acts of its predecessors, especially when, by the occur- rence of several ministerial changes, an appointment, as in the case of Captain Laplace, had obtained somewhat of antiquity in its favor.* * The intercessions of Mr. Baird with the governments of Holland and France, are briefly adverted to in the Memorial Volume of the First Fifty Years of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (Bos- ton, 1861), pp. 202-4. CHAPTER XVII. THIRD TOUR IN NORTHERN EUROPE. COPENHAGEN. DECREASE OF RATIONALISM. THORWALDSEN. CHRISTIANIA. EX- TRAORDINARY HONORS. BERNADOTTE AND PRINCE OSCAR. TRIP TO HUDDIKSVALL. LETTER OP REV. GEORGE SCOTT. FINLAND. SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS IN RUSSIA. THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. TEMPERANCE IN GERMANY. INTERVIEWS WITH THE KINGS OF DENMARK, PRUSSIA, SAXONY, BAVA- RIA AND WIRTEMBERG. 1840. ON the 9th of July, 1840, Mr. Baird left Paris for Havre, intending to take a coasting steamer thence to Hamburg. Although still very feeble, and unable to stand or walk for any great length of time, in consequence of the serious illness from which he had not yet fully recovered, many hours at Rouen and on the steamboat upon the Seine were spent in completing a long and very elaborate article on Religious Liberty in France, which appeared in the American Biblical Repository for October, 1840. The pas- sage to Hamburg was short ; but, indisposed as he was, he suffered much. During the three or four days which he spent in visiting men of influence, and in endeavoring to learn the best means by which the Foreign Evangelical Society coidd promote the progress of the kingdom of Christ, he obtained much valuable information respecting this in- teresting free city. There, also, he wrote the first pages of a work, the composition of which he had for some time been contemplating, and which was published during the (183) 184 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. ensuing year, with the title : " A Visit to Northern Europe." It was his original intention to consecrate the first volume to the German Free Cities and Scandinavia, and the second to Russia ; but the material so accumulated as he ad- , vanced, that he was compelled to devote both volumes to the subject which he had proposed to dismiss at the close of the first. He then determined to treat of Russia in a separate work ; but this design was never executed. Prom Hair." urg he went to Kiel by " diligence," and thence to Copenhagen by steamer, highly enjoying the de- lightful sail through the Danish Archipelago. While in the capital, Mr. Baird succeeded in making arrangements for the publication of his History of Temperance Societies in the Danish language, and in interesting some influential persons in the promotion of Temperance. He was saddened by the discovery that German rationalism had spread to an alarming extent among the clergy ; while it was cheering to learn that evangelical religion was beginning to regain its lost ground — or, to employ the words of a distinguished and faithful pastor, with- whom Mr. Baird conversed in Latin, in the absence of any other medium of communica- tion, Fides tho oxa orescit; rationalismus decrescit. On the other hand, his sympathies were warmly enlisted in be- half of the poor, persecuted native Baptists, some of whom were languishing in prison, for no other crime than that of having, in violation of the intolerant laws of Denmark, conducted meetings independent of the established Lu- theran Church. Against these victims of a bigoted State Church, statutes framed to repress the disorders of the Ana- baptists of the times of the fanatical John of Leyden, had been invoked. A few hours were pleasantly and profitably spent in making an excursion some miles in the interior of the island of Zealand to Roeskilde, the former capital of Den- mark, many of whose monarchs lie buried in the curious THE SCULPTOR TH0BWALB8EK 185 old cathedral. A visit to Albert Thorwaldsen's studio not only introduced Mr. Baird to many of his master pieces, but also made him acquainted with the venerable artist himself, still engaged in his old age in modeling designs for the bas-reliefs of the Frue Kirche. " A plain, modest man, short and stout, with a fine, hale, ruddy face, and blond hair," who received him in the kindest manner, was the eminent sculptor, whose works he had come to see. The Danes were not wanting in appreciation of this north- ern Phidias ; for the Government was about to send him back to Italy to execute some more works for the adorn- ment of Copenhagen, in a national frigate, dispatched ex- pressly for the purpose of honoring him. Thorwaldsen informed Mr. Baird that he was quite ignorant of the num- ber of statues he had designed and executed, but that it certainly exceeded one thousand. Taking a steamer, Mr. Baird passed up through the Sound and Cattegat ; and, after touching at Fredericks- hald, followed the long and narrow Fiord to Christiania. After a few days spent here in procuring information respecting the moral and religious condition of Norway; and in promoting the Temperance cause, he returned as far as Gottenburg, whence he proceeded to Stockholm, pursu- ing the route by the Gotta river and canal, which he had taken upon his former visit to Sweden. Mr. Baird had not been long in Stockholm before he . perceived the great change that had taken place in Sweden since he had reached its shores four years previously, a 3tranger comparatively to its people and institutions. His work on Temperance had obtained, through the king's in- fluence, an unprecedented circulation. Thousands had by reading it been induced to renounce all use of intoxicating drinks. His name had become a household word with many a family, that rejoiced in the rescue of some of its members from a drunkard's grave. He was regarded as 186 ' LIFE OF REV. DR. BA1RD. another " Father Mathew" of Sweden, and he was entreated by the friends of the movement to prolong his visit for a few weeks, and by the interest which was felt in his person to give an additional impulse to the movement. "I shall have to stay here longer than I expected," he writes in a familiar letter from Stockholm. " The Temperance friends insist upon my going two hundred miles northward to Huddiksvall, on the Gulf of Bothnia, where there is to be a great meeting on the 26th inst. The people in that re- gion have written to say that I must come, even if it be only that they may see me ! You have no idea of the influ- ence exerted in Sweden by my former poor efforts, and especially my Temperance History. From all sources I receive this testimony. This being the case, and as my fail- ure to gratify the desires of the friends here would do great injury, I must stay for the remainder of this month in Sweden, which will be longer by fifteen or twenty days than I had intended. But I cannot do otherwise. I have seen Berzelius, the great chemist, Archbishop Wingard, the prime minister of the king, and many other persons of dis- tinction. The Diet or Parliament is in session now, and this makes me known to many prominent men. Yesterday I received an invitation from the king to come to the palace, and last night I had a long interview of an hour with his majesty alone. As soon as I entered, he took me by the hand, and led me to the opposite side of the room, and made me sit down by his side on a sofa, where he talked in the most familiar manner with me, and inquiring how long I was going to stay, he said he would see me again." A' few days later, he writes : " I had very pleasant inter- view with the Crown Prince, on Wednesday morning last. He assured me that he would do everything in his power to advance the cause of Temperance in the army, of which he is commander-in-chief. He also sent, me a book written by himself and recently published, on Prison-discipline, etc., ATTENTIONS RECEIVED IN SWEDEN. 187 as a souvenir." He was invited to dine with the Count Hartmansdorff, the prime minister of the king, in company with many eminent men, among whom were two governors, an admiral, and others. "The dinner was intended to honor me. I felt not a little embarrassed at the many compliments which I received as a benefactor to Sweden. This title I receive from all the persons whom I meet." Another day was taken up with a succession of engagements : a meeting at the exchange of nearly two thousand persons whom he addressed through an interpreter ; a dinner given by some thirty gentlemen to testify their appreciation of his services ; and a conference with the directors of the National Temperance Society. " It has embarrassed me not a little," he repeats, " to answer the direct addresses which have been made to me, thanking me for what I have done for Sweden. Alas ! it is but little that I have done. To God be all the praise for any good effected through my poor instrumentality." Of the journey to Huddiksvall, to which he was urged by his friends at Stockholm, Mr. Bairdhas left so interesting an account, in a report to the executive committee of the Foreign Evangelical Society, that the most essential portions have been inserted in an appendix to this volume. A few additional incidents may, however, be given, derived in part from his familiar correspondence. " We held as many as eight or ten public meetings, at most of which I delivered a speech in English. You can have no conception of the numbers of people who nocked to those meetings. Nor can I tell you how much embarrassed I have been at the many, many addresses made to me by societies, by distinguished individuals, and even by the chief civil authorities in one place, for the good which I had done by my former visit, as well as for the present one. I am sure you would have 'rejoiced, had you been with me, to see such decided proofs that God had blessed my humble efforts. Oh, how it ought 188 LIFE OF BEY. DR. BAIRD. to fill our hearts with thankfulness to find our poor services owned in any degree by Him ; and how it ought to support us under trials ! Hundreds of peasants flocked around me, wherever I went, to see the man who had written a book which had done so much for them ; and, if possible, to shake him by the hand, and say Tack ! Tack! Thanks, Thanks ! Some days we held as many as four meetings, and yet tra- veled fifty miles. At times I was almost worn out. But. thanks be to God, I have returned to this place in better health than when I left it. You will be amused when I assure you that no refusal would the people take to the pro- position to have my likeness taken and engraved. I shall try hard to get clear of it on the score of the want of time. But I fear that I shall not be successful." Mr. Baird was not successful. A portrait, unfortunately a very poor one, was made, and found its way into many a cottage in distant parts of Sweden and Norway-, and even in Prussia, where it was prized as the representation of the features of one whose single-hearted piety and philanthropy had proved a signal blessing to natives of lands distant from that in which he first saw the light. One of the most interesting of these meetings was held at Norrala. On one occasion Mr. Baird and the gentlemen that accompanied him ad- dressed the eager crowd of listeners from the top of the very rock upon which, in 1521, Gustavus Wasa had stood, when he exhorted the peasants to rise against the op- pression of Christian the Second and the Danes. As the party slowly drove away, a large company of men and women gathered around the carriage, and commenced singing a hymn. Thus did they continue to accompany the travelers, until the descent of a considerable hill was reached. There the carriage paused until the hymn was ended. Then, amid mingled cries of " Tacks" (thanks), and " Farval" (farewell), Mr. Baird parted, as he supposed, for ' the last time, from these kind and pious peasants. In some GRATITUDE OF THE PEOPLE. 189 places the people waited four hours for the travelers who had been unavoidably detained. " Curiosity to see an American doubtless, had some influence in convening them. And I must say that it was not at all calculated to increase my vanity, to be told, as I was by an accomplished lady, possessed of far more than ordinary information, that she had come many miles, with the expectation of seeing a black man !" The glimpse which this trip gave him into the life of the peasantry Of Sweden, warmly excited his sympathies for this class. He was enabled to see and hear much respect- ing the dreadful curse of intemperance, with its harvest of consequent crime. And the wonderfully backward state of legislation equally excited his surprise ; for the peasant of Sweden was actually compelled, like the serfs and slaves of other countries, to select a 'protector from among the up- per classes, who became in a measure responsible for his client's good behaviour. A statute that condemned the agricultural class, constituting the great mass of the popu- lation, to such an indignity, he regarded as a disgrace to an enlightened and polished, not to say to a Christian nation. Before following Mr. Baird in his journey to Finland and St. Petersburg, it will not be amiss to insert a some- what extended extract from a letter of the Bev. George Scott, the devoted and eminently successful clergyman of the English Wesleyan Church at Stockholm, addressed to the Bev. "William A. Hallock, D. D. of New York, in which the fruits of the labors of the subject of these memoirs in Sweden are described by one fully qualified to appreciate them. It is dated September 7, 1840, a few days after Mr. Baird's departure : " "When, about four years ago, Mr. Baird made his first visit to Sweden, many of our benevolent efforts were in a languishing state. The Temperance Societies formed in 190 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. 1830 and- 31 were all but dissolved, and the few which still remained at their post much discouraged and ready to faint in their minds. I cannot but look upon our friend's arrival here at that juncture, as most providential ; as an illustra- tion of the good old saying ' Man's extremity is God's op- portunity.' During his short residence here, he had the opportunity of conversing not only with his majesty the king, the prince and princess royal, but also with several men of rank and influence, who listened with attention \o his calm and clear statements. The gracious act of the king, in ordering a Swedish translation of ' Baird's History of Temperance Societies' to be made, and presenting, at his own expense, a copy of the book to every parish in this kingdom, was a manifest proof that the Lord knoweth the hearts of kings ; for it would be quite impossible to give you any adequate idea of the effect produced by the circu : lation throughout the land of this book. As one of the Secretaries of the Swedish Temperance* Society, I have the means of knowing, that in almost every instance where zealous temperance efforts have been commenced in the country, ' Baird's book' has been cited as the moving instru- ment. ' Baird's book' or ' the King's book' are the names by which the history is most generally known. Of all the more distinguished Temperance advocates I am acquainted with, there is not one who does not acknowledge, that it was the reading of ' Baird's book' which decided to active exertion in this good cause. ' The Swedish Temperance Society,' a new and most efficient institution, numbering in its Committee a Berzelius, a Retzius, Hartmansdorff, etc., owes its origin to the same source ; and thousands of families rescued from the miseries incident to the use of ardent spirits, bless the day when ' the King's book' came to their neighborhood. Seldom, if ever, has a single book, in so short a time, produced such results in a whole country. " You will not be surprised to learn that the intimation A PEASANTS' ADDRESS. lgi of Mr. Baird's intended visit this year was everywhere received with enthusiasm. By the goodness of God, he has been here for about two weeks, and it would require more time than I can at present command, to give you the interest- ing particulars. All ranks seemed equally anxious to show respect to a servant of God who, by the Divine blessing, had been enabled to accomplish so much for the good of this land. His reception by the king was, I understand, most gratifying ; the cordiality of his royal highness the crown prince, I witnessed, and, indeed, wherever he went, he was welcomed as a general benefactor. I very much ques- tion, whether any private gentleman living possesses a tithe of the influence here, which Mr. Baird has acquired. I ac- companied him on a journey northwards, and attended many large meetings of the friends of religion and temperance ; and wherever we went, we found the name of Baird known and loved, especially by the truly pious. Thanksgivings were addressed to him on many occasions, and by all classes, but what seems most deeply to affect him was the circum- stance of two peasants, one at Huddiksvall, the other at Soderala, coming forward to express the gratitude of their own class, for the benefits resulting especially -to them from the distribution of ' Baird's book.' The latter of these ex- pressed himself nearly as follows : ' This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes ; we render hearty thanks to Him who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, for bringing this simple remedy out of obscurity ; we thank Him for raising up so many to exert themselves for the people's weal ; we thank Him for inclining your heart and directing your way hither, for making you an honored in- strument of extensive good. You will not understand our mode of thanking you. We acknowledge, we feel our great obligation to you ; but just for this cause do we praise Him, who made you to us what you have been. This day can never be forgotten by us ; we see, we hear, we speak to 19 2 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. the servant of God whose book has long proved a blessing to our land ; we renew in the presence of God this day, our solemn engagement to be true to the excellent counsel you have given us, and thus prove our gratitude to you. May His rich gra.ce and blessing rest upon you, guide and guard you in all your wanderings, and at length grant you an abundant entrance into His glorious kingdom.' " On returning to Stockholm, Mr. Baird had an opportu- nity of addressing the House of Farmers now assembled at the Diet ; all were present and listened with deep attention, and at the close the speaker of the House addressed Mr. Baird in the most interesting manner, sending a warm salu- tation to the agriculturists of America, and a grateful ex- pression of thanks to such of them as, had aided Mr. Baird, in his several visits to Sweden I know nothing at present, that Mr. Baird could have done, more beneficial to this country, than to avail himself of the interest awak- ened by his Temperance book, for the furtherance of the Temperance cause ; for intemperance is the grand stum- bling-block in the way of good here. Let that stone be re- moved out of the way, and glorious things will follow. But our friend did not confine himself to that object ; he preached repeatedly in our chapel here (latterly, for the first time, in the new building), met for a lengthened period several Christians in Stockholm, and consulted with them fully as to what could be done in various departments of Christian benevolence, besides delivering, in different parts of the country, lectures on the state of religion in the United States, with special reference to the efforts made for the spread of vital godliness. The good seed thus sown cannot be unfruitful; but the conviction on many minds is, that if God spare him, Mr. Baird ought to make frequent visits and longer stays in this land. Sweden is now in a most interesting state, waking up from the slumber occasioned by evil habits, and putting forth the inquiry, ' Lord, what USEFULNESS IN SWEDEN. '93 wouldst thou have me to do?' Now is the time to lend a helping hand ; a prompt, a vigorous helping hand. I very much question whether any country in Europe is at this moment so much alive to the importance of shaking off bad customs, and laboring to promote that which is good, as Sweden now is. But much information, advice, encourage- ment, support are wanted, and, by a remarkable providence, Temperance has proved the wedge which has opened Mr. Baird's way to the unlimited confidence, the unfeigned esteem of this whole people ; and he must enter the opening fully, at any expense of personal convenience or American benevolence. Think, my dear sir, seriously on this matter, and while the steam is up help us to guide the machinery to glorious results. Aid us in prevailing on Mr. Baird not to leave Europe for some years yet, and to spend a great part of those years in Scandinavia. Gladly would I let Mr. Baird, on account of his delicate health, and for his family's sake, escape ; but it is not at all likely that any other man ever can attain the extent of favorable influence possessed by him. With God all things are possible, and He has shown Himself wonderful in counsel by giving this servant of His, by such simple means, such an extent of influ- ence. Farewell, the Lord guide and bless you in this matter." Leaving Stockholm, after a much longer stay than he had originally intended to make, Mr. Baird continued his jour- ney by steamer to St. Petersburg, touching on the way at Abo, in Finland, and then at Helsingfors, the modern capi- tal. At the latter place, where the steamer lay all night under the guns of the " Gibraltar of the North," the Gover- nor very politely sent his Secretary to show him the prison — a truly horrible place where crime only festers and breeds, in consequence of the ill-advised system which shuts up six or eight persons in a single cell, with nothing to do but to corrupt each other, and to render themselves more desper- ate and hardened than before. 13 1 9+ LIFE OF REV. DR. BATED. It was Mr. Baird's earnest desire to be instrumental in setting the Temperance reformation in Russia into successful operation ; hoping that the time might not be far distant when a spectacle similar to that witnessed in Sweden might greet the eyes of the Christian philanthropist. To efforts in this direction he was prompted not a little by the convic- tion that such a reform would necessarily be the entering wedge for the introduction of further improvement, both in religion and in morals. But there were serious impedi- ments : " The Government of this country has hitherto been opposed to anything like energetic measures to promote the Temperance cause ; chiefly through the influence of the Minister of Finance, who feared for the revenue, one fifth part of which is derived from the sale of brandy, or whisky as we call it. The revenue from that source alone exceeds 125,000,000 rubles in paper, or $25,000,000 of our money! And that minister has by circular forbidden the formation of Temperance Societies outright. This was about a year ago. Before the issuing of that circular, several societies had sprung up in the Baltic Provinces ; but it put an end to their existence, and to all efforts through organized forms of action." Upon his arrival Mr. Baird saw the best friends of reli- gion in the capital and at Moscow, and did all that seemed practicable for the different objects which he had come to promote. It appeared to be important that he should meet the Emperor Nicholas, but several attempts made to accom- plish this proved abortive. The monarch had just returned from Germany ; and had determined to see no foreigners^ for some weeks, until he had dispatched the weighty affairs that had accumulated during his protracted absence. Un- der these circumstances Mr. Baird, after the lapse of more than three weeks of ineffectual waiting, had concluded to abandon the attempt to obtain an interview. But on call- ing upon the Minister of the Interior, the afternoon before DINES WITH THE EMPEROR. »9S he was to take his departure, this gentleman insisted upon his staying at least a fortnight longer, promising to do every- thing in his power to procure him an audience of his majesty. He kept his word, and the result was that Mr. Baird was invited to go to Tsarkoe-Selo — the seat of a summer palace, about sixteen miles directly south from St. Petersburg : " The emperor received me in the kindest manner, and ac- ceded at once to all I asked. The Temperance History — continued down to the present time — is to be published in Euss and Finnish. Everything has now been settled in re- lation to this point. Never was I more convinced of the im- portance of going directly to the source of power than in this case. It will not be possible to form temperance societies here for years ; but much may be done at once by diffusing information." " God be praised for it," Mr. Baird writes home. " How much anxiety and delay this has cost me. But now I see that God has overruled all, and, though it has been so painful to me to be so long parted from you, yet when I see what has been accomplished by this prolonged stay in Russia, and consider how God has sustained my health and made my way plain, I dare not murmur.'' Nor were the marks of kindness and respect on the part of the Emperor Nicholas confined to the ready consent that he gave to the requests which Mr. Baird made. After the audience, he was immediately invited to dine with the im- perial family : " This took place at three o'clock. During the interval I was carried to the old Palace, and a room assigned to me, which I was requested to occupy as long as I chose. At the appointed hour an imperial carriage con- veyed me to the Palace which the emperor occupies, and where the dinner took place. There I met about one hun- dred distinguished men and women, and was presented to many of them. The dinner was most sumptuous. My plain and simple appearance, as well as the object of my visit to this empire, made me quite an object of curiosity. The at- lg 6 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIBD. tention which I received was very kind. God grant that much good may result from all this !" The main purpose of his coming to Russia was fulfilled, and he might at once have turned his face homewards. But unusual facilities were offered him for visiting the institu- tions of the capital which are generally inaccessible to strangers, and he could not neglect the rare opportunity. Provided with the express orders of the emperor, the em- press and the Grand Duke Michael, he went through a num- ber of establishments that were under their immediate super- vision. For instance, in the several military academies, the whole routine of training to which the cadets are subjected, even to their dressing and undressing, to the tap of the drum, was exhibited for his special benefit by the persons in command, who would scarcely credit his statement that he was no foreign officer of rank, but a simple minister of the Gospel. His visit to the great female seminaries ena- bled him to hear some of the sweetest music to which he had ever listened, and to compare the traits of personal appearance of girls from every province of this widely- extended empire. At length, having accomplished all that he could for the Bible, Tract and Temperance movements, Mr. Baird left St. Petersburg. On his return to Copenhagen he succeeded, after tedious delays, in obtaining an interview with the new King and Queen of Denmark, by whom he was received very kindly at a private and special audience. They seemed to be not a little interested in the object of his visit. At Hamburg a temperance society had existed for three years among the lower classes, but nothing had yet been attempted among the higher. Mr. Baird had a meeting one evening of nearly thirty distinguished and influential gentlemen, including several of the senators and other high officers of the Government. He addressed them a long time on the subject, and at the close of his remarks all, with a solitary HAMBURG. i 97 exception, signed the temperance pledge, and agreed to form a society : " Everything now bids fair to go on well. En- ergetic men of all shades of political and religious opinion have hold of the work. The importance of the good move- ment in this city you can readily appreciate when you look on the map of Europe and reflect that Hamburg is the great gate of Germany, at least of the northern part. But now," be adds, " I must leave and proceed as soon as I can to Paris. And yet it is most difficult to do so. The way is so much opened for my doing great good in the Temperance cause throughout Germany, that I shall be. pressed to stop too long in every important city. It is wonderful to see how God is blessing our humble efforts. I have been de- layed already a whole month beyond the time which I had appointed for my return. And yet what could I do ? God has evidently shut me up to this delay by His providences, and crowned my efforts with a great blessing. To His naire be the praise! Let us not repine at His providence and His blessing." Leaving Hamburg, Mr. Baird proceeded by Bremen,. Hanover, Gottingen and Halle, at each of which he stopped about a day, to Berlin. Having called at the royal palace, on the day of his arrival and informed the king,* through an aide-de-camp, of his having reached the city, he received on * This was Frederick William IV., whom he had seen when Crown Prince in 1836 and 1837, aDd who had ascended the throne only a few months pre- vious to the present visit. Mr. Baird regarded him, as we have seen, as a man of groat excellence of heart, though there was very much in his sub- sequent course which he could not but reprobate and deplore. On the pres- ent occasion he remarks : " He does not seem to take the same interest in the Temperance cause that his father did ; but it is probably because he has not had leisure since his accession to the throne, to turn his attention much to this subject. He does, however, far more, and in a far more judi- cious way, for the cause of religion in general than ever his excellent father did. His goverment embraces already a greater number of truly good men than any other in the world." 