,■=* ^ 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/cu31924032193603 OforneU itohtetaitg ffiibrarg Jtljara, SJero lurk lmrs.a^.USV\i.i;e Cornell University Library arY211 Memorials of love / 3 1924 032 193 603 olin.anx Edition de Luxe PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR MRS. RUSSELL SAGE $lemortate of iLtfoe ASERMON, BY REV. GEORGE B. SPALDING, D. D., LL.D., PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SYRACUSE, N. Y., MAY 19, 1907, IN REFERENCE TO THE WESTERN TRANSEPT WINDOW, ERECTED BY MARGARET OLIVIA SLOCUM SAGE, AND JOSEPH JERMAIN SLOCUM, IN LOVING MEMORY OF THEIR FATHER AND MOTHER, JOSEPH SLOCUM AND MARGARET PIERSON SLOCUM, AND THE EASTERN TRANSEPT WINDOW, ERECTED BY MARGARET OLIVIA SLOCUM SAGE, AS A MEMORIAL OF THE PASTOR OF HER CHILDHOOD, REV. JOHN WATSON ADAMS, D. D. A^siiosn Jpemortate of Hotoe Matt. 26: 6-7 Now when "Jesus was in Bethany * * * there came unto him a woman having an alabaster cruse of exceedingly precious ointment, and she poured it upon his head, as he sat at meat. HE supper of our Lord in the guest chamber in Jerusalem is a monument of divine love. The supper at Bethany in the house of Simon is a monument of human love. They were in such perfect oneness with each other that our Saviour would have them held in like perpetual remembrance. So love, wherever found, "abideth." It "never faileth." It were a vain search for a more felicitous de- scription of love than that of Saint Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians. Eloquence, knowledge, proph- ecy, miracle-power, faith itself stand around love bending low before her sovereignty, as the sheaves of Joseph's brethren made obeisance to his lordly sheaf. But the Apostle's glowing panegyric on love pales before the effulgent act of our Lord's and Mary's love. The deed is ever more splendid than the word. Love cannot stay at the mere emotion. It must vent itself in gift, in sacrifice most rare and costly. So it was that at Simon's feast where Jesus sat with Lazarus and the sisters, Mary must break upon the head of Jesus the alabaster box of exceeding precious nard, else her own heart would break. Tennyson in his In Memoriam, where he poured out in like lavishment the whole genius of his poesy in love for his dead friend, caught this wondrous love scene at Bethany: "Her eyes are homes of silent prayer, Nor other thought her mind admits But, he was dead, and there he sits, And he that brought him back is there ! "Then one deep love doth supersede All other, when her ardent gaze Roves from the living brother's face, And rests upon the Life indeed. "All subtle thought, all curious fears, Borne down by gladness so complete, She bows, she bathes the Saviour's feet, With costly spikenard and with tears." And this necessity of life's devotion of itself in some supreme act asserts itself toward those who have been taken from life. Death accentuates grief ; but it accentuates love. From the dawn of human history every art of man has been pressed into serv- ice by the living, to perpetuate the memory of their dear dead. The cave in Machpelah bought at such great cost by Abraham for the burial place of Sarah; the Taj Mahal at Agra in India, the marvel of orna- mental architecture, a Temple of Love, built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaza Mahal; the frescoes and tablets of the tenebrous Cat- acombs with their brief inscriptions of deathless love and hope; the monumental brasses in the ivy-clad churches of England ; the splendid mosaics and the many colored windows of the medieval cathedrals of Europe, bear witness in every age and clime to the intensity of this commemorating affection. It is peculiarly fitting that the temple of our worship should find its chief adornments in these memorials of our fondest human associations. Thus it was that in our former church edifice, windows and tablets and font were erected, not only "to beautify the Lord's house," but to keep fresh in mind and heart ministers who once spoke "the words of life," and those members of "the household of faith," with whom the living once "took sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company." These memorials, so sacred, have found their places in this our new temple ; and there have been added to them for its adornment, and in the same blessed service of commemorating love, reredos and windows tokens of deathless affection for mothers and fathers, wives and husbands and children; so it is that in our worship here "We join our hands, With those who went before, And greet the ransomed, blessed hands, Upon the eternal shore." Ten years ago, Mrs. Russell Sage and her brother, Joseph Jermain Slocum, erected in the choir- loft of the former church a window, in loving mem- ory of their father, Joseph Slocum, and their mother, Margaret Jermain Slocum. This window, greatly enlarged, has found its fitting place in the western transept of the new edifice. Mr. Joseph Slocum, the father, was a charter member of the first Board of Trustees, of whom Hon. A. J. Northrup said in his fine, historical ad- dress on the occasion of the Seventy-fifth Anniver- sary of the Church in 1809: "they were pioneers of Presbyterianism within the limits of old Syracuse, strong and true men who were foremost in public affairs and in laying the foundations of the institu- tions and the prosperity we thankfully enjoy"; and of the mother, Margaret Pierson Jermain it has been said, by one who carries the traditions of this church as precious jewels in the treasury of her heart : an Elect Lady' by birth and environment, for the law of the Lord governed the household into which she was born, and in this holy law she loved to medi- tate with an abiding trust in its promises, and a quick faith which never wavered even when gather- ing years with their varied experiences brought their sorrows and perplexities. As wife and mother, she ordered well the ways of her household. As a friend, she was loyal, and much 'given to hospitality,' and gifted with a peculiarly sweet and generous nature. Fulfilled to her was the promise: 'With long life will I satisfy thee,' for it was granted her to spend an honored old age in the homes of her daughter and son, and to see growing up around her chil- dren's children of the third and fourth generations." The filial love and gratitude of the children of such parents, as expressed in this window, we as a church will keep sacred while these walls endure. And now, to-day, we receive another deposit of this daughter's tender affection, another window by which her great loving heart would perpetuate its tender esteem of her "childhood's pastor," the first minister of this church, Rev. John Watson Adams, D. D., who baptized Margaret Olivia