CT 275 E21 ■i Up ■..';■■ ■I 111 mm iw - .• . B9 ISiill i g ■I 1888. V / \) ti- er XlS' (Bomell Wnfomttg fpitatg .J/L&£a.¥.&.. 2236 Date Due MAR 15 1949 D Cornell University Library CT275.E21 J27 James Eddy : born May 29th 1806: , ded M | olin 3 1924 029 804 931 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/cu31924029804931 JAMES EDDY. Born May 29TH, 1806. Died May i8th, 1888. Biographical Sketch. Memorial Service. Selected Thoughts. THE SOULS OF THE RIGHTEOUS ARE IN THE HAND OF GOD, AND THERE SHALL NO EVIL TOUCH THEM." PROVIDENCE: J. A. & R. A. Reid, Printers. CORNELL^ UNIVERSITY ? LIBRARY \ '<~'j - ^ I <©tutuar£« [FROM THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, MAY 19, 1888.J James Eddy. The death of James Eddy, which occurred early yes- terday morning at his home on Bell Street, near Broad- way, removes from Providence one of its wealthiest citi- zens, and an art connoisseur of splendid ability, exquisite taste, and wide knowledge. He was a native of this city, and was the eleventh child of Benjamin and Sarah (James) Eddy. He was born May 29, 1806, and when a boy went to Boston and learned the trade of an engraver. He had natural talent of a high order, and having a pas- sionate love for art and all that pertains to it, became a very skillful engraver. As soon as he learned the trade he went to New York, and while engaged there he made a trip to Europe to purchase a finer set of engraver's tools than could at that time be procured in this country. While in Europe he visited the art galleries and con- ceived an idea that good copies of the famous paintings he saw there would sell readily at profitable prices in this country, and he invested his funds in that way. His anticipations were fully realized, and he became an exten- sive purchaser and seller of paintings and works of art. He made ten trips to Europe, collecting and purchasing OBITUARY. works of art. He engaged many artists in reproducing the works of the old masters, and became an adept in retouching and glazing the paintings, an accomplishment of which he was very proud, for he' considered that in that particular branch he was unexcelled by any man. He disposed of his purchases at auction sales in New York, Boston, Providence, and other cities, and accumu- lated a considerable fortune, which was increased by judi- cious investment in New York real estate. When forty years of age he married Mrs. Eliza Merriam, of Boston, and resided in that city several years. They had two sons who died while young, and two daughters who sur- vive them, Mrs. Eddy having passed away several years ago. He always regarded Providence as his home, and when he retired from active business life, at aboiit the time of the war, he came to this city, and has since re- sided here in a spacious and elegant mansion on the brow of the hill north of Broadway at its western end. The grounds are extensive and laid out elaborately and artist- ically with curving walks and drives on the plateau where the mansion stands, while the hill sloping below is terraced and adds materially to the picturescpieness of the estate. The house is fairly a museum of art, and he doubtless possessed one of the most charming homes in New England. At the entrance to the estate there stands a substantial brick edifice for public worship, JAMES EDDY. which he erected in 1875, for the use of people who de- sired to worship as their conscience dictated and without having their views restricted by the orthodox doctrines. The vestry of this edifice, which is known as the Bell Street Chapel, was used during the summer and fall of 1876 by the Providence Free Religious Society, which, since that time, has been located in Blaekstone Hall. Mr. Eddy was not a member of the society, for he did not coincide with the opinions held by the majority of the body. He was a firm believer in God as the creator and originator of the universe and mankind, while he did not agree with orthodox doctrines. He once told a friend, who made incniiries concerning the erection of the chapel, that he built it as a voluntary monument of praise and gratitude to God for the life and many attendant bless- ings that had been given him. The main auditorium on the second floor will be used for the first time to-morrow, when his obsequies will be solemnized there. He leaves two daughters, one of them the wife of Dr. E. M. Harris, and the other is unmarried. Both are prominently iden- tified with charitable and beneficent organizations. ill GO Q z D o O Q z < U z LU Q CO w Itfosraytnral Jrftettt), Sfeetcj). If " to reform a man one must begin with his grand- father," to know how a man is formed one must know something of his ancestry. James Eddy came from a sturdy, strongly-marked stock ; descended from one William Eddye, Vicar of St. Dunstan's Church, Cran- brook, England, who died in 1616. Two sons of this clergyman, who is spoken of by his contemporaries as a most virtuous man and successful pastor, came to this country in 1630. From these two, John and Samuel Eddy, have sprung a numerous family, justifying in a striking degree the Saxon meaning of the name Eddy — " Prosperity." And some of these descendants, to the number of three hundred and twenty-five persons, assembled at James Eddy's chapel, to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the arrival at Plymouth of the first pilgrims of the name. On that occasion enough was developed respecting the blood and breeding of the clan to give a clear idea of its genius and tendencies of growth. The orator of the 11 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. day, Dr. Zachary Eddy, of Detroit, Michigan, said he had felt at first that his was to be a hard task, since " the family had been a dead level of respectability for three hundred years.'' But, as he had more closely examined its history, he had discovered not only a very high average of mental and moral power, but some very considerable eminencies of individual character and attainment. The