198 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. the following morning an invitation from his majesty to dine- with him that afternoon at the Palace of Charlotten- burg. He mentions that he was most kindly received both by the king and the queen, and expresses the hope that good will result. Before quitting the Prussian capital, a very large public meeting was held, at which he explained fully the principles and progress of the temperance socie- ties in America and elsewhere. At Dresden he saw the King of Saxony and his brother, the Prince John, a second time. Passing through Chemnitz, Nuremberg and Augs- burg, he came to Munich, where he had an interview with the King of Bavaria, the eccentric Louis. The object of these interviews was similar to that for which he had seen the monarchs of Denmark, Sweden, Russia and Prussia ; and he had reason to think that the conversations he had with these kings, as well as with the King of Wirtemberg, whom he saw at Stuttgard, would not be without good fruit. His interview with Louis of Bavaria, as he after- wards described it, must have been sufficiently amusing^ in consequence of the rambling speeches and blunders of his majesty, who, if he prided himself upoD his acquaintance with the fine arts, was no very profound general scholar, and especially at a loss in American geography. The King of Wirtemberg, a Protestant, was of quite a different char- acter ; and, while making less pretensions, evinced the greatest interest in obtaining information respecting the state of religion, education, and every other good work, in the United States. With all these monarchs, in whose domin- ions intemperance had made little progress, compared with its ravages in the more northerly countries he had visited, his aim was not so much to suggest the institution of tem- perance societies, as to " bring before the minds of the rulers the question of regulating the sale of ardent spirits in such a way as to diminish their use.'' With prominent private AUDIENCES AT GERMAN COURTS. 199 individuals he also conversed on the same subject — with Professors Schelling, Thiersch, Hermann, etc. Metz was the last stage in this long journey ; and Mr. Baird reached his home at Paris on the 12th of December, after an absence of a little more than five months. It was a tour, he writes to the executive committee, which al- though very fatiguing in his weak and suffering state of body, was made with greater satisfaction than any other which he had ever made, because he felt assured at every step that he was acting in accordance with the Divine will. CHAPTER XVin. VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES. PUBLICATION OF ME. BAIRD'S " VISIT TO NORTHERN EUROPE." REMOVES HIS RESIDENCE PROM PARIS TO GENEVA. WRITES A WORK ON RELIGION IN AMERICA. AGAIN VISITS THE UNITED STATES. RETURNS TO AMERICA. 1841-1843. IN the spring of the year 1841, Mr. Baird returned to the United States, in time to be present at the anni- versary meeting of the Foreign Evangelical Society in May. For several months he labored in various parts of the United States, endeavoring to increase the efficiency of the organization with which he was connected, by interesting the churches in the work of European evangelization. Great success attended his exertions. The facts which he was able to lay before the members of individual congrega- tions, as well as of various ecclesiastical bodies, exhibited in a striking manner the progress that had attended the labors of devoted men to further the kingdom of Christ in lands nominally Christian, but upon which the shadow of great spiritual ignorance had fallen. Those among his hearers who had forgotten that the heathen world did not constitute the entire field of missions, were awakened to a recognition of the fact that the Roman Catholics of Europe and America possessed an equal claim upon their prayers and labors. Others learned, for the first time, to appreciate the vast influence for good which France, Italy, Spain and (200) " VISIT TO NORTHERN EUROPE" 201 Catholic Germany would exert, if the pure doctrines of the Gospel were once more to assert their sway over their mil- lions of inhabitants. And all were able to learn from the experience of the home-missionary societies of France and Switzerland, during the past decade or two, that the con- version of Roman Catholics was no impossibilrty. For not only had individuals, from the highest and the lowest classes in social rank, been led to embrace the Truth ; but, in some cases, entire communities had been awakened by the Holy Spirit, and brought, as a body, to recognize the corruptions of the Papal Church, if not to embrace the scriptural offer of salvation. While in the United States, Mr. Baird gave to the public, in two volumes, the results of the acquaintance with the Scandinavian countries, which he had acquired during his repeated journeys in that part of Europe. This work bore the title : " Visit to Northern Europe ; or, Sketches descrip- tive, historical, political and moral, of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Free Cities of Hamburg and Liibeck. By Robert Baird." (John S. Taylor & Co. Npw York, 1841.) The descriptive portions of this work had occupied his pen during leisure moments on his last trip, in the summer of 1840, and were nearly, if not quite, completed before his return to Paris. The chapters devoted to the history of each country were written in the ensuing autumn and win- ter. The whole was the fruit of the desire to communicate, in the most unvarnished style, the impressions gathered by one who had enjoyed remarkable opportunities for becom- ing familiar with the people of the Scandinavian countries, from the peasants, whom he had repeatedly addressed in the fields, to the monarch by whom he had been admitted to an intimacy rarely accorded to subjects or foreigners. There was no pretension to elegance of diction. Indeed, the rapid revision that had been given to this work was 20 2 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. rather with a view to the verification of statements than to emendation of the style. Not insensible to the beauties of fine writing in others, there was nothing that Mr. Baird studied less in his own works ; content if only he could so express himself as to convey his meaning with distinctness, and contribute to the promotion of the great intellectual or moral end which was the sole object of all his literary exertions. The work was one of uncommon value for the informa- tion it conveyed regarding several countries much less known to the inhabitants of the southern part of Europe and of the United States, than they deserved to be. Besides a description of the chief objects of interest seen by the author in the course of his very considerable travels, it contained sketches, carefully prepared, of the history, as well as of the political, social and religious condition of each country. The Hon. Mr. Schroeder, late Minister of the United States at the court of Stockholm, assured the writer of this biography, that he had found Mr. Baird's " Visit to Northern Europe" by far the most accurate and reliable book of travels in Sweden in the English language. Mr. Baird had expected to spend only a few months in the United States, but his stay was protracted by provi- dential circumstances ; so that it was not until the 1st of January, 1842, that he reached his home at Paris, after an absence from his family of more than eight months. Soon after his return, he made two short trips, one to Geneva, and the other to Toulouse, to attend the anniver- sary of the Society for the Publication of Religious Books. It had, for some time, been contemplated that Mr. Baird, as the representative in Europe of the Foreign Evangelical Society, should remove from Paris to Geneva, in order to be able to co-operate more fully with the American-Swiss Committee, which had now become the principal agency through which the contributions of Christians in the United INTEREST FELT IN AMERICA. 203 States were applied to the work of evangelizing France. In accordance with this plan, in the beginning of May, 1842, he started, with his family, for Geneva, which became his home for about a year and a half. Here, on the shores of lake Leman, and in full view of the snowy cap of Mont Blanc and the panorama of the Alps, Mr. Baird spent some of the happiest moments of his life. Besides discharging the specific duties of his mission, he had in contemplation a new literary effort. The ignorance, more or less general, which he had found prevailing even among the well edu- cated on the continent, respecting the religious history and polity of the United States, had scarcely made a deeper impression upon his mind than that produced by the uni- versal desire to acquire more definite notions with regard to a country whose recent strides in the path of improve- ment had been so gigantic. It was during his last tour in Sweden, Bussia, Prussia, etc., that the importance of his publishing a work that should clearly exhibit the religious economy of the United States had been first presented to his mind. While at Stockholm he delivered, at the request of some of his esteemed friends, " several addresses on the state of religion in our country, and particularly on the action of our Christians — their efforts in various ways to build up the kingdom of Christ — which excited much inte- rest." And he was urged to write, as soon as possible after his return to Paris, " a small volume on the subject, with the view of developing the relations which our churches sustain to the general government and that of the States, the statistics of our denominations, a very brief history of each, a full account of our religious societies, our Sunday schools, Bible classes, revivals, tract distribution, etc., etc." The opinion of gentlemen in St. Petersburg and Copenhagen corroborated that of his Swedish friends. Senator Huddewalcker, of Hamburg, and Professors Nean- der, Hengstenberg and Tholuck, strongly advocated the 204 LTFE 0F REV DB - SAIBD. undertaking ; and the latter urged that so favorable an op- , portunity might not soon recur. The Kings of Prussia and Wirtemberg, to whom he had communicated his intention, while answering their inquiries respecting religious liberty, also expressed a deep interest in the contemplated work. The great Leipsic publisher, Tauchnitz, signified his readi- ness to translate and print it in German. So general a desire, especially in view of the interest of the reflecting classes of many countries of Europe in the subject of religious freedom , Mr. Baird did not feel himself at liberty to disregard. He had at first expected to write the principal portion of this work while in the United States, in 1841, but he found time for little more than to make the necessary preparation, by collecting the chief materials. This work — in many respects the most important that ever came from Mr. Baird's pen, as it is certainly that which embodies the most thorough research, and best exhibits the comprehensive grasp of the author's intellect and heart — was at first intended to be an exposition of " The Religious Economy of the United States." But the wider scope which his inquiries -afterwards took, induced him to entitle it, " Religion in the United States of America : or an Account of the Origin, Progress, Relations to the State, and Present Condition of the Evangelical Churches in the United States ; with Notices of the Unevangelical Denominations." It was, in the English edition, a volume of 758 pages, divided into eight books. In the first book, devoted to "Preliminary Remarks," the colonization of North America; the peculiar qualifica- tions of the Anglo-Saxon race for this work, the alleged want of National character, the form of Government, and kindred topics pass in review. It closes with several chap- ters in which the obstacles which the Voluntary System in supporting Religion has had to encounter, are more par- ' RELIGION IN AMERICA." 205 ticularly considered, viz. : the erroneous opinions on the subject of religious economy which the colonists brought with them ; the newness of the country ; the thinness of the population, and the unsettled state of society ; slavery ; and the vast foreign emigration. In a second book, the religious character of the colonists from each separate country, and the union of Church and State during the Colonial Period, are carefully studied. The relations of the government to religion since the Na- tional Era form the subject of the next book.. In the fourth book the working of the Voluntary Principle, con- sidered as a fundamental part of the character and habits of the people, is traced out in its bearing upon Church support and extension ; education, both higher and lower ; Sunday Schools, and the various religious and benevolent enterprises of the day. A short book follows on the Church and the Pulpit. The last three books discuss in de- tail the Evangelical Churches, the Unevangelical Denom- inations, and the efforts of the American Churches, by the various missionary organizations, to convert the world. Not only is the plan of this truly national work remark- ably comprehensive, but the execution is careful, evincing the extent and conscientiousness of the research. Conspi- cuous throughout is an all-pervading Christian liberality of spirit. The delineation of the various religious bodies, with their respective differences of creed, polity and tenden- cies, is so faithful and impartial, that the representation of Mr. Baird has been almost universally accepted by the most devoted adherents of each Church as a fair and suf- ficient portraiture. If any exceptions have been taken, they have originated chiefly with members of sects which were classed by Mr. Baird among the unevangelical ; or with a few Protestants, whose prelatical sympathies led them to the expression of the wish that their communion had rather been considered among the unevangelical denominations 20 6 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIBD. with the Roman Catholic, than among the evangelical churches disjoined from that of Rome ! " Religion in America " was intended, as has been seen, primarily for European readers. It was first published by Messrs. Blackie and Son (Glasgow and Edinburgh), with a highly favorable " Recommendatory Notice," by the Rev. Drs. David Welsh, William Cunningham and Robert Bu- chanan. It was translated into German by Dr. Carl Brandes and published at Berlin, in the course of the same year (1844), with a different title.* To the first volume of this translation was prefixed a short preface by the cele- brated Church Historian, Augustus Neander. " It was a delightful appearance to me," he says, " when my worthy friend, Dr. Brandes, showed me the new published statisti- cal work of the United States of North America, whose author had won by personal acquaintance, my special es- teem, and informed me of his plan to translate it into Ger- man. The more the young new world, in which everything develops itself so peculiarly, claims our attention and inter- est, the harder it is to obtain a comprehensive view of all its relations ; and the rarer and less accessible the sources conducing to it, the more generally useful is the under- taking by which the book of a well-educated American that gives such a view, will be introduced to that part of the German public which wishes to be instructed respecting such matters." This work was also translated into French, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, and Italian. In one or more of these lan- guages, however, it underwent some abridgment. It thus reached a large number of readers of different nations, and contributed not a little to disseminating more definite and accurate views respecting the political and the social, but es- * Kirchengeschichte, kirchliche Statistik und religioses Leben der Ver- einigten Staaten von Nordamerika. (Church History, Ecclesiastical Statis- tics and Religions Life of the XT. S. of North America.) GENEVA. 207 pecially the religious, history and condition of the United States. In America it was republished in 1844 ; and a new and handsome edition, rewritten, with many additions and corrections, bringing it down to the present time appeared in 1856.* A great part of his " Eeligion in America," Mr. Baird wrote at Geneva, while residing, during the summer of 1842, not very far from Pernay, Voltaire's retreat. It was not completed, however, until the next year, after his return from the United States. In "November, leaving Lis family in a " campagne " on the southern side of lake Leman and nearer the city, he found it necessary to start again for New York. The winter and the ensuing spring were spent in America in labors in behalf of the Foreign Evangelical Society. The cause of missions, having as their object the regeneration of nominally Christian lands, was presented in a very large number of churches. The friends of the society were encouraged by beholding a % very considerable increase in the interest felt in its work. But it was be- coming more and more evident that in order to secure it a permanent place among the great charities of the land, it was essential that it should possess its corps of secretaries and agents at home, whose work should principally be to give system and regularity to its operations, by keeping it before the eyes of the Christian public, as a cause which ought to receive its due proportion of the yearly contribu- * In reply to a letter, accompanying a copy of this work, sent on its first appearance, to Frederick William IV., Dr. Baird received a note from the king in -which he says, under date of Berlin, February 17, 1845: "Vous connaissez trop, Monsieur, la part que Je prends a tout ce qui regarde l'Eglise, pour n'etre pas persuade que J'ai ete tres sensible a l'envoi de 1'ouvrage ' sur 1'^tat de la religion en Amerique ' qui accompagnait votre lettre du 10 Septembre dernier. En vous remerciant de cette communica- tion Je Me plais a vous assurer de la duree de Ma bienveillance. Votre affectionne", Frederic Guillaume." 2o8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. tions of the benevolent. The Rev. Edward N. Kirk, D.D., who had been for several years one of the corresponding secretaries of the Foreign Evangelical Society, and had superintended its home field, had, much to the regret of all- its friends, felt it to be his duty in May, 1842, to resign this position, in. order to become the pastor of a newly-organized church in Boston. After an experience of the difficulty attending a society without a system of home agency, and this in times of unparalleled financial severity, the Board in May, 1843, appointed the Rev. Eli N. Sawtell, at that time chaplain of an American chapel for seamen at Havre in France, to be Mr. Baird's colleague, as corresponding secre- tary. At the same time, as the result of repeated confer- ences with the executive committee, it was arranged that Mr. Baird should bring his family back from Europe, and make New York his home. Besides the exigencies of the home department of the society, a prominent reason for this step was to be found in the fact that the residence of a representative of the Ameri- can Churches in Europe was no longer as imperatively necessary as it had been, when Mr. Baird first went to France in 1835, and as it was for some years later. A thorough survey of the moral and religious condition of the Roman Catholic countries of the continent had not only ex- hibited the practicability of labors for their more complete evangelization, but had made the Christians of America ac- quainted with the most promising fields into which they might enter. The experience of the past eight years had demonstrated that this work might be carried on effectively in cooperation with native Protestants. And although it was still deemed essential to success that a general super- vision should be exercised over the pastors, evangelists and colporteurs sustained by the funds derived from the United States, and that detailed statements of the results attained should from time to time be given, to maintain the interest THE WALDENSES. 209 of the friends of missions to Roman Catholic lands ; yet it was hoped that both of these objects might be attained, almost equally well, by letter and by the occasional visit to the European field of one of the secretaries. In the month of June, 1843, Mr. Baird left the United States, and in July reached Geneva, after an absence of nearly eight months. Before starting with his family on his return, he made a rapid tour, in company with the Rev. Mr. Sawtell, through northern and central Italy, in order to perfect such arrangements as might be practicable, to facilitate the distribution of the Bible and other religious books. At that time, on account of the great hostility of the various despotic governments of the smaller states into which the peninsula was divided, to the introduction of Protestantism, the greatest caution was requisite ; nor was it safe to confide anything of importance to a medium of communication so frequently tampered with, as was the mail. Neither the names of the persons by whom the seeds of religious truth were introduced, nor the mode of opera- tions pursued, must be revealed to the ever-vigilant police, whose clutches the carbonari, and the advocates of reform found it equally difficult to escape. The Waldenses, also, were revisited by Mr. Baird in company with Mr. Sawtell, and it was one of the fruits of the tour, that, at the solicita- tion of these inhabitants of the valleys of Piedmont, the Foreign Evangelical Society appropriated a sufficient sum to provide a small library of French religious works for each of the fifteen parishes into which the Vaudois territory is divided. On the 12th of September, 1843, Mr. Baird and his family left the city of Geneva, in whose environs they had spent some of the most delightful months of their stay in Europe, surrounded by mountains from whose summits the most picturesque and extensive views rewarded the patient as- cent, and in a Christian society unsurpassed for its purity 14 210 LIFE OF RKV. DR. BAIRD. and earnestness, by any other on the continent. The route chosen was that through Switzerland to Bale, down the Rhine to Nimegaen, and thence by Utrecht, Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels, to the French capital. The pleasure of the journey was enhanced by the companionship of loved American friends, and of a lament- ed servant of God, the Rev. Hugh Heugh of Scotland, the savor of whose Christ-like simplicity of character is yet fragrant in t!:o memory of those who have survived to mourn his untimely loss. After a stay of ten days at Paris, and a detention of more than a week at Havre, in conse- quence of unfavorable winds, the Rev. Messrs. Baird and Sawtell and their families embarked for New York. CHAPTER XIX. PUBLISHES HIS ATTENDS THE SWEDISH TEMPERANCE CONVENTION. LET- TER TO DR. BAIRD FROM PROMINENT SWEDES. FALLS SICK AT ST. PETERSBURG. TISIT TO PETERHOFF. IS INVITED BY THE EMPEROR TO ATTEND THE MARRIAGE OF THE GRAND DUCHESS OLGA. TRAVELS THROUGH POLAND. BERLIN. THE KING OF PRUSSIA. 