^Y^ UNIVERSITY 
 
 n^,o^ LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BX 9225.C58C66 
 
 Robert Carter:his life and work. 1807-18 
 
 3 1924 005 966 134 
 
 
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 DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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/cu31924005966134 
 
ROBERT CARTER. 
 
He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost 
 and of faith.— -I^CTS xi. 24. 
 
 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his 
 house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to 
 God always. — Acts x. 2. 
 
Robert Carter 
 
 i^fjs mu and motfi. 
 
 1807-1889. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND CO. 
 
 1891. 
 
Copyright, 1891, 
 By Anson D. F. Randolph & Co. 
 
 A 
 
 rt 
 
 \o 
 
 SEntersttg ^ttss: 
 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 
 
This book is -written for the friends of Egbert 
 Carter. It is not expected that those who did not 
 know and love him will care to read it; but those 
 who did will find in it a record written by feeble 
 though loving hands, that may serve to recall to them 
 some of the incidents of a life that was to no ordi- 
 nary degree lived for others. 
 
 " It is a frail memorial, but sincere ; 
 Not scorned in Heaven, though little noticed here." 
 
 A. 0. C. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Pages 1-31. 
 
 Early Days in Scotland. Birth and Parentage. Desire for Education. 
 Adventure with a Dog. Buying Josephus. Village Fair. Foster's 
 Essays. Joining the Church. Anecdotes of his Father. Fireside 
 Stories. Harvesting. Teaching at Fifteen. Walk to Peebles. Dr. 
 Sloan's School. Edinburgh University. Professor Pillans. Lubienski. 
 Decides to come to America. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 Pages 32-49. 
 
 Leaving Home. Incidents of the Voyage. First Day in New York. Dr. 
 Griscom. Professor Anthon. Hon. Gulian C. Verplanck. Dr. Stark. 
 The Scotch Church. Different Schools. Marriage. Entering Business. 
 Bible the First Book sold. Resolved against Debt. Consecrating Half 
 his Income. 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 Pages 50-76. 
 
 Death of his First-Born. Miss Catherine Sinclair. Visit to Europe in 1841. 
 D'Aubign^'s History of the Eeformation. Home's Introduction. 
 Business Principles. Aim in all Publications. Tribute of Mr. Ran- 
 dolph. Incidents of Western Journeys. Death of his Father. Board 
 of Foreign Missions. Hon. Walter Lowrie. Mr. William Steel. 
 Free Church of Scotland. 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Pages 77-105. 
 
 Voyage to Europe in 1846. Interviews with Dr. Chalmers and others. " God 
 in the Storm." Dr. Lyman Beecher. Dr. Thomas De Witt. Bookstore 
 a Rendezvous for Clergymen. Authors his Friends. His Brothers 
 made Partners. Afiectionate Relations between Brothers. Peacemak- 
 ing. Visitation of Sick and Afflicted. Story of Kate Curtis. Last 
 Interview with Dr. Griscom. Mr. Carter's Prayers. Testimony of a 
 Unitarian Friend. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Pages 106-143. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Thomson. The Two Mothers. Home Life and Family Training. 
 Europe in 1854. Enthusiastic Traveller. Dr. Norman Macleod. Mrs. 
 Lundie Duncan. Loss of the " Arctic." Hospitality. Fugitive Slaves. 
 Katy Ferguson. Aged Slave Woman in Charleston. Desire for his 
 Children's Conversion. Temperance Stories. Sharon Springs. Pro- 
 fessor Mitchell. Archbishop Hughes. Dr. Thornwell. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Pages 144-173. 
 
 American Bible Society. Princeton Seminary. New York Sabbath Com- 
 mittee. Europe in 1861. Dr. Macleod again. Journey with Dr. 
 Guthrie. John Brown, M.D. Magdalen Asylum. The Queen at 
 Crathie Church. Professor Mitchell. Italy. Archbishop Hughes 
 again. Rome in 1862. Sunday at La Tour. Dr. Cesar Malan. 
 Letters from Dr. and Mrs. Guthrie. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Pages 174-197. 
 
 Country Parishes. Stockbridge and Egremont. Interest in the Young. 
 Southern Friends. An Aged Heroine. Death of his Mother. Letters 
 from Dr. McCosh. General Assembly Experiences. Ministerial Relief. 
 Peoria and Newark. National Presbyterian Convention. Prayer for 
 Unity. Assemblj- at Albany. Stor}- of Lord Kilmarnock. New York, 
 Pittsburg, and Philadelphia. 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Pages 198-230. 
 
 Dr. Cuyler. President Hopkins. Dr. Parlcer. Bishop Bickersteth. Golden 
 Wedding. Testimonial from Booksellers. Mr. Randolph and Dr. 
 Prime. Dr. Macduff. Deaths of Mr. Cochran and of Mrs. Carter. 
 Letters. Interest for his Grandchildren. Last Illness. 
 
 FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 Pages 231-242. 
 
 Resolutions of Board of Foreign Missions. American Bible Society and 
 Sabbath Committee. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF SOCIETIES. 
 Pages 243-246. 
 
 OBITUARY NOTICE. 
 Pages 247-250. 
 
LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IK the sturdy character of a Christian Scotchman, 
 brought up in the earnest fashion of his Cove- 
 nanting ancestors, there is something that carries our 
 thoughts into the Book of Psalms on which they so 
 loved to dwell, and we think of the "tree planted by 
 the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his 
 season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; and whatsoever 
 he doeth shall prosper"; for "his delight is in the law 
 of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and 
 night." " With long life shall he be satisfied," for he 
 has the promise that " goodness and mercy shall follow 
 him all the days of his life, and he shall dwell in the 
 house of the Lord forever." 
 
 Never were these words more truly fulfilled than in 
 the history of Eobert Carter. His life was successful 
 in the best sense. God seemed to give him the desire 
 of his heart, and did not withhold the request of his 
 lips. Chastening was sent to him, lest there should be 
 any doubt as to his being one whom the Lord loveth ; 
 but in his long and honored life sunshine predominated 
 over shadow, joy over sorrow. He went to his grave 
 like a shock of corn fully ripe, with no cherished plan 
 defeated, his work well accomplished, his faith firm and 
 1 
 
2 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 clear, knowing that his Eedeemer liveth. Let those 
 to whom he was dear give, as he would have done, all 
 the glory to the One who loved him, and washed him 
 from his sins in His blood. 
 
 About thirty miles from Edinburgh, and as many 
 from the English border, stands the pleasant village 
 of Earlston. It is in the heart of one of the most 
 beautiful parts of Scotland. Four miles off is Melrose 
 with its classic abbey, and not far away Abbotsford, 
 where the Wizard of the North wove many an enchant- 
 ing spell, and Dryburgh, where he lies buried. 
 
 In the beginning of the present century Earlston was 
 so secluded from intercourse with the surrounding world 
 that there was not even a stage-coach running through 
 it. The ancestors of some of the villagers could be 
 traced back for five or six centuries, and in that time it 
 had made little progress. Many had been born, grown up 
 to manhood, and died in a good old age, who had never 
 gone beyond the hills which formed its sensible horizon. 
 But they were an intelligent people, eager for books and 
 learning, sustaining good schools, where even the poor- 
 est had the opportunity of studying Latin and Greek ; 
 and they were also a God-fearing folk, bringing up their 
 children in his fear and in the study of his Word. The 
 minister went from house to house duly examining the 
 children in their knowledge of the Scriptures and the 
 Catechism, and it has been said that if at nine o'clock at 
 night one had gone through the village he would have 
 heard the sound of psalm-singing and prayer and read- 
 ing of the Word of God in every house, so general was 
 the custom of family worship. 
 
 In one of these homes Eobert Carter was born, on No- 
 vember 2, 1807. He was the second child, having an 
 elder brother who grew up into a worthy manhood, but 
 
PAKENTAGE. 3 
 
 Eobert always took the lead in the family, his strong 
 vigorous character seeming to give him the birthright. 
 
 His father, Thomas Carter, was a native of Earl- 
 ston, a man of sterling qualities and much intelligence. 
 His mother, whose maiden name was Agnes Ewing, of 
 Sprouston, near Kelso, was a woman of great original- 
 ity, bright and quick-witted, and withal an earnest 
 Christian. 
 
 Her own lips long years afterwards told the follow- 
 ing story of these early days. She had all her life been 
 accustomed to attend church twice a day on Sunday. 
 When her oldest child was born she was obliged to stay 
 at home with it one half of the day, and this was a sore 
 trial. Good old Mr. Lauder, the minister, called one 
 day, and she told him how greatly she felt the priva- 
 tion. " I will give you a text," said he, " to think of, as 
 you sit at home with the baby: 'Take this child and 
 nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.' " The 
 words sank into her heart, and were a constant source 
 of strength to her in the rearing of her eleven children. 
 The promise was indeed kept to her, — the wages given; 
 for few mothers have received such tender and watch- 
 ful care as did she untU she went to her final reward at 
 the age of eighty-two years. 
 
 Mr. Walter Carter, one of her younger sons, gives 
 the following sketch of his parents. 
 
 " You ask me for a brief sketch of my father, and I am 
 turning over the leaves of memory to recall the days of 
 childhood and youth. Thomas Carter was a short, broad- 
 shouldered, broad-chested man ; the strongest at a lift I 
 ever knew. His arms seemed to set all resistance at de- 
 fiance, either at a pull, a push, or a blow. His hair was 
 black, his cheeks red aad rosy, his face full and open as 
 the day, — the very picture of health and strength. He 
 
4 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 never had a headache, never was sick for a day. He was 
 overflowing with animal spirits, ready for the joke, the 
 laugh, and the Scottish story, — a great reader, a free and 
 
 " He was a true Celt, and traced his pedigree to the High- 
 lands in days long gone by. His ancestors, being Protes- 
 tants, fled from the fire of persecution and their native 
 heath to the Lowlands, and found a refuge, where we 
 were all born, in the pleasant village of Earlston on the 
 Leader. Their names are on the gravestones in the parish 
 churchyard. 
 
 " His father died when he was a year old, and his godly 
 mother and the old minister brought him up. He often 
 spoke of spending an hour at the manse on Sabbath even- 
 ings, before Sunday schools were thought of, with his wise 
 and kind minister, Eev. Mr. Dalziell, and he treasured those 
 lessons till his dying day. His mother was a remarkable 
 woman. Mr. Dalziell used to say, that, if the Bible had 
 been lost, Mrs. Carter could have restored it from memory. 
 He was famous as an athlete in all the Scottish games where 
 strength and agility were required, and with his high spirit, 
 and quick though kindly temper, he often got into boyish 
 scrapes. His mother could not get hold of him during the 
 day, but exercised her parental control and correction at 
 night. One night while she was plying the 'tawse,' a long 
 piece of leather cut into strips at one end, he made a good 
 deal of noise, and she said, ' Solomon says we must not 
 spare a child for his crying.' Father lost his patience, — 
 although usually most loving and respectful to his mother, 
 whom he almost worshipped, — and cried, ' Solomon has 
 naething to do wi' it.' 
 
 " His mother's fervent prayers, in family worship and at 
 his bedside, as she pleaded for her children to the widow's 
 God, bore fruit in his giving his heart early to the Lord 
 Jesus. Indeed, he never knew when the change came. He 
 always took delight in prayer, and in the ministry of the 
 
PARENTAGE. 5 
 
 Word, and every spare moment was spent in prayerful 
 reading of the Bible. 
 
 " He had a good English education ; his wide reading and 
 reflection, his frank and friendly spirit to all, his lively inter- 
 est in the current questions of the day, made him ready and 
 helpful in any society in which he might be placed. He was 
 wisely directed in the choice of a wife when he married 
 Agnes Ewing, the daughter of a respected elder in the 
 Antiburgher Church. Her gentle, kindly nature, her wis- 
 dom and conservatism, held in check his more impulsive 
 spirit, and for forty years she was a most faithful and loving 
 wife, and a model mother of eleven children, who all grew 
 to be men and women ; for forty years there was no death 
 in the family, and father was the first to be taken. Like 
 Abraham, he erected an altar at once in the little stone 
 cottage where we were all born, the scene of so much true 
 happiness. The fire never went out on that altar until the 
 family left for America, and was rekindled in the home in the 
 New World. For some years my father's business took him 
 from home at too early an hour to gather his children around 
 him, and mother took the duty, and O how lovingly was the 
 sacred duty done ! In well chosen, fervent, tender words 
 she commended the children and the absent husband to 
 the Heavenly Father's care. 
 
 " The earliest recollections I have are of those morning 
 prayers. My father was gifted in prayer, and I used to 
 wonder if I should ever be able to pour out my heart as 
 he did to the Father in heaven ; but my mother's prayers, 
 so loving, so filial, so reverent, touched my heart, and led 
 to a desire that I too might so pray, and get an answer 
 of peace. 
 
 " The Sabbath was in our household the ' day of days.' 
 The family morning worship, the breakfast table surrounded 
 by a crowd of hungry, happy children and parents all to- 
 gether, glad at the reunion and the prospect of rest and 
 worship; the morning church, all attending; after dinner. 
 
6 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 family worship again (twice on week days, three times on 
 Sabbath) ; a few words about the sermon, and praj'er for a 
 blessing on the preached Word ; then Sabbath school. It 
 was the first Sabbath school in the south of Scotland, and 
 well attended ; all the churches in the village sent their 
 quota ; its superintendent was Rev. Mr. Crawford of the 
 Relief Church ; Brother Robert was his assistant, and took 
 his place when he was absent ; both were good. We met in 
 a stone cottage built from the ruins of the Rhymer's Tower. 
 We had none of the modern improvements, — no library, no 
 Sunday school hymns or picture papers ; but we had the 
 Bible, the Shorter Catechism, and Rouse's version of the 
 Psalms ; also earnest teaching of the Word, heart to heart 
 work, hearty singing of the grand old Psalms, and fervent 
 prayer for the Divine blessing ; afternoon church, when old 
 and young went again, then home to supper, when the 
 younger children gave the texts and the older ones portions 
 of the sermons, while father and mother made the practical 
 application. 
 
 " In the early evening of the Sabbath, while father was 
 reading some of his Puritan or early Scottish divines, mother 
 took her seat with the children around her, and gave us the 
 lesson on the Shorter Catechism. A^ soon as we could talk, 
 the first answer was recited by the youngest child, and all 
 came in as far as they could go ; those over six were expected 
 to go clear through ; mother would ask the questions and 
 give the answers without book, while she explained the more 
 difficult ones and applied them to the duties of daily life. I 
 can still remember Justification, Adoption, Sanctification, as 
 explained by her, the difference between an act and a work, 
 the several points in Effectual Calling, God's side and our 
 side in the matter (so often a stumbling-block to the carnal 
 mind, and such a comfort to the mature Christian) of Elec- 
 tion. Family worship closed the blessed day. When I hear 
 of the weariness in some families now, I wonder, — and bless 
 God for such parents." 
 
EARLY DAYS IN SCOTLAND. 7 
 
 Among Eobert Carter's earliest recollections was the 
 rejoicing caused by the battle of Waterloo. He was 
 then only seven years old, but he always remembered 
 the illuminations and shoutings and talk about Bona- 
 parte and Wellington. It seemed at the time as if all 
 things must thereafter go on smoothly, since the mighty 
 foe had been conquered and was banished to St. Helena. 
 But the long war and the great triumph had to be paid 
 for, and for many years the heavy taxes bore down hard 
 upon the working classes. Thus the early years of this 
 century became very trying times financially in Britain. 
 The day wages of an ordinary laborer were but a shilling, 
 while those of the artisan class were only a little more. 
 
 Earlston was famous for its ginghams ; these were 
 the best in Scotland, fine, soft, and silky, and a larger 
 part of the families in the village were weavers. The 
 work was not done in mills, but each weaver had his 
 loom set up in his own cottage, and sold his web when 
 finished directly to the merchants. 
 
 In Thomas Carter's cottage there were six looms, 
 worked by himself, his two eldest sons, and hired 
 helpers, for a stern necessity compelled every member 
 of the large family to go to work as soon as they were 
 able to manage a loom. 
 
 At the age of nine years and six months Eobert was 
 taken from school and put at the loom, and from that 
 time his education was acquired entirely by his own ex- 
 ertions. Of this period he wrote long afterwards : — 
 
 " My work was light, but tedious. From dawn till 
 ten and sometimes till eleven at night I had to toil 
 until my task was done. I cared little for the confine- 
 ment, but felt grievously the loss of books and mental 
 improvement. From early childhood I had an insa- 
 tiable thirst for reading. The stories of Wallace and 
 
8 LITE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Bruce, the Pilgrim's Progress, Hervey's Meditations, 
 and many other books of a somewhat motley character, 
 cheered my solitary hours. 
 
 " After becoming acquainted with my trade, I had 
 a board erected at my left hand, on which I fastened 
 my book, and worked and read all day. The books in 
 my father's library having run out, I was obliged to 
 borrow from some of my neighbors. One weaver in 
 particular, who owned what I considered a splendid 
 library, very generously offered to lend me such as I 
 might select. Eollin's Ancient History, in six volumes, 
 was the first I read, and great was my delight in travel- 
 ling the field through which the French historian led 
 me. One incident occurred, however, when I had fin- 
 ished the fourth volume, which I feared would put an 
 end to my delightful feast. While I was on my way 
 with that volume under my arm to exchange it for the 
 fifth, a dog sprang at me and made his teeth almost 
 meet in the book. When I saw what he had done, I 
 burst into tears and continued crying until I reached 
 the dwelling of my kind friend. 
 
 " When I showed him how much the book was in- 
 jured, ' Oh ! ' said he, ' I am so glad that it was the book, 
 and not your arm. It might have cost you your life. 
 Here is the next volume.' When he opened his book- 
 case and handed me the next volume, I thought that he 
 was the most generous man I had ever known. 
 
 " A little before this, when I was about seven years 
 old, there was an auction sale of old furniture, which, 
 as it was a rare occurrence in the village, I attended 
 with great interest. Towards the close of the sale, a 
 copy of Josephus's Works in folio, much dilapidated, 
 and minus one of the boards of the cover, was held up 
 by the auctioneer, and, as no one seemed to bid, I called 
 
LOVE FOE BOOKS. 9 
 
 out, ' Fourpence.' ' It is yours,' cried he, ' my little fel- 
 low; you're the youngest bidder we've had to-day.' 
 This fourpence had been collecting for some time pre- 
 viously, and was probably the largest sum I had ever 
 possessed. When I got the book in my arms, it was 
 with no small difficulty I carried it home. With an 
 apple I hired a little playmate to help me, and we car- 
 ried it between us, and when we got tired, we laid the 
 book down on the roadside and rested, each sitting on 
 an end. But what a treasure it proved while I 
 eagerly devoured its contents ! I used to lay it down 
 upon the cottage floor, and myself beside or upon it, 
 and travel slowly down the long page until I reached 
 the bottom, and then tackle the next page. I had read 
 the Bible through twice in order, and I was eager to get 
 all the additional information I could about the Jews, 
 I was greatly puzzled by the word ' Greeting,' which 
 occurred so often as a salutation at the beginning of 
 letters. That was our Scottish word for crying, and I 
 could not understand its relation to letters bearing good 
 tidings. 
 
 " Shortly after I finished Josephus, one fine summer 
 evening, my father took me with him to pay a visit to a 
 friend who owned a pretty little farm about three miles 
 distant. He was reading Fox's Book of Martyrs when 
 we arrived, and he told us that he was greatly fascinated 
 by it. My father said that he would like to have such 
 a book for his little boy, but that it was far too costly 
 for him to purchase. The gentleman asked me to read 
 a little for him. When I paused, he exclaimed, ' He is 
 the finest reader I ever heard,' and inquired what school 
 I attended. My father told him that I had not been 
 at school since I was nine years old, but that I was 
 extravagantly fond of reading. ' Well,' said he, ' I have 
 
10 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 finished the first volume, and you are welcome to it.' 
 This work introduced me to a field entirely new and 
 extremely rich in its details, and when I finished it I 
 was sorry that there was no more of it to read. 
 
 " About this period, my cousin Thomas Carter, who 
 was a student in Edinburgh University preparatory to 
 his theological course, had returned home to spend his 
 summer vacation. He loved to visit us, and, though 
 he was five years older than I, he became very much 
 attached to me. He gave me his old Latin books, and 
 came several times in the week to give me instructions 
 in the elements of that language. I entered upon this 
 study with all the zeal of which I was capable. Diffi- 
 culty after difficulty gave way before me, and I soon 
 became able to read Cordery's Colloquies, Cornelius Ne- 
 pos, Caesar, Ovid, and Virgil. At a subsequent period, 
 this cousin also taught me Greek. 
 
 " There were two fairs in our village, one in summer 
 and one in autumn each year. At these fairs, which 
 were looked forward to with great delight by all the 
 village boys, there assembled dealers in cattle, hard- 
 ware, toys, and books. The stalls for the sale of books 
 early possessed a charm for me, and I expended with 
 much care the few pence I could muster on the occasion. 
 At the summer fair, when I was twelve years old, I was 
 standing by a stall where were exhibited some of the 
 Latin classics. I picked up a copy of Ovid, and was 
 looking very intently at the narrative of Pyramus and 
 Thisbe, when a group of the grammar school boys paused 
 beside me. One of them jeeringly said, 'What do you 
 mean by pretending to read Latin ? ' ' This seems to be 
 a pretty story,' said I ; ' won't you read it to me ? ' He 
 began with the air of one who knew all about it, and 
 with some difficulty made his way through a few lines. 
 
LOVE FOR BOOKS. 11 
 
 ' I don't think you are getting the meaning of it very 
 well. Let me try,' said I. And taking the volume, I 
 commenced where he paused, and read freely on, to the 
 no small astonishment of the boys, who agreed that I 
 knew more about Latin than they did. This raised 
 me not a little in the estimation of those who used to 
 thinlc me a dull, lifeless creature, who moped over 
 books while they were at play, and gave a fresh im- 
 pulse to my classical studies. 
 
 " A volume which fell into my hands at this time 
 had a powerful influence over my mind. This was 
 Foster's Essays. The Essay on Decision of Character 
 I remember reading on a grassy knoll one fine sunshiny 
 afternoon after my task on the loom had been finished 
 for the day. The perusal almost overwhelmed me. I 
 arose and looked down upon the village, the meadow, 
 and the silver stream that meandered through the val- 
 ley beneath, and T felt that nothing was too difficult 
 for me, provided I applied my faculties to it, and per- 
 severingly toiled on. The impulse received from this 
 noble effort of genius was not soon lost, and even to 
 this day I never take up the volume without feeling 
 conscious that it has proved to me a real blessing. 
 
 " The lessons assigned by my cousin Thomas grew 
 more and more interesting after I became familiar with 
 the first elements. The window at which I sat weav- 
 ing commanded a view of the narrow footpath along 
 which he always came; and when I caught a glimpse 
 of his manly figure as he approached, my heart leaped 
 within me for joy. His patience was remarkable. 
 He rarely censured me for doing too little, but often 
 told me that I undertook too much. 
 
 "During the three winter months, my father sent 
 me to evening school to study arithmetic. My teacher 
 
12 LITE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 was in my estimation one of the most amiable and 
 affectionate of men. The pupils were few in number, 
 not more than seven or eight, so that he devoted a 
 great deal of attention to us. There was one great 
 drawback, however, to our progress, — we lost during 
 the nine months much of what we had acquired in 
 three, so that the second winter it required some time 
 to review before we entered on new ground. The third 
 winter that I had the pleasure of attending this much 
 loved teacher there was a general stagnation in business, 
 so that the weavers could get no employment. I could 
 find nothing else to do, so I attended school all day as 
 well as in the evening for eleven weeks ; and this was 
 the only period I was permitted to attend a day school 
 since I was little more than nine years old. 
 
 " I was just beginning a course in geometry, when I 
 was hired by a farmer in the neighborhood to watch a 
 field of newly sown wheat to protect it from the crows, 
 and afterwards I was employed in herding cattle. This 
 broke in sadly upon my darling pursuits. The fences 
 were so bad that I could rarely venture to open a book. 
 On one occasion I sat down upon the top of a stone wall 
 covered with turf, and read a portion of the Book of 
 Job. My attention was soon riveted on the subject, 
 and I entirely forgot my duty. "When I looked up from 
 the Bible, there was not a cow in sight. I ran to an ad- 
 joining height, and lo, the whole herd had jumped the 
 fence, and were quietly feeding in an adjoining field. 
 From that time I had to deny myself the gratification 
 of reading, and a severe trial I found it to be. The 
 times however improved, and as I succeeded in getting 
 a web to weave, by which I could earn more money 
 than by herding, I was released from this unhappy po- 
 sition, and restored to my old favorites. 
 
RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT. 13 
 
 " While I was thus struggling to improve my mind, 
 I had no higher end in view than to raise myself above 
 the humble condition in which I was placed. I could 
 not bear to be looked down upon by those in more 
 favored circumstances than myself. I attended church 
 regularly twice every Sabbath, but it was not from love 
 to the truth or a desire to profit by the Word, but simply 
 from habit and obedience to my parents. My memory 
 being retentive, I could in the Sabbath evening repeat 
 large portions of the sermons ; but this only tended to 
 foster my pride, as I got credit for attention to the dis- 
 course, and was praised for being a good boy. Often, 
 indeed, my heart was pricked by the faithful and earnest 
 preaching under which I sat, — often was I inclined to 
 cry out, ' What must I do to be saved ? ' Alas ! how 
 often did I quench the Spirit, yet He did not leave me 
 to my own devices. When I saw the members of the 
 church approach the communion table while I was left 
 behind, I had sore misgivings. I felt that it was my 
 bounden duty to acknowledge my Lord and Saviour be- 
 fore men and angels, and I often resolved that I would 
 do so before the next communion. For six weeks pre- 
 vious to the celebration of the Supper, notice was given 
 from the pulpit of the day in each week when the 
 minister would be glad to converse with those who de- 
 sired to unite with the church in sealing ordinances. 
 This was to me a time of searching of heart. I read 
 Willison's Sacramental Meditations, and Henry's Com- 
 municant's Companion, and other devotional works 
 fitted to instruct and impress my mind, and at last I 
 resolved to call upon the minister and state my con- 
 victions. I was then fourteen years of age, a poor 
 weaver lad, almost entirely excluded from society, — so 
 much so that I had never until now entered the house 
 
14 LIFE or EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 of our pastor. Each year, indeed, he visited his entire 
 flock from house to house, and on these occasions he 
 catechised the children, conversed with the parents re- 
 garding their spiritual interests, and prayed with the 
 household ; but these were the only opportunities I had 
 enjoyed of access to him in private. As the ambassa- 
 dor of God, he appeared so venerable that I dreaded to 
 approach him alone. And yet I preferred, I can hardly 
 tell why, to converse with him rather than with my 
 own father. On one of the appointed days I called at 
 the manse and asked for the minister. I was introduced 
 to his study, and told to be seated. My tongue clave 
 to the roof of my mouth. After some short conversa- 
 tion on other subjects, he interrogated me regarding the 
 nature and end of the Lord's Supper, my motives for 
 desiring to participate in it, and the duties devolving on 
 those who thus renounced the world. The interview 
 was brief. He kindly encouraged me, and expressed 
 himself satisfied with my answers. On parting he re- 
 quested me to tell my father to call on him, as he 
 wished to converse with him on the subject, and if 
 entirely satisfied I should meet with the session on the 
 Thursday previous to the communion. No obstacles 
 were presented to my reception, and I became a mem- 
 ber of the Secession Church of Earlston. 
 
 " This step I never regretted. It greatly strengthened 
 me in my resolutions after amendment, and though I 
 entered upon my Christian life in much fear and trem- 
 bling, I was not left utterly to faint. When tempted to 
 join with careless companions, I was withheld by the 
 consideration, ' I have vowed unto the Lord, and cannot 
 go back.' 
 
 " About this time a young weaver, three years older 
 than myself, often conversed with me upon spiritual 
 
CHRISTIAN NURTURE. 15 
 
 subjects. We retired frequently together in the sum- 
 mer evenings to a field near our house, and there kneeled 
 down and engaged in prayer. I have often looked 
 back with delight upon these spiritual interviews, espe- 
 cially as my dear friend was, in the vigor of youth, 
 seized with a brain fever, and after a severe struggle 
 of five days yielded up his spirit into the hands of his 
 Maker." 
 
 Mr. Carter's religious experience is a forcible illus- 
 tration of the type of piety which is often seen where 
 the training of children is faithful, and according to the 
 Scriptural plan, where the parent is told to speak to his 
 little ones " when thou sittest in the house, and when 
 thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and 
 when thou risest up." Christian nurture produces the 
 highest kind of Christian character, symmetrical, earnest, 
 and duty-loving. Of him the elder brothers and sisters 
 who knew him as a child bore witness, " Eobert was al- 
 ways a good boy." His sense of duty was ever strong, 
 and even as a boy he lived not to himself. He assisted 
 his parents in their responsibilities for the family, feel- 
 ing as keen an interest as they did in the welfare of his 
 brothers and sisters. Even to old age he never could 
 understand how young men could work for themselves 
 alone, without feeling the duty of helping their parents 
 and extending to brothers and sisters a helping hand. 
 
 As an illustration of the way in which the daily life 
 of his parents constantly preached to him, he used often 
 in after life to tell a story of his walking one day with 
 his father to a place at some distance. The way was hot 
 and dusty, and they were feeling very thirsty, when in a 
 little nook by the roadside they espied a crystal spring. 
 The boy sprang eagerly forward to drink, but the man 
 paused by the spring-side and raised the broad Scottish 
 
16 lh'e of eobekt caeteb. 
 
 bonnet from his head, and the child saw his father's 
 lips move in prayer as he silently gave thanks to God 
 before stooping to drink. It was an object lesson which 
 he never forgot. Through life his grateful thought al- 
 ways went up to the Giver before enjoying the gift. It 
 is pleasant to think that, as the son afterwards told 
 the story in many a Sunday school, the simple act of 
 that Scottish peasant, who would not take so much as 
 a drink of water without thanking God for it, lived on 
 for more than seventy years, and is still told " for a 
 memorial of him." He often used another memory of 
 his father as an illustration of the Heavenly Father's 
 care. His vivid imagination, excited by the stories 
 often told among the peasantry of " ghaists and bogies," 
 made him as a child timid when alone in the dark. 
 One night he had been making a visit with his father 
 to the house of a neighbor, and as they returned home 
 a severe thunder-storm came up. His father noticed 
 how the little fellow shrank and shuddered at the swift 
 and vivid flashes of lightning, and, drawing him closer 
 to his side, threw over his head the skirts of the long 
 loose mantle he was wearing, and so the boy walked 
 through the darkness, clinging to his father's hand, and 
 lapped in the folds of his cloak, until they reached the 
 safe and happy fireside of their own home. 
 
 His strong imagination had ample food to feed upon 
 in the tales of the Scottish border which were rife about 
 them. He often described to his children how the 
 neighbors would gather about their blazing fire of a 
 winter's evening, and one and another would relate 
 stories of life and adventure in the days of chivalry. 
 Some of them he loved to repeat to the close of his 
 life. Two of these stories he so often recounted to an 
 interested circle of listeners, that they seemed to those 
 
SCOTTISH STORIES. 17 
 
 who knew him best almost a part of himself, and as 
 such are related here, as nearly as possible in his 
 own words ; but the Scottish accent that lent them 
 such a charm must needs be missing. 
 
 James the First of Scotland was sent as a child to 
 France to be educated ; but on the way his vessel was 
 captured by an English cruiser, and he was carried 
 a prisoner to England and brought up there to a de- 
 gree of culture which he never could have found at the 
 Scottish court. When he returned as a young man to 
 Scotland, he found many abuses had arisen under the 
 rule of his turbulent nobles, and these he set himself 
 to correct. He was accustomed to go about incognito 
 among his people, that he might discover their needs. 
 One day in the garb of a peasant he approached a 
 stream which he wished to cross, and seeing a soldier 
 fishing near by he called to him to know if he could 
 get across. 
 
 " Ou, ay," he replied, " there is a ford just here ; but 
 I '11 carry you across if you '11 gie me a gill o' whiskey 
 at Meggie's," pointing to a tavern across the brook. 
 
 '' But what '11 ye do if ye drap me in ? " 
 
 " Ou, then, I '11 gie ye twa gills." 
 
 The king mounted the soldier's back, and the two got 
 almost across the stream, when, as the soldier stoutly 
 maintained afterwards, the king " clinked " him, and 
 they both went down. " Aweel," said the soldier, " I '11 
 have to pay you my twa gills." So the two went into 
 Meggie's, and drank their two gills, but when it came 
 to the reckoning the soldier found he had no money. 
 
 " Hech, sirs," says the king, " what are ye gaun to 
 dae noo?" 
 
 " 0," says the soldier, " I '11 pawn my sword." 
 
 " But," says the king, " the twenty-first of the month 
 2 
 
18 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 is coming roun', and there 's to be a graund review o' 
 the troops, and what '11 ye do, wantin' your sword ? " 
 
 " I hae a timber sword just as like the ither as twa 
 peas, — ye couldna tell the ane frae the ither. 1 11 just 
 carry that." 
 
 The twenty-first of the month came round, and the 
 king was to review the troops in person. A deserter 
 was brought in, and taken before the king for him to de- 
 cide upon his punishment. The king said that desertion 
 was so common that it was necessary to devise some 
 punishment that would strike terror into the hearts of 
 offenders, and therefore he would condemn the culprit 
 to decapitation, and would himself choose the comrade 
 who must perform the execution. So the king walked 
 along the line of troops until he came to his quondam 
 friend of the brook, and, singling him out, he said, " You 
 must be the executioner 1 " 
 
 The poor fellow sank down upon his bare knees, for 
 he was a Highlander, and begged to be let off. " Send 
 me agen the Southron, and I will fight to the death ; 
 but I canna imbrue my sword in the blood of a coun- 
 tryman, I canna do it." But the king was inexorable, 
 and the soldier was dragged forward, more dead than 
 alive, to the place where a temporary scaffold had been 
 erected. " May I not make a prayer with the unhappy 
 wretch before he suffers ? " 
 
 " Certainly, I canna refuse that," said the king. 
 
 The soldier fell upon his knees and made a most fer- 
 vent prayer that the eyes of those in authority might 
 be opened, and that they might see the iniquity of tak- 
 ing away that which they never could restore, and that, 
 in testimony of his displeasure, the Almighty would be 
 pleased to turn his steel sword into a timber one. " Be- 
 hold a miracle ! " he then exclaimed, springing to his 
 
GEORDIE AND THE AMBASSADOR. 19 
 
 feet, and waving his sword above his head. " Behold 
 a miracle ! " 
 
 The generals standing by stepped forward, and ex- 
 amined the sword. " Please your Majesty, it is a fact. 
 The sword is indeed a wooden one." 
 
 The king was laughing in his sleeve, and with diffi- 
 culty controlled himself sufficiently to order the release 
 of the prisoner. Then he said to the soldier, " You 
 are colonel of such a regiment," adding in a whisper, 
 " but ye maunna pawn your sword at Meggie's again." 
 
 The other story was called " Geordie and the Am- 
 bassador." 
 
 When James the Sixth of Scotland came to the throne 
 of England as James the First of that country, ambas- 
 sadors came from all kingdoms of the Continent to con- 
 gratulate him on his accession. Among the rest was the 
 Spanish ambassador. One day he was talking with the 
 king, who was a bit of a pedant, about the institutions 
 of learning. He said, " There is one desideratum in our 
 colleges which has never been attained. It is a profes- 
 sorship to teach dumb signs, so that when a Frenchman 
 and a Spaniard and an Englishman come together they 
 may make themselves understood by each other without 
 difficulty." 
 
 Said the boastful king, " I have such a professorship. 
 It is in the most northerly college in my dominions, at 
 Aberdeen." 
 
 " I would gladly travel far to see such a wonder," 
 said the ambassador. "I shall go to Aberdeen." 
 
 The embarrassed king wrote to the professors at 
 Aberdeen that he was in a scrape, and they must get 
 him out as best they could. When the ambassador 
 arrived at Aberdeen, he was informed that the professor 
 of dumb signs was from home for six weeks. " I am 
 
20 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 going to make the tour of the Highlands," said he, " and 
 will be back in six weeks." When he returned, the 
 professors concluded that he must be got rid of in some 
 way, for it would ruin them to fete him during a long 
 stay. 
 
 There was one Geordie, a butcher, blind of one eye. 
 Him they dressed up in professor's gown and a long 
 wig coming down to his waist. Geordie was sworn not 
 to speak, but only to answer the ambassador by signs. 
 The ambassador was introduced, and the professors 
 waited about the door. When he came out they asked, 
 " How do you like our professor of dumb signs ? " 
 
 "He is wonderful. I did not suppose such a man 
 existed." 
 
 " But, to descend to particulars, what did he do ? " 
 
 " I held up one finger to intimate that there was one 
 God. He held up two to show there was the Father 
 and the Son. I held up three to denote the Trinity. 
 He doubled his fist to show that there was Trinity in 
 Unity. I held up an orange to show the bounty with 
 which a kind Providence had blessed the earth. He 
 held up a piece of oat cake to show that the staff of life 
 was better than the delicacies of it." 
 
 When Geordie came out, he was asked, "Aweel, 
 Geordie, how did ye come on wi' the ambassador ? " 
 
 " The ambassador ! If I had him at the dam, I would 
 gie him a guid deuking." 
 
 " Ye wadna deuk the ambassador, wad ye ? " 
 
 " Atweel wad I." 
 
 " But what did he dae ? " 
 
 " He held up ae finger, making a fule o' me wi' my 
 ae ee." Geordie was blind of an eye. " I held up two to 
 say that my ane was as guid as baith his. He held 
 up three to signify there was only three atween us. I 
 
LOVE FOR POETRY. 21 
 
 doubled my nieve [fist] to let him ken I was ready for 
 him. Mair than a' that, the puppy, he took out an 
 orange to say that his country was a braw country, it 
 could produce oranges. I took out a piece o' cake to 
 let him ken that the land o' cakes was aye ready for 
 his country, or else he needna be here." 
 
 Eobert Carter's love for poetry was always very great. 
 He became familiar with all the great poets, and learned 
 his favorites by heart, and retained them through life. 
 Gray's Elegy he loved to repeat. Young, Burns, Scott, 
 and Byron he quoted at great length, and even Homer 
 and Virgil in their original tongues. 
 
 But to return to his own narrative : — 
 
 " From a very early age the harvest was a season of 
 hard labor. When not more than six or seven years 
 old, I accompanied my elder brother to the harvest to 
 glean behind the reapers. To pick up, one by one, the 
 golden ears of wheat or barley or oats till our little 
 hands were full, and then to bind up the handful md 
 lay it aside, and commence again and again till the 
 close of the day, with the back continually bowed down 
 till it was almost like to break, was no easy task. And 
 in the evening to carry home the fruits of the day's la- 
 bor, sometimes a distance of one or two miles, required 
 no small effort. Glad were we, worn out and weary, 
 to sit down to our evening dish of oatmeal porridge 
 and milk, and feel that our task for the day was done. 
 During harvest I had no opportunity for reading. If 
 I attempted to take a book in the evening, I ia variably 
 fell asleep. So that there was in each year a dreary 
 blank which was worse than lost. 
 
 "As soon as I was able to wield a sickle, I became a 
 reaper. At first, I could only do half duty, so that two 
 of us stood for one. This work was to me extremely 
 
22 LITE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 painful. My hands were soft, and for the first week or 
 two were sorely bruised. I often felt as if the sun 
 stood still. And O what a relief did Saturday even- 
 ing bring ! The Sabbath was truly a day of rest, though 
 we were almost too tired to enjoy it. 
 
 " One harvest, in order to see a little of the world, 
 three of us set out on an excursion to England. After 
 an early breakfast, we walked for seven or eight hours 
 till we reached the Cheviot Hills, which separated Scot- 
 land from England. The weather had been exceedingly 
 wet ; a freshet, the largest for thirty-six years, had del- 
 uged the valleys, and in many places had carried off 
 the bridges, and of course rendered walking very toil- 
 some. As we proceeded onwards, we came to a moun- 
 tain stream which had only a few minutes before our 
 arrival swept away a bridge of seven arches. The 
 people of the vicinity were running to the spot, and 
 wondering over the havoc. We inquired how we could 
 proceed, and were told that we must ascend the banks 
 of the stream till it divided into two, some miles above, 
 and there they supposed it could be forded. We started 
 on our weary way, and walked, hungry and tired, till 
 we were almost ready to lie down in despair, when we 
 saw a shepherd's house among the hills at a distance. 
 Thither we sped, and inquired how far we had to go 
 before the river could be forded, and were informed 
 that it was only a short distance off. The shepherd's 
 wife asked us if we would have a glass of milk, and 
 when we gladly answered yes, she presented some 
 brown bread and milk, which seemed the most deli- 
 cious feast we had ever tasted. Much refreshed, we 
 again sallied forth, and proceeded onwards till we came 
 to the forks of the river, where, taking each other by 
 the hand, we crossed in safety. 
 
HARVESTING. 23 
 
 " Late that evening we reached a farmer's house, 
 where we asked for employment, and were accepted. 
 We had, however, to wait a day or two before the grain 
 was sufficiently dry for the sickle, and these days were 
 employed in visiting the peasantry in the neighborhood. 
 We were painfully affected by the gross ignorance that 
 prevailed. Many of them could neither read nor write, 
 and their conversation was of course entirely different 
 from that of the same class in Scotland, though they 
 were only a few miles from the border. An epidemic 
 which prevailed the previous summer had carried off 
 nearly a third of the inhabitants, and yet, alas ! this 
 chastening was in most cases without fruit. We shed 
 many a tear with the poor survivors while they related 
 their losses, but were pained by their vacant stare when 
 we attempted to point out to them the resurrection and 
 the life. 
 
 " Here we remained several weeks, and aided in 
 gathering in the harvest. A quarter of a century has 
 since passed away. Not one of the simple cottagers 
 with whom we were thus temporarily associated have I 
 ever since seen or heard from. Doubtless a large por- 
 tion of them have passed that bourne whence no trav- 
 eller returns. Did we aid them in preparation for that 
 momentous change ? I fear not. We were regular in 
 our own private devotions, but I do not remember that 
 we ever engaged in social prayer in any family of that 
 neglected vineyard. 
 
 " In 1822, when I was fifteen years of age, a cousin 
 who had a private school in the small borough of Sel- 
 kirk, ten miles off, invited me to take his place for the 
 winter while he took a term at the University of Edin- 
 burgh. This was an entirely new scene to me. On my 
 way to Selkirk I passed Abbotsford, the fairy palace of 
 
24 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott. He was sheriff of Selkirk, and was 
 known in our vicinity as the ' Shirra.' Great was the 
 love and reverence in which he was held. Many a 
 time have I gazed upon the lovely scene on the banks 
 of the Tweed where the Wizard of the North wrote his 
 wonderful creations. It was nearly midway between 
 my home and Selkirk. The winter I spent in that 
 old borough was one of great value to me. I had 
 the charge of sixty boys and girls, and it was to me a 
 new life. I must have been a very unskilful teacher, 
 but if I did not succeed in giving my pupils much in- 
 struction, I learned much myself. 
 
 " Mr. Campbell, the parish minister, asked me to visit 
 the jail and give some instruction to a young man, more 
 sinned against than sinning, who lay in his cell there. 
 I went from time to time, and found him ready to drink 
 in every kind of knowledge. I had never been in such 
 a place before, and the sensation was a very strange 
 one when the jailer opened the massive doors and shut 
 them upon me. But when I saw the hapless youth 
 gaze upon me with wistful eyes, and give me a hearty 
 welcome, I felt there was a blessed work for me to do. 
 I never had a scholar who made such progress in so 
 short a time. He did not wish his friends at home to 
 know that he was in prison. One day he asked me 
 to look over and correct a letter he had written to 
 his father, and one expression in it afforded me much 
 amusement : ' My present situation is very easy, but 
 it is so confining that I am determined to leave at 
 Whitsunday, when I hope to see you.' 
 
 " After my half-year in Selkirk, I returned to my 
 loom again. In the following winter, 1823, I was 
 urged to open an evening school in the spare room 
 of our dwelling. I had twenty-eight scholars, most 
 
THE YOUNG TEACHER. 25 
 
 of them older than myself. Shortly after we begau 
 work, a tall, powerful young man rose before the 
 close of school, and went off without leave. Next 
 evening I handed him books and slate, and told him 
 he could not continue longer in my school. He left 
 me, and soon came back with a letter from his father, 
 begging me to take him back, and he would make any 
 acknowledgments I chose. I took him back, and he 
 never gave me any trouble again. I had the most per- 
 fect command of the school, and, as they were all most 
 anxious to learn, much progress was made. After 
 school, I often studied far into the night by a coal 
 fire instead of a candle. I was not allowed a candle, 
 lest I should sit too late. Young's Night Thoughts, 
 especially the first four books, I almost committed 
 to memory. Forty years later, after a long conversa- 
 tion with Archbishop Hughes, I quoted some lines from 
 Young. ' Why,' said he, ' Young has been my vade, 
 mecum from my very early days.' I felt drawn to the 
 aged prelate when I found he had drunk at the same 
 fountain as I in life's morning. 
 
 " In 1824, I taught school at a little hamlet four 
 miles from home, and twice a week walked over the 
 hills to meet my cousin, who heard me recite in Latin. 
 I think I made more progress that season than at any 
 other period, as I had no society to interfere with my 
 studies. We held a prayer meeting in a shepherd's 
 house once a week, when I was refreshed by the warm 
 prayers of the good old rustics, who ' knew, and knew 
 no more, their Bible true.' 
 
 " In 1825, I opened a school in my native village. 
 I had seventy day scholars, twenty at night. In my 
 spare hours I read the Latin and Greek classics, and 
 became somewhat familiar with the current literature I 
 
26 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 could reach. The minister of the Eelief Church, Eev. 
 David Crawford, had his Sabbath school in my school- 
 house on Sunday afternoon, and a Bible class in the 
 evening, and he invited me to take tea with him in the 
 interval between the two sessions. This proved a great 
 help to me, as he was a man of culture and refinement, 
 and his library was open to me. His wife was a lineal 
 descendant of the great Eeformer, John Knox, and he 
 sent me, after I came to America, a genealogical tree 
 of her family, traced down through the three hundred 
 years. He was afterwards called to Edinburgh to be a 
 Secretary of the United Presbyterian Church. 
 
 " During this period, Professor Pillans of Edinburgh 
 gave a course of lectures to the teachers of Scotland. 
 Anxious to hear these lectures, I walked to Edinburgh, 
 a distance of thirty miles. I left home on a Monday 
 morning, a few minutes after midnight, and reached 
 Edinburgh at ten o'clock, in time to hear the first lec- 
 ture. The course was very suggestive to me, and en- 
 abled me to turn a new leaf. On Saturday at 1 P. M. 
 I started for home, and reached it before midnight. 
 Professor Pillans was the fellow student of Lord Byron 
 and Sir Walter Scott, and gave me many incidents 
 of early days. He afterwards proved a most valuable 
 friend." 
 
 Mr. Walter Carter writes the following reminiscence 
 of this time : — 
 
 " The school was in a stone house near the ' Green,' on 
 the Main Street. The large room was full of busy scholars, 
 and the most rigid discipline, as in all the Scottish schools of 
 that day, was maintained. As winter came on, there were 
 signs of excitement in the school, as the habit was to bolt 
 out the master on the shortest day, and have a holiday. 
 When we reached the school that morning, we found the 
 
WALKS TO PEEBLES. 27 
 
 scholars standing outside the door greatly elated. Some 
 boys had barred the door, and had come out through a 
 back window, thinking all was secure. Soon the master 
 appeared on the street, with his usual alert step, and in- 
 quired tlie cause of the uproar. He was informed that 
 the door was barred. He went round to the rear, and, 
 putting a boy in the window, told him, in a voice that 
 could not be gainsaid, to unbar the door. A more disap- 
 pointed and crestfallen lot never defiled into school. It 
 was very soon understood that one will there was law, 
 and no appeal." 
 
 To resume the narrative of Eobert Carter : — 
 "After three years' work in my native village (1825- 
 1828) I walked one Friday afternoon to Melrose to visit 
 a friend who was a student of theology. He received 
 me very kindly, asked me to read to him in Latin and 
 Greek, and then told me he had received a letter from 
 Peebles, where he had taught for two years. The Eec- 
 tor of the Grammar School in which he had taught 
 wanted a young man to fill the place he had occupied, 
 and he urged me to go the following morning and apply 
 for it. I told him I had not been at college, or even at 
 grammar school, and that I was certainly unfit to take 
 that place. He replied, ' You read the classics more 
 fluently than I do, and if you go I will guarantee you 
 will get it.' I started the next morning at five, and 
 walked twenty-five miles, and reached Peebles before 
 twelve. The Rector took me into his library, gave me 
 one book and took another for himself, and asked me 
 to read and translate. I did so. Volume after volume 
 we took and read, and then he said, 'When can you 
 come ? ' I told him I had a school of seventy scholars, 
 and must dispose of it first, but that I would come on 
 Thursday week. ' That will do,' he said, and then invited 
 
28 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 me to stay to dinner. I then left him and walked the 
 twenty-five miles I had traversed in the morning. I 
 was then nearly twenty-one years of age, and full of 
 hope. I reached home about ten, as my father was 
 engaged in family prayers, in which I had a large share. 
 After we rose from our knees, father, mother, brothers, 
 and sisters, thirteen in all, surrounded me, and said 
 they were glad I had returned, as they had feared I 
 would go to Peebles. I told them I had been at Pee- 
 bles, and was going back on Thursday week to commence 
 work there. After securing a teacher for my school in 
 Earlston, I began a new life. The school had forty 
 boarding pupils, and nearly as many more from the 
 town. Many of the boys were sons of the nobility and 
 gentry, high-spirited youths, who were restive under 
 control. The Eector was advanced in years, and the 
 management of the boys devolved largely upon me. 
 The tutor who had preceded me had left the school 
 because he could not control the boys. They plagued 
 him so that he sometimes told them with tears that 
 they would break his heart; but there was nothing 
 that they liked better than to break his heart, and his 
 tears did not move them. 
 
 " The first morning that I was in charge, the boys 
 behaved in a most uproarious manner, dancing and 
 shouting about the room, heedless of my commands 
 for order. I took the ringleader by the collar and laid 
 him prostrate on the floor, saying, ' Lie there, sir, until 
 Mr. Sloan comes in.' He saw that I was not to be 
 trifled with, and begged to be allowed to rise. I told 
 him he could do so if he was ready to behave himself, 
 and he arose very meekly, and the others quietly took 
 their places at their desks. From that time I had no 
 trouble in securing order. But the work was very con- 
 
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY. 29 
 
 fining, as T was with the boys almost day and night, 
 sleeping in one of the dormitories. I saw the stars 
 but twice that winter. We were in the school-room 
 from seven to eight, from nine to twelve, from two to 
 four, and from six to eight. Supper and prayers were 
 before nine, when we saw the boys to their rooms. 
 After supper I studied far into the night, as I had to 
 prepare for the Rector's classes as well as my own, that 
 I might assist the boys with their lessons. 
 