family throughout was notable for its fine, strong physique, its large households of many sons, its sound sense and thrifty management of affairs, its clean and virtuous living, and its exceptional religious bent. James Eddy illustrated many of these family traits in a marked degree. His sound mind in a sound body gave him seeming youth at eighty years, and kept the balance of powers until his death at eighty-two. His industry, exceptional executive power, thrift and business capacity, made him easily successful in affairs. His excellent under- standing, his pure and strong moral nature, and his kind heart, made him a trusted counselor and useful citizen. And that religious tendency, which, from the Vicar of Dunstan down, made so many Eddys ministers, became in him the most essential and peculiar endowment of char- acter. In him, indeed, the form of its manifestation dif- fered greatly from the general " evangelical " tendency of the family belief. He was ever eager, not like the rest of the clan, " to strengthen those things which remain," but 12 JAMES EDDY. rather to seek and find new understandings of truth, and new applications of moral law. But as the attitude of the soul toward the Highest, and not the point from which the uplook is taken, is the index to the religious nature, the so-called "infidel "of the Eddy family was really one with the most recognized devout of the name. Down to the last years and months of his life he would turn with delight from the business world, in which he was a respected leader among men, to trace the working of some great moral or spiritual law. And curiously mixed among his papers were careful estimates of material values — of houses, lands, stocks and bonds — and the written " invo- cations " which voiced the deep prayerfulness of his nature. Not much is in our possession respecting Mr. Eddy's boyhood and youth. An intimate friend of sixty years tells us that when James was a little boy he was per- suaded by some companions to smoke a cigar. During the sickness which followed, his mother advised him never to repeat the experience. And he then gave her his promise that he would never smoke. This promise was faithfully kept to the end of his long life. And to this little incident we owe something of the bodily clean- ness which fitly symbolized Mr. Eddy's purity of spirit. At one time in his life, Mr. Eddy's attention was spe- cially drawn to matters concerning physical health, and 13 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. he became a "vegetarian" in theory and practice. Later, perhaps because of the difficulty in obtaining a varied and attractive diet while discarding meat, especially during his frequent absences from home, he changed in this par- ticular and began again the moderate use of animal food. The same valued friend tells another anecdote which illustrates James Eddy's natural talent for engraving, and other fine uses of pen and tool. When the lad was only fourteen years old, he made a copy of a two dollar bank bill in India ink. After it was finished he gave it to a store-keeper, who, supposing it to be genuine, put it in his money-drawer. James inquired if the bill was good, and asked the man to specially examine it. After more thorough inspection, the store-keeper declared his belief that the note was a good one. Whereupon, to his aston- ishment, young James told him that he had made the bill himself ! The remarkable skill shown by this copy of a bank note, led to James Eddy's apprenticeship to an engraver, and resulted in his great success in the art. He had from boyhood, as this incident shows, and he retained to old age, a facile hand and a ready application to all forms of mechanic art. He loved to "tinker," to mend, and make, and change all sorts of things. His family now treasure proofs of liis skill as an engraver, but the sum- mer and winter homes he left are witnesses in every part u JAMES EDDY. to his general taste and varied facility in mechanical ways. At one time in his life he made fine drawings for architectural purposes, which commanded high prices. And down to the last months of his life, his delicate, sure touch with pen and pencil was the wonder of his friends. Nor did his remarkable power of appreciation and reproduction of form end here. In the purely artistic he might have become a recognized master, had he made the higher elements of art his personal life devotion. With- out artistic teaching of any sort, he made a pencil sketch of his mother, and also one of a young lady, which merit all praise. Perfect in likeness, graceful in pose, pure and dainty in style, they are worthy the trained hand of a great artist. And when his artistic instinct and his busi- ness shrewdness combined to lead him into the original line of importation and sale of foreign pictures on a large scale, his natural ability in this direction was again shown. For, not only did he become an expert in the retouching and glazing of pictures, but he painted some himself which were much admired and met with a ready sale. It is probable that had Mr. Eddy been less gifted with busi- ness talent, the world would have known him best as an artist. As it was, his appreciation and patronage gave help and stimulus to many artists, and dowered his own life with those pure enjoyments which only beauty-lovers know. 15 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. This eager interest in and quiek mastery of varied mechanical and artistic processes, typed the mental habit of the man. Not profound in any one line of thought, never acquiring true student habits, not in any sense a pains-taking literary man, he yet roamed to good purpose many fields of intellectual and ethical enquiry, and was at home in depths that shallow souls fear and avoid. His love of collecting beautiful and rare things is a trait known even to strangers. And the cosmopolitan and general character of his collections of art curios, pictures and natural wonders, shows the same