1844-1846. FROM November, 1843, to May, 1846, Dr. Baird * was occupied unintermittingly in the service of the For- eign Evangelical Society in the United States. For this purpose he not only presented the cause of European evan- gelization in most of the important cities and towns of the Eastern and Middle States, but visited distant parts of the South and West. His labors and those of his colleague, the Rev. Mr. Sawtell, were crowned with such success that the annual receipts of the society in three years advanced from $10,766 to over $20,000. Of his assiduity in the prosecution of this work it is unnecessary here to speak at length. The same entire consecration of his powers to this- branch of Christ's service characterizes the period in ques- tion, which was so noticeable a feature of the other portions of his active career. * The degree of doctor of divinity had been conferred upon Mr. Baird by the trustees of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, of which he was a graduate. (211) zl2 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. His pen was not idle during these three years. Besides attending to the rapidly-increasing correspondence of the society, he found time to write a new work intended to further its interests, by calling more attention to the re- ligious history and present wants of one of the fields of its operations. Dr. Baird had, at one time, formed the design of publishing a series of books of travels in those countries of Europe which he had visited, some of them repeatedly, and not only describing the objects of greatest interest which they contain, but giving those general views of their civil and religious condition which an intelligent reader would most earnestly desire to obtain from a competent eye-witness. He had published such a work on the Scan- dinavian countries, in his " Visit to Northern Europe ;" and it had been his intention to follow out the plan, by giving per- manent form, in like manner, to his observations in Russia and Germany. But the pressure of other labors precluded the execution of his design, and he so modified his views as to prefer to publish a series of a more strictly religious character, that should be for Europe in detail what his " Religion in America" was for the entire United States. He wished to place within the reach of all that were de- sirous of obtaining it, information that was inaccessible to the greater number of readers ; not so much respecting the geographical features, politics and material resources of the several important states of Christendom, as concerning the conflicts of the truth in those countries, with its victo- ries and reverses ; the present condition of the nominally Christian churches, as far as regards vital piety ; the rela- tive position and strength of the parties favorable and adverse to the spread of the Gospel ; its recent advances, with the various instrumentalities employed ; in short, all the encouragements and obstacles. It is to be regretted that he was not permitted to accomplish this great under- taking. No one was probably better qualified for carrying " PEOTESTANTISM IN ITALY." 213 it to a successful termination. He had thoroughly explored every part of the field. He had enjoyed a personal ac- quaintance with all the more prominent friends of evangel- ical truth, and was familiar with their plans, discourage- ments and sufferings. No one, even among the natives of those countries, had given more attention to their religious statistics. What he had not himself gathered and stored in his eminently retentive memory, he had obtained from others ; and he had frequently been at no small expense in securing copies of important statistical papers, procured at great trouble, or through the favor of influential persons. Such was the case, for instance, with papers respecting Ger- many, which he never had the opportunity of using. The first work of this series, and the only one that was ever completed, was published under the title : " Sketches of Protestantism in Italy, past and present, including a notice of the origin, history, and present state of the Wal- d.enses." * The three leading topics of this volume, which constitnte the subject of the successive divisions, are the Reformation in Italy, its entrance, progress and suppression, with a sketch of the subsequent history of the Protes- tant Italians dispersed throughout Switzerland, Germany, France, the Netherlands and England ; Italy since the Reformation, its political and religious condition, with a chapter devoted to the Protestant chapels at various points on the peninsula, chiefly for foreigners and in connection with foreign legations ; and lastly, the Waldenses — their origin and antiquity, the country they inhabit, their won- derful story of persecutions and deliverances, their present state, and their ecclesiastical organization, doctrines and mode of worship. The conception of the plan of " Pro- testantism in Italy" was altogether new. The " History of the Reformation in Italy" had been sketched in a maa- * Boston : Benj. Perkins & Co., 1846. (Second Edition. 1847.) 2 , 4 LIFE OF REV. DR. BATED. -terly manner by the Rev. Thomas McCrie ; and that of the Waldenses had been treated at length by Leger, Mus- ton, Gilly, Faber and others. But these had not been viewed in their bearing upon the present condition of Italy, and. the future recovery of that classical land to a purer form of faith. It was this practical end to be reached that constituted, in fact, the chief motive of the writer. " The author feels,'? said the preface, " that if this work should contribute in any measure, however small, to engage those who read it to take a deeper interest in the conversion of Roman Catholic nations to true Christianity, his highest wishes will have been accomplished." In the spring of the year 1846, Dr. Baird decided, with the approval of the executive committee of the Foreign Evangelical Society, to revisit Europe. There were sev- eral objects which seemed to demand his presence. Besides taking a general survey of the field of operations of the society in Europe, it was believed to be important that he should go to Sweden and Russia in the interest of the tem- perance cause, and be present both at the great Temperance Convention to be held at Stockholm in the middle of June, and at the series of meetings in London, appointed for August, at which it was proposed to inaugurate an Evan- gelical Alliance for the entire Christian world. It was his original intention to return to the United States in the autumn, but his absence was much protracted by the neces- sity of spending the winter in Southern Europe, in accord- ance with the recommendation of the physicians that attended him during his illness in Russia and subsequently. Leaving Boston' on the 16th of May, he reached Liver- pool on the 28th of that month, and after a stay of a few days in England, started, by steamer, from London for Hamburg. Thence he proceeded by Altona and Kiel to Copenhagen. In this city he spent three days. On one of these he was presented to the King of Denmark, who en- EUROPE REVISITED. 215 tered with interest into conversation on the subject of Tem- perance, and thanked Dr. Baird for the copy of his " Re- ligion in America," which he had sent him. "Besides doing what I could to give a further impulse to the Tem- perance cause," he wrote : " during my short stay at Copen- hagen, I took measures to have ' Religion in America' translated into Danish, with the hope that it may conduce somewhat to diffuse better views on the subject of religious liberty — a subject which the Danes are becoming prepared to discuss. The little band of Baptists," he adds, " who have been so much persecuted are, at this moment, unmolested in the capital ; and I trust that they have seen their worst days. Their doctrines are spreading, and their followers are increasing, not only in Copenhagen, but also in some of the islands. This is a matter of joy ; for they are excel- lent people and doing great good. I felt it to be a great privilege to see them, and hear from their own lips the his- tory of the oppressions and wrongs they had endured since I was last in Copenhagen." Hastening to Stockholm, after stopping for a single day at Gottenburg, where lie attended a Temperance meeting and met the bishop of the city and other Swedish gentle- men of prominence, Dr. Baird was in time to witness the opening exercises of the Temperance Convention. High as his expectations had been, he found them more than real- ized. Two hundred and forty-four delegates were in at- tendance ; eight from Norway, two from Germany, four from the United States, and the remainder from all parts of Sweden. The sessions lasted for three days, and whilst the floor of the ample Casino was crowded with members taking an active part in the proceedings, the spacious gal- leries were crowded with equally interested spectators. In one portion set apart especially for their use, the reigning king — Oscar, son of Bernadotte who had died since Dr. Baird's last visit — the Queen, and the Crown Prince Carl (at present 216 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIBD. reigning with the title of Charles XV.) were constantly in attendance, exhibiting the most lively satisfaction in the discussion of the principles of this great movement. The king had been the patron of the Swedish National Temperance Society from its very institution, and had often attended the meetings of the executive committee, until his accession to the throne had rendered this inexpedient. " It would be difficult to name another monarch in the world that feels such an interest in the Temperance cause as to induce him to attend a convention, day after day. I know of no other, unless it be the King of the Sandwich Islands !" Nor could an observer who had known the former monarch of Sweden well fail to perceive the striking contrast be- tween the two rulers. "lam happy to say that the king is extremely popular, not only in Sweden, but also in Norway. His pleasing manners, his excellent disposition, his good sense, his readiness to accede to all judicious re- forms — all these traits of character render him deservedly popular. He is bringing up his eldest son, the heir to the crown, in the best manner possible. He has him always with him, treats him as his companion and friend, and makes him acquainted with all the affairs of the realm. This is very different treatment from what he received him- self ; for his father, the good old Bernadotte, with all his excellent qualities, was a stern and severe father, as well as monarch. He kept his son, the present king, too much at a distance from him and from the affairs of state. The consequence was, that the present king passed twenty years and more of his life, after he attained manhood, in culti- vating literature, music, etc., and was almost an entire stranger to public affairs. This was a great disadvantage to him." The discussions of the Convention revealed to Dr. Baird the great progress that had been made in the suppression of intemperance in Sweden, since he first visited that coun- ENCOURAGING PROGRESS. 217 try ten years before, and to which his own labors had so much contributed. Already 332 Temperance Societies had sprung up, with more than 90,000 members. Instead of the 161,000 distilleries, large and small, to be found within the kingdom in 1834, there were in 1844, 72,000. It was true that many of those that had ceased were small, and that some of those that remained were large, and had even greatly increased their business ; and yet the progress was undeniable, in reclaiming some portions of Sweden from the ravages of the crying vice of the north. In Nor- way, where the reform was only commencing to take an ef- fectual hold, a good beginning had been made ; there were 128 societies and nearly fifteen thousand members. The Storthing, or National Legislature of Norway, had, in its zeal for Temperance, indeed, gone so far a few years before, as to pass an act directing all distilleries to cease within ten years ; but this radical measure, calculated rather to create a disastrous reaction, than to accomplish any lasting good, had been vetoed by the late king, Bernadotte. The Storthing, however, nothing daunted, had at its late meeting imposed so heavy a tax upon all stiUs, as to break up all the smaller establishments ; and it had shown such interest in the work, as to send agents throughout the country, to persuade the farmers to abandon the unprofitable manufac- ture of ardent spirits, and to offer compensation for any loss on newly-erected buildings and machinery that they might incur. Equally important had been the progress in Prussia, Austria, Hanover, and other States cf the Ger- manic confederation, as reported by the delegates from that country. No wonder that Dr. Baird's mind reverted with wonder and gratitude to the change in achieving which God had blessed him by making him one of the principal instruments. But we must cite his own words from a letter to the Execu- tive Committee of the Foreign Evangelical Society : 218 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. " Whilst listening to the statements respecting the pro- gress of the good work in. Sweden, Norway, Germany, etc., I could not avoid thinking of the state of things in the north of Europe when I visited these countries for the first time in the month of June, 1836. At that time there was no- thing worthy of mention doing in Sweden. The few socie- ties which had been formed were becoming extinct, because not founded on right principles. When the object of my visit was known in Stockholm and Upsala— whither I went to attend a Promotion at the University, or Commencement as we call it — every one seemed' to think that it was the most visionary thing imaginable. I was often asked by distinguished men, whether I really thought that Temper- ance principles could be introduced into Sweden ! At that time there was not a temperance society in Norway, Den- mark, Germany or Holland. And n»w what has God wrought ? In Germany alone there are more than fourteen hundred societies, and more than a million members ! In Sweden and Norway the cause has made great progress, and is evidently going to make a great deal more, whilst in Denmark and Holland the cause is doing well. " Surely we have reason to praise God ior deigning to crown our humble efforts with so rich a blessing. If no- thing else had been accomplished by the agency which the Foreign Evangelical Society sustained in Europe for seven or eight years, than the promotion of the Temperance cause, it would have been worth all that it cost. In all these countries it was the translation and publication of the ' History of the Temperance Societies' which gave the first effectual impulse to the work — a volume which was pre- pared and published by the agency of the Foreign Evangel- ical Society, and which has been widely circulated in French, Dutch, German, Danish, Swedish, Finnish and Russian." Dr. Baird addressed the Convention not less than three times, and was listened to in the most respectful manner. SWEDISH TEMPERANCE CONVENTION: 219 The Count Hamilton, Lord of the Bedchamber and Gov- ernor of the young princes — a nobleman whose ancestors came over from Scotland more than two centuries ago to assist Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War — pre- sided, and replied in the following terms to Dr. Baird's first speech on the 16th of June : " Sir, — In the name of the General Temperance Society of the North, I beg leave to express to you our sincerest thanks for the warm and cordial greetings you have brought us from the other side of the Atlantic. " Ever since Temperance Societies were first instituted in this country, and commenced their career among us, they have had their eyes constantly fixed upon your country, and they have followed your exertions in the common cause with the liveliest interest. You have been to us not only models by, your zeal, but also an encouraging example by your success. " I feel confident that it will gladden the hearts of your countrymen to hear how much good their example has wrought even amongst us in this remote country : and I therefore beg you to present to them our most affectionate salutations and kind wishes." Before the conclusion of the Convention, Dr. Baird re- ceived the following short note in English : " Sir, — The under- signed, natives of Sweden, feeling an interest in you person- ally, and in the object for which you travel, take the liberty of expressing their sincere congratulations, and their kind wishes for your future welfare and success." This brief expression of esteem and confidence is signed by Count Augustus von Hartmansdorff, late Prime Minister of Swe- den, James Berzelius, the eminent chemist, C. A. Agardh, Bishop of Carlstad and a distinguished botanist, Prof. Berg- falk, Count Hamilton, the remarkable peasant Eric Ericks- son, Pastor Wieselgren, Colonel Hazelius, and others. Before leaving Stockholm he had a private audience of 1 1 2 20 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIED. the king ; and made the acquaintance of Miss Frederika Bremer, -whom he found to be deeply interested in the United States, and warmly desirous of visiting the New World. At the conclusion of the sessions of the Convention, he embarked for St. Petersburg, stopping at Abo to visit the aged Archbishop of Finland, the Eev. Dr. Melartin, and at Helsingfors to obtain information respecting the moral and religious condition of the Finns. He found his book on Temperance, of which five thousand copies had been circu- lated in Finnish, doing a good work ; while the British and Foreign Bible Society, by its agents, had contributed much to supply the alarming destitution of the Holy Scriptures prevailing among this Protestant people. Dr. Baird had not for some weeks been altogether well. Soon after his arrival at St. Petersburg, his disease assumed a more threatening and painful form, proving to be an at- tack of inflammatory rheumatism, which commenced in his right hand. For many days he was confined to the house, and chiefly to his bed ; and it was long before he could walk or write without great inconvenience. Meanwhile he was visited with the greatest kindness by the friends whom he had made when previously in Russia, and was several times compelled to decline invitations from the Prince of Oldenburg to his palace at Peterhoff and in the city. Soon after he fell sick, fearing that he could hardly recover suffi- ciently to see the Emperor Nicholas before the court would be engrossed with the festivities connected with the ap- proaching nuptials of the Grand Duchess Olga to the Crown Prince of Wurtemberg, he had dictated in the French language a memorial to the Emperor, in which he recommended for the promotion of Temperance a plan simi- lar to that pursued in Ireland by Father Mathew, which he believed to be the only one that could be efficiently prose- cuted in Russia in the present circumstances. One of the imperial ministers had promised to lay the memorial before MARRIAGE OF TEE GRAND DU0EE88. 221 his majesty — a promise which he shortly afterwards ful- filled. As soon as he was well enough to do so with safety, Dr. Baird accepted a renewed invitation of the Prince and Princess of Oldenburg to spend a few days with them at their palace at Peterhoff, until he might be able to pursue his journey. While the guest of this truly Christian couple, who employ the great influence which their high rank and close relationship to the monarch confers upon them, to assist in every good work, Dr. Baird was informed by the princess that the emperor and empress had expressed their pleasure that he should be present at the marriage of the grand duchess, which was to take place at noon on the 1st of July (the 13th new style) in the chapel of the palace. This was an unexpected honor, as on account of his illness he had not been presented to the emperor on this visit, and the number of Eussians, as well as of foreigners who desired to see the ceremonial, far surpassed the capacity of the chapel in which it was to be performed — a room barely forty feet square. Conducted by an aide-de-camp of the prince through a series of chambers in the palace, each crowded with eager spectators, to that in which the diplo- matic corps were stationed, he was admitted with them into the chapel and took a place not far from the altar. We need not describe in detail the imposing scene, which he graphically delineated, in a private letter which was after- wards published. While the music was entrancing, the display of wealth and beauty unsurpassed, and the service novel and striking, the most pleasing feature was the sight of a royal family in which unblemished morality and the most tender affection evidently reigned. None of the spec- tators looked on with more sincere interest than the empe- ror himself, who impressed all with the conviction that he was an ardently-loving father ; an assurance which was corroborated by the testimony of many persons with whom z z2 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. Dr. Baird conversed, who enjoyed the best opportunities to obtain accurate information. " That a man who is a good father and an affectionate husband can be at heart a Nero," he remarks, " I do not believe." As soon as he had sufficiently recovered his health, he started f >r the south, in company with the American friends who had joined him previously to his departure from Lon- don. The journey to Warsaw and thence to Berlin was fatiguing, over ground with which he was quite familiar from preceding visits. At Warsaw Dr. Baird again saw the excellent missionaries to the Jews, and at the house of the Eev. Mr. Becker, one of their number, he met Rev. Messrs. West and Beni, the latter a converted Jew who had become a Lutheran pastor in one of the neighboring villages. Mr. Beni agreed to undertake the translation of the " History of Temperance Societies" from Russian into Polish. " I hope my visit to Poland will not be in vain," he notes in his diary of this trip, " even if nothing else than this result from it." Two or three proselytes from among the lower class of Polish Jews were present at the prayer-meetings which were held at Mr. Becker's and at the Mission House ; and it was one of these simple-hearted but ignorant converts, who when introduced by the missionary to the stranger from America, and told that he had come from the other side of the earth, first requested him to ask whether he had come up through a hole ; and when told that he had come around, was eager to know whether he had not experienced great difficulty in getting over the edges ! On the whole, Dr. Baird's impressions of the Poles were far from being favorable. It is true he was struck with the manifestly higher civilization of Poland compared with that of Russia. The lower classes were incomparably more intelligent than the lower classes of Russia ; whilst the up- per were a polished people, possessing far more of the Ger- man and French manners, than did even the highest portion WARSAW. 223 of Russian society. In a word, the civilization was far more European. Their personal appearance was also finer, and many of their women graceful and beautiful. But along with great personal bravery, there was to be found an appalling amount of immorality ; and far from recog- nizing in their social degeneracy and political misfortunes the legitimate fruits of their slavish attachment to Roman Catholicism, and in the Pope their greatest enemy both in 1831 and in 1846, there existed the most bigoted devotion to the Papal Church, and an intense hatred of Protestant- ism. "After all that I have heard since I came to Warsaw, from unquestionable sources, I despair utterly of the recov- ery by the Poles of even their former independence, unless they can first be transformed as a people, by a better relig- ion than they now know anything about." At Berlin Dr. Baird spent ten days, waiting for the re- turn of the King of Prussia, whom it was important for him to see, from southern Germany ; and even made an excur- sion to the old city of Prague, where his American fellow- travelers left him to pursue their journey in Austria and Italy. It was a pleasant trip, and he experienced feelings of the liveliest interest in looking upon scenes hallowed by reminiscences of the ' great Bohemian forerunners of the Reformation. At Berlin he saw much of Professor Nean- der. On the day after his arrival, he dined at his house, and met the Bishop of Pomerania, Professor Twesten, and several members of the faculties of the Universities of Bonn, Breslau, Greifswalde and Konigsbcrg, together with several distinguished laymen — all members of the extraordinary Synod, then in session at Berlin. This Synod was composed of delegates, lay and clerical, from each of the eight pro- vinces, together with four bishops, etc., and had been sitting with closed doors for more than two months. The subjects of their discussions, as Dr. Baird was informed, were the three points of the nature and obligation of the ordination 224 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. vows, the existing union between the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, and the form of church government. Taking tea, on another occasion with Professor Neander, he writes : " I gained much information from that wonderful man — in- formation which makes me take a deeper interest than ever in Germany." It may not be out of place to insert here -the li3t of the men whom Professor Neander regarded as the great champions of error. They were Baur, professor at Tiibingen, Paulus, professor at Heidelberg, Ease, profes- sor at Jena, Bretschneider, pastor at Gotha, Bohr, pastor at Weimar, Wegschneider, professor at Halle, Ammon, pastor at Dresden, and Strauss, formerly of Tiibingen. A day or two after his return from Prague, Dr. Baird had an interview with the King of Prussia, of which so in- teresting an account is given in his private diary (Thursday, August 6), that we must insert a part of it : " Went out at noon to Potsdam, to see the king, who has returned from the south of Germany, and is now staying at the chateau of Sans-Souci. I had written to him from Dresden, but the letter had not reached him. But as soon as he saw my card, which an adjutant carried him, he exclaimed : ' Oui, e'est lui ; e'est mon ami Baird, qui a tant voyag6 depuis tant d'annees pour faire du bien. Dites-lui de venir pour le diner a, trois heures.' [Yes, it is he ; it is my friend Baird, who has traveled so much for so many years, in order to do good. Tell him to come to dinner at three o'clock.] This, the adjutant assured me, was just what he said. At three o'clock, I repaired to the Palace, where I found a consider- able party who had come to dine with his majesty. When the king came into the saloon, which was one adjoining that in which Frederick the Great died, after having spoken a few moments with a Col. Caille, a Frenchman who has figured considerably in Egypt, where he has been for many years in the service of the Pasha, he came to me, and. shaking hands in a very friendly way, he said : ' My dear DINNER AT SANS-SOUCI. 