 " In stormy weather we had to keep them within 
 doors all day, and it was no easy matter to keep them 
 out of mischief. The Eector never found fault with 
 anything I did, always meeting me with a pleasant 
 smile ; but neither did he express approval, and I feared 
 I was not giving satisfaction, and I wrote home that I 
 must look for employment elsewhere, as I knew I 
 should not be wanted in Peebles after my year expired. 
 One day the Rector said to me, ' Next year your salary 
 will be forty pounds.' This was nearly double the first 
 year : those were the days of small salaries. 
 
 " At the close of my second year, I resolved to go to 
 Edinburgh College. The dear old Rector entreated me 
 to stay with him, said I was a better scholar than he 
 was, and yet he had always been a successful teacher. 
 He offered to make the terms to suit me ; but I felt the 
 necessity of attending some higher classes in college, so 
 I bade him an affectionate farewell. 
 
 " The classes in Edinburgh were very full that term 
 (1830). Shortly after my entrance. Professor Pillans 
 called up Lubienski, a Pole, and myself, to hold a con- 
 versation in Latin before the class (the educated Poles 
 were taught to converse freely in Latin). He stood on 
 one side of the room, and I on the other. 
 
 '' I had fortunately read a volume of colloquies by 
 
30 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Corderius, and acquired some knowledge ^ of familiar 
 phrases, and therefore succeeded better than I feared; 
 but I was so frightened that I had to lay hold of a chair 
 in front of me to steady myself. 
 
 " In midwinter the parish school of Smailholm, six 
 miles from my home, became vacant. I went thirty-six 
 miles from Edinburgh to apply for it; the clergyman 
 knew that I was a member of the Secession Church, and 
 intimated that I need not apply. I felt this deeply, and 
 said to my father, ' I shall not apply for a situation in 
 my own land again ; I will go to America,, where my 
 religious denomination will not stand in the way of my 
 progress.' 
 
 " When T returned to my classes, Professor Pillans 
 read out my name at the close of the hour, and asked 
 me to stay and see him. He asked me if I was going 
 to Smailholm. I said, ' No.' ' What was the matter ? 
 I was sure you would get it' I told him I was not 
 even allowed to apply, because I was a dissenter. 
 ' I am glad of it,' said he. ' I have received a letter 
 from Lord Althorp, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
 asking me to send him a tutor for his son, and I will 
 send you. He is to cruise two years in the Mediter- 
 ranean ; will visit Italy, Egypt, the Holy Land, Greece, 
 and other parts. It will make a man of you.' I told 
 him that if I had known it three days before I should 
 have accepted, but now my mind was made up ; I was 
 going to America ; that my father had eleven children, 
 and I wanted to prepare the way for tlieml He said 
 to me, ' If I were not too old, I would go to America 
 also. It is the place for young men. I am acquainted 
 with the good old Quaker, Dr. Griscom, who is at the 
 head of the High School in New York, and I will 
 give you a letter to him that may help you.' That 
 
LEAVING SCOTLAND. 31 
 
 letter and several others he gave me did me great 
 good. 
 
 " A few days later, I was again asked to stay after 
 class, and Professor Pillans told me that the rector of 
 an academy in the Isle of Man had died, and he 
 would recommend me to the place if I wished ; but I 
 declined." 
 
 It may be added here, that many of the letters of 
 recommendation received by Mr. Carter at this time are 
 still extant, and all speak in the highest terms of his 
 scholarship and character. There is no faint praise. 
 The Edinburgh professors, Mr. Sloan of Peebles, and 
 his clergyman in Earlston, all express unmeasured 
 commendation. Professor Pillans in one letter speaks 
 of his "perfect regularity and uniformly correct and 
 exemplary deportment," and adds, that " he had acquitted 
 himself remarkably well in public examinations, and 
 gave proofs of great industry and proficiency." In 
 another he says, " It gives me much pleasure to state 
 that he has throughout distinguished himself as one of 
 the ablest and most diligent of my pupils." 
 
 From Mr. Sloan and the clergyman of Peebles came 
 letters of the most cordial praise, and it was added, 
 " He is much beloved by the boys under his charge, 
 which I consider no small recommendation in a 
 teacher." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 " TN March, 1831, I engaged my passage in the ship 
 A ' Francis,' that was to sail from Greenock on the 
 4th of April. I left Edinburgh, and went to bid adieu 
 to my native village. The voyage was a very different 
 thing then from what it is now. The Atlantic seemed 
 wider ; the new land less known. 
 
 " One good woman took me aside, and kindly urged 
 me to take a wife with me to America. ' Ye '11 get 
 naething there but a Yankee, and they 're a' black.' The 
 separation from home and friends was most trying. 
 
 " At six o'clock in the morning of my departure, 
 about thirty acquaintances and friends assembled in 
 my home, and many of them were deeply affected. 
 As I arose to go, my mother, who had embraced me 
 most tenderly, fainted and fell on the sofa. My friends 
 said, ' You had better go now before she returns to 
 consciousness.' My father and many friends accom- 
 panied me. They dropped off two by two, till, after 
 walking ten miles, my father and a very dear friend 
 alone were left. We parted in silence. I gazed after 
 them till they reached the top of a little hill, and grad- 
 ually disappeared from view. I then sat down by the 
 silvery Tweed and gave full vent to my feelings. I was 
 alone with God. In a more fervent prayer than per- 
 haps I had ever offered before, I commended myself and 
 my father's family to His keeping, washed my face in 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 33 
 
 the Tweed, wiped my face with my handkerchief, and 
 went on my way. In the afternoon I reached Peebles, 
 where I met with a warm reception from my dear 
 friends, and the following day went to Edinburgh, and 
 from there to Greenock. There was no one on board 
 the 'Francis' whom I knew, save one, a gardener, 
 Richard Davidson, eight years older than I, who had 
 attended a prayer-meeting with me in my native vil- 
 lage, and was very dear to me. We left Greenock on 
 Monday, the 4th of April ; my friend had his father 
 and mother and two sisters with him. There was an 
 excellent family of five, the Ainslees, nearly related to 
 him, who formed a circle of friends that showed me 
 great kindness. 
 
 "On the first Sabbath morning, my friend said to 
 me, ' There are many pious people on board, but there 
 is no clergyman. "We ought to have a service, and 
 you must take the lead.' I remonstrated, but there 
 was no one else, and he insisted on my opening the 
 meeting with prayer, after singing a psalm. In the 
 prayer I felt that we were alone with God. All 
 around me seemed to have the same feeling, and there 
 was a Bochim. God was there of a truth ; we then 
 read a lecture on the Acts by Dr. John Dick, of Glas- 
 gow, and my friend closed with prayer and singing. 
 We were six weeks on the voyage, and each Sabbath 
 had a similar service. I had reason to believe that 
 some were born again on board. 
 
 " Captain Peck, who was the principal owner of the 
 ship, took me aside before we landed, and said : ' This 
 is one of the most pleasant voyages I ever made, and 
 I attribute it in great part to your influence. If I 
 can do you any service, I will be glad to do it.' I 
 held him to his word. Before a year had passed, I went 
 3 
 
34 LIFE or ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 to him and told him I wanted to bring out my father 
 and family, twelve in all, and I would pay him when 
 they landed. ' I will gladly do it for you,' he said, 
 ' though I have always insisted on payment in advance.' 
 I saved enough the first year to pay for all, and the 
 same week, one year later, they were all with me in 
 New York." 
 
 Mr. Carter never lost sight of his fellow passengers 
 of the " Francis." Many of them were his lifelong 
 friends. One of them was a little boy of five or six 
 years, of whom he made quite a pet, and who used to 
 walk the deck with him, holding his hand. This little 
 George Ainslee grew up into a noble, self-sacrificing 
 man, a devoted missionary to the Indians, and, when 
 his mission was broken up by the war, becoming an 
 equally devoted minister of the Presbyterian Home 
 Mission Board. 
 
 Mr. Carter used often to relate an amusing incident 
 of the voyage. To beguile the monotony of sea life, the 
 young men formed a debating society, and were one 
 day assembled near the bulwarks, when suddenly there 
 came a cry from the other side of the ship, "Eichard! 
 Eichard ! " and, looking across, they saw an old wo- 
 man clinging to a rope that hung from the rigging. 
 " Something is the matter with your mother, Eichard." 
 The young man crossed to inquire into the difficulty. 
 " What 's the matter, mother ? " " 0, they 're a' gaun to 
 the one side of the ship, and it is going to coup [upset], 
 and I 'm just haudin' doon wi' a' my micht." It was irre- 
 sistibly comic, the idea of the frail little woman, weigh- 
 ing perhaps ninety pounds, holding down the great ship, 
 and the laughter that ensued broke up the debating 
 society for that day. 
 
 Many of that little company of Scottish emigrants 
 
PASSENGERS ON THE "FRANCIS." 35 
 
 sought homes near together in Saratoga County, New 
 York, where they formed a little colony, following 
 their old customs, and had a flourishing church where 
 their beloved Scotch version of the Psalms was sung. 
 Thither Mr. Carter took his father's family in the fol- 
 lowing year, when they came to America. The older 
 people always clung lovingly to the memories of their 
 home beyond the water, and always maintained that 
 there was nothing in America that was quite equal 
 to what they had in Scotland, "unless it were the 
 moon." 
 
 The sole male survivor of Mr. Carter's fellow voy- 
 agers on the " Francis " is Mr. Eichard Davidson, who 
 settled in Troy, New York, and opened a classical 
 school there. They had occasional affectionate inter- 
 course in after life, never losing sight of each other. 
 In the last year of Mr. Carter's life this old friend vis- 
 ited him. Mr. Davidson was at the advanced age of 
 eighty-nine, but, though bowed under the weight of 
 years, his mental powers were clear and vigorous. 
 He writes : — 
 
 " Mr. Carter was naturally very cheerful and happy, and 
 therefore added much to our enjoyment during the long 
 voyage. . . . We were both Commissioners to the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church meeting in Baltimore, 
 in 1872. It is customary at these gatherings to designate 
 members of the Assembly to conduct religious services in 
 different parts of the city on the Sabbath. When I met 
 Mr. Carter on Saturday evening he with a grave counte- 
 nance said, ' What do you think they are going to do with 
 me ? They are going to send me to the penitentiary.' On 
 meeting him on Monday morning I remarked, ' They did 
 not keep you in confinement long.' ' No, I got out on 
 account of good behavior.' " 
 
36 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 To resume Mr. Carter's narrative : — 
 
 " When I reached New York, a city at that time 
 [May 16, 1831] of two hundred thousand inhabitants, 
 I did not know a person in it. There was a clergyman 
 whose boys I had taught in Peebles, who had come to 
 New York the preceding year. I had letters for him 
 addressed to the care of a merchant at 407 Broadway. 
 I went to that place, and found the owner at home. 
 He told me that the minister for whom I inquired had 
 gone to Washington County, K Y., but that he would 
 forward the letters to him. He asked me if I had just 
 landed. I said I had. He then asked me what I 
 meant to do here. I told him I was a teacher. He 
 shook his head : ' Had you been a mason, or a carpenter, 
 or a blacksmith, I could have got you employment at 
 twelve shillings a day ; but there is no such encourage- 
 ment for a schoolmaster.' I showed him some of my 
 letters of introduction, and asked where I could find 
 the parties addressed. He took up the letter for Dr. 
 Griscom, and said, ' My son David is a pupil there, I 
 will introduce you to the Doctor.' The High School 
 was in Crosby Street near Grand Street. We went 
 there and saw the Doctor. He was engaged with his 
 class, but he took the letter, and after reading it he 
 took me very affectionately by the hand and said, ' I 
 welcome thee to our country ; we greatly need such as 
 thee. Come to-night at six o'clock, and take a cup of 
 tea with me, and I will introduce thee to some of my 
 friends.' As we came down stairs, my friend said to 
 me, ' Perhaps you are going to do here after all : the 
 Doctor has great iniiuence.' I made answer, ' I 've 
 got to do.' 
 
 " I had never met a member of the Society of Friends 
 before, but I was impressed with the idea that I must be 
 
DR. GRISCOM. 37 
 
 very punctual and exact in my dealings with them, so 
 six o'clock found me walking up and down before the 
 door, and just as the clock struck the hour my hand 
 was on the door bell. The good Doctor had a few 
 friends at table beside his own family, and he intro- 
 duced me very affectionately, saying, ' This is friend 
 Robert Carter from Edinburgh. He brings letters from 
 Professor Pillans. We gladly welcome him.' Never 
 can I forget the kindness shown me then and always 
 by this noble and generous man. 
 
 " I had been taught in Scotland that it was good table 
 manners to refuse the delicacies offered, and wait to 
 be pressed before accepting ; but I found that this sys- 
 tem did not obtain here, and that a dainty once refused 
 was not offered again, so that, if I wanted my supper, I 
 must eat what was set before me. This struck me as 
 being much more sensible than our Scottish plan. The 
 conversation at table was of a high order, simple, cul- 
 tured, Christian. I could not have had a finer speci- 
 men of an American home than this first one I entered. 
 The conversation turned upon the literary institutions 
 of Scotland, her eminent men, and the general diffusion 
 of education among the masses of the people. On these 
 subjects I was quite at home, and the circle around 
 us was evidently interested in it. I have often since 
 reflected, how kind and considerate he was to turn our 
 attention to subjects with which he knew me to be 
 familiar. After a delightful evening, I returned to my 
 lodgings, and poured out my heart in gratitude to the 
 Father of mercies, who had disposed strangers to take 
 me so kindly by the hand. 
 
 "A day or two later Dr. Griscom introduced me to 
 the Hon. Gulian C. Verplanck, and other influential 
 friends. Mr. Verplanck examined me in Greek and 
 
38 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Latin, and the Doctor and he gave me a letter to Profes- 
 sor Anthon of Cohxmbia College, asking him to examine 
 me and report to them. When I delivered this letter, 
 the Professor asked me to meet him at four o'clock at 
 his house in the college building. I did so. He gave 
 me one book and took another, and asked me to read 
 and translate. After reading portions from the Latin 
 authors, he did the same with the Greek, and ques- 
 tioned me on various subjects. He was greatly pleased 
 because I used the Continental method of pronuncia- 
 tion taught in Edinburgh, but not yet introduced into 
 this country. He then said, ' There is a highly respect- 
 able academy at Jamaica in which there is a vacancy. 
 I will recommend you as classical instructor if you 
 would like to go there.' 
 
 " This offer chilled my heart. I knew of no other 
 Jamaica save the island in the West Indies. Several 
 young men from my native village had gone there and 
 had grown rich, but had become immoral and profligate. 
 One of them returned home for a visit, patted me on 
 the head, and said to my father, ' If you will give me 
 this boy, I will make a man of him.' My dear father 
 replied, ' I would sooner lay him in the kirkyard than 
 send him to Jamaica. I value the favor of God more 
 than all this world can give me.' 
 
 " I need not say that I declined the offer, and said 
 T would rather take a humbler position in New York. 
 He told me he thought that I was right ; that New 
 York was the best place for a young man. He then 
 said, 'Mr. Cairnes, a countryman of yours, who has 
 been one of our teachers, has had a hemorrhage and 
 will never teach again : I will give you his class in the 
 Grammar School of Columbia College. Come to-mor- 
 row at nine, and begin your work.' I then asked if he 
 
THE HIGH SCHOOL. 39 
 
 would give me a letter to the good friends who had 
 sent me to bim. He did so, sealed it up, and gave 
 it to me.^ 
 
 " I had been teaching a few days at the Grammar 
 School when another professor came into my room and 
 told me he wished to introduce me to a countryman of 
 mine, who had two sons in the school. He took me 
 into an adjoining room, and the gentleman received me 
 very kindly, and invited me to tea. After tea, he pro- 
 posed to give me a home at his own house on condition 
 that I would aid his boys in preparing their lessons in 
 the evenings. This suited my purpose, and aided me in 
 bringing out my father's family. A few days later I 
 was invited by Mr. Verplanck and Mr. Murray to meet 
 them at four o'clock p. m. They told me that the Trus- 
 tees of the High School had unanimously elected me to 
 become Classical Instructor in that institution. I con- 
 sulted Professor Anthon, and he said it was a better 
 position than he could give me, and advised me to 
 accept it. After this I recommended Messrs. Chisholm, 
 Penman, Henderson, and Thomson to the Grammar 
 School of Columbia College, and they found employ- 
 ment there. For years the school was supplied with 
 young Scotchmen as teachers. 
 
 " The High School was then on the wane, and it was 
 not long till it was discontinued. Mr. E. Smith, then 
 superintendent of the lower department, formed a part- 
 nership with me, and we opened a school on the corner 
 of Broadway and Grand Street All the pupils that 
 were with me in the High School save one came there. 
 
 1 Mr. Carter did not know the contents of this letter for many- 
 years, but it finally came into his possession at the death of Mr. Ver- 
 planck. It was couched in the most complimentary terms as to his 
 scholarship and abilities. 
 
40 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 I had some excellent boys, who afterwards took high 
 positions in the world. One, the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, 
 became Vice-President of the United States ; another, a 
 general in the army ; a third, a leading financier of 
 New York; a fourth, a prominent clergyman in this 
 city : and others became useful and honored men." 
 
 Mr. Carter was through life remarkable for his social 
 qualities ; he was interested in others, and expected 
 them to be interested in him, and his expectation was 
 almost invariably realized. The friendly hand that he 
 so frankly extended to others received a cordial grasp 
 in return. " He that hath friends, must show himself 
 friendly." Dr. Guthrie used to say that he had noticed 
 that everybody, men, women, and children, liked to be 
 spoken to, and wherever he went he acted on this prin- 
 ciple, and was always kindly received. Mr. Carter was 
 of the same mind. The people he met on his first day 
 in New York, like the passengers on the good ship 
 "Francis," were his friends for life, and their children 
 after them. The relationship between him and Dr. 
 Griscom was like that between father and son. Most 
 tender and true was his love to the man whom he es- 
 teemed as his benefactor. He had a letter of introduc- 
 tion from Edinburgh for the Eev. Dr. Stark, and the 
 first building he entered in New York was a store, 
 where he stopped to inquire for his address. The pro- 
 prietor, Mr. Robert Marshall, exchanged glances with 
 his young wife, to whom he had been married the week 
 before, and said, " He is our pastor," and offered to go 
 with him to Dr. Stark's house. When Mr. Carter lay 
 on his death-bed, fifty-eight years later, this same friend 
 called to see him, and as Mr. Carter took his hand in 
 parting, he said to him with emotion, " This is the same 
 
EARLY FRIENDS IN NEW YORK. 41 
 
 hand I clasped on my first day in America," and the 
 two friends shed tears of affection together. A few- 
 months later Mr. Marshall followed Mr. Carter to the 
 eternal city. Can we not imagine the renewed hand- 
 clasping in the land where partings are no more ? 
 
 Dr. Stark also was a warm friend as long as he lived. 
 When Mr. Carter entered into business three years later, 
 he said to him, " I know your capital is small. If at 
 any time a few hundreds would be a help to you, I will 
 gladly lend them without interest." Mr. Carter never 
 required this aid, but felt himself greatly indebted to 
 Dr. Stark for advice, for kindly words of encouragement 
 to himself and indorsement to others. 
 
 Often in after life Mr. Carter spoke of the solitary 
 feeling that came over him as he laid his head upon his 
 pillow on his first night in the New World. He re- 
 membered that he was alone in this great city ; that if 
 he should die that night, there would be none to mourn 
 him ; that those who loved him would not know of his 
 death till many weeks should pass away. Then the 
 thought of the loving Father, who was as near him 
 in New York as to his dear ones three thousand miles 
 away, whose watchful eye never slept, and whose ten- 
 der care was ever about him, comforted his drooping 
 heart. It was the same thought, beautifully expressed 
 by the Quaker poet, born the same year as himself, — 
 
 " I know not where His islands lift 
 Their fronded palms in air ; 
 I onlj' know I cannot drift 
 Beyond His love and care." 
 
 And so he laid him down and slept, and awaked, for 
 the Lord sustained him. 
 
 On the morning of his first Sabbath in America, he 
 inquired at his boarding-house where he could find a 
 
42 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Scotch cburch. " You mean the Scotch Church ? It is 
 in Cedar Street, and Dr. McElroy is its pastor." He 
 went there, and from that day till the close of his life 
 it was his church home, and became dear to him as the 
 apple of his eye. Dr. McElroy was then at the zenith 
 of his reputation, a most earnest and eloquent preacher, 
 full of zeal and fire. He preached entirely without 
 notes, not even writing his sermons, but preparing them 
 with extreme care, and delivering them verbatim et lit- 
 eratim. Sometimes in delivery he would substitute a 
 synonymous word for the one he had intended, but 
 was never satisfied till he had gone back and used 
 the very word he had chosen in preparation. He was 
 a most tender-hearted friend, and greatly beloved in 
 his congregation. 
 
 A few Sundays later, Mr. Carter entered the Scotch 
 Church Sunday school, and was soon one of the most 
 active teachers, and leader of the teachers' meeting. In 
 1837 he was made Superintendent, a position he filled 
 for more than thirty years. In 1847 he was made an 
 elder in the church. 
 
 It was in this Sunday school that Mr. Carter first 
 met her who was destined to be for more than fifty 
 years his helper, tried and true, in the battle of life. 
 None but himself and his children could know what 
 a power was in that gentle, quiet life that was lived 
 beside his, nor how strong was the influence exercised 
 over him by his wife. The heart of her husband could 
 safely trust in her. 
 
 Miss Jane Thomson was the eldest daughter of Mr. 
 Samuel Thomson, an old and highly respected citizen of 
 New York, an active and honored elder of the Scotch 
 Church. Mr. Thomson was a native of Maryland, 
 whence he removed to New York in 1804. He was 
 
HIS MARRIAGE. 43 
 
 of Scotch Irish descent, his ancestors coming from the 
 North of Ireland to America in 1754. His father, 
 Hugh Thomson, his grandfather, and his great-grand- 
 father were buried in the Piney Creek Presbyterian 
 Church graveyard, Taneytown, Md. He married, in 
 1807, Ann, daughter of Archibald Strean, who had 
 come from Belfast, Ireland, in 1798. Of this noble 
 and excellent couple it may be said, " None knew 
 them but to love them ; none named them but to 
 praise." The family were thoroughly identified with 
 the Scotch Church. As Mr. Thomson's children mar- 
 ried and settled in life, the connection was continued, 
 and at one time thirteen pews in that church were 
 occupied by his descendants. Miss Thomson's parents 
 and grandfather being members of that church, she 
 was from infancy a baptized member, entered into 
 full communion there, as did her children after her, 
 and in all her seventy-six years she never had any 
 other church home. She would not have hesitated to 
 say of it, " If I forget thee, let my right hand forget 
 its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof (^ my 
 mouth." Those who knew Miss Thomson in her youth 
 loved to speak of her great beauty, and her sweet and 
 winning ways. Those who only knew her when her 
 benevolent face was framed by soft silvery curls can 
 hardly believe that the beauty of youth exceeded that 
 of age. And surely the youthful character, however 
 lovely, could not have rivalled the charm that was 
 brought down to a mellow old age by a life of self- 
 forgetful love for others. 
 
 Mr. Carter's love for his young bride was strong and 
 ardent, and it never waned. Strangers who saw his 
 active busy life, and heard his ready, outspoken utter- 
 ance, may have thought that the quiet, retiring woman 
 
44 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 at his side was not his equal in force of character ; but 
 he never thought so, nor did those who knew them best. 
 She had a mind of her own, though it was very gently 
 expressed. Though ever ready to yield in trifles, where 
 principle was involved she was firm as a rock. To her 
 was fulfilled the promise, " The meek will He guide in 
 judgment." Mr. Carter was ever ready to acknowl- 
 edge his indebtedness to her wisdom. All their de- 
 cisions were made together, and with the most entire 
 unanimity. 
 
 They were married March 18, 1834. We may learn 
 how much things have changed since those days from 
 the fact that the quiet little wedding had to take place 
 at six o'clock in the morning, in order that the bridal 
 pair might reach Philadelphia on their wedding trip 
 before night. 
 
 We may imagine that the future prospects of the 
 young couple had caused the bride's parents no little 
 anxiety. Teaching is never a very lucrative business; 
 and though the school had prospered wonderfully, Mr. 
 Carter's strong sense of duty to his father's family, and 
 his great liberality to them, had prevented his saving 
 much. He was rich only in faith, hope, energy, and 
 ability. Mr. Thomson was a man of considerable means, 
 but he had ten children, and could not be expected to 
 do much for his daughter in his lifetime. Mrs. Thom- 
 son was a woman of excellent judgment and great fer- 
 tility of resource, and she suggested to her daughter, 
 that, while Mr. Carter could never expect to make a 
 fortune at teaching, he was a man of good business ca- 
 pacity, and that he knew and loved books so well that 
 he ought to make a good bookseller. This was a very 
 short time before the marriage. The idea at once took 
 root, and the very next morning before school Mr. Car- 
 
BEGINS THE BOOK BUSINESS. 45 
 
 ter was looking about through the business portions of 
 the city for a store suitable for his new venture. He 
 found one on the corner of Canal and Laurens Streets, 
 which he took for the 1st of April. He had saved just 
 six hundred dollars, a small sum with which to launch 
 out simultaneously in business and matrimony. He 
 heard of an insolvent bookseller on Cortlandt Street, 
 who had advertised for sale his stock in trade, and he 
 went to him and offered his six hundred dollars, which 
 was accepted, and he was ready to start in business as 
 soon as he returned from his wedding trip. 
 
 Mr. Thomson gave his daughter a house and furni- 
 ture, and they set up their simple housekeeping. It 
 took great faith and courage in the young bride, who 
 had been used to comfort and luxury, to start in life 
 with such indefinite prospects; but she felt her husband 
 to be no ordinary man, and her confidence in him was 
 not misplaced. The young people were resolved that 
 nothing should ever tempt them to run in debt in the 
 smallest degree, and they resolved also, that if possible 
 they should lay by something every year ; and this they 
 always succeeded in doing, though it required the most 
 rigid economy, especially as they always extended a 
 very liberal helping hand to the father's household in 
 Saratoga County. Mr. Carter had one of the younger 
 brothers to help him in the business, and at different 
 times he had four of his brothers with him. 
 
 The very first day his store was opened, a woman 
 came in, and asked for a Bible. He showed her his 
 stock, and she chose out a handsome copy, and asked 
 its price. He was not yet familiar with his price list, 
 and answered at random, " Seventy-five cents." " That 
 is wonderfully cheap," said she, and at once paid for it. 
 After she had gone, Mr. Carter looked up the list, and 
 
46 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 found that he had lost considerably on his bargain, but 
 it always pleased him to remember that the Bible was 
 the first book he ever sold. His first year of business 
 yielded him a much larger return than his school had 
 done, and each succeeding year proved more favorable 
 than the last. 
 
 His sturdy independence and frugal habits were im- 
 portant factors in his success. One day when his assist- 
 ant was very busy in the store, Mr. Carter, as he was 
 going home to dinner, picked up a large package of books, 
 intending to deliver them to a customer on his way. As 
 he was passing through the streets, he met a young 
 bookseller who had started in business about the same 
 time as himself, and the young man remarked sneer- 
 ingly, " Ah ! I see you are your own porter." " Yes," 
 said Mr. Carter, " I am not ashamed to do any neces- 
 sary work." 
 
 Mr. Carter soon removed into a somewhat larger 
 store, at the corner of Canal and Mercer Streets, and 
 there began to publish books. The following account 
 of these early business days was found among his 
 papers : — 
 
 "In 1836 Mr. James Lenox sent for me and gave me 
 a book which he valued very much and advised me to 
 publish. I did so, and he took one hundred copies, and 
 distributed them mainly among the students of Prince- 
 ton Seminary. This book was Symington on the 
 Atonement. I took a copy of it to some of the lead- 
 ing booksellers in New York, and they told me I had 
 mistaken my calling,- — that this was too dry a book 
 for Americans, though it might have suited the Cove- 
 nanters of Scotland two hundred years ago, Not- 
 withstanding this, the first edition went off, and fifteen 
 hundred more were printed and sold. It was then 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE. 47 
 
 stereotyped, and more than six thousand have been 
 circulated.! 
 
 "There was one element in my work as a business 
 man which was of great importance to me. I had 
 started with a small capital of six hundred dollars, 
 and I had resolved to owe no man anything save very 
 temporarily. This was of immense value to me. When 
 a panic tried the strength of many around me, I had 
 nothing to trouble me, and generally the panic gave 
 me strength. I was ready to act as soon as it had 
 passed, and felt more hopeful than before." 
 
 He had always followed the plan of giving one tenth 
 of his income to the Lord's treasury ; but of this period 
 he writes : — 
 
 " When I reached that point where I had a surplus 
 above what was required for my business purposes, I 
 looked around to see what use I could make of it. I 
 resolved to consecrate to the Master's work as much as 
 I expended on my family. This had a double blessing. 
 It caused economy at home, and enabled me to use 
 cheerfully for Christian work what I had thus set apart. 
 A dear friend, who had broken up housekeeping on 
 account of the death of her husband, offered me her 
 carriage and pair of fine horses on condition that I 
 would use them in my family. I told her I could 
 not do that, as it might prove a snare for my chil- 
 
 • It may be interesting to add here, that in the last year of his life 
 Mr. Carter, while visiting the Lenox Library with his grandchildren, 
 inquired if there was a copy of Symington on the Atonement there. 
 The book was found, and on the fly leaf was the inscription with which 
 he had presented it to Mr. Lenox. It was a gi'eat gratification to him 
 to see this book, which he regarded as a sort of corner stone to all his 
 publications, preserved in this permanent manner in his old friend's 
 library. Symington on the Atonement continued on his catalogue to 
 the end of his life. 
 
48 LIFE OF ROBEUT CARTER. 
 
 dren, whom I was desirous to educate with simple 
 tastes and for useful ends. But I advised her to sell 
 them, and use the money in advancing the kingdom 
 of Christ. I have reason to believe that she appro- 
 priated every dollar she thus received for sacred 
 purposes. 
 
 " By this time I had learned a precious lesson, that 
 the blessing of the Lord alone maketh rich, and addeth 
 no sorrow. Unless the Lord build the house, they la- 
 bor in vain that build it. I was taught to look up 
 every day and every hour for that blessing. And 
 how sweet it is to feel and to say, ' In Thee alone I put 
 my trust ! ' 
 
 " From the commencement of my work as a pub- 
 lisher, I devoted my spare hours to reading books and 
 manuscripts with a view to publication. I read thou- 
 sands of volumes, and rejected perhaps five for one that 
 I adopted. I cannot say that this was always wisely 
 done, but it was a safe measure. When I had issued 
 two hundred books, I examined carefully what they 
 cost and what they brought, and found that there were 
 only five on which I had sunk money, and the aggre- 
 gate of loss was not more than two hundred dollars. 
 There were at the same time not more than twenty on 
 which much profit was made. Many just returned the 
 investment, and little more. It required the strictest 
 economy to make business prosper. But there was one 
 great advantage. I gave no notes, and owed nothing, 
 so that my mind was kept clear from anxiety. It was 
 a delightful work. During the day I watched the cur- 
 rent that was moving before me, and conversed with 
 some of the best men and most ardent lovers of the 
 lost whom Christ died to save. In my early years I 
 owed much to Mrs. J. F. Sheafe, a sister of Mr. Lenox. 
 
CAREFUL SELECTION OF BOOKS. 49 
 
 She was fond of reading, had a clear head and a loving 
 heart. She would lay aside all other work, and read 
 any new book that I sent to her, and give me a distinct 
 statement of her impressions of its value. There was 
 scarcely any volume that she indorsed which failed to 
 find a market. But as the years passed on and busi- 
 ness increased, I thought I could not tax her any more. 
 But she often said to me, ' It was you who gave me up, 
 not I you.' " 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 ME. CAETEE'S eldest child was born March 29, 
 1836, and was named for his grandfather, Samuel 
 Thomson. He was a child of great promise, docile and 
 lovable in an unusual degree. He had a quick and 
 thoughtful mind, with a ready memory, which stored 
 up a large number of psalms and hymns, and other 
 bits of poetry. His parents afterwards felt that his 
 mind had been stimulated too much, but it was such a 
 pleasure to teach the bright precocious little fellow that 
 it was hard to resist the temptation to give him the 
 information he so eagerly sought. He lived not quite 
 four years, but there are many still on earth who 
 cherish lovingly the memory of the bright little boy 
 who went to lieaven more than fifty years ago. The 
 thought of him was always a power in the family, and 
 he seemed like a real living presence to the younger 
 brothers and sister, most of whom had never seen him, 
 and the tradition of him has been handed down to the 
 next generation, who think tenderly of the little Uncle 
 Samuel, who died before their parents were born. Even 
 that little child, though dead half a century ago, still 
 speaketh. Forty-five years after his death, his mother 
 told a friend that she did not think a Sunday had 
 passed since he was taken from her that she had not 
 repeated to herself all the ten psalms and hymns which 
 he had learned and been accustomed to recite to her on 
 Sundays. His father writes of him : — 
 
DEATH OF HIS FIRST-BORN. 51 
 
 " When he was three years and six months old, his 
 mother and I were driving with him along a beautiful 
 road in the country. We passed through a charming 
 valley where the green hills bathed by the afternoon 
 sun closed upon us. We gazed in silence. A sweet 
 voice uttered the words : 
 
 ' As round about Jerusalem 
 The mountains stand alway, 
 The Lord his folk doth compass so 
 From henceforth and for aye.' 
 
 This verse from a Psalm which he had committed to 
 memory he applied to the scene before us. His mother 
 asked him what he was saying, and again he repeated 
 the verse, waving his hand to the hills about us. 
 
 "There was a spring in the side of a hill near to 
 our country home around which there was a rustic 
 seat. The dear boy was seated by me while I was 
 reading one day, and, running up to me, he took me by 
 the chin and said, ' Papa, will this spring flow in this 
 way when you and I are dead ? ' I replied, ' Yes.' ' Our 
 spirits will be in heaven then, won't they ? ' 
 
 " I little thought that in a few months that spring 
 would cease to flow, — some excavations having inter- 
 fered with it, — and that before another year had come 
 to us that dear boy should be with our Father in heaven. 
 His death after a few months was the first and sorest 
 trial of my life. In my father's family of eleven and my 
 wife's family of ten there had been no death for forty 
 years. We had seen death around us, but our families 
 had remained unbroken. At the funeral my father-in- 
 law rode in the carriage with me, and the coffin of my 
 dear boy lay before us. He uncovered the glass and 
 looked at the sweet face, and with streaming eyes said, 
 ' Who will be the next ? ' " 
 
52 LIFE OF EOBEET CARTEK. 
 
 A very touching little diary has been preserved, in 
 which Mr. Carter had noted down the progress of 
 his little boy's illness, with such comments as the 
 following. 
 
 " January 28. Hope and despair vibrating in our 
 minds. Extremely wretched, — the gloomiest day we 
 have had." 
 
 " January 29. The poor dear boy sinking fast, his 
 limbs wasting to a skeleton, eyes as bright as ever, — 
 perfectly collected. Prayed with him several times. He 
 seemed to pierce through me with his keen eyes, as if 
 he understood all that was said and meant, though he 
 could not speak.'' 
 
 " January 30. The last and severest day of all. His 
 eyes were bright as ever, but his whole powers were 
 evidently giving way. Even then when I prayed with 
 him he seemed intensely interested, as if he were 
 aware that he was encountering the king of terrors. 
 About midnight he put out his lips to kiss papa and 
 mamma, and seemed to bid us a last farewell. At three 
 o'clock precisely on Friday morning, the 31st of Janu- 
 ary, he breathed his last, without a struggle or a groan. 
 His spirit gently departed to his Father and his God. 
 May his departure be blessed to his mourning friends ! 
 If these things were done in the green tree, what shall 
 be done in the dry ? that we and all dear to us may 
 be enabled to say. We shall go to him, but he will not 
 return to us ! Go to him ! Where and what is he ? All 
 glorious ! all light ! all love ! His active spirit bathes 
 in the fountain of bliss. 'Alleluia!' let us hear him 
 exultingly exclaim, ' Alleluia ! Glory to the Lamb, who 
 has washed me in his blood and presented me pure 
 and spotless before his Father's throne ! ' " 
 
 He writes again : — 
 
DEATH OF HIS FIRST-BORN. 53 
 
 " The death of this loved boy taught us many useful 
 lessons. I thought of a class of six children in my 
 Sabbath school, and sent them a letter urging them to 
 come to Christ, accompanied with a little book entitled 
 ' My Saviour.' Four of the six became members of the 
 church the next communion. One dear young lady 
 died some years later with this book lying on her 
 breast, and her thin, transparent hands pointing to the 
 page which she had been reading when she breathed her 
 last. A younger brother of my own, who had slept with 
 the dear boy in his bosom for some years, was suddenly 
 awakened to a sense of his lost condition. He was a 
 bright scholar, and had become conscious of it, and proud 
 of his acquirements, and sometimes questioned the wis- 
 dom of God's dealings with men. When this stroke came 
 upon us, he was in an agony. The dearest object of his 
 love lay dead. He had witnessed the simple piety of 
 the child of less than four years of age, and exclaimed, 
 'Where would I have been had I been taken instead of 
 him ? I had the audacity to question the goodness of God, 
 and now I am lost.' His struggles were fearful, but God 
 had mercy on him, and made him a burning and shining 
 light in this world of darkness. An older brother, who 
 had professed Christ some years before but had been 
 turned about and chilled, became a new man, and gave 
 bright testimony to his faith in the dear Eedeemer. In 
 the Sabbath school whole classes were brought to a de- 
 cision which affected all their future lives. We could 
 only say, ' See what God hath wrought.' " 
 
 Among the earliest publications of Mr. Carter were 
 the writings of Miss Catharine Sinclair. She was the 
 daughter of Sir John Sinclair, a leading British philan- 
 thropist and voluminous writer nearly a century ago. 
 He closed a long and honored life in 1835, in his eighty- 
 
54 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 second year. He had a numerous family, several of 
 whom attained distinction. They were remarkable for 
 their great stature, and he used to refer to his six 
 daughters as " my thirty-six feet of daughters." Mr. 
 Carter met Miss Catharine Sinclair in 1841, and said 
 he was very glad when she sat down to talk to him, 
 for he did not like to look up to a woman who towered 
 so far above him. The following letter from her is 
 interesting for its pictures of a time so long passed, and 
 shows the cordial relations which subsisted from the 
 very first between this publisher and his authors. 
 
 " Your very acceptable and interesting letter reached me 
 on the 12th, and I have to thank you also for a packet of 
 books, among which ' Hill and Valley ' appeared as an old 
 friend with a new face. The printing is so correct and the 
 binding so handsome that our publishers here must really 
 look to themselves to keep pace with you. I am now 
 bringing out a third thousand of 'Hill and Valley,' which 
 has met with exactly a similar reception to that you so 
 obligingly inform me of at New York, being more approved 
 of, but less sold, than the works of fiction, which are always 
 more popular, so that authors are not encouraged to speak 
 the truth. 
 
 " ' Holiday House ' is already in a second edition, and I 
 was greatly annoyed to perceive that Mr. W. had not suffi- 
 ciently attended to my directions about forwarding the sheets 
 to you, which I had trusted entirely to his doing, because as 
 long as I hold a pen it will be a gratification to me that you 
 should continue the office you so kindly assumed at first of 
 sponsor for my works at New York. Mr. W. is now in 
 London. I know that he received your letter and remit- 
 tance in due course, but several of the works you ordered 
 lately are out of print, as indeed many of our best standard 
 authors are now, to make way for the flood of modern litera- 
 ture crowding into the press every day. 
 
MISS CATHARINE SINCLAIR. 55 
 
 " In divinity nothing goes off so rapidly as controversy, 
 such as the Oxford Tracts, filled with disputes whether the 
 clergy should turn to the south or to the north in adminis- 
 tering the sacrament, and whether they should pray from a 
 low stool or a reading-desk, while meanwhile the weightier 
 matters of the law are neglected ; but I trust the Bible will 
 assert its superiority over the rubric, and St. Paul be always 
 authority. In fiction there has been a most extraordinary 
 sale for Lady Lytton Bulwer's new work, ' Cheveley,' two 
 editions of which were sold in London before a single copy 
 has been spared to us at a distance ; therefore, I have only 
 seen extracts sufficient to prove that it is flavored to the 
 reigning taste with gossip and scandal, our present ministry 
 and her Majesty the Queen being introduced as leading char- 
 acters, and made to take a conspicuous share in the story 
 and in the dialogues. It is quite a recent innovation, that of 
 taking living persons and using them as puppets to play the 
 game of life with, but it occasions great astonishment that 
 the Queen herself has been so freely handled. Sir Lytton 
 Bulwer and his lady used to write fictions in concert, but 
 they have now quarrelled and have separated ; therefore she 
 adopts the Tory side of politics in opposition to him, and 
 wishes to show that the wit and talent of their former works 
 was all her own, which has sharpened her pen considerably. 
 
 " I should like much to see the New York Eeview which 
 you mention ; and although it is an additional pleasure to 
 see any of your friends who are obliging enough to bring 
 me an introduction from you, yet the expense of any pack- 
 age or letter is no object to me, and I hope may never 
 stand in the way of my hearing from you or receiving any 
 such notices of my work as might be not only interesting, 
 but extremely useful as containing suggestions. 
 
 " I propose this summer to spend some months in travel- 
 ling over the most interesting parts of Scotland. Little has 
 been written of a lighter kind on this romantic land, and in 
 all probability I may be tempted to continue my ' Hill and 
 
56 LITE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Valley' amongst our native glens, where past and present 
 times may furnish an ample field of interest. But owing 
 to the advanced age and uncertain health of my mother, 
 such plans must he formed with still greater uncertainty 
 than attaches to all hopes and wishes we indulge in this 
 world, and which can only be formed with the pleasing con- 
 sciousness that they depend upon the will of One whom it is 
 always our delight to trace in all we are enabled to do, and 
 even in much we are hindered from doing. 
 
 " I have often discussed with my brothers the pleasure it 
 would give us at some future time to visit America, and we 
 do hope at some distant period to visit our friends in New 
 York, as it is scarcely a greater undertaking now than a trip 
 to London formerly. 
 
 " When my father corresponded with your illustrious 
 Washington, he intended at one time to emigrate with his 
 family, and had a strong partiality for that country, which 
 we have all inherited, and all we read of your magnificent 
 scenery and noble institutions has served to confirm our 
 anticipation of pleasure in a country of such increasing 
 prosperity. I therefore hope in years to come that we 
 may have the pleasure of seeing you, and claiming old 
 acquaintance.'' 
 
 In 1841 Mr. Carter revisited his old home in Scotland, 
 taking with him his vs'ife and infant son, and his wife's 
 sister. An amusing incident occurred the very day 
 they landed. On the cars between Liverpool and Lon- 
 don two men sat opposite them who were discussing 
 America, and one of them asserted that all Americans 
 were black. This aroused the combativeness of Miss 
 Thomson, who was a thorough-going American, and 
 taking her little nephew from the nurse's arms she ex- 
 tended the fair-skinned infant towards the stranger, 
 saying, " Is this child black ? " " That child never saw 
 America." " He has not been in England twenty-four 
 
VISIT TO SCOTLAND. 57 
 
 hours.'' The discomfited stranger held his peace after 
 that on a subject of which he knew so little. 
 
 A warm welcome awaited the travellers at the old 
 home in Earlston. Some of the simple-hearted villagers 
 had formed great ideas of the prosperity of their fellow 
 townsman. His wife had some gilt buttons on one of 
 her gowns, and it was whispered about that Mrs. Carter 
 was so rich that she never wore anything but gold 
 buttons. 
 
 In an evil hour, many years before, Mr. Carter's 
 father had become security for a friend who was a flour- 
 dealer in Earlston. This man, though honest, became 
 bankrupt, and old Mr. Carter was bound to pay the 
 money. It was a heavy load for him to bear, and his 
 son determined to pay it off while on this visit to his 
 old home. He often said he had never done anything 
 that gave him more pleasure. The chief creditor said, 
 when the money was paid him, " This will support me 
 for two years." When Mr. Carter gave his father the 
 receipts, he exclaimed joyfully, " I can now depart in 
 peace, for I owe no man anything." 
 
 Suretyship has been a great stumbling-block to many 
 Scotchmen, who are led into it by their strong sense of 
 the obligations of friendship. Mr. Carter found his 
 Cousin Thomas, to whom he owed so much of his early 
 education, staggering under a similar burden. His 
 father, too, had become security for a friend, and in- 
 curred the obligation of the debt. The old gentleman 
 had just died, and his son was overwhelmed with a 
 debt which he had no means of paying, and his cred- 
 itor was pressing him sorely. Mr. Carter felt that he 
 owed this cousin what money could never pay, and 
 gladly told him that he would make the payment for 
 him. Mr. Thomas Carter was overcome with gratitude, 
 
58 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 and thanked his cousin with many tears. He told him 
 that he had been almost on the verge of insanity ; that 
 his case had seemed perfectly hopeless, and his sense of 
 honor was so keen that his position was indeed galling. 
 One night he had retired to his room, wound his watch 
 and laid it on his dressing table, and then, sitting down, 
 began to think over his trouble. All before him seemed 
 dark, and he said to himself, '' It is just as impossible 
 for me to extricate myself from these difficulties as it 
 would be for that watch to stop itself and then go on 
 of its own accord." At that instant his watch, which 
 had been ticking loudly, suddenly stopped. He gazed 
 on it in amazement, and saw that the second hand stood 
 still. He waited what seemed to him several minutes, 
 and then, without his having touched it, the watch went 
 on again. He felt that God had given him a sign that 
 relief would come for him, and in his cousin's generous 
 act he recognized the finger of God. 
 
 This cousin, Thomas Carter, was a man of high char- 
 acter, fine abilities, and thorough scholarship, but was 
 hampered through life by extreme timidity. When he 
 was teaching his cousin Eobert, he was a student of 
 divinity in the Secession Church. He completed his 
 course, but at that time the rules of his church were 
 very strict against reading sermons in the pulpit. He 
 might have preached if he could have had his manu- 
 script before him, but his diffidence would not permit 
 him to get through the service without such anchorage. 
 He tried to preach without notes, but to his great mor- 
 tification failed. He was obliged to give up all idea of 
 the ministry, and spent his life as a parish schoolmaster. 
 He doubtless felt his life was a failure. Perhaps the 
 angels saw in it a higher success than they could find 
 in the lives of some men who with less talent and 
 
D'AUBIGNfe'S HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 59 
 
 more assurance climbed to a prominent position in the 
 world. 
 
 The cousins were always very happy to meet on Mr. 
 Eobert Carter's repeated visits to Scotland. It would 
 be hard to say which felt the most grateful to the other. 
 One ministered to the intellectual life of his boy cousin, 
 the other smoothed the declining years of him who had 
 befriended him in youth. 
 
 Mr. Carter writes of this trip to Europe and its 
 results : — 
 
 " In Edinburgh and London I formed valuable friend- 
 ships, and procured books which were of great service 
 to me. On my way home I read Merle d'Aubign^'s 
 History of the Eeformation, in three volumes. I was so 
 delighted with it that I said to my wife, ' This will pay 
 for our trip to Europe.' Immediately upon landing I put 
 it into the hands of the stereotyper, and the work cre- 
 ated great interest. After some time a rival edition in 
 small print, double columns, was issued in Philadelphia. 
 I then printed an edition in three volumes, half bound 
 in cloth, for one dollar. For many months the presses 
 were going night and day, and so close was the race 
 that on thirty thousand sets the net gain was only two 
 cents for the three volumes. But it was delightful 
 work, and though there was no gain from the book it- 
 self, yet I was brought favorably before the public, and 
 my sales of other books were greatly increased. I pub- 
 lished at this time Chalmers's Lectures on Eomans, Ser- 
 mons, Essays, etc. The stereotype plates of Home's 
 Introduction were sold at a trade sale. I bought them 
 for $3,300. This was my greatest undertaking at that 
 time. The day after the sale I met Mr. John Campbell, 
 the paper dealer, and he asked me how I was going to 
 pay for the plates of Home. I told him I must borrow 
 
60 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 the money. He said, ' I will lend it to you and leave 
 you to pay it at your convenience.' I asked him what 
 security he required, and he answered, 'None at all, 
 not even a note.' He knew that I did not give notes, 
 but paid cash for my purchases.^ I issued this impor- 
 tant work in cloth, half bound, for $3.50. It was said 
 that the scholar's millennium had now come, when the 
 work which had sold for $12 was reduced to $3.50." 
 
 One of the peculiarities of Mr. Carter's business life 
 was this of giving no notes. Neither would he go 
 security for any one. When he took his brothers into 
 partnership with him, he and they signed a written 
 paper pledging themselves never to go security. This 
 made it easy for them to refuse all requests of that 
 kind. They could respond that they were pledged never 
 to enter into any such arrangement. Another point 
 upon which he was very decided was that he would 
 never engage in a lawsuit. He preferred to suffer 
 wrong rather than violate his peace loving principles. 
 Again and again he was placed where other men 
 would have gone to law, but he held to his principle, 
 and was never a loser by it in the end, and sometimes 
 he was a great gainer. 
 
 But the most marked feature of Mr. Carter's busi- 
 ness life was his earnest resolve that his business 
 should be a direct means of serving God and doing 
 good to his fellow men. He did not pursue it merely 
 as a means of gaining a fortune, or even a livelihood, 
 and it has been truthfully said of him, " No book ever 
 issued from his press that did not contain some seed of 
 divine truth." He published 
 
 " No line which, dying, he could wish to hlot." 
 
 1 In less than six months this money was returned, and no small 
 proportion of it from the earnings of the book itself. 
 
A CHRISTIAN PUBLISHER. 61 
 
 In a tribute paid to the memory of Mr. Carter by- 
 Mr. A. D. F. Eandolph, at a meeting of the Board of 
 Managers of the American Bible Society, January 2, 
 1890, occur the following words : — 
 
 " It is possible that the departure of our friend touches 
 me more closely than any one else here. For more than 
 fifty years I knew him. I see him now as when I saw him 
 first ; I see him now as when I met him last. Time with its 
 many changes wrought no change in his affection for me, 
 brought no loss in mine for him. And yet for nearly two- 
 score years our business life ran along somewhat parallel 
 lines, — rival lines as some might say, — but without a sin- 
 gle controversy or contention of any kind. 
 
 "... Here, if anywhere, I may emphasize his eminent 
 service to the church and the world as a Christian publisher. 
 I recall the first book that bore his honored imprint. It 
 was a treatise on the doctrine of the atonement of Christ. 
 Cradled in a theology as rugged as the hills under whose 
 shadows he was born, our friend loved the meat of strong 
 doctrine, and this first publication, on a central and funda- 
 mental doctrine of the Gospel, was the keystone of the 
 broad arch which he subsequently built. There was not a 
 stone in it that was not a stone of truth ; yet all were not 
 purely theological or controversial, while over them was 
 trailed many a vine of parable and story bearing the blos- 
 som and the fruit of Scripture truth. And so if his own 
 theology was as rugged as his native hills, it was neither 
 cold nor sterile. To it there ever came, as there always 
 comes to them, the gentle rains of the spring, the fresh and 
 beautiful verdure, the quickening suns of summer, and the 
 full bloom of the heather. 
 
