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 JOSEPH PEWSMITH 
 
 A QUARTER GENTUHY 
 
FEB 2 1962 
 
 1877 
 
 BX 9211 .N57107 
 Fewsmith, J. 1816-1888. 
 A quarter century 
 

 A QUARTER CENTURY 
 
 IN THE 
 
 SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 NEWARK., N. J. 
 
XT 2 196: 
 
DCT 2 1061 
 A QUARTER CENTURY. 
 
 THE SERMON 
 
 PBEACHED m 
 
 The Second Presbyterian Church, 
 
 KEWAEK, N. J., 
 
 BY THE PASTOB, 
 
 JOSEPH '4eWSMITH, D. D., 
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVEESAEY OF HIS INSTALLATION, 
 
 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1876. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE CONGREGATION. 
 
 NEWABK, N. J. : 
 A. STEPHEN HOLBROOK, STEAM PRINTER, 11 MECHANIC STREET. 
 
u^- 
 
s IB i^ :]VL o n>T . 
 
 Deut. vni : 2. 
 
 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee. 
 
 Acts xxvi : 22, 23. 
 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witness- 
 ing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the 
 prophets and Moses did say should come : that Christ should suffer, and that 
 He should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light 
 unto the people, and to the Gentiles. * 
 
 Both gratitude and duty suggest the propriety of 
 reviewing from time to time the years that are past, 
 that we may the more distinctly call to mind the 
 goodness of the Lord, and may praise Him. Such a 
 review also furnishes us sources of encouragement 
 and counsel, as we go forward into the unknown 
 future. It is well for us to pause and think that our 
 lives are not ''parceled out" by ourselves, and that 
 the strength by which we have lived and accomplished 
 anything was not simply our own. It was the Lord 
 our God who led us all these years ; who appointed 
 to us our discipline ; who gave us our prosperity. 
 We continue unto this day because we have obtained 
 help of God. 
 
 Such a review, too, will furnish enough to make 
 us humble, and to prevent our hearts saying in their 
 pride : " My power, and the might of mine hand hath 
 gotten me this wealth ;" will call us to bow before the 
 Lord with confession, as well as thanksgiving, and 
 with renewed purpose to remember Him, and to 
 ''keep His commandments." 
 
And it i^ a happy thing when one reviewing his 
 life can discern that even amid much weakness and 
 imperfection he has faithfully served God ; a happy 
 thing when he can use Paul's language, when, near- 
 ing the close of his ministry, he asserts that he has 
 been faithful in bearing the testimony of the Gospel 
 to all classes of his fellow men, and has preached 
 only the truth as it is contained in the Scriptures, and 
 illustrated in the sufferings and death, and resurrection 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in its power to enlighten 
 and save those who receive it. 
 
 Five years ago to-day, I preached to you a sermon 
 on the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of my 
 pastorate among you, in which I glanced briefly at 
 some points made prominent in a review of the past 
 twenty years. Now I complete a quarter of a cen 
 tury of service among you. It will be almost impos- 
 sible entirely to avoid repetition of thoughts and 
 statements then presented; and the sermon then 
 preached, and in your hands as a printed history, 
 must modify, somewhat, my present re^dew of our 
 relations to each other, and the history of my ministry 
 during the twenty-five years. I hear r< v >ice saying 
 to me, "thou shalt remember all the way which the 
 Lord thy God led thee, to humble thee, and to prove 
 thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou 
 wouldest keep His commandments, or no : that He 
 might make thee know that man doth not live by 
 bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out 
 of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. For the 
 Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land — a 
 land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths 
 that spring out of valleys and hills, wherein thou 
 
shalt eat bread without scarceness. When thou hast 
 eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy 
 God for the good land which He hath given thee. 
 Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God : for it is He 
 that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may 
 establish His covenant, which He sware unto thy 
 fathers, as it is this day." 
 
 I trust that both you and .1 have learned some of 
 these lessons ; and I think I can say — " Having ob- 
 tained help of God, I continue unto this day, witness- 
 ing both to small and great, saying none other things 
 than those which the propliets and Moses did say 
 should come : that Christ should suffer, and that He 
 should be the first that should rise from the dead, and 
 should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles." 
 What Paul preached I have endeavored to preach ; 
 and nothing else. Taking the Bible as the revelation 
 of God, and thus the only authoritative source of 
 religious knowledge, I have endeavored to learn its 
 teachings ; and having found the life, sufferings, 
 death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ to be its central and life-inspiring truth, I have 
 preached, according to my ability, the gospel of sal- 
 vation through faith in him — a present salvation, the 
 beginning of a glorious eternal life : Jesus, the light 
 and life of those who believe in Him, now and 
 forever. 
 