225 Mr. Baird, how glad I am to see you once more here. How and where have you been of late, when did you leave Amer- ica ?' and much more to the same effect. " Both at the table, and after dinner, the king spoke much with me on the subject of Temperance Societies, etc., etc. And I had a fine opportunity, especially after the dinner, out in front of the Palace, under the shade of the trees, to say to him all I had to say in behalf of the Colonization Society, as well as every other interest to which I deemed it my duty to call his attention. " There were eighteen persons at table ; among them Prince Frederick of Holland, (a brother of the king of that country) and his wife, (a sister of the the King of Prussia), arid their daughter, a beautiful young lady who passed her birthday yesterday. She is seventeen years of age. Baron Humboldt was there, and sat at table opposite the king. Between him and myself sat Col. Caille", who talked more during the dinner than all the rest of the company, king and all ! He is an admirable specimen of French vanity. Several things that he said reflected on the Germans pre- sent, but he had not discernment, or too much indifference, to see or care for it. . . Of choice wines there seemed to be an abundance, of which all partook excepting myself. The king did not drink more than the rest of the company, and there was certainly nothing like excess. En passant, I am happy to learn from all quarters, that there is' no truth whatever in the report circulated in America and elsewhere, some time since, that he is a drunkard. At seven p.m., left Potsdam and came back to Berlin on the railroad. Spent an hour with Professor Neander, and employed the rest of the evening till after midnight, in writing." From Berlin he proceeded by railway to Magdeburg, and thence by steamboat down the Elbe to Hamburg. " I have been much struck in these tours in Germany," he writes, "with the intelligence of the people, even of the lowest 15 22 6 LIFE OF BEY. DR. BAIRD. classes. Mr. Laing, as well as Dr. Vaughan, is all wrong in what he says respecting the failure of the Prussian school system to make an intelligent people. It does create a taste for reading, and the people do read, if not so many newspapers (though they do read newspapers, too) as with us, yet books. The general intelligence of the Prussians is rapidly increasing. And they think, as well as read. I am entirely mistaken if the world does not see the proof of this, long before another half century passes away." In Hamburg, whore Dr. Baird spent a few days before embarking for London, he was pleased to find that evan gelical religion was gradually reasserting its sway. It was supposed that the pure Gospel was now preached by about one third of the pastors of the National Church. • Indeed in all Northern Europe the truth was advancing, " not, indeed, rapidly, nor equally, but really and steadily." "And it is remarkable," he observes, " that both pure Christi- anity and Infidelity — the former uniformly, and the latter often — contribute to break down despotism in the state ; but from very different motives, and with very different weapons." On the 14th of August Dr. Baird reached Lon- don. CHAPTER XX. HIS EARLY ADVOCACY OP CHRISTIAN UNION. AMERICAN OR- IGIN OP THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE MOVEMENT. HIS PARTICIPATION IN IT. FIRST CONFERENCE AT LONDON. THE ARTICLE ON FUTURE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. UNHAPPY INTRODUCTION OP THE QUESTION OF AMERICAN SLAVERY. 1846. WITH the movement in favor of a more distinct and general recognition of the brotherhood of all Chris- tian believers, Dr. Baird had, from its very initiation enter- tained a hearty sympathy. His views had always been large and liberal. While he desired no religious fellowship with those who deny the cardinal truths of Christianity, and reject any of the essential features of the plan of sal- vation revealed in the Holy Scriptures, he believed that those who found their hopes exclusively upon the atonement of the blessed Saviour, and who ought therefore to be one in Christ Jesus, are far too often separated from each other by feelings of distrust and hostility, consequent upon minor differences of faith and practice. Few among his Christian brethren surpassed him in attachment to his own Church. He loved its time-hallowed simplicity of worship, he held from the heart all the articles of its confession of doctrine, he cherished its history of conflicts, trials and successes, he believed that no system of church government was so clearly laid down in the inspired Word of God. In a word, he was a Presbyterian by choice and conviction ; his youth- (22Y) 22 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. ful attachment having deepened and matured with the lapse of years. And yet he recognized a larger and universal Church, of which individual denominations were only minor divisions ; and of this Church he was convinced that all were true members who held the great Head, Jesus Christ. Diversity of opinion on less important points, al though in itself undesirable, was, in his view, an unavoidable result of the imperfection and ignorance of men not wholly sanc- tified. But he deplored that members of the one invisible Church had, for so many ages, showed much more zeal in maintaining and magnifying their divergence from one another, than eagerness in demonstrating their essential unity. His own history had been a practical exemplification of Christian union. Not only had he in several successive benevolent and religious enterprises identified himself with organizations that embraced members of many different religious denominations ; but while pursuing his extensive travels in the United States and in Europe, and endeavor- ing to advance the cause of Christ everywhere, he had entered into the closest relations with clergymen and lay- men of every other evangelical Church, had preached in their pulpits, not only in advocacy of the particular object of his mission, but on the general interests of religion, and quite as often on the great topics promotive of personal piety. He had addressed their Sabbath schools, had spoken words of exhortation, and prayed at their meetings for social worship, and had not hesitated to plead their cause, when they were persecuted, in the courts of kings. His heart had never been closed, nor his lips silent when any- thing was to be said or done in their behalf. " This Evangelical Alliance movement," he writes in 1855, " is of American origin. As early as 1843, the Eev. Dr. Bacon, of New Haven, submitted to the writer his ideas of an Evangelical Alliance for the Protestant world, OBIGIN OF THE ALLIANCE. 229 the object of which was to bring together, once in a few years, delegates from all branches of the Protestant Church, at one time in Edinburgh or London, at another in Paris or Geneva, and at another in New York, for the purpose of setting forth, in a brief and simple formula, the great doc- trines of the Christian faith in which all Evangelical Chris- tians are agreed ; secondly, to bring together a great amount of information respecting the state of religion in their re- spective countries ; thirdly, to devise plans for the further extension of the Gospel ; and fourthly, to cultivate those sentiments of brotherly love and sympathy which ought to subsist between the several members of the true Church of Christ, wherever they may be found in the world. " Something ■ like this was the simple and grand object which Dr. Bacon had in view. At his request, I wrote to the celebrated Dr. Merle d'Aubigne, of Geneva, in Switzer- land, and asked him to bring the matter before the churches of that country. This ho did at a meeting of two hundred ministers at St. Gall, in the summer of 1844. That body of Christians deputed him to go over to Great Britain, and bring the subject before the Christians of that country. This was done in the summer of 1845. Meanwhile, the Rev. John Angell James, of Birmingham, to whom the Rev. Dr. Patton, of New York, had, at Dr. Bacon's request, written on the subject, had begun to move in England. " It resulted from this double movement, that English and Scotch brethren-were quite prepared for action. Some interesting meetings were held in the autumn of 1845, at Liverpool, London and elsewhere, and a British Evangelical Alliance was actually formed, to which was committed the task of calling an oecumenical or general meeting of Pro- testants, to form an (Ecumenical or General Alliance. With the forwardness which characterizes the nation, the English Alliance not only appointed the meeting to be held in tl.eir own metropolis in August, 1846, but also decided on a for- Z3 o LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. inula of doctrines to be adopted by the " (Ecumenical Coun- cil" which it was proposed to convene, and also on the terms of admission to its ranks. Although this was widely felt to be scarcely courteous to Christians of other lands, yet a large number of delegates came together." It was not surprising, in view of his early connection with the undertaking, that Dr. Baird took a lively interest in the siiccess of the projected alliance for the whole world. He was one of a number of friends of Christian union that met in the city of New York in the spring of 1846, to con- sider the invitation addressed by British Christians to their brethren throughout the world, requesting them to meet in London in the month of August, together with the doctrinal basis that had been proposed by the Liverpool Conference held in October, 1845. It was at this meeting that the remarkable omission in this basis, drawn up by the hand of the Rev. Dr. Candlish, of all mention of the doctrines of the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the last judgment, and future rewards and punishments, was first pointed out ; and it was resolved to insist upon the insertion into the platform of a suitable recognition of these important truths. It was one of Dr. Baird's principal objects in Europe to attend the important gathering of Christians at London which was intended to partake so much more truly of the character of an oecumenical council than many of those that are enrolled in ecclesiastical his- tory. The alliance was finally about to meet. This is not the place for a general discussion of its proceedings ; for it is only so far as Dr. Baird was personally concerned in thern that a mention of them is appropriate. On Monday morn- ing, August 17, he went to Exeter Hall, and gave in his name as a delegate from the Synod of New Jersey of the Presbyterian church in the United States. On the follow- ing day the aggregate meeting, preliminary to the Alliance, DISCUSSION. 23 1 adopted the " Principles of Alliance," with an amendment to the fourth article, suggested by Rev. William Symington, D.D., of Glasgow, and intended to acknowledge the su- preme authority and dominion of Christ. "The Rev. Samuel H. Cox, D.D., then presented, as a ninth article, the additional one which had been adopted in New York, relat- ing to the resurrection of the body, the judgment of the world by Jesus Christ, and the eternal happiness of the righteous, and the eternal punishment of the wicked. This led to much discussion. The meeting adjourned at three P. M., to meet at half-past five. I went to the meeting at six," adds Dr. Baird in bis diary, " and remained till it adjourned at ten o'clock. A wonderful meeting! Dr. Cox's proposition was most ably discussed by many persons, as for instance, the Rev. Messrs. Byrth, Bevan, Monod and others who opposed ; and Messrs. Smyth, Skinner, Demp- ster, Himes, Scales, Bickersteth, James, Bunting and others. In this debate I took part for the first time. At the close, the article was adopted, with only five votes against it, and made the ninth article of the series. A fine spirit prevailed throughout. In the midst of the debate, and when the way to anything like unanimity was hedged up, a season of prayer was observed, and the Rev. Mr. Bickersteth made a most beautiful and appropriate address to the throne of grace. At the close, Dr. Lyman Beecher said, ' This is God!' 'Yes,' said Mr. James (of Birmingham), ' this is God's work.'" We have no sketch even of Dr. Baird's remarks on this occasion, but we have the testimony of his venerable friend, the proposer of the ajticle, to the state- ment that they were singularly direct and effective, and contributed not a little to the success of the motion to incorporate a recognition of these great truths in the com- mon profession of the Alliance. But its opponents were not satisfied with this decision of the question ; their attempt, however, to strike it out, at a later stage of the 232 LIFE OF REV DR. BAIRD. proceedings, was defeated, after another protracted dis- cussion, by an overwhelming majority. The Sunday that commenced the second week of the ses- sion of the Evangelical Alliance, beheld a striking exhibi- tion of the possibility of Christian communion between members of different denominations. " This has been an interesting Sabbath," notes Dr. Baird. " Eighty-one churches — Episcopalian, Congregational, Pres- byterian, Methodist, Baptist, etc. — were opened to the dele- gates from a distance. In thirty of them American ministers preached. Many received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at the Rev. Baptist Noel's church — some say as many as 150 ; others 300. Among them J. H. Hinton and several other Baptist ministers." Dr. Baird himself preached for the Rev. Owen Clarke. When the " Objects " proposed by the Evangelical Alli- ance were brought up for consideration, lie took a consider- able part in the discussion ; and one or more of the amend- ments adopted originated with him. A subject of great interest and difficulty remained to be settled. The American delegates had been confronted on their arrival in England by a new test of membership adopted in April, by the " Aggregate Committee " at Bir- mingham, in these words : " That, while this committee deem it unnecessary and inexpedient to enter into any question at present on the subject of slaveholding, or on the difficult circumstances in which Christian brethren may be placed in countries where the law of slavery prevails ; they are of opinion that invitations ought not to be sent to individuals who, whether by their own fault or other- wise, may be in the unhappy position of holding their fellow men as slaves." Deeming this resolution, offered by the Rev. Dr. Candlish, to be evidently aimed in an un- friendly manner at Americans, many who had come with the intention of attending the Alliance, abstained from all TEST OF MEMBERSHIP. 233 participation in its proceedings ; while the rest united in regarding it as a deplorable circumstance that the com- mittee had seen fit to transcend the limits of Christian courtesy, and by an invidious discrimination had interfered in the affairs of the churches of another country. But the entire question was brought up directly before the attention of the Alliance in an amendment offered by the Rev. J. H. Hinton to the declaration that " the Alliance shall consist of those persons, in all parts of the world, who shall concur in the Principles and Objects adopted by the Conference." The amendment consisted in the insertion, after the words "those persons," of the words "not being slaveholders." This ill-advised measure was the occasion of a protracted discussion, evincing a diversity of views that threatened to rend the Alliance. In order to prevent such a catastrophe, and endeavor to reintroduce harmony, the entire question was submitted for deliberation to a committee - of forty-five members, of whom Dr. Baird was one. " I spent the whole day," says he, in his diary, under date of Saturday, August 29, " at Free Masons' Tavern. The Select Committee of forty-five met, and after a long discussion, they added six morp persons from the Continent, and then divided into three sub-committees — English, American, and Continental. After two or three hours of separate deliberation, we came together ; the Americans' and those from the Continent being ready to report (and both against Mr. Hinton's amendment, which excluded slaveholders from the Alli- ance), but the English were not. Separated again ; the Americans, Germans and French, to pray and wait till the English might be ready. At length they sent us a commu- nication. The result was the introduction of a resolution which was consented to by most of the Americans, for the sake of peace and for the purpose of enabling the Confer- ence to form or organize the Alliance. But it will not give satisfaction in America and I see no other course for us to 234 LIFE OF REV. DE. BAIBD. pursue than that which I proposed to the Select Committee this morning, namely, that of having independent Alliances in Great Britain, in the United States, and on the Conti- nent, with a septennial, quinquennial, or triennial confer- ence of deputies from all. Finally the report of the Select Committee was carried to the Conference ; but I had no disposition to stay and hear it read. I understand, how- ever, that several Americans protested. The Americans met, after the close of the Conference, about eight o'clock, and adhered to their former protest, and ordered it to be read to the Conference on Monday. They also appointed a committee to take measures to form an American Branch. As I am on that committee, I will see what can yet be done to form an independent Alliance, for I am sure we cannot work well with our English brethren in an (Ecumenical one." Dr. Baird, while abstaining from voting against the resolution reported by the committee* in place of the amendment of Mr. Hinton, from the desire, which he felt in common with all the Americans, to do nothing to prevent the successful organization of the Alliance, was not back- * " Resolved, that, in respect to the necessity of personal holiness, the Alliance are of opinion, that it is recognised in the Article of the Basis — on the work of the Spirit ; and, in reference to various social evils existing in countries within the circle of the Alliance, such as the profanation of the Lord's Day, intemperance, duelling, and the sin of slavery, they commend these and similar evils to the consideration of the Branches ; trusting that they will study to promote the general purity and the Christian honol of this Confederation, by all proper means. And, in respect especially to the system of slavery, and every other form of oppression in any country, the Alliance are unanimous in deploring them, as in many ways obstructing the progress of the Gospel ; and express their confidence, that no Branch will admit to membership slaveholders, who, by their own fault, continue in that position, retaining their fellow men in slavery, from regard to their own interests." The first sentence was the resolution as originally framed by the American members of the Committee, the second was added by the English. LAST ADDRESS. z 35 ward in expressing his dissent from the position adopted, and his belief that it would cripple, if not destroy the use- fulness of the Alliance in America. In a speech before the Alliance, on the following Monday * he declared his belief that on its present basis, it would be impossible to induce a large majority of the American churches to co-operate with the Alliance. " Look," he said, " at the ground occu- pied by the American Board of Missions ; a society sup- ported by the Congregationalists, by the New School Presbyterians, by the Old School Presbyterians, by the Dutch Reformed Church, by the Lutheran Church, and by others. Look at the ground taken at their meeting, last fall. It shows you precisely, what the great majority of our Churches hold on this subject ; and they will not be driven from it easily, or because you have pressed it." Dr. Baird concurred heartily in the subsequent action oi the Conference in rescinding the obnoxious resolution, and committing the details of organization to the various branches, which were to be established in Great Britain, the United States, Prance, etc. * This short speech is erroneously attributed to Rev. Dr. Beecher, in the Report of the Proceedings of the Conference published in London in 1847. CHAPTEE XXI. TRAVELS IN THE SPANISH PENINSULA. GIBRALTAR. SIR ROBERT WILSON. TANGIER. FROM CADIZ TO MADRID. MARRIAGE OP THE QUEEN. ILLNESS. TOUR TO MALTA, ATHENS AND THE EAST. SMYRNA. CONSTANTINOPLE, THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH AND THE AMERICAN MISSION- ARIES. RETURN BY TRIESTE. MILAN. PASSPORT REGU- LATIONS. MEETINGS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. RE- FLECTIONS. 1846-1847. ON the 7th of September, 1846, Dr. Baird embarked at Southampton for Gibraltar, with the intention of visiting Spain, in order to ascertain whether anything could be done by the society which he represented to diffuse the light of a pure Gospel in a land so long abandoned to reli- gious intolerance and superstition. At Corunna, Vico, and the mouth of the Duero, the steamer stopped too short a time to permit the travelers to give more than a glance at some of the more interesting objects claiming the stranger's attention. At Lisbon they enjoyed a better opportunity. Here Dr. Baird not only found a chapel where a few English and German Protestants gathered every Sabbath to listen to preaching in their own native lan- guages ; but also a private parlor in which a Portuguese proclaimed the truth to his compatriots. " Many go secretly to hear him, and the police wink at the proceeding, This is a wonderful change. A few years ago, neither con ■ (236) MOORISH CARNIVAL. 237 verted Romanist nor Protestant would have been allowed to preach, openly or secretly, to the native population of this city or of any other city in Portugal." At Gibraltar he spent nearly two weeks, and -formed an acquaintance with a number of pious officers connected with the five British regiments which constituted the garrison of the fort. Through this important point Spain was then more accessible to Protestant effort than anywhere else on its circumference. He, therefore, improved the brief period of his stay in making suitable arrangements for the intro- duction of religious volumes into the heart of the peninsula. Of the native citizens of the town itself, he jots down in his diary an unfavorable impression : " They are a mixture of almost all the nations that border on the Mediterranean. While some are intelligent • and agreeable people, the greater part are said to be ignorant, worldly-minded, and wholly indifferent to their true spiritual interests. A dark complexion, and black hair and eyes, are almost universal characteristics of the ' rock scorpions,' as the native inhabi- tants of Gibraltar are called by the English garrison." Besides inspecting the galleries that have been cut, at so great an expense of labor, in the sides of this impregnable rock, Dr. Baird made a pleasant excursion a few miles into the interior of Spain, to the well-known corh grove, and devoted two or three days to a visit to Tangier, on the opposite African coast. The trip was made in a Moorish felucca with lateen sails. The crew were Moors and Spaniards, and the passengers Moors, Jews and Spaniards. On reaching the harbor of Tangier, in default of a wharf, the passengers were carried to the shore upon men's shoulders. They arrived at an in- teresting time. " This is a great day of feasting and rejoicing. The fast Ramadan, which continues thirty days ' terminated yesterday. Now all is hilarity and idleness ; saw a company of ten or twelve negroes, dressed a, la Moor, 23 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. dancing in a circle, to the music of a drum and of casta- nets. So great was the noise through the night, from blow- ing of horns, the shrill music of an instrument which gave forth a sound lite that of a bagpipe, but which played nothing like a really well-defined tune, etc., that I could sleep little. And then I was in Africa ! In the land of Jugurtha, of ancient Mauritania, of Syphax, and of those Moors who conquered Spain, and threatened to overrun France ! Yet I was tired enough to sleep under almost any other circumstances ; for I had spent the last night on the ballast of our little ship, which consisted of small stones." While at Gibraltar, he made the acquaintance of the Gov- ernor General, Sir Robert Wilson, by whom he was invited to dinner at his cottage, "just beneath the beetling rock near Europa Point, but facing the Mediterranean." The evening was pleasantly spent in conversation with this re- markable man : " Sir Robert has seen a good deal of service. He entered the army in 1793, and was in India, at the taking of the Cape of Good Hope, in the Pen-insular war, in two campaigns in Russia (1806 and 1812), and at the battles, of Dresden, Culm, Leipei-j, etc., of which he luentioneu many interesting anecdotes, as also of the late Queen of Russia, of Bonaparte, and of Moreau He gave me a full account of Moreau's conversations with him respecting his (Moreau's) false position in the Allied Army. At the battle of Dresden in the early part of the action, General Wilson was by his side. Both were on horseback, and the Emperor of Russia, Lord Cathcart and other distinguished officers were quite near. Moreau was talking to him, and had just placed his hand on Sir Robert's knee, when an eighteen- pound shot struck his thigh, crushed it, passed through the "horse, and broke the other knee. The horse stood a moment, then shook violently and sank to the ground. Moreau called to his companion to save him from the horse. Sir Robert jumped down, gave his own horse to a soldier and took SIR ROBERT WILSON' AND QEN. MORBAU. 