general rather than special ability which has been noted. Much that a more exclusive and fastidious collector would have rejected he saved. But much that the ordinary sight-seer would miss, he cherished for a worth and beauty instantly perceived. And these same qualities of quick appreciation and general taste, rather than special mastery, attached also to his moral judgments and devotions. Never a special- ist in reform, furthest possible from the " hobby rider " of one idea, and always condemning the neglect of near duties for foreign philanthropies, he was never indifferent to the great currents of moral progress which sweep over society. He was on the right side in the anti-slavery conflict, and gave generously to support workers in the cause of the slave. And during the latter part of his life 16 JAMES EDDY. especially, he was much interested in the temperance reform, and in the bettering- of woman's condition. The chief power of his moral nature, however, lay not so much in the direction of " causes," and institutional reforms, as in the development of individual character. His charities were personal, not impersonal, in method. To do the nearest kindness and help the nearest friend was the habit of his life. His influence was steadily on the side of the known and accepted virtues. And although his quick mind and speculative tendency could not fail to be attracted, at times, toward the swift-changing theories of life which the " transcendental period " spread before the new world, he was thoroughly conservative of many " good old ways." In the latter years of his life, how- ever, although still inclining toward personal philanthro- pies rather than impersonal reforms, he felt more keenly the need of bettering the conditions of mankind in order to permanently better individual lives . According to the sketch published in the Providence Journal, his business ability won for him, by successive ventures in the sale of pictures, and investments in real estate, a handsome fortune. That business ability was of a rarely acute and broadly comprehensive type. Perhaps the engraver's finish of detail helped to develop the wish and power to perfect each special act at the right time and place, in the larger commercial affairs which occupied Mr. 17 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Eddy's attention during the later years of his life. Per- haps the artist's insight made more sure and keen that prevision of financial movements which made Mr. Eddy a leader, rather than a follower, in successful business ventures. Certain it is, his absolute fidelity to the present duty, his patient accuracy of detail, his thorough yet rapid mastery of each process as it claimed attention ; — these, together with the scrupulous honor upon which all his business life was founded, made the man an example to all who seek success in affairs. It is often thought by young men that " luck " may bring and hold riches : and that if a man has real business talent he need not trouble himself with the small drudg- eries of detail. But Mr. Eddy, through life, saw that each business letter was answered with equal exactness and care, whether it related to large or small values; and met each day's varied obligations with a perfect faithful- ness which dignified the simplest as truly as the most complex transaction. And in the later years of his life, when he seemed most the " gentleman of leisure," even during the last months of weakness, the busy brain and careful hand were holding in exact place, and weaving in accurate balance, all the threads of an extended and com- plex business connection. So that, when he died, and his affairs lay open to other eyes, the beautiful order, the clear 18 JAMES EDDY. mastery, the constant care they witnessed, left no tangles or avoidable complications to annoy or perplex. These qualities of fidelity and thoroughness, the busi- ness man of large or of small concerns may alike display. And without them no fortunate inheritance, or unusual " chance " will insure permanent prosperity, or inspire enduring confidence in the business world. Again, it is often thought by young men that if one is to make a considerable fortune it must be at the expense of others, by a kind of " smartness " which is unscrupulous in methods and wholly regardless of other's needs or weakness. But Mr. Eddy's long and successful business career was marked in every particular, as truly as in its main plans and changes, by the strictest honor. Men who were themselves unscrupulous testified by their trust in his word and deed that they believed him incapable of seeking a wrongful advantage. Advantage over others in the business world is not necessarily the oppressive power which absorbs all the gains and leaves to others all the losses. It is often, if not always, the help of just and able leadership which lesser men require most to secure their own smaller gains. And in Mr. Eddy's case, neither humane feeling, nor the finer instincts of justice were sacrificed to business success. On the contrary, those who since his death have been charged with the duty of examining his affairs, and in many cases of tracing back 19 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. relations existing for many years, with numerous parties, have found a network of friendship and esteem as truly as of business connection. Many have been the voluntary testimonies to the help and instruction given by Mr. Eddy to those younger and poorer than himself : so that his life, in its financial aspect, disproves most positively the theory of the moral sceptic that fortunes are builded only upon selfish disregard of others, and upon violations of the higher laws of human association. Business talent is not an optional possession; else would all honorable, thorough and faithful business men die rich. But it is well worth while to emphasize the lesson of Mr. Eddy's financial career, viz., that the faith- ful and thorough worker with this business talent, may get and hold a firm place in the business world, without the sacrifice of either honor or kindness. Nay, more, he may weave into the fabric of industrial organization enduring testimonies to the commercial value of truth, justice and human helpfulness. Mr. Eddy's personal expenditures proved his love of nature as of art. His first home, after marriage, was in a beautiful spot on the Atlantic coast, in Gloucester, Massa- chusetts. And in later life, when he had given up more active business pursuits, his Providence and Mount Des- ert homes were testimonies to his rare appreciation of nature. 