 " I know that it has been said of him in this connection, 
 that he was narrow. But he only desired, as has been said 
 by another, to be as broad and as narrow as the Book of 
 
62 LIFE OF ROBERT CAETEK. 
 
 God. I doubt if, in all the annals of that trade of which I 
 am so proud, there can be found an example of loftier devo- 
 tion to a high calling, with such singleness of purpose, and 
 so deep a sense of personal responsibility, as is shown in his 
 history. He was indeed conspicuous for his ' plain living and 
 high thinking,' and he walked ' as seeing Him who is in- 
 visible.' So wherever he sent his printed page he became 
 a teacher of other teachers, a comforter of sorrowing hearts, 
 a minister of strength to enfeebled or doubting souls, a wise 
 educator of little children, a promoter of love and faith in 
 them that believe, an instructor in truth and righteousness 
 to them that believed not. 
 
 " Surely there can be no higher, mission than this ; and 
 this was the mission of our honored friend." 
 
 In this connection Mr. Peter Carter writes of his 
 brother : — 
 
 " From the day he opened his store, he never had a ques- 
 tion of his ultimate success, and no doubt this sanguine 
 spirit helped him much in bringing about the success that 
 attended his work. 
 
 " Though a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, his 
 interest and affection were not confined to his own denomina- 
 tion. His heart was large enough to take in the whole 
 Evangelical Church in all its branches. 
 
 " One day a wealthy friend called on him with a book 
 which he wanted him to publish, and of which he said he 
 would take one hundred copies. It was entitled, ' The 
 Divine Right of Presbyterian Church Government.' 
 
 " Mr. Carter looked at it a moment, and said, ' As I read 
 the Acts of the Apostles, I think the Presbyterian form is a 
 little the nearest to that inspired record, but I don't believe 
 that any one form has a divine right,' and he would not 
 publish the book. 
 
 "On another occasion a gentleman brought him a little 
 volume to publish that had had a large sale in a Western 
 
D'Aubign:^ on the Mississippi. 63 
 
 city, on 'The Difficulties of Arminian Methodism.' Mr. 
 Carter said, ' No, I cannot publish it. Pulling down may be 
 necessary ; but I did not go into business to do that, but to 
 huild up Christ's Church as far as in my power.' " 
 
 In connection with the publication of the History of 
 the Eeformation, Mr. Carter used often to relate the fol- 
 lowing incident. He had gone West to attend a meet- 
 ing of the General Assembly, and on his voyage down the 
 Mississippi the steamboat struck on a snag, and was so 
 badly injured that they had to wait several days at a 
 little river-side town for repairs. This with the time 
 usually occupied by the passage made the voyage quite 
 a long one, and the passengers became very well ac- 
 quainted, many of them also being delegates to the 
 Assembly. He had a copy of the History with him, 
 and it was proposed that it should be read aloud, and 
 accordingly there was a large circle of interested listen- 
 ers. Among the rest was a lady of great refinement, 
 dressed in deep mourning, who seemed to enjoy the 
 book as much as any one. One day during their deten- 
 tion a large party went on shore for a walk, and this 
 lady fell into conversation with Mr. Carter, and told 
 him that she was a Romanist. She belonged to a 
 wealthy and influential family in Pennsylvania, but 
 her home was a very worldly one, and she was brought 
 up with little thought or care for religion. When a 
 young girl she was sent to a convent school. She said 
 she had never seen vital piety till she saw it in those 
 nuns, and she was so impressed with their holy, self- 
 denying lives that she had made their religion hers. 
 She seemed a lovely Christian woman, looking only to 
 Christ as her Lord and Saviour. Mr. Carter said, " I 
 am surprised that you should come daily to listen to 
 
64 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 D'Aubignd. Surely you hear much that is repugnant 
 to your feelings." "I have been greatly interested," 
 said she ; " the Church had fallen into a very low and 
 corrupt state, and needed purification. The Eefor- 
 mation was a great blessing to it, and it has felt the 
 benefit ever since." 
 
 On another Western journey Mr. Carter met with a 
 lady, who rather attached herself to the ladies of his 
 party, sitting with them on deck, and joining in con- 
 versation. One evening she complained of the cold, 
 and requested Mr. Carter to ask her husband to get her a 
 shawl. " I did not know your husband was with you." 
 She described his appearance, and said he was in the 
 saloon. Mr. Carter found him gambling with some 
 other men, and told him that his wife wanted a shawl. 
 " I can't be bothered to get it now. She won't suffer." 
 The man never came near his young wife till they were 
 about to disembark and go with the rest of the passen- 
 gers to a hotel for the night. The next afternoon the 
 lady was sitting with Mr. Carter's party in the hotel 
 parlor when he came to summon them to go to the 
 train. When they arose, she rose too as if to accom- 
 pany them. He said to her, " I met your husband just 
 now. Madam, and he said you were not going." She 
 turned deadly pale, and sat down again, but just as the 
 train was starting the young couple came hurriedly 
 along, and got on the next car. Something in their 
 appearance struck Mr. Carter, and he went in to look 
 for them after travelling some miles, but they were 
 gone. He asked the conductor if he knew what had 
 become of them, and was told that they had no money, 
 and he had put them off the car. Some years after- 
 wards Mr. Carter was relating this incident on an 
 ocean steamer, when a lady, greatly interested, inquired 
 
DEATH OF HIS FATHER. 65 
 
 the date and place. He told her, and she said to him : 
 " I can tell you what became of those young people. She 
 was the daughter of respectable parents in Michigan, 
 but married this young man, who was almost a stranger, 
 against the wishes of her friends. They had been mar- 
 ried but a few days when you saw them. He proved 
 to be a professional gambler, and on that steamer and 
 in that hotel lost every cent of his money and hers. 
 When he was put off the train in the darkness that 
 night, he drew out a revolver and shot his brains out, 
 and in the morning his bride was found sitting alone 
 on the prairie, with her husband's head in her lap. 
 The poor young creature was taken back to her friends 
 in Michigan." 
 
 Mr. Carter's father died, May 2, 1844, twelve years 
 after coming to America. His sturdy Scotch character 
 had won for him a place in the farming community in 
 which he lived, in Saratoga County, New York. He 
 was an active member of church and Sunday school, an 
 ardent advocate of total abstinence and antislavery, for 
 which causes he was ever ready to speak in public and 
 private, — ready to run risks too, for in the days of the 
 Fugitive Slave Law he was a conductor on the Under- 
 ground Eailway. In this connection, his son Walter 
 relates the following incident : — 
 
 " One stormy winter morning, soon after the passing of the 
 Fugitive Slave Law, enacting severe penalties for harboring a 
 fugitive slave, as we knelt at worship in the old farm-house, 
 a soft knock was heard at the door. It was gently opened, 
 while the solemn prayer went on. As we rose from our 
 knees, we saw a large negro, shabbily dressed and covered 
 with snow, standing by the door. He looked at father, as if 
 asking protection, and was welcomed to the fire. He took 
 his seat at the table, and ate like one famished. After a 
 5 
 
66 LIFE OF KOBEKT CARTER. 
 
 brief whispered conversation, father told me to harness the 
 fast mare to the sleigh, and both started northward. The rest 
 of the family went to church, and late at night the wearied 
 horse and the tired driver returned. As the family gathered 
 around him, he explained that nothing but a case of neces- 
 sity and mercy would have taken him on such a journey on 
 the Sabbath day ; but the poor runaway slave had for two 
 days hardly tasted food, sleeping in barns, and fearing to tell 
 his story to some enemy, wlio might betray him to his mas- 
 ter. He was overjoyed to find a friend ready and willing 
 to help, and our sleigh took him to the house of another 
 friend, who took him farther on his journey. In conclu- 
 sion, my father said, ' This government has a fearful record 
 to meet some day from its treatment of the Indian and 
 the negro, and if ever you can do a kind service to the red 
 man or the black man, be sure to do it, lest you share in 
 the condemnation and the punishment.' " 
 
 Mr. Thomas Carter's total abstinence teachings bore 
 fruit in his own family. He had eleven children and 
 over fifty grandchildren, and as many great-grandchil- 
 dren, and it is believed that not one of the number ever 
 used intoxicating drink. 
 
 He was deeply interested in his son's publications, 
 and read them carefully and with delight. He felt the 
 deep responsibility of a religious publisher. On one 
 occasion he came to New York for his annual visit just 
 after his son had published " Lights and Shadows of 
 Scottish Life," by Prof. John Wilson, who wrote under 
 the nom de plume of Christopher North. The old gen- 
 tleman said to his sou, " I am sorry to hear you ve been 
 publishing a novel," accenting in his Scottish dialect 
 the last syllable. Mr. Carter in vain tried to defend 
 himself by speaking of the purity and elegant style of 
 what was indeed a classic work ; but his father would 
 
INTEREST IN FOKEIGN MISSIONS. 67 
 
 not be mollified, insisting that novels were very dan- 
 gerous reading. 
 
 That night, after tea, Mr. Carter took a book, saying, 
 " Father, here is something I want to read to you," and 
 read aloud the story of " The Elder's Deathbed." The 
 old man listened, with tears rolling down his cheeks. 
 
 " Eh, Eobert. that 's a graund bulk. Where did ye 
 get it ? " 
 
 Mr. Carter told him that he had been reading from 
 the novel that had been so severely denounced in the 
 morning. 
 
 " I didna ken it was such a bulk as yon. Ye maun 
 gie me some for the neebors at hame." 
 
 There was no work which so thoroughly enlisted 
 Mr. Carter's interest through life as that of Foreign 
 Missions. Eev. Dr. EUenwood, Secretary of the Pres- 
 byterian Board, thus writes of him after his death : — 
 
 " Upon the assumption of the work of foreign missions by 
 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in 1837, 
 and its estabhshment in New York, Mr. Carter took a deep 
 interest in its success. Six years later, at the age of thirty- 
 six, he was elected a member of the Board, and in 1847 a 
 member of its executive committee. 
 
 "Through all his long connection with the Board, Mr. 
 Carter was earnestly seconded in his missionary spirit, in 
 his prayers and efforts, by his wife, whose death preceded 
 his only by two and a half years. When the ' Missionary 
 Chronicle,' the predecessor of the ' Foreign Missionary,' was 
 first issued in New York, it was published by Mr. Carter at 
 the slightest possible expense to the Board. It was printed 
 under his direction, his wife making the paste with which 
 the covers were put on, and the city distribution was per- 
 formed by a younger brother, who bore them from house to 
 house. It is easy to see from this simple incident that Mr. 
 
68 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 Carter's relation to the work of foreign missions was no per- 
 functory affair, but that his labor for this great cause was 
 performed so lovingly that the magnetism of his spirit 
 moulded his whole household. The cause was taken home 
 to the fireside, and the family altar, and the closet. One 
 of the last acts of his life was the making of arrangements 
 for the annual gift for foreign missious. 
 
 " Though he continued in the Board of Foreign Missions 
 to the age of eighty-two, yet the spirit which favored pro- 
 gress on the one hand and conciliation and forbearance on 
 the other characterized his whole course. As a rule, he 
 voted for every wise measure of progress. There was a 
 bright and hopeful energy in his mind, even to fourscore 
 years. He was not bound to the past. He expected pro- 
 gress as he had earnestly prayed for it. He realized that 
 many of the old moulds aud measurements must be out- 
 grown. He only feared lest his declining powers might not 
 be able to keep pace with an ever advancing work." 
 
 His connection with the Board brought him into 
 intimate fellowship not only with some of the most 
 excellent and eminent of the clergymen of New York, 
 but with such laymen as Messrs. Lenox, Stuart, Dodge, 
 and Booth, for whom he felt the most affectionate esteem. 
 The Board meetings were a great delight to him, and the 
 Secretaries among his most beloved friends. Of all 
 these noble men there was none whom he held in such 
 affectionate respect as the Hon. Walter Lowrie, whom 
 he regarded as one of the most wonderful men of our 
 country and our Church. This remarkable man, after 
 serving six years as United States Senator contem- 
 poraneously with Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, was made 
 Secretary of the Senate, and held the office for twelve 
 years. Owing to the peculiarly delicate nature of this 
 office, and the responsibility connected with it, it did 
 
HON. WALTER LOWRIE. 69 
 
 not change incumbents with successive administrations, 
 and he might have enjoyed its honors and emoluments 
 for life, as did his predecessors. Many a rising lawyer 
 would have preferred this post to the Presidency. But 
 when called to be Corresponding Secretary of the Board 
 of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, he gave 
 up all hopes of worldly distinction, and devoted himself 
 to a life of most faithful and self-denying labor. When 
 asked why he had given up a post so honorable and 
 so lucrative, he answered that he " chose the place iu 
 which there would be the most sacrifice and the best 
 prospect of usefulness for Christ.'' 
 
 Mr. Carter writes of him ; — 
 
 "There was another friend to whom I owed much, 
 the Hon. Walter Lowrie. When he came to New York, 
 in 1837, 1 was glad to welcome him. I was then poor, 
 and could contribute little to the cause of Foreign Mis- 
 sions ; but it gave me great pleasure to aid him in any 
 way I could to commence his blessed work. He had 
 resigned a high position in Congress to devote his life 
 to the work of our blessed Lord in foreign lands. He 
 sent one son to India, another to China, and when the 
 latter was murdered by pirates in the China Seas, he 
 sent a second son there. I remember well the morning 
 when the tidings came that Walter, a most promising 
 missionary, had gone to visit Bishop Boone to confer 
 with him on the translation of the Bible into Chinese. 
 On his return a piratical band attacked the ship in 
 which he sailed. Walter was reading his Bible on 
 deck. They seized him and cast him overboard. He 
 sank and rose again more than once, and then sank to 
 rise no more. The ripe scholar, the devoted missionary, 
 the eloquent preacher, was no more on earth. When 
 the letter was read before our Board, we sat in silence. 
 
70 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 his bereaved father and brother being of our number. 
 It was the severest blow we had ever received. We 
 were dumb ; we opened not our mouths, because God 
 did it. After some time, one of our number led in 
 prayer, and we adjourned. This was a baptism for us 
 all, and brought a new consecration. A third son went 
 to China, to carry on the work his noble brother had 
 so auspiciously begun. He worked faithfully till the 
 Master called him up higher. His widow and two 
 children are our missionaries now at the same post. 
 
 " When the good old father grew feeble, he declined 
 to receive any salary for his service. As we insisted on 
 his taking it, he received the money and put it into the 
 treasury of the Board. While he was contributing 
 liberally to the mission work, he lived in Quaker sim- 
 plicity. The tax-gatherer called and examined his 
 furniture, and said, ' I shall put you down for $3,000.' 
 ' On what do you base your estimate ? ' said Mr. Lowrie. 
 ' On what I see of your furniture.' ' You may have it all 
 for $600.' There was no more said about taxes. He 
 was a living epistle, known and read of all men. His 
 eldest son, Eev. John C. Lowrie, D.D., after half a cen- 
 tury of service abroad and at home, still lives and labors 
 in the Mission cause, as one of our Secretaries." 
 
 Of another old friend Mr. Carter gives the following 
 reminiscences : — 
 
 " Mr. William Steel, an elder in the Canal Street 
 Church, a plain, unpretending man, a close student of 
 the Bible, was a constant visitor for many years. His 
 conversation was to me most instructive. One day he 
 was sitting in my store reading a book, when a tall, 
 stately gentleman entered and took me back to the rear 
 of my store. He asked me if I knew that man. I told 
 him I did. 'He is the meanest man I know,' said he. 
 
MR. WILLIAM STEEL. 71 
 
 'He has worn that cloak eleven years. He retired from 
 business with a handsome property, and he is so miserly 
 that he cannot take the use of it.' I replied, ' That man 
 visits the widow and the fatherless, and supplies their 
 need. He goes to the Mission House and leaves fifty 
 or a hundred dollars, but his name never appears. The 
 gifts of a " Friend of Missions " are very frequent. He 
 is the best model of a Presbyterian elder I know.' 
 
 " I missed Mr. Steel for a few days, and when he 
 came back he said to me, ' I have received a precious 
 lesson since I saw you last. One evening I had made 
 some calls, and returning hung my hat and cloak on 
 the stand in the hall and went into the parlor. Without 
 any warning, I fell unconscious on the floor. My family 
 procured medical assistance, and after some time I be- 
 came conscious and revived. I was apparently dead 
 without tasting of death. For many years I had, been 
 subject to bondage through fear of death, and the dear 
 Lord has taught me now that I need not fear any more.' 
 
 "When Mr. Steel was more than eighty years old, his 
 old partner came to spend the day with him. They had 
 sweet communing, and on parting the two stood in front 
 of the house at sunset and bade each other farewell. Mr. 
 Steel returned to his parlor, and fell down unconscious. 
 He was not, for God took him. How often his instruct- 
 ive remarks have helped me onward ! One little inci- 
 dent which he related to me I may mention : ' When I 
 was a young man, about the beginning of this century, 
 I lived in New Jersey. The yellow-fever broke out in 
 New York, and I came to the city to visit a very dear 
 friend. He was attacked by the fever. In the even- 
 ing I walked along Beekman Street till I came to the 
 Brick Church. I heard singing, and went in to the 
 lecture-room. They sang the ninety-first Psalm. It 
 
72 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 deeply affected me. I returned to my friend, and 
 watched by him all night. I committed that psalm to 
 memory that night, and felt that plague and pestilence 
 were no more to be dreaded.' 
 
 "Among those whom I met shortly after I came to 
 New York were two brothers, E. L. and Alexander 
 Stuart, the one older, the other younger, than myself. 
 They began to give small subscriptions to benevolent 
 work, which increased with increasing prosperity. They 
 first gave hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thou- 
 sands, and at last hundreds of thousands. For many 
 years the elder brother spent the Monday mornings 
 with me at the Mission House. He and Mr. Lenox 
 were most conscientious in their attendance there, and 
 they were the most liberal contributors. I watched 
 their course from year to year, and it was onward and 
 upward. It was no small privilege to me to witness 
 how readily they gave their time and their money to 
 send the Gospel to the ends of the earth. I was often 
 tempted to exclaim, 
 
 ' Search we the land of living men, 
 We ne'er shall see their like again." " 
 
 When Mr. Carter was nearly eighty years of age, he 
 called one day on Mrs. E. L. Stuart, and she drew from 
 a desk an old document which she handed to him. It 
 was a call for the first meeting to discuss the propriety 
 of forming a Board of Foreign Missions, and was signed 
 by some of the most prominent clergymen and laymen 
 of the church in New York, not one of whom is now 
 living. Mrs. Stuart said that her husband had gone to 
 that meeting, and in the enthusiasm of his heart had 
 pledged himself to give five hundred dollars to the 
 cause. When he came home, his mother and his brother 
 Alexander were full of consternation, and asked him if 
 
LOVE FOR MISSIONARIES. 73 
 
 he expected to end his days in the poorhouse, since he 
 squandered his money in that way. " Ah ! " said Mr. 
 Carter, " how little he foresaw that the time was com- 
 ing when Eobert and Alexander Stuait would give 
 habitually fifty thousand a year to Foreign Missions 
 and fifty thousand to Home Missions ! " Truly he that 
 is faithful in that which is least will be faithful also in 
 much when the opportunity comes. 
 
 Mr. Carter's love for missions was shown, not only in 
 his regular attendance at the Mission Eooms and his 
 large contributions to the work, but in his personal in- 
 terest in missionaries. They were ever welcome in his 
 home, and honored guests there ; his children were 
 taught to reverence them as those who had forsaken all 
 to follow Christ, and his ready sympathy went forth to 
 special cases of need. Weary workers were sent by him 
 to the seaside, or to sanitariums, medical attendance pro- 
 vided, and books given. It would be hard to say how 
 many channels his benevolence found. One of the 
 most prominent missionaries of the Presbyterian Board 
 wrote him : " When you think of me as working here, 
 then regard yourself as partner with me, as you aided in 
 the building up of my strength and recruiting me for 
 this service. In a larger sense, you are a partner in all 
 our labors, since you uphold us by your gifts and coun- 
 sels and prayers." 
 
 In 184:3, Mr. Carter was greatly interested for the 
 Free Church of Scotland, which had just come out from 
 the Establishment. Much sympathy was felt for the 
 four hundred and seventy-four ministers who had left 
 their churches and manses for conscience' sake, and 
 were thrown with their families upon the world. The 
 Scotch Church, then in Grand Street, was especially in- 
 terested for their countrymen, although it is said that a 
 
74 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 smile rippled over the congregation when Dr. McElroy 
 announced from the pulpit that the Eev. Messrs. Begg 
 and Eobb were coming as a deputation from Scotland 
 to tell the story of the disruption to their brethren in 
 America. Dr. William Cunningham of Edinburgh came 
 over at this time (1843), and Mr. Carter had a very 
 pleasant and cordial friendship with him then, and 
 afterwards in Scotland. 
 
 Mr. E. L. Stuart and Mr. Carter were appointed a 
 committee to collect money, and have it ready when the 
 Scotch delegation called for it. Mr. Carter subscribed 
 two hundred and fifty dollars, — a large sum for him at 
 that time. One of the elders, an excellent man, but 
 with a good deal of the proverbial Scottish carefulness, 
 came to his store to remonstrate with him for his prod- 
 igality. He told him that he had been very success- 
 ful for a young man so short a time in business, but 
 that such want of prudence would inevitably result in 
 failure. The old gentleman had asked, when he came 
 in, for a cedar lead-pencil, price six cents ; and as he 
 talked he was busily engaged in cutting it in halves. 
 When the work was done, he held out the two pieces to 
 Mr. Carter, saying, " Take whichever you like, and I '11 
 give you the three cents for the other half." To the 
 end of his life, Mr. Carter had an occasional laugh over 
 this object lesson in frugality. 
 
 Another member of the church was the possessor of 
 a large fortune won by his own exertions. He was a 
 good man, but it was sometimes hard for him to part 
 with the money which was the fruit of so much toil 
 and self-denial. His wife always co-operated with Mr. 
 Carter in his efforts to make her husband see his duty 
 in the matter of giving, and would add her persuasions 
 to his. One time a large sum of money was needed for 
 
ELDERS IN THE SCOTCH CHURCH. 75 
 
 some church repairs, and Mr. Carter tried in vain to 
 get his friend to subscribe the same amount that he 
 himself intended giving. After a long conversation, he 
 was obliged to go away repulsed. On reaching home, 
 he thought the matter over, and sat down and wrote a 
 note to his friend, saying that he feared he had said too 
 much in the way of urging, and if so he asked forgive- 
 ness, and hoped that nothing he had said would weaken 
 the strong bond of friendship that united them. Im- 
 mediately on receiving the letter, the gentleman came 
 to him, saying, " I believe you were right and I wrong, 
 after all. How much do you think I ought to give ? " 
 And he immediately wrote a check for the desired 
 amount. 
 
 Mr. Carter loved to tell a story of one of the elders 
 of the Scotch Church, who came to New York a poor 
 boy, and, when he had earned ten dollars by wheeling 
 goods in a barrow, attended one evening a meeting of 
 the church called to pay off a debt. When subscrip- 
 tions were asked for, the lad gave five dollars, which in 
 after life he declared to be the largest gift he had ever 
 made, being one half of his earthly possessions. This 
 good man afterwards amassed quite a fortune, but a 
 large portion of it was swept away in a fire. Shortly 
 after, Dr. McElroy was going about, as was his yearly 
 custom, collecting money for the various church chari- 
 ties, but he passed Mr. E 's door, thinking that he 
 
 would spare him the pain of refusing his usual gifts. 
 
 Mr. E met him on the street, and said, " You have 
 
 not called on me yet for my subscriptions.'' " No," 
 said the Doctor, " I had not the lieart to ask you, know- 
 ing how heavy your losses have been." " Eetrenchment 
 with me must not begin at the house of God. I shall 
 double my subscriptions this year." 
 
76 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 A wealthy member of the church said to Mr. Carter 
 that he wanted to give systematically to the cause of 
 Christ, but had not confidence in his own judgment 
 as to apportionment, and he wished that, whenever Mr. 
 Carter gave to any object, he would give a correspond- 
 ing sum for him. Mr. Carter advised him to study the 
 subject for himself, that he might give intelligently as 
 well as systematically ; adding that he would willingly 
 aid him with his counsel whenever he wished. 
 
 A wealthy and eccentric gentleman, of great lib- 
 erality, who was constantly applied to by sharpers 
 for money, once asked Mr. Carter to be his almoner, 
 because he felt sure that his gifts would be wisely 
 applied ; but he declined the responsibility, saying that 
 the use of money was a talent for which every one 
 must give an account for himself to God. This same 
 gentleman arose to speak at an anniversary meeting of 
 the American Bible Society. A friend sitting beside 
 Mr. Carter on the platform said, " Do stop him. You 
 are the only one who has influence with him, and he is 
 so peculiar he may say something that will spoil the 
 meeting." Mr. Carter declined to interfere, very hap- 
 pily as it turned out, for the gentleman only spoke long 
 enough to say that he was so impressed with the im- 
 portance of the work of the Bible Society that he had 
 determined to give ten thousand dollars to the cause. 
 Mr. Carter turned to his friend, and said, " Was it not 
 well to let him go on ? " 
 
CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 IN the summer of 1846, Mr. Carter again went to 
 Europe, taking with him his wife and eldest son, 
 a child of eight years, and his infant daughter. 
 
 " In that second visit, I met many men in Scotland 
 and England who did me much good. It was the last 
 year of Dr. Chalmers's life, and I was touched by his 
 kind reception of me. He iuquired particularly about 
 the working of the voluntary system in America, and 
 expressed his pleasure at meeting me. ' We have cor- 
 responded for many years, and it is well to meet,' he 
 said. I told him how Mr. E. L. Stuart and I had gone 
 from house to house and solicited aid for the Free Church. 
 I can never forget the childlike simplicity and humble 
 bearing of the man whom I had so long revered. I met 
 Dr. Guthrie too at that time, and it was the beginning 
 of many years of pleasant intercourse. Dr. John Brown 
 and Dr. Norman McLeod showed me no little kindness. 
 In England I attended the first great meeting of Evan- 
 gelical Clergymen at the Alliance, where I met Edward 
 Bickersteth, Baptist Noel, Tholuck, and many others. 
 In the list of American delegates republished recently, 
 Charles Butler was the only one that remained with 
 me. Joseph died, and his brethren, and all that gen- 
 eration." 
 
 The little party returned to America on the " Great 
 Western," Captain Matthews, sailing September 12. 
 
78 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 There were a great number of clergymen on board who 
 were returning from the meeting of the Alliance. The 
 voyage began under the brightest auspices, but on the 
 afternoon of Saturday, September 19, the ship encoun- 
 tered a terrible storm, which lasted for thirty-six hours, 
 during which period little hope was entertained that 
 the vessel could ever reach land. The captain himself 
 wrote, " It is to Divine Providence alone that we are all 
 indebted for our safety, for during my long experience 
 at sea I never witnessed so severe a storm ; and were it 
 not for the good qualities of my noble ship, under the 
 direction of God, she could not have weathered it." 
 When the danger had all passed, the captain said to 
 one of the passengers, " Thrice on deck I thought de- 
 struction inevitable. Each time a sea of such magni- 
 tude and power came at the ship that I thought it was 
 all over with us. But unexpectedly each broke just at 
 the side of the ship. Sir, the hand of the Lord was 
 in it." 
 
 A narrative of the voyage, prepared by. one of the 
 passengers was afterwards published by Mr. Carter. 
 The little book was entitled " God , in the Storm." 
 During the storm, the passengers met more than once 
 in the cabin for united prayer, although the condi- 
 tion of the ship was such that it was almost impos- 
 sible to move about, and there were no meals served, . 
 " the stewards bringing such articles of food as were 
 most convenient to those who felt any disposition to 
 eat." As soon as the danger was over, and the ele- 
 ments were sufficiently quiet, although "they were still 
 tossed about like a feather in the wind,". on the morn- 
 ing of Tuesday, the 2 2d, the passengers assembled in 
 the main saloon, " to offer thanksgivings to God for 
 their preservation through the recent protracted storm." 
 
THE "GREAT WESTERN" DJ A STORM. 79 
 
 At this meeting, an address was delivered by the Rev. 
 Lyman Beecher, D.D. From this, a few extracts are 
 culled, describing the danger. 
 
 " For thirty-six hours the wind raved, and the waves 
 rolled with a fury and power unknown, for so long a time, 
 to the most experienced navigators on board. Travelling 
 mountains, with the power of the iceberg, the avalanche, 
 or the Niagara, for one day and two nights, as far as eye 
 could reach, covered the surface of the deep, thundering 
 loud and unceasingly around us. The onset commenced on 
 Saturday night, and raged increasingly till Sabbath morn- 
 ing, when, instead of mitigation, it gathered new power, 
 and then commenced the work of desolation. 
 
 " The sails on the fore-yards, clewed down, burst from 
 their fastenings, and roared and flapped furiously, defying 
 control. In the mean time, the sea rose rapidly, breaking 
 over and against the ship. At 4 p. m. the wind had risen to 
 a hurricane, veering to the northwest ; the ship at the same 
 time broke from her course into the trough of the sea, — a 
 condition of extreme peril, during which a sea broke in upon 
 the main deck, and drove a great quantity of water into the 
 engine-room, a stroke at the heart of life, our machinery. 
 
 "At II A. M. a heavy wave broke over the fore part of 
 the starboard wheelhouse, and drove the iron lifeboat and the 
 icehouse, of some six or seven tons, furiously against the 
 wheelhouse and side of the ship ; and before they could be 
 fastened, the careening of the ship sent them sundry times 
 back and forth, threatening instant destruction. Such and 
 so rapid were the successions of disaster, that an attempt 
 was made to wear ship, as less perilous than her present 
 condition ; but finding her uncontrollable, she was permitted 
 to return to her course. 
 
 " About noon, a mighty wave struck the starboard wheel- 
 house and tore up the fastenings of spikes and iron bands 
 and bolts, tlirowing off the whole top and outside covering, 
 
80 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 breaking the under half of the spring beam, and shaking to 
 their foundation and lowering perceptibly the timbers which 
 sustained the wheel, thus enfeebling the arm of our power in 
 the climax of our danger. The wave, with portions of the 
 wreck, rolled deep and dark over the quarter-deck. One of 
 these struck the captain on the head, while the wave drove 
 him insensible to the stern of the ship, where the network 
 barely saved him from an ocean grave. 
 
 " About one o'clock, while many were seated in the lower 
 cabin, a sea struck the ship, a tremendous crash was heard 
 on deck, and instantly the cabin was darkened and torrents 
 of water came pouring down through the skylights. All 
 sprang to their feet, and a scream of terror rang through 
 the ship, which pitched and rolled so fearfully that with 
 no little difficulty we could maintain our position upon our 
 seats, and not a few received bruises and contusions. 
 
 " In these circumstances, a proposition was made, and ac- 
 cepted by all who could attend, to meet in the lower cabin 
 for prayer. It was prayer, not in forms and words merely, 
 but the importunity of the heart, crushed by perils from 
 which it could not escape, and pressed by the complex inter- 
 ests of time and eternity, looking up to the only power in 
 the universe that could save. In the evening. Dr. Balch 
 administered the communion in the cabin. In the mean 
 time the storm raged on, but from the time of our public 
 supplications the desolations ceased. 
 
 " We had hoped the preceding night that the morning 
 would bring a change, and in the morning that noon would 
 witness a favorable crisis, and at noon that evening would 
 realize our hopes. But the storm travelled on from morning 
 to noon, and from noon to evening, with augmented power, 
 till it became evident that we must encounter the terrors of 
 another night ; and the general opinion was that the ship 
 could not outride the storm. And now, while prayer un- 
 ceasing went up to God, I have cause to know that on the 
 part of numbers immediate preparations for eternity com- 
 
STORM ON THE ATLANTIC. 81 
 
 menced, and not a few, I trust, with calm resignation, and 
 peace that passeth knowledge, and joy unspeakable, were 
 prepared to meet their God. 
 
 " And now the dreaded night came on in darkness visible 
 and terrible convulsions. It was long and dreadful. First 
 came a long slow roll of the ship to and fro, almost from 
 beam's end to beam's end, thrice repeated. Then ensued a 
 momentary quiet and onward motion of the ship, and then 
 suddenly the thunder of waves began again, louder and 
 louder, and more powerful and rending, as if every portion 
 of our ship would be torn in fragments and scattered upon 
 the deep. Then gradually the thuuderiugs ceased, as if the 
 elements, wearied and breathless by their efforts, had paused 
 to rest and gain breath for another assault. About five 
 o'clock a more terrible squall struck the ship suddenly, — a 
 perfect tornado. She careened over, and buried her gun- 
 wales in the ocean, her wheelhouse covered by the waves 
 that helped the wind to lay her on her side. There she lay 
 for a few moments, stricken powerless, at the mercy of the 
 waves. At this critical moment, when another wave might 
 have finished her, the engine was true to her duty, and round 
 and round thundered her iron wings, when, gradually re- 
 covering her upright position, the good ship came up to her 
 course." 
 
 The captain afterwards stated that the water was 
 within six inches of the fires, and that another wave 
 such as they had experienced before must have dis- 
 abled the machinery, and settled the fate of the ship. 
 
 Mr Carter was one of those who took active part in 
 all the religious services of this exciting period. His 
 son carried through life the impression made by his 
 father's calmness and faith throughout the peril. He 
 remembers his taking him in his arms, and saying, 
 " We are in great danger. It is very probable that our 
 ship will go down, down, down into the great sea, and 
 6 
 
82 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 we shall never see your two dear little brothers in this 
 world; but if we love and trust the Lord Jesus, our 
 souls will go up, up, up, into the blessed heaven, and 
 we shall live always with our God." 
 
 He often afterwards described a scene when he en- 
 tered his state-room and found his little son standing 
 by his mother, who was very ill in her berth, and trying 
 to comfort her. " Don't be afraid. Mamma. Don't you 
 remember how we were upset in the stage-coach on 
 the top of Sonter Hill? If God had wanted us to die, 
 don't you think he would have let us be killed then ? " 
 Just then a tremendous wave swept over the ship, 
 rushing down into the cabin, spreading darkness and 
 confusion about them, and the little fellow fell upon 
 his knees with a cry to God for help. 
 
 The latter part of the voyage was rendered very 
 pleasant by the society of so many congenial spirits 
 as were brought together by the return of the Evan- 
 gelical Alliance delegates. He tells the following inci- 
 dents of this time. 
 
 " In 1846 I took my family to England, and suc- 
 ceeded in making arrangements for several important 
 works. On my return voyage, the venerable Lyman 
 Beecher was a fellow passeuger. One day, seated on 
 deck, he asked me what books I had brought out with 
 me, — anything which would be of use at home. I 
 told him that I had spent some pleasant time with 
 Dr. Chalmers. He had recommended a friend of his, a 
 bookseller, to issue an edition of Turretin's Works in 
 four volumes, in Latin, and I was to join him and take 
 half the edition. Dr. Beecher shook his head, and said, 
 ' If you have not a good backbone, that will floor you.' 
 I asked why he thought so. ' I have studied that book 
 carefully, and it will not go. We have gone far beyond 
 
DR. LYMAN BEECHER. 83 
 
 that now. But,' said he, ' would you like me to tell 
 you how you could make your fortune ? ' I said, ' Yes.' 
 ' I propose to issue a uniform edition of my works, and 
 they will go like hot cakes. Would you like to publish 
 them ? ' I replied, that they would suit New England 
 better than New York. Some months later, when Tur- 
 retin was ready, a gentleman came into my store and 
 asked for it. He sat down and examined it a little, and, 
 turning to me, said, ' I wonder you ventured on this 
 large work.' I told him that others had shared in 
 that idea, and told the story of Dr. Beecher. He 
 laughed heartily, and said, ' He is my father.' Henry 
 Ward Beecher had just come to Brooklyn, and I had 
 not met him before. My share of the edition was soon 
 disposed of, and some hundreds more came from Scot- 
 land, which found a ready market." 
 
 " Shortly after my return from England, I published 
 an edition of Henry's Commentary, in six volumes, 
 octavo. It was my largest undertaking. The stereo- 
 type plates were printed by a printer in Spruce Street, 
 who kept them deposited in his vault. One day he 
 came to me and said he required the room in the vault, 
 and asked me to remove them to my own vault in 
 Broadway. I told him to take them out at his own 
 convenience and send them to me, and I would pay for 
 the trouble, but not to leave them an hour after they 
 were taken from his vault. Contrary to these orders, 
 he took them out on a Saturday, left them on the 
 floor of his office, and that night several buildings were 
 burned down and these plates went with them, a dead 
 loss to me. They cost originally about eighteen thou- 
 sand dollars. The next year I went again to England, 
 and bought another set of plates, from which we have 
 printed many editions." 
 
84 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 The following sketch of his dear old friend, Thomas De 
 Witt, D.D., of the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church, 
 coutains some reminiscences of the visit to Europe in 
 1846, and is therefore inserted here. 
 
 " My father landed in New York on a Sabbath morn- 
 ing, and I took him with me to church. Dr. De Witt 
 was in the pulpit. His subject was the tomb in the 
 garden. The last step in the humiliation of our dear 
 Redeemer drew forth the tenderness, the rich illustra- 
 tion, and the warm love of the youthful preacher. My 
 father had been six weeks at sea. He was hungering 
 and thirsting for the bread of life, and he found it that 
 day. ' Oh ! ' said he, as we left the church, ' what a ser- 
 mon ! He is a wonderful preacher. He must be very 
 popular.' ' Yes,' said I, ' he is one of the most effective 
 preachers in our city.' I had been only a year in New 
 York then, and had not been introduced to the Doctor, 
 but I had a deep reverence for him. 
 
 " Shortly after I commenced business Dr. De Witt 
 came to see me. He talked so pleasantly that I was 
 induced to lay before him my plan of work. He 
 listened patiently, and was evidently much pleased. 
 He said, ' I shall call attention to your work in the 
 Christian Intelligencer. We need such a store here.' 
 In the following week he fulfilled his promise, and 
 urged the clergymen and members of the churches to 
 call and see my stock. The library of the converted 
 Jew, Mr. Fry, had been sold at auction, and I had 
 bought a large part of it. The folios, too large to go on 
 shelves, were strewed on the floor, and the good Doctor 
 bought the Works of Bishop Reynolds, a huge folio. 
 I offered to send it home for him, but he said, ' No, 
 I shall take it myself.' A few days after the notice 
 in the Intelligencer, a clergyman from Ulster County 
 
DR. DE WITT. 85 
 
 came in and took a number of the folios and gave me 
 $110 in gold for them. I think that was the largest 
 sale I had made. For nearly forty years the kind- 
 hearted Doctor treated me as a son. His reviews came 
 out week after week in the papers, and they were writ- 
 ten by a graceful pen. In 1846 I had the privilege of 
 accompanying him and his daughter to England. Be- 
 fore we landed, he said to me : 'If you will go direct 
 from Liverpool to Edinburgh, I will go with you. I 
 had intended to go to Holland first; but as you are 
 acquainted in Scotland and I am a stranger there, I 
 would like to go with you.' To this I gladly assented. 
 We took Melrose, Dryburgh, and Abbotsford on our 
 way, stopped a few hours in my native village, where 
 we took tea with the old minister that had baptized all 
 my father's eleven children and had received me at the 
 age of fourteen into the church, and who was in my 
 eyes a meet companion for the good Doctor. A little 
 incident occurred which has often come up to me since. 
 On our way from Melrose to Dryburgh, where Sir 
 Walter Scott was buried, we crossed the Tweed in a 
 ferry-boat. The Doctor, rubbing his hands, exclaimed, 
 ' If this is so beautiful, what must heaven be ? ' In Ed- 
 inburgh we met Dr. Chalmers, with whom we spent two 
 delightful forenoons. We also met Drs. Guthrie, Cand- 
 lish, Cunningham, and others, and the dear Doctor was 
 in his element. On Sabbath we heard Guthrie, Gordon, 
 and Candlish preach. In the evening the Doctor said 
 to me, ' What a day this has been ! such preaching ! ' 
 
 " When he visited my store, he usually inquired what 
 success this book and that had. He seemed to take 
 a personal interest in them, as if he had been a part- 
 ner. On one occasion he bought a number of books 
 for a son of Dr. Scudder, who was a student at New 
 
86 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Brunswick. He said to me, ' Would you like to give 
 him something ? ' I had just published Poole's Annota- 
 tions, in three imperial octavo volumes. I said, ' I will 
 give him this.' About two years later, a young man 
 entered my store and bought some books. He said 
 to me, ' You gave my brother Poole's Commentary ; I 
 value it very highly, and need it as much as he.' I 
 gave it to him. Still later, a third came with the same 
 story, and received it. ' How many sons has your fa- 
 ther ? ' I asked. ' Seven.' ' And do you suppose they 
 will all study for the ministry ? ' 'I suppose they will.' 
 How many got Poole I do not remember, but I think 
 it was good seed cast into good ground. 
 
 "When the Doctor made his visits among his peo- 
 ple, he included my family. And oh how pleasant it 
 sounded, when I returned home in the evening, to hear 
 my dear wife say, ' Dr. De Witt was here to-day ' ! The 
 Wednesday before he died, my wife and I paid him a 
 visit. It was a very tender one. He said, ' Whether 
 it is my phlegmatic constitution or not, I cannot say, 
 but I have not had a doubt of my interest in Christ.' 
 He seemed in the land of Beulah. He was seated in 
 his arm-chair in the library in perfect peace. Oh, how 
 much I owe to him ! Verily he has his reward." 
 
 It would not perhaps be too much to say, that there 
 was no layman in this country more largely known 
 among the clergy than Eobert Carter. His store for 
 many years, especially after its removal to Broadway, 
 almost served the purpose of a ministers' exchange or 
 a ministerial club-room. On Monday mornings, the 
 minister's rest day, the store would be filled with cler- 
 gymen, and the most delightful conversations and dis- 
 cussions would be carried on, in all which Mr. Carter 
 took his part and held his own. Ministers from neigh- 
 
FEIENDS AMONG THE CLERGY. 87 
 
 boring towns would come in for the purpose of joining 
 the charmed circle. The Princeton and Union Semi- 
 nary Professors were often there. None of them were 
 more revered and beloved by Mr. Carter than Dr. James 
 W. Alexander; but there was a long list of others 
 whom he delighted to meet. Among the honored 
 names are those of the Hodges and Alexanders, of 
 Drs. Miller, Smith, Skinner, McElroy, Potts, Krebs, 
 Murray, Phillips, Hutton, and Cuyler. 
 
 Episcopal and Methodist bishops and clergy, minis- 
 ters of the Baptist, Dutch Reformed, and other denomi- 
 nations, mingled with the rest, and it almost seemed 
 as if it might be said that the idea that there is " no 
 sect in heaven" had been realized on earth. In Mr. 
 Carter's heart the unity and brotherhood of the Church 
 of Christ was an accepted fact. Among his dearest 
 personal friends were Bishop McUvaine and Drs. Tyng, 
 Newton, and Muhlenberg of the Episcopal Church, all 
 of whom were frequenters of the symposiums at his 
 store. On his list of authors there are as many Epis- 
 copal as Presbyterian names, and Baptists, Methodists, 
 Congregationalists, and Quakers are all represented. It 
 may astonish some of his orthodox friends to know 
 that there are even Unitarian and Eoman Catholic 
 names on the list. And yet he was most conscien- 
 tious in regard to never publishing anything which he 
 did not personally accept as true, and calculated to do 
 good. 
 
 He was so careful in regard to publishing nothing 
 that he could not approve, that he seldom published 
 anything that he had not read. There were a few of 
 his authors whose opinions he was as sure of as he 
 was of his own, and whose writings he accepted with- 
 out reading. This careful supervision involved an im- 
 
88 LIPE or ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 mense amount of reading of manuscripts, often to a 
 late hour at night, sometimes in very difficult hand- 
 writing, and yet to the close of his Hfe he never used 
 spectacles. 
 
 His authors were always his friends. At his funeral 
 Dr. McCosh paid a warm tribute to his liberal dealings 
 with him. Spurgeon wrote to him on one occasion, " I 
 am glad that Robert Carter and Brothers are not only 
 publishers of my sermons, but also true and generous 
 friends, with whose conduct I am more than satisfied." 
 Dr. Guthrie and his family bore similar testimony. 
 After his death, Dr. Macduff of Glasgow wrote an 
 article about him for a Scottish paper, from which the 
 following is an extract : — 
 
 " In these days, when the questions of copyright and 
 royalty between this countrj'' and America are keenly de- 
 bated, aud caustic reflections are often, and I doubt not at 
 times with good reason, thrown out regarding the niggardly 
 dealings of Transatlantic publishers, it is only a pleasure and 
 a duty on the part of an author to record with gratitude an 
 exception. 
 
 " My intercourse with his house extends over a quarter of 
 a century. In addition to modest royalties paid by the firm, 
 there has been over and above, for a long course of years, a 
 personal annual gift of £25. More than once I attempted 
 remonstrance. It was of no avail. Regularly as the end 
 of January came around, the well known yellow envelope 
 made its appearance with its wonted contents, the value of 
 which was greatly enhanced by the warm and generous 
 words which invariably accompanied it. We had met more 
 than once pleasantly, both in this country and on the Con- 
 tinent. On the latter occasion, we formed one of a happy 
 travelling party with the late Dr. Guthrie. Possibly from 
 his reticence regarding many a good deed, he might not like 
 my making this small revelation. But I make it, as I think 
 
A PEACEMAKER. 89 
 
 it worth making. And I am not sorry, for other and bet- 
 ter than money reasons, — for having the opportunity along 
 with the many who knew and prized his worth, of adding a 
 stone to the cairn of Robert Carter." 
 
 These are but specimens of many similar testimonies, 
 chosen only because the authors are of world-wide 
 reputation. 
 
 In 1848 he took into partnership with him his two 
 youngest brothers, Walter and Peter, and removed to 
 the store No. 285 Broadway, where they remained eight 
 years. The relations between the brothers were always 
 of the most affectionate nature, never shadowed by the 
 slightest approach to a difference. When separated, 
 letters were interchanged every day. When one was 
 sick, the others saw him daily. The relationship be- 
 tween them was like that of father and son added to 
 that of brother. 
 
 Mr. Peter Carter, who was associated with his brother 
 forty-nine years, first as clerk and then as partner, and 
 who was nearly seventeen years a member of his family, 
 probably knowing him better than any other man, 
 thus writes of him : — ■ 
 
 " My brother was pre-eminently a peacemaker. He greatly 
 delighted in the beatitude of Matthew v. 9, and was always 
 ready to use his influence to heal and prevent division. One 
 day, many years ago, a leading business man of the city, the 
 senior partner of a firm of two brothers, called at our store 
 and said, ' My brother is about to leave me, not from any dis- 
 satisfaction, but because he thinks it is his duty to engage in 
 something else, and he has the most extravagant ideas of the 
 value of his share in the business. What am I to do V 
 
 " My brother thought a moment, and then said, ' If I were 
 you, I would say to him in the kindest way, " Write on a piece 
 of paper just what yoii think you ought to have for your 
 
90 LIPE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 share in the business." If it is at all reasonable or possible 
 for you to grant it, do so by all means. But if not, then see 
 if he will not modify it a little ; but grant it as he writes it, if 
 you possibly can, for you will never be sorry for doing so.' 
 
 "The gentleman went away determined to act on this ad- 
 vice. In about a week he came back to say that he had done 
 as tny brother suggested, and that the written demand was 
 much more reasonable than he expected, so he granted it at 
 once. The brothers parted the best of friends. Some years 
 after, when the eldest brother, who had been greatly pros- 
 pered in business, died, in his will he left his younger brother, 
 who had not been so successful, a very handsome legacy. 
 
 " Another incident may be mentioned. The owners of 
 the copyright of Webster's Royal Octavo Dictionary had 
 given written permission to a publishing firm in New York 
 to issue certain smaller Dictionaries with the name of Webster 
 attached to them. These publishers began the preparation 
 of an edition of the Dictionary which the copyright owners 
 considered likely to compete with the Eoyal Octavo edition. 
 This, in their opinion, was not permitted by the contract 
 held by the New York publishers. A suit was brought 
 against these publishers, but the judge, before whom it came 
 very wisely said that this was a matter about which he and 
 his fellow justices had no knowledge, and therefore decided 
 that two publishers who knew the use and custom of the 
 trade, and a lawyer who understood the legal points, should 
 act as arbitrators in the case. For this purpose the judge 
 chose Mr. J. H. Butler, of Northampton, Mass., and my 
 brother Eobert, as the two publishers, and the Hon. W. M. 
 Evarts, now representing the State of New York in the 
 United States Senate, as the lawyer. The meetings were 
 held in the Everett House, Seventeenth Street, New York. 
 
 " The discussion turned chiefly on the meaning vof two 
 words, size and iniermediate. The owners of the copyright 
 contending that size necessarily includes the idea of shape, 
 used the following homely illustration to support this view : 
 
PEACEMAKING. 91 
 
 ' Suppose you went to a shoemaker and ordered a pair of boots 
 made to measure. If when they came home they proved to 
 be half an inch too long and a quarter of an inch too narrow, 
 would it be any satisfaction to you should the shoemaker 
 say that the boots, if filled with water, would hold exactly the 
 same quantity as if they had been made as they were ordered ? 
 Certainly not, for size includes shape as well.' In regard to 
 the word intermediate the question was whether it was any- 
 where between two points, or near the middle. The owners 
 of the copyright affirmed the latter. One of the ablest advo- 
 cates on the side of the copyright owners was that grand old 
 man, the late Chauncey Goodrich, of Yale College, and he 
 came armed with a perfect legion of authorities. The meet- 
 ings were continued for nearly a week, and resulted in a ver- 
 dict in favor of the owners of the copyright. 
 
 "One thing I used greatly to admire in him was the 
 patience with which he listened to those who came to him 
 for money. He would politely seat them, and then hear 
 their story. Many a disheartened advocate of a good cause 
 gathered fresh courage after an interview with him, and felt 
 gratitude for the contribution that almost invariably followed. 
 Sometimes one after another of these needy applicants would 
 appear on the same morning, and yet neither his patience 
 nor his gifts ever seemed to fail." 
 
 He often told a story of two partners in business with 
 whom he was well acquainted. They quarrelled, and 
 dissolved partnership. One of them was telling Mr. 
 Carter of the circumstances, and he said to him : " Mr. 
 B., you profess to be a Christian man. It is your duty 
 to live peaceably, and rather to suffer wrong than quarrel. 
 Cannot you arrange this matter with Mr. D. ? " Mr. B. 
 said he was willing to do all in his power to effect a rec- 
 onciliation, or a separation on friendly terms. He felt 
 that it was not best for him to talk with his partner 
 any more on the subject, but he asked Mr. Carter if he 
 
92 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 would not go to his partner and offer him any terms 
 that Mr. Carter thought right and reasonable. He went 
 and was very kindly received, and the two talked over 
 the matter pleasantly for a time, and there seemed good 
 prospect of the affair being amicably settled, when sud- 
 denly Mr. D. started to his feet, exclaiming, "You 
 don't know my partner, Mr. Carter. He is a bad man, 
 and I would not settle this matter if you offered me 
 fifty thousand dollars." " I have no fifty thousand to 
 offer." And the interview ended. Years passed, and 
 one day Mr. D. entered Mr. Carter's store, and sought a 
 private conversation with him. He told him that he 
 felt himself to be a changed man, that he realized the 
 worldliness of all his former life, and that the night 
 before he had gone up to the altar of the Methodist 
 Church which he attended, and that he believed himself 
 converted. "I came to you this morning, because I 
 knew how glad you would be." Mr. Carter rejoiced 
 with him, and then said : " It is your duty to be recon- 
 ciled to your brother. You remember on what terms 
 you parted with Mr. B. "Will you not seek reconcilia- 
 tion with him ? " " That is all settled. I went to see 
 him after church last night. He came down greatly 
 surprised to hear that I was there. I asked his forgive- 
 ness, and we fell into each other's arms, and shed tears 
 together. All that breach is healed." " Since you 
 parted," Mr. Carter said, "you have been prosperous, 
 while your old partner has been unsuccessful. Could 
 you not find him some opening in business ? " "I will 
 do my best to find him one." 
 