239 Moreau in his arms, who, looking up in his face, said, ' Mon affaire est finie !' General Wilson served under Sir David .Baird, to whom he says I bear a very strong resemblance ! He is an interesting man, but is not popular here, being a rigid disciplinarian, and meddling with too many details. He is a gentleman of the old school, but remarkably easy and free in his manner of treating his guests." * On the 28th of September he left Gibraltar for Cadiz, and passed on his way the famous promontory of Trafalgar. From Cadiz he ascended the Guadalquivir to Seville. Here the very remarkable cathedral with the tomb of Hernando Columbus, son of the great discoverer, the Exchange with the Archives of the Indies, the Royal Tobacco manufactory, and the magnificent Alcazar or Alhambra, were the princi- pal objects of interest which he visited. The next stage of the journey was a ride in the " diligence" to Cordova, where he was much interested in the curious old mosque, now turned into a cathedral, with its forest of columns of differ- ent orders and materials, supporting a low roof and almost blocking up the interior. He was so fortunate as to reach Madrid on the very even- ing upon which the Queen of Spain and her sister were to be married ; and though this coincidence rendered it almost impossible for him to obtain accommodation during his brief stay, in consequence of the vast concourse of people, it gave him the opportunity of witnessing the Spanish capital at one of its gala seasons, and of seeing some of the most prominent personages of the kingdom. In the procession, on the day following his arrival, he obtained a glance at * Besides furnishing Dr. Baird with facilities for visiting parts of the fortress which are not ordinarily thrown open to strangers, the governor kindly gave him at parting a letter of introduction to Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, to which he appended this characteristic postscript : " Although I lost £10,40(1 in United States Pennsylvania Bank, Mr. Baird has reconciled me to Pennsylvania I" 2+ o LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRB. the queen, her mother Christina, the royal consort, Nar- vaez, etc. From Madrid he traveled northward to Burgos, and en- tered Prance near Bayonne, having completed a tour in Spain which had enabled him to obtain much accurate in- formation respecting that interesting country, and to judge intelligently of the prospects of religion, and of the practi- cability of labors in its behalf on the part of American Protestants. At Toulouse he conferred with the Courtois brothers and members of the Society for the Publication of Good Books, respecting the work of the Foreign Evangelical Society in the southern part of France. It had been his intention to remain here but a short time, and at once to proceed to the northern part of the kingdom, as well as to Geneva, before returning to the United States. But he had scarcely set foot in France before he fell sick, and when he reached Toulouse he was too much indisposed to continue his jour- ney. In accordance with the advice of physicians, who deemed it highly imprudent for him to attempt to go north- ward, and recommended that for a few weeks at least he should enjoy the mild climate of the shores of the Mediter- ranean, he determined to alter his course and go to Italy, and if not sufficiently restored, to embrace this occasion to visit Athens and Constantinople. When at length able to leave his hotel, Dr. Baird, after attending the anniversary services of the very useful orphan institute founded by the Protestants of southern France at Saverdun, nearly south of Toulouse, traveled in the dili- gence by Castres, Beziers and other cities of historical im- portance, to Montpellier, and thence to Nismes and Mar- seilles. On the evening of November 1st he embarked at this port ; but the weather was so tempestuous that, before proceeding far, the steamer was forced to turn back from the Hyeres islands, and put into the port of Toulon. Before MALTA. 241 the storm had fully subsided, it resumed its course, and, fol- lowing the coast, at length reached Leghorn. " This," re- marks Dr. Baird, " is an important point from which the truth may radiate into Italy ; and there are some excellent Protestants, English and others, who are disposed to aid the good work. Leghorn is fourteen miles southwest from Pisa, which was once an important city among the twelve Italian republics. The spirit of fanaticism has at length triumphed in Pisa, and Mademoiselle Callandrini (one of the founders of infants schools in Italy) has been forbidden to return to that place, and I suppose that her interesting school has been broken up." The next day the steamer touched at Civita Vecchia : " Many of our passengers here left us to go up to Rome, where a grand ceremony is to take place on Sunday ; namely, the new Pope's taking pos- session of the Church of St. John de Lateran. This is his installation as bishop of the city of Rome, of which St. John de Lateran is considered as the chief church, St. Peter's being regarded as the chief church, or cathedral, of the whole Christian — i. e. Roman Catholic — world. A proces- sion will take place, starting from St. Peter's or the Vati- can, and passing by the Capitol, the Arch of Titus, the Co-' liseum, etc., to the church of St. John de Lateran. There will be a vast concourse of people. The new Pope (Pius IX.) is exceedingly popular at present." - After another brief pause at Naples, the steamer aban- doned the Italian coasts, and passing to the left of Strom- boli and the Lipari Islands, entered the straits of Messina, and, after a few hours' sail along the eastern shore of Sicily, brought its passengers to the harbor of Valetta. In the few hours that were at his command, Dr. Baird visited the Cathedral containing monuments of the most distinguished grand-masters of the Knights of St. John, and the Gover- nor's house with its remarkable armory. Afterwards, tak- ing a guide, he rode to Citta Vecchia, situated at the dis- 16 z+2 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. tance of seven or eight miles, and near the centre of the island, from the roof of the cathedral of which, a fine view was obtained of the whole of Malta, as well as of the neigh- boring island of Gozo. To the north, the shape of St. Paul's bay, where the apostle is supposed to have been shipwrecked, was clearly seen. The catacombs were next explored, and the grotto of St. Paul, a spot of reputed miraculous proper- ties. On his return to Valetta, Dr. Baird availed himself of a little remaining time to call upon the Eev. Messrs. Bailey and Wilson, missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland, and learned from them the difficulties under which the efforts of Protestant Christians in behalf of the truth are prosecuted. The weather was so unpropitious that five days were con- sumed in the sail from Malta to Piraeus. Respecting the fortnight which Dr. Baird spent at Athens, and of whose incidents his letters and diary are so full,- little can be said here, except that it furnished more entertainment than he ever experienced in the same number of days in any other portion of his travels. All the ardor he had felt in his early classical studies was rekindled when he stood before the venerable ruins of the Acropolis, or gazed at the glorious little territory which has held in history a place so dispro- portionate to its extent or population. The short excursions that he made to the battlefield of Marathon, to Corinth, and to the Temple of Minerva at Sunium were fraught with scarcely less interest. Here, too, he had much friendly in- tercourse with the American missionaries, Rev. Drs. King and Hill, and Rev. Mr. Buel. The former, at whose hospit- able home he stayed, had, since their last meeting, three years before at his own house at Geneva, passed through a season of great anxiety, and not only been excommunicated by the " Holy Synod," but had also been exposed to a judicial prose- cution in consequence of his devoted labors for the spiritual welfare of the Greeks. Among other acquaintances formed GREECE. 2 43 at Athens, those with General Sir Richard Church and with Sir Edmund Lyons, at that time British Minister at the court of king Otho, were remembered afterwards with particular satisfaction. Dr. Baird was presented to the Greek mon- arch himself, but there was little hope of accomplishing anything of value for the cause either of religion or of hu- manity with a prince, whom he characterizes as " a king who is headstrong and incapable, a perfect Jesuit from principle, as well as from education, who is bent on render- ing the Constitution, whose adoption he opposed until the last moment, a perfect nullity." At length the time for leaving the shores of Greece came, and he reluctantly started once more for Syra, Smyrna and Constantinople. Of the city of Syra, or Hermoupolis, his impressions were favorable. " The people are industrious, civil, and cleanly beyond most Greeks in their houses and persons. I was surprised to see so many vessels, of a small size for the most part, in the harbor. It is certainly the most thriving, as it is the most commercial town in all Greece." The picturesque position of the place particular- ly struck him. " Viewed from the harbor, Syra presents a beautiful aspect. The Old Town, perched upon a height above the Lower, adds much to the picture. In fact, there is a vast ravine or gap in the mountain immediately in the rear of the city, and a hill sloping down to the very confines of the city, looks like a fragment detached from the moun- tain. This hill, towards Syra, is covered with houses up to the summit where stands the cathedral. This is the Old or Upper Town, and is even now. almost wholly Roman Catho- lic." At Syra he made the acquaintance of the Rev. Mr. Hildner of the Church Missionary Society, and went through his interesting schools ; and at Smyrna he visited the Rev. Mr. Riggs. We need not introduce the entertaining de- scriptions which Dr. Baird gives of this city and of his first impressions of Asiatic life. "I could not but bless God 2 44 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. that I was permitted to set my foot in Asia" he observes, " and in a city where apostles had preached the blessed Gospel, and where existed one of those seven churches to which the Saviour addressed the touching messages in the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation. And I lifted up my heart to God in prayer that the glorious Gospel may be again made known not only here but in all this region." Besides the ordinary localities which an intelligent travel- er would desire to view in Smyrna, he went in company with Mr. Riggs to the prison. " My object in visiting the place was to see Johanan Vartabed, a converted Armenian Roman Catholic monk, whose case has made some noise. It is brief- ly this : Having come to the knowledge of the truth at Constantinople, where he lived, he had to quit the place to avoid the persecution which the Patriarch raised against him. Returning after a time, he was seized and put on board the Austrian steamer Empress (the same in which I came to this place from Syra), under a guard, and with an Austrian passport, in order that he might be carried to Trieste, and thence to Rome. When the boat came to Smyrna, he contrived to elude the guard, escaped to the city, and took refuge in the house of Mr. Riggs. Great consternation arose on the boat! At length his place of concealment was discovered, and the Austrian Consul de- manded him through the American Consul. Mr. Riggs, however, refused to give him up except to Turkish authori- ties, inasmuch as the Vartabed was not an Austrian, but a Turkish subject, and referred the matter to the American Minister at Constantinople. The latter brought the case before the Turkish Government, which was greatly sur- prised to learn what had been done. The course of Mr. Riggs was approved, and the Austrian Ambassador was overwhelmed with shame! The Vartabed will probably be soon set at liberty. He is a fine-looking young man, TEE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH. 245 who has become so far enlightened that he sees the errors of Rome and has determined to renounce them." At Constantinople besides visiting all the points of im- portance, he met frequently the American missionaries, and witnessed some of the results of the great religious awaken- ing among the Armenians which had then but recently commenced. And he came away " feeling more, than ever the importance of promoting spiritual Christianity in Tur- key. If anything can save it from destruction, it will be the Gospel of Christ." Dr. Baird had a good opportunity of seeing the Sultan on the day of his arrival. The Arme- nian Patriarch, too famous as a persecutor of the converts, was the only one of the numerous ecclesiastical dignitaries that congregate at Constantinople, to whom he was per- sonally presented. The subject of the complaints of the prelate against the cause of the missionaries was not alluded to during the interview ; for the Patriarch had been pre- viously notified that his visitors fully approved of all that the missionaries had done. " We were conducted," he writes, " to a large and handsomely furnished room, around which ran a divan, five or six feet in width, where we waited for his " reverence." In due time he entered, and we were in- troduced. As soon as we were all seated — we according to our American fashion, and the Patriarch and the dragomen in oriental style, pipes were ordered. After this coffee was handed round in small cups. The conversation related chiefly to the United States, and its progress in railroads, newspapers, education, etc., etc. I endeavored to make the Patriarch understand that the liberty of religious worship, as well as the liberty of the press, was one of the causes of the prosperity of our country. This was as near as we came to the forbidden subject. His reverence inquired whether we knew anything of Calcutta! And we had to tell him that the city in question is not in America but in India. . . I scrutinized his countenance as thoroughly as I could. He 246 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. is certainly a fine-looking man, not much more than fifty years of age ; with large and piercing black eyes and aquiline nose. Like most of his nation, he has a decidedly ' Jewish look. Take him all in all, he is just fit to do the work of persecution, of which he was guilty towards the Protestants or converted Armenians, some months ago, and to which the Turkish Government, at the instance of the English and American Ambassadors, put an end, greatly to its honor." On the 10th of December, Dr. Baird turned his face westward and homeward once more, embarking on an Aus- trian steamer for a voyage of fifteen hundred miles to Trieste. The vessel stopped at Syra and Corfu, but at neither place were the passengers permitted to land, on account of the quarantine regulations. Prom Trieste he crossed to Venice, and thence continued his journey by railway and " diligence" to Milan. An incident occurred here which well illustrates the oft-repeated observation that the passport system is so constructed as to be a very serious annoyance to travelers of peaceable intentions, but is really a very slight impediment in the way of those who are dan- gerous to the government, since it by no means secures the complete identification of persons. " It is said," remarks Dr. Baird, " that there is no place in Europe where so mucli trouble is experienced as to passports as at Milan, and I verily believe it ; for it required an hour and a half for the proper officers, 3ome four or five in number, to examine my passport, with its fifty-six visas, and write down in the books all the names of the places where, and the authorities by whom, it had been examined. A report of nearly a page and a half was made upon it, as I saw myself. The chief officer smiled when he read it, and said that Signore had traveled much !" And yet after all this trouble the Mi- lanese police were utterly ignorant of the fact that the person carrying this passport had ever set foot in Milan PASSPORT REGULATIONS. 247 before. On leaving lie chanced to mention that he had been in that city nine years before ; the officer turned to the record and easily verified the statement, observing that had he known that circumstance at first, the laborious ex- amination and transcribing would have been rendered unnecessary ! In crossing the Alps, Dr. Baird, on inquiry, selected the pass over Mount St. Gothard as perhaps the most practicable in the dead of winter. Neither the ascent nor the descent was entirely devoid of danger. Both were made in small sleds or sleighs, capable of holding two per- sons ; and that which carried him was at one time over- turned. But the travelers reached Lucerne in safety, and Dr. Baird at once proceeded to Geneva. After a few days spent here, in conference with the American-Swiss Com- mittee and others, he pursued his journey to Lyons, and thence, by the . valley of the Loire, through Moulins and Nevers to Orleans and Paris. While in the French capital he not only had repeated interviews with the friends of evangelical truth in France, but also called on M. Guizot, whom he had often seen in former years. It was. with sad- ness that he saw a Protestant whose intellectual abilities he so greatly admired, but whose compliance with the will of an unprincipled monarch evinced little moral strength. " Another Rosny for another Henri IV !" On the 22d of January, 1847, Dr. Baird reached London, where, on the succeeding Sabbath, he preached for the Rev. Dr. Steane on the " state and prospects of Evangelical Religion in Europe." The same subject he discussed more fully at a public meeting in Exeter Hall, at which Mr. Strachan presided. At the conclusion some very kind resolutions were passed.* It was a meeting of deep in- *The following are the resolutions referred to : I. " That this meeting have heard with feelings of deep interest the 24 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. terest, and of very salutary influence. The Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, the Rev. Dr. Leifehild, and others, made addresses before its conclusion, and the venerable Dr. Bunting offered the final prayer. While at London Dr. Baird took occasion to confer freely with many of the gentlemen connected with the principal missionary organizations, and urged upon them the neces- sity of doing more than had as yet been attempted to spread the truth in Roman Catholic Europe, especially in Prance. After a brief visit to Oxford and Cambridge, he passed into Scotland, and spent a few days at Edinburgh and Glasgow, chiefly endeavoring to excite a more lively interest in the religious welfare of the continent. At Edinburgh he ad- dressed a meeting of the professors and students of the new college of the Free Church on this topic. Here, too, he saw for the last time his great and good friend, the Rev. Thomas Chalmers, D.D. On the 4th of February he embarked at Liverpool for the United States, and on the 23d of the same month, after a pleasant passage, reached his home at New York. Some sentences from the closing remarks of a very full diary, which he wrote during this journey, may be of interest. " I have thus completed a long tour in Europe — the longest I have ever made. The Lord be praised for all His mercies to me ! I have crossed the Atlantic ten times, statements now laid before them in relation to the condition and prospects of Evangelical Religion on the Continent of Euvope by the Rev. Dr. Baird, and beg him to accept their grateful acknowledgments for calling them together to listen to them ; giving him at the same time the assurance of their Christian friendship, and of their earnest pikers, both for himself mid for the objects which so deeply interest his heart. II. " That this meeting would also express the conviction produced in their minds by Dr. Baird's valuable communications, of the great import- ance of such evangelical researches as those in which he has been engaged, being continued, as well as of evangelical labors generally being largely increased amongst the nations of the continent." A REVIEW. 249 and made as many as thirty voyages on other seas ; and although I have seen some very severe weather, I have suf- fered no shipwrecks, nor, save once or twice, been in what may be called imminent danger at sea. My late journey took me into almost all parts of Europe, and exceeded eighteen thousand miles. In reviewing all this extensive travel, I cannot but believe that I was in the path of duty. I did not go without having before me certain definite objects to be accomplished ; and I think the results will not disappoint my hopes. I have been enabled to give some further impulse to the Temperance cause in the north of Europe, as well as to the other enterprises of benevo- lence in that quarter. And I have gained much knowledge of the state of things in the southern countries of Europe — Portugal, Spain, Malta, Greece, and Turkey. I have seen much that I had long wanted to see ; and I feel assured that if my life be spared a few years, and God grant His blessing, I shall be enabled to turn all the knowledge I have thus acquired to a good account." Alluding to the prospective publication of his " Religion in America," in the Swedish, Modern Greek, and Armenian languages, and perhaps in Danish, Italian, and Hungarian — all in an abridged form, he adds : " This will be, with the blessing of God, a great matter for the promotion of right views in regard to religious liberty. It will also make the religious economy of the United States better known in Europe than it now is — a result greatly to be desired. I was much cheered by the remark of the Rev. Mr. H , of Con- stantinople, who has read that work with care, ' that if I had never done anything but write that book, it would have been enough to justify the Society in all its expendi- tures in support of its author in Europe.' " For his course of lectures in Europe, he regarded this tour, made solely at his own expense, very important ; but above all for the work on the " Religious State of Europe, and the Progress 250 LIFE OF REV. DR. BA1RD. of the Kingdom of God there," which he intended ulti- mately to write, and which he considered one of the prin- cipal objects of his labors. " Of this I wish never for a moment to lose sight. I think that I owe it to the world, to endeavor to give some account of the state and pros- pects of Evangelical religion in the countries which I have had so many and so favorable opportunities to see and to know. But when shall I find the time in which to do all this ? This is indeed a difficulty ; but perhaps God will grant me the leisure which may be needed." " It gives me great happiness," he remarks, in conclusion, " to think that there is scarcely a city in Europe of much importance in which I do not know some dear Christians, whom I love, and for whom I delight to pray. 0, the blessedness of Christian communion — the communion of saints ! May God bless His dear children in all parts of the Old World, rapidly augment their number, smile upon their efforts to build up His kingdom, and fill the world with His glory and His great salvation ! Amenl " CHAPTER XXII. HE IS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF JEFFERSON COLLEGE, AND AFTERWARDS OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA. FORMATION OF THE AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CHRISTIAN UNION. LITERARY LABORS. YISIT TO EUROPE IN 1851. THE PEACE CONGRESS. TOUR IN IRELAND. 