20 JAMES EDDY. An analysis of Mr. Eddy's character made in 1847, by Mr. J. W. Redfield, shows acute and striking compre- hension of a nature in many respects quite unique. Mr. Redfield says: "The average strength of Mr. Eddy's whole mind is considerably above the ordinary. He acts mostly from choice, is cautious, deliberate, and has much presence of mind. One of his strongest faculties is the love of improvement." This latter sentence reads like a prophecy, in the light of Mr. Eddy's remarkably eager acquisition of new ideas, and devotion to new questions in his old age. Mr. Redfield's analysis also instanced " a remai'kable filial love." This ivas exceptional, indeed. Many men love and revere their mothers, but Mr. Eddy cherished through life so rare a devotion, not only to his mother, but to the spiritual motherhood she symbolized, that his affection for her was linked to all that was most noble and ideal in his nature. Repeatedly he connects it in his writings with his deepest thought of God, declaring, " we know the love of God through the love and tenderness of our mothers." The strong parental feeling which made him so indulgent and kind a father, was fibered upon this filial regard for his own parents, and gave him confidence in the " Heavenly Father" he so often addressed in invo- cation. And this trait of filial affection extended to a 21 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. quite unusual family devotion, showing itself in many acts of generous kindness to kindred. Mr. Redfield also noted " the very strong faculty, the love of influence." This was strikingly shown throughout life, not only in the usual ways of counsel to friends and neighbors, but especially in the desire Mr. Eddy cher- ished for so many years of leading in the reorganization of modern religious life. This early analysis is again accurate when it says of Mr. Eddy's religious faculty, " he would be inclined to be sceptical of whatever he can- not understand, and much more so of what is contrary to his reason." Of the element of " kindness " which Mr. Redfield placed among the "strong faculties," those who knew Mr. Eddy well need no reminder. Those who served him in personal and household ways testified, at his death, most touchingly to this quality in him. Said one trusted servant: "Mr. Eddy was a good man and a kind. I was knowing to many a helping to a poor man that no third man knew." And a maid long in the family said, as he lay dead : " He was good, Mr. Eddy was. He was very kind to me. I was with him for years, day and night, at the last, when he was sick, and he never said anything or did anything to me but as my own father might." And at Bar Harbor, after his death, it was pleasant to find this man's memory so fragrant in many homes. Not only did 22 JAMES EDDY. the business men mourn the just and honorable associate, but humblest neighbors grieved at the loss of a generous and wise counselor and friend. " I should never have had this house," said one, " but for Mr. Eddy. He advised me to build it, and helped me to the money. And then he made it so easy about the mortgage." Another said, regretfully, "I've been sorry always that I didn't take Mr. Eddy's advice about holding on to my old house and land. I might have made, as he said, ten or fifteen thousand dollars, and been all right now. And he talked so kind about it, and would have helped me over the hard places some other way when I sold. But I was foolish enough to think I knew best." And another of the " natives " said: " If all who come here summers were like Mr. Eddy and his family, the Island folks would be a good deal better off than they are now. Why, the Eddys are neighbors. And he used to be so kind and friendly we miss him dreadfully." Simple testimonies, all of them, but no bad or selfish man could buy them, with the love and respect they evi- denced, for a kingdom's price. Mr. Eddy was thought by those outside his immediate circle of friendship to be a " very peculiar man." Many stories were current, most of them with slight founda- tion, showing his supposed idiosyncrasies; and some very 23 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. unfortunate domestic experiences in earlier life tended to prejudice against him some very good people. But those who were privileged to know Mr. Eddy as a father, as a friend, as a host and companion, found prejudice melting quickly in the light of his genial smile, his courteous man- ner, and the pure and noble atmosphere of the whole man. He -was very tenacious of his own will and way. An exceptional power, both of planning and execution, com- bined with his " love of influence " to make him anxious to manage affairs. He conceived his own views and de- cisions so vividly and strongly that he often could not quite see another's view, or gauge at just value another's conviction. But once penetrate his consciousness with ever so unwelcome a conviction or idea, provided it were firmly based on wisdom and justice; once get him to in- tellectually grasp an opposite and superior position, and he was as sweet and thorough in surrender as could well be. When he stood out in painful opposition in either vital or minor matters, it was more often that he could not see eye to eye with friend or kindred, than that he " wanted his own way " in the usual sense of a domineering nature. He was a thoroughly genial