 Mr. Carter had many such incidents in his inter- 
 course with his compeers in business. As he went 
 he preached, sometimes audibly, but always by his life. 
 A friend writes of him : — 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 93 
 
 " A Western publisher said to rae one day, ' I don't pro- 
 fess to be a Christian myself, and I don't believe much in 
 many of those who do ; but I know one thing, if there is a 
 consistent man in the publishing trade, Eobert Carter is 
 that man.' ' Has he been talking to you about religion 1 ' 
 ' No, he never said a word to me directly about religion in 
 all my intercourse with him ; but the atmosphere in which 
 he moved was so pure and holy, I could not help looking 
 to see if there was not a halo around his face. His business 
 intercourse with his customers impressed them with his in- 
 tegrity and conscientiousness, and they implicitly trusted 
 his every word. Eobert Carter is a true, honest good man ; 
 there is no cant, no deception nor trickery, about him.' " 
 
 Mr. Carter himself writes as follows : — 
 "Among the booksellers with whom I had dealings 
 in my early years, there was one from whom I pur- 
 chased much of the material which I wanted. When 
 I entered his store, he usually came to me, and we 
 had a pleasant chat. He was kind and friendly, 
 but his views were in some regards so different from 
 mine that I have often wondered why he was so 
 ready to talk with me. One day when I called, his 
 son said to me, ' My father is very sick ; I wish you 
 could see him.' He had been taken ill in the country 
 at the house of his daughter, and I thought I could not 
 go to him. A little later, I was informed that he had 
 returned home rather better, and would like to see me. 
 I immediately went to his house, and found him much 
 better than I feared. He received me very cordially, 
 told me he had retired from business, had made his 
 will, and was now free from earthly cares. I expressed 
 my satisfaction at this, and hoped he might have a 
 peaceful old age after a very active life. ' But,' said I, 
 ' will you allow me to ask you a question ? ' ' Yes, sir. 
 
94 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 a thousand, if you like.' ' Then,' said I, ' ever since I 
 knew you, you were laying plans for future work. I 
 would like to know what arrangements you have made 
 for that eternal world to which we are all hastening.' 
 ' None at all,' said he. ' Is this wise ? Can you leave 
 the vast concerns of eternity unsettled ? ' ' No, sir,' 
 said he, ' it is madness.' ' Then,' said I, ' there is yet 
 time. He is ahle to save to the uttermost. The voice is 
 still heard. Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest.' We had a very tender 
 interview. When I left him, his dear wife accompa- 
 nied me to the door, and said, ' I never saw my husband 
 so melted before.' The next day his daughter came to 
 my store in his carriage, and asked me to ride up with her 
 and see her father. ' He has been ill at ease since you 
 left him.' I found him in great distress. 'What can I 
 do ? I have received blessing after blessing, and I never 
 thanked God for them. Is there yet hope for me ? ' 
 I could only point to the Lamb of God, that taketh 
 away the sin of the world. Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved. I dwelt especially on 
 the word now. ' Yes,' said he, ' if that applies to any, it 
 does to me. I cannot be long here.' ' This moment let 
 us ask, and He will hear.' With many tears, we asked 
 — oh how earnestly ! — for pardon, for a broken heart, 
 for a right spirit, for peace with God through faith in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. Day after day I visited him 
 for several months, and what a marvellous change came 
 over him. His loathing of sin, his adoration of the dear 
 Redeemer who washed him in His precious blood, his 
 distrust of himself, and his new-born faith in the atone- 
 ment, were most marked. He had attended church dur- 
 ing a long life, but he said his mind was elsewhere. My 
 language to him was almost entirely in the words of 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 95 
 
 Scripture. The Holy Spirit makes the word quick and 
 powerful for the conviction and conversion of sinners." 
 
 AU his life through Mr. Carter was an acceptable 
 visitor at the bedsides of the sick and dying. He was 
 an invaluable pastor's assistant, unwearied in his lov- 
 ing ministrations, ever tender and sympathetic. His 
 counsels, and especially his prayers, were most appro- 
 priate, and many a time he was roused in the night 
 to help some dying person in his passage through the 
 valley of the shadow of death, sitting beside him, and 
 whispering words of faith and hope until the ears were 
 closed to every earthly sound, and then turning to the 
 mourning friends with words of heavenly comfort. For 
 weeks afterwards, his visits would be frequent and wel- 
 come. There are hundreds of people now living in 
 whose minds he is associated with their hours of deep- 
 est distress, as the faithful and sympathizing and sus- 
 taining friend and counsellor. Many who had refused 
 to listen to him in their hours of prosperity, when he 
 besought them to make their peace with God, would 
 remember him when days of sorrow came, and send 
 for one who was so ready to come at their first call. 
 Of him the Master will surely say, " I was sick, and ye 
 visited me." He visited rich and poor alike, was often 
 in stately as well as squalid homes. In his house there 
 were many tokens of gratitude and affection, sent by the 
 sick whom he had comforted ; but more often it was in 
 the homes of poverty that he was found, and he min- 
 istered to the physical as well as to the spiritual wants 
 of the needy. 
 
 For the last thirty years of his life he seldom went 
 to his place of business in the afternoon, giving only 
 the morning hours to work of that kind. His after- 
 noons were largely spent in Christian work, many of 
 
96 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 them on important committees ; but on the majority of 
 them he and his wife would go out together to visit the 
 poor, the sick, and the afflicted. When the ear heard 
 them, then it blessed them ; when the eye saw them, it 
 bare witness to them ; the blessing of him that was 
 ready to perish came upon them, and they caused the 
 widow's heart to sing for joy ; the cause that they knew 
 not, they searched out. The Psalmist's blessing on him 
 that considereth the poor came upon them. 
 
 The following narrative from his own pen may find a 
 place here : — 
 
 " I was standing by my desk after the opening ser- 
 vices of the Sabbath School were over, when the door 
 opened and a little girl looked in, as if afraid to en- 
 ter. I went up to her and asked if she wished to 
 attend the school, to which she replied, ' Yes.' ' What 
 is your name ? ' ' Kate.' On this, one of the teachers 
 came up and said, ' I want Kate in my class.' ' Very 
 well,' said I, ' she may go.' This was to poor Kate a 
 new life. She was the daughter of a brave pilot, whose 
 business it was to conduct ships into the harbor of 
 New York. Kate was his only child. One day when 
 a fearful storm was raging, he offered his services to go 
 out on his dangerous work. He went, but never re- 
 turned. His wife and child looked out impatiently for 
 his return, but in vain. After selling some of the arti- 
 cles which they thought they could dispense with, the 
 poor mother went out and washed and scrubbed to 
 gain bread for herself and child. One day she was 
 washing at the house of one of my teachers, when the 
 bell rung and Kate came to see her mother. It was a 
 wet day, and the teacher took Kate and dried her by 
 the fire and gave her something to eat. Her heart was 
 unaccountably drawn to the child. After a little talk 
 
SUNDAY SCHOOL. 97 
 
 she asked Kate if she would like to come to the Sab- 
 bath school. The child looked to her mother. The 
 mother said, ' It is the only day I have her with me ; 
 I cannot let her go.' After several other visits, the 
 mother consented to let her go, and so she came. I 
 could see the intense interest the child took in her 
 lessons. She had attended the public school during 
 the week, but had received no religious instruction. 
 This was all new. From her first entrance nothing 
 could keep her away on the Sabbath till one day I 
 missed her. I inquired of the teacher what was the 
 matter. She said, ' She must be sick.' I took her ad- 
 dress, and the next day my wife went with me to see 
 her. We found her in a rear building upstairs. She 
 was very sick, but her mother had to leave her to do 
 her work. After talking with her, and prayer, I rose 
 to bid her good by. The poor child looked so pale and 
 thin and feeble, that I was deeply moved. I took out 
 a ten-dollar bill, and handed it to her. She burst into 
 tears, and said, ' I cannot take it, sir ; there are many 
 poorer than I.' ' Yes,' said I, ' but you must take it. 
 You need some delicacies now, and your mother will get 
 them for you.' I little thought that the mother had 
 been told, if her rent were not paid on the following 
 Friday, they would be turned into the street. The rent 
 was six dollars a month, and Kate's illness had run the 
 poor widow behind. Kate recovered, and returned to 
 school. One Sabbath evening she read to her mother 
 the old, old story of the crucifixion of Jesus. The 
 poor child burst into tears and said : ' O mother, I am 
 so happy since I learned that Jesus loved me and died 
 for me ! The minister to-day invited those who loved 
 Jesus to come to-morrow to his house to converse with 
 him about remembering Him at the approaching com- 
 7 
 
98 LIPE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 munion. I want to remember Him. Mother, may I 
 go ? ' The mother consented. Kate's testimony was 
 remarkably clear. It was simply love to Christ and a 
 desire to serve Him. The Blessed Spirit had spoken 
 to her heart. Some time afterwards the dear child 
 was reading to her mother a portion of the Gospels. 
 She looked tenderly in her mother's face, and said, 
 ' Mother, do you love the dear Saviour ? ' The mother 
 shook her head. ' O mother, if you knew how happy 
 I am since I loved Him, you would love Him too.' The 
 mother rose and entered a little closet and shut the 
 door. Her groans pierced the poor child's heart. She 
 rose and tapped at the door, and asked, ' May I come 
 in ? ' ' Yes.' She went and wept and talked with her, 
 and then prayed fervently that her mother might be 
 made a new creature. The prayer was answered. The 
 mother sat with Kate at the communion table, and it 
 was a happy home, and there was joy in heaven. Kate 
 was again taken sick. Three little nieces of mine 
 visited her regularly. They took various delicacies to 
 her, but they did more. They could sing sweetly, and 
 they sang ' Jesus loves me, this I know,' and ' Jesus paid 
 it all, all the debt I owe.' ' Ah ! ' said the poor child, 
 ' that is my hymn. I owed a heavy debt and had noth- 
 ing to pay it with. How good He is ! ' In my visits to 
 Kate, I never heard a murmur or a doubt. Nothing but 
 faith and hope and joy. I often blessed God for such 
 a testimony. Had I no other fruit of my forty years' 
 labor in the Sabbath school, this alone was worth it all. 
 One evening Kate said to her mother, ' I am going 
 home soon to be with Jesus. What will you do when 
 I am gone ? ' 'I shall stay here where I shall have the 
 Sabbath to myself. It is a precious place, Kate, where 
 you and I have found Jesus.' ' That is just what I 
 
DR. GRISCOM. 99 
 
 want, mother.' The dear girl had no anxiety about 
 herself, but she yearned over her mother. On Thanks- 
 giving morning, before the good people of New York 
 arose to give thanks for the mercies of the preceding 
 year, Kate went to give thanks in the house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens. Two days later a 
 few who knew her worth followed the dear remains to 
 their last resting place. There shall they remain till 
 the trump shall raise the quick and dead." 
 
 John G-riscom, LL. D., Mr. Carter's early and highly 
 valued friend and patron, died February 25, 1852. Dr. 
 Griscom was widely known as a learned and influential 
 member of society, a professor of chemistry, and an able 
 contributor to the leading scientific journals of the day. 
 Mr. Carter's love for him never waned, but he spoke of 
 him with the utmost gratitude and tenderness to the 
 last days of his own life. In a letter written shortly 
 after Dr. Griscom's death, he speaks with pleasure of 
 his intimate acquaintance " with one who never met me 
 without a smile of complacency, and whose sound ad- 
 vice and kind encouragement were never withheld in 
 time of need." Dr. Griscom removed to Burlington, 
 N. J., shortly after Mr. Carter's arrival in New York, 
 but their friendship never lapsed. Mr. Carter writes 
 of him : — 
 
 " On his first visit to my dwelling, after my marriage, 
 he looked around the parlor, and with unaffected kind- 
 ness addressed me •. ' Little didst thou think, a few years 
 ago, when thou called on me, a poor Scotch lad, that 
 thou shouldst be so soon in such comfortable circum- 
 stances. I am glad to see thee so happily situated.' 
 
 " Some years later, he again dined with me, and spent 
 the evening. Taking my little boy, three years old, on 
 his knee, he heard him, with evident pleasure, repeat a 
 
100 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 number of the Psalms in the old Scottish version, and 
 remarked that, though they had not the smooth flow 
 of some later versions, they yet had the merit of keep- 
 ing close to the original. He then repeated to the child 
 Montgomery's version of the 72d Psalm, telling him that 
 he knew the author well, and esteemed him highly. 
 
 " On my apologizing for certain forms which, as a 
 Presbyterian, I observed in my family, he earnestly 
 replied, ' Go on in thy usual way ; I don't want thee 
 to change.' 
 
 " After I began to publish books, he manifested a 
 warm interest in their success. Each visit he made, he 
 questioned me regarding their sale, and often did his 
 eye kindle with animation, as I related to him the large 
 sale of some of his favorite authors, I was often sur- 
 prised by his largeness of view. He did not disparage 
 books because there were some things in them contrary 
 to his views of church order, but would remark, ' The 
 spirit of this book is excellent, though there are some 
 particulars in which I do not agree with the author.' 
 In fact, few critiques upon our publications have been 
 so highly valued as those from his pen." 
 
 In Dr. Griscom's Autobiography, after a sketch of 
 some length of his friend Robert Carter, we find the fol- 
 lowing words : " I make this statement as a preamble to 
 the fact that he so abounds in gratitude for the friend- 
 ship which I was at first induced to treat him with as 
 to present to me copies of any work that issues from his 
 press which I have any wish to read. I have from this 
 source received an accession to my library of more than 
 two hundred volumes. I could not do less than com- 
 memorate such disinterested kindness, such an effusion 
 of gratitude, at once challenging and receiving the 
 grateful emotions of my heart." 
 
DR. GRISCOM. 101 
 
 Mr. Carter writes some years later to John H. Gris- 
 com, M. D., son of his old friend : — 
 
 " In looking back to my intercourse with your vener- 
 able father during the last twenty years of his life, I 
 cannot express the feelings that oppress me. I was in- 
 troduced to him as a young stranger from a distant 
 land, — of a different creed as I then supposed, differing 
 as I believed in hopes and fears, in joys and sorrows, — 
 and yet there proved to be a wondrous oneness and 
 resemblance. When I first knew him, our intercourse 
 was purely of a literary kind. Though I cannot say 
 that he introduced me to Milton, Cowper, and others 
 of our favorite poets, I can yet state that he enhanced 
 greatly the estimate I had of their beauties. After sev- 
 eral years of pleasant progress, our paths diverged. He 
 went to Rhode Island, and I entered the business world 
 here. When we again met, our views were greatly 
 changed, and yet we were more as one than before. 
 The books that meanwhile had absorbed my attention 
 I found to my great joy were equally attractive to him. 
 Chalmers, Jay, McCosh, McCheyne, Stevenson, and 
 others were his daily companions. He told me that he 
 had perused Chalmers on the Eomans with most care- 
 ful attention, and that he did not find a single paragraph 
 which was not supported by Scripture. In this book he 
 found distinct statements regarding the total depravity 
 of man, and his consequent ruin ; the interposition of 
 the blessed Saviour for his recovery ; his quickening and 
 renewal by the Eternal Spirit, and the glorious work of 
 sanctification begun, carried on, and perfected through 
 the same holy agency ; and he was ready to set his seal 
 to the truth of them all. His views of spiritual truth 
 grew brighter and more cheerful as he approached the 
 end of his peaceful career. The precious Saviour, in his 
 
102 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 incarnation, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection 
 and ascension, was the theme of his daily study. The 
 Lord our Shepherd, and Christ on the cross, proved truly 
 refreshing to his yearning spirit. 
 
 " There were some peculiar views in which, though I 
 did not agree with him, he yet showed the accuracy 
 with which he examined truth. For example, he said 
 to me, I do not like the phrase ' the word of God,' as ap- 
 plied to the Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the Word, — 
 we should not apply the term to aught else. 
 
 " I shall not easily forget the last interview I had 
 with him. He was blind and feeble, but cheerful and 
 even joyous. I reached his pleasant little home in Bur- 
 lington about six o'clock p. M. He gave me a most cor- 
 dial welcome, told me what books his daughter had 
 been reading aloud, and how refreshing they had been 
 to him ; ascended from these little rills to the pure, 
 clear, ever-gushing fountain, — the Book of books ; went 
 back to the days of other years, and described the efforts 
 of great and good men to put in circulation the Holy 
 Scriptures ; dilated upon the formation of the Ameri- 
 can Bible Society, at the first meeting of which he was 
 present, and traced down the blessings that flowed from 
 this noble institution throughout this broad land. 
 
 " I had often enjoyed sweet converse with him, but 
 never had I communed so closely with the inner man. 
 It seemed quite on the verge of heaven. I dare not 
 say more. I tread on sacred ground." 
 
 This last interview with his aged friend was one on 
 which Mr. Carter always loved to dwell. He had stopped 
 at Burlington unexpectedly on his way home from a 
 meeting of the General Assembly. Mrs. Griscom ush- 
 ered him into her husband's study, where he sat in blind- 
 ness, with the words, " Thee canst not think who has 
 
DR. GRISCOM. 103 
 
 come to see thee, John. It is a friend whom thee greatly 
 values." " From New York or Philadelphia ? " " From 
 New York." " Is it Eobert Carter ? ' "It is." The 
 old man rose from his chair and held out his arms for 
 an embrace, and then followed the interview which 
 Mr. Carter describes in his letter. At bedtime the old 
 gentleman proposed that they should have family wor- 
 ship together in Mr. Carter's usual form before they 
 separated, and accordingly Mr. Carter read the Bible 
 and knelt in prayer, while Dr. and Mrs. Griscom kept 
 their seats, as it was contrary to their custom to kneel. 
 Early in the morning there came a knock at Mr. Carter's 
 door, and Dr. Griscom's voice said, " I am not allowed 
 to get up in the morning so early, but I wish thee would 
 come to my room as soon as thee is dressed, that we may 
 talk again." Mr. Carter was soon beside his friend's 
 bed, and he said to him : " I lie awake much in the night, 
 and last night I was thinking about thy prayer. I am 
 convinced that we lose much in our Society by not 
 having audible prayer, family worship, and blessing at 
 table. If I were to begin life over again, I would do 
 differently." 
 
 They soon after parted, never to meet again on earth, 
 but one of the joys of eternity to them both will be in 
 each other's society. 
 
 Their correspondence had been constant. Even af- 
 ter the Doctor lost his sight, he wrote frequently, his 
 daughter placing his pen at the beginning of each line, 
 and he would then write on till he came to the edge of 
 the paper. He wrote once, " Thee seest what a long 
 letter I have written thee, and yet I have not seen a 
 single word of it." 
 
 A testimony similar to Dr. Griscom's to the power of 
 Mr. Carter's family prayers was given by a Unitarian 
 
104 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 friend some years after. This gentleman met Mr. 
 Carter at a watering place, and became well acquainted 
 with him. The following winter he came to New York 
 to attend a convention of the Unitarian Church, and 
 stayed with Mr. Carter for about a week. He was al- 
 ways present at family prayers, but did not kneel, as he 
 had not been accustomed to such a service. When he 
 was bidding farewell he said to his host : "I have been 
 much interested in your custom of family prayer, and 
 it seems to me an invaluable one. I mean to follow 
 the practice myself when I go home, and I shall try to 
 introduce it into our denomination as far as I am 
 able." 
 
 The following allusion to his prayers appeared in the 
 Presbyterian of January 8, 1890, just after his death. 
 
 " There are a great many persons in this land and other 
 lands who know well the name of the late Robert Carter. 
 They found it imprinted, perhaps, on the title page of some 
 of the volumes most precious to them, — of the books which 
 lie near them in sickness, or in hours of secret devotion. 
 Others came to know this name by its association with some 
 beneficent deed, done quietly and revealed unto them acci- 
 dentally. But there are others, and of these many are 
 ministers and elders in the churches, who will forever asso- 
 ciate the name of this well beloved man with the prayers 
 which they heard him utter. He was often a member of 
 the General Assembly ; he was unfailing in his presence at 
 the devotional meetings of the Assembly, and by those who 
 knew his power he was often called upon to lead these meet- 
 ings in prayer. Always excellent, these prayers at times 
 were wonderful. There was no wandering, no hesitation, 
 no lack of well ordered words. Then there was such a large 
 comprehension of the Gospel of Christ, and of its truths as 
 wrought into the personal experience of the man ; while 
 through all there ran a tide of emotion which touched all 
 
HIS PRAYERS. 105 
 
 hearts around him, as they discerned the grace of God in 
 him, and the quickening power of the love of Christ in his 
 soul. No liturgy we ever heard could compare with it." 
 
 His prayers were eminently Scriptural, and he made 
 the Word of God his study and delight. He was to the 
 close of his life the first of the family in the breakfast- 
 room, and there he would sit reading the Bible until 
 all were assembled, and he could begin family prayers. 
 He read the Bible through every nine months, and the 
 copy of the Scriptures in which his marks are pre- 
 served is treasured by his chUdren. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 MR. SAMUEL THOMSON, Mr. Carter's father-in- 
 law, died at his country residence on the Hudson, 
 June 10, 1850, leaving behind him an honored name 
 and a place in many hearts which never could be filled. 
 He was possessed of remarkable physical beauty, a 
 presence which made an impression wherever he went. 
 He was a man of incorruptible integrity and large 
 benevolence, his tender heart making him ever the 
 friend of the widow and the fatherless. He had been 
 for many years an elder in the Scotch Presbyterian 
 Church in New York. Some ten or fifteen years before 
 his death, he had made himself a beautiful country 
 home on the northern end of New York Island, at a 
 place which is now known as Inwood. When he took 
 up his residence there, there was no church within sev- 
 eral miles, and he used to drive with his family to 
 church at West Farms. Many of the people in the 
 neighborhood were utterly irreligious, and as the family 
 drove to church they could see the farmers at work in 
 their fields. By and by they began to be ashamed of 
 their Sunday work, and would run and hide themselves 
 as they saw the good man's carriage approaching. Mr. 
 Thomson cared for their souls, and lost no time in 
 building on his own grounds a pretty little church, of 
 which he was the first ruling elder, and for many years 
 the main support. This church, happy and prosperous, 
 
THE TWO MOTHERS. 107 
 
 has been ever since his best monument. On its walls 
 a tablet erected by the unanimous vote of the congre- 
 gation records his virtues and his liberality. 
 
 In 1853, Mr. Carter's mother-in-law, Mrs. Thomson, 
 left her beautiful home upon the Hudson, where the 
 cares of her hospitable mansion were growing heavy 
 for her increasing years, and came to live with her 
 daughter in New York. Her presence in Mr. Car- 
 ter's family was a constant benediction. She was as a 
 second mother to his children, already so fully blessed 
 in their own mother. Her beautiful, unselfish life left 
 on them an impress never to be forgotten. Perhaps 
 the two things most strongly associated in their minds 
 with her were the Bible which was her constant read- 
 ing, and the needle with which her ever active and 
 skilful fingers were so steadily employed. She was a 
 veritable Dorcas in preparing " coats and garments " 
 for the poor. Never did fingers fly faster than hers, 
 and never were stitches more beautifully set. Such 
 was the loving kindness of her nature that only 
 strangers thought of calling her Mrs. Thomson, while 
 Auntie Thomson was a familiar name in many homes. 
 On her lips was the law of kindness, and indeed all 
 the description of the virtuous woman of Proverbs 
 might be applied to her. Beecher says that no home 
 is complete without the baby's cradle and the grand- 
 mother's rocking-chair, and certainly the corner that 
 held that capacious rocker with its venerable occupant 
 was a blessed feature in Mr. Carter's home. He and 
 his mother-in-law loved each other as own mother and 
 son. For six weeks of every autumn his own mother 
 came from Saratoga County to occupy another rocking- 
 chair in the family room, and the two silver-haired old 
 ladies made a beautiful picture as they sat together. 
 
108 LIFE or ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Old Mrs. C'arter was a striking and original charac- 
 ter. Her speech was seasoned with plenty of Attic salt, 
 as when she remarked of some one who had risen from 
 poverty to affluence and was spoiled by the rise, " Ah ! 
 when soles get to he upper leathers they 're awfu' stiff." 
 Her son Eobert was idolized by her, and woe be to him 
 who spoke slightingly of her treasure. It is related 
 that when her son wrote to her, on his first coming to 
 America, that some one had said that his being a for- 
 eigner might make it harder for him to get a position, 
 " Hech, sirs ' " said she, " they have a guid face to ca' my 
 son a foreigner." When her son was at Peebles, he saw 
 in the Bible of one of his pupils some verses which 
 pleased him so much that he copied them and sent 
 them to his mother. They appealed to her mother 
 feeling, and to her latest days she loved to repeat them, 
 in her rich expressive voice, and with her beautiful 
 Scottish accent : — 
 
 LINES BY A MOTHER IN HER SON'S BIBLE. 
 
 Remember, love, who gave thee this, 
 
 When other days shall come, — 
 When she who had thy earliest kiss 
 
 Sleeps in her narrow home : 
 Remember 't was a mother gave 
 The gift to one she 'd die to save. 
 
 That mother sought a pledge of love, 
 
 The holiest for her son. 
 And from the gift of God above 
 
 She chose a goodly one : 
 She chose for her beloved boy 
 The Source of life and light and joy, — 
 
 And bade him keep the gift, that when 
 
 The parting hour should come 
 They might have hope to meet again 
 
 In an eternal home ; 
 
HIS MOTHER. 109 
 
 She said his faith in it should be 
 Sweet incense to her memory. 
 
 And should the scoffer in his pride 
 
 Laugh that fond faith to scorn, 
 And bid him cast that gift aside 
 
 That he from youth had borne, 
 She bade him pause and ask Ms breast 
 If he or she had loved him best. 
 
 A parent's blessing on her son 
 
 Goes with this holy thing ; 
 The love that would retain the one 
 
 Must to the other cling ; 
 Eeniember 't is no idle toy, 
 A mother's gift I — remember, boy I 
 
 She was a woman of unusual intelligence, and a great 
 reader ; in fact, for many years she did little but read, 
 as she lived with one or other of her children, and had 
 no household cares. In addition to her long sojourn 
 in New York every fall, her son always visited his 
 mother in the summer, and his thoughtful care made 
 every provision for her comfort. 
 
 After her husband's death, old Mrs. Carter always 
 led the family devotions herself, and conducted them 
 with great unction and propriety, On one occasion the 
 son of an old friend came out from Scotland, and went 
 to her house for a visit. When night came, she, sup- 
 posing that he was a Christian, handed him the Bible, 
 and asked him to lead the family prayers, but he was 
 obliged to say, " I cannot do it." She took the Bible 
 herself and read a chapter, then one of the old Scottish 
 Psalms was sung, and all knelt in prayer. She prayed 
 earnestly for her guest, and he was much impressed 
 with the whole service. He saw the contrast between 
 his twenty-five years of prayerless life and the earnest, 
 faithful Christianity of this old lady, and that prayer 
 
110 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 was used to bring him to Christ. For many years he 
 was an elder in a church in a Western city. 
 
 Mr. Carter's home life was very beautiful. He and 
 his wife were always married lovers, and entirely one 
 in all their thoughts and aims and plans. In training 
 their children, the two prominent ideas were love and 
 obedience. He spoke in the last summer of his life of 
 the remarkable gift of his wife in the training of chil- 
 dren. Her will was law to them. Though her voice 
 was never raised above its ordinary sweet and gentle 
 utterance, they knew that its commands must be obeyed. 
 Probably none of them remember being punished, be- 
 cause any discipline of that kind was gotten over in 
 their very earliest years ; but they had a very clear idea 
 that any infringement of her commands would by 
 no means escape chastisement. That knowledge was 
 enough, and extreme measures did not need to be re- 
 sorted to. She was a born teacher, though she never 
 exercised her talents on any but her own children and 
 grandchildren. Her children all learned to read almost 
 as they learned to talk, so easy was the effort made to 
 them, so carefully was their interest stimulated. Just 
 a few minutes was given to the task each morning, and 
 so pleasant was the exercise that the little ones would 
 bring the book of their own accord and take the lesson 
 as if it were a game. They all learned to read at four, 
 and after that there were no more questionings, " What 
 shall I do ? " It was a book-loving and book-supplied 
 home, and the children took to it like ducks to water. 
 After they learned to read, little technical instruction 
 was given until they went regularly to school, which 
 was sometimes not until they were eleven years old. 
 
 Mr. Carter had a great idea of travel as a means of 
 education, and they were taken to Europe repeatedly. 
 
LOVE OF TEAVEL. Ill 
 
 and every summer had some trip, — to Niagara or the 
 White Mountains or the Thousand Isles.^ When they 
 were little, three or four months of every year vs^as spent 
 in the country, Mr. Carter taking a house in the neigh- 
 borhood of the city, from which he could go to busi- 
 ness every day. He was very fond of little excursions, 
 and in the spring and fall afternoons would take his 
 family to Hoboken, or Staten Island, or High Bridge, or 
 some other rural neighborhood. After Central Park was 
 made, he was a constant visitor there, and his friends 
 would laughingly ask him if he was a Park Commis- 
 sioner. Both parents made companions of their children 
 to an unusual degree. The father would accompany 
 them to the schoolhouse door on his way to business, 
 and they would go down to his store in the afternoon for 
 the pleasure of walking home with him, and these walks 
 were by no means silent. His daughter remembers only 
 one occasion on which he did not respond to her childish 
 chatter, and that was one morning on the way to school, 
 during the business crisis in 1857. He said, "I can't 
 talk to you this morning ; I have something very im- 
 portant to think about." The occurrence was so unpre- 
 cedented as to fill her with amazement, and remained 
 in her mind as something very puzzling until, in after 
 
 ' He often told an incident of a trip to the White Mountains in 
 18.'i2. He was travelling with a party of friends, and stopped over 
 night at St. Johnsbury, Vermont. As he sat on the hotel porch, 
 he noticed that the villagers were making their way along the street 
 towards the church. He asked the landlord what was going on, and 
 was told, "O, just the weekly prayer meeting." Of course he must 
 go, and a very pleasant gathering it was. Stopping after service to 
 speak to the minister, he was introduced to Governor Fairbanks, an 
 officer of the church. Mr. Carter remarked on the large attendance at 
 an ordinary weekly prayer meeting. "I think," said the Governor, 
 " every member of our church was present to-night." " No," said the 
 minister, " there was one absent. Mrs. B • is ill. 
 
112 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 years, she solved the mystery by concluding that the 
 failure of some business friend might have caused him 
 distress. As hg owed no man anything, these periods 
 of financial depression gave him little personal uneasi- 
 ness. It was a great benefit to his children to have his 
 well-stored mind and large experience placed so con- 
 stantly at their disposal, and as they grew older and 
 came to maturity he conversed with them on terms of 
 equality, which were often surprising to themselves. 
 He enjoyed the intercourse as much as they did. 
 
 The evening hours of the family were delightful. 
 The parents gave themselves up to the children. The 
 mother was very fond of " blind man's holiday," as she 
 called the interval between daylight and dark ; and as 
 the twilight came on, books and work were laid aside, 
 and by the light of the open fire she took part with 
 her little ones in romping games, until the father came 
 in to the cheerful evening meal. Then all joined in 
 play together until the little ones were sent to bed, and 
 then those who were in school went over with their 
 father the lessons which had been already carefully 
 prepared. They were not allowed to ask for help until 
 they had done their very best by themselves, and even 
 then the help given was only by suggesting, not by 
 showing, the way out of the difficulty. It was a rare 
 thing for any of his children to take to school or col- 
 lege a lesson in Latin or Greek which had not first been 
 gone over with him, and this was kept up till his sons 
 graduated from college. 
 
 A young man from Scotland came to New York with 
 a letter of introduction to him. Before leaving his 
 home his father said to him, " You must be careful how 
 you behave when you visit Mr. Carter ; he is an elder 
 in the church, and will tolerate no frivolity." When 
 
FAMILY LIFE. 113 
 
 the young man came to deliver his letter, the family 
 were engaged in a game of blindman's-buff in their 
 dining-room. Mr. Carter went to his guest in the par- 
 lor, and, remembering his own days of loneliness when 
 he was a stranger in a strange land, he thought a little 
 taste of home life would do him good ; so he asked him 
 if he would not like to participate in the frolic, and the 
 invitation was gladly accepted. The young man wrote 
 to his father : '' You need not have cautioned me about 
 behaving soberly before Mr. Carter. 1 have had the 
 joUiest evening at his house I ever spent in my life. 
 He is as full of fun as a boy." 
 
 After the death of Mrs. Carter, Mr. Peter Carter 
 wrote the following description of the home which 
 he most intimately knew. 
 
 " Napoleon, it is said, being on one occasion asked what 
 was the greatest need of France, rephed, 'Mothers.' 
 
 " And so the greatest need of America is Christian mothers. 
 One beautiful illustration of this crowning glory of woman 
 was Mrs. Robert Carter, of this city, who, on the 19th of 
 July last, entered into her rest. Like the Shunamite woman 
 in the days of EHsha, ' She dwelt among her own people.' 
 Born in New York in 1810, her whole life was spent in this 
 city. Baptized in the Scotch Presbyterian Church by the 
 eminent Dr. John M. Mason, she continued till her death in 
 the membership of that church. 
 
 " Her first-born was a bright and lovely boy, too sweet, 
 too lovely for earth. He exhibited that beautiful evidence 
 of the Holy Spirit's indwelling not unfrequently seen in 
 those who are early transplanted to the garden of Paradise. 
 Scarlet-fever, that fearful and fatal disease among children, 
 carried him into the Saviour's arms. For nearly fifty years 
 that loving mother cherished the memory of her darling boy. 
 Other children were given to her to train for usefulness, and 
 
114 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 how faithfully she did so the writer of this can testify, as it 
 was his privilege to dwell beneath her roof for seventeen 
 years while the process of training was going on. People 
 often complain of the difficulty of bringing up children in a 
 great city, but it was amongst its temptations and difficulties 
 that she brought up hers. 
 
 " As day by day I saw the absoi'bing devotion of that 
 young mother to her little children, I sometimes wondered, 
 as a child will, whether such devotion would pay. But 
 it did pay, and with compound interest. The little homes 
 that have gone out from this one, modelled on the same pat- 
 tern, are in turn training up sons and daughters to be the 
 heads of similar Christian households by and by. Thus the 
 influence of one wise Christian woman is being felt, and will 
 be felt, in places far remote from her home. And though she 
 has gone to her reward, the work still goes on, and will, from 
 generation to generation. 
 
 "As her children gathered round her, the missionary box 
 became a prominent and important institution. For the 
 cure of certain faults, and for the doing of certain services, 
 little sums were paid by this careful mother to her chil- 
 dren, with the understanding that they were to go into 
 the missionary box. 
 
 " The children were brought up to consider others rather 
 than themselves, — to remember that the only way to be 
 happy was to labor for the happiness of others. 
 
 " The Sabbath evenings in this good woman's house, to 
 those who, like the writer of this, were privileged to be with 
 her through many years, will not soon be forgotten. 
 
 " As the silent twilight shaded into the night, and before 
 the candles were lighted, books were laid aside, and hymns 
 and Scripture verses were repeated in rotation round the 
 family circle. Her favorite selection was Watts's version 
 of the Fifty-first Psalm : 
 
 ' Show pity, Lord, Lord, forgive ! 
 Let a repenting rebel live. ' 
 
FAMILY LIFE. 115 
 
 " Nothing was ever considered unimportant that had any 
 bearing on the temporal or spiritual welfare of her children. 
 Their diet was plain and substantial, and that simple food 
 was partaken of with a relish unknown to those pampered 
 children who are fed with luxurious dainties. A liberal edu- 
 cation was provided and a plentiful supply of entertaining 
 books, and when they were older and the circumstances of 
 their parents permitted they were indulged with extensive 
 travel, both at home and abroad. But increasing wealth 
 was never considered any reason for foolish extravagance. 
 The only change it made in the household was the larger 
 indulgence in the blessed privilege of Christian giving, in 
 which the children were encouraged to take part. 
 
 " In her sweet home the question was never raised whether 
 square dances were right and round dances wrong, because 
 dancing was not indulged in at all. Nor whether a game 
 of whist was right and other card-playing wrong, because 
 cards never found a place in that household. Nor whether 
 drinking a glass of wine was a sin or not, because the law 
 and the practice of the house was to drink nothing that was 
 intoxicating. Nor whether certain plays were moral or 
 others immoral, because the theatre was a place not to be 
 visited. 
 
 " The object of life was not personal gratification, but to 
 do something for God's glory and the good of men. They 
 were carefully taught that salvation was through Christ 
 alone ; that a true life must be founded on a true faith. A 
 happier household it was never my lot to see. To her was 
 made good the promise in the Ninety-first Psalm, ' With long 
 life will I satisfy her.' 
 
 " She lived to see her children all settled in life, — to 
 see two of her sons successful ministers of the blessed 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the others serving God in the 
 work he has given them to do, — to see all of her many 
 grandchildren that were over fourteen years of age members 
 of the church." 
 
116 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Sunday was a busy day in the Carter household. 
 Church and Sunday school morning and afternoon 
 filled the daylight hours. All his life he was exceed- 
 ingly careful to support the influence of the clergy. 
 No word of criticism of sermons ever passed his lips. 
 In every sermon he found something good, and he liter- 
 ally obeyed Herbert's advice, " Judge not the preacher." 
 As twilight came on, all assembled in the sitting-room, 
 and exercises of a varied character were begun. Half 
 the Assembly's Shorter Catechism was recited on one 
 Sunday evening, half on the next; the children were 
 questioned about the services of the day, and even 
 very little ones encouraged to tell what they remem- 
 bered of the sermon ; hymns were repeated in turn, 
 and some of the children were very ambitious not to 
 recite a hymn that had ever been given in the circle 
 before, which involved a good deal of research in 
 hymns, ancient and modern. Bible verses were read 
 or repeated. 
 
 Mr. Carter's solemn and earnest talks as they sat in 
 the quiet room, lighted often only by the open fire, 
 can never be forgotten by his children. They will 
 carry the impression of them to eternity. One of his 
 sons specially remembers a story told on one Sab- 
 bath evening of a father who was a godly man, but 
 whose children, while loving and dutiful to him, were 
 utterly uninterested in the claims of religion. In vain 
 he talked with them ; they remained careless and un- 
 impressed. One morning he came down to prayers, and 
 took up the Bible, but was so overcome by deep feel- 
 ing that he could not proceed. The children gathered 
 about him, " What is the matter, father ; are you ill ? " 
 "No, but I have had a terrible dream, and I cannot 
 get over the horror of it." " What was it, father ? " 
 
FAMILY LIFE. 117 
 
 "I dreamed that it was the day of judgment. The 
 throne was set, and the books were opened. The dead, 
 small and great, were gathered an innumerable multi- 
 tude. I stood at the right hand of the Judge ; my be- 
 loved wife was at my side. I looked about for my 
 children, and I could not see them. I turned to the 
 left hand of the Judge, and there stood my beloved 
 ones. I beckoned to them ; I called, ' Come over here, 
 you are on the wrong side ' ; but a gesture from the 
 Judge held them bound where they stood, while from 
 his lips came the words, ' Because I have called and 
 ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man 
 regarded ; but ye have set at naught all my counsel 
 and would none of my reproof : I also will laugh at 
 your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.' 
 The shock of the dream awoke me. my children, 
 shall we indeed be separated at the last day ? " " No, 
 father, no," they exclaimed, " our father's God shall be 
 ours." As he told this story with thrilling voice and 
 heartfelt emotion, not one of the little company about 
 him but resolved that there should be no separation for 
 them from God and heaven and parents at the great 
 day, — that they would all meet,- — 
 
 " No wanderer lost, — a family in heaven.'' 
 
 In the early part of 1854, Mr. Carter was greatly in- 
 terested in the visit of Dr. Alexander Duff, of India, to 
 America, and formed for him a very strong friendship. 
 He was perfectly carried away by the fiery eloquence of 
 that extraordinary man, of whom it might truly be said, 
 " The zeal of thine house has eaten me up." One of his 
 illustrations Mr. Carter loved to repeat. Dr. Duff quoted 
 with thrilling eloquence an old Jacobite song, in which 
 a Highland woman says, — 
 
118 LITE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 "I hae Ijut ae son, my ain dear Donald, 
 Had 1 ten I wad gie them a' to Charlie, " — 
 
 and then he appealed to Christian mothers to devote 
 their sons to the service of a nobler Prince. 
 
 The speeches of Dr. Duff produced a most profound 
 impression in America, and caused a great awakening 
 of interest for Foreign Missions. On the 13th of May 
 he embarked for Liverpool on the steamship '■' Pacific," 
 on which Mr. Carter had also taken passage for himself 
 and family. Just before the steamer left the wharf, 
 Mr. George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, in the name of 
 a very few American friends, placed in the hands of Dr. 
 Duff a draft for five thousand pounds, for the benefit of 
 a college the Doctor was founding in Calcutta. 
 
 The ten days' voyage gave opportunity for much de- 
 lightful intercourse with Dr. Duff. Mr. Carter, after 
 consultation with his fellow passengers, went to the 
 captain, and proposed that Dr. Duff should be invited 
 to make an address in the cabin every evening during 
 the voyage, and the captain courteously and cordially 
 agreed, and himself attended the meetings as regularly 
 as was possible. One of Mr. Carter's sons overheard a 
 gay young passenger saying to a group of his compan- 
 ions, '■ Dr. Duff and that man Carter are bound to get up 
 a revival before we get to Liverpool." Nothing would 
 have pleased better Dr. Duff or Mr. Carter. The Doc- 
 tor gave a most interesting series of lectures on the life 
 of Abraham, and the passengers attended with scarcely 
 an exception, as did also the sailors who were off duty. 
 Dr. Duff suffered terribly from sea-sickness, yet night 
 after night tottered into the cabin, hardly able to hold 
 himself erect; but in a very short time he forgot all his 
 disabilities in the earnestness of his eloquence. He fre- 
 quently spoke for two hours, and no one ever wearied. 
 
JOURNEY TO EUROPE. 119 
 
 The night the " Pacific " reached Liverpool, Dr. Duff was 
 in the midst of a lecture, but though he continued to 
 speak for half an hour the captain was the only person 
 who left the cabin. This was a remarkable tribute to 
 Dr. Duff's eloquence, as several gay young men had 
 betted heavily as to which of them should be the first 
 to reach shore, and before the Doctor ceased speaking 
 the tender left the side of the ship, and all the passen- 
 gers had to spend the night on board. 
 
 This journey in Europe in 1854 was a great pleasure 
 to Mr. Carter and his family. It is not generally 
 thought that a European trip is of much advantage 
 for children, and the oldest of these was but fifteen 
 years of age ; yet they all felt in after years that these 
 months of travel with so capable a leader as their father 
 were of more value in their education than years of 
 schooling. He was an enthusiastic traveller, seeing 
 everything, going everywhere, loving the beautiful in 
 nature, revelling in the scenes of history and chivalry 
 and verse, full of anecdote and poetry, and almost en- 
 cyclopedic in information, which he delighted to im- 
 part. His enthusiasm was contagious. N"o one could 
 look in his beaming face without longing to enjoy what 
 he enjoyed so much. 
 
 He greatly enjoyed taking his children to the 
 scenes of his childhood, and showing them the house 
 where he was born, the arbor where he sat with his 
 book overlooking the path along which his cousin 
 walked to aid him in his studies, the old kirkyard 
 where his forefathers slept, the Ehymer's Tower, and 
 "the bonnie, bonnie broom of the Cowden Knowes." 
 He spent nearly a month in Earlston, and the beau- 
 tiful scenery of Berwickshire became very familiar to 
 all. Kelso, Melrose, Dry burgh, Abbotsford, were visited 
 
120 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 repeatedly. Perhaps there was no view that he enjoyed 
 more than that from Bemerside Hill, and he loved to 
 tell that on Scott's funeral day his favorite horse, led 
 riderless in the procession, stopped just where the 
 magnificent prospect burst upon the view, showing 
 what its master's habit had been. His knowledge 
 of and love for poetry were very great, and he seemed 
 to have an appropriate quotation for every scene. In 
 Melrose Abbey he was greatly impressed with an in- 
 scription on an old tombstone, and he often quoted 
 it in after years : 
 
 "Earth walks on the earth glittering with gold, 
 Earth goes to the earth sooner than it wold, 
 Earth builds on the earth castles and towers, 
 Earth says to the earth, 'AH shall be ours.' " 
 
 At another time he was much struck by an inscription 
 on an old sun-dial : 
 
 "I 'm a shadow, — so art thou. 
 I mark time , — dost thou ? " 
 
 With one of his sons he at this time made quite an 
 extensive tour in the Highlands, a trip which was al- 
 ways a vivid memory to the boy. He said long after- 
 wards, that no one could know what his father was as 
 a traveller until he had him off entirely by himself, 
 with no baggage but what could be carried in the 
 hand, and no care to burden him. On one occasion 
 they travelled all day on the stage-coach going to Inver- 
 ness, and on the box-seat sat a stout gentleman with a 
 Scotch cap pulled down over his eyes. The next day 
 this same gentleman came up to them on the Cale- 
 donian Canal boat, and saluted Mr. Carter with a hearty 
 greeting. It was Dr. Norman Macleod. " Why, father," 
 said the boy, " this gentleman rode with us on the stage- 
 
MRS. DUNCAN. 121 
 
 coach all day yesterday." Both were greatly disgusted 
 to think that they had lost so much valuable time, but 
 they made up for it by a day of most enjoyable con- 
 verse. Just as they were nearing Oban at night, Dr. 
 Macleod exclaimed, "By the way, I had a lady put 
 under my charge this morning, with tlie request that I 
 would see after her a little, and I have never thought of 
 her all day. I must look her up." Mr. Carter writes 
 of this interview, " He was brimful of Celtic lore, and 
 gave me many pictures of Highland life." They had 
 met before and become well acquainted in New York, 
 a short time after the Disruption, when Dr. Macleod 
 came into the store with letters of introduction. On 
 being asked if he was a Free Churchman, he replied, 
 "No, I'm afraid you will think I am a black sheep." 
 But Mr. Carter, though greatly interested in the Free 
 Church, knew no narrow lines in his friendships. 
 Strong in his own convictions, he always respected 
 those of others, and saw very clearly the wide ground 
 on which all Christians could meet. 
 
 While in Edinburgh Mr. Carter had much pleasant 
 intercourse with Principal Cunningham, and while in 
 London with Dr. James Hamilton. Much of his enjoy- 
 ment in all his journeys to Europe arose from association 
 with men with whom he had long held correspondence. 
 In Kelso he again met Mrs. Duncan, who had visited his 
 house in New York, and whose Memorial of her daugh- 
 ter, Mary Lundie Duncan, he had published, as well as 
 several other of her books. 
 
 Mrs. Duncan's first hnsband had been the Eev. Dr. 
 Lundie, a distinguished clergyman of Kelso. After his 
 death she had married the Eev. Dr. Duncan, while her 
 daughter, Mary Lundie, married his son, also a clergy- 
 man. Another daughter married the Eev. Horatius 
 
122 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Bonar, D.D., the well known poet, and Mrs. Bonar her- 
 self wrote the beautiful hymn — 
 
 " Pass away earthly joy, 
 
 Jesus is mine. " 
 
 A few years before, Mr. Carter from his mother-in- 
 law's country-house had witnessed the burning of the 
 steamboat " Henry Clay " on the Hudson. He told 
 Mrs. Duncan that among the passengers was a young 
 and lovely American lady, whose body was found with 
 the memorial of Mary Lundie Duncan clasped in her 
 hands, with her finger marking the place in the volume 
 where she had been reading when the death messenger 
 came to her. 
 
 Mrs. Duncan was a lady of remarkable personal 
 beauty and stately presence, and her conversation and 
 correspondence were greatly valued by Mr. Carter. 
 Among the books he published for her was the Memo- 
 rial of her son, Eev. George Lundie, missionary to Sa- 
 moa. In her book, " Children of the Manse," she gives 
 an account of the early training of her children, and 
 those who read it will not wonder that such a family 
 life as hers resulted in such lives as those of Mary, 
 G-eorge, and Catharine Lundie. 
 
 An amusing incident of her early married life was 
 often related by Mr. Carter. When the Total Abstinence 
 movement first began, Mr. Lundie and she became strong 
 advocates of the cause. In those days it was the cus- 
 tom to give a glass of whiskey in addition to the regular 
 pay to any one who came about a house for an odd job ; 
 but Mr. and Mrs. Lundie made up their minds that such 
 things must be stopped in their house. A man was 
 hired to carry in their winter coal, and when the work 
 was done Mrs. Lundie told him that the minister had 
 
WRECK OF THE "ARCTIC." 123 
 
 joined the Temperance Society and had decided that 
 there must be no more giving of whiskey in their home. 
 " But," said she, " here is sixpence for you, and that will 
 be far better for the wife and bairns than that you 
 should be drinking whiskey." As he walked down the 
 street he met Mr. Lundie, who said, " I suppose my 
 wife did not give you any whiskey to-day, Jock." " Na, 
 na, sir." " Well, here is a shilling for you, and you '11 
 find yourself far better off than if you had had the 
 whiskey." Jock took the shilling, and with that and 
 Mrs. Lundie's sixpence he got more whiskey than he had 
 had in many a day, and came reeling back to the manse, 
 where he stood holding on to the front gate, waving his 
 hat and shouting, " Mr. Lundie and the Temperance 
 Society forever! Mr. Lundie and the Temperance 
 Society forever ! " 
 
 After some months of travel in Great Britain and on 
 the Continent, the party returned to America. They 
 had sailed to Europe on the " Pacific," one of the Collins 
 line of steamers, and on the voyage Mr. Carter had 
 noticed some little incident which he thought betokened 
 negligence in the arrangements of the vessel. He had 
 almost forgotten the circumstance, and while in London 
 he went to the Collins office and chose state-rooms on 
 the " Arctic," doing everything but actually engage his 
 passage. Suddenly there flashed into his mind a recol- 
 lection of the incident, and he decided to take passage 
 on the Cunard steamer " Europa," which sailed the same 
 week. The " Arctic " was lost on that voyage, and a 
 large number of passengers perished. At Halifax the 
 " Europa " took on board and carried to Boston the sur- 
 vivors of the wreck. After leaving Halifax, a heavy fog 
 settled down over the "Europa," just as it had around 
 the " Arctic " at the time of the collision which caused 
 
124 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 her to founder, and it was a most pathetic sight to see 
 her rescued passengers peering out into the obscurity 
 from the deck of the ' Europa," and dreading lest they 
 might again encounter shipwreck. A few years later, 
 the " Pacific " sailed from port and was never heard from 
 again. 
 