1847—1851. IN the summer of the year 1847, a few months after Dr. Baird's return from his long tour in Europe, the presi- dency of Jefferson College, the institution from which he had graduated nearly thirty years previously, and for which he had always entertained feelings of the warmest affection, became vacant by the resignation of the Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, D.D. On the 8th of June 1847, the Board of Trustees elected Dr. Baird his successor. There was a general desire among the friends of the insti- tution that he should accept the appointment. They be- lieved that owing to his ripe scholarship, large acquaint- ance with methods of instruction at home and abroad, and the wide circle in which his name and labors were as familiar as " household words," he would add strength to this already flourishing college. On receiving intimation of his election by a unanimous vote of the Board, he took the subject for some weeks into serious and prayerful consideration ; and it was with great reluctance that he finally came to the conclusion that it was his duty to decline. He felt, it is true, no slight inclination (251) 252 LIFE OF REV. BE. BAIRD. to resign his present post, which seemed of necessity to involve frequent and protracted absences from his family ; and it had long been his hope that he might spend the last years of his life in the congenial labor of instruction, to which much of his youth had been devoted. But the interests of the Foreign Evangelical Society imperatively required his continued presence. No man on this side of the Atlantic was so familiar with the spiritual wants of the European Continent, the most promising fields of labor, and the methods which experience had shown to be the most likely to prove effective. Not a society for evangelization existed in Europe with whose history and operations he was not thoroughly familiar. With all the individuals pro- minent in benevolent enterprises he had an acquaintance, in most cases personal and intimate. No other American could be expected to be able at once to step advantageously into this position. Equally difficult was it for any one else to gain the confidence of the Christian community to such a degree as that in which Dr. Baird possessed it. His well-known catholicity was a guarantee that the labors in which he was engaged would not degenerate into a sec- tarian enterprise ; his warm piety was the pledge of their being prosecuted for the sole advancement of the glory of God ; his eminent common sense secured an exemption from anything approaching excess or fanaticism. Convinced that the cause of the evangelization of nominally Christian lands had not yet assumed a secure and well-deserved position in the affection and confidence of the Christians of America,. Dr. Baird felt compelled to decline an honor which he highly appreciated. A few years later, he was equally unable to accept a similar invitation coming from the neighboring institution, Washington College, Pennsyl- vania, at which, it will be remembered, a part of his studies had been pursued. And again, at a subsequent period, a number of the trustees of Miami University, Ohio, were FORMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN UNION 253 desirous of tendering to him the presidency of that Univer- sity ; but similar reasons to those which had previously influenced him, prevented his offering them any encourage- ment. The Providence of God had made it evident that the true field of his exertions was to be no contracted one, but to comprise the spiritual interests of a great part of Christendom. In the year 1849 an important charge was effected in the society of which Dr. Baird was one of the principal founders, and with which he had been connected during the ten years of its existence, as well as with the French Association and the Foreign , Evangelical Association, from which it had sprung. An impression was widely prevalent that there existed too many organizations, having as their object the evangelization of the Roman Catholic portion of the Chris- tian world. Besides the Foreign Evangelical Society, labor- ing chiefly in France, Belgium, Canada, and South America, the American Protestant Society directed its efforts exclu- sively towards the Roman Catholics at home, and the Christian Alliance had recently been formed for the special purpose of reaching Italy, at that time carefully closed to any openly proclaimed Protestant effort. The attention of the Christian public was distracted, and the majority of churches were unable to find a place for all these associa- tions among the benevolent causes for which an appeal was yearly made. In a spirit of cordial friendship, a fusion of these societies was resolved upon, and speedily consummated. The combined society, having as its field all Christian lands, took the name of " the American and Foreign Christian Union." Dr. Baird was appointed corresponding secretary, with the Rev. Herman Norton of the Protestant Society as his colleague. Essentially his work remained unchanged, although his attention was also more or less directed to the domestic field. In the spring of the same year Dr. Baird removed his 254 LIVE OF REV. DS. BATED. residence from the city of New York, which had been the home of his family for over five years, to the neigh- boring village of Yonkers, on the banks of the Hud- son. In the service of the American and Foreign Christian Union, Dr. Baird traveled no less extensively throughout the United States than he had formerly done, when con- nected with the Foreign Evangelical Society. From Maine to Louisiana there was not a State which he had not occasion to visit repeatedly, in order to present the inter- ests of the Roman Catholic world to the churches of all the chief cities. Many persons have borne witness to the emo- tions of lively pleasure with which they heard him in pub- lic and in private during these protracted tours. With a heart full of the work in which he was engaged, it is certain that he contributed not a little to the diffusion of sound and intelligent views respecting European affairs, especially those of a religious nature. Everywhere, the extent and accuracy of his information and the wonderful stores of his memory were a subject of astonishment ; while his readiness to communicate freely the results of his own observations to any one that seemed really desirous of. learning the truth rendered him a great favorite in the family circle. Indeed, no traits were more characteristic of Dr. Baird, than, on the one hand, the facility with which he gathered accurate information, in the midst of the most engrossing pursuits, and on railway car or steamboat ; and on the other, his earnest desire to remove ignorance and prejudice, even when gross and apparently inexcusable. There can be no doubt that the courses of lectures on Europe which he had begun in 1845 to deliver from time to time, were of great utility, not only in general, by making known facts which a large portion of the public would scarcely have been expected to learn in any other way, but also more par- ticularly by promoting an interest in the Continent, and AGAIN BAILS FOB EUROPE. 255 thus directly furthering the ends of the Society with which he was connected. In the interval between his return from Europe in 1847, and his next visit in 1851, Dr. Baird's literary labors were chiefly confined to occasional contributions to the religious and secular papers, the greater part relating to the reli- gious and political state of Europe, and some of them contain- ing predictions which were strikingly verified in the revo- lutions of 1848 and in the events of subsequent years. In addition to his other arduous cares, he assumed the edito- rial supervision of a valuable monthly publication — " the Christian Union," the organ of the American branch of the Evangelical Alliance ; but the principal portion of these editorial labors devolved upon his son, the Rev. Charles W. Baird, who also, in conjunction with the Rev. Benjamin N. Martin, D.D., now professor in the University of the City of New York, wrote the greater part of the " Christian Retrospect and Register" (New York, 1851) — a volume devoted to a review of the world's progress in the first half of the nineteenth century, which was issued under Dr. Baird's auspices. On the 5th of July, 1851, Dr. Baird again embarked at New York for Liverpool. Among his objects, the most prominent was to visit Ireland and examine the work which the American and Foreign Christian Union had undertaken in that country, since the recent mission of the Rev. Alex. King, of Dublin, to the American Churches. He had also been appointed a delegate both to the Peace Convention and to the Conference of the British Branch of the Evan- gelical Alliance, both of which were to be held in London — the former towards the end of July, and the latter nearly a month later. After a brief and pleasant passage, he reached Liverpool on the 15th of July, whence he crossed over to Dublin, to have a brief interview with the Rev. Mr. King. Returning to Liverpool, he went to London, where 256 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRB. he remained several days in attendance upon the World's " Peace Congress." In the proceedings he took no active part, contenting himself with listening to the excellent speeches of Richard Cobden, Samuel Gurney, Mr. Gilpin, and others. One evening, at the house of the Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, he was present at a conference of prominent friends of religion in Europe, at which the pros- pects of Italy were made the principal topic. "This scene," he writes, " was more interesting to me, by far, than anything I saw or heard in the Peace Congress— although I am not without hopes that that meeting will do some good." "In this congress," he elsewhere writes, " our United States had but little to do. Dr. Beckwith spoke the first day, and Mr. Burritt the last ; that was all. The English and French had the ground to themselves. A few Germans, Italians, and Spaniards, also took part in the proceedings. This was well. The nations of Europe have far more need of such ' Congresses' than we. I am greatly mistaken if they will not require all the influence which can be brought to bear upon them by man, to maintain peace during the next year or two. The horizon is far from being clear in that direction at present. Who can tell what a few months, will bring forth in France and Italy ? But ' the Lord reigneth ; let the, earth rejoice !' " After the conclusion of the meetings of the Peace Con- gress, he went northward to Edinburgh, and thence by Stirling and Perth to Aberdeen. At the last-named place he made the acquaintance, among others, of the Rev. Sir Henry Dunbar, an English Episcopal minister, who, preach- ing to a church composed chiefly of persons from the south- ern part of the realm, Lad thrown off the yoke of the Scottish Episcopal, Non-Juror, or Jacobite bishops. From him he obtained many interesting facts respecting this singular communion. Sir Henry had himself been excom- municated by a prelate, who styled himself Bishop of Aber- VISIT TO IRELAND. 257 deen, because he had placed himself under the supervision of the Bishop of London, but had been so successful in a seven-years' suit, which had been carried from court to court until its final adjudication in the House of Lords, that, a few weeks before Dr. Baird's visit, the bishop had been glad to let the matter drop on the payment of some £1,450 to indemnify Sir Henry for his expenses. From Aberdeen he returned to Stirling and thence went to Glasgow. He spent part of two days in making a flying visit to Lochs Katrine and Lomond. Then taking a steamer, he crossed the North Irish Channel to Belfast, where he met the Rev. Alexander King, with whom he had agreed to make a tour of Ireland, for the double purpose of examining into the working of the schools recently insti- tuted, especially in Connaught, and of making the state of religion in America and on the Continent better known to the Protestant congregations whom it might be his lot to address. This tour was extensive and fraught with great interest. On the way to Londonderry, Dr. Baird diverged from the direct route in order to see the famous Giant's Causeway. The important towns of Donegal, Sligo, Bal- lina, Galway, Limerick and Cork, with many intermediate villages, were successively visited, and at most of them public meetings were held, before which Dr. Baird, Mr. King, and members of the local clergy, made more or less extended speeches. The inspection of the schools convinced him more than ever of the great usefulness of this instru- mentality for the promotion of the knowledge of the Gospel in Ireland ; and he was particularly impressed with the noble self-sacrifice of the teachers, for the most part women — who, in order to sustain this noble enterprise, were content to struggle on with the bare pittance which could be afforded them. The romantic scenery of the lakes of Killarney and the gigantic telescope of Lord Rosse, at Birr or Parsonstown, 17 2? 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. led him to deviate from the most direct route, and amply recompensed him for the hours spent in the excursions. Having accomplished all the objects of his trip to Ire- land, he returned to England, and reached London on the 20th of August, in time for the opening of the sessions of the Evangelical Alliance. CHAPTER XXin. SPEECHES BEFORE THE CONFERENCE OF THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE AT LONDON. THE ALLIANCE IN AMERICA. REA- SONS OF ITS FAILURE. DISCOURTEOUS TESTS. INTRODUC- TION OF THE QUESTION OF AMERICAN SLAVERY. DAN- GERS WHICH THREATEN BOTH ENGLAND AND AMERICA. INCREASING DISTRUST AND HOSTILITY. RELIGIOUS STA- TISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES. 1851. IN the sessions of the conference of the British Evangel- ical Alliance, which was held at London in August and September, 1851, Dr. Baird was compelled to take a more active part than at the meeting of 184G, when he had been content to leave the field of discussion chiefly to others. Al- though he was almost the only delegate from the American branch of the Alliance and from the American churches, and therefore naturally called upon to report upon the spiritual condition and prospects of his native country ; he could not but recognize the propriety of also answering in a public manner the inquiries so frequently addressed to him by individuals respecting the reason of the comparatively small number of brethren present from beyond the Atlantic. It was not without prayerful consideration of his duty that he addressed himself to the preparation of two speeches to elucidate these very different subjects. For, if he was aware that in the one he could bring forward facts that could not fail to interest and warm the truly Christian C259; 2 6o LIFE OF RET. DR. BAIRD. heart, as they signalized a great advance of the kingdom of Christ on this -western continent ; he was equally certain that he would be unable to give a faithful account of the causes of the decline of interest in the American Alliance, without saying much that might conflict with the prejudices of a large proportion of his auditors. To condemn the action of the very body before which he spoke, and even the common sentiment of the community, would naturally awaken impatience and perhaps displeasure. And yet the cause of truth seemed to call imperatively for an exhibition of the effects which had flowed from the ill-advised action of the previous conference. The few weeks that had elapsed since his arrival in Eu- rope had been altogether taken up with his visit to Ireland and to important points in Great Britain. It was, therefore, necessary for him to employ in writing a few hours taken from those ordinarily given to rest, after a fatiguing day spent at Free Masons' Hall, or an evening at Exeter Hall. The writer, who was with him at this time, well remembers the diligence with which he wrote, even far into the night, in his rooms in Northumberland court. And the recollec- tion of that intelligent and anxious expression of counte- nance, marking the intensity of the sense of responsibility which he felt to be resting upon him, will not easily be effaced from his memory. On the 22d of August Dr. JBaird delivered an address be- fore the British Evangelical Alliance, at its morning session in Free Masons' Hall, " on the History, Present State and Prospects of the Evangelical Alliance Cause in the United States."* He began by saying : " I know not that I ever undertook a sadder task than that of making the present * This speech attracted so much attention in Europe, and was read with so much interest in this country when it found its way into the American papers, that we have thought it proper to reproduce all the most important THE ALLIANCE IN AMERICA. 2 6\ address, for it must contain some things which will be heard with pain by all upon whose ears it will fall. It can afflict none, however, more than him who makes it. It is, perhaps, right that this duty should be performed by me ; in some respects there is a special propriety in my undertaking it. In addition to the fact, that though an American, I sustain a peculiar relation to this assembly — for in my veins flows th'e 'blood of Scotchmen, Irishmen, Welshmen, Englishmen and Germans — I have resided so much in Europe, labored so much for the cause and kingdom of Christ in almost all parts of it, that without losing an interest in my own coun- try, I feel a very deep one in all those lands which are rep- resented in this meeting. If anything, therefore, which will cause sorrow, must be said about America, it may be fitting for me to say it." He next proceeded to give some account of the formation of an American Branch of the Evangelical Alliance, by those brethen who had attended the meetings at London in 1846, and other gentlemen entertaining the same enlarged views. He referred to the succession of gatherings for this purpose in New York, and to the periodical which, under the title of the ' ! Christian Ui)ion," he had himself edited. " It must be confessed, however," he proceeded to say, " that though the Alliance movement has done some good — even great good — in America, enough and far more than enough to justify all the trouble and expense which it has occa- sioned — including that of the visit of so many brethren to London in 1846 — yet it has been, in a great degree, a failure. It has accomplished but little in comparison with what was fondly hoped when it was projected, and little in comparison with what it would have done, if it had had a fair chance." What was the cause of this admitted failure ? The brethren from America who attended the conference of 1846 at Lon- don, and among whom were some of the first, if they were not the very first, to propose the movement, returned home with 2 6 2 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. heayy hearts. They had supposed that the enterprise in which they had been invited to cooperate was intended to set forth a brief statement of doctrine in which all evangel- ical Protestants could agree ; to collect and diffuse valu- able religious information; "to promote the communion and fellowship of saints, by making Christians better ac- quainted with each other's faith, character and trials ;" and' to unite all true Protestants in opposition to the fresh as- saults of Roman Catholicism. They had expected that a spirit of mutual forbearance would lead them to overlook minor differences and evils, which, it was hoped, would in time be removed by the proper ecclesiastical organizations. For instance, they did not apprehend that " the wine-drink- ing and brandy-drinking .habits which prevailed among Christians, and even ministers of the Gospel in some coun- tries," or the union of Church and State which brethren in England, Germany and other countries held to be both Scriptural and useful, but which they believed in their inmost soul " to be the greatest curse that has ever befallen Chris- tianity," "having done more, a thousand-fold more, for fifteen centuries to corrupt sound doctrine, to blend the world and the Church, to subvert the rights of conscience and of religious worship — and in a word to prevent men from entering into heaven — than all the slavery that has ever existed," would hinder the cordial union of itrue Chris- tians, whatever their views might be on these important subjects. But the American brethren had been disappointed. The resolution adopted by a preliminary meeting of their British brethren gave warning of difficulty. The test proposed for membership was felt to be not very courteous. Both of these might have been overlooked, but for the result of the long and painful discussion in the great conference itself. " The American brethren returned to their country, as I have said, with a heavy heart. That happened which they MUTUAL FORBEARANCE. 263 had feared ; it was impossible to make the movement suc- cessful among us. Very few even of those who at first had been decidedly favorable, would take any part in it. Other causes, I know, existed, which hindered, but Jthis was the most fatal, as it was by far the most insurmountable. The restriction was felt to be unjust, inasmuch as it was certain to operate cruelly upon many of the very persons in the slaveholding States who most need, as they most deserve, the sympathy and the succor which Christian union can give. For whilst there are forms of this great evil which no man, at least none that has the light that we have, or think we have, can hesitate to pronounce to be sinful, in such a sense as to be utterly inconsistent with true religion, or any religion which requires justice to our fellowmen ; as, for instance, where it is voluntary, mercenary, and not from the fixed purpose of securing the highest good to the slave, heartless and cruel — there are many cases where the relation is far otherwise, from the state of the laws, from the position of the master, or the age and condition of the slave. All this was felt, because understood, by many of the best men in America., and they stood aloof from our Alliance." Beside, there was an appearance, however unintentional, of foreign dictation, and that from the very last quarter from which it would be brooked. The result was deplor- able. Not that such an alliance was so necessary as in Europe ; for in America there is far greater harmony between evangelical churches. " No state church over- shadows and depresses the others, for none has the prestige or the influence, of the ' powers that be' to sustain it. We are all equal in this respect, and know nothing of the assumptions, the jealousies, the heart-burnings which exist in some other countries. Deus nobis hcec otia fecit, And to Him be the glory and the praise !" 264 . LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. " But we do deplore the failure on another account, which concerns many of those who hear me as much as ourselves. We deplore it, because we foresee days of evil ; nor are they very far distant. It cannot be disguised that the very attempt which we have made to bring the churches of Amer- ica and of Europe, especially those of Britain, into more friendly and fraternal relations, has ended in putting them further asunder ! You have been told that it would hasten the overthrow of the dreadful evil among us, if you would put us out of the pale of your Christian fellowship ; you have been told what amounts to this, and you have believed those who have told you so, notwithstanding the remon- strances and the tears even, of brethren who are worthy of your confidence, from their characters, their antecedents, and their position. You have preferred to believe another class of witnesses. As' to the questions : "Who they are, and what they are ? I shall say nothing. You have be- lieved them ; but you have been deceived. You might have known us by knowing yourselves. And this knowledge would certainly have taught you that very much that has been done, and still more what has been said, is any thing else than likely to accomplish that great object. Oh, no I The language of taunt and of ridicule and of indiscriminate abuse may wound the hearts of Christian men among us, who love their country, and with good reason, notwith- standing its faults ; but it will be hurled back with un- measured scorn, if they deign to notice it, by more than three thousand secular presses. ' Let America wash out of her skirts the stain of slavery, and then she will be fit to join the churches of Britain in their noble efforts to give the Gospel to the world.' Such was the language, a few years ago, of one whom we have greatly loved in America, and whom we would love more, if he would permit us. "Would you know how that language was received in Amer- ica, by the overwhelming majority of those who read it ? MUTUAL RECRIMINATION. 265 Shall I tell you a few things which were said ? Here you have a specimen : ' Indeed ! And is England immaculate ? How long is it since she washed out the deep sin of slave- holding and slavetrading from her own skirts ? And do these airs indicate that depth of repentance, which such a long career of wickedness demands ? Has she no sins in relation to Ireland, India, China, and the aborigines of Van Dieman's Land, yet to be washed away ? And must our American churches wait till their country be rid of slavery, before they shall be fit to cooperate with British Christians in spreading the Gospel throughout the world ? Thanks be to God, He does not thus judge of us. With all our sins and great unworthiness, He deigns to bless the efforts of our churches to send the Gospel even to India, to the aborigines, to the islands of the sea, to Mohamme- dan lands. Are England's missionaries better men, or more successful than our own, Englishmen themselves being judges ?'* How often have I heard such remarks in reply to such language as that which I have quoted. Alas, if the * " The language which I used in the Alliance was different from that given above. I prefer not, upon revising my notes, to repeat it. I there- fore give other language, which I have often heard and seen, and which will quite as well illustrate my position, namely, that severe language on ono side will call forth just as severe on the other. A distinguished London minister, at the annual meeting of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, held up to ridicule the placing of Mr. Powers' Greek Slave in the Crystal Palace, and pronounced it a sign of infatuation, of judicial blindness, on the part of the Americans, though not half a dozen of them, probably, had any thing to do with the act. Well, what is said in America, by way of offset, in a newspaper which has 40,000 subscribers, and whose editor-is anything else than a friend to slavery or the South ? ' And there is the Great Diamond' [the writer, who was the editor himself, if I remember rightly, was describing the Crystal Palace] 'the Koh-i-noor, what is it placed in the Great Exhibition for ? Is it a British manufacture ? Has it not rather been placed there through infatuation, and as an exponent of the most prominent traits of Britain's national character — Ambition and Ra- pacity V " 2 66 LIFE OF REV. DR. SAIRD. robes of us all be not washed in the blood of the Lamb, what will become of us ? But I will say no more on this point, for I would not fall into the commission of the grievous fault which I am condemning. " Let British Christians pursue their great work of getting everything right in their own vast dominion, and we will do the same in our great country ; and may God crown those who come out foremost in this race ! We apprehend that when you have gotten through, we shall not be far behind you. Yes, we shall abolish this great evil, but we must be allowed to take such time and employ such mea- sures as we deem. best. We believe that we understand this matter better than you do — I speak it with all deference. We shall get clear of slavery, but not at, or in consequence of your bidding, or to please you. We shall get clear of it because the spirit of Christianity demands it ; and because the very spirit of our political institutions, and the honor of our country demand it. You placed the coat of Nessus on the young shoulders of our nation ; but you cannot aid us in the work of putting it off. It was not Repub- licanism, nor the Voluntary Principle that imposed it, nur- tured it for one hundred and fifty-five years ; and if the Church did not do her duty — though she did much — at the time when the evil was young and small, and comparatively feeble, it was when ten out of our thirteen colonies were enjoying the blessings, as some call them, of an Established Church — Episcopacy in the South, Congregationalism in the North — the former for one hundred and fifty years, the latter considerably longer. " Do not, I beg of you, send us such missionaries as one that lately visited us, and who now deceives himself, or rather tries to deceive his constituents, by telling them that his speeches made in this city, since his return, will make a sensation in America — from Maine to California ! Yes, a sensation they may make, but it will be the double one of AMERICANS IN ENGLAND. 