 I accepted your invitation to be your Pastor in the 
 summer of 1851, while I was occupying a professor- 
 ship in the Auburn Theological Seminary. Of the 
 committee who conveyed your call to me, one (Jos. 
 A. Bowles) has gone to his home in heaven, one 
 (Silas H. Kitchell) some years ago removed to a dis- 
 
tant westerfi city, the third (Isaac Van Wagenen) is 
 still with us in active service of the Church and his 
 Lord. On the 9th of November of that year, I 
 preached my first sermon as your minister, taking for 
 my text — Coloss. iii: 11 — '' Christ is all and in all"; 
 and on the 23d of December I was installed as your 
 Pastor, Of those who took part in my installation, 
 two have died : Dr. Richards, who gave the charge 
 to the Pastor, and Dr. Hay, your former Pastor, who 
 gave the charge to the people. Dr. Hickok, who 
 preached the sermon, lives in a green old age at 
 Amherst. Mass., and Mr. Crowell (now Dr. Crowell), 
 who presided as Moderator, is now a Pastor at Odessa, 
 Delaware. How quickly these twenty-five years 
 have passed, and what changes they have witnessed ! 
 And yet how gradually and almost imperceptibly 
 have they sped along, making their many changes 
 quietly and without great shocks, like a gentle 
 autumn dropping the leaves upon the sunny ground, 
 and then the bright spring-time returning with fresh 
 breath of life, and new growths and gladness ; the 
 bells of time ringing with soft melodies and silvery 
 tones, ringing out the old, ringing in the new. 
 
 When I came to this Church the number of com- 
 municant members was 399. The number of names 
 now on our roll is 587. 871 persons have been re- 
 ceived to our membership : 400 on confession, and 
 471 on letters from other churches. I have baptized 
 314 infants and 108 adults; have attended 718 fune- 
 rals, and have performed 290 marriages. Of the 
 dead of these years 234 were members of the Church ; 
 amono- them the nine original members who were 
 living with you when I came. Five elders, Eobert 
 
Baldwin, David J. Hays, Morris Stiles, David Dore- 
 mus, Wm. R. Sayre, and two superintendents of 
 the Sabbath School, one out of office, Mr. George 
 Rohde, who had been its first superintendent, and the 
 other in the active duties of the office, Mr. Wm. R. 
 Sayre, are also included in the number. But I must 
 here remind you again of the fact that it has been 
 my privilege to accompany to the borders of the 
 heavenly land quite a number whose names are not 
 written on our Church reg-ister, but are, I feel confi- 
 dent, recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life. Every 
 Pastor has such experiences, — and they are often 
 among the most sadly sweet experiences, — when we 
 can bring some souls hitherto estranged, or doubting, 
 or timid, to rest in Christ, and openly and most cred- 
 ibly to manifest faith in Him ere life closes. I think 
 of many such, and speak of them for my comfort, 
 and for the praise of God's grace. At the same time 
 I feel sad to think how they might have served God 
 and enjoyed His service if only they had given them- 
 selves to Him long before, and how others, instead of 
 being warned now to seek the Lord, may take ad- 
 vantage of their example to delay. Ah, my friends, 
 the opportunity of repentance in the latter days of life 
 is not vouchsafed to all; the grace of God which leads 
 to repentance is not assured to any who trifle with 
 present mercies ; and a deliberate or negligent post- 
 ponement of known duty to a future time may harden 
 the heart, or prepare for it a terrible retribution. 
 
 This Church has borne a part in all the evangelizing 
 efforts of the time ; in home and foreign missions, in 
 city missions, in tract and bible distribution, and other 
 forms of Christian activity and benevolence. While 
 
8 
 
 we have undoubtedly come short of the measure of 
 our ability, yet our contributions have advanced, and 
 our expenditures for Church work have become much 
 larger than at the beginning of my pastorate, and we 
 have been characterized by a punctuality and con- 
 tinuity of giving which are important features in 
 Christian work. For the last few years we have 
 adopted the system of regular Sabbath contributions 
 by means of envelopes, with a good degree of suc- 
 cess, though in the last two years there has been a 
 diminution in the amounts given. 
 
 Our Sunday School, now in its 62d year, and 
 enrolling, officers, teachers and scholars, 422, has had 
 a constant succession of faithful officers and teachers; 
 generation after generation of scholars has grown 
 up in it, and year by year it has furnished many to 
 the membership ot the Church and the kingdom of 
 Christ. Its contributions for many successive years 
 to the American Sunday School Union, and to other 
 agencies of benevolence and evangelization, have 
 been liberal, and the educational effects of such habits 
 of well doing and sharing with others have been 
 most happy. Tliis school is dear to our hearts, and 
 God has used it for His glory. 
 