man. He might provoke others, especially those who but partially understood him, by his unusual independence of thought and action. But he was generally unruffled, serene, cheerful, and self-poised in manner and in fact. And all coarseness of nature was 24 JAMES EDDY. foreign to him ; however stoutly he might maintain a posi- tion which the more logical felt to be untenable, he was never the loud-mouthed ranter who overbears another, and will let no thought have a chance of expression save his own. Nor was he ever the vain bigot who seeks only the society of inferiors. Dearly as he loved that men and women should agree with him, Mr. Eddy constantly sought association with those greater masters in moral and religious controversy who could not accept his lead- ership. His relations to the Free Religious Society in Provi- dence illustrate in a striking manner both the inflexibility of opinion and sweetness of spirit before noted. After the beautiful Bell Street Chapel was finished, Mr. Eddy kindly gave the use of the lower audience-room for several months for the Sunday services of this society. He also gave from time to time the use of his house and grounds for social gatherings, which are among the pleasantest memories connected with the early life of the association. After a while it became clear to those most interested in the Free Religious Society that Mr. Eddy would gladly do very largely and generously for that association if only it could legitimately become the nucleus of such a church as he wished to establish and house in his chapel. No doubt the society had been early, if not at the very first, in Mr. Eddy's mind when he built the chapel. He felt 25 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. himself, for one reason and another, out of line with all existing religious organizations. He did not wish to wear the Christian name, believing it linked with so much hurt- ful dogma and misleading superstition that it must be cramping to the intelligence and paralyzing to the best moral devotion. And he chose " religion " as the greater which included all of good in the less, and excluded its evil. The Unitarian body he thought inconsistent in insisting upon such visible grafting upon the Christian tree. And the " Liberal Christian " methods generally did not attract him. He was deeply interested when the first, ISTational, Free Religious Association was formed. Its clear affirmations of the worth and use of free thought and untrammeled speech in religion were congenial to his belief. Its widely fraternal spirit was his own. The cul- ture and moral enthusiasm of its leaders attracted him. Hence he gave generously to aid the association in its work, and watched its proceedings with keenest interest. But when the local Free Religious Society was formed in Providence, with substantially the same basis of organiza- tion, he felt a great lack in that basis. He held that a local society, which aimed to take the place of existing churches, must found itself upon some clear spoken alle- giance to a Supreme Being, and must insist upon some form of outward aspiration toward that Supreme One. It was not enough, in his view, that it should pledge to a 26 JAMES EDDY. reverent study of truth; it must attempt some positive definitions of truth, and require subscription to them. It was not enough that it woo the worshipful spirit; it must express that spirit. In other words, a local religious soci- ety, which should really fill the requirements of the hour, must, in his opinion, have a creed and a devotional ser- vice based upon rational ideas. To him, the Free Religious Society of Providence, like the " ethical societies " just forming, lacked the essential elements of a living, growing church. Hence, when his thoughts turned toward the local society nearest his choice, it was with a great yearning to fit it more per- fectly to his own conception of what a religious associa- tion should be and do. He refused to join the society, although in its earlier years constant in attendance upon its meetings, and giv- ing liberally to support its Sunday services, in addition to the free use of his chapel. At last, fully eleven years ago, he invited the members and friends of the Free Religious Society, of Providence, to his home, and then unfolded to them his views, and his generous intention of aid to the society, if its constitution could be modified and changed to suit those views. Mr. Eddy's creed, as outlined on this important occasion, might all be summed up, in its essentials, by the Christian statement of " love to God and love to man." His main requirements were for the Free 27 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Keligious Society to place as the first stated principle in its basis of union, " praise and gratitude to God," and some provision for expression of man's dependence upon God and conscious relation to Him. ISTot that he would have ' L prayer " in the sense of petition a part of free relig- ious services; to that he was very averse. But he would have ascriptions of praise to God, and expressions of trust in and aspiration toward Him, a vital and necessary part of every public meeting. Other minor restrictions and changes of administration were mentioned, but the chief demand which he made upon the society was for this clear recognition and open worship of God. Could the society accept this suggestion and incorporate these major prin- ciples in its constitution, Mr. Eddy offered the permanent free use of both upper and lower rooms of the chapel, with a well-filled library and other conveniences for a minister's work, the heating, lighting and care of the same, and a generous aid toward pulpit supply. The large number of "liberals" present, organized and unorganized, listened eagerly, and for the most part sympathetically, to Mr. Eddy's views, and a committee was appointed to consider his propositions and further confer with him as representatives of the association. The whole