267 laughter and contempt. Nevertheless, if you have another John Joseph Gurney among you, let him come ; he will be heard everywhere with pleasure ; for when among us he visited the North and South, and everywhere, and whilst he ' reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come/ he was heard with attention by all, for he was both a Christian and a gentleman.* " No, dear brethren, the course which things have been taking for the last few years bodes any thing else than good. The unnecessary allusions to American slavery, and the sweeping charges against the American churches, which one now hears in almost every public meeting in Exeter Hall and elsewhere in this city, are working out their legit- imate results — not of hastening the overthrow of this great evil in America, but of severing the bonds which hold two great nations together. What do we see already ? A few Americans in this meeting, and most of them spectators of your proceedings, not members of our Alliance. ' Why is it,' said a brother of this city, now before me, well known and greatly beloved in America — ' how is it that out of so many American ministers now in Europe, so few are here, or have even called upon us ?' That is a serious inquiry. I would prefer to leave it unanswered, but I cannot. " It can be expressed in a few words. ' I am tired,' said one of the best of the American brethren now in this city to me, yesterday, ' of going to public meetings in this city, and of being insulted by being made to hear my country, its churches, and its ministry abused, in circumstances where reply is impossible.' Another said to me : 'I was at the public meetings in Exeter Hall, last May, and I did not attend one in which some insulting remark was not made about the United States.' Even at the British and Foreign * His published " Letters to Mr. Clay," were read after he had left us with interest, both in the South and North. 2 f,g LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. Bible Society, the Tract Society, the Sunday School So- ciety—at all, something of the sort occurred ; and the presence of an American was sure to be the signal for some speaker, ambitious of catching the applause of a London audience, even if it could only be by the clap-trap of mak- ing a fling at American slavery or something else in that country and its institutions. "What effect can all this have upon any American who has any respect for his country ? That there are Americans, upon whose feelings such insult- ing remarks would have no effect, I have no doubt is true ; but their number is wholly insignificant. " The result will soon be, that y6u will not be troubled with the presence of American ministers and other Chris- tians at your public meetings, or any where else. Indeed, this is beginning to be the case already. They will come to England, visit the chief places of interest, your ' glorious Exhibition' among other things, whilst it lasts, hear some of your preachers on the Sabbath, but call upon few or none of you. They will visit the tombs of their fathers, wher- ever they may be in your realm, but not feeling at home here, they will go over to the continent, where they will find less that will wound their feelings. " Let this state of things continue to grow worse and worse, as it certainly is doing, and the result cannot but be disastrous in the end. It will alienate the religious people of both countries. They will cease to feel that interest which each country ought to feel in the welfare of the other. And then, how great the danger, if some serious misunder- standing should occur between the governments of the two countries. And how soon such a misunderstanding may take place none of us can tell. It may occur at any mo- ment. The state of the world is very critical. The omens are not propitious in the East. Nor is the horizon in the West entirely clear. There is the affair of Nicaragua, which may give trouble before all is over. And what may DANGER OF WAR. 269 grow out of the Cuban affairs none of us can foresee. "We may soon fall upon times which will demand all the prayers and the efforts of the righteous in both countries to main- tain peace between them. " But there is another element of disturbance whose in- fluence we must not disregard. There have gone from the Old World to the United States, within ten years, at least two millions of emigrants. More than a million and a quarter have gone since the Alliance meeting in 1846. Last year there went 315,000, and this year it is ex- pected 'the number will reach half a million. There had come to New York nearly 150,000 persons between the first of January and the first of July — almost one thousand per day. Who arc these people ? Mostly Irish Roman Catholics and Germans. Poverty takes many of them to the United States ; oppression drives others. Do you think that these people cherish in their hearts much love for the countries which they are leaving ? If you do, you are mistaken. The number of such people is increasing at a fearful rate, and their influence is beginning to be felt. Many of the most turbulent and restless people of the continent — social- ists, radicals, infidels — the very sweepings of Europe — are going to the New World. Is there no danger in all this for the peace of Britain and the United States ? Some of the most dangerous newspapers in the United States are edited by foreigners. The paper that has probably the most influence over the masses in New York is edited by a Scotchman, who has no love for England. That paper has a circulation of sixty thousand copies, and is, for the sphere which it aims at filling, conducted with wonderful tact. Its hostility to England is undisguised. And there are other papers just as dangerous. Some of these papers have laid hold for the last five years of every thing which they could turn to account in stirring up enmity — the Oregon affair, the Nicaragua question, and the Cuban movement all Z70 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. have been seized hold of with the view of making difficulty. It required all the wisdom and decision of Lord Ashburton and Mr. "Webster to arrange the Northeast boundary ques- tion ; and it may task the great abilities and good feelings of Mr. Webster and Sir Henry Bulwer to the utmost to carry the nation well through the questions which will soon press upon their attention. " Is it a time, then, for the alienation of the Christians of the two countries? Certainly not. Perhaps you may think that you can do without us. If so, I have to say that we can do without you. [No, you cannot, said the chair- man, Sir Culling Eardley.J But we can do without you as well as you can do without us. [Yes, but neither can do without the other, replied Sir Culling.] That is true — neither can do without the other. We need your help in. the work of promoting religion among us, by your raising up good men to labor among the hundreds of thousands of poor Irish Romanists who are coming to us, and for whose spiritual instruction we have so few suitable laborers. You can help us, help us in many ways ; and we too can help you in return. " But enough. I have felt it to be my duty to give you the brief statement which I have done in relation to the American branch of the Alliance, its very partial success, the causes of its comparative failure, and to seize the occa- sion to express earnestly my apprehensions of the dangers which are likely to grow out of the increasing alienation between the Christians of the two countries, which is but too manifest. I have spoken to you with much plainness, but with no unkindness of feeling. No Englishman, no Irishman, no Scotchman, ever visited my house during my long residence in Paris and Geneva, without receiving all the hospitality that I could show him. No Frenchman, or Swiss, or German, or inhabitant of any part of the con- tinent has ever applied to me in person or by letter for any HIS EARNESTNESS. 271 help or favor, since my return to America, without my doing all I could in the case. These sixteen years and more, a great deal of my time has been taken up, and at great inconvenience to myself and my family, in serving people of Europe in many ways. I cannot be charged with being influenced by unkind feelings in putting before you, with all fidelity, the facts and views which I have stated. I have owed it to my name as an American, and to my origin, not to hesitate for a moment to tell you these things. I have attempted to do my duty, to acquit my conscience. I fear that a chasm is opening before us, and I have felt it my duty to warn you of it. Perhaps, however, I have only been performing the part of Cassandra ; be it so, I cannot help it." Great interest was evinced by the Alliance during the delivery of this speech. Not an eye in the assembly that was not fixed upon the speaker, who leaning upon the desk, and scarcely raising his eyes from his notes, in calm and serious tones portrayed the dangers that threatened both England and America, from the intemperate language used on either side. His manner was that of one who was con- scious of being in the discharge of a weighty and responsi- ble duty, however unpalatable might be the truths which he was compelled to utter. His auditors, among whom were doubtless many who differed widely from his views, could not but admire the courage with which he proclaimed what he believed to be the truth, and they abstained from any unseasonable interruptions. At the conclusion of the speech, after some inquiries on the part of the chairman and the Rev. Mr. Arthur, in an- swer to which Dr. Baird said that, though appearing by request of the American Branch, the phraseology of the re- port was his own, the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel said : " There was one expression, and only one, in the manly and Christian address they had heard, to which he should per- 272 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. sonally take exception. His reverend brother liad spoken of them as having put the American churches without the pale. His impression was that they had not subjected themselves to the charge. They might, perhaps, have been guilty of some ill- temper, but they had not gone so far as to put the American churches out of the pale at all." When Dr. Baird explained that he had alluded not to what had been done in the Alliance, but elsewhere, Mr. Noel objected to making the Alliance responsible for that. The Rev. John Angell James said : " He could not but express his unfeigned admiration of the temper in which Dr. Baird's communication had been laid before them. More tenderness of spirit, and yet more manliness of mind and sentiment, he had scarcely ever witnessed. He must on the part of the Alliance, disclaim any participation in the mission of a certain gentleman who had visited America; they had nothing to do either with that gentleman or with his mission. He would suggest a friendly conference be- tween some members delegated from that assembly and their American brethren, to talk over the subject in the spirit of brethren and Christians. Possibly there was re- quired a little more forbearance than had hitherto been exercised. He had himself sometimes used strong expres- sions; and he had afterwards felt a little smiting of con- science, not on account of the sentiment, but for the manner in which his convictions had found utterance." The speech of Dr. Baird, as might have been anticipated, did not escape severe animadversion on the part of some of the English journals, including several whose indiscrimi- nate abuse of American institutions, religious and civil, had contributed not a little to the acrimony of feeling which he had so strongly deplored. One considered it " a trial of English patience;" another said: " This address, not- withstanding the fire, bitterness and scorn with which it was so amply charged, was uttered with a calmness rarely THE SPEECH CRITICISED. 273 equaled. While pouring forth this torrent of reproach and menace, he resembled a marble statue. The soul and the body appeared to have no sympathy; no external mani- festation whatever was given of the workings of the spirit within. It was a perfect masterpiece of self-control and deceptive plausibility. While thus venting paragraph after paragraph, interspersed with fire and brimstone, which might have sufficed to kindle a conflagration, he leaned upon the table with all the placidity of an old Cameronian minister giving thanks over a family meal !" But the Al- liance was more suitably impressed with the importance and justice of the remonstrance, and referred the subject to the council of that body, with whose members the American clergymen present held a long conference. The Rev. Leon- ard Bacon, D.D., took a prominent part in the discussion, and warmly supported the position taken by Dr. Baird, respecting " the injustice of confounding in one sweeping restriction the worthy and the unworthy of those American brethren, who are so unfortunate as to be implicated in the holding of men in bondage." It was no little satisfaction to Dr. Baird to find his course not only fully sustained by all the Americans in London, but approved and praised in their letters to friends at home. The council contented it- ' self with a report full of conciliation, recommending the avoidance of all uncharitable actions and expressions in the intercourse between Christians of the two countries, and encouraging their American friends to renewed exer- tions for the establishment of a vigorous branch of the Alliance on the other side of the Atlantic. " I never made a speech which cost me so much anxiety," writes Dr. Baird in his diary: " I hope that good will grow out of the move- ment which it created, but am not sanguine about it. But God can overrule all; and will, to His glory." On the 30th of August, 1851, Dr. Baird read before the Alliance at one of its last sessions, a paper on " the Progress 18 274 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. and Prospects of Christianity in the United States of America," which he soon after published in pamphlet form, and which also found a place in the volume issued by the Alliance. In this report, he first glances briefly at the his- tory of the early colonization of the country, and touches upon the chief causes which retarded its religious develop- ment — among others, the anxieties, fatigues and sufferings of the early colonists, the wars with the aborigines, the French and Spanish wars, the introduction of slavery, the union of Church and State, and the difficulty experienced in procuring good ministers of the Gospel. Next he reviews the second and third periods of the history of the American Church, from 1775 to 1815, and from that time to the present. Prom this topic he passes to a statement of the growth of each of the evangelical and non-evangelical ecclesiastical bodies, of the resources of the Gospel for self-sustentation in the United States, and of the operations of the various religi- ous societies. He concludes with some observations on Christian Union, the influence of Christianity upon the Gov- ernment, the Temperance and Sabbath causes, infidelity, the Indians, what Christianity has done for the negro, Roman- ism, and other important points. The entire speech consti- tuted a very able and thorough statistical expose of the most important features in the religious condition and economy of the United States. CHAPTER XXIV. THE CONVENTION AT ELBERFELD. VISIT TO THE MISSION- ABIES AT PESTH. EETUBN TO GENEVA. INTERVIEW WITH LOED PALMERSTON. ADDRESS BEPOEE THE COMMISSION OP THE FREE CHURCH ASSEMBLY OP SCOTLAND. RE- TURN TO THE UNITED STATES. 1851. LEAVING London on the 6th of September, Dr. Baird proceeded in the service of the Christian Union to Paris, and thence, through Belgium and Holland to Elber- feld, where the great annual convention of Evangelical Christians of Germany was assembled. On the day after his arrival he was invited to address the conference on the state and prospects of religion in America, which he did briefly, through an interpreter. In the evening he gave a more full account of the same subject at a meeting of the friends of the separation of Church and State. But his stay in Europe was already protracted so much beyond the limit which he had set before himself at the time of his departure from the United States, that he was obliged to travel very rapidly. Accordingly we find him, in the course of a few days, at Vienna, having passed through Berlin and Prague on the way. He had long desired to visit - Pesth, in order to confer with the excellent missionaries of the Free Church of Scot- land respecting the possibility of Protestant labors in Hungary ; and it was one of his principal objects in going (275) 276 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. to Vienna to gain permission to fulfill this longing. Fortu- nately he was enabled, through the kind offices of the Hon. Mr. McCurdy, American Charge" d'Affaires, to obtain the permission of the police to enter the Magyar kingdom — a favor frequently denied to foreigners, since the unhappy suppression of the revolution in this part of the imperial possessions. The trip extended no further down the Danube than to the capital, but it was deeply interesting. He gained new views of the importance of this field of evangelical exertion, and was more than ever impressed with the work in which the Scottish Missionaries were engaged. He was, however, careful to make no public statement that could in any manner compromise them ; in this, following a rule which he had long since laid down for his guidance — never to allow himself to be tempted to pub- lish to the world any facts respecting. Christian operations in any land, which, while serving to interest, might frus- trate the very objects aimed at. Unfortunately the inad- vertence of a friend who visited these missionaries soon after, led to their being commanded to leave the kingdom of Hungary, and to the suspension of their important work. While in Pesth, Dr. Baird undertook to secure the publica- tion in Germany, England, and the United States, of a very complete History of Protestantism in Hungary, by an author, who, from prudential motives, withheld his name — a work which has made western Christians more familiar than they formerly were, with the triumphs of the Gospel among the Magyars, and the bloody measures resorted to for the suppression of the reformed doctrines. We need not follow in detail the rapid tour which Dr. Baird now took, in pursuance of his instructions, from Vienna southward to Trieste, thence, through Venice, Milan, Turin, Genoa, and Leghorn to Rome, and again to Milan and over the Splugen into Switzerland. It was for the most part over ground which he had several times CONSTANCE. 277 visited, nor had lie time, on this occasion, to indulge, to any considerable extent, in the recreation of sight seeing. Prom Turin he again went to spend a few hours with the Waldenses, in their secluded Alpine valleys, now, thanks to the entire revolution in the policy of the Sardinian Government, enjoying a degree of religious toleration to which they had been entire strangers when he had first entered their borders, fourteen years before. Again he met the venerable Beckwith, now raised to be a general in the British service, still engrossed with the work of pro- moting the temporal and spiritual wellfare of a long-op- pressed people, of whom, although differing from their strong views of church polity, he had constituted himself the protector. The route which he had taken permitted him to visit for the first time the city of Constance, and to stand not only within the walls of the hall in which the celebrated council met, but on the very spot hallowed by the martyrdom of John Huss and Jerome of Prague. On the 24th of October, he reached Geneva. The most important result obtained here was the decision to discon- tinue the American Swiss Committee, through which the work of the Foreign Evangelical Society and of the Ameri- can and Foreign Christian Union in Prance had been mainly prosecuted during the past ten years. It was with great reluctance that this step was taken ; for the relations of the gentlemen composing it to each other, as well as to the society in America, had always been of the most har- monious character. But the reasons which had rendered the erection of such a committee necessary, had disappeared, and the central position of Paris seemed to indicate that city as the point from which the energies of the Christians of Prance in the work of evangelization could be best directed. It was a pleasant circumstance that those who had for' so long a time controlled the laborers sustained, prin- z 7 8 LIFE OF BHV. DR. BAIRD. cipally in western France, by the funds furnished by the American churches, cheerfully acquiesced in the views of the directors of the Christian Union, as soon as the grounds of their action were laid before them. Of his trip on the Continent he remarks in his diary : " I reached Paris on the 8th of September, and I returned to London on the 8th of November. During the two intervening months I . traveled all of four thousand miles- on the Continent. "When I first visited Europe (in 1835), it would have re- quired six months, and infinitely more fatigue, to make this tour. Tempora mutantur, verily." During his short stay in London he met and addressed a select gathering of gentlemen and ladies in the rooms occupied by the college of the Free Church of Scotland, on the religious condition of the Continent, and had an inter- view with Lord Palmerston, of which he has left an inter- esting account. " In the afternoon, at three o'clock, called at the residence of Lord Palmerston, but he had gone to Downing-street, having forgotten, it is probable, that he had, by his secretary, requested me to call upon him at his house, at that hour. I went to the Foreign Office (in Downing street), and was received in the kindest manner by his lordship, and had much conversation with him on the state of religion in Belgium, France, Hungary, and Italy. I found him quite inquisitive on all the topics to which I desired to call his attention. I was very anxious to make him understand the nature of the work now going on in France, Italy, and Belgium, and the importance of its being protected. I was particularly desirous of calling his atten- tion to the importance of the British Government's lending the aid of its great influence to the support of religious liberty ; showing that England could do much in an in- direct way, through her diplomacy, to induce the Con- tinental Governments to take right views of religious liberty, by presenting her own illustrious example. I cited, INTER VIE W WITH L ORB PALMERSTON 279 in particular, his own noble course in regard to the Protest- ants, and other Christians, in Turkey. " He received all that I said with the greatest kindness, and expressed his willingness to do all that might be in his power. He seemed to be deeply interested in what I said to him in regard to Italy and Prance. He expressed much interest in the course which the Government of Sardinia is pursuing. He seemed alive to the critical state of things in Prance. He appeared much struck with the views which I gave him of the danger which must result to any country, when it pursues such a course as to cause the prayers of the righteous to turn against it — as was manifestly the case of Louis Philippe, in his last years, and as is the case now in the same country under the government of Louis Napoleon. " I also took occasion to tell him how well satisfied our Christian people in the United States have been in regard to his course, in carrying on the foreign affairs of England of late years, and especially with his course in regard to the Armenians, converted under the labors of the American missionaries in Turkey. He expressed himself as being greatly gratified at these remarks. At the conclusion of the interview he thanked me for calling upon him, and beg- ged me, in case I should come to England again, not to fail to come to see him. He introduced me to his private secre- tary, H. Stanley, Esq., whom he requested to send me the ' Blue Books ' relating to the recent correspondence of the British Government with its ministers in Turkey and Aus- tria. This Mr. Stanley did most promptly — for I had scarcely returned to my lodgings, before a messenger came from the Foreign Office with the books and with a very kind note from Mr. Stanley. On the whole, I have great reason to be thankful for the happy issue of this visit. May it please our Heavenly Father to make my remarks useful, in some degree, to the cause of truth and righteousness, and to His name shall be the praise." 2 8o LIFE OF BEY. DB. BAIBD. On leaving London he again crossed the Tweed. At Edinburgh, on the 19th of November, he addressed the " Commission" of the General Assembly of the Free Church, first in secret session, in order to lay before it facts chiefly respecting Hungary and the efforts of the Austrian govern- ment to break down the Protestant churches, which were of such a nature as to render it highly imprudent to give them publicity ; and then in an open meeting, upon the more general topic of the evangelization of Europe. His remarks, before a crowded audience were listened to with the closest attention, and at their close, on the suggestion of the Eev. Dr. Candlish, the Rev. Dr. Duff, who, as moderator of the General Assembly, was ex-officio chairman of the commission, in one of his happiest efforts thanked Dr. Baird both for the information he had given, and for the confidence he had reposed in the commission ; and he closed by a neat allusion to the Scottish origin of the speaker from America, and to his connection with a Church that had produced so many men that had nobly contended for the truth. The same address in substance Dr. Baird delivered in the course of the next few days at Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin. Finally, on the 26th of November, he sailed from Liverpool and reached New York on the 7th of December, 1851, after a journey of more than thirteen thousand miles. CHAPTER XXV. THE MOVEMENT IN BEHALF OF THE MADIAI. EFFORT TO SECURE LIBERTY OF WORSHIP AND THE RITES OF BURIAL TO AMERICANS ABROAD. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN SWEDEN. HE RESIGNS THE POSITION OF SECRETARY OF THE AMERI- CAN AND FOREIGN CHRISTIAN UNION. VISIT TO EUROPE IN 1855. THE ALLIANCE MEETING AT PARIS. LECTURES ON EUROPE. THE WALDENSES. 1851-1855. BESIDES the direct part which Dr. Baird assumed in the efforts, made by the society with which, he was connected, to extend the knowledge of the pure Gospel in lands where it was obscured by ignorance and super- stition, there were few movements to secure the prevalence of the true principles of religious liberty in which he did not take an active interest. Several occasions for the dis- play of his ardent desire to see the rights of conscience everywhere recognized and respected presented themselves during the period with which we are now concerned. The shameful persecution to which the Madiai family had been subjected, called forth the indignant protest of almost the entire Christian world. The Government of the United States was entreated to use all the influence which it pos- sessed to procure from the Grand Duke of Tuscany the par- don of two persons, about fifty years of age, sentenced to four years of hard labor in the galleys, for the single crime of reading the Holy Scriptures in their own native language. (281) 282 LIFE OF REV. BR. BAIRD. And to secure a more earnest remonstrance on the part of the Government, Dr. Baird advocated the holding of a great public meeting in the city oi New York, by means of which the attention of the people might be riveted to the scanda- lous proceeding. Upon him devolved, in great measure, the burden that is always incidental to the preparation for such an occasion ; and while with characteristic modesty, he took n'o further part in the exercises than simply an- nouncing the circumstances of the outrage, leaving it to others to dwell upon its enormity and arouse the sympa- thies of the audience, he had the satisfaction of seeing his labors well rewarded in the advancement of the objects contemplated. In a similar manner, Dr. Baird united with others, a year or two later, in an effort to procure from the Government of the United States a declaration of its determination to advocate the concession of full religious liberty in foreign lands, and to protect American citizens while sojourning or residing abroad, in the enjoyment of their rights of con- science and of religious worship. On the 26th of January, 1854, a grand meeting was held in the Broadway Taber- nacle, at which the Hon. George Wood was called to the chair, and, after a succinct statement of the objects of the movement, eloquent addresses were made by David D. Field, Esq., the Rev. E. N. Kirk, D.D., and others. The denial of the rites of burial to American Protestants dying in several of the Spanish Roman Catholic States was made the subject of severe animadversion. His labors were not, however, limited to the attempt to secure religious toleration for Protestants in Romish states. He was equally, or, perhaps, we ought to say more, desir- ous, that the largest measure of freedom to dissent should be accorded to Romanists in Protestant lands. He joined heartily in the combined remonstrances addressed a few years later to the King of Sweeden, when, in accordance INTERCESSION FOB RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 283 with intolerant statutes of a very ancient date, "six women, brought up in the Evangelical Lutheran faith, were con- demned on the 19th of May, 1858, by the Royal Court of Stockholm, presided over by Count Eric Sparre, to be exiled from the kingdom, and to be deprived in future of every inheritance therein, and of all civil rights, in conse- quence of having embraced the Roman Catholic religion." And, employing the influence which the providence of God had given him with crowned heads and with others occupy- ing elevated positions in northern Europe, he endeavored in private interviews, as he had ever done, to instill more correct views of the'duty and practicability of extending complete religious liberty to the adherents of every faith. Indeed, it may be safely asserted that no movement affecting the religious rights of any portion of the Christian world was an object of indifference to him. The attempt was made by the late Archbishop John Hughes of New York to obtain the passage of a law in the Legislature of the State of New York, that should facilitate the accumu- lation of ecclesiastical property in the hands of the prelates of the Roman Catholic Church, who were thus to obtain the power to override the opposition of refractory trustees, and to acquire undisputed control over the " temporalities " of the church. This audacious undertaking was met by the determined remonstrances of all who perceived to what a spiritual despotism it tended. The efforts of Dr. Baird to defeat the bill introduced by Mr. Taber were unremit- ting. By private interviews, by his pen, by advocating a remonstrance to the Legislature signed by great numbers of intelligent and respectable citizens, he contributed to its rejection. His familiar acquaintance with the entire sub- ject, acquired by long and repeated visits to a great number of Roman Catholic states, including all those in Europe, enabled him to furnish to members of the Legislature who desired to resist the archiepiscopal encroachment, accurate 284 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. and copious information, which otherwise they might have found it difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. It was apparently, in part, if not wholly, from his pen that the memorial above referred to emanated ; a document which portrayed the perils to the State attending the creation of a vast " moneyed hierarchy," soon, perhaps, to be presided over by a cardinal, himself amenable to the Pope alone • and in which the significant fact was brought prominently forward, that out of thirty-two bishops and archbishops of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, very few, probably not five, were Americans by birth. Dr. Baird retained his connection with the American and Foreign Christian Union as Corresponding Secretary until May, 1855. At the Society's Anniversary held in the city of New York, on the 8th of that month, he tendered his resig- nation, retaining, however, a connection with it as a mem- ber of the Board of Directors. The considerations that impelled him to the adoption of this step, being in great part of a private character, need not find a place here. It was only after a long and careful examination that he had come to this conclusion ; for it was the severing, for a time, at least, of the close and official ties that had bound him for many years to an enterprise of which he stood prominently forth as a chief founder. But although he considered it his duty to decline a reelection as Secretary, his interest in the great work to which he had consecrated the entire ■ prime of his life was in no wise abated. It continued to claim his best prayers and much of his labor ; nor were the contributions which he made to it from the avails of his lectures in Europe insignificant. At all times he was ready to meet with the Board to which its management was en- trusted, and to give them the results of the experience which his long connection with the work had afforded him. While leaving the American and Foreign Christian DINNEB. TO LORD SHAFTESBURY. 28c Union, he consented, however, to visit in its service the continent of Europe, in the summer of 1855 ; having at the same time been appointed a delegate to the Evangelical Alliance which was, to meet at Paris. He sailed from New York on the 11th of July, and reached Liverpool on Sun- day, the 22d, in time to attend church and listen to an admirable sermon by the celebrated and lamented Dr. Raffles. The next day he left for Ireland, visiting Dublin and Belfast, and marking the progress and success of mis- sions among the Roman Catholics. Returning to Great Britain, he spent a day or two at Glasgow, and several days at Edinburgh and at London. " One of the most pleasing incidents of my short visit to London was the opportunity it gave me of attending a dinner given to the Earl of Shaftesbury by the National Club (the most reli- gious, I believe, of all the clubs of the great metropolis), as a ' testimonial ' of respect for his recent efforts in Parliament in behalf of religious liberty — efforts which were successful in doing away some acts passed in the reigns of William and Mary and of George III., which interfered with the holding of religious meetings in private houses. It was cheering to hear many of the members of Parliament who spoke that night express themselves so fully and earnestly in behalf of the true Gospel of religious liberty for all. Although all were of the Established Church, and all laymen, their speeches were pervaded by a noble spirit of respect for Christians and Churches that hold no connection with the State. It would be well if the bishops and great numbers of the clergy of the Established Church possessed an equal amount of the true Christian liberality and charity which were displayed on that occasion." He passed rapidly through France. At Lyons, where he made a short stop, he found eight evangelical chapels, where twenty years before, when he first entered the city, there had been but one. And this was under the very eyes of the 2 86 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. archbishop, who prides himself upon his title of " primate of all the Gauls," and in a city, where is the seat of the principal missionary organization of the Roman Catholic world, the Propaganda. At Genoa the cholera was raging, and he passed on to Turin, in order to fulfill the main object of this part of his tour, and see once more the members of Waldensian " Table." " Our visit was every way oppor- tune. The day after our arrival, there was a fete or ' festi- val,' as it was called, at Pra del Tor, near the head of the valley of Angrogna, and at the distance of eight or ten miles from La Tour. It was the third meeting of the sort which they have ever had. It was held on the 15th of August. At least four thousand persons , were present, coming from all the ' Valleys.' The meeting was held in the midst of the most striking natural scenery. It began at nine o'clock; and with an interval of an hour or two for refreshments % it lasted until four or five in the afternoon. Several prayers were offered up, several hymns were sung, and, in all, some fourteen or fifteen addresses were delivered by "Waldensian professors and pastors, and by three or four foreign brethren, of whom your correspondent was one. It was a most interesting sight — more than four thousand men, women, and children, the most of them standing for hours on the spot where once stood the theological school of these wonderful people, and where their Synod used to meet in ages that preceded the Reformation." Returning by way of Geneva, Dr. Baird reached Paris in season for the Evangelical Alliance, whose sessions opened on the 23d of August, 1855. It was a pleasing circumstance that the Rev. Dr. Grandpierre, who presided over the initiatory services, alluded in eloquent terms to the striking contrast between the peaceful scenes in the midst of which this Christian assembly met and the terrible tragedy enact- ed but one day later in the month, 283 years before, when on the 24th of August, 1572, the streets of Paris had flowed BIS LECTURES. 287 with Huguenot blood, shed according to a preconcerted plan of assassination. In the proceedings of the Alliance, and especially on the day devoted to America, Dr. Baird tbok an active part. On the 25th of August, the day con- secrated to the consideration of this topic, he read the sum- mary of a long and interesting paper on the Sta/te and Prospects of Religion in the United States, which, published in extenso in the volume of papers read before the conference, occupies some fifty-six pages. He was also a member of a committee appointed by the Alliance to wait upon the British minister, Lord Cowley, and to lay before him a memorial, such as was addressed to the governments of France and of several other countries, in favor of the main- tenance of religious liberty in Turkey. A few days more spent in France, including a short trip to ancient Poitou, and in Great Britain, consumed the remainder of the brief time allotted to his stay in Europe; and towards the end of September he embarked at Liverpool, reaching New York at the commencement of October. During the four years succeeding his return from Europe, while Dr. Baird remained unconnected with any religious society, he was principally occupied in delivering lectures on the various countries of Europe. As early as in 1844-5, after repeated solicitations of friends, who were desirous that he should communicate to the public some part of the stores of information which he had gathered in his repeated visits to the old world, he had consented to prepare a short course. Disclaiming all effort to give to his remarks a studied form, he described, in language as familiar as that he would have employed in ordinary conversation, the physical aspect and history of each of the European countries, the character of the people, their appearance, costumes and habits — in short, all that would strike an American traveler as strange and worthy of notice. The lectures were not intended to be Z 88 LIFE OF REV. DR. BAIRD. exhaustive. But it was attempted, by a judicious selection of topics, to convey a notion so just and accurate of the condition of the most civilized portion of the eastern conti- nent, that no attentive auditor could return to his home without a warmer and more intelligent interest in its wel- fare, and a heartier appreciation of the difficulties with which native friends of progress, both civil and religious, were contending. It was impracticable to extend such a course beyond eight, or at most ten discourses; and yet the subject was so vast that it might profitably have occupied a far larger number. So multitudinous were the points to which he desired to call the attention of his hearers that rarely were less than two hours consumed in the lecture; but the physical fatigue which so long an effort might have induced both in speaker and audience, was in a great degree precluded by the simple, conversational manner in which the information was conveyed. These lectures were frequently repeated while Dr. Baird remained in connection with the Foreign Evangelical So- ciety and the American and Foreign Christian Union, in places to which his official duties called him; always, how- ever, with more or less modification, and not rarely with an entirely different selection of topics. It is believed that these societies were largely the gainers by the enlightened views which were thus disseminated, and whose immediate result was the increase of prayer and material aid in behalf of the work in which they were engaged. In addition to this incidental benefit, we find direct donations from their avails, amounting in a single year to $1,400. But neither his lectures nor any other pursuit was ever permitted to interfere with his labors for the promotion of the cause of his Saviour. Yery rarely did a Sabbath pass on which lie did not preach twice or three times; often on the great topics of personal salvation; often on the state THE WALDEN8E8. 289 and prospects of religion in Europe. The Waldenses, a people for whom he felt peculiar solicitude, received consid- erable sums, the proceeds of lectures on their country, or of sermons in which their work of evangelization in Italy was made a special theme of contemplation. 19 CHAPTEE XXVI. EIGHTH VISIT TO ETJEOPB. RESOLVES TO SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE TO INDUCE THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW THE PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE IN MODERN RUSS. HE LAYS HIS PLAN BEFORE THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, BY WHICH IT IS APPROVED. CONFERENCE WITH THE COM- MITTEE OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. IN- TERVIEW WITH THE KING OF PRUSSIA. OBSTACLES. IS ADMITTED TO AN AUDIENCE BY THE EMPEROR. MEMORAN- DUM TO PRINCE GORTCHAKOFF. THE PRINCE OF OLDEN- BURG AND THE HOLY SYNOD. ENCOURAGEMENT. THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE AT BERLIN. THE MEMORIAL. RESULTS. THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN RUSS. 1857. AN undertaking, second in importance to none of those in which he had previously engaged, was entered upon, after much serious consideration, in the summer of the year 1857. He had early resolved to attend the great Evangelical Alliance meeting, to be held in the autumn, in Northern Germany. These periodical meetings, in which Christians from so many lands, and speaking so many tongues, met in the most sacred of all relations, as the children upon earth of one heavenly Father, had a peculiar charm for him. They realized more fully than any other convocations his idea of the unity of all believers ; they exhibited their substantial harmony of faith and practice ; they cheered him with the encouraging testimony that was (290) THE BIBLE FOE RUSSIA. 291 brought from every land that the kingdom of God was leavening the world. And he could not resist the convic- tion that the united prayers of so many devout Christian brethren would not ascend in vain to the throne of grace. But while going to take his seat among the American delegates to the Alliaiice at Berlin, it had occurred to Dr. Baird that he might render his visit to Europe still further productive of good if he should make an effort to induce the government of the vast Russian empire to permit the Holy Scriptures to be printed and disseminated once more among its millions of inhabitants in their own native tongues. It was in a conversation with the late Rev. Dr. Brigham, of the American Bible Society, that he first pro- posed this mission ; and at his request he reduced his views to writing, in order that they might be presented in a more definite shape, to the directors of that society. "Writing to Dr. Brigham from Freehold, New Jersey, on the 27th of May, 1857, he says : " I have long believed that something ought to be done — if anything can be— to induce the Russian Government to open the door for the more general diffusion of the Word of God in that great empire. Since the suspension of the operations of the great Russian Bible Society, which dur- ing the period of ten years, from 1815 to 1825, put into circulation almost a half a million of copies of the Scrip- tures, or portions of them, nothing of any consequence has been done to give the Bible to the fifty millions in that vast country who belong to the Greek Church. The St. Petersburg Bible Society, established in 1831 — five years after the suspension of the National Society — has done a good deal, as have the Bible Societies of Finland and the Baltic provinces, among the Protestant populations of the northern part of the empire. Something has been done from Odc.-sa in the South, among the Armenian and Jewish, and German Protestant population. The population of 292 - LIFE OF REV. DR. BATED. Russia is now about seventy millions, of whom about twenty millions— Protestants 3,000,000, Roman Catholics 7,500,000, Jews 1,650,000, Armenians 1,000,000, and seven or eight millions of Mohammedans and pagans — are not of the National Church, and are open to efforts to circulate the Word of God, more or less without restriction. But noth- ing of importance has been done for thirty years for the fifty millions of the Greek Church. Should not something be attempted ? It is clear that whatever is attempted the initiative must be made by American Christians. English Christians can do nothing at present of much moment. If the American Bible Society is disposed to make the experi- ment I am willing to go and see what can be done. I know pretty well the present emperor, his mother, and other members of the imperial family ; and I think that I can induce the King of Prussia to lend the weight of his in- fluence. He gave me a letter of introduction to his sister, the ex-empress, and mother of the present emperor, when I first went to Russia, and he has always been very friendly to me. I am quite sure that he will be ready to do all that he can in the case. Perhaps, too, I might render some service to the Bible cause by visiting Belgium and Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Baltic prov- inces on my way to or from St. Petersburg." The proposition was well received by the American Bible Society, and he was requested to visit St. Petersburg, and to ascertain by personal efforts what it was possible to effect for the promotion of the great cause which was so dear to the heart of every true Protestant. The instruc- tions respecting other portions of the field of operations of the Society, as being of subordinate interest, we here omit. On the 1st of July, 1857, Dr. Baird sailed from Boston for Liverpool. At once upon his arrival in England he proceeded to London, where he had an interview with the WLdTES TO THE KING OF PRUSSIA. 293 Earl of Shaftesbury at the House of Lords, and with the Rev. Mr. Bergne, one of the secretaries of the British and Foreign Bible Society. On his stating to them the object of his projected mission to Russia, he was very cordially invited to a meeting of the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Earl of Shaftesbury presided on this occasion, and listened with much apparent interest, as did the other gentlemen who were present to the number of thirty or more, to a statement of his plan. The desire was universally expressed to do all that was in the power of British Christians to further the cause of the Bible in the great Russian empire, as soon as it might please God to open the door to them. Some one even proposed to send along with Dr. Baird a deputy of the British and Foreign Bible Society ; but this overture was promptly rejected, as likely " to embarrass if not defeat the whole movement." Accompanied by the prayers and good wishes of these and other British Christians for his success in his important undertaking, he continued his journey to Berlin, taking Paris, Geneva, Lausanne, Berne, and Frankfort (to which other duties invited his presence) on his way. Before his departure from the United States, he had, on the 22d of June, addressed a letter to the King of Prussia, in which after reminding his majesty of the kind permission which he had granted him many years before to write to him, he had informed him of his expected visit to Northern Europe and of his object, in which he felt confident that his majesty would be deeply interested. " I have long felt that some- thing ought to be done to cause the Holy Scriptures to have a greater circulation in Russia. For years I have reflected on this subject, and prayed over it, and now I am going to Russia to speak with the emperor, who is an enlightened and well-disposed sovereign, on this great question. He received me with great kindness, as did your majesty's august sister, his mother, when I was in St. Petersburg in 294 LIFE 0F REY - DR - BA1RI> - 1840 and 1846." He stated his hope to be in Berlin about the first of August, and said that he would esteem it a great favor if the king would grant him, as soon as convenient, a private audience. " I wish," he writes, " to confer with your majesty, as with a Christian Monarch who takes a deep interest in all that concerns the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." He had not misapprehended the sentiment of the Prussian monarch, respecting whose cordial reception he wrote to the Rev. Dr. Brigham from Berlin, August 5 : "As soon as possible after my arrival, I apprised his majesty the king of my being here, and of my desire to see him. The next morning (yesterday) I received an invita- tion to come out to Sans-Souci, the Palace at Potsdam, where the king spends the summer. I went out and met a large number of gentlemen and ladies at the table of the king, among whom were Professor Ranke, Rev. Dr. Strauss (one of the court preachers), Baron Von Gerolt from Wash- ington, Baron Humboldt, etc. After the dinner, the king took a walk with me in the garden, and gave me an oppor- tunity of saying all that was necessary respecting my pro- posed visit to Russia, and afterwards he sent an officer down to the d6pot of the Potsdam and Berlin Railroad with a letter recommending me and the object of my very ' Christian-like mission' (as he called it, when I was taking, leave of himi before the entire court), to his nephew, the Emperor of Russia." At Stockholm and Copenhagen, which he next visited, he discovered encouraging tokens of the progress of the cause of truth. This was found in Sweden principally in connection with the reading of the Word of God and of other religious books. " In fact," he writes, " ' Beaderism' is likely to become the popular title of a new sect in Swe- den, and to be as famous there as the woxd ' Methodism' in England, and 'Momier' in France." ARRIVAL AT ST. PETERSBURG. 295 Upon his arrival at St. Petersburg Dr. Baird found that his visit could scarcely have been less opportune. The em- peror and his court were occupied exclusively with prepa- rations for the marriage of the Grand Duke Michael, the emperor's youngest brother, and for a journey to Germany, and perhaps as far as Prance ; and it was hardly to be expected that the attention of the monarch should be gained for a subject of which, as a worldly man, he could not appre- hend the full importance. Dr. Baird's coming, however, was not to be in vain. In a letter from St. Petersburg, Sept. 1, after detailing the special difficulties to which we have alluded, he relates his unexpected success in reaching the imperial ear. " Under these circumstanfies it has not been as easy as usual to see the emperor. But upon learning through Col. Seymour, as well as the Prince of Oldenburg, whom I saw the day after my arrival, and from whom as well as the princess I have receive