Slocum and her brother and received her into church member- ship. The church itself forty-seven years ago erected a very beautiful marble tablet in memory of Dr. Adams. It stood in the vestibule of the former edifice and now stands close by the pulpit in the ambulatory, meeting my eye whenever I mount this sacred place. It is a tribute of affection to the faithful pastor, expressed in most felicitous words as follows : This congregation erects this perpetual testimony of their affection for their beloved PASTOR JOHN WATSON ADAMS, D. D. who went in and out among them as their Spiritual teacher and guide for a quarter of a century, until the fourth day of April, 1850, he was taken to the upper Sanctuary, having attained the fifty -fourth year of his age, as yet in the prime of usefulness, but ripe for Glory." John Watson Adams was of the best of New England stock, the son of a Congregational minister who at the birth of twin sons dedicated them to the Christian ministry. The father's prayer of conse- cration was answered in both. At thirty years of age, fully developed in charac- ter, and equipped with a broad scholarship, John Adams began his only ministry in the leadership of this church. It was a quarter of a century of most fruitful labor in the earliest years of the church and community. His strong hand moulded the life of both in their most formative period, and their best characteristics to-day wear his marks. I would that I might draw and paint in, the colors of this noble The subject of this window— left to my choice by the kindness of the donor— was suggested by the close proximity of the window to the baptismal font. There was also much in the great dignity and significance of the scene of our Lord's opening ministry to connect it in thought with the Pastor who consecrated his first and only ministry to this church. The gifted artist has caught the wonderful scene of our Lord's baptism by John in the Jordan. Our Saviour's feet stand in the flowing stream. His face is turned upward as the water from the shell in the Baptist's hand is poured upon him. The face flooded with the light of the descending dove, the eyes suffused with deepest feeling are the full ex- pression of a spirit of mingled self-devotion, perfect submission and adoring love. The marvellous scene is bordered upon the sides with faces of the Apostles yet to be called ; and above, in canopies of softened splendor, the faces of angels, radiant in beauty, look down with blessing. In the name of this church which is receiving into its keeping these treasures of art and commem- orating affection, I congratulate the artist on this successful completion of months of labor and earnest prayers. In the name of this church I express its gratitude to Mrs. Sage for her con- tinued love for this church, and for this splendid memorial to its first pastor, pastor of the church's childhood, as of her own. The church will cherish and preserve with loving care this new monument of affection, and incentive to worship. And may the God of our fathers crown with his blessing this sacred service, and may the Saviour at the Bethany offering of love join in an everlasting memorial to unnumbered generations every good work wrought here in his name. At the close of the sermon, the great congregation rose and sang the following hymn: "For all thy saints, who from their labors rest, Who thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be for ever blest. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might ; Thou, Lord, their Captain, in the well-fought fight ; Thou, in the darkness drear, their Light of light. Oh, may thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, And win, with them, the victors' crown of gold. Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine ; We feebly struggle, they in glory shine ; Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. But lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day ; The saints triumphant rise in bright array ; The King of glory passes on his way. From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, Througfh gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." While the last line was being sung, John Watson Abell, grandson of Rev. Dr. Adams, and Ross Adams Abell, his son, and great grandson of Rev. Dr. Adams, unveiled the window. HESE large windows in the transepts of the church are the productions of Miss Mary Tillinghast of New York. They represent the best work of the modern renaissance of the splendid art of the eleventh, twelfth, and thir- teenth centuries. In depth and richness of colors and jewelled effect, they recall the famous windows in the cathedral of Chartres. The subject of the western window, erected by Mrs. Russell Sage and her brother, Joseph Slocum, to their father and mother, is the Heavenly Pilgrim. The Saviour is pointing a sorrowing woman upward to the Holy City, which in golden glory breaks into view through the parted clouds. It is an inspiring illustration of the words: "In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you." The bordering panels are in striking harmony with the architecture of the church. With their rich jewelled sym- bols, they illustrate the twelve epochs in the life of the Saviour. This inscription is upon the base of the window: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of Joseph Slocum, Trustee of the First Board of this Church, Born at Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., July 19, 1793. Died March 30, 1863. And Margaret Pierson Jermain, his wife, Born at Sag Harbor, L. I., March 4, 1804. Died July 19, 1891. This window is erected by their Son, Joseph Jermain Slocum, and their daughter, Margaret Olivia Slocum, wife of Russell Sage." In the eastern, the baptismal transept, Mrs. Russell Sage has now erected a second window, the creation of the same gifted artist. The Gothic canopies above, enshrining the figures of Faith, Hope, Love and Prayer, and below, containing the emblems of the baptism, and the side panels with the medieval busts of the Apostles set in jewelled borders, very rich in color and leafage, are sug- gestive of the world-renowned Jesse window at Chartres. The central figures are life size : that of the Saviour with up-lifted face, expressive of a spirit of perfect self-surrender and boundless love; that of the Baptist of rugged strength and prophetic inspiration. The inscription on this window is as follows : "He who turneth many to righteousness shall shine as the Stars forever and ever." ' "This window is presented by Mrs. Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, In Memory of Rev. John Watson Adams, D. D., The Pastor of Her Childhood and ^ First Pastor of this First Presbyterian Church, 1826 to 1850."