 When he was leaving home on this voyage to Eu- 
 rope, one of his Sunday school teachers came to him 
 to talk about a boy in her class who had long been 
 very troublesome, and said : " I wish before you go that 
 you would dismiss that boy from the school. It is hard 
 enough work for us to control him while you are here, 
 the only person of whom he stands in awe. When you 
 go, he will be unmanageable." Mr. Carter told her that 
 he could not take the responsibility of dismissing a boy 
 from what was perhaps the only good influence in his 
 life. One of the first letters that reached him in Eng- 
 land informed him of the death of this boy by drown- 
 ing while bathing on Sunday. Over and over again 
 in after life he spoke of this, and thanked God that 
 he had not turned that boy out of school, as if he 
 had done so he should have felt that he had given 
 him the opportunity of Sabbath-breaking which led to 
 his death. 
 
 On their return to America Mr. Carter's two eldest 
 sons, fifteen and fourteen years of age, matriculated at 
 the New York University, whence they graduated with 
 the first and second honors of their class, in 1858. All 
 through their college course Mr. Carter exercised the 
 same careful oversight over their studies that he did 
 when they were in school, and their young companions 
 always had a ready welcome to the house. Hospitality 
 was ever one of his most marked virtues. He kept 
 open house, and the family were seldom without guests, 
 
REMOVAL OF BOOKSTORE. 125 
 
 and he made a model host, cordial and hearty, and full 
 of chat and anecdote. His conversational powers were 
 of a high order, and the table talk and evening gath- 
 erings in the parlor were very delightful. He had as 
 visitors clergymen from all parts of the world, and 
 his children have delightful memories, at a little later 
 period, of such men as Bishop Bickersteth, Rev. John 
 Ker of Glasgow, Dr. McCosh, Dr. Monod of Paris, Dr. 
 Thornwell of South Carolina, and many others. 
 
 In 1856 the bookstore was removed from 285 to 530 
 Broadway. He had a lease of the old store, but his land- 
 lord, without asking his consent, took away the light 
 from the back of the store by building over the skylight, 
 and at the same time took away one third of the front 
 of the store by building a staircase tliere. The work 
 was begun without giving the slightest notice. When 
 he went down to the store one morning, he found the 
 books had been taken down from one side of the front, 
 and the workmen were starting the new stairway. Re- 
 monstrance was in vain ; the landlord would not give in. 
 A lawyer was consulted, who said that the case was a 
 clear, though it might be a tedious one. But Mr. Carter 
 decided to keep to his old resolution rather to suffer 
 wrong than to go to law. He did not wish it said 
 that one Christian man was suing another. He im- 
 mediately began to look about for a store, and bought 
 one on the corner of Broadway and Spring Street. In 
 a few years it was worth twice what he paid for it, 
 so his peace-loving propensities brought him nothing 
 but good. 
 
 The old store at 285 was under the Irving House, 
 where a great many colored servants were employed. 
 One day the proprietor came to Mr. Carter and told 
 him that one of the waiters was a runaway slave, and 
 
126 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 that he had heard that his master had come to New 
 York with a search-warrant, and was expecting to ar- 
 rest him and carry him off to the South. Mr. Carter 
 gladly contributed towards the poor fellow's travelling 
 expenses to Canada, as he had repeatedly done in simi- 
 lar cases before. That afternoon the fugitive slave took 
 passage on a Hudson Eiver boat for Albany, when, just 
 as the boat started, a carriage was driven furiously up, 
 and his master with a constable came on board. The 
 feeling was so strong against the Fugitive Slave Law 
 that the master did not think it best to raise a commo- 
 tion on the boat by arresting him at once, but thought 
 he would take quiet possession of the man when they 
 were disembarking at Albany. The poor slave cowered 
 down among some bales in the forward part of the boat, 
 and felt that his hour had almost come. Among the 
 passengers he noticed a man with a very benevolent 
 countenance, and he thought he would throw himself 
 upon his protection. He managed to attract the gentle- 
 man's attention, and told him his story while his master 
 and the constable were amusing themselves in the 
 cabin, knowing that the boat did not make any stops 
 before reaching Albany, and feeling sure that their 
 victim was securely trapped. The kindly man's sym- 
 pathies were all aroused by the poor fellow's story, and 
 he went to the captain to see what could be done. The 
 captain said that it would not do for him to seem to 
 take any part in the matter, but that the gentleman 
 might tell the slave that when they reached Albany the 
 vessel would accidentally touch the pier, and then veer 
 off into the stream again, that he must be ready to 
 spring for liberty, and that it would then take about 
 half an hour to turn the boat and touch the wharf prop- 
 erly, and in the mean while the train for Canada would 
 
rUGITIVB SLAVES. 127 
 
 be off. The programme was fully carried out, the slave 
 sprang off and dashed through the crowd at the land- 
 ing, and the boat veered off to rectify the captain's un- 
 fortunate blunder. The master came up to the captain 
 in a towering passion, '' Do you see what you have 
 done? Your stupidity has allowed my servant to 
 escape." " You did not take me into your confidence. 
 How did I know you had a servant on board ? If 
 you had only told me, I might have had him put in 
 irons." The slave-owner had to swallow his wrath, 
 and in a few minutes the whistle of the train was 
 heard on its way to Canada, bearing with it one man 
 who felt that he had a right to " life, liberty, and the 
 pursuit of happiness." 
 
 One day a nice-looking colored man, a clergyman, 
 came into the store begging money for his church, and 
 entered into conversation with Mr. Carter, and told 
 him his history. He had been a slave in Kentucky; 
 his master was a very hard man, drinking and gam- 
 bling. The slave was very fleet of foot, and had won 
 prizes for his master at the races. He married a young 
 girl on a neighboring plantation, and then, being filled 
 with fear lest he should be sold away from her, he went 
 to her master, who was a very benevolent man, and 
 begged him to buy him, that he might be with his wife. 
 The planter bought him, made him his coachman, gave 
 him a comfortable little cabin, and for a while he was 
 perfectly happy. But one day he was driving out his 
 master and a friend, and overheard a conversation in 
 which the master said that he was sick of the planta- 
 tion life, and had serious thoughts of selling out and 
 going North to live. The slave's heart sank within 
 him. He had had one bad master, and did not want 
 another. 
 
128 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 He talked the matter over with his wife, and they 
 decided that he must take the first opportunity to escape 
 to Canada, and then, as soon as he could earn the money, 
 he should buy her freedom. A few days after, he was 
 sent on an errand to a neighboring town, and embraced 
 the opportunity to run away. He got safely to Canada, 
 but in a short time he found that he could get higher 
 wages at the Cataract House at Niagara ; so he crossed 
 the river and took service there, being very anxious to 
 buy his wife's liberty as soon as possible. One day as 
 he entered the dining-room he saw his master at one 
 of the tables. He started back in dismay, hurried out 
 of the door, and made his way as quickly as possible 
 to the Canada side. His master noticed the confusion, 
 and inquired the cause, and found that his former 
 slave was in the neighborhood. He sent word to him 
 to come and see him, as he wanted to talk with him, 
 and he need have no fear of being captured. The 
 slave knew that he could fully trust his master's 
 honor, and came to see him. The master said to him, 
 " Don't you think you have treated me very badly ? 
 I only bought you because you pleaded so earnestly 
 with me. I did everything I could to make you com- 
 fortable, and I thought you were happy and contented." 
 " Yes, massa, you were very good to me, and I loved 
 you very much." " Why then did you leave me ? " 
 "Do you remember tbat day I was driving you with 
 Mr. So-and-so, and you said that you were thinking 
 of selling out ? " " Yes, I remember, but I did not 
 think you heard." " I heard it all, and I felt that I 
 could not stay and be sold down the river. Don't 
 think me ungrateful, but I felt I must be free." 
 
 They talked for some time, and at last the master 
 said, " I think you have talents that would fit you for 
 
FUGITIVE SLAVES. 129 
 
 preaching to your own people. I will give you free 
 papers, and support you while you study for the Meth- 
 odist ministry." The next year he came North again, 
 bringing the man's wife and little child. He gave them 
 all manumission papers, and interested himself for 
 them until his death. " O Mr. Carter," said the poor 
 man the tears rolling down his cheeks, " he was a good 
 man, my massa. He was the best man I ever saw in 
 my life." 
 
 The former slave was now settled in a little African 
 Church in New York. Mr. Carter asked him how he 
 was off for books. " That is my worst trouble. I have 
 hardly any books. It is like making bricks without 
 straw." Mr. Carter laid out a long row of commen- 
 taries and other books, and asked him if he had any of 
 those. "Not one of them. But, Mr. Carter, I have no 
 money, I cannot buy books. The money you have given 
 me is for the church." Mr. Carter told him they were 
 his as a gift. " how can I thank you ! I never saw so 
 many nice books together in my life." They were made 
 up in a huge bundle, and lifted to his shoulder, and Mr. 
 Carter said his beaming face, as he went off with his 
 load trying to bow his thanks to the very last, was a 
 sight to see. He came about the store a good deal 
 while he was stationed in New York, but finally re- 
 moved to a distant part of the country. 
 
 Mr. Carter was greatly interested in the colored 
 race. A colored Sunday school connected with the 
 Scotch Church always met with hearty support and 
 co-operation from him. His brother Peter was its su- 
 perintendent for more than thirty years, and the fam- 
 ilies of both brothers were largely represented among 
 its teachers. 
 
 One of the oldest members of the Scotch Church and 
 
130 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 warmest friends of Mr. Carter was a colored woman 
 named Katy Ferguson, born a slave in 1774 When 
 she was but four years of age, her mother was sold to 
 another master, and torn from her forever. Katy, in 
 speaking of this cruel separation long afterwards, said, 
 " Mr. B. sold my mother, and she was carried away 
 from me ; but I remember that before we parted we 
 knelt down, and she laid her hand on my head and 
 gave me to God." When Katy was fifteen years old, 
 she joined Dr. Mason's church. Some of the members 
 objected to having one of her color sit down with them 
 at the communion table. Dr. Mason heard of this feel- 
 ing, but said nothing until the time of the communion 
 service, when he came down from his pulpit, and, pass- 
 ing along the aisle to the pew where the trembling 
 Katy sat, took her by the hand, and, leading her for- 
 ward, said, " Whosoever shall do the will of my Father 
 which is in Heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, 
 and mother. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into 
 one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether 
 we be bond or free ; we have been all made to drink 
 into one Spirit. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, 
 circumcision nor uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, 
 bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all." And 
 seating her at the holy table, which was spread in the 
 aisle, and around which according to Scottish custom 
 the communicants sat, he said again, as he put into 
 her hand the memorials of our Saviour's love, and in 
 a tone and manner that filled every heart with deepest 
 emotion, " Eat, friend ! drink, yea drink abundantly, 
 beloved ! " The scene was most affecting and impres- 
 sive, and most effectually accomplished the end desired. 
 Katy supported herself by making delicate confections 
 for dinner and evening parties. She was a woman of 
 
KATY FEEGUSON. 131 
 
 earnest piety. She started the first Sunday school in 
 New York, early in the present century, by gathering 
 together into her room poor little street waifs, black and 
 white, for she had no color prejudice. Hers was also 
 the first Children's Aid Society. She picked up from 
 the streets at different times forty-eight orphan or des- 
 titute children, fed and clothed and educated them to 
 the best of her abihty with the aid of the public schools, 
 until she could find suitable homes for them, or else 
 herself trained them to a useful womanhood or man- 
 hood. It is said that every one of these children turned 
 out well. Of this faithful negro woman it may be said 
 truly, " She hath done what she could." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Carter frequently visited her in her 
 home and helped her in her work. One day when she 
 was nearly eighty years of age she called to see Mrs. 
 Carter, and seemed greatly exhausted with her long 
 walk from her down-town home. When she was leaving, 
 Mrs. Carter said, " Don't think of walking home, Katy, 
 here is money for your stage fare." " Why, Mrs. Carter, 
 they would n't let a colored woman ride in an omnibus." 
 
 A very few weeks later she entered into her eternal 
 rest. Doubtless the poor old negro woman, who had 
 been grudged a welcome by some professing Christians 
 into the church below, and had trudged with weary 
 steps along earth's highways, was carried by angels to 
 the pearly gates and had an abundant entrance minis- 
 tered unto her into the light and glory above. There 
 would be no stay in the Master's step to meet her, and 
 His " Well done, good and faithful servant ! " was as 
 full and hearty to her as to many whom the church 
 has honored as its noblest and best. 
 
 In a letter from Mr. Carter to his family, written 
 from Charleston, he makes mention of another old col- 
 
132 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 ored woman in whom he was greatly interested. In 
 1855 he went as a delegate to the General Assembly 
 at Nashville, Tennessee, visiting on the way at the house 
 of a very dear friend, Mr. James McCarter, a bookseller 
 of Charleston. The names of the two friends were a 
 good deal alike, and their faces were still more so ; in 
 fact, they were often told that they looked like twins. 
 Mr. Carter writes : — 
 
 " It is now the hour which we usually spend in talk- 
 ing of the things that concern our eternal interests. 
 How I miss you all now ! It is too much for me to 
 think of it ! May God bless you all ! 
 
 " Mr. McCarter took me in the morning to his church, 
 where we heard Mr. Jones from Philadelphia. In the 
 afternoon I went to Dr. Smyth's church, and heard an 
 excellent sermon from the text, ' Unite my heart to fear 
 thy name.' that all our hearts were thus united in 
 the fear and love of God ! 
 
 " I then went to the colored Sabbath school, and my 
 heart melted within me to see a hundred black chil- 
 dren listening to the instructions of their teachers, and 
 not any of them with Bible, hymn-book, or text-book 
 in their hands. How sad it is that, in this land of 
 Sabbaths and Bibles and good books, so large a portion 
 of our fellow beings should be deprived of the privi- 
 lege of reading God's blessed Book ! The teachers are 
 evidently men of God, doing the best they can under 
 the circumstances ; but how little fruit can be expected 
 where such barriers are thrown up to the free ingress 
 of the Gospel ! The mode of instruction is that used 
 in infant schools. The teacher puts questions, and all 
 answer at once. If they do not know the answer, he 
 repeats the words, and they follow. Their singing of 
 ' The Happy Land ' was beautiful. 
 
PIOUS OLD COLORED WOMAJf. 133 
 
 " An old woman in Mr. McCarter's family was intro- 
 duced to me. I asked her how old she was. ' Don't 
 know, massa.' ' Do you know the Lord Jesus ? ' '0 
 yes, massa, I sleep with Jesus, I walk with Jesus, I eat 
 with Jesus, I drink with Jesus. Jesus has promised to 
 come soon and take me home.' And then, pressing 
 her hands upon her breast, she exclaimed, ' how happy 
 T shall be ! ' Mr. McCarter said that grace had done 
 more for her than any one he ever knew. 
 
 " my dear children, how much reason have you to 
 bless God that you are not placed in the condition of 
 slaves ! and yet the poor slave that talked with me to- 
 day about the love of Jesus may take a higher place in 
 the kingdom of Heaven than some of us. May God 
 enable us all to improve our privileges, and while it is 
 yet to-day labor in the Lord's vineyard as we have 
 opportunity ! 
 
 "There is much here to arrest the attention of a 
 Northern man, but I do not wish, on the evening of 
 the Lord's day, to speak of things temporal and tran- 
 sitory. that the scenes I have witnessed may make 
 me more devoted to the service of the Master than ever 
 before ! My mind has been so tossed about and har- 
 assed that I cannot attain that blessed peace which I 
 have so often enjoyed at home. The Sabbath has been 
 for many years so laden with blessings, that when I oc- 
 casionally wander abroad I miss exceedingly the quiet 
 and peaceful enjoyment which I prize so highly. May 
 we remember each other daily at the throne of grace, and 
 fervently pray for such blessings as we so much need. 
 We can thus help each other mightily, though far sepa- 
 rated, and in blessing each other be ourselves blessed. 
 
 " To-morrow at eight we leave for Nashville. I shall 
 hope for letters there from you all. Will not that be 
 
134 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 fine ? that I had them now ! Farewell, and may 
 the Good Shepherd of the sheep watch over, lead, and 
 bless us all." 
 
 It may not be amiss to insert here another letter of 
 Mr. Carter's, written two years before, whUe a delegate 
 to the Assembly at Philadelphia, as a specimen of the 
 letters he constantly wrote to his family when sepa- 
 rated from them. On this occasion he had been home 
 on furlough over Sabbath, and writes on his return to 
 his post : — 
 
 " My dear Wife, — With the tenderest feelings I 
 parted from you this morning. The few hours we 
 spent together from Saturday evening until I left you 
 this morning were hours of as unmingled enjoyment 
 as we ever expect to enjoy this side Heaven. Truly, 
 our Father has bountifully blessed us. that our 
 lives may be wholly consecrated to Him ! 
 
 " The dear children ! I did feel sorry that we had 
 not indulged them with a ride this morning, it was so 
 fine and clear and mild. May we be enabled to deal 
 faithfully with them, and may the Lord and Saviour 
 dwell in them richly by his Spirit. to see them 
 safe in the ark ! 
 
 " Dear T , you have now reached the age at which 
 
 your father was enrolled a member of the church visible. 
 I sat down at the communion table when I was four- 
 teen years of age, and the Master whom I have served 
 has not been a hard Master. I have reason to bless 
 him for the way in which he has led me from that day 
 to this. ' Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.' O 
 delay not ! Pray earnestly that your father's God, the 
 God of your mother, may be your own God, and may 
 the Comforter manifest Jesus in your heart now and 
 forever. 
 
LETTER TO HIS FAMILY. 135 
 
 " Dear S , what I have said to T is nearly as 
 
 applicable to you. You have grown up together, studied 
 together, eaten together, travelled together. He for 
 whom you are named is an angel in heaven, and will 
 joy over you when you enter in the narrow way that 
 leadeth unto life. 
 
 " Dear E , what shall I say to you ? I need not 
 
 ask you if you love your father and mother. I know 
 you do. Then, my dear boy, pray to God to bless you, 
 and keep you, and lead you in the path your fathers 
 trod, that you may when you die enter their bright 
 abodes on high. 
 
 "And my dear little daughter, my only daughter, if 
 you be as good and happy as your parents pray you 
 may be, your portion will be that of those who love 
 and serve the Lord. You will do what you can to 
 please your papa and mamma, and above all to please 
 God. Never forget that God sees you by day and by 
 night. And when you pray, ask for his blessing, as 
 you would ask mamma for bread when you are hungry, 
 or water when you are thirsty. 
 
 " And now, my dear wife and children all, my heart 
 yearns over you. May we all be of one heart and of 
 one mind, children of the Most High, journeying to our 
 home above ! 
 
 " Poor Grandma [Mrs. Thomson], I suppose you think 
 it unkind to address you last. But you know the feel- 
 ings we all cherish towards you, and it is not so easy 
 to admonish one who was in Christ before I was born. 
 May your last years be your brightest, your happiest, 
 your holiest. Though the earthly spring in which you 
 so much delighted be dried up, the Fountain is still 
 open. May it refresh you daily ! " 
 
 Mr. Carter's earnest longing for the conversion of his 
 
136 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 children was early gratified. His oldest son says, that 
 when a few years later he told his father that the young- 
 est of the family, thirteen years old, wished to unite with 
 the church, he burst into joyful tears, exclaiming, " I 
 have n't deserved, this. How good God is to me, — so 
 much better than I deserve ! " He had no greater joy 
 than to see his children walk in the truth. In his old 
 age he rejoiced with joy unspeakable as one after an- 
 other his grandchildren came into the fold. He was 
 wont to say, with thanksgiving, that of his twenty- 
 five grandchildren all over twelve years of age were 
 members of the church, some of them entering into 
 communion at a very tender age. 
 
 He was greatly interested in the cause of Total Ab- 
 stinence, and took every opportunity to enforce his 
 views on this subject. The following stories were 
 often told by him in public addresses and in private 
 conversations : — 
 
 " When a boy of twelve years, I was in a field a mile 
 from home, on a bright October day, helping to gather 
 in the potato crop. A man came up to us, and asked 
 if we had heard the news. We said no. ' Last night 
 on his way home from the fair Eob Scott murdered two 
 men without any apparent cause.' In our village there 
 were two fairs or great market days in the year. On 
 these days the liquor shops were doing a great business, 
 and men who were sober all through the year became 
 intoxicated. Eob Scott was of this number. He had 
 tasted whiskey only once before in his life, and that 
 fatal night he overtook two men walking peacefully 
 home, and in a frenzy knocked down one and then the 
 other, and ran to a cottage a short distance oiT and cried 
 aloud, ' I have killed two men down on the road.' He 
 was known by the family, as he lived only a half-mile 
 
TEMPERANCE STORIES. 137 
 
 from the spot, and they said, ' You are crazy, it cannot 
 be so.' ' It is so. Go and see.' They went and found 
 the two men. One of them said, ' I am Simm, from 
 Greenlaw.' The murderer ran thirty miles that night, 
 to Berwick. The whole country was quickly roused, 
 and next day he was arrested and carried to the Jed- 
 burgh jail. He was tried and condemned to die on the 
 spot where the fearful crime was committed. Thou- 
 sands came to witness the execution. I was in that 
 crowd. At a turn of the road I was within a few feet 
 of him, and such a haggard face I never saw. It haunted 
 me for many a year. When on the scaffold, he in a 
 loud voice that was heard by thousands prayed for 
 mercy, — that he might be delivered from bloodguilti- 
 ness, — prayed for the widows whom he had made wid- 
 ows, and for the children whom he had made fatherless. 
 I never heard such earnest pleading, and I never for- 
 got it. 
 
 " The poor man had been visited by several clergymen, 
 one of whom preached from the text, ' It is a faithful 
 saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the 
 chief.' This made a deep impression on his mind, and 
 he was hopefully converted. The lesson I learned 
 from Eob Scott's sad story never has been forgotten. 
 I dreaded the taste, or even the touch, of the insidious 
 poison, and long before I had even heard of a temper- 
 ance society I labored to save my young friends from 
 the use of ardent spirits. After I entered into business 
 in New York, many of the Scottish immigrants on 
 landing called on me, and I used to urge them to sign 
 at once the temperance pledge, and many of them did 
 so. Others declined, and alas! many went to the 
 drunkard's grave." 
 
138 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 " One day a carriage came to the door of my shop, 
 and a lady stepped out, and came up to me and took me 
 by the hand, and asked, ' Do you not know me ? ' I said, 
 ' No.' ' You and I were schoolmates : don't you remem- 
 ber Jean ? ' At once I recognized her. She was 
 
 the daughter of the hardest man in my native village. 
 He was profane and intemperate, and his poor wife and 
 children had a hard time with him. He took the dead 
 from their graves, and sold them to the surgeons for 
 dissection. On one occasion his poor wife went into 
 the barn after dark and touched a dead man's hand, 
 and she became a raving maniac. She was sent to Bed- 
 lam, where she died. His daughter Jean escaped from 
 her miserable home, came to New York, and after some 
 time married a young German mechanic, who rose to be 
 a prosperous merchant in a large city in the interior, 
 where she had a happy home. She wanted to purchase 
 McCheyne's works for a gift to a friend. While I was 
 conversing with Jean, a miserable-looking young man 
 entered the store. He had neither hat, shoes, nor stock- 
 ings. One of my clerks went to him and asked him to 
 go out ; but he said he was very desirous to see me. I 
 went to him and inquired what he wanted. He told 
 me he was the son of a parish minister in Scotland 
 whom I well knew, and that he was starving and al- 
 most naked. While I was talking with him, an elder 
 of our church entered, and I asked whether he could 
 give him something to do. He employed a large num- 
 ber of men, and, after talking with him, he said, ' Come 
 to-morrow morning to my shop, and I will give you 
 something to do,' and gave him his address. The young 
 man promised to go. I then got him some clothing, and 
 gave him money to get underclothing, and he left me. 
 Next day at twelve o'clock the elder came and told me 
 
SHARON SPRINGS. 139 
 
 that the poor creature had not come. After five months 
 he came again in as bad a plight as before, and I asked 
 why he had not gone to the shop as he had been invited. 
 He said he could not pass a grog-shop without a glass, 
 and he went in and drank till the money I gave him was 
 gone. I tried to reason with him, told him he had a 
 good education and good example in his father's house. 
 He said, ' You are mistaken ; I was not well educated. 
 We had whiskey at table in my father's house every 
 day, and I learned to love it then.' 
 
 " Here was a striking contrast. The daughter of a 
 wretched father and the son of a leading clergyman 
 had changed places, and what a change ! How many 
 since that time have I seen swept into the vortex of 
 destruction by this horrid vice ! 0, what heaps of 
 slain call out for vengeance on us ! And yet the giddy 
 dance of death goes round." 
 
 In the summer of 1855 Mr. Carter went for the first 
 time to Sharon Springs, New York. In this place he 
 spent six summers, attracting there relatives and friends 
 till there was often a party of sixty or seventy which 
 gravitated round him as a centre. The society was 
 delightful. There were always a good many clergymen 
 in the house, sometimes eight or nine at a time, — Eev. 
 Drs. Krebs, Nicholas Murray, Cleveland, and his own 
 beloved pastor Dr. McElroy; Mr. Chauncey Goodrich 
 and Prof. 0. M. Mitchell, the eminent astronomer, were 
 friends with whom he there had most delightful com- 
 munion. Archbishop Hughes of the Eoman Catholic 
 Church was there one summer, and they had much 
 pleasant intercourse with each other, talking over 
 things ancient and modern. They found much com- 
 mon ground, but did not hesitate to discuss amicably 
 controverted points, such as Pascal and the Port Eoy- 
 
140 LITE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 alists. They both regarded Milton and Young as favor- 
 ite poets, and were drawn together by a fellow feeling 
 in that respect. 
 
 A short time before, there had been a very "ani- 
 mated" correspondence between the Archbishop and 
 Dr. Nicholas Murray (Kirwan) in the public press, and 
 it was rather strange that they should be spending 
 some weeks at the same hotel. They did not seek each 
 other's society, and Dr. Murray was a wee bit scandal- 
 ized that Mr. Carter should be so intimate with the 
 prelate. 
 
 When Mr. Carter first went to Sharon, there was no 
 church in the place, and services were held in the par- 
 lors of the different hotels. He became a sort of ruler 
 in the synagogue, arranging that such services should be 
 held with the utmost regularity Sunday morning and 
 evening, seeing that the chosen parlor was got ready, 
 arranging that a minister should always be provided, 
 seating the congregation, and having everything done 
 decently and in order. There was always the best of 
 preaching from some of the most prominent clergymen 
 in the country. After a time churches were built and 
 services kept up the year round. 
 
 While at Sharon, in June, 1859, Mr. Carter received 
 a letter from Dr. J. H. Thornwell of Columbia, South 
 Carolina, with whom he had long been on terms of in- 
 timacy. It gave an account of the sudden death of his 
 daughter on the eve of her marriage. The letter was so 
 remarkable that Professor Mitchell asked to be allowed 
 to read it on Sunday evening at a religious service in 
 the parlor of the hotel. Two years later Dr Thornwell 
 and Professor Mitchell were prominent leaders in the 
 great struggle between the North and the South. Both 
 passed from earth in the heat of the conflict, and met 
 
DR. THORNWELL. 141 
 
 in the better country where all is peace. Dr. Thorn- 
 well's letter is as follows : — 
 
 Theological Seminary, June 27, 1859. 
 Mt dear Friend : — 
 
 I have just received your kind and cordial letter of Chris- 
 tian sympathy, and as the subject is one upon which I take 
 a melancholy pleasure in dwelling, I proceed at once to 
 answer your tender and affectionate inquiries. You may re- 
 member that I told you of her approaching wedding. She 
 was to have been married on the 15th instant, to a young 
 man eminently worthy of any heart or any hand. I reached 
 home on the morning of the 9th, and found her in bed with 
 a raging fever. She had then been sick two days. Her 
 symptoms appeared to me unfavorable, and I called in two 
 other physicians. The next day I became alarmed, and 
 on Friday gave her to understand that her case was critical. 
 She was not at all disconcerted ; she assured me that her 
 peace was made with God ; that though she had many earthly 
 ties, and some of them very tender, there was nothing that 
 she loved in comparison with the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 nothing that she was not ready to sacrifice at his call. She 
 called all the family to her bedside, united in prayer with 
 them, and gave to each a parting benediction. The scene 
 was sublime beyond description. To see a young girl, 
 elegant, accomplished, and highly esteemed, with the most 
 flattering prospects in life, just upon the eve of her marriage 
 with one whom she devotedly loved, resign all earthly hopes 
 and schemes and joys with perfect composure, and welcome 
 death as the voice of one supremely loved, was a spectacle 
 that none who witnessed can ever forget. It was grand, it 
 was even awful. It impressed some who were in the room 
 in a way they were never impressed before, and I felt more 
 like adoring God for the wondrous triumph of His grace 
 than weeping for my own loss. After this scene she rallied, 
 and the next day the physicians thought that there was a fair 
 
142 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 prospect of her recovery. When it was announced to her 
 that she might yet get well, she said that she wished to have 
 no choice in the matter ; all that she desired was that God 
 might be glorified, whether by her life or her death. For 
 the sake of others she might desire to live, but upon the 
 whole she would prefer, if it was the Lord's will, to depart 
 and be with Jesus. She spent the whole day in listening to 
 the Scriptures, and conversing with me about the condition 
 of the soul after death. She was perfectly calm and col- 
 lected, and what she said was the deliberate utterance of 
 faith, and not the language of excitement. 
 
 Before the last hour came she had a momentary conflict, 
 but gained a glorious victory, and her joys were irrepressible ; 
 she threw her arms around my neck, and told me that her 
 happiness was beyond expression ; she felt the presence of 
 Jesus, and rejoiced in him with joy inexpressible and full of 
 glory. It was a glorious death, a triumphal procession. 
 What makes the whole matter more consoling is, that there 
 had been for months a marked and rapid progress in divine 
 things. She had been much in prayer, and as a proof of her 
 intense spirituality she has left behind her a paper contain- 
 ing her reflections and feelings and purposes in the prospect 
 of her marriage, and all bespeak the condition of one whose 
 eye was single to the glory of God. It is a precious docu- 
 ment, absolutely amazing for her years. Two days before 
 she was taken sick, she had been on a visit to some friend in 
 Sumter, and upon her return spoke to her mother of the 
 delightful communion she had enjoyed with God in prayer. 
 The Master was evidently maturing her for Heaven. The 
 family has been amazingly sustained. The truth is, we dare 
 not murmur. The grace has been so transcendent that it 
 would be monstrous to repine. I feel my loss, for I loved 
 her very tenderly ; but I bless God for what my eyes have 
 seen, and my ears heard. We have been afraid to grieve, 
 the triumph was so illustrious. My second daughter is 
 a professor of religion, and I think a true child of God. 
 
DR. THORNWELL. 143 
 
 My boys are still out of the ark. Pray for us, my dear 
 friend, especially pray that I may have no unconverted child. 
 The event has been greatly sanctified to me and my wife. 
 God grant that we may never grow faint. I never relax my 
 hold upon the covenant. Jesus has been more precious to 
 me than I have felt him for a long time, and the Gospel 
 more glorious. Henceforth I am bound, I trust, for eternity. 
 I want to live only for the glory of God. Pray for me and 
 mine. The Lord bless you, and reward you for your kind 
 and Christian sympathies. 
 
 As ever yours, 
 
 J. H. Thoenwell. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A CAUSE very dear to Mr. Carter's heart was that 
 of the Bible Society. He writes in 1884 : " In 
 1856 I was elected a manager of the American Bible 
 Society, and shortly after a member of the Committee 
 of Publication. It was my great delight to meet 
 with the noble men who constituted the Board of the 
 Society at that time. Most of them were silver-headed 
 and prominent men. Governor Bradish was President 
 of the Society, and was a most graceful presiding officer. 
 James Lenox, Dr. Allen, President of the Girard Col- 
 lege, and Dr. S. Wells Williams, have since occupied 
 that position. The work of the Society has greatly 
 increased. Its issues amount to a million and a half 
 volumes annually. I have been on the Committee of 
 Publication for twenty-eight years, and there has not 
 been the slightest friction among us. One after an- 
 other has passed away, and now I am alone. A new 
 generation has occupied the place of those who sat 
 with me when I first entered. And now my work is 
 nearly done." 
 
 In 1878 he was made one of the Vice-Presidents. 
 He was regular in his attendance at the meetings of 
 his committee, until the very last months of his life. 
 It was often remarked by him, with great pleasure, 
 that there were as many Bibles printed in three years 
 of the present decade as were made in the first eigh- 
 teen centuries of the Christian era. 
 
PRINCETON SEMmABT. 145 
 
 One of the closest friendships of his life was with 
 another of the Vice-Presidents of the Society, A. R. 
 Walsh, Esq., who was also an honored elder in the 
 Scotch Church. He was a man of noble and generous 
 character, "graced with polished manners and fine 
 sense," a thorough Christian gentleman. Their friend- 
 ship was so close that they were often compared to 
 David and Jonathan. Their duties in the eldership 
 and other Christian work often brought them together 
 several times a week, and the children of both families 
 were often amused to note that after a meeting Mr. 
 Walsh would accompany Mr. Carter to his door, and 
 then Mr. Carter would see Mr. Walsh home, and then 
 both would walk to a corner half-way between the two 
 houses, and stand talking together until they reached 
 a point where it seemed possible to them to break off 
 their conversation. It was a great trial to both when 
 Mr. Walsh removed, in his last days, to Stamford, 
 Connecticut, but even separation did not cool their 
 friendship, which burned with unabated ardor till 
 death parted them. 
 
 William Henry Green, D.D., of Princeton, writes : — 
 
 " Mr. Carter was elected by the General Assembly in 
 1856 a member of the Board of Directors of Princeton 
 Seminary, and he served faithfully in that capacity to the 
 end of his life. It was part of his duty to attend the ex- 
 aminations from time to time. He always manifested a 
 deep interest in the Seminary, even after his physical weak- 
 ness prevented him from attending the meetings of the 
 Board. He was at the time of his death the oldest member 
 of the Board, and the one who had been longest in service. 
 He established three prizes for excellence in Old Testament 
 studies, which have been given annually since 1879 to the 
 three students of the Seminary who prepared the best theses 
 
 on some assigned subject. 
 
 10 
 
146 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 " Let me take this opportunity to express my personal 
 grief, as well as my deep sense of the loss sustained by this 
 Seminary and by the Church at large in his death. He was 
 for thirty-three years a Director of this Seminary, and there 
 was no one whose counsel and friendship were more highly 
 prized. His wide influence as a Christian publisher has 
 been extensively and powerfully felt for good, and will con- 
 tinue long after he has entered upon his reward. In all the 
 spheres of Christian evangelical effort in which he held so 
 conspicuous a place he will be sadly missed. My own past 
 intercourse with him is one of the delightful memories 
 which I shall continue to cherish." 
 
 Another member of the Board, Eev. W. C. Cattell, 
 D.D., thus writes : — 
 
 " Yes, I loved and honored Robert Carter. It is a delight 
 to me to recall his precious memory. Though much younger 
 than he I was next him in seniority among the directors of 
 Princeton Theological Seminary. We were associated in the 
 Board nearly thirty years. It was always like a benediction 
 to look upon his face, dear precious blessed man. Few men 
 have I loved so much, and so did all love him who knew 
 him." 
 
 Mr. Carter was one of the founders, in 1857, of the 
 New York Sabbath Committee, a society which has 
 done a great work for the consecration of our Chris- 
 tian Sabbath. For years he did yeoman's service in 
 this admirable institution, and at his death left but 
 one survivor of the original Committee. 
 
 Indeed, it would be a difficult matter to give a list 
 of all the benevolent institutions to which he belonged. 
 A year or two before his death, one of his grandchil- 
 dren jocosely remarked, " It seems to me Grandpa at- 
 tends an annual meeting of some society every week 
 
EUKOPE IN 1861. 147 
 
 in his life." He gave to each earnest thought and lib- 
 eral hand. Giving was to him one of the sweetest 
 pleasures in life. He valued money, not for what it 
 was, but for what it could do. He had to be a very 
 undeserving petitioner whom he refused. The wonder 
 was that he could grow in wealth, but " there is that 
 scattereth and yet increaseth." In his business, it was 
 often said of him that he would rather give away his 
 books than sell them, and only those who were con- 
 stantly with him knew how perpetual was the giving 
 out. It was no bare gift that he gave, for the giver 
 always went with it in kindly love and sympathy. 
 Those who saw what he gave would suppose he was 
 a man of great wealth; those who noticed his man- 
 ner of living would have thought him a man in lim- 
 ited circumstances, though he was always ready for 
 any necessary expense. He was never of those who 
 think that generosity consists in spending liberally on 
 one's self. 
 
 In 1861 his two elder sons graduated from Princeton 
 Seminary. As the eldest was just twenty-two, he felt 
 that they were too young to take up a pastoral charge, 
 so he decided to take all his family to Europe, where 
 they travelled for fifteen months. It was a most de- 
 lightful tour, the only drawbacks being the constant 
 anxiety caused by the war of the Rebellion in America, 
 news of which was eagerly watched for, and the severe 
 illness of his eldest son in Germany from Syrian fever, 
 contracted while on a tour through the Holy Land. 
 Several months of 1861 were spent in Scotland, where 
 his sons attended classes at the Divinity Schools of the 
 Pree and United Presbyterian Churches in Edinburgh. 
 On this trip Mr. Carter had even more delightful inter- 
 course than before with clerical and other friends in 
 
148 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Ireland and Scotland. Dr. Hall in Dublin, Dr. Cooke 
 and Dr. McCosh in Belfast, Drs. Macleod and Mac- 
 duff in Glasgow, and Drs. Guthrie, Candlish, Cunning- 
 ham, John Brown, M.D., and many others in Edinburgh, 
 extended the most cordial hospitality, and did every- 
 thing that was possible to make his stay among them 
 delightful. A large circle of friends gathered about 
 him in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and his exceedingly 
 social nature was gratified by the refined and intel- 
 lectual society of the Scottish cities. 
 
 The family arrived in Glasgow on a Saturday, and on 
 Sunday morning all desired to hear Dr. Norman Mac- 
 leod. As Mr. Carter was not very sure of the locality 
 of the Barony Church, he stopped a tall, stout gentle- 
 man at the corner, and inquired the way. He was be- 
 ginning very courteously to give the necessary directions, 
 when Mr. Carter exclaimed, " Why, Dr. Macleod ! " 
 " Why, Mr. Carter ! " It was indeed the great preacher 
 himself, who was on his way to exchange with a min- 
 ister at Kelvin Grove; so if the party had not thus 
 accidentally met him, they would have had their long 
 walk to the Barony Church only to encounter disap- 
 pointment. They turned about and accompanied Dr. 
 Macleod to Kelvin Grove, where they heard from him 
 a sermon he had preached a week or two before to the 
 Queen at Balmoral. The next day he spent the entire 
 morning with his American friend, talking over matters 
 of Church and State that were of great interest to all. 
 After this they met repeatedly. Dr. Macleod on one 
 occasion coming to Edinburgh on purpose to spend the 
 day with Mr. Carter. On another occasion Dr. McCosh 
 came from Ireland for the same purpose. 
 
 There was no one in Edinburgh with whom Mr. 
 Carter had so much delightful intercourse as with Dr. 
 
DR. GUTHRIE. 149 
 
 Guthrie. His wonderful geniality, his extraordinary 
 conversational powers, were as remarkable as his great 
 pulpit eloquence. His church was always so crowded 
 that it was impossible for strangers to get admittance 
 save by ticket, but Dr. Guthrie gave Mr. Carter a per- 
 manent order for admission, and he and his family at- 
 tended Free St. John's more than any other church in 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 Mr. Carter gives the following account of a delightful 
 trip on the Continent with Dr. Guthrie's family. 
 
 " In August, one morning, I was leaving our lodgings, 
 when I saw Dr. Guthrie and his son David approaching. 
 They said they were going to the Evangelical Alliance 
 in Geneva on the following Monday, and had come to 
 bid me good by. They spread their map on my table, 
 and showed me their plan and route. The Doctor then 
 turned to me and asked, ' Can you go with us ? ' My 
 wife joined them in urging me to go, and I went. We 
 reached Paris on Tuesday evening. There were ten of 
 us in all ; most of them were of Dr. Guthrie's family. 
 A more delightful company 1 never met. We were 
 seated at the tea-table in the hotel, when a gentleman 
 came behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. It 
 was Dr. Macduff, author of many delightful books 
 which I had published. I looked at him, and he said, 
 'My wife is here, and would like to see you.' He 
 showed me his route, and I said I would diverge from 
 the Guthrie plan for two or three days and go with him. 
 Dr. Burns, brother of Mrs. Guthrie, and late Moderator 
 of the General Assembly, also went with us, as it would 
 give us an opportunity of seeing Basle and Zurich. I 
 had thus the pleasure of becoming better acquainted 
 with Dr. Macduff, who proved a most charming com- 
 panion. After parting from him we rejoined the Guthrie 
 
150 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 party, and spent a night at Chur, the birthplace of Dr. 
 Schaif. We then crossed the Alps by the Splugen Pass, 
 and made our way to Milan, where we saw the finest 
 Gothic cathedral in the world. Thence we went to 
 Venice, and the Doctor selected for our guide an Ameri- 
 can who had been our representative in Trieste, but 
 had been displaced, and as war was raging at home he 
 went to Venice to act as guide to English and American 
 travellers. We were so much pleased with him, and 
 felt so much sympathy with him, that on parting we 
 made up a purse for him. In our return to Switzerland 
 we had passed the night in a diligence, and at break of 
 day we alighted to walk a little. There were some 
 Italians — Waldenses going to the Alliance — pacing 
 along with us. The Eev. Mr. Revell was among them, 
 and as I had met him in New York we were very glad 
 to meet again. He was engaged at that time in print- 
 ing the Italian Bible, and the American Bible Society 
 furnished the money for it. As I was on the Publi- 
 cation Committee of the Bible Society he was glad to 
 report progress. 
 
 "At the meeting in Geneva I met C^sar Malan, who 
 kissed me on both cheeks. I invited him to dine with 
 me, and he gave some account of his work. He was 
 old, and much discouraged. I felt a warm sympathy 
 with him. He did a good work. Merle dAubignd, 
 whose History I had reprinted, received me also very 
 affectionately, and introduced me to F. W. Krummacher, 
 for whom he acted as interpreter. One evening Dr. 
 Guthrie delivered a lecture, and at the close his daugh- 
 ter said to me, ' There are two daughters of Edward 
 Bickersteth here who have been parted from their es- 
 cort. I will introduce you to them. Perhaps you will 
 be pleased to accompany them to the entertainment in 
 
EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 151 
 
 the Park.' 'T shall be delighted to do so.' I found 
 them charming company. They gave me an account 
 of the last hours of their dear father, whom I usgd to 
 think of as the beloved disciple, so meek, so gentle, so 
 lovely. I little thought that a few years later I should 
 publish ' Yesterday, To-day, and Forever,' the delightful 
 work of their brother, and one of the most popular vol- 
 umes I have ever issued. I was glad to be introduced 
 to Tholuck, the Monods, and other celebrities of France 
 and Germany. Dr. Baird was the only American there 
 that was with me at the great Evangelical Alliance 
 meeting in London in 1846, fifteen years before. 
 
 "After the meeting, our party went to Visp, the Cor- 
 ner Grat, and Zermatt. We had a snowball party on the 
 Gorner Grat, 10,000 feet high, while the valleys below 
 were excessively hot. We saw the sun set on Monte 
 Rosa, and the scene around was the most magnificent I 
 ever saw. The good Doctor had some of the most sub- 
 lime bursts of eloquence amid those glorious mountains. 
 0, it was good indeed to be with him !" 
 
 Mr. Carter used often to relate the following inci- 
 dents of this trip. 
 
 On one occasion Dr. Guthrie was about to cross a 
 little foot-bridge which he thought of doubtful sound- 
 ness. He had forgotten the German for " safe," so he 
 asked the guide in French, but he shook his head ; then 
 he asked him in English, with no better success. " I am 
 going to try him with Scotch," exclaimed the Doctor. 
 " Is 't siccar, man ? " " Ah, ja, ja, siccar ! " responded he 
 at once. 
 
 When they were crossing the Austrian frontier in 
 going to Venice, the of&cial who examined the passports 
 was puzzled by Dr. Guthrie's, on which were included 
 the names of his party of eight, and, after trying in 
 
152 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 vain to comprehend it, he lost patience, and threw it on 
 the ground. Dr. Guthrie drew himself up to the full 
 height of his commanding figure, and, shaking his long 
 forefinger at the man, he exclaimed, '' If you treat me 
 with indignity. Queen Victoria with a hundred thousand 
 men will put me right." The man did not understand 
 a word that was said, but he could appreciate the atti- 
 tude and gesture of the great orator, and he stooped 
 very meekly and picked up the passport ; the Guthrie 
 party was set in a row, and the individuals pointed out 
 in connection with their names on the paper, and the 
 matter was soon straightened out. " Now, Mr. Carter, 
 it 's your turn. You '11 have to stand fire," cried the 
 Doctor. But Mr. Carter had no one but himself on the 
 passport, so that there was no complication. The offi- 
 cial glanced at it, attached his vise, and handed it back 
 ■with a polite bow. "What's the meaning of this?" 
 exclaimed Dr. Guthrie. "Oh," said Mr. Carter, "my 
 honest face always carries me through." 
 To return to Mr. Carter's own narrative : — 
 " After our return to Edinburgh I invited Dr. Guthrie 
 and his family to tea. When the door bell rang, I went 
 to the head of the stairs to receive the company. After 
 entering the door, Dr. Guthrie looked up to where I 
 stood, and said, ' I have brought you an old friend 
 whom you will be glad to see. Principal Cunningham.' 
 The latter had just returned to the city that day, and 
 had gone to see Dr. Guthrie, who told him, ' We are 
 going to Mr. Carter's to-night ; will you go with us ? ' 
 That was the most delightful evening I spent in Edin- 
 burgh. The feast of reason and the flow of soul enrap- 
 tured us all. We remember it the more vividly, as it 
 was the last time we saw Dr. Cunningham in good 
 health. He called on me afterwards, but he was un- 
 
DR. JOHN BROWN. 153 
 
 strung and not like himself. A few days later I saw 
 him at his house, but he was very low. I was there 
 again, but did not see him. He was within ten hours 
 of his last. He was an iastrument of great good to his 
 beloved country. 
 
 "One of the most interesting friends I met at this 
 time was the gifted John Brown, the author of 'Eab 
 and his Friends.' He took me into some of the 
 queerest nooks of the Old Town, and threw a halo 
 around them by his illustrations of ' The Heart of 
 Midlothian,' old Davie Deans and his daughter Jeanie, 
 Holyrood, the Castle, and other scenes famous in an- 
 cient story. He took me to the home of his vener- 
 able father, Eev. Dr. John Brown of Edinburgh, who 
 had recently passed away, and showed me his valu- 
 able library, which was to be given to the Theological 
 Seminary of the United Presbyterian Church. He took 
 up an old Greek Testament, and told me the story 
 connected with it. His ancestor, John Brown of Had- 
 dington, — one of the fathers of the Secession Church, 
 the author of the Concordance that bears his name, and 
 many other useful works, not the least the Catechism 
 which has been studied by tens of thousands of children 
 in Scotland and America, and the Self-interpreting 
 Bible, which is yet an heirloom in many Scottish fami- 
 lies, — was in early years a shepherd among the uplands 
 of Scotland. He was fond of study, and in his spare 
 hours had acquired some knowledge of Latin and Greek. 
 He was anxious to procure a Greek Testament, and got 
 some one to take his place for a day while he walked 
 twenty-four miles to a town where he knew there was 
 a bookstore. He walked all night, and reached the 
 place where the store was, and was standing in front of 
 it when the owner came and opened the door. He had 
 
154 LIFE or ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 * 
 his shepherd plaid around him, and looked very unlike 
 
 a student. He inquired for a Greek Testament. He 
 was asked if he wanted it for himself, and he answered, 
 ' Yes.' ' If you will read me a verse or two, I will give 
 you the book for nothing.' He read and translated, and 
 the astonished bookseller gave him the book. Mr. 
 Brown told me that there were six John Browns, all 
 eldest sons, in regular succession, he being the fifth, and 
 his son the sixth. The first was a custom weaver, and 
 from him had descended a noble line of illustrious 
 men. When I was leaving Edinburgh, John Brown 
 was one of the last from whom I parted. A short time 
 before his death, he sent me a loving message through 
 my dear friend, Dr. Cuyler, who spent some happy 
 hours with him. 
 
 " There were two brothers, William and David Dick- 
 son, of whom I have many pleasant memories. David 
 was the City Treasurer of Edinburgh. He reminded 
 me often of ApoUos E. Wetmore, of New York. His 
 life was consecrated to the good of his fellow men. He 
 took me with him to the Magdalen Asylum, which he 
 visited weekly. I addressed the poor women a number 
 of weeks in succession. I never saw a more attentive 
 audience. They were melted to tears. Such weeping 
 overcame me, and I wept with them. We implored the 
 blessing from on high, and it came. The dear Lord 
 sought the lost, and found them there. At New Year 
 the city authorities gave them a supper, to which I 
 was invited. I addressed them very briefly, but as I 
 was about to leave Edinburgh it was a parting address. 
 After I sat down, I whispered to Mr. Dickson that I 
 wished to retire. He said he would accompany me. 
 When we reached the door I looked back and made a 
 bow to them. They involuntarily rose in a mass and 
 
IN SCOTLAM). 155 
 
 made a courtesy. It was a touching sight, and it was 
 the last. After my return to New York I received a 
 letter from them signed by all save five, whose names 
 were written for them by the matron, thanking me for 
 my interest in them. A letter came also, asking me if 
 I could find Christian homes for them in our city. 
 There had been a great work of grace there, and they 
 were anxious to save the poor women from falling back 
 into their old ways. I advised them to send them to 
 Canada, and secure to them homes among the Scotch 
 farmers there. They did so, and the result was most 
 favorable. Many were plucked as brands from the 
 burning." 
 
 Mr. Carter spent a month in his beloved Earlston, 
 the place of his birth, and greatly enjoyed reviving old 
 scenes and memories. He inquired of his old weaver 
 friend what had become of the set of Eollin with 
 which he had the adventure with the mad dog. He 
 said that he would gladly have given him the book, but 
 he had parted with it only the year before. A neigh- 
 bor's family had gone to Australia, and he had given 
 them Eollin to beguile the tedium of the long voyage. 
 Mr. Carter was greatly disappointed, as he would have 
 valued the old book very highly. 
 
 Mr. Carter's sons preached in the church of their 
 forefathers. He greatly enjoyed the beautiful drives 
 in lovely Berwickshire and the neighboring counties. 
 One day he went to Kelso and saw Mrs. Duncan, his 
 dear old friend. He also called on Dr. Horatius Bo- 
 nar, but was told that Dr. Andrew Bonar was on a' 
 visit to his brother, and the two had gone to spend 
 the day at Flodden Field; so he missed seeing them 
 together, though he saw both afterwards in Glasgow 
 and Edinburgh. 
 