discussion which followed upon this meet- ing was highly creditable to both sides. Mr. Eddy, in a matter so personal as the chosen JAMES EDDY. method of his benefactions, had a right to be inflexible, and he was. But he was courteous, sweet-tempered and kindly in all he said to the committee. The society wanted very much to accept the generous offer, but it decided, and through the committee repre- sented to Mr. Eddy, that it could not rightfully change its already accepted non-theological basis of union. The great majority of its members held, as individuals, most strenuously to that belief in God Mr. Eddy desired it to state in set terms. But the association had been organ- ized expressly to give fraternal welcome to all who fol- lowed after truth and right, and led moral lives, whether or not they could articulate God in theistic fashion. Many of the society, again, would welcome public prayer, and longed for a richer service, but there were other mem- bers who did not desire these outward expressions of devotion, and would resent any compulsion in such a matter. For good or for ill, for long or for short, the Free Religious Society of Providence, stood committed, and intelligently and earnestly committed, to a free plat- form, a purpose of study, and an allegiance to ethical law, — simply and explicitly. This was its deliberately chosen basis of organization. Free to pray or not; free to name God as the " Supreme Person," or hint the " eternal en- ergy " as a law, were to be its teachers and leaders. And the fraternity of its membership was to be conditioned 29 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. upon no views of truth, only upon a common love of truth. Hence, the society was obliged to tell Mr. Eddy, through its committee, that it could not meet his terms. And the committee ventured to urge him to modify his demands, to join the association on its own basis, become a permanent member of its executive board, and help lead it on to higher and more spiritual life. The writer well remembers the committee's interview with Mr. Eddy, when this ultimatum of the society was communicated to him, and his reply received. He took us into the upper auditorium of the chapel for this final conference. The mellow afternoon light streamed through the windows, and there was a pleasant aspect to the place which made it seem most tempting to people at that time limited to a choice of common and untidy halls for Sunday services. And our kind host, so eager to help us if we could only do as he felt sure we ought, seemed in his own mellowing afternoon of life a most desirable addition to the struggling little band. But he could not conscientiously join the Free Keligious Society, and the Free Religious Soci- ety could not conscientiously join Mr. Eddy, and so each side had to relinquish a fond dream and go a separate way. After that incident, many people felt that Mr. Eddy would very naturally withdraw his support altogether 30 JAMES EDDY. from the association. But he did not do so. He contin- ued always, although never becoming a member of the society, to make handsome subscriptions yearly to its funds. And until he became, near the close of life, disin- clined to all public gatherings, was a frequent attendant upon its meetings. And there was never the least expres- sion of pique, or ignoble feeling of any sort, on his part, so far as the writer has knowledge. He never hesitated to declare his conviction that the society had made a great if not a fatal mistake. But this conviction was based upon principles vital to him and not upon petty personal feeling. And although deeply disappointed that the society rejected his overtures, he prized it still as " a brave, free lance," and gladly welcomed its teachers and members to his hospitable home. And it is not improbable that Mr. Eddy's dislike to antagonize the Free Religious Society, and his hope that it would sometime more perfectly conform itself to his views, hindered him from attempting, in a more positive manner than he did, to organize and house a new church. Yet he held most tenaciously his desire for this new- church, one that should fit his ideal of what a liberal religious society should be and should do. He never found the right person to create and sustain this new society of " true believers," although in a quiet, tentative 31 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. way he felt around for such. He was too great a man to want " a mush of concessions ; " one so poor and weak in his own individuality that he could be simply another's mouthpiece. And his own views were never formulated in such shape that they could attract voluntary followers. Hence the chapel stood until Mr. Eddy's death, mute witness to his religious devotion and trust, as truly as to those personal peculiarities which made the builder unable to join any religious society in Providence. The absurd stories current at times respecting the rea- sons for this non-use of the chapel were an affront to the deep conviction and sincere private worship of the man. Alone in the solitude of his room he penned many a heartfelt " invocation," full of that loving confidence in the " Heavenly Father, 1 ' which those selected for the fun- eral service reveal. And in company with devout men and women he talked much and earnestly of those great themes of God, human destiny and duty, and the up-look of the soul, which have been the study of the ages. Doubtless Mr. Eddy exiled himself needlessly in the latter part of his life. Doubtless a more thorough mas- tery of present phases of religious thought would have either convinced him, on the one side, of the Heedlessness of written creeds, and thus made him at home with Free Religious or with Ethical Culture societies ; or on the other 32 JAMES EDDY. side, opened a gate of entrance to the more radical wing of the Unitarian Church. But the man stood where his life experience and power of apprehension placed him. Brave and true was he to his own thought, kindly and generous toward those from whom he differed. A curi- ous, almost unique, mingling of the great and the trivial was in all his endowment of powers, and in all his uses of life's opportunities. But as the solemn shades of death threw the lesser elements into the background, the sub- lime qualities of faith in the Father-God, and love for the brother-man, became more and more his prevailing char- acteristics. Higher word of religion hath never been spoken than this; of trust in the Perfect Power at the heart of things, of aspiration toward conscious commun- ion with this Perfect, of faith in man's power to save the world by heroic up-climbing toward the best. And that one should care greatly, as did this man, to give freer wing to such a gospel, is patent of spiritual nobility. And at the very last, the vital and universal elements in his religious faith and purpose separated themselves as never before, in his mind, from the unessential and per- sonal, and he seemed fitted, as never before, to master the key to his own dream. He left a generous endowment for the fulfilling of the religious purpose for which he built his chapel, and he 33 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. chose trustees who required the freedom he gave in the practical detail of the work. So that the picture of the man is greatened in all just memory by the last acts and spoken desires of his earthly life. It is much to say of any life, as we may truthfully of his whose earth experi- ence has closed, " this was a true and earnest, an upright and loyal soul, and the world is better for its influence." It is more to be able to feel, as hope and affection bid us respecting James Eddy, that his deep spiritual yearning " to widen the skirts of light," shall bless many who knew him not on earth. 34 <movtal &tv\iitt. ittenumal Service, Bell Steebt Chapel was thronged with a serious concourse of people on the day when the funeral service of James Eddy consecrated in a solemn and peculiar man- ner the house of worship he had builded. Although many outside the immediate circle of friendship were present, all, even the young persons who stood, unable to obtain seats, in the outer hall, seemed moved to deep feel- ing by the service. And many personal friends testified to their sense of loss by a subdued grief that suited well the hour. Blossoming plants and vines filled the space be- hind and at the sides of the reading desk; apple blossoms screened its front, and violets from his own beautiful grounds strewed thick with fragrant bloom the platform upon which the coflin rested. In opening the services, the Kev. Frederic A. Hinck- ley, resident speaker of the Free Religious Society of Providence, said: "It is fitting that our voices should 37 MEMORIAL SERVICE. speak to-day for the voice that is still. Let me, there- fore, read you a few selections which were especially sig- nificant and dear to our friend, and expressive of his own thought and feeling." Selections. " I seek after truth, by which no man ever yet was injured." — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. "He that does good without hope of reward has already received the highest." — Ruckert. "Let us adore that divine sun from whom flow rays of light and joy : from whom all do proceed, in whom all live anew, to whom all must return. May he rule our thoughts, aspiring to his sacred heart." The Oaydbri [the holiest verse in the Vedas] . " To all it is not granted to live long, But each man has the power to live well : It is not days but deeds that measure life. The wicked perish e'en before they die ; The faithful, though departed, live alway." — After Seneca. ' ' We think and feel : but will the dead Awake to thought again ? A voice of comfort answers us That God doth naught in vain. 38 JAMES EDDY. He wastes no flower, no bud, no leaf, Nor wind, nor cloud, nor wave ; Nor will he waste the hope which grief Hath planted in the grave. " Sleep is a death : oh, let me try By sleeping what it is to die ! And down as gently lay my head On my grave as on my bed : — How e'er I rest, Great God, let me Awake again at last with thee ! " — Sir Thomas Browne. A quartette of singers from a city church choir then rendered the selection, " Holy, Holy, Holy." Mrs. Anna Garlin Spencer then said that among the manuscripts left by the friend whose life they had met to celebrate were many prayers, or " invocations " as he him- self called them, and she would now ask all to unite with her in using these up-soaring thoughts of his to voice their own spiritual yearning. " Heavenly Father, we would approach Thee, not with fear and trembling, but like little children who look up to their parents with love and confidence ; conscious that their parents are their best friends, loving, teaching, and sus- taining them. We thank Thee, that as we advance in life 39 MEMORIAL SERVICE. and intelligence we are enabled to perceive that we pos- sess in Thee another kind parent, the real author of our existence; higher, wiser, and more loving even than our earthly parents, who in their affection and care for their children, are Thine honored agents and representatives. "Kind Father, though in Thy wisdom, unselfishness and dignity of character Thou requirest nothing of Thy poor dependent creatures; no honor, no worship, no grati- tude, no recognition even of Thy existence ; yet we thank Thee for the great gifts of intelligence, reason and free- dom of will, which enable us to perceive Thy existence and goodness. Thou requirest nothing of us but to perfect our own happiness by the observance of Thy divine laws; yet we thank Thee that we are permitted to humbly approach Thee and exercise our sincere and heartfelt gratitude for the boon of life, and for all the happiness and possibilities of happiness which pertain to this great gift. " Divine Father, we thank Thee for human liberty and the dignity which freedom confers upon mankind. We thank Thee for the happy effects which