156 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 In October, two delightful trips were made to the 
 Scottish Highlands and English Lakes. A Sunday was 
 spent near Balmoral, where the family attended service 
 at Crathie, in the church in which the Queen worships 
 when at the Highlands. They were seated in the gal- 
 lery directly opposite the royal party, which consisted 
 of the Queen and Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, 
 Princess Alice with her betrothed Prince Louis of 
 Hesse, the Duke of Argyle, and a number of distin- 
 guished men. Dr. Stuart of St. Andrew's Church, 
 Edinburgh, preached. Just as the service began, he 
 found to his dismay that he had left his manuscript 
 at his lodgings, and was obliged to preach a discourse 
 which he had recently given to his own people, and 
 which was fresh in his mind. It was a very earnest 
 sermon on " Prepare to meet thy God," and so impressed 
 the mind of Prince Albert that he asked the preacher 
 to lend him the manuscript, that he might read it over. 
 This was but a short time before the Prince's death. 
 A few weeks later, Mr. Carter saw him lay the foun- 
 dation of a new post office in Edinburgh in a severe 
 storm, in which he caught the cold that led to his 
 death. 
 
 About this time occurred the Trent affair, which at 
 one time seriously threatened a war between England 
 and America. Some of Mr. Carter's Scotch friends 
 were a good deal shocked to hear him declare that, dear 
 as was the land of his birth, the land of his adoption 
 claimed his allegiance, and in case of war he must im- 
 mediately return to America. He tried in every way 
 to study the things that make for peace, to pour oil on 
 the troubled waters. At several public meetings he 
 pleaded with the Christian people to use their influ- 
 ence to preserve the peace between Christian nations. 
 
PROKESSOR MITCHELL. 157 
 
 On one such oetasion the whole audience rose to their 
 feet, exclaiming, "No war with America." Dr. Nor- 
 man Macleod wrote a paper for one of the magazines 
 in which he urged a peace policy, and shortly after 
 showed Mr. Carter a note from the Queen's secretary, 
 signed by her Majesty, in which she expressed her 
 pleasure at the tone of the article. 
 
 On New Year's day, 1862, Mr. Carter was invited to 
 address Dr. Guthrie's ragged schools at their festival 
 He was in the midst of his speech, and was giving an 
 account of the career of his friend. Gen. 0. M. Mitchell, 
 the distinguished astronomer, when Dr. Guthrie himself 
 entered the hall, and was received by the children 
 with heartfelt applause. Dr. Hanna, colleague of Dr. 
 Guthrie and son-in-law and biographer of Dr. Chal- 
 mers, whispered, " Mr. Carter, I wish you would begin 
 that story over again, I want Dr. Guthrie to hear it." 
 The story is given here as Mr. Carter told it. 
 
 " In the summer of 1860 I visited Sharon Springs. 
 One of the first to welcome me was a bright, noble 
 gentleman, whom I knew by reputation, though I had 
 never spoken to him before. We took a walk into the 
 woods together, and had a delightful conversation. 
 While we were gazing at the lovely scene before us, 
 he turned to me and said, ' Could we not have a daily 
 prayer meeting here ? ' I said I would be glad if we 
 could. After discussing this matter for some time, we 
 descended the hill and met some of the visitors, to 
 whom we spoke of our plan ; but the bathing interfered 
 with it, and we had to give it up. This talk drew me to 
 him tenderly, and I found a kindred spirit with whom 
 I could commune lovingly. One evening we withdrew 
 into a quiet place, :where he gave me his history. I 
 shall givfe it as nearly as I can in his own words. 
 
158 LIFE bF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 " I was born in Kentucky. My father died before I 
 was three years old, and my mother when I was seven. 
 To her I owe much, though she was taken so early from 
 me. Some friends took me to Central Ohio and inden- 
 tured me to a saddler to learn his trade. I had to 
 split the wood, to kindle the fire, to cook the victuals, 
 to wash the dishes, to sweep the house, and do every- 
 thing that was needed. I had little time to learn the 
 trade. But as I was a poor orphan, I bore all patiently 
 and did the best I could. One day the mistress said 
 to me, ' Go and split the wood for the fire in the morn- 
 ing.' I did so, and returned. ' Did I not tell you to 
 go and split the wood ? ' she said. ' Yes, ma'am, and I 
 have done it.' ' You have not done it,' she said. I left 
 the room and went into the shop, and said, ' I am going 
 to leave you, sir.' 'What's the matter?' ' I could 
 live very happily with you, sir, but I cannot live with 
 mistress. She has charged me with lying. My dear 
 mother taught me never to be so mean as to tell a lie.' 
 ' Well, go,' said he, ' you will soon be back.' I went to 
 my room, tied my little all in my handkerchief, and 
 went out into the street. I saw at a little distance a 
 man with a team. I went up to him, and asked where 
 he was going. ' To Cincinnati,' said he. ' Will you 
 take me with you ? ' ' You cannot go,' said he ; 'on 
 the corduroy roads you would be shaken to pieces.' 
 ' If you will take me, I will go. I will ride the off 
 horse, will run errands, and do anything I can.' ' Well, 
 come along.' We were five days on the road ; but he 
 was kind, and aided me when we reached our destina- 
 tion in finding a good home, and work which I could 
 do. The people with whom I lived were poor, but kind, 
 and I was happy. After the labors of the day I used 
 to lie down on the hearth, knock the nose off a pine 
 log, and read and study. 
 
PROFESSOR MITCHELL. 159 
 
 "There was a gentleman near us who took some 
 notice of me, took me to his house, and showed me 
 his library. How delighted I was to see so many fine 
 books ! He asked me to take one and read it, and 
 come back and take another. This opened a new 
 door to me. I began to study mathematics. I drew 
 my diagrams on the hearth, and worked them out, 
 and went on till I learned a great deal. My good 
 friend watched me lovingly, and every now and then 
 examined me and gave me encouragement. One day 
 he said to me, ' How would you like to go to West 
 Point in the State of New York, where young men 
 are educated at their country's expense to do service 
 afterwards ? ' I asked him whether I was prepared 
 to go there, and he answered, ' Yes.' I sewed a piece 
 of linen and made a knapsack into which I put my 
 clothes, got my credentials, and started for Sandusky, 
 two hundred miles off. I walked part of the way, 
 sometimes got a ride, and at length reached the lake. 
 A steamer was up, as they said, and I went on board 
 and asked the captain if he would take me to Buf- 
 falo. He told me what the fare was. ' But,' I said, ' I 
 have no money.' ' Then you cannot go.' I answered, 
 ' The weather is fine, I can sleep on deck, and I will 
 help in kindling fires or doing anything else.' He 
 took me. This was in 1825. The Erie Canal was not 
 quite finished. I walked one hundred miles to a point 
 where boats were running. I went to a boat and 
 asked the captain to take me to Albany. He told me 
 the fare, but I said to him, ' I will run errands, help the 
 cook, and do anything else I can.' He took me, and 
 treated me kindly, and when we were approaching 
 Albany I said to him, ' You have been very kind ; I 
 will show what my business is here.' I had sewed my 
 
160 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 credentials on the inside of my vest. I undid the 
 sewing and showed him them. 'How did you get 
 them ? Our most iufiuential young men have difficulty 
 in getting such appointments.' I gave him my story. 
 ' I will see you down to West Point.' He took me to a 
 steamer, and paid for my passage, and so I made my 
 way there. 
 
 " It was a hot day in the middle of summer when I 
 climbed the hill at West Point. There were others 
 on the same errand, but they were genteelly dressed 
 and rather elbowed me out. When we reached the 
 Academy, there was a door standing open, and a num- 
 ber of us entered a large room. With my knapsack 
 on my back, in my homespun garb, I felt a little de- 
 pressed, and sat down by the door. A patrol paced 
 backward and forward, and each time he came to the 
 door he gave me a pleasant look. After a while a bell 
 was rung and my fellow travellers rushed out to din- 
 ner. As I had no money I sat still. When the patrol 
 came up, he said, 'Never miud, you will dine with 
 me to-day. I shall soon be through.' Soon after he 
 came and said, ' Come along. We shall dine, and you 
 will sleep with me to-night.' He was a fine, generous 
 youth, the son of Fulton, who ran the first steamer up 
 the Hudson to Albany, and he proved a true friend. 
 After dinner he said, ' The examination begins to- 
 morrow; I will get a list of candidates." He did so, 
 and we found my name was not on the list for next 
 day, but the day following. ' That is good,' he says. 
 'You will see to-morrow how the examination goes.' 
 Next day he took me to a room where there were 
 a number of benches and a platform a little raised 
 from the floor, and, behind, a blackboard hanging on 
 the wall. I thought that was a picture turned to the 
 
PROFESSOR MITCHELL. 161 
 
 wall to keep it nice ; but I soon found out its purpose, 
 and thought it a great improvement on my old hearth- 
 stone at home. I took a back seat, and soon the 
 benches were filled. A silver-headed venerable gentle- 
 man came and took his seat on the platform. He took 
 a roll, and called a name, and gave a problem to be 
 solved. A young man went forward and made sad 
 work. Another came, and did better, but the most of 
 them signally failed. After all had been examined, 
 the gentleman called out to me, ' What is your name ? ' 
 I told him. He looked at the list, and said, ' Your 
 turn is to-morrow, but it may spare your feelings if 
 I give you something to do now.' He gave me one 
 problem, and then another, and I quickly worked them 
 out, and then he asked me, ' What school did you 
 attend V 'I never went to school, sir,' I said. ' Who 
 taught you ? ' 'I never was taught, sir.' ' Where did 
 you learn what you have been doing just now V 'I 
 learned lying on the hearth by a wood fire in Ohio,' 
 ' You may come to-morrow.' I went through my course 
 there with credit and profit. 
 
 " But I must pass over many years. I became a 
 Professor in a Western college, had a wife and six. 
 children, had a good library, a fine apparatus, and 
 was a very happy man. One day I was seated in 
 church, when I heard a footfall approaching the 
 door, which stood open. I looked out and saw a 
 friend making signs that I was wanted. I slipped 
 quietly out, and, behold, the college building was in 
 flames. My furniture, books, apparatus, were burned 
 up. I had recently imported some apparatus, from 
 Europe, and owed four hundred dollars. In sore per- 
 plexity, I applied to a friend at Cincinnati for a loan of 
 two hundred dollars to take me to Boston, where I 
 11 
 
162 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 proposed to deliver a course of lectures to relieve my 
 perplexity. He v?as ready to leud me the money, but 
 doubted the wisdom of making the attempt. I took 
 with me some letters of introduction, and started on my 
 way. When I reached Boston and delivered my let- 
 ters, I was told that it was the fag end of the season, 
 that the people were sick of lecturing, and it would be 
 in vain to try. I asked if I could secure a lecture- 
 room, and as there was no difficulty about that, I en- 
 gaged a room, printed my advertisements, posted them 
 myself, and quietly awaited the issue. When the even- 
 ing came I went to the hall, but there was not a person 
 there. I looked at my watch, and found it wanted 
 twenty minutes of the time appointed. When the 
 hour arrived there were about eighty present. I had 
 no apparatus, with nothing but my rod in my hand, 
 but with a full heart, I delivered my lecture. Many 
 of my hearers at the close rushed up to me and said, 
 ' If you will lecture on Tuesday night, you will have a 
 full room.' Editors of the leading newspapers were 
 there, who pledged themselves to do me justice, and 
 they did. On the Tuesday night the crowd was so 
 great, that I had to walk on the backs of the pews 
 between the heads of the people to gain the desk. I 
 delivered my lectures there, and repeated them in 
 Lowell, and returned home with two thousand dollars 
 in my pocket. 
 
 "Here," said Mr. Carter, "the narrative of my hon- 
 ored friend ended. I tell it to you boys, to encourage 
 you to faithful efforts to improve and develop your- 
 selves. This man, who rose from obscurity entirely 
 by his own efforts, with the blessing of God, is now 
 one of the most learned men and eloquent orators of 
 our day, holding large audiences of our most culti- 
 
ROME IN 1862. 163 
 
 vated people spellbound while he discourses to them 
 of the wonderful facts of astronomy. Of late a fear- 
 ful storm of war has swept over our land. The 
 whole country has been moved to its depths, and the 
 brilliant lecturer is now leading one of our armies to 
 save his loved land." 
 
 A year later, Mr. Carter had to add to this narrative 
 these words : " Of those who fell in that struggle, no 
 nobler spirit winged its flight to the home where there 
 is no war than that of General Mitchell. What a scene 
 must have opened before him when those glorious orbs 
 of light, which he studied so ardently here below, burst 
 in all their majesty before his astonished vision ! " 
 
 The winter and spring of 1862 Mr. Carter spent in 
 Italy with his wife and daughter, while his sons visited 
 the Holy Land and Egypt. Three months of this time 
 he spent in Rome, where he fairly revelled in the scenes 
 familiar to him from his classical studies. Every spot 
 was to him hallowed ground, from its associations with 
 
 "The dead but sceptred sovereigns who still rule 
 Our spirits from their urns." 
 
 He was perfectly indefatigable in his researches into 
 the haunts of antiquity and verse, and was ever ready 
 with an incident or a quotation for each scene. 
 
 Mr. Carter writes the following incident, which oc- 
 curred at this time : — 
 
 " One afternoon I was walking up the street that leads 
 to the Pincian Hill, the great promenade of the Eomans, 
 a gentleman whom I supposed to be an Englishman was 
 walking alongside of me. I bowed and said, ' Good day, 
 sir.' He answered courteously. We entered into con- 
 versation. He was a physician who had spent seven- 
 teen years in Rome, and he gave me a rather dark picture 
 
164 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 of tlie Papal government. When we reached the brow 
 of the hill, we saw seats along the side of the walk. 
 On one of these there were three gentlemen dressed as 
 priests of high rank, and as we approached one of them 
 rose up and took me by the hand, addressing me pleas- 
 antly. It was Archbishop Hughes, and I was glad to 
 meet him, as it was the first year of our sad war, and I 
 was anxious to converse with him about the state of 
 affairs. We had a long and interesting conversation, 
 and when I bade him good-by, I turned to descend the 
 hill. I found my friend the physician waiting for me, 
 apparently in some trouble. ' What is the matter ? ' I 
 asked. 'I made a mistake,' said he, 'and have been 
 talking too freely. I heard that there was a Scotchman 
 here who had gone to New York many years ago, and 
 had married a Yankee wife, who had made him as much 
 a Yankee as herself, and I thought you were the man.' 
 ' What changed your opinion ? ' I asked. ' He was not 
 a Catholic, as you apparently are. Two of these gentle- 
 men were Cardinals ; the third one who talked to you 
 I did not know, but I supposed you were a Catholic, 
 else he would not have received you so cordially.' I 
 relieved his mind by assuring him that I was the man he 
 described, and as good a Protestant as himself. Bishop 
 Hughes did receive me kindly. He told me he could 
 open any door to me in Rome, and would be glad to 
 do anything to give me pleasure. One day, after a long 
 discussion of various difficult questions, I quoted two 
 lines, 
 
 'Not greatly to discern, not much to know, 
 Mankind was made to wonder and adore.' 
 
 'You are acquainted with my old friend. Young,' said 
 he. ' Yes,' I replied. ' I studied Young's Night 
 Thoughts by the firelight till I made large portions 
 
ROME IN 1862. 165 
 
 of them my own.' He told me he did the same when 
 he was a boy, and that they had been his vade mecum 
 ever since. I could not help loving the man who 
 had drunk with me at the same spring in life's morn- 
 ing. We had so much common ground on which to 
 stand, that we touched little on those points in which 
 we differed." 
 
 There was not much civil or religious liberty at 
 that time in Eome. There was no Protestant church 
 allowed within the walls. There was a very ritual- 
 istic Episcopal church outside the Porta del Popolo, 
 and just inside was a church where Cardinal Man- 
 ning preached every Sunday afternoon. It was a 
 common saying among the English residents that the 
 high church rector brought them to the gate of Eome, 
 and Cardinal Manning opened it and took them in. 
 Mr. Carter greatly enjoyed hearing Cardinal Manning, 
 and went quite regularly for a while, at times when 
 there was no Protestant service. The Free Church 
 of Scotland was trying to establish a mission in 
 Eome, and had sent there the Eev. Mr. Lawton, an 
 able and interesting preacher, who held services in his 
 own apartments, he having chosen a large and pleasant 
 parlor with this object in view. The services were very 
 simple and delightful, Mr. Lawton appropriately choos- 
 ing the Epistle to the Eomans as the subject of his 
 sermons. The audience were constantly reminded of 
 the apostle who had " dwelt two whole years in his own 
 hired house, and received all who came in unto him." 
 As the little conventicle was held only on sufferance, 
 though the authorities doubtless knew of its existence, 
 it was thought best not to call attention to it by sing- 
 ing, and the congregation was requested to enter and 
 retire in little groups of twos and threes. All this 
 
166 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 added a little spice of interest and adventure, appeal- 
 ing to the imagination, and seeming to connect the 
 worshippers with those who eighteen centuries ago 
 had worshipped in the Catacombs under the ban of 
 those in authority. 
 
 Mr. Carter met an old friend who had visited his 
 store in New York, the Eev. Mr. B . This gentle- 
 man had some years before been on board the ocean 
 steamer " Amazon " when she was burned at sea, and 
 had escaped in a lifeboat. He had written a little tract 
 giving a description of the burning, and making an ap- 
 plication by warning sinners to flee from a similar peril. 
 Before coming to Italy, he had had this tract translated 
 into Italian, and brought a large number of copies with 
 him for distribution as he travelled. As he went about 
 Eome, he gave away a number of these leaflets, handing 
 one to his landlady, another to a soldier in the Lateran 
 palace. In St. Peter's, he entered into conversation 
 with a priest, and handed him one of the tracts. The 
 next day an officer entered his rooms, and said that he 
 and his package of books must go at once to the police 
 court. Arrived there, he was accused of circulating Prot- 
 estant tracts. " You are mistaken," said he, " there is 
 nothing controversial in these tracts. There is nothing 
 in them but what Protestants and Catholics alike be- 
 lieve. It is a simple appeal to sinners to flee from the 
 wrath to come." "No cavilling, sir," said the judge. 
 " You cannot be allowed to stay longer here. You must 
 take the first steamer that leaves Civita Vecchia, and 
 after you get on board, your tracts will be restored to 
 you." In vain he protested that he had a written per- 
 mit to stay in Eome for a month. Go he must, and go 
 he did. 
 
 One of the most delightful episodes of this journey 
 
AMONG THE WALDENSES. 167 
 
 was a Sunday spent with the Waldenses at La Tour. 
 One Friday evening in Milan, it was discussed whether 
 the Sabbath should be spent in Genoa or Turin, when 
 suddenly Mr. Carter looked up from the map which he 
 was studying to propose that a little longer journey 
 should be taken, and that they should go up among the 
 Vaudois. This was decided by acclamation, and Sat- 
 urday evening at seven found them at Pinerolo. Mr. 
 Carter went out to seek a carriage to take the party to 
 La Tour. While he was examining a vehicle, a pleasant- 
 looking gentleman, dressed in black, came up and asked 
 in English if he could be of any assistance as inter- 
 preter. They fell into conversation, and the gentleman 
 proved to be one of the professors from the seminary at 
 La Tour, come down to preach in Pinerolo the next day. 
 He said, " Shall I introduce you to one of our pastors, 
 who is going up on the diligence ? " and presented Pro- 
 fessor Tron, who extended a cordial welcome to the 
 valley. The diligence started on, and shortly after the 
 carriage for Mr. Carter's party was ready. That even- 
 ing ride through the twilight into the beautiful region, 
 hallowed by so many sacred associations, was one never 
 to be forgotten. Arrived at the little inn at La Tour, 
 it was found to be lighted from garret to cellar ; the 
 host and hostess came out with a hearty welcome, as if 
 to invited guests. " Here is a room for Monsieur and 
 Madame, here one for Mademoiselle. This one we 
 have made ready for the young gentlemen." "But," 
 said Mr. Carter, " there must be a mistake. We had 
 not engaged rooms." " 0, but the Professor has been 
 here, and told us about you, and the rooms are all 
 ready, and supper is on the table." This simple hospi- 
 tality was very grateful, after months of travel among 
 strangers of another faith. 
 
168 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 In the morning, the Professor came, and led the party 
 to Sunday school, which was held in the church, and 
 was participated in by all the congregation, old and 
 young. Afterwards came the church service, and at 
 the end of the sermon the clergyman called upon a boy 
 in the audience, who rose and gave a very full account 
 of the discourse. After a little, the pastor told this boy 
 to be seated, and called upon another, who took up the 
 subject where the first had left off. The service was 
 conducted in French. At that time theological stu- 
 dents had to be sent to Geneva to be educated, as 
 there was no seminary for them at home. The people 
 seem to speak and understand it as well as their native 
 Italian. They are very simple and friendly in their 
 manners, and salute all passers by with a cheery " Bon 
 jour." 
 
 Professor Tron came towards evening, and took the 
 family out for a walk through his most interesting val- 
 ley. He pointed out a cave in the mountain side 
 where a large party of Vaudois had hidden themselves 
 from their Savoyard pursuers, who built large fires in 
 the entrance, and suffocated the unfortunate refugees. 
 In another direction was a mountain into whose rocky 
 fastnesses the small army of the Waldenses had fled 
 from their pursuers, who set guards at nightfall around 
 their place of refuge, thinking that in the morning they 
 would fall an easy prey. It was bright moonlight, and 
 it seemed impossible that they should escape, but in the 
 night a thick fog enveloped them, and the Vaudois, 
 knowing every footpath, were enabled to slip through 
 their enemies' lines and escape. Such narratives, told 
 upon the very spot where the events occurred, were of 
 thrilling interest. Mr. Carter plied his informant with 
 questions of the past and present. He was delighted 
 
DR. c:i;sAR malajj. 169 
 
 to hear the name of his dear old friend, Mr. Lenox, con- 
 stantly and gratefully mentioned. " Mr. Lenox did this 
 for us." " Mr. Lenox gave us that library." It was a 
 great pleasure to Mr. Carter to have this familiar inter- 
 course with the descendants of those "who kept the 
 truth so pure of old." 
 
 Professor Tron said that the Waldenses had lost a 
 good friend in Count Cavour, and gave an instance of 
 his favor to them. The Piedmontese constitution for- 
 bade the printing of Bibles or other books without the 
 imprimatur of a bishop. The Vaudois were accused of 
 violating the law, but Cavour decided that, as they had 
 no bishops, their pastors were bishops. Thus the door 
 was opened for their publications. 
 
 The two following Sabbaths were spent in Geneva, 
 where the family attended Dr. Malan's church. This 
 venerable man impressed all who saw and heard him 
 by the earnestness and spirituality of his appearance 
 and words. His noble and beautiful face, with the long 
 white hair falling upon his shoulders, and the tender- 
 ness of his speech, made him appear like the beloved 
 disciple in his last days at Ephesus. On the second 
 Sunday, there was a communion service, and the gen- 
 eral audience retired before the ordinance, leaving only 
 about a dozen people besides the American visitors. Dr. 
 Malan whispered to his session about providing seats 
 " pour las Strangers." In addressing the communicants, 
 he spoke some words in English at the close, and in the 
 prayer added some petitions in English. When the 
 bread and wine were distributed, he directed the elders 
 to carry them to the strangers first. The whole service 
 was very simple and beautiful, and especially appro- 
 priate, because there were so small a number present, — 
 scarcely more than the little company who first partook 
 
170 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 of the feast in the upper chamber in Jerusalem. After 
 service, Mr. Carter's oldest son, who was just entering 
 the ministry, was presented to Dr. Malan, who, placing 
 his hands upon the young man's head with manifesta- 
 tion of deep feeling, said, " My dear brother, you have 
 chosen the grandest and noblest of all callings, and may 
 the blessing of the God of Jacob ever rest on you and 
 on any church of Jesus Christ to which you may be 
 called to minister." 
 
 Dr. Malan had long been a correspondent of Mr. 
 Carter. In one letter, which has unfortunately been 
 lost, he gave many interesting reminiscences of the 
 Haldanes and their evangelical work in Geneva and 
 Montauban, which was blessed to the conversion of 
 Malan, Merle d'Aubign^, Gaussen, and the Monods. 
 He also dwelt very affectionately and enthusiastically 
 on the character of Dr. John M. Mason of New York, 
 who was with him in Paris in the early years of the 
 century. Dr. Malan invited him to go to the theatre 
 to see some brilliant performance. Dr. Mason de- 
 clined, saying that he did not think it right. Dr. 
 Malan said that he could see no objection to going 
 where they were not known, and where their example 
 could do no harm. Dr. Mason replied, " My Chris- 
 tianity knows no geography." Dr. Malan added, that 
 his views in regard to amusements and to observance 
 of the Sabbath were revolutionized by his intercourse 
 with Dr. Mason. 
 
 Shortly after his return to America, in August, 1862, 
 Mr. Carter received the following letter from Dr. Guthrie, 
 with whom from that time he kept up a regular corre- 
 spondence until his death, when Mrs. Guthrie took up 
 the pen, and was henceforth Mr. Carter's most regular 
 correspondent in Great Britain. Her first letter is also 
 
LETTER FROM DR. GUTHRIE. 171 
 
 inserted here with her husbands, though it is of a much 
 later date. 
 
 Dr. Guthrie's letter bears date September 4, 1862 : — 
 
 "Your letter was a great pleasure to all of us, and all the 
 more after the distress into which we were thrown after the 
 most painful rumor that one of your sons had been lost in 
 the Jordan. It was some little time after this appeared in the 
 newspapers until we heard of it. I clung to the hope that it 
 might not be your son, although it was stated to be a young 
 student by the name of Carter from New York, and we 
 knew that your sons were at the time specified in the Holy 
 Laud. Still I assure you we were very happy and thankful 
 to learn some time before receiving your welcome letter that 
 it was none of yours who had been drowned while bathing in 
 the Jordan. 
 
 " How well I would like to see you again ! We go over 
 often our travels with you, and recall with pleasure the inter- 
 course between our two families. I hope we shall meet 
 again on earth ; meanwhile may we be making daily progress 
 to that better land where they meet to part no more. . . . 
 
 " Wliat is to become of your country 1 In some respects 
 the providence is as dark and terrible as the thunder-cloud 
 which has been flashing and pealing over this house for the 
 last two hours. As you will remember, I never anticipated 
 any other result than that which has happened. Be they 
 right or wrong, men fighting for what they consider indepen- 
 dence, with their wives and children at their back, are hard 
 to subdue. And in the accounts from America, how often 
 do I wish that God would step forward and put an end to 
 the horrors ! We are all greatly distressed about America, 
 and our only comfort is the hope that the blot of slavery 
 will in the end be washed out. It is sad to think, however, 
 that should be done by tears and blood, although perhaps 
 not much to be wondered at. It is a blessed thing to know 
 that God reigneth supreme over men, with all their folly and 
 
172 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 madness. One would otherwise have no hope for the better 
 times that are in store for this distracted world." 
 
 1 Salisbury Road, March 11, 1873. 
 
 Dear Mr. Cartbe, — Among the hundreds of letters 
 which I have been receiving these last sad weeks of tender 
 sympathy for me and mine, and of the appreciation of the 
 worth and dying testimony of my dear husband, none cer- 
 tainly have touched my heart more than yours ; for not con- 
 tent with loving thoughts of your suffering friend on his 
 dying bed, you follow up these by a substantial proof of your 
 friendship in destining so large a sum as one hundred pounds 
 to do with as he thought proper. 
 
 Now, since the Lord has called him to a higher steward- 
 ship, I shall gratefully accept your gift, dear Mr. Carter, 
 as it will enable me to contribute more easily (as I would 
 ever wish to do) to the many noble objects the Master 
 has honored his servant to further by his means as well 
 as his advocacy while on earth. 
 
 You will be glad to know how wonderfully the Lord has 
 sustained me. From the first to the last of Dr. Guthrie's 
 illness, I have seen that the sickness was unto death. I 
 have cast my burden on the Lord, and He has sustained me. 
 You know how I am blessed in my family, all doing well in 
 the world, respected and respectable. And then the wide- 
 spread tide of sympathy and kind attention, from the Queen 
 down to the poorest in the land, is very soothing to my 
 stricken heart. David sends you by this post a pamphlet 
 containing any particulars you might like to know of the last 
 hours of your dear departed friend, which you will please 
 accept from me instead of a letter from Charles, which I 
 am sure he would have gladly written, and may still by 
 and by. I have with me my son Thomas and his wife, 
 from Buenos Ayres ; so the house does not look so desolate, 
 though, alas! none can take the place of its head. 
 
 The Lord spare you and bless you, dear Mr. Carter, and 
 
LETTER FROM MRS. GUTHRIE. 173 
 
 your family, to serve His cause, and bless the world as you 
 have done for many a day, and at last grant you an abun- 
 dant entrance into His kingdom above, to join the ransomed 
 throng who have already beheld their blessed Lord and 
 Saviour. 
 
 Yours with much esteem, 
 
 Anne Guthrie. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Guthrie, with their youngest son Charles, 
 had naade all their arrangements to visit America in 
 the summer of 1867, and were to be Mr. Carter's guests. 
 They came as far as Queenstown, but the motion of the 
 steamer had so bad an effect on the action of the Doctor's 
 heart that he was obliged to give up the voyage, to the 
 sore disappointment of his many American friends. His 
 son made the journey alone, and won many friends in 
 this country, who still remember him with cordial in- 
 terest. He visited Mr. Carter in New York and in 
 Stockbridge, Massachusetts. 
 
CHAP TEE VIL ' 
 
 WHEN Mr. Carter returned to America after his 
 most enjoyable European trip, he was fifty-five 
 years of age, entering upon what are generally regarded 
 as declining years, but he was destined to " bring forth 
 fruit in old age." His last days were also his best. 
 His two sons in the ministry soon married and settled 
 in their respective parishes ; a few years later his only 
 daughter married a clergyman ; his brother-in-law, Eev. 
 Dr. Mann, was settled in Princeton ; and Mr. Carter 
 would go from one country parish to another, a most 
 welcome visitor, taking part in any meetings or conven- 
 tions that were going on at the time, always present at 
 and adding greatly to the interest of Sunday school and 
 prayer meeting. His friends often referred to these 
 visits as those of a bishop to his diocese. His advice 
 was constantly sought by the young ministers, and was 
 always judicious and kindly. Wherever he went, he 
 spread sunshine by his cheery presence. At his side 
 moved his gentle wife, casting a milder but no less cer- 
 tain radiance. She was almost always with him, except 
 in his numerous journeys to the General Assembly, at- 
 tendance on which she resolutely declined. They were 
 singularly happy in the marriages of their children and 
 all new members coming in were welcomed by the 
 parents as if they had been indeed their own. The 
 family tie was strengthened and not weakened by the 
 new lives added. In later years they were called to 
 
STOCKBKIDGE. 175 
 
 mourn, as one by one their children hy marriage were 
 removed by death, and in each case their grief was deep 
 and lasting, sorrowing for themselves and for the dear 
 ones so sorely bereaved, and for the grandchildren left 
 fatherless or motherless. 
 
 In 1864 began a series of summer gatherings unique 
 in their character. It was not enough for Mr. Carter to 
 visit his children in their homes, and have them visit 
 him in New York with their little ones, a few at a 
 time. He wanted all his clan assembled under one roof, 
 and for a considerable period ; so during the vacations 
 of the ministers he invited all to some country haunt. 
 He found comfortable quarters in beautiful Berkshire, 
 Massachusetts, first at Stockbridge, afterwards at South 
 Egremont. As years passed on, the party increased, 
 until at last, with mothers-in-law and brothers-in-law 
 and babies and nurses, it frequently numbered nearly 
 forty. A large sitting-room was always provided where 
 family prayers were regularly conducted, and where 
 many a merry game was enjoyed in the evenings. The 
 days passed in what seemed a delightful dream. The 
 young cousins grew up with almost brotherly interest 
 in each other. Occasionally a few congenial outsiders 
 dropped into the happy circle. 
 
 Mr. Carter was always very fond of driving, and 
 wherever he was would constantly get up great carriage 
 loads to go to some point of interest. To him a pleas- 
 ure shared was always doubled, and when he was along 
 no one else ever troubled himself about expense. 
 
 Dr. Henry M. Field vvTote in the Evangelist, after 
 his old friend's death : — 
 
 " For some years he spent his summers near us in the 
 country, where in 1866 he received a visit from Dr. McCosh, 
 who was then making his acquaintance with America, and 
 
176 LIFE OF ROBEET CARTER. 
 
 the first time that we ever saw a face to which we were 
 afterwards to look up with such a tender veneration was 
 when Robert Carter and Dr. McCosh were on the lawn in 
 front of the old farmhouse playing croquet. But the dear 
 elder did not, any more than the learned divine, fail to seize 
 every opportunity for doing good. He attended a little 
 church among the hills, and his contribution to it was fully 
 one tenth of the pastor's salary ; and when the latter was 
 laid upon a bed of sickness, no visits were more frequent and 
 more welcome than those of this man of God, whose very 
 presence in the sick-room was a benediction." 
 
 One of Mr. Carter's most delightful memories of 
 Stockbridge was of an evening at Dr. Field's house, 
 with Dr. McCosh, Dr. Mark Hopkins and his brother 
 Dr. Albert Hopkins, and Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. 
 It was an occasion never to be forgotten by any who 
 listened to the flow of brilliant conversation. 
 
 The little church to which Dr. Field alludes was one 
 in the village of Curtisville, about two miles from 
 Stockbridge. The first summer that he visited Berk- 
 shire he was boarding with his family in a pleasant 
 house, beautifully situated between Stockbridge and 
 Curtisville, and with a lovely view over the picturesque 
 hills and valleys of Berkshire. There can hardly be 
 a more beautiful village on earth than Stockbridge, 
 with its magnificent elms shading its broad street, — 
 with its lovely homes, where culture and refinement 
 have made their abode since Eliot and Jonathan Ed- 
 wards lived there. The first Sunday Mr. Carter drove 
 with his party to Stockbridge to church, but during the 
 following week he noticed a spire near at hand among 
 the trees, and inquired if there was not a church within 
 walking distance. " yes, there is the Curtisville 
 church, but it is a plain little affair. You would not 
 
CURTIS VILLE. 177 
 
 like to go there.'' " I think I should, for two reasons. 
 I never take horses out on Sunday if there is a church 
 I can walk to, and we might he able to do some good 
 in that church. The Stockbridge one is strong, and 
 does not need us." From that time he threw himself 
 heartily into church work there, attending Sunday 
 school and evening meetings as if he was a deacon or an 
 elder. The prayer meetings were exceedingly interest- 
 ing and very largely attended. Mr. Carter and his sons 
 were cordially welcomed, and it is believed that great 
 good was done in that quiet neighborhood. The people 
 had grown disheartened, the church was in great need 
 of repairs, but they felt unable to do anything. Mr. 
 Carter spoke words of encouragement, and when he of- 
 fered a liberal subscription on condition that they would 
 do their best, the people took hold with a good will, 
 and when he came back the next summer the shabby 
 little building was transformed to such a degree as 
 to be hardly recognizable. The whole church life was 
 revived and spiritualized. It seemed as if the dry 
 bones lived. The Sunday school was a special field of 
 labor to him. Here and in many other schools he of- 
 fered prizes to the children for different forms of Bible 
 research. One of these was the offer of an attractive 
 book to every member of the Sunday school who 
 would bring him a written list of all the names of 
 Christ that he could find. Such a list has been found 
 prepared by himself, and containing one hundred and 
 sixty-five names of our Lord. Books were promised 
 to any one who would come and tell him that he or 
 she had read the Bible through. In the course of his 
 life he must have given thousands of volumes in this 
 way. Another favorite scheme of his was to tell some 
 young man who was beginning to use tobacco that he 
 12 
 
178 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 would give him twenty dollars if he would give it up 
 till he came of age. He thought, if the habit was not 
 formed before that age, there was little danger of its 
 being formed afterwards. One day he met a young lad 
 smoking, and said to him, " John, if you will stop smok- 
 ing till you are twenty-one I '11 give you twenty dollars." 
 The boy threw away his cigar, saying, " I '11 never smoke 
 again," and he never did. When he came of age, and 
 he had received his twenty dollars, a member of his 
 family said to him, " Are you not going to smoke again 
 now ? " " No indeed, I would not show such disrespect 
 to Mr. Carter." 
 
 It has been said that he was a peace lover. It was 
 impossible to quarrel with him, because he positively 
 would not quarrel. People tried it sometimes, and 
 perhaps would go off in a huff because all their sharp 
 speeches were good-naturedly answered, and then, when 
 they got over their pet and came back, they found him 
 just as he always had been, kind and friendly, with 
 never an allusion to their former outbreak. He had 
 the best of all dispositions, naturally a quick temper, 
 under perfect control. He had his own strong con- 
 victions on important subjects, and was not afraid to 
 express them when necessary, but he had large charity 
 for other people's convictions ; and the petty affairs 
 which many people quarrel over were to him trifles, 
 unworthy of a thought. " Why do ye not rather suffer 
 wrong ? " was a text often on his lips. 
 
 At the close of the war, a good many of his Southern 
 correspondents, of whom he had not heard for months 
 or years, came North, and found him ready to give a 
 kindly reception. A clergyman whom he had known 
 well, a fine scholarly man, but a strong Secessionist, 
 came into his store in the spring of 1865. Mr. Carter 
 
SOUTHERN FRIENDS. 179 
 
 and his brothers were very glad to see their old friend, 
 and gathered about him to hear how he had fared in 
 the long period of silence and separation. He talked to 
 them awhile with evident emotion, and then said, " Mr. 
 Carter, I don't understand this. I came North, expect- 
 ing to find coldness and alienation, and you welcome 
 me as warmly as you ever did." " Oh," said Mr. Carter, 
 laughing, "of course we welcome the repentant prodi- 
 gal." " But I am not repentant. I am conquered, but 
 not convinced." "We receive you as a Christian brother, 
 any way. The war is over, and we will all accept its 
 conclusions, and talk over only the many things on 
 which we meet on common ground, and not the few on 
 which we disagree." This clergyman had lost every- 
 thing during the war ; he was unable to preach, and 
 was sorely embarrassed. The same day, a prominent 
 and wealthy man of Chicago came into the store, and 
 said, " I want to buy a library, and expect to spend 
 twenty thousand dollars on it. I wish you would help 
 me in the selection of the books." Mr. Carter told him 
 that he had not time to go into such a work, which 
 should be done with great care, and would be a year's 
 
 work for some one, but said, " You know Dr. , who 
 
 has just come up from the South. He is just the man 
 to do such a work, and I know that he greatly needs 
 employment." The position was offered, and gladly 
 accepted by the clergyman, who gratefully thanked 
 Mr. Carter, saying, " You certainly obey the injunction, 
 ' If thine enemy hunger, feed him.' " The idea of Mr. 
 Carter regarding a political opponent as an enemy was 
 preposterous in the last degree. 
 
 Another Southerner, who came up from the South 
 at the close of the war and renewed old friendship 
 with Mr. Carter, was Mr. McCarter, at whose house 
 
180 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 in Charleston, South Carolina, he had visited. He was 
 a man of most benevolent character. In slavery times, 
 no free colored person was allowed to live in South 
 Carolina. If they earned money to purchase their 
 freedom, they were obliged to put themselves under 
 the protection of some white man, and be considered 
 his slaves. Quite a large number had chosen him as 
 their master in this way, and, while calling themselves 
 his slaves, they carried on business for themselves. 
 "When Mr. Carter visited him, in 1855, he would fre- 
 quently say, in passing through the streets, "That is 
 my man," or, " That is my woman." This noble Chris- 
 tian man during the war visited hospitals and prisons, 
 carrying kindly relief and sympathy to the wounded 
 of both armies. He had removed to Columbia, and 
 was there when it was burned. When Sherman's 
 army passed through, there was great excitement and 
 trouble in the town. He was summoned to his front 
 gate to speak with a party of soldiers who demanded 
 food. " I will do the best I can for you, but the South- 
 ern army has just passed through, and stripped our 
 larder, and really I have but poor fare to offer you." 
 While he was speaking, the torchlight fell full on his 
 face, and a soldier exclaimed, " Why, old horse, is that 
 you ? " And turning to the commanding officer, he 
 said, " This man was very kind to us Northern prison- 
 ers. I was sick and in prison, and he came to me 
 bringing comforts and speaking kind words." " I shall 
 set a guard on his house, then," said the officer. " Sir, 
 you need fear no further molestation." Through all 
 that stormy time, "the beloved of the Lord dwelt in 
 safety by Him." 
 
 When he came North, after peace was declared, he 
 arrived unexpectedly one evening at Mr. Carter's house, 
 
AS AGED HEROINE. 181 
 
 exclaiming, as he entered the parlor, " Will you receive 
 an old rebel ? " He was welcomed with open arms, and 
 the two friends sat late that night talking over the ex- 
 citing events that had taken place since they last met. 
 Mr. McCarter wore a suit of rather rough-looking cloth, 
 and, turning to his hostess, remarked, "You may not 
 think I am very elegantly dressed, Mrs. Carter, but per- 
 haps you may have more respect for my garments when 
 I tell you that this suit I have on cost me six hundred 
 dollars." This little visit was greatly enjoyed by both 
 friends, and they tacitly agreed to differ on topics on 
 which they took entirely opposite views. The quiet 
 games of chess over which they spent an hour each even- 
 ing formed the only battle-ground between the two. 
 
 One of Mr. Carter's dearest friends was Mrs. Sarah 
 A. Brown, who for many years kept a young ladies' 
 boarding school in New York. She had been associated 
 with him in the High School, being principal of the 
 girls' department, and the friendship then formed was 
 sustained through life. She was a woman of fine in- 
 tellect and very lovely character. At the time of the 
 riots, in 1863, she was living on the corner of Twenty- 
 Third Street and Seventh Avenue. Looking from her 
 window, she saw several colored women, with children, 
 chased along the avenue by a mob. She went out on 
 her steps and beckoned the poor creatures in, promising 
 all the protection in her power. The mob surrounded 
 the house, threatening to set fire to it if she did not 
 give up the Negroes. Again she went out on her door- 
 step, and addressed the rioters, saying that she felt 
 that she could not die in a better cause than defending 
 the oppressed, and that she never would give up these 
 defenceless creatures. The noble words and dignified 
 bearing of the stately, beautiful old lady, who counted 
 
182 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 not her life dear unto herself, so impressed those law- 
 less men that they went quietly away, and she suffered 
 no further molestation. She kept the refugees in her 
 house for several days, and when at last the streets 
 were quiet she went down to Mr. Carter's store to ask 
 if he would join with her in providing a simple outfit 
 for them, as they had lost their clothing and furniture 
 in the riots. 
 
 In July, 1867, one of her two daughters died after a 
 brief illness at Princeton, New Jersey, where Mrs. Brown 
 was then residing. At this time, Mr. Carter wrote her 
 the following letter : — 
 
 "By a letter received yesterday, we were informed 
 that your loving daughter, Miss Caroline, was no more. 
 The sad tidings deeply affected us all, the more so as 
 they were so unexpected. How little we know what a 
 day may bring forth ! What can I say to you to com- 
 fort you ? You know the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and you know how lovingly he dealt with her for many 
 a year. Has he now in anger smitten her down ? Can 
 you suppose this to be the case ? By no means ! You 
 mourn not as those without hope. For, as Jesus died 
 and rose again, so those who sleep in Jesus he will 
 bring with him. This sore trial to your faith and pa- 
 tience brings to my mind all the way by which the 
 Lord has led you these nearly forty years since we first 
 met. How goodness and mercy have followed you ! 
 And yet through much tribulation you have come. 
 Can you not now set to your seal that God is true, — is 
 love ? For many years past I could say with the apos- 
 tle, ' I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.' 
 Can I not still continue to say so ? Yes, ' He doeth all 
 things well.' May it not be that he is saying to you, 
 ' Arise, this is not your rest, for it is polluted.' 
 
LETTER TO A BEREAVED FRIEND. 183 
 
 " The venerable Samuel Eutherford, writing to a lady 
 sorely bereaved, uses this language : ' Build not your 
 nest on any tree in this forest, for your Master has sold 
 them all to death, and he will soon come and take them 
 all away.' 
 
 " Grandmother, Mrs. Carter, and all of us, deeply sym- 
 pathize with you and Miss Brown. The Lord deal very 
 tenderly with you, and show you wherefore he contend- 
 eth with you, and make you to become more and more 
 fruitful. ' Whom he loveth, he chasteneth.' He hath 
 taken your loved chUd to himself. He hath washed 
 her, and made her white and clean, and hath clothed 
 her with the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness. 
 How happy she is now ! how holy ! how loving ! We 
 cannot think of her but as the bride adorned for her 
 husband. 
 
 " Eichard Cameron was beheaded at Airsmoss, in 
 Scotland, and the headless body was there buried. 
 Shortly after, Alexander Peden sat on the grave, and, 
 wayworn and weary, raised his eyes to Heaven, and 
 exclaimed, ' to be wi' Eitchie ! ' 
 
 " We shall go to her ; she shall not return to us. She 
 is not dead, but sleepeth. May we too sleep as sweetly 
 as she does in the blessed Saviour when our day is done 
 and the night cometh ! ' Peace be unto you.' ' The very 
 God of peace dwell in you richly, and make you to 
 abound more and more in the fruits of the Spirit.' ' The 
 Lord hear thee in the day of trouble, the name of the 
 God of Jacob defend thee, send thee help from the sanc- 
 tuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion.' 
 
 " I am glad that our dear brother M. is so near you. 
 He is a wise counsellor, and loves you. 
 
 " May the Master open his lips, and cause him to 
 speak comfortable words. 
 
184 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 " We commit you and your dear daughter E. to our 
 covenant-keeping God." 
 
 Eef erence has been made several times to Mr. Car- 
 ter's friendship With Dr. McCosh, which began in 1850 
 and continued to the close of his life, when Dr. MoCosh 
 stood beside his coffin and paid a true and tender trib- 
 ute to the memory of his tried and faithful Mend. 
 Dr. McCosh gives the following history of his inter- 
 course with Eobert Carter : — 
 
 " I was first brought into communication with Mr. Carter 
 when, in 1850, 1 pubUshed in Edinburgh my first book, ' The 
 Method of Divine Government, Physical and Moral.' He 
 immediately republished the work in America, sending me 
 the nice little sum of fifty pounds. He took a deep interest 
 in the book, and promoted its sale, not merely because it 
 brought him business profit, but because he thought it would 
 do good, and because he believed that it set forth what he 
 was sure was the true doctrine in regard to God and his 
 government. From that time I corresponded with him 
 occasionally. I saw him in Edinburgh when he came on a 
 visit to his native country looking out for good books to 
 republish and make known and circulate in the wider coun- 
 try of America. I owe to him, as many others do, the 
 introduction of my early works into the wide continent of 
 North America. He threw himself heartily into this work, 
 and carried it on in a business-like manner, believing that 
 in this way he could do most good both in his native and 
 his adopted country. 
 
 " Being now somewhat known in the United States, I paid 
 a visit to that country in 1866. He received me as his 
 guest, first in New York, and then in his summer quarters 
 in a farmhouse near Lenox. In that latter place I saw him 
 at his best. He had gathered his family around him. He 
 was lively, he was genial. He had many an anecdote to tell 
 of the scenes through which he had passed in Scotland and 
 
DR. McCOSH. 185 
 
 in America. In particular he watched with deep interest the 
 career of Thomas Guthrie, whose works he published, and 
 other eminent ministers of his native land. He felt a deep 
 interest in the Scotchmen who came over to America. Some 
 of them had unfortunately fallen into poverty and bad hab- 
 its, and he took evident pleasure in telling how he had been 
 the means of relieving them in their difficulties and starting 
 them upon a new and better course. This was a subject on 
 which he always delighted to expatiate. 
 
 " Everybody was impressed with two features of his char- 
 acter. One was his great conscientiousness. However bril- 
 liant and salable a book might be, he would not publish it 
 if its tendency was not good, or even if it contained a pas- 
 sage fitted to injure religion or morality. In this respect 
 he was more rigidly faithful than any publisher I ever met 
 with. He used his daily employment as a means of impart- 
 ing elevated knowledge and spiritual comfort to old and 
 young. I know of no library, juvenile mission, or tract 
 society containing a greater number of books, all good and 
 none evil, than Mr. Carter's store in Broadway. 
 
 " Every one noticed another characteristic. His heart was 
 full of pious devotion. It was ever ready to express itself 
 in prayers. It was pleasant and refreshing to join him in 
 his family worship. At meetings for benevolent and reli- 
 gious purposes he was commonly asked to lead in prayer. 
 Every sentence was rich with spiritual unction, and you felt 
 that it was the outpouring of the heart." 
 
 Dr. McCosh has kindly given his consent to the pub- 
 lication of three of his letters, which explain themselves 
 and which throw light on a very interesting period in 
 the lives of both. They were written in the interval 
 between Dr. McCosh's visit to America, in 1866, and 
 his assuming the Presidency of Princeton College, in 
 1868. The first bears the date of Belfast, Septem- 
 ber 1, 1866. 
 
186 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 " After a pleasant passage, I arrived in Queenstown on 
 Wednesday, and at my own home the following day. 
 
 " My deepest feeling is one of thankfulness to the loving 
 God who has kept me through these long voyages of six 
 thousand miles, and of these still longer journeys of seven 
 thousand five hundred miles, during the whole of which I 
 have been in such a state of health as to enjoy the scenes 
 through which I have passed, and to receive, I trust, profit 
 from them. 
 
 " I also feel gratitude to the many, many friends, for such 
 I reckon them, in America, who have shown me so much 
 kindness and put themselves to so much trouble to throw 
 open to me objects of interest in your towns and in your 
 rural districts, in your churches and in your benevolent and 
 educational institutions. Few travellers from our country 
 have seen such a variety of men and manners, of industrial 
 life and natural scenery, in your country, as I have had the 
 privilege of doing. 
 
 " Among these friends I give the first place to you, — you 
 and your family, and your brothers, and indeed your whole 
 kindred and connection. I am indebted to you for being 
 able to plan such a tour, and for making me known to many 
 who helped me on my journey, and for the quiet though 
 deep pleasure I always felt in the bosom of your family, first 
 in New York, then still more in that lovely valley in Berk- 
 shire. I feel that the purposes which I had in view in my 
 visit to your country have been fulfilled, and I thank God 
 and my American friends that I have come home thoroughly 
 refreshed in body and in mind ; and I feel that I can enter 
 with renewed life on my college duties and on my more 
 general studies. I have received new and profitable sensa- 
 tions and impressions, and laid up many pleasant memories 
 to be cherished in time, and I believe in eternity. I have 
 formed acquaintances in a day or in an hour to be remem- 
 bered by me as long as I have a memory. 
 