through Thy wise and beneficent law attend every good and noble deed; and we thank Thee for the kindly, reformatory, bad effects which are sure to attend every bad action. Through the power of experience and memory of the evil effects of evil actions, and the good effects of just and noble conduct, we are enabled to progress to a happier life. We thank Thee for the incentives to virtuous ac- tion which Thou hast implanted in our nature; we thank Thee for our passions, which, when guided by reason, 40 JAMES EDDY. tend to our well being in this life. We especially thank Thee, as parents, for our constitutional power of love to our children; and as children, we thank thee for our nat- ural love to parents, to brothers and sisters, and to our wives. And, kind Father, in all our varied enjoyments and relations in life, we should never forget that Thy power, goodness, and intelligence is behind all of happi- ness and well-being that we enjoy; and that to Thee we owe the sincerest love and deepest gratitude of our hearts. A.men." ^eraavfes of |Vlr. |tlwcfeUg. " For the first time, friends, in its history, this audi- ence-room is open to the public to-day. For years in the silence of his own chamber, and the deeper silence of his own heart, its founder has sought to mature and record his thought concerning that most profound of all things which we call religion. For years he has dreamed of a time to come when this building should be consecrated to what he would call a true, and lasting, and radical faith. How much this work occupied his mind, how sincere was his purpose in pushing it forward, only those of us who knew him intimately can know. He searched eagerly for companionship and sympathy in it, and when he could not find them, he pursued it solitary and alone. But it was not his fortune to live long enough to realize his dreams, or to see his hopes verified. With the subject 41 MEMORIAL SERVICE. holding fast its place in his mind and heart, as life ebbed away, he emphasized its importance and indicated the place it held in his affections. And when he saw the end to be inevitable, when he was satisfied that he could not in his own person, as we have known him, consecrate this house to the uses for which he designed it, then it was his wish that friends might gather here to take a last look at his familiar form, and that in a way, this service to his memory might be his temple's consecration. "And now I wonder what he would say could he speak to us at this moment? Surely the first word of him whose central thought was one of gratitude to God for the gift of life, would be an injunction to us to be grate- ful for his life. To think fondly upon the privileges of association between his life and ours which the past has brought us. How easy and how pleasant it is now to recall the blessings which have come to us because of this man's career. In the close relations of the home, how our hands have been placed confidingly in his; how our lives have been shaped by his counsel; and at the last, how it has been our sacred opportunity to help him along the way he needs must go. In social life, how we can think now of his cordial greeting and friendly sympathy; his ready interest in many a good cause; and his influ- ence as an independent and upright citizen. At such hours as this, these are thoughts which throng the mem- ory with cheering and consoling force, telling always of how much more this world has been to us because a kind and a good man has lived. Gratitude for the life of this 42 JAMES EDDY. father, this friend, this citizen, that is the first thought for this hour. " But it is not only a word of thankfulness for the past, it is a word of hope for the future, that I am sure he would have us speak here and now. Not that he felt the problem of the future to be solved; not that he could see beyond the veil which we strive in vain to penetrate; but that in his later thoughts he regarded it, as, indeed, all rational beings may well regard it, in a hopeful mood. That love here, whatever else it may mean, cannot mean hate there. That light here, whatever else it may mean, cannot mean darkness there. That, perchance, relations sundered here, may be reformed there; that familiar faces missed here, may be seen again there. Shall it not be to us, as I think it was to him, an open question to be con- templated in a hopeful spirit? But more than this, our friend had that greatest of all consolations, faith in the goodness of things. To him what was good in the seen, must be good in the unseen universe. Is not that the faith of faiths in such experiences as this? No cloud so dark but behind it the sun still shines; no moment so sor- rowful but patience and sweetness can transform it into sacred joy. All nature, says the poet, " ' All nature is but art unknown to thee, All chance direction which thou canst not see, All discord harmony not understood, All partial evil universal good ; ' that was our friend's faith, may it not be ours? 43 MEMORIAL SERVICE. " And so with this three-fold thought of gratitude for the past, of hope for the future, of faith that however things may seem, in the great economy all is ordered well, we may leave this form, so familiar and so dear, asleep, as it were, on the infinite bosom and in the universal arms." The quartette then sang a favorite hymn of Mr. Eddy's, which he had altered slightly to better suit his ideas, as follows: While Thee I seek, Protecting Power ! Be my vain wishes stilled : And may this consecrated hour With better hopes be filled ! Thy love the power of thought bestowed, To Thee my thoughts would soar : Thy kindness o'er my life has flowed, / cannot ask for more. When gladness wings my favored hour, Thy love my thoughts shall fill ; Resigned, when storms of sorrow lower, My soul shall meet Thy will. My lifted eye, without a tear, The gathering storm shall see ; My steadfast heart shall know no fear, That heart confides in Thee. 44 JAMES EDDY. Remarks faj Utra. Juma (&