 " I found the good people in your country ready to reoip- 
 
DR. McCOSH. 187 
 
 rocate any feeling of kindness expressed by the people of 
 this country. I rejoice in the opportunity which I had in 
 the General Assemblies at St. Louis of making statements 
 which I trust tend towards bringing Christians in your 
 country into closer communion with Christians in our land. 
 " There was such a spirit exhibited at all our meetings 
 about the Evangelical Alliance in New York, that I am con- 
 fidently expecting that there will soon be a public announce- 
 ment of the formation of an American organization to act 
 along with the British in exhibiting and realizing the unity 
 of the Church of Christ. It will now be my pleasant duty 
 to report all this to Christians here, and thus join the other 
 end of the chain and connect the countries by a quicker and 
 a stronger bond than the Atlantic Cable. I have seen how 
 much you owe to education, I have seen much in your 
 higher schools and colleges to admire and to copy. I am 
 ready to testify that in New England and in other parts, 
 including the West, you have been able to raise the working 
 classes to a state of physical comfort and of intelligence 
 such as has not been realized in any country in Europe. 
 You owe this to the Word of God, to your quiet Sabbaths, 
 and to education.'' 
 
 The following letter from Dr. McCosh bears date 
 January 22, 1868: — 
 
 " In a letter which I had last week from a gentleman of 
 some influence in the States, he mentions incidentally that 
 Dr. Maclean has resigned the presidency of the New Jersey 
 University, and that some are greatly talking of me for the 
 office. I had occasion to write him, and said simply that I 
 was not seeking any office here or elsewhere, but that if any 
 such proposal was laid before me I would favorably consider 
 it. I think it due to the friendship subsisting between you 
 and me to let you know this. I am willing to go wherever 
 my Master may call me to a wider field of usefulness, in this 
 country or America. I have just declined a proposal to make 
 
188 LIFE OF ROBEKT CARTER. 
 
 me Professor of Theology in London to the English Presby- 
 terian Church, because my field was not theology proper, but 
 philosophy always in its religious bearings. I do not know 
 the exact duties or emoluments of the New Jersey College : 
 yet if it affords a wider field to me, — a field for turning all 
 my studies in science and philosophy to a religious account, 
 — I am willing to go at my Master's command, but the in- 
 vitation must come from others, and I will permit no solici- 
 tation on my part directly or indirectly. I think you 
 understand my position. I rejoiced more than I can tell 
 you over the success of the Philadelphia Convention. It is 
 a great event in the history of the Presbyterian Church. I 
 was so glad to find you taking a part in it, and a part which 
 led to good results. As soon as I got the accounts I wrote 
 two papers, with my name signed, for the ' Weekly Review ' 
 of London, and ordered copies to be sent to you. 
 
 " In the three kingdoms there is to be a desperate fight 
 on the Endowment question. The battle is to be in Ireland, 
 and I am in the heart of it. I have given my utterance. 
 An attempt was made to bring me before the Assembly for 
 censure. I have incurred a good deal of odium, but public 
 opinion in the town is gradually coming over to the right 
 side. I hope the Irish Establishment will go, and other con- 
 sequences will follow. Those who stand up for the Donum 
 here are combining with Begg and the Anti-Union men in 
 Scotland. They feel the cause to be one. It will be a keen 
 and disagreeable struggle, but under God I hope the end 
 will be good." 
 
 On February 8, 1868, he again writes : — 
 
 " The proposal to make me President of New Jersey Uni- 
 versity has come upon me with surprise. With so many 
 gifted men in America, I am astonished anybody should 
 think of me. I can look at the office only on one condition, 
 and that is that the call comes spontaneously from the Ameri 
 can side, and as a call in Providence. If it thus comes I shall 
 
DR. McCOSH. 189 
 
 feel bound to consider it favorably. There are some things 
 which would incline me towards it. I should feel it an 
 honor to be in an office filled by such Presidents, from 
 Edwards to Maclean. I should willingly let my bones be 
 buried in the spot where these Presidents sleep. I was 
 greatly impressed with the abilities and character of the 
 Professors in the College and Seminary, and feel that I 
 could pleasantly spend my days among them. 
 
 " My past experience as a minister, first in the Church of 
 Scotland, and then in tlie Free Church, and latterly as a 
 Professor in the last established University in these king- 
 doms, and my rather wide studies, may, with the blessing of 
 God, be turned into some use. I feel especially that I might 
 have more freedom there to promote the cause of Christ 
 than in a State college in this divided country, — that is, 
 Ireland. 
 
 " There are considerations on the other side which I can- 
 not look at at present, such as love to the old country and 
 attachment to friends. I am glad you do not ask me to 
 commit myself 
 
 "If no call comes, I am not disappointed, as I have made 
 no application, and cherished no hopes. If the call comes, I 
 am bound to consider it fairly and prayerfully. I was not just 
 offered the chair in London. But influential parties wrote 
 me, pressing me to allow myself to be nominated. To each 
 of them I wrote an immediate declination, my ground beiilg 
 the same as induced me to decline the call of the Assembly 
 to a Free Church chair in Glasgow, — that, having devoted so 
 many years to philosophy in its various bearings, I was not 
 fit to teach theology. But I offered, if they did not ask me 
 to separate myself from my chair here and from philosophy, 
 to deliver a course of lectures to them every spring on the 
 subjects lying between theology and science. The Synod 
 does not meet till April. My proposal was private, and may 
 not amount to anything. 
 
 " Thank God, I am well and have plenty of work. I began 
 
190 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 here in the College with about forty students ; of late years, 
 the names of my students have numbered from one hundred 
 to a hundred and thirty-five." 
 
 Little has been said so far of Mr. Carter's General As- 
 sembly experiences. These formed a very interesting 
 part of his life, and it is a great pity that a full record 
 of them has not been kept. He was seventeen times a 
 delegate, and took part in many important sessions, 
 especially during the Eeunion of the Old and New 
 School Presbyterian churches. At one of the earlier 
 meetings which he attended, the subject of ministerial 
 relief was brought up. He arose and told the following 
 story. Some years before, he had heard that a friend 
 of his, minister to one of the poorer congregations in 
 New York City, was ill, and he went to see him. He 
 was evidently consumptive, and told Mr. Carter that 
 his physician had said that he ought to go South, as he 
 could not live through the Northern winter. " Why 
 do you not start at once ? " said Mr. Carter ; " it is 
 cold weather now." The sick man requested his wife 
 to leave the room, and said, " Mr. Carter, I have not a 
 dollar in the world. My people can do nothing more 
 for me. The doctor wants me to borrow money to go 
 South as a means of saving my life, but I am not will- 
 ing to run the risk of leaving my family with a burden 
 of debt, if I am to die after all." Mr. Carter was a poor 
 man then himself, but he started a subscription, giving 
 all he could, and went about among his friends asking 
 for help. The sympathies of one benevolent lady were 
 so aroused, that she got into her sleigh in the midst of 
 a blinding snow-storm and collected from her relatives, 
 and Mr. Carter went in a few days with five hundred dol- 
 lars to the poor invalid, and laid the money on the coun- 
 terpane before him. The good man clasped his hands. 
 
GENERAL ASSEMBLIES. 191 
 
 and with streaming eyes thanked God for his great 
 bounty towards him. Then, turning to Mr. Carter, he 
 said, " You and your friends have been very good to me. 
 I never had so much money in my life before. I can- 
 not go South ; I feel that I am growing worse every day, 
 and that it is better for me to stay at home. But this 
 money will be a provision for my family, and I feel 
 confident that the Lord who has dealt so graciously 
 with me will be with my wife and children after I am 
 gone." After his death, his wife went into business in 
 a very small way, keeping what was called a thread 
 and needle shop. She had a hard struggle, but found 
 friends, and was never forsaken. 
 
 From this story Mr. Carter made an urgent appeal 
 that the church at large should do systematically what 
 a few friends had done in this individual case. Many 
 of the friends of ministerial rehef have spoken of a new 
 interest in the cause dating from this speech. 
 
 In 1863, Mr. Carter was a delegate to the Old School 
 Assembly at Peoria. It was in the early days of the 
 Eeunion movement, and friendly resolutions were ex- 
 changed with the New School Assembly, meeting at 
 Philadelphia. The following year, 1864, he was again 
 a delegate at Newark, New Jersey. Here an informal 
 meeting of ministers and elders was held for conference 
 upon the expediency and feasibility of organic Eeunion. 
 
 In November, 1867, he went as a delegate to a great 
 National Presbyterian Convention, held in Philadelphia, 
 " for prayer and conference in regard to the terms of 
 union and communion among the various branches of 
 the Presbyterian family." The call for this convention 
 originated with his old and valued friend, George H. 
 Stuart, Esq., who presided over the meetings. On the 
 iirst morning there was an elders' prayer meeting at 
 
192 LIFE OF ROBEET CARTER. 
 
 nine o'clock, and at ten o'clock a general prayer meet- 
 ing presided over by the Eev. B. W. Chidlaw, of Ohio, 
 another loved and honored friend of Mr. Carter's. Mr. 
 Chidlaw has authorized the following quotation from 
 his book, " The Story of my Life." 
 
 " At the expiration of the half-hour, I received a note 
 from the chairman of the committee to nominate permanent 
 officers, asking the continuance of the prayer meeting for 
 fifteen minutes, when they would he ready to report. After 
 reading the note, I requested some brother to lead in prayer. 
 The response lingered. Just then I caught the eye of Eob- 
 ert Carter, of New York, and asked him to pray. He stood 
 up before the Lord, and in Scriptural language bewailed and 
 confessed the sin of division, his voice tremulous and pene- 
 trating, and full of pathos ; then, as if relieved of a heavy 
 burden, he pleaded earnestly for the fulfilment of the Sav- 
 iour's prayer for the unity of his people and the spread of 
 the Gospel at home and abroad. 
 
 " This prayer was a wonderful outpouring of a soul en- 
 dowed with an unction from the Holy One, and its effect on 
 the audience was marvellous, melted into tears and awe- 
 struck in the presence of our prayer-hearing and prayer- 
 answering God. The unbroken silence that followed told 
 the impression produced. We were dumb before the Lord, 
 whose presence we so fully realized. 
 
 " The committee reported, and their nominations were 
 unanimously confirmed. They had failed to agree, and 
 wanted further time. At the last moment, and in a way 
 that they knew not, they harmonized during the time when 
 Robert Carter was in prayer, became of one mind, and 
 uuited in presenting their report. It was said that Rev. 
 Dr. Musgrave, a leader in the Old School, rather indifferent, 
 if not opposed, to Reunion, was so impressed with the 
 prayer of Eobert Carter that he became one of its strongest 
 friends and ablest advocates." 
 
NATIONAL PRESBYTERIAN CONVENTION. 193 
 
 Mr. George H. Stuart says that, afterwards, " One of 
 the members of the committee was anxious to have the 
 report recommitted, not to change its essential features 
 in any particular, but that so important a document 
 might have the benefit of a little more careful revision 
 from a literary point of view. A motion to this effect 
 was made soon after the Convention was opened, but 
 was strongly opposed by Dr. Musgrave, who had been 
 regarded as an opponent of union, on the ground 
 that the report came in answer to the prayers of the 
 Convention, which had spent the time that the com- 
 mittee had been deliberating in prayer for their guid- 
 ance. So the motion to recommit was withdrawn." 
 Mr. Stuart refers to this prayer as one " of wonderful 
 fervor, which seemed to touch every heart." Some one 
 else has referred to this prayer as an " effectual, fervent 
 prayer of a righteous man, which prevailed on earth as 
 well as in heaven." " As a prince hast thou power with 
 God and with men, and hast prevailed." 
 
 This convention was a season of unbounded pleasure 
 to Mr. Carter. He loved to speak of the many striking 
 and dramatic scenes which characterized it, and which 
 are familiar to most Presbyterian readers, for this was the 
 period of the crystallization of the Reunion movement. 
 
 It was announced to the Convention that especial 
 prayer had been offered for the success of the Reunion at 
 the annual meeting of the Evangelical Societies of the 
 Episcopal Church, which was in progress in Philadelphia 
 at that time. A committee, consisting of Dr. Henry 
 B. Smith, Dr. J. M. Stevenson, the Hon. Judge Drake, 
 and Mr. Robert Carter, was appointed to convey frater- 
 nal greetings to the Episcopal brethren. They were 
 received with the utmost enthusiasm, the whole congre- 
 gation rising to welcome them. The Episcopal As- 
 13 
 
194 LIPE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 sembly resolved to attend the Presbyterian Convention 
 in a body the next morning, and be present while 
 Bishops Mcllvaine and Lee and others presented their 
 salutations. A most striking and interesting scene in 
 this reception was when the venerable Bishop Charles 
 Mcllvaine and the equally venerable Dr. Charles Hodge 
 sprang to each other's embrace upon the platform, each 
 greeting the other as "Charlie," as in the old famil- 
 iar days when they were together in Princeton College 
 and Seminary. 
 
 Afterwards Dr. Hodge said, " I hope this audience 
 will pardon a reference which might seem personal 
 under any other circumstances than the present. You, 
 Bishop Mcllvaine, and Bishop Johns, whom I had 
 hoped to see on this occasion, and I were boys together 
 in Princeton College fifty years ago. Evening after 
 evening have we knelt together in prayer. We were 
 baptized in spirit together in the great revival of 1815 
 in that institution, we sat together year after year in the 
 same class-rooms, and we were instructed by the same 
 venerable theological teachers. You have gone your 
 way and I mine ; but I will venture to say that I do not 
 believe that in all that time you have preached any 
 one sermon which I would not have rejoiced to have 
 delivered. I feel the same confidence in saying that 
 I never preached a sermon which you would not have 
 cordially indorsed. Here we now stand, gray-headed, 
 side by side, after more than fifty years, the repre- 
 sentatives of these two great bodies, feeling for each 
 other the same intimate and cordial love, looking not 
 backwards, not downwards, at the grave at our very 
 feet, but onward to the coming glory. Sir, were not 
 your Church and ours rocked in the same cradle ? Have 
 they not passed through the same Eed Sea of trial ? 
 
REUNION. 195 
 
 Did they not receive the same baptism of the Spirit ? 
 What difference is there between the Thirty-Nine 
 Articles and our Confession greater than the differ- 
 ence between the different parts of one great cathedral 
 anthem that rises to the skies. We stand here to de- 
 clare to the whole world that we are one in faith, one in 
 baptism, and one in allegiance to our Lord." 
 
 This interview between two of his beloved friends 
 was very delightful to Mr. Carter, who always loved to 
 dwell upon its memory. 
 
 The following year, 1868, Mr. Carter was again a 
 delegate to the General Assembly, which met in Al- 
 bany, and at which the subject of Eeunion was the 
 prominent topic. Towards the close of the session, 
 which was a very exciting one, a committee, consisting 
 of Drs. Beatty and Reed, and Elders Robert Carter and 
 Henry Day, was sent to confer with the New School 
 Assembly at Harrisburg. They were very kindly and 
 warmly received, and, after speeches from each member 
 of the committee. Dr. Nelson rose and asked Mr. Car- 
 ter if he would answer a few questions. " Certainly." 
 " What is the position of the Old School Assembly in 
 regard to Eeunion ? " Mr. Carter replied, that a large 
 majority favored it heartily, but that he must acknowl- 
 edge that a minority were opposed to it, " What is the 
 character of that minority ? " " It is mostly composed 
 of the older men whom we honor as fathers. But may 
 I not plead that the greatest consideration should be 
 bestowed on these venerable men ? Let me tell an inci- 
 dent which occurred many years ago in Scotland. The 
 old Earl of Kilmarnock and his son fought on opposite 
 sides at the battle of Culloden. After the victory, 
 the son was standing with a party of officers on the 
 field when a company of prisoners were brought in, 
 
196 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 among them the old Earl, bare-headed, his white hair 
 streaming in the wind. The son spoke no word, but 
 stepped forward and placed his own hat on the head of 
 his father. So should we bear ourselves to those loved 
 and honored fathers, who conscientiously dissent from 
 us." The New School brethren had been feeling a little 
 restive under the slower movements of the Old School 
 Assembly, but " these words produced a profound im- 
 pression, and were among the gentle and Christ-like influ- 
 ences which smoothed over all difficulties, and brought 
 about at length the reunion of the Church." 
 
 Dr. Ellin wood, from whom the last sentence is quoted, 
 adds : " This incident was characteristic of Mr. Carter 
 in all his relations, and in all his Christian activities. 
 This same spirit which favored progress on the one 
 hand, and conciliation and forbearance on the other, 
 characterized his whole course. As a rule, he voted 
 for every wise measure of progress. There was a bright 
 and hopeful energy to his mind even to fourscore years. 
 He was not bound to the past. He expected progress, 
 as he earnestly prayed for it. He realized that many of 
 the old moulds and measurements must be outgrown." 
 
 After leaving the New School Assembly at Harris- 
 burg, Mr. Carter returned to his own Assembly at 
 Albany, and made his report with the others of his 
 committee. He was then sent to convey the greetings 
 of the Old School Assembly to the United Presbyterian 
 General Assembly at Argyle, New York. There he 
 met with a hearty Scotch reception, and made a most 
 felicitous speech. Thus he on three successive days 
 addressed three separate General Assemblies. 
 
 In 1869, he was a delegate to the General Assembly 
 meeting at New York, at which Eeunion was consum- 
 mated. He was a member of the Conference Committee 
 
REUNION. 197 
 
 to prepare the plan of Reunion, and he entered with all 
 his heart into the work, and into the rejoicing over its 
 accomplishment. It was a great delight to him to take 
 part in the adjourned meeting of the Assembly, which 
 took place at Pittsburg, in November, 1869. All the 
 jubilation over Eeunion was entirely after his own 
 mind. There was no happier heart in the procession, 
 as Old School and New, after pouring out of their re- 
 spective places of assembly, met in the street and formed 
 ranks anew, "the Old and New grasping each other, 
 and amidst welcomes, thanksgivings, and tears, they 
 locked arms and stood together in their reformed rela- 
 tions." At the end of the grand Eeunion meeting in the 
 First Church of Pittsburg, "the Moderator called on 
 Mr. Eobert Carter, Euling Elder from New York, to 
 offer prayer. This he did with great unction, and, in 
 hearty sympathy with the occasion, the great Assembly 
 melted together at the throne of grace." 
 
 The following year Mr. Carter met again with the re- 
 united Assembly at Philadelphia, and bore his share in 
 the great work of reorganization. He was afterwards a 
 delegate to Baltimore and Buffalo, but was obliged to 
 leave Buffalo before the close of the session, and was 
 told by his physician that a man of his age should not 
 again attempt sitting in a deliberative body. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ONE of the authors to whom Mr. Carter was friend 
 as well as publisher was the Eev. Dr. Cuyler. 
 He kindly furnishes the following reminiscences of 
 their intercourse. 
 
 " The first time I saw my honored and beloved friend, 
 Robert Carter, was about fifty-two years ago. 
 
 " I was then a schoolboy of sixteen, reviewing my studies 
 in the Grammar School of the New York University in 
 preparation to enter Princeton College. He was then keep- 
 ing the little bookstore in Canal Street, which had lately 
 become somewhat famous and popular by the issue of the 
 cheap edition of Merle d'Aubigne's ' History of the Refor- 
 mation.' My good mother took me there with her when 
 she was in pursuit of some devotional books, such as Jay's 
 ' Morning Exercises.' He had a taste and appetite for that 
 class of savory books, as a Scotchman has for oatmeal por- 
 ridge and Finnan baddies, and those who relished strong 
 spiritual food knew that they would find it at the modest 
 shop in Canal Street. Ministers resorted there somewhat 
 on Monday mornings ; but they came in much larger num- 
 bers when he opened his more extensive bookstore in Broad- 
 way, near Chambers Street. It was there that I formed my 
 first personal acquaintance with him, about the year 1850. 
 It soon ripened into friendship ; and I have known him in- 
 timately and loved him warmly for forty years. 
 
 " Some of our most delightful intercourse was at Sara- 
 toga, where we spent several summers together under the 
 
LETTER FROM DR. CUYLER. 199 
 
 roof of Dr. Strong. He was a great favorite there with 
 everybody ; and when he sat down for a talk on the piazza, 
 the guests used to gather round and listen to his lively rem- 
 iniscences and vivacious conversation, which was always 
 ' seasoned with salt.' He was genial and relished pleasan- 
 tries, but he was never frivolous. Into the daily exercises of 
 family worship he entered with all his heart ; and his pray- 
 ers were wonderfully rich in expression and full of holy 
 unction. The singing he enjoyed hugely, and I well remem- 
 ber the first time he heard that simple hymn, ' The Sweet 
 By and By,' with its beautiful melody, it so delighted him 
 that he went to the lady and asked her to sing it again for 
 him. 
 
 " He used to drive out with his wife in the summer after- 
 noons, and often invited me to accompany them. We 
 scoured together all the country roads around Saratoga ; and 
 we had some rare talks about old and cherished friends, such 
 as Dr. James Hamilton, Dr. Guthrie, and good old Dr. John 
 Griscom, who had been almost his earliest friend and adviser 
 upon his arrival in America. I knew Griscom well, and how 
 dearly he was attached to Robert Carter. 
 
 " It was at Saratoga that he delivered that remarkable 
 address before the ' State Institute of Teachers ' at one of 
 their annual meetings. In that address he narrated in the 
 most racy style the story of his childhood in Earlston, and 
 the struggle through which he passed in gaining his early 
 education. It was very like the story which the great mis- 
 sionary, John G. Paton, tells of his own boyhood in his 
 godly father's cottage in Dumfriesshire. The address 
 was listened to with the keenest delight by the whole 
 assembly. 
 
 " When we got home I said to him, ' Brother Carter, you 
 ought to write out and print that charming bit of autobiog- 
 raphy ; it is as racy as Benjamin Franklin's story of his own 
 boyhood and youth.' It is from such pictures of personal 
 experience that we get our best insight into the heart and 
 
200 LIFE OF EOBERT CARTER. 
 
 home life of the past generation. Even dear old Scotland 
 is changing so fast, that the manner of life depicted by him 
 and by Paton will soon be a beautiful reminiscence of things 
 utterly departed. 
 
 "In 1862 I met Mr. Carter in London, and we attended 
 together a service preparatory to the communion in Dr. 
 James Hamilton's Regent Square Presbyterian Church. 
 That man of blessed memory, Dr. Arnot, was with us. I 
 gave a brief discourse on ' Love-service for Jesus,' and we 
 all had a pleasant interview afterwards. Those three beloved 
 friends, Hamilton, Arnot, and Carter, are now together ' be- 
 fore the throne of God and of the Lamb.' 
 
 " In the last letter that I ever received from Dr. John 
 Brown, the immortal author of ' Eab and his Friends,' the 
 Doctor wrote, ' Give my love to dear old Eobert Carter, and 
 tell him that Earlston still flourishes.' 
 
 "The hours which I have spent with your venerated 
 father were among the happiest and most profitable of my 
 life. He was a full man, and his talk was like turning the 
 faucet of a reservoir. His letters also were the outflow of a 
 beautiful and sincere affection. He belonged to that re- 
 markable group of New York laymen which embraced also 
 such choice spirits as Apollos R. Wetmore, William B. 
 Crosby, Theodore Frelinghnysen, James Lenox, and Wil- 
 liam E. Dodge. To him the Church of Christ and many 
 a movement of Christian philanthropy owe a debt of pro- 
 found gratitude. He contributed more than money, he gave 
 himself. 
 
 " It was a precious privilege to spend a half-hour with 
 my beloved old friend when he was lying calmly on that 
 pillow from which in a few days he passed sweetly into 
 heaven. His blood-washed spirit was already in the ' land 
 of Beulah,' and in the full view of the Celestial City. Having 
 lived so long and so well, he had nothing to do but to die. 
 Death was to him the translation to glory. When he left 
 us, he left no more sturdy or steadfast servant of God 
 
PRESIDENT HOPKINS. 201 
 
 behind him. I rejoice that I had such a happy friend- 
 ship with him for forty years, and shall always cherish 
 the memory of my revered and beloved friend, Robert 
 Carter." 
 
 The visits to Saratoga were very delightful to Mr. 
 Carter. Dr. Strong's house was a sort of ministerial 
 caravansary, and the society was very congenial. For 
 a time he went there every summer for a few weeks, 
 and once, when recovering from a long and severe ill- 
 ness, was there for three months. That summer Dr. 
 Mark Hopkins was there for a while, and they had 
 long talks on the piazza together. The grand old 
 Doctor had just resigned the presidency of Williams 
 College. In one of their chats, he told Mr. Carter that 
 his dear friend, Mr. William E. Dodge, had for some 
 years supplemented the President's salary by giving 
 him the interest of $30,000. When he resigned the 
 presidency, he said to the directors that he could no 
 longer take this, but it must go to his successor. The 
 directors told him that he must settle that with Mr. 
 Dodge. Accordingly Dr. Hopkins spoke to him about 
 it. Mr. Dodge made answer, "You may do as you 
 please about taking the money, but it was intended 
 for you personally, and not as President, and if you do 
 not accept it, it reverts to me. If you take it as long 
 as you live, at your death it will go to the College." 
 With the utmost simplicity, Dr. Hopkins, after finish- 
 ing the story, said, " Mr. Carter, what could I do ? " 
 With a twinkle in his eye, Mr. Carter responded, 
 "Surely there was but one course open to you." 
 
 Another incident of this summer was connected with 
 the Eev. Joel Parker, D.D., who was spending some 
 weeks with his wife at Dr. Strong's, and with whom 
 Mr. and Mrs. Carter became quite intimate. One day 
 
202 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 a man came to Mr. Carter seeking a supply for a 
 church a few miles off, and asked him if there were 
 any good preachers at Dr. Strong's. Mr. Carter told 
 him he could find no one better than Dr. Parker, and 
 accordingly brought the two together. Dr. Parker 
 agreed to preach, and after going through the day's 
 services one of the trustees asked him what he charged. 
 He made answer, that he was not accustomed to make 
 a charge, but took whatever the congregation thought 
 right to give. " I suppose your return ticket cost you 
 one dollar and eighty cents. Here are two dollars, — 
 never mind the change." When Dr. Parker returned 
 and told his story to a group of ministerial friends, 
 there was a good deal of laughter at his expense, and 
 one of the listeners said, " Mr. Carter got you the job, 
 and you ought to divide the profits with him. You 
 certainly owe him ten cents." " On the contrary," 
 said Mr. Carter, "Dr. Parker ought to have received 
 at least twenty dollars for his services, and I ought to 
 share the loss, and here are the ten dollars." 
 
 Mr. Carter while at Saratoga regularly attended the 
 noonday prayer meeting, and frequently took part in 
 it. Prayer was to him "vital breath" and "native 
 air." He went to such meetings, not from a mere 
 sense of duty, but from keen enjoyment. 
 
 Another author with whom Mr. Carter had very de- 
 lightful relations was Dr. Bickersteth, now Bishop of 
 Exeter. He had long known and loved the Bishop's 
 father, Eev. Edward Bickersteth, one of England's most 
 saintly clergymen, and when the son published "Yes- 
 terday, To-day, and Forever," Mr. Carter read it with 
 exceeding pleasure. He at once brought it out in 
 America, and it was one of his most successful pub- 
 lications, reaching a circulation of more than fifty 
 
BISHOP BICKEESTETH. 203 
 
 thousand copies. Dr. Bickersteth was from this time 
 one of his regular correspondents, and when he visited 
 America, in 1870, they had much tender intercourse. 
 Two letters of Dr. Bickersteth's are here inserted. 
 The first bears date November 10, 1871: — 
 
 " I was so grieved to hear from Dr. Eay Palmer this week 
 that you have been suffering from intermittent fever. I 
 fear from what your brother wrote, two or three months 
 ago, that you have been far from strong this summer, but 
 had cherished the hope that the change of air would have 
 recruited you. But our Father's ways are not as ours, — only, 
 however, because they are so infinitely higher, wiser, better, 
 and tenderer. And you, dear friend, who have proved His 
 love for so many years of your pilgrimage will find His ever- 
 lasting arms beneath you, and His Spirit's consolations over 
 you in your hours of weakness. 'Jesus constrained his disci- 
 ples to get into a ship,' though He knew the tempestuous, 
 weary night was before them. Yet He was praying for them 
 on the mountain top, and at His own chosen hour, iu the 
 fourth watch towards morning, He came when they were 
 least expecting him, saying, ' It is I, be not afraid.' May 
 He thus speak to your heart, and manifest Himself to you 
 as not to the world, and fill you with the joy of His presence 
 and His peace, and if it be His gracious will, raise you up to 
 testify in after years that He is indeed a watchful Friend iu 
 sorrow, — the Brother born for adversity. I must not at- 
 tempt to write more, for I know sickness cannot bear many 
 words, but must assure you that our poor prayers will be 
 with you and with your anxious loving wife, to whom and to 
 your brother please convey my most grateful remembrances." 
 
 The second letter is dated from Cromer, Norfolk, 
 August 24, 1873 : — 
 
 " I do not know whether the great sorrow which has shad- 
 owed my home will have caught your eye in any English 
 
204 LIEE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 paper, but on August 2(i my fondly loved wife was called 
 to her rest, after only three days' serious illness, in this lonely 
 seaside place, whither we had come for a few weeks' recrea- 
 tion. It was heart complaint. I had no serious fear until 
 late on Wednesday, July 30th, and at four o'clock on Satur- 
 day morning my beloved one was with her Saviour. 
 
 " Not a shadow of fear clouded her peaceful and holy 
 death-bed. She gathered our twelve children all around 
 her bed, and spoke words of priceless love and motherly 
 counsel to each. 
 
 " You will pray for us. 
 
 "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed 
 be the name of the Lord. The Voice has been heard every 
 hour, ' It is I,' and Jesus has been with me in the deep, deep 
 waters which have gone over my soul. He has been so near 
 and so tender ! There has not been one drop of bitterness 
 in the deep cup of sorrow, — nothing but love, Divine love, 
 the love we cannot fathom or explain. 
 
 •' We return to our shadowed home, D. V., next week. 
 You will, I know, pray for us. Will you forward this note to 
 dear Dr. Tyng and Dr. Eay Palmer. I find it very difficult 
 to write all the letters which my heart prompts me to send. 
 But it is sweet to think how much brotherly love will pour 
 itself out for us in pr.ayer in America. 
 
 " Believe ever, in the bonds of the Gospel, your sorely 
 stricken and yet comforted friend." 
 
 Another very intimate and beloved friend was Eev. 
 Dr. Muhlenberg, so long prominent in benevolent work. 
 He was a kindred spirit with Mr. Carter, who entered 
 heartily into the Doctor's philanthropic schemes, which 
 gave constant opportunities for their being together. Dr. 
 Muhlenberg spent his latter days at St. Luke's Hospital, 
 which he himself founded, and which is his appropriate 
 monument. In his last illness Mr. Carter constantly 
 visited him there, and used to say he was like St. John 
 
GOLDEN WEDDING. 205 
 
 in Patmos, with his thoughts filled with bright visions 
 of the celestial country he was so soon to enter. Their 
 communion was most sweet, and it was a very precious 
 memory to Mr. Carter that at their last interview Dr. 
 Muhlenberg drew him towards him for a farewell em- 
 brace and kiss. 
 
 On March 18, 1884, came the Golden Wedding of\ 
 Mr. and Mrs. Carter. The family had been looking 
 forward to it as a time of special rejoicing, though all 
 the wedding days were regularly kept. On this there 
 was to have been as great a jubilation as Mrs. Carter's 
 very feeble health would allow, but just the week before 
 she was stricken down with a very dangerous illness, 
 and almost passed through the gates of death. When 
 the wedding day came, though convalescent, she was 
 confined to her bed, and none were admitted to her room 
 but her children, who assembled about her, offering their 
 congratulations very quietly. It had been arranged 
 that each one of the children and grandchildren should 
 write them a congratulatory letter, and these letters 
 were afterwards bound together in a book with Mr. and 
 Mrs. Carter's pictures. This was an entire surprise to 
 the recipients, and gave them the greatest possible 
 pleasxire. The letter of the oldest son is here inserted 
 as giving an idea of the volume. 
 
 " As I begin to write to congratulate you on the fiftieth re- 
 turn of your wedding anniversary, there come floating through 
 my brain a host of texts from that volume, which, thanks 
 to your training, has become the best loved and most studied 
 of all books. I remember with gratitude how I used to sit 
 beside mother in my eighth year reading the Bible, and 
 asking her questions about its meaning, and how during that 
 year I finished reading the good book through. Thus 'from 
 a child' I have 'known the Scriptures,' because you taught 
 
206 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 your children to obey the command and ' search the Scrip- 
 tures.' And not merely did you teach us to read the Bible 
 and explain to us its meaning, but your lives in general as 
 seen by us and your conduct towards us in particular have 
 given object lessons enabling us to understand more deeply 
 and appreciate more fully than many can the meaning of 
 uot a few texts of Scripture. 
 
 " The fatherhood of God has to us a meaning that it can- 
 not have to many. We remember how as faithful parents 
 you have chastened us for our profit, and also how, like the 
 father of the prodigal, you have watched for the evidence of 
 repentance, and at once given us the kindly word and the 
 assurance of forgiveness. Our relation to you enables us to 
 find a peculiar preciousness in what the Word of God says 
 about the Great Father, ' of whom the whole family in heaven 
 and earth is named.' 
 
 " We remember with delight the gatherings early on 
 winter evenings to listen to Bible stories from dear mother, 
 till the good father came home from outside work, like David, 
 ' to bless his house.' The happy home in which we all lived 
 together and the happy home where we still delight to meet 
 are beautiful types of the Father's house in which we all 
 hope to dwell. The large-hearted love with which you have 
 always welcomed the steadily increasing number of your 
 children to a New England place of rest, gives us beautiful 
 reminders that the Father's house has ' many mansions,' and 
 that ' yet there is room ' for us all where some of us have 
 already entered. 
 
 "And when sorrow has come, how unspeakably precious 
 has been your sympathy, which has taught us what is meant 
 by the words, ' Like as a father pitieth his children, so the 
 Lord pitieth them that fear him,' and, 'As one whom his 
 mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.' 
 
 " We thank God that our parents have imitated the 
 Psalmist in his resolve, ' I will walk within my house with 
 a perfect heart.' We rejoice that our father has been like 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF BOOK-MAKING. 207 
 
 Abraham, ' who commanded his children and his household 
 after him,' and like Joshua, able to say, ' As for me and my 
 house we will serve the Lord ' ; while our mother, like Han- 
 nah and like Eunice, has dedicated her children from the 
 birth and trained them in the fear of God. When we think 
 of the first commandment with promise, we are glad that we 
 have parents whom we have such good cause to honor. 
 Though we each have families of our own, we still re- 
 joice to 'hear the instruction of a father,' and as for our 
 mother, ' her children rise up and call her blessed.' May 
 your lives long be spared, that we may long enjoy these 
 privileges ! " 
 
 Some of the letters from the grandsons at college 
 were very full of fun, dwelling on family jokes, and 
 not hesitating to indulge in what might be called teas- 
 ing of the venerable bride and groom. Some one who 
 read the letters said, " Is it possible that a man of Mr. 
 Carter's dignified character allows his grandchildren 
 to address him in such familiar terms 1 " " You little 
 know Mr. Carter," was the reply, " if you imagine that 
 his grandchildren stand in awe of him. They them- 
 selves do not enjoy their fun more than he does." 
 
 Many beautiful gifts were sent him, some of them 
 with a tender sentiment attached. One that pleased 
 him much was a vase with fifty lovely roses, from the 
 printer that he had employed for fifty years. 
 
 On the 1st of April he passed the fiftieth anniver- 
 sary of entering into business. The publishers of New 
 York united in sending him the following testimonial. 
 
 New York, April 1, 1884. 
 Mr. Eobert Carter, New York : 
 
 Dear Sm, — Your friends and associates in the book- 
 publishing and book-selling trade of this city desire, on the 
 
208 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 fiftieth anniversary of your entrance upon the business, to 
 convey to you their best regards and congratulations. 
 
 Some of us are the sons and successors of your early 
 contemporaries ; others are the representatives of a later 
 generation ; but the good will and kindly feeling which you 
 commanded at the beginning, you have continued to retain 
 through all the succeeding years of an honorable career. 
 la your fifty years of business life, you have seen the won- 
 derful growth of the American publishing trade, and have 
 borne a conspicuous part in the development and maiute- 
 uauce of that important branch which you originally chose, 
 and to which you have ever adhered. You have survived, 
 with but one or two exceptions, those who were iu business 
 when you began, and are still able to take a part in the 
 management of your well established house. 
 
 In all these years of activity and of many changes, you 
 have made no enemies, and have constantly added to the 
 number of your friends. You have conducted an exacting 
 and difficult business with dignity and success, and in the 
 serene years of later life are permitted to fully enjoy the 
 substantial fruits of your industrious enterprise and unques- 
 tioned fidelity. 
 
 Be pleased, then, on this notable anniversary, to accept our 
 congratulations and hearty good wishes for your continued 
 health and prosperity, and believe us. 
 
 Very sincerely, yours, 
 D. Applbton & Co. Bakek, Pratt, & Co. 
 
 Jno. Wiley & Son. 0. M. Dunham, Manager Cas- 
 
 CoLLiNs & Brother. sell & Co. 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons. Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 DoDD, Mead, & Co. Charles T. Dillingham. 
 
 IvisoN, Blakeman, Taylor, & Taintor Bros., Merrill, & Co. 
 Co. The American News Company. 
 
 Sheldon & Company. E. P. Dutton & Co. 
 
 A. 0. Armstrong & Son. James Pott & Co. 
 
 Clark & Maynard. T. Whittaker. 
 
 H. E. Simmons, Bus. Agt. Am. E. & J. B. Young & Co. 
 Tract. Soo. Caleb T. Rowe. 
 
FIFTY YEARS OF BOOK-MAKING. 209 
 
 Phillips & Hunt. Geo. S. Soofield. 
 
 Harper Bros. A. D. F. Randolph & Co. 
 
 D. Van Nostrand. Gavin Houston, Manager of 
 
 Chas. S. Francis. T. Nelson & Sons. 
 
 David G. Francis. Joseph L. Blamire, Agt. for 
 
 George E. Lockwood & Son. Geo. Equtledge & Sons. 
 
 A. S. Barnes & Co. G. W. Carleton & Co. 
 
 Charles Sckibner's Sons. F. "W. Christern. 
 
 There were many notices of this anniversary in the 
 secular press and also in religious papers of all denom- 
 inations. From an article in the Observer, by Mr. 
 A. D. F. Eandolph, the following is quoted : — 
 
 " You will agree with me that fifty years of a life devoted 
 as this has been to the making of books, not one of which 
 might make men worse, but ought to make them better, 
 may well have a word of recognition in the Observer. . . . 
 He chose to be a publisher of religious books ; to his early 
 choice he has ever substantially adhered, while from the 
 day he began down to the present hour he has never for- 
 gotten his responsibility as a publisher. Aud thus for half 
 a century he has been doing a wholesome, honest, beneficent 
 work. He has seen great changes, — seen also the wonderful 
 development of the publishing business in this country. He 
 has passed though many seasons of general business dejjres- 
 sion, and yet maintained his own credit unimpaired. Year 
 by year, as his business grew into larger proportions, he still 
 continued to conduct it with dignity, integrity, and success. 
 He has kept before the public such old worthies as Matthew 
 Henry, Poole, Rutherford, Boston, and others of the elder 
 saints, while he has given us Chalmers and Guthrie and 
 Hamilton, and Kyle and Bonar and Macduff, and a host of 
 other theological and practical writers, to say nothing of the 
 long list of minor authors, — those who have written for 
 children and young people. Not an evil book in all the list, 
 — not one that does not teach some important truth. Who 
 can estimate the value and extent of his influence as a pub- 
 14 
 
210 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 lisher? — what a factor it has been in the religious educa- 
 tion of the country ? 
 
 " And he has been something more than the successful 
 business man. In the church and its benevolent boards, in 
 assemblies and synods, in religious and educational societies, 
 as among his brethren in the trade, he has ever been known 
 not only for the consistency of his walk, but for the wisdom 
 of his counsel and the constant liberality of his gifts. 
 
 " He remains still vigorous, cheerful, hopeful, still inter- 
 ested in the world's needs and progress, and ever ready to 
 aid a worthy cause. Beloved and honored by all who per- 
 sonally know him, he is not only without enemies, but with 
 troops of friends the whole world over. 
 
 " So much have I ventured to say to the public through 
 you of our old and dear friend, who has so long been a 
 teacher and benefactor of his fellow men.'' 
 
 To this Dr. Samuel Irenaeus Prime added : — 
 
 " He was the first publisher whose acquaintance I formed 
 in New York, and the acquaintance ripened into a pleasant 
 friendship, now as bright as it ever was. In all these years 
 no book from his press has afforded me a chance (and I 
 have kept a sharp lookout) for unfavorable criticism. Every 
 one has been in the line of Christian usefulness. Men who 
 hold views of religious doctrine not in the same line with 
 his may not approve of them all, but I am not afraid to say 
 that good, strong, stalwart Christian citizens are fed on such 
 meat as he sells, and the more of it that is consumed, the 
 more wholesome and happy will be the church and people. 
 
 " To make a really good book is grand. To publish hun- 
 dreds of thousands of such books, and to pass half a century 
 in the work, is sublime. Therefore I congratulate my friend 
 Robert Carter on the comfortable completion of his fifty 
 years as a publisher, on the prosperity of his business, which 
 has abundantly provided for him in his old age, on the 
 peace and happiness with which the evening of his life is 
 
DEATH OF HIS WIFE. 211 
 
 blessed, and on the assurance that his sun is setting to rise iu 
 eternal day." 
 
 We here insert an extract from a letter from Dr. 
 Macduff, of Glasgow, which was received about this 
 time. It was one of many in which this dear friend 
 indulged in pleasant reminiscence of intercourse in by- 
 gone times. The letter bears date Chiselhurst, Kent, 
 February 3, 1885. 
 
 " I have duly received, and with most cordial thanks, your 
 kind letter and its enclosures. Can it be, as you say, twenty- 
 four years since you and I met in Paris, then in Geneva, and 
 on a chilly early morning walked up and down the railroad 
 station at Basle 1 Yes, and another memory : since James 
 Hamilton and myself met you in the back room in Berners 
 Street, the former hailing you in the broadest of broad 
 Scotch 1 It looks all so dream-like and so recent ! Then 
 to think that Hamilton, Watson, Taylor, Murray, and old 
 William Nisbet, whose face and form were so familiar in that 
 ' Evangelical haunt,' are all passed away to their rest, after 
 having done in their various ways good and noble duty for 
 the Master. You and I God has in His great mercy still 
 spared to wait His gracious summons. Bat I must not 
 wajider into the region of sentiment." 
 
 \ 
 The spring of 1885 brought him a great sorrow in~^ 
 
 the failing health of his son-in-law. Rev. I. W. Cochran, 
 
 who died in his house in February, 1887. This he was 
 
 heard to say was the greatest grief of his life, until in 
 
 July of the same year his beloved wife was taken from 
 
 him. At the time of her death, they were staying in a 
 
 beautiful place on Long Island Sound, where for some 
 
 years they had assembled the family gathering in the 
 
 summer. As there was no church near, and as the 
 
 party was a very large one, they were accustomed on 
 
212 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 Sundays to assemble under the trees, and have a regular 
 church service of their own in the open air, at which 
 one of the ministerial sons generally preached. The 
 last Sunday of her life was a perfectly lovely day, and, 
 as usual, this open-air service was very delightful to her. 
 She greatly enjoyed the reading by her husband of a 
 sermon by Spurgeon, who was a great favorite of both. 
 In the afternoon, she attended the usual family Sunday 
 school, and through the day there was much singing of 
 her favorite hymns. She spoke of it in the evening as 
 a perfectly happy Sabbath. 
 
 The next day she was not very well, and kept her 
 bed, but was quietly happy. No one entered her room 
 but received some word of tenderness. Afterwards 
 many of the loving speeches that were habitual with 
 her, but would not have been remembered if they had 
 not been her last, were treasured up as a sacred legacy 
 by those to whom they were spoken. 
 
 When her husband awoke on Tuesday morning, he 
 said that his heart went up in thankfulness to God 
 that she had had an unusually good night, for ill health 
 often made her wakeful. He dressed quietly that he 
 might not disturb her, and then noticed that her head 
 had sunk into an uncomfortable position. He attempted 
 to raise it, and saw that there was something wrong, 
 and called for assistance. A doctor was hastily sum- 
 moned, and said that she had had a stroke of apoplexy. 
 She lay in an unconscious state, looking as if asleep, 
 and breathing softly as a little child, until about two 
 o'clock, when gently, without a struggle, she went home. 
 After she had passed away, her husband took up her 
 lifeless hand, saying, " I am alone now." 
 
 His grief was pathetic in its gentleness and tender- 
 ness and submission. He said over and over again, " I 
 
DEATH OF HIS WIFE. 213 
 
 don't want to murmur ; I hope I don't murmur." But 
 no one but himself would ever have thought of using the 
 word in connection with his saintly though deep-seated 
 grief. It was a comfort to him that his wife was spared 
 all suffering in death, falling asleep on earth to wake in 
 heaven. She had always feared death, being timid and 
 self-distrustful in her disposition, and it seemed as if 
 God had mercifully spared her all knowledge of the 
 great change that was taking place until she saw Him, 
 and was satisfied. Hers was a lovely life, crowned with 
 a peaceful death. 
 
 Mr. Carter received a very large number of letters of 
 sympathy. One young friend, who had gone to a West- 
 ern home, wrote : " I cannot forget my parting with her 
 when I first came West. She told me that she felt that 
 she should never see me again on earth, and directed me 
 to live close to my early teachings. I am not what I 
 should be, but the memory of those loving words has 
 often been the cause of my resisting temptation, and 
 now that she is gone to that better laud above, they will 
 be the more vividly impressed on my memory." 
 
 Dr. Cuyler wrote : — 
 
 " I fear that the announcement which I see in the New 
 York papers means that your dear wife is no more ! No 
 more in this world, except in the hearts of her loving hus- 
 band and grateful children. To be no more here is to be 
 forever with the Lord. 
 
 " If this be indeed your life companion who has been 
 taken, (and I know of no other Eobert Carter,) then I ex- 
 tend to you my most heartfelt condolence. I recall the 
 pleasant rides and talks with you both at Saratoga in the 
 years gone by, and I can imagine how lonely you must be 
 after a half-century of loving fellowship. Not long, how- 
 ever, will you be sundered. ' The miles to heaven,' as holy 
 Rutherford says, ' are few and short.' 
 
214 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 " But we want you to stay with us as long as you can. I 
 had a talk about you with Mrs. William E. Dodge last week 
 at Lake Mohonk. Her husband and you were my ideals 
 among the veteran Christians of New York. 
 
 " May the Everlasting Arms uphold you ! " 
 
 One of the grandchildren was at a distance, and did 
 not hear of her death till the night of the funeral. A 
 letter from him is inserted, as showing the tender com- 
 munion and confidence that subsisted between the older 
 and younger members of the family. 
 
 "I have just received the sad news of dear Grandma's 
 death. I cannot realize that I am not to see her face again. 
 I have always loved her more than I can ever tell, and have 
 learned lessons from her lips which I can never forget. And 
 now that she is gone, I do not know what to say to you, 
 upon whom this sorrow has fallen so heavily. The burden 
 will be a hard one to bear ; it is hard for us ; it must be 
 harder for you, who have been the fifty years' companion of 
 her we have lost. And yet with all the sorrow can there not 
 be found some joy in your lonely heart to-night, — joy over 
 fifty years of the sweetest and holiest communion of life with 
 life, — joy over the ending of what must almost have become 
 a weary pilgrimage for Grandma, with her feeble strength and 
 almost never-ceasing pain, — and, most of all, joy over the 
 knowledge of her entrance into that home for which I am 
 sure she has long been yearning 1 Grandma loved her own 
 people dearly, but she loved her God more, and I am sure it 
 that is the case heaven is a better place for her than earth. 
 A life of joy and peace without pain, without disappointment, 
 without sorrow, is so much better than a weak, worn life. 
 
 " I would I could tell yo\i all I feel. Grandfather. I know 
 how black it all looks ahead, but I also know how well you 
 know where to look for light. Grandma had more than com- 
 pleted her threescore years and ten ; the full measure of life 
 had been hers, and now that the cross is laid down, is it not 
 
LETTER FROM SPURGEON. 215 
 
 better so "i The time will not be long before you meet again ; 
 but a few years at the most separate you from her, and 
 the meeting will be very soon. 
 
 " I would have liked to be with you to-day, and see her 
 face once more, but the news did not come till to-night, and 
 so I can only write. I think of Grandma here just as rev- 
 erently as if I were in the place of mourning. 
 
 " Dear Grandfather, I love you, and want so much to help 
 you now. May God bless and keep you ! may His everlast- 
 ing arms be around you, and may you find in Him all the 
 peace and love and rest you need ! " 
 
 The Sunday after Mrs. Carter died, the little " church 
 in the house" assembled again in Centreport, sorely 
 missing the dear one who had so greatly enjoyed the 
 services of the Sunday before. Again the volume of 
 Spurgeon's sermons was used, and it was found that the 
 next discourse in order was entitled, " Why they leave 
 us,'' with the text, " Father, I will that they also whom 
 Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they 
 may behold my glory which Thou hast given me." It 
 was preached after the deaths of Hugh Stowell Brown 
 and Charles Stanford. The sermon was to Mr. Carter 
 exceedingly helpful and comforting, and he wrote to Mr. 
 Spurgeon, telling him about both services, — how he had 
 given to the wife the last pulpit message that she had 
 heard on earth on that beautiful earthly Sabbath, which 
 seemed a type of the heavenly Sabbath she was so soon 
 to enter, and that he had comforted the husband as he 
 sat sore amazed and disquieted, mourning the departure 
 of his beloved one. He received the following reply. 
 
 " Dear Friend, — I pray the Loi'd to sustain you under 
 your grievous loss. It is well for us that the Holy Spirit 
 himself undertakes the part of Comforter, for He is able to 
 carry it out to the full. 
 
216 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 " You are a happy man to have had so good a wife for so long 
 a time. In her departure there is great mercy also, for she 
 passed away so sweetly. Nothing remains to be desired, for 
 she has gone home beyond all question, and though she has 
 left you, she has left you almost at the gates. Peace be to 
 you! . . . 
 
 " Your kind letter cheered me greatly. I have been sore 
 sick, but am slowly recovering. I rejoice greatly to Iiave 
 given comfort to your dear wife, and all of you." 
 
 In less than a month after Mrs. Carter's death, her 
 dear old friend, Mrs. Downs, mother of Mrs. Samuel 
 T. Carter, died in the same house after a lingering ill- 
 ness. Mr. and Mrs. Carter had greatly loved and es- 
 teemed her for her sweet Christian character. She died 
 upon a Sunday, and in the afternoon Mr. Carter with 
 his three children and their children, and Mrs. Downs's 
 own family, assembled in the sitting-room and had a 
 very touching service commemorative of the three 
 dear ones who had so recently gone home from their 
 midst, Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Downs, and Mr. Cochran. 
 Each one gave some tender memory of the loved ones 
 gone, — sorrowing, yet rejoicing at every remembrance 
 of them. 
 
 " For all Thy saints who from their lators rest, 
 "Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, 
 Thy name, Jesus, be forever blessed." 
 
 Even the very little ones brought their tribute of 
 praise and love to those whom they held so dear, and 
 every heart was quickened with the desire to live as 
 they had lived, 
 
 "And win ivith them the victor's crown ot gold." 
 
 " blest communion, fellowship divine ! 
 We feebly straggle, they in glory shine, 
 Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine." 
 
HIS INTEREST IN HIS GRANDCHILDIIEN. 217 
 
 It was very touching to hear the little ones repeat 
 what Papa or Grandmamma had said while yet present 
 with them, and yet more sweet and tender were the 
 words of the aged saint who could testify of the good- 
 ness and mercy which had followed him aU the days of 
 his life, and which had shown itself so plainly in giv- 
 ing him a wife in whom the heart of her husband could 
 safely trust, who had done him " good, and not evil, all 
 the days of her life." It seemed as if he was so rich in 
 memories that there was room for little but gratitude. 
 
 On this occasion he quoted Cowper's Lines on the Ee- 
 ceipt of his Mother's Picture, a poem which had always 
 been a great favorite with him, and expressed a desire 
 that all his children and grandchildren should learn it. 
 
 It was now decided that Mrs. Cochran, with her fa- 
 therless little ones, should come into his home, to bear 
 him company and guide his household. Some might 
 have questioned the wisdom of bringing seven children 
 under sixteen years of age into the home of a man nearly 
 eighty, and one of his old friends wrote to him remon- 
 strating, saying that Mr. Carter might be able to stand 
 such an arrangement, but he was sure he never could. 
 But the union proved a blessing to both old and young. 
 Mr. Carter frequently spoke of it as one of the great 
 blessings which God had vouchsafed to him in his 
 bereavement. He often referred to his friend's warning, 
 adding, " But he was wrong ; I have never had the 
 slightest reason to regret it." The children afforded 
 liim pleasurable occupation. Every evening he heard 
 the Latin and Greek lessons for the next day ; he ex- 
 amined all the school reports, and rejoiced in every 
 sign of progress. Little two year old Annie was his 
 special friend. She seemed to comfort him more than 
 anything else, perhaps because of her unconsciousness 
 
218 LIFE OF EGBERT CARTER. 
 
 of grief. He had to be merry with the merry, loving, 
 happy little baby. They would walk up and down the 
 long parlor hand in hand, while the old man forgot his 
 sorrows as he talked in simple language to the little 
 child. But this desire of his eyes was taken from him 
 at a stroke. In two days scarlet-fever laid her low, 
 and she was buried by the side of her father in the old 
 graveyard in Mendham. Of such bright, gentle, loving, 
 docile, and happy spirits is the kingdom of heaven. Mr. 
 Carter deeply mourned his little granddaughter, and his 
 affections centred again upon the next oldest child, 
 beautiful little golden-haired Kitty. She would nestle 
 up to him saying, " I 'm your baby now, Grandpa," and 
 he poured out a wealth of love upon her. He would 
 make her stand beside him at evening prayers and read 
 the Bible verses alternately with him and her little 
 brother, and he almost always remarked at the close, 
 " I never heard a child read as Kitty does." 
 
 Five weeks from the Sunday when little Annie died, 
 Kitty went with her mother to Dr. Hall's church, and 
 heard him preach on the whole of the twenty-third 
 Psalm. As soon as the sermon began, she whispered, 
 "Where's the golden text?" and seemed very much 
 astonished when she found it was a whole Psalm. In 
 coming out of church, as soon as her little feet touched 
 the pavement, — they were never again to stand in any 
 earthly Zion, — she said, "Mamma, I know the golden 
 text," and she repeated the Psalm through. When her 
 grandfather came in from his church service a little 
 later, she ran up to him before he had a chance to take 
 off his overcoat, and said, " Grandpa, do you want to 
 know the golden text ? " and he stood still, hat and cane 
 in hand, to hear her repeat it, the little one evidently 
 enjoying the fact that she was taking liim in by giving 
 
LOVE FOR HIS GRAJSTDCHILDREN. 219 
 
 him a Psalm when he expected a verse. It was a pic- 
 ture never to be forgotten by the loving eyes that 
 witnessed it, the old man and the graceful little golden- 
 haired child as they enjoyed together the Psalm, verses 
 of which are now engraven upon their burial stones. 
 That week she was taken with that most terrible of 
 diseases, membranous croup. The bright little " Sun- 
 beam," the ray from the Sun of Eighteousness, was not 
 to be left longer to irradiate her earthly home, but was 
 taken to the city where she shall shine forever. 
 
 Thus again, and for the last time, Mr. Carter was 
 obliged to taste of the bitter cup of sorrow. Thus four 
 very dear to him were carried from under his roof in 
 thirteen months. He was ready to say with holy men 
 of old, " I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because 
 Thou didst it." " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath 
 taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." He 
 neither " despised the chastening of the Lord " by feeling 
 lightly the dispensations of his hand, nor " fainted when 
 he was rebuked of him " by yielding to undue gloom 
 and despondency. His eyes were ever directed above 
 to the home where his beloved are, and he knew well 
 that the Lord of the many mansions would erelong re- 
 ceive him unto himself. 
 
 The next summer he spent at Atlantic Highlands. 
 He had for the last four summers gone to some seaside 
 place, and he greatly enjoyed the water. He never 
 tired of rowing and sailing, and never refused an in- 
 vitation to do either. He grew as bronzed as an old sea 
 captain, and was sometimes called the Ancient Mariner. 
 He greatly enjoyed the services in the Methodist taber- 
 nacle there, and took part in the Love Feasts and other 
 services, as if he had always been accustomed to them. 
 His voice was frequently heard in the social meetings. 
 
220 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 In the fall of this year, 1888, he made his last visit 
 to his familiar haunts in Mendham, a place greatly 
 endeared to him. On his last Sunday there, he went, 
 as was his frequent custom, to the Methodist Sunday 
 school, where he always received a hearty welcome. In 
 addressing them, he said that he did not suppose he 
 should ever stand before them again. As he concluded, 
 the school started the hymn, " We shall meet beyond 
 the river." 
 
 That fall and winter he had a good deal of sickness, 
 premonitory of his final illness, but in the intervals re- 
 sumed his wonted activity. At the time of the Centen- 
 nial Celebration, in 1889, Mr. Carter's children had 
 rather taken it for granted that, with his failing health 
 and debility, he would not care to see the procession, 
 although his store would be furnished with scaffolding 
 for the benefit of those who wanted to witness it ; but 
 they had greatly underestimated their father's vitality 
 and public spirit. Some one had made a remark, tak- 
 ing for granted that he would not go, and he sat silent 
 for a few moments, and then said, " I think I should 
 like to go down to the procession. There will be a good 
 many at the store who would like to see me." And 
 after a moment's pause he added, " and a good many 
 whom I should like to see." Of course all were de- 
 lighted to have him there, and he entered into all the 
 doings of both days with the interest of a boy. His 
 was a spirit that never grew old. 
 
 When the General Assembly met in New York, in 
 1889, Mr. Carter was confined to his room while re- 
 covering from a severe illness. He was well enough, 
 however, to receive a large number of his old friends, 
 and to take a lively interest in reports of the proceed- 
 ings. He especially enjoyed at this time a visit from 
 
LAST DAYS OF ACTIVITY. 221 
 
 his nephew, Eev. Dr. Thomas Carter Kirkwood of Colo- 
 rado. This dear friend, when asked, a year later, for 
 suggestions as to his uncle's Memorial, answered, " Lay 
 stress upon the mention of his great kindness to theo- 
 logical students." 
 
 Early in June, he went with his son Eobert and his 
 granddaughter to visit his oldest son at Boonton, New 
 Jersey, while his daughter with her children went 
 to their old home in Mendham. After his arrival in 
 Boonton, he penned to his daughter what was perhaps 
 his last autograph letter, in which he says : " All are 
 very kind. I need no help which is not readily given. 
 But still I miss your loving care. You have been a 
 great comfort to me since your dear mother left me. I 
 do not know how I could have lived had I not had your 
 constant care. B^t, after all, I must look higher. How 
 low my aims are ! I hear the call, Look unto me, but 
 it often is unheeded. Give my love to the dear ones 
 around you. How many you have to cheer you in 
 Mendham ! Meetings are as frequent as ever, and all 
 take part." 
 
 On the evening of Sunday, June 23d, a praise service 
 was held in the church. The writers whose hymns 
 were sung that evening were Eobert Murray McCheyne 
 and Dr. and Mrs. Horatius Bonar. The Bonars were old 
 friends of Mr. Carter, who, by request of his son, gave 
 some very interesting reminiscences concerning them. 
 He closed his address with the words, "The night 
 Cometh. Shall we all meet together in the morning ? " 
 As the old man spoke, his aged friend, Bonar, the poet 
 preacher, was stepping down to the banks of Jordan, 
 and only one more Sabbath was the speaker himself 
 permitted to spend in the earthly sanctuary. On that 
 Sabbath, — June 30th, — Mr. Carter visited the Sunday 
 
222 LITE OP ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 school, heard his son preach twice, and spoke at an 
 open-air prayer meeting in the woods. As he rose to 
 speak, one who noticed how feeble he was moved his 
 own chair so that he might catch him if he fell. 
 
 He had expected to go with some of his children and 
 grandchildren to Sharon Springs on July 8 th, and every 
 arrangement was made for the journey ; but on Saturday, 
 July 6th, he was taken with a return of the illness which 
 he had had several times the winter before. A mes- 
 sage was sent to his daughter late On Saturday night, 
 and at an early hour on Sunday she was at his side. 
 One of his grandchildren, looking from the window, 
 said to him, "Grandpa, here is aunt getting out of a 
 carriage at the door." "Ah ! I knew she would come," 
 he said, in tones of joy and affection, and his welcome 
 was with all his wonted tenderness, —» more was hardly 
 possible. 
 
 Then began a struggle, which lasted nearly six months, 
 in which skilled physicians and loving watchers strove 
 to ward off the assaults of disease and death. It was 
 an unequal struggle, and would have been still more so, 
 at his advanced age, but for his splendid powers of en- 
 durance. His physician never examined him without 
 exclaiming over the breadth and depth of his chest, 
 and saying, " Mr. Carter, that is what is pulling you 
 through." 
 
 Old and attached family servants came to assist in 
 caring for him. Such had always been at his command, 
 for in all his fifty-six years of housekeeping a servant had 
 seldom left his house, where many had learned the way 
 of salvation, except to enter a home of her own. Though 
 often in great suffering, and always in much weak- 
 ness, not a murmur ever passed his lips. On the con- 
 trary, words of thanksgiving and praise were often there. 
 
DAYS OF ILLNESS. 223 
 
 For weeks he was confined to his bed, or lifted from it 
 with great care to a lounge. Then he rallied sufficiently 
 to sit up a little in an invalid chair, and finally was able 
 to walk, with two supporting him, through the hall and 
 adjoining rooms. This was a great pleasure to him, and 
 he evidently was very proud to show off his powers of 
 locomotion to his physician. He always wanted family 
 prayers held in his room. On a very few occasions, 
 when he seemed too ill, they were held in the sitting- 
 room, but his disappointment was so great that it was 
 thought best to have them as quietly as possible at his 
 side. The Bible was read to him a great deal, and 
 every morning he wanted to hear the daily portion from 
 Dr. J. E. Miller's beautiful " Come ye apart." This was 
 the third year of his reading it through, and he enjoyed 
 it as much as ever. All through his illness he frequently 
 repeated Cowper's hymn, — 
 
 " Hark, my soul, it is the Lord, 
 'T is thy Saviour, hear his word. 
 Jesus speaks and speaks to thee, 
 Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou rae ? " 
 
 He never tired of the beautiful words, and wanted all 
 his grandchildren to learn them. 
 
 His brother, Mr. Peter Carter, visited him at least 
 once a week while he was at Boonton. Three of his 
 children were with him all the time, and the fourth, 
 at Huntington, Long Island, came as often as possible. 
 Two of his clerks who had been with him, one for 
 thirty-seven, the other for thirty-three years, also 
 came out to see him. The firm of the Carters had been 
 remarkable for the long continuance of employees in 
 its service. One, who died in 1885, had been with 
 them for forty years. Like all their employees, he 
 was a man of sterling integrity. The same year their 
 
224 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 porter died, having been thirty-three years with them. 
 At the time of these deaths, there was no one in the 
 establishment who had not been there twenty-five 
 years. 
 
 One day, in the early part of his illness, he said to 
 his brother Peter, who was a partner in the business : 
 " I have been for many years a member of the Board 
 of Foreign Missions, and it has been a great blessing to 
 me. I want you to send a thousand dollars to the 
 Board from me. And the work of Christ in our own 
 country is of equal importance, so 1 want to send a 
 thousand dollars at the same time to Home Missions." 
 He did not say it, but it was evident that he felt that 
 these were dying gifts. He had always felt very strongly 
 the duty of being his own executor, making all his gifts 
 with the living hand. 
 
 On the first day of September there was a communion 
 service in the church. An attached domestic who had 
 lived with him thirteen years first made the suggestion 
 that the Lord's supper should be given to him. After 
 a little consultation, he was asked if he would like such 
 a service, and he eagerly assented. After church the 
 elders came over to the parsonage, and, with those of 
 his children, grandchildren, and servants who were in 
 Boonton, assembled in the sick-room. He sat pillowed 
 up in bed, looking very venerable and saintly, like the 
 patriarch Jacob surrounded by his children. His eldest 
 son conducted the service, which was a very tender 
 one. He spoke of its being just sixty-seven years that 
 month since his father first partook of the communion, 
 and of all who then were with him having passed over 
 the river. " Eock of Ages," and " Jesus, Lover of my 
 Soul," were sung. Mr. Carter said afterwards, that it 
 was most delightful to have so many of his children 
 
DAYS OF ILLNESS. 225 
 
 with him, adding, " God bless them all." It was some- 
 thing to remember in eternity. The wonderful mingling 
 of joy and sorrow on such an occasion is something 
 that the world cannot comprehend. He was to drink 
 no more of the fruit of the vine until for him the king- 
 dom of God should come. 
 
 For a while after this he seemed to be a little 
 stronger. He was not in the least nervous, and the 
 going and coming of a large family about him seemed 
 very pleasant to him. Grandpa's room was the centre 
 of everything to the large household. By and by he 
 was able to be carried down to the sitting-room daily, 
 and even to take his place at the table, to which he 
 was wheeled in an invalid chair. Several times he was 
 lifted into a carriage and took a short drive. The first 
 time he went, he remarked, " I never expected to drive 
 out again." One day he happened in conversation to 
 speak of Cowper's "Negro's Complaint," and said, 
 " That is a very fine poem. I wish my grandchildren 
 would learn it. I will give a dollar to every one of 
 them who will repeat it to me." He seemed greatly 
 gratified as one after another of the children visiting or 
 living in the house came to him to recite the verses, 
 until he had given his dollars to thirteen of them. 
 
 On October 15th he was taken back to the city. He 
 was lifted into an easy carriage at his son's door, lifted 
 again, and laid on the sofa of the drawing-room car, 
 where he said he was just as comfortable as in his bed 
 at home. His skilful and kind physician accompanied 
 and saw him safely in his bed in his own house, and 
 then gave his case over into the hands of his N"ew 
 York doctor, who was equally skilful and kindly. As 
 he was carried into the house, he exclaimed, " I never 
 expected to see my home again." He was frequently 
 15 
 
226 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 heard to thank God that he had allowed him to spend 
 that last summer in the household of his son, and spoke 
 with great affection of the constant solicitude of his 
 children for him. 
 
 Several times after reaching the city, he was able to 
 be carried down stairs, and go for a drive in the Cen- 
 tral Park, but at last his physicians decided that this 
 was too great a risk. It was a great disappointment 
 to him to give up his drives, but he bore it cheerfully, 
 as he did all privations and sufferings. The doctor laid 
 his hand on his shoulder one day, and said, " Mr. Gar- 
 ter, you are the most patient man I ever saw in my 
 life. A team of horses could not draw a complauit 
 from you." 
 
 Another day a friend said to him, " It must be a 
 great pleasure to you to look back on your well-spent 
 life, and think of all the good you have done." " Oh 
 no, no ! I have been very, very unworthy. I have no 
 reliance but in the atoning sacrifice of my Saviour." 
 
 He was able to see his friends, and his social nature 
 took great pleasure in their visits. His brother Peter 
 came to him every day, and all through his illness he 
 kept the run of the business and knew all that was 
 going on at the store. He kept watch of political mat- 
 ters, and in the question of the revision of the Con- 
 fession of Faith took a keen interest, having all the 
 newspaper reports read to him. Once when there was 
 something said in debate that seemed to him personal 
 and unchristian, he said, " We have had enough of that. 
 Eead something else." In this question of revision 
 his feeling was that there were some expressions that 
 might better be changed, but he did not favor wholesale 
 alterations. In all such matters his motto was, " In 
 essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things 
 
HIS LAST BIRTHDAY. 227 
 
 charity." His mind was so clear and his interest in all 
 about him so keen, his conversational powers so unim- 
 paired, that the visits of his friends were a great pleas- 
 ure to him and to them. Dr. John Hall was a frequent 
 visitor, and when one of the family thanked him for 
 his kind attention, he replied, " No need of thanks, my 
 visits are not at all unselfish. It is a pleasure to have 
 intercourse with such a man as your father." He 
 greatly enjoyed a call from Dr. McCosh, and the two 
 talked over the question of revision at great length, 
 and with entire unanimity. It seemed as if all his old 
 friends rallied about him with words of affection and 
 cheer. 
 
 His eighty-second birthday was on November 2, and 
 was remembered by many thoughtful friends with gifts 
 and visits and letters. His grandchildren at a dis- 
 tance, even very little ones, wrote their congratulations. 
 The following letter from Eev. Dr. J. R. Miller, whose 
 " Come ye apart " was his daily companion, was re- 
 ceived at this time : — 
 
 " I have just seen a notice in the New York Evangelist, 
 that to-morrow will be your birthday. I am constrained to 
 write a word of sincere congratulation. There are mauy 
 things upon which you are to be congratulated. One is, 
 that through the grace of Christ in you, your life has been 
 such a blessing to the world, so full of usefulness, such an 
 educating, uplifting influence. You will never know the 
 full value of what you have done until in eternity you see all 
 the results and inspirations when the harvest is gathered. 
 
 " Another thing on which your friends cannot but con- 
 gratulate you and felicitate themselves is, that your useful 
 life has been so long spared, that year has been added to 
 year until you have now passed your fourscore. It has been 
 a great joy and blessing to aU who know you that the tree 
 
228 LIFE OF EOBEET CARTER. 
 
 lias been left standing so long, that hungry ones might sit 
 in its refreshing shade and eat of its ripened fruits. 
 
 "Another thing on which you should be congratulated is, 
 that you have outlived neither your usefulness nor your 
 welcome in this world. Some old people do both. But you 
 are enjoying in the mellow eventide of your life the love of 
 loyal friends, and the esteem and regard of the thousands to 
 whom you have been a blessing, and are still bringing forth 
 fruit in old age. 
 
 " One other cause for congratulation is that you have an 
 immortality before you, bright with rich possibilities of 
 growth, in which you are going to continue to work for 
 Christ. This is the best of all. The ' endless life ' beyond 
 the shadows of mortality is a great deal more real than the 
 broken years we live in this world. There the oldest are the 
 youngest, and all life is toward youth. 
 
 " May God continue you for many other years of use- 
 fulness here, and then introduce you to an eternity of 
 glorious life." 
 
 A few days later came the following letter from Dr. 
 Cuyler : — 
 
 " I often, often think of you, and wish T was so near that 
 I could come in and enjoy a grasp of your honest hand, and 
 a look into the face that has shone for half a century in the 
 light of God's countenance. How I love you, and rejoice 
 to have spent so many hours with you in this world ! But 
 many more, I trust, up yonder. 
 
 " I send to you one of my late articles, written for those 
 shut up in sick-rooms, entitled ' Prisoners of Jesus Christ.' 
 Perhaps it may be to you also a love message. I hope that 
 I can get over soon to see you, but my work is heavy, con- 
 stant, pressing, and I am not quite so hearty as usual. 
 
 " Thanks, — thanks for the unspeakable gift of Christ 
 Jesus to us both, and to our loved ones. 
 
 " Ever yours, till the day break in glory.'' 
 
( 
 
 ILLNESS. 229 
 
 A few days later, Dr. Cuyler called, and had a most 
 delightful talk with his aged friend, whom he described 
 as dwelling in the land of Beulah. 
 
 On his birthday and all through his sickness, he 
 greatly enjoyed the beautiful flowers that were sent 
 him, and his grandchildren loved to bring them to 
 him and witness the look of pleasure that spread 
 over his face as he received them. He had always 
 been very fond of flowers, and as he walked the street 
 in his days of health, he would stop before the florists' 
 windows and rejoice that there were so many more 
 of them than there used to be to delight the passer 
 by. Often he would quote from Milton's Lycidas the 
 description of the flowers brought 
 
 " To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies," 
 
 and remark that " the glowing violet " had a line all to 
 itself. When some one reminded him of the enormous 
 sums spent on floral decorations, so perishable in their 
 nature, he said, " It is certainly a very difi'erent ex- 
 travagance from that which squanders money on cigars 
 and whiskey.'' 
 
 His love of conversation continued strong to the last. 
 He indulged in lively reminiscences of his past days. 
 On the last Sunday, December 15, in which he was able 
 to converse, one of his grandsons who sat beside him 
 drew him on to speak of many of the prominent men 
 and women whom he had known, and at last said, 
 " Grandfather, whom do you consider the most remark- 
 able person you ever knew ? " He turned to him with 
 a bright look, and said earnestly, " My wife." The true 
 and tender heart beat faithfully for her alone, until death 
 stilled it. 
 
 As Christmas approached, he remembered his accus- 
 
230 LIFE or ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 tomed gifts. For several years he had not been able 
 to do any Christmas shopping, but had sent instead a 
 check to each of his sisters, and also one to each of his 
 children to be divided among the grandchildren. 
 
 One of the last things he spoke of consciously was to 
 tell his son Eobert to be sure not to forget the grand- 
 children's money, and his brother Peter to be sure to 
 send the sisters their checks, and not to neglect the con- 
 tribution sent every December from the firm to Foreign 
 Missions. His ruling passion of benevolence was strong 
 in death. 
 
 His last conscious moments were on Christmas day. 
 The grandchildren living in the house brought their 
 offerings to him, and he spoke admiringly of a Japanese 
 vase filled with beautiful roses ; and when two of the 
 younger ones gave him an illustrated copy of " Eab and 
 his Friends," he spoke of the author, and said, " I knew 
 him well years ago." These were his last words. He 
 sank into a sleep, and never awoke till he was in the 
 presence of the King in his beauty. He entered into 
 rest in the early morning of Saturday, December 28, 
 1889. His life of love and service on earth is ended, 
 but in the heavenly home Christ's " servants shall serve 
 Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall 
 be in their foreheads." 
 
FUNERAL SERVICES. 
 
 /^N December 31, Eobert Carter was laid beside his 
 ^"^ beloved wife in Greenwood. The funeral services 
 were held in the Scotch Presbyterian Church. The 
 attendance was very large, and many remarked on the 
 great number of noble-looking old men who were present, 
 — men who had co-operated with him in many a good 
 word and work. Several of the benevolent Boards of 
 which he was a member attended in a body. His pastor 
 wrote of it : "I never remember such a funeral, or such 
 united whole-hearted testimony to the purity of the life 
 that was being remembered. Dr. Shedd said afterwards, 
 ' Mr. Eobert Carter was without exception the best man 
 I ever knew.' Testimony like that from such a source 
 is worth more than any number of funeral sermons." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 Rev. G. W. Alexander , D. D. 
 
 Almighty God, Framer of our bodies, Father of our 
 spirits, we come to Thee with voice of thanksgiving, 
 even though we come with voice of tears. We praise 
 Thee, we bless Thee, we magnify and adore Thy won- 
 derful grace unto the children of men. "We thank 
 Thee for Jesus Christ, the Son of Thy love, and for the 
 glorious Gospel that is preached in his name. We 
 
232 LITE or ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 thank Thee for the power of Thy Spirit, whereby Thou 
 dost renew sinful men and make them to be children 
 of the Most High God. We thank Thee for Thy 
 watchful care over Thine own, we thank Thee for the 
 good and holy examples of those who have finished 
 their course in patience keeping the faith, we thank 
 Thee for the hopes of the Gospel, and while we ask 
 Thee for comfort for those who mourn and strength for 
 those who struggle here, we call upon our hearts and 
 all within us to praise and bless and magnify Thy 
 holy name, while we look forward to the fulfilment of 
 our blessed hope in the kingdom of our Lord and Mas- 
 ter Jesus Christ. 
 
 And now we ask Thee to be with us during this ten- 
 der and solemn service, that Thy name may be glori- 
 fied and our souls blessed through Jesus our Lord. 
 
 BEADING OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 " Servant of God, well done ! 
 Rest from thy loved employ." 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 Rev. S. M. Hamilton, D.D. 
 
 We are not here to-day to mourn sadly. We are 
 here to acknowledge the goodness of God in this well 
 rounded life just closed on earth with the blessings of 
 thousands upon it. We are here to thank God for this 
 friend whom He has taken from our earthly fellowship, 
 and to rejoice in the hope of immortality. 
 
 All of you knew Eobert Carter, and to know him 
 was to honor him and love him. Affection in its fitful 
 way will recall this quality and that, will solace itself 
 
FUNERAL SEEVICES. 233 
 
 with this characteristic and that, perhaps in some way 
 not intrinsically important, but for my part I do not 
 care to analyze him to-day. Personality is more than 
 quality, and to my mind and heart it is the man who 
 presents himself, — the friend, the father, the brother, 
 the fellow helper, the servant of God who lived and 
 worked among us. 
 
 The secret of his beautiful and useful life is easily 
 told. He loved Jesus Christ with all his heart, and 
 like his Saviour, and for his Saviour's sake, he went 
 about doing good. And that was the whole of it. In 
 his presence, no one could doubt the truth and power 
 of the Gospel. He manifested continually the reality 
 of the great spiritual light that comes from Christ. All 
 his conduct was instinct with the spirit of his Master. 
 Wherever he went he diffused a sweet savor of Christ. 
 For more than fifty years he was in active business in 
 this city. During that long period he made no enemies, 
 but gathered about him a multitude of friends. He was 
 more than a bookseller. He never published books sim- 
 ply to make money. He never printed a book for the 
 mere reason that it was likely to selL He only printed 
 it after he had satisfied himself that it was calculated 
 to do good. The imprint of his firm was never put on 
 any unwholesome book. Thank God that all business 
 men in this city are not intent on making money by 
 all means and any means. Numbers of them are 
 actuated by no low motives, and convert their business 
 into the highest religious service. And with Mr. Car- 
 ter this was particularly the case. Who will estimate 
 what he has done for the highest, truest welfare of his 
 countrymen by the circulation through more than a half- 
 century of thousands upon thousands of good and hon- 
 est and pure books ? 
 
234 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 But our departed friend was something more than a 
 Christian business man. For years and years a large 
 proportion of his time was devoted to religious and 
 benevolent work of various kinds. He enjoyed such 
 work, for God had bestowed upon him gifts that pe- 
 culiarly fitted him for it, — a vigorous mind, a sound 
 judgment, a strong will, a happy temperament, sweet 
 affection, and ready speech. And had you asked him 
 how it was that he gave so much of himself, so much 
 of his time and labor to these causes, he might have 
 been surprised at the question, and would have an- 
 swered, simply, " The love of Christ constraineth me." 
 For where has the philanthropy of our day its real 
 root and inspiration ? Not in atheistic and commu- 
 nistic theories, — no indeed, — but solely in the Gospel 
 of Jesus Christ, and distinctively in the great ideas of 
 the incarnation and the atonement of Christ, — the prac- 
 tical constraint of those wondrous conceptions of God's 
 unspeakable love in the gift of His Son. 
 
 Mr. Carter was one of the founders of the New York 
 Sabbath Committee, and an interested member of it to 
 the last. He gave much of his time to the work of the 
 American Bible Society, while the cause of Foreign 
 Missions lay very near his heart. One of the last acts 
 which he did was to make arrangements for the pay- 
 ment of his annual contribution to that Board, of which 
 he had been a member for many years, and a useful 
 member. Princeton Seminary was very dear to him. 
 In the general cause of education he always took a 
 special interest, and for a very good reason. Like many 
 another Scotch youth who has achieved success in life, 
 he had in his early life to fight hard for an education. 
 When nine years of age he was taken from school and 
 set to work at the loom with his father in his humble 
 
FmSTERAIi SERVICES. 235 
 
 cottage. But, possessed of an unquenchable thirst for 
 knowledge, he had a board fastened at his left hand and 
 placed a book upon it, and so read and worked all day 
 long, sometimes, often, from dawn until ten or eleven at 
 night. In that way he succeeded, with a little outside 
 help, in learning to read Latin and Greek with fluency, 
 and in preparing himself for what was then his ambi- 
 tion, the work of a teacher. Is it strange that a boy of 
 that stamp grew into such a man, and is it strange that 
 throjjgh all his life young men struggling to get an 
 education aroused his warmest sympathies, and that 
 many a worthy youth was helped by him to college 
 and seminary ? But I cannot take time now to speak 
 of the objects and institutions that enjoyed his wisdom 
 and his generous gifts. Any good cause was sure of 
 his sympathy. 
 
 In this church Mr. Carter's death leaves a sad va- 
 cancy. For fifty-eight years he was an honored and 
 active member of it. What a record for a man in this 
 changing city life of ours ! It was in 1831 that he 
 emigrated from Scotland, landing here on the 16th of 
 May in that year. The first Sunday he was in the 
 city he asked in his boarding-house where he could 
 find a Scotch church. The reply was, " You mean the 
 Scotch church ; that is in Cedar Street, and Dr. Mc- 
 Elroy is the pastor." He worshipped there that first 
 Sunday, and from that day until his death he remained 
 through all its changes unswervingly loyal to this old 
 church. I remember my venerable predecessor saying 
 to me, when I began my pastorate here, " You will find 
 Eobert Carter a tower of strength." So indeed I did. 
 N"o minister could have had a more sympathetic hearer, 
 or a more tireless helper. He never shrank from any 
 work for this church, even though it might be disagree- 
 
236 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 able to him. His judgment was always to be relied 
 upon, his purse was always open, he took an interest in 
 everything that was going on ; he knew the rich and the 
 poor, and he had the confidence of both. How wonder- 
 ful his prayers were ! How they used to inspire us in 
 the prayer meeting! He prayed like a man who walked 
 continually with God. One of the sweetest things 
 about him was his love of children. To the very last 
 he was a constant and always welcome visitor in the 
 Sunday school, and the children loved the kindly old 
 man who talked to them so earnestly and tenderly. 
 Yes, indeed, he will be missed here. This gap in our 
 midst long years may not fill. 
 
 Many of you know far better than I do what he was 
 to the Presbyterian Church at large, what part he took 
 in some of the most important events connected with 
 our Church, what a well known figure he was in many 
 a General Assembly, always listened to with respect, 
 beloved by everybody because of the purity of his char- 
 acter and the wealth of his Christian service. 
 
 A few weeks ago an eminent English clergyman lay 
 dying, and as he neared his end his mind began to 
 wander. He fancied himself back in the church courts 
 or committees where he had been prominent, and he was 
 heard to whisper again and again, " Let us discuss the 
 matter kindly." When I read those beautiful words 
 yesterday I thought at once of Eobert Carter, — that 
 was the spirit he ever sought to introduce into debate 
 and controversy, — Let us discuss the matter kindly. 
 
 No, dear friends, we cannot mourn. We sympathize 
 with this large company of relatives, children, grand- 
 children, brothers, who have lost the centre around 
 which for years they have lovingly gathered, but we 
 thank God for this blessed memory. We thank God 
 
FTOTEKAL^SERVICES. 237 
 
 that he gave us such a friend as this for so long. Could 
 there have been anything more beautiful than that quiet 
 falling asleep last Saturday morning, with the earthly 
 work all done, — well donff? Perhaps you may remem- 
 ber these beautiful words of Lord Bacon. "Above all," 
 he says, " believe it, the sweetest canticle is Nunc di- 
 mittis, when a man hath attained worthy ends and 
 conceptions." 
 
 If concerning the heavenly reception of any servants 
 of God on earth certainty be possible, then be assured 
 this beloved friend has heard the wondrous words, 
 " Well done, good and faithful servant." He has entered 
 into that ineffable joy to which they are a prelude. We 
 bless God for what he is enjoying now, we bless God 
 that through the riches of Divine grace we may hope to 
 meet him again in that happy land. The years are 
 vanishing away ; another is all but gone ; yet if we are 
 living as forgiven children of the Lord Jesus Christ, we 
 may lift up the voice of confidence, and rejoice that as 
 the years go we too are going home, — home to God, to 
 Christ, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to all 
 whom we have loved long since and lost awhile. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 Rev. Dr. McCosh. 
 
 I have been requested to say a few words in testi- 
 mony, and they will be very few. In attending meet- 
 ings designed to promote any good work either at home 
 or abroad, I have noticed that if Mr. Carter was pres- 
 ent, everybody turned to him at the opening of the 
 meeting to lead us in prayer. " Out of the abundance of 
 the heart, the mouth speaketh." Because he spoke out 
 of the abundance of the heart, as he was thus invited 
 
238 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 to conduct our devotions, we felt as though we were 
 raised near to God. He was near himself, and his 
 prayers seemed, on the one hand, as though they came 
 from the very depths of the heart, while, on the other 
 hand, they were such as would reach the ear and heart 
 of God. 
 
 I often heard him describe how he felt when he left 
 his native country to come to America. He came with 
 good recommendations from Professor Pillans, with 
 whom he had studied, — a fine scholar ; but what was 
 more important, he came trusting in God, and with 
 the firm purpose that he would never swerve to the 
 right nor to the left from the path of duty. 
 
 He was from the first distinguished for great integrity. 
 I can testify to this fact. As a publisher of many of 
 my works, I found that it was not needful to make 
 bargains with him. I left everything to his honor, and 
 found that I could trust him and trust him implicitly. 
 And so did everybody ; the character he bears in this 
 regard will not soon be forgotten by those who had 
 transactions with him. 
 
 The substance which through the blessing of God he 
 was enabled to accumulate, and the great influence 
 which he was permitted to exert, were always devoted 
 to good ends. Many a young man might testify : " All 
 I have in life I owe to Eobert Carter. He spoke a good 
 word to me. Perhaps I was falling into temptation, 
 perhaps I was coming under the influence of evil. He 
 spoke a good word to me at some crisis of my life ; per- 
 haps he opened some oflGice or situation to me." Many 
 a young man might testify to that effect. 
 
 During his life he was identified with many good 
 causes in this great city, and in this respect he has left 
 behind him a precious remembrance. 
 
FUNERAL SERVICES. 239 
 
 But it was as a publisher of books that he was pre- 
 eminent. He never published a book which he had 
 not read with great care, nor one which was likely to 
 injure any reader. The books that he published will 
 remain long after he is gone, and will be read by the 
 young and will guide them in the way, and will be read 
 by the old and comfort them in their declining years. 
 
 I want to express my gratitude to God that it was 
 through Eobert Carter that my works were introduced 
 into this country, and that introducing them here was 
 the means indirectly of bringing me to this country, 
 and placing me in the sphere in. which my later life 
 has passed. 
 
 He has left behind him an example and influence such 
 as few are permitted to leave, and the remembrance of 
 him will cheer and solace us through the remainder of 
 our days. 
 
 HYMN. 
 "Lead, kindly Light." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 Rev. T. L. Cutlee, D. D. 
 
 Thou infinite Jehovah, who art from everlasting 
 to everlasting. Thou art the hope of Thy people in all 
 generations. With Thee there is no beginning and no 
 end of years. We adore Thee as our covenant-keeping 
 God. We thank Thee that once more Thou hast ful- 
 filled Thy promise to them that are planted in the house 
 of the Lord, that they shall flourish in the courts of our 
 God, that they shall bring forth fruit in old age, that 
 their boughs shall be green and full of sap, that they 
 wUl never be forsaken, and that whatsoever they do 
 shall prosper. 
 
 We thank Thee with all our hearts for this long. 
 
240 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 happy, and holy life, and now that our beloved brother 
 has returned unto his rest, we thank Thee that Thou 
 hast dealt so bountifully with him. We thank Thee 
 for his early Christian training in that land hallowed 
 by the blood of Thy martyrs, and for those sacred influ- 
 ences which entered into the very fibre of his being, 
 and continued with him through long years. 
 
 We thank Thee that Thou didst spare him so long in 
 our midst, and didst permit him to lay his hand to so 
 many good works. We thank Thee that Thou didst 
 make him an almoner of blessings to be scattered far 
 and wide, of leaves of the tree of life for the healing 
 of the nations. 
 
 We thank Thee, God, for all Thy goodness to him 
 throughout this earthly journey, and that when he was 
 drawing near unto the end Thou didst not leave him 
 nor forsake him. But we rejoice that during these last 
 months Thou wert with him, that Thou didst give unto 
 him delightful intercourse with Thee in the land of 
 Beulah, that Thou didst grant unto him a foretaste of 
 the fruits which are exceeding sweet to the soul, and 
 didst permit his eyes to behold the blessed land not 
 very far off. 
 
 We rejoice in our brother's triumphs and testimonies 
 for Christ, Christ only, Christ his rock, Christ his hope, 
 Christ his everlasting heritage and glory. 
 
 And now we pray that Thou wilt sanctify unto us 
 this departure of one who is exceeding dear to us, and 
 we pray that Thou wilt hallow this dealing of Thy 
 providence to us all, and to the many who are with us 
 in heart, but cannot be at this sacred service of love this 
 morning. Vouchsafe, gracious Father, an abundant 
 blessing unto his children and children's children, and 
 now that their beloved father and mother are joined 
 
FUNERAL SERVICES. 241 
 
 together in heaven, let heaven draw nearer and be 
 sweeter and dearer to them, and may the very spirit of 
 heaven, whither their parents have gone, be in their 
 hearts and homes. Thou wilt not leave them lonely, 
 for they shall evermore rejoice in his God, and may 
 his name and influence and holy example be unto 
 every one of them a precious and enduring inheritance. 
 
 And we commend now this morning those associated 
 with our brother in labors of love for the Master. We 
 commend unto Thee his associates in the Board in which 
 for the last half-century he has toiled and given him- 
 self without stint for the advancement of the Master's 
 kingdom and glory. WhUe the workers go, Thou 
 great Overseer of the building, let the work go on. 
 Give unto us another to step into the place made va- 
 cant, to put his hand to the holy ark that is in need of 
 such strong arms to carry it forward. 0, let not the 
 Church of God suffer, but rather let it be enriched by his 
 example, and may the heritage of his influence and his 
 prayers go down in abundant blessings. 
 
 We commend unto Thee the pastor and members of 
 his church, this society he so much loved, and where 
 his voice has been so often heard in testimony for Thee. 
 Let the beloved name of our brother, his influence and 
 his spiritual power, remain in the earth, sweet as oint- 
 ment poured forth and filling evermore the place of 
 prayer here as with the odor of God's own influence. 
 
 We commit unto Thee all Thou seest before Thee, 
 many of whom are worn with the heat and burden of 
 the day. Let us live looking over the verge, and feel 
 that behind the veil is eternal life, and the great, eter- 
 nal mighty harvest. So let us go from this place 
 ennobled, chastened, purified, lifted up into a new view 
 of the glorious hereafter. 
 
 16 
 
242 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 And now we ask that Thou wilt go forth with these 
 beloved ones as they shall bear from this his spiritual 
 home this body which was so long the temple of the 
 Holy Ghost. May they bear it tenderly to the narrow 
 house appointed for all living. We thank Thee that it 
 is not a hard spot to lie in, that the adorable Jesus 
 made it bright and pleasant, that His light has poured 
 into and illumined it, and that Thou hast hallowed 
 the place in which the forms of thy ransomed and re- 
 deemed shall slumber. Guard the dust until the hour 
 when Thou shalt bid it rise to be transformed into the 
 likeness of our Lord. Eeturn these friends to their 
 homes, and talk with them as Thou didst with those 
 at Bethany. Draw them close to Thee, and thus ever- 
 more in the blessed fellowship with the beloved whom 
 Thou hast taken. 
 
 Guide us all by Thy counsel, receive us all at last to 
 the glories that Christ has prepared for them that 
 love Him, be our God and Guide, and when heart and 
 flesh fail us, give us, as Thou didst to our brother, 
 clear consciousness, and the eye single, and the whole 
 soul full of love. Be Thou the strength of our heart 
 and our portion forever, and give us all a place among 
 the followers of Him who hath loved us and washed 
 us by His blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
 unto God, and the blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
 power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, 
 world without end. Amen. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 " Shall we gather at the river." 
 
 BENEDICTION. 
 Eev. Dr. McCosh. 
 
EESOLUTIONS OF SOCIETIES. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE 
 AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 
 
 ''PHE Board of Managers of the American Bible Society 
 desire to place on record an expression of the loss they 
 have sustained in the departure from their midst of their 
 honored associate and friend, Mr. Robert Carter. 
 
 He was elected a Manager on the nomination of the Rev. 
 Dr. De Witt, in the year 1855, and in 1878 was chosen a 
 Vice-President. From the beginning until the end of his 
 long service he evinced an earnest and unwearied interest 
 in the wide and varied details of the work of the Society. 
 To him the Holy Scriptures were the oracles of God. With 
 a profound and abiding conviction that a personal knowl- 
 edge of the truths which they contain was as essential to 
 every human being as to himself, he viewed with devout 
 thankfulness every movement that increased the circulation 
 of these Scriptures, alike in Pagan and Christian lands. 
 
 For his fidelity to the trusts committed to him by this 
 Society; for his constant and useful labors in the educa- 
 tional and missionary work of the Church of God ; for his 
 far-reaching and enduring influence as a publisher of Chris- 
 tian literature ; for his lifelong example of simple Christian 
 living and thinking ; for his constant witness to a good con- 
 fession ; for the full assurance of a comfortable hope in his 
 death, — we would render thanks to Almighty God, into 
 whose presence he has now entered, to go out no more 
 forever. 
 
244 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 The Board of Managers direct that this paper be placed 
 on the minutes, and published in tlie " Bible Society Rec- 
 ord," and also that a copy be sent to the family of Mr. 
 Carter. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE SABBATH COMMITTEE. 
 
 At a special meeting of the New York Sabbath Committee 
 the following minute was adopted. 
 
 God having called home to Himself Mr. Eobert Carter, 
 one of the founders of the New York Sabbath Committee, 
 and the last survivor but one of its original members, the 
 Committee desires to record the great respect and affection 
 with which Mr. Carter has always been regarded by his asso- 
 ciates, our grateful recollection of the wise counsels and gen- 
 erous contributions with which he has unfailingly sustained 
 the Committee's work, and our heartfelt praise to God for 
 the peaceful end with which the long life of His servant has 
 now been crowned. 
 
 To the family of our late associate the members of the 
 Committee express sincere sympathy, commending them to 
 the grace of the Lord Jesus, into whose presence he whose 
 loss they mourn has now entered. 
 
 It was further resolved that the Committee attend the 
 funeral of Mr. Carter. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 The Board of Foreign Missions having received intelligence 
 of the death of Mr. Robert Carter, one of its members, a 
 special meeting was held at the Mission House, December 31, 
 1889, at which time the following action was taken. 
 
RESOLUTIONS OF SOCIETIES. 245 
 
 The Board would express its deep sense of the great loss 
 which the cause of Foreign Missions has sustained in the 
 death of one of its oldest and most faithful members. 
 
 Mr. Carter was appointed to this trust by the General As- 
 sembly in 1843, and continued in this relation till the time 
 of his death. His work as a publisher gave him rare oppor- 
 tunities for promoting the general interest of Missions. The 
 early publications of the Board were conducted by his firm, 
 involving much gratuitous labor on the part of himself and 
 his family. In his general work as a publisher, also, which 
 for more than fifty years was devoted largely to religious 
 books, many of which bore directly upon the extension of the 
 cause of Christ, he constantly contributed to the growth of 
 a missionary spirit both in his own and in other Christian 
 churches. During all his long connection with the Board 
 he was a faithful attendant upon its sessions, ever ready to 
 assume his full share of labor and responsibility, and never 
 failing as a wise and judicious administrator of the work. 
 Though careful in his judgment, he was ever ready to heed 
 the indications of Providence, and to advocate every wise 
 measure of progress. He was a large contributor to the 
 funds of the Board according to his ability, and contin- 
 ually carried the interest of its great work upon his mind 
 and heart. 
 
 Mr. Carter was pre-eminently a man of prayer. His ear- 
 nest and tender supplications for the outpouring of the Spirit 
 upon missions will long be cherished by his associates as a 
 sacred and inspiring memory. He was peculiarly courteous, 
 genial, and kindly in all our deliberations. He seemed ever 
 to be prompted by the spirit of Christ, and to be filled with 
 love for those about him. Honest differences of opinion 
 were always regarded with forbearance, and he has left only 
 the remembrance of kind words and acts through all his 
 period of service. Even after his health became enfeebled, 
 and he was able to take but little part, his presence con- 
 tinued to be a benediction. The Board would express its 
 
246 LIFE OF EOBBET CARTER. 
 
 gratitude to God for so long continued and eminent a ser- 
 vice, and its sorrow that it has been brought to a close. It 
 would also express its deep sympathy with the surviving 
 members of his bereft family. 
 
 Engrossed copies of this Minute were ordered sent to the 
 family of Mr. Carter and to the Session of the Scotch Pres- 
 byterian Church of this city, in which he had been a Ruling 
 Elder. The Board also resolved to attend the funeral of 
 Mr. Carter in a body. 
 
 John Gillespie, Secretary. 
 63 Fifth Avenue, New Yokk. 
 
OBITUARY NOTICE. 
 
 THE secular and religious press all over the country, 
 and even across the seas, contained appreciative 
 notices of Mr. Carter's life and character. None of these 
 gave a truer idea of him than the following, copied from 
 the Independent. 
 
 Knowing that others who have had a far longer acquaint- 
 ance with him than I have will give some account of the long 
 Christian life just ended, I would like to add only a few per- 
 sonal reminiscences, not telling of the things he did, except 
 as showing what manner of man he was. 
 
 Becoming acquainted with him only as he was nearing 
 his threescore years and ten, I remember being attracted 
 first by his positive, crisp conversation, with the strong 
 Scotch utterance. But I am sure that my love first went 
 out toward him when noticing his loyal, almost lover-like 
 thoughtfulness for the sweet-faced, gray-haired wife who was 
 always with him, in doors or out. How well I recollect one 
 morning when we were awaiting news from an old lady friend 
 who was very ill. One of Mr. Carter's grandchildren had 
 started for the post-office the minute the mail was due, and 
 the dear old couple sat hand in hand by the window, eagerly 
 awaiting his return. When the letter came, and was read 
 aloud, announcing the friend's convalescence, the two gray 
 heads bent toward each other with a kiss of thanksgiving, 
 and an earnest " Thank God." It was characteristic not only 
 of their oneness of sympathy with each other, but their deep 
 
248 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER. 
 
 affection for absent friends. Months afterward a friend across 
 the water alluded to this incident as "an object lesson in the 
 art of growing old gracefully.'' So habitual was it for the 
 old couple to need each other's presence at all times, to refer 
 to each other, even to wait for each other in coming in to 
 their meals, that the night after his wife had suddenly but 
 gently passed into glory he went up-stairs when the family 
 were summoned to tea, and came down again alone, saying 
 sadly, " I almost forgot ; I was going for your mother.'' 
 
 Friends will mention concerning Robert Carter that he 
 was for fifty years a member of the Foreign Mission Board ; 
 for nearly as many a director of the Bible Society; seventeen 
 times a delegate to the General Assembly ; for sixty-eight 
 years au active member of the church, most of that time, 
 indeed, a teacher, Sunday school superintendent, and elder 
 in the church ; but the mere statements do not carry the 
 story of the deep religious life, and the steady good judgment 
 in church matters, which was the reason for his occupying 
 such positions. To " make sure he was right, and then go 
 ahead," was his habit. He was not afraid of responsibility, 
 neither was he afraid of the hard work which justified his 
 claim to be trusted with it. The same set of principles were 
 in steady use in business, in church, and in home life. He 
 never knew any antagonism between business and Christian 
 living. His business success gave weight to his opinions in 
 benevolent enterprises, and his connection with mission and 
 Bible work gave character to his business ; and if in his home 
 life there was more of the affectionate and tender solicitude 
 of the husband, the father, and the grandfather, he was still 
 the same man that he was in the store, — alert, straight- 
 forward, and kindly. 
 
 Most emphatically was he the " head of the family " up 
 to the last year of his long life. Not often is a man of 
 eighty-two looked up to for advice, depended upon for coun- 
 sel by the whole family connection, as he was. The grand- 
 children, as they chose their life-work, or settled in homes 
 
OBITUARY NOTICE. 249 
 
 of their own, were guided by his good judgment. One grand- 
 son, just entering on his first pastorate, another practising 
 law, another lately married, each felt unwilling to make im- 
 portant decisions until sure of Grandfather's approval ; and 
 to say " Grandfather thinks it best " was an argument not to 
 be gainsaid. Through many temptations at school and at 
 college. Grandfather's strongly expressed convictions formed 
 a barrier of safety to the young people. His strict integrity 
 was a stronghold of power. One of his sons, in some busi- 
 ness transaction involving the transfer of some considerable 
 sum, expressed surprise at no security being required by the 
 banker who was party to the transaction. " Ah ! " said the 
 banker, " if I could not give you ten thousand dollars on 
 the simple word of your father, I would go out of business ! " 
 Well it is for us that there are men in our community whose 
 steadfast uprightness is a lesson to a younger generation. 
 Let us thank God for such names, — names which are synon- 
 ymous with unflinching integrity. Happy all children and 
 grandchildren who bear the heritage of such a name ! In 
 the parishes of his sons and son-in-law he had many warm 
 friends. Long will the people remember, in a prayer meet- 
 ing in Boonton, New Jersey, (the home of his eldest son,) the 
 reading by Mr. Carter of the first chapter of John's Gospel in 
 a Scotch version. It was published in the " Sunday School 
 Times" of February 4, 1888, and Mr. Carter had cut it out 
 and carried it in his pocket-book. Never before had the 
 chapter seemed so full of tender and marvellous sweetness 
 as when our Scotch friend read it in the accents of his child- 
 hood. I never think of Nathanael but I seem to hear him 
 called the " leal heartit Israelite wi' nae guile in him," and 
 the verse, " But as mony as took him till them, to them gied 
 he richt to be God's bairns," holds a sweeter meaning than 
 ever before. 
 
 It was in this church that his voice was last heard in 
 public. The occasion was one of a series of praise services, 
 when pastor and choir united in giving expression to the 
 
250 LIFE OF ROBERT CARTER 
 
 life and singing the hymus of certain hymn writers. Bonar 
 and McCheyne were under consideration that evening, and 
 Robert Carter gave some account of Horatius Bonar from 
 personal reminiscences. His closing words, referring to his 
 friend, were, " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
 glory." Both have entered into rest since that Sabbath in 
 June, and it is theirs to wear to-day the crown of glory that 
 fadeth not away, and they praise Him forevermore. 
 
 THE END.