 Our Mission School, begun more than 22 years ago 
 in a small room over a stable, transferred after a time 
 to the chapel on Hoyt street built by the Presbyterian 
 City Mission Society and subsequently united with a 
 younger branch, and since taught in the lecture rooms 
 of the Second Grerman Church on Sussex Avenue, 
 has for several years maintained an enrolled member- 
 ship of over 300, — last year it was 343, — with a corps 
 of indefatigable and earnest teachers. It has been 
 
admirably sustained and is doing great good. We 
 have always been interested in mission work. Mem- 
 bers of this congregation bore part in the Sunday 
 School enterprise at Roseville, out of which has 
 grown the vigorous and noble Church there. For 
 some years we sustained in large part a Mission 
 School in the northern part of the city, and in 18.')3 
 we built and dedicated a commodious chapel on State 
 street. After several years of service that enterprise 
 was abandoned, and the building was given to the 
 Third German Presbyterian Church, and is still used 
 by them as a house of Avorship. The Second Ger- 
 man Church is the result of missionary eiforts, to 
 which we contributed both workers and money, and 
 in sustaining it from year to year this congregation 
 has from the beginning largely aided. 
 
 For several years past we have employed a Bible 
 Reader to labor amono- the families in the res"ion 
 about our Mission School. In a quiet way she has 
 been doing much good, relieving the physical as well 
 as spiritual wants of many suffering ones and 
 carrying the light of life to many saddened homes 
 and hearts. 
 
 The cause of Temperance has always been en- 
 couraged by us, and the acti^dty and usefulness of 
 our Young People's Temperance Society in the last 
 few years has been a featui'e of special and great 
 interest. In connection with the Bible Reader's work 
 they have done great good in our mission district. 
 Rooms have been hired and meetings held with much 
 success ; and for some time past a preaching service 
 on the Sabbath evenings has been sustained there 
 with encouraging results and promise of future en- 
 
10 
 
 larg"ement. Our home Sabbath School and our mis- 
 sion work are two most efficient and all important 
 arms of evangelical usefulness. 
 
 God has blessed us in this quarter century with 
 several revivals of religion ; in a few cases resulting 
 in large accessions, but for the most ■ part quietly 
 bringing in little clusters of converted ones to the 
 fold of the Church. 
 
 Our relations as people and pastor have been har- 
 monious and pleasant. You have been kind to me 
 and I have sought to be faithful to you. The Session 
 I have always found to be ready and judicious coun- 
 sellors. Various circumstances have sometimes hin- 
 dered their carrying out plans of visitation, and 
 other work which they designed to do for the Church, 
 but they have never failed to seek what seemed to 
 them to be for the highest good of the congregation, 
 and for the glory of God. Between the pulpit and 
 the choir, I am happy to say there has been an un- 
 broken harmony, and I have always found them ready 
 to adopt any suggestions which I had to offer, and 
 to aid me in promoting true devotion. 
 
 I have said the congregation have always treated 
 me kindly. That kindness has been shown in various 
 ways : in your several spontaneous additions to my 
 salary, until from $1500 it has reached $4000, with 
 the parsonage, and in improvements in the parsonage 
 itself, now somewhat venerable, which have greatly 
 contributed to the comfort of my family — and in the 
 granting of prolonged absences on two or three oc- 
 casions with liberal gifts of money. Especially two 
 years ago, you generously gave me the opportunity 
 of visiting Europe, with part of my family — a privi- 
 
11 
 
 lege which I cannot estimate too highly, and the 
 benefits of which I trust will abide with me always, 
 and perhaps be enjoyed by those who sent me abroad. 
 During this quarter of a century we have contrib- 
 uted not a few members to new churches which have 
 sprung up in the city. In 1851 the population of 
 Newark was 44,000. It may now be stated in round 
 numbers at 123,000; perhaps it would reach more 
 nearly 125,000. The population has perhaps changed 
 almost as much in social characteristics as in numbers. 
 There has been a great disintegration of the old 
 families which formerly gave tone to society, and the 
 introduction of new elements — with the loss, as some 
 among us feel, of many things desirable, such as the 
 simple friendliness, or the quiet dignity and courtlier 
 manners of the olden time ; with compensating ad- 
 vantages, others think, in freedom, and enterprise, and 
 wider diffusion of general enjoyment. How greatly 
 the city has grown in extent — running its streets up 
 on the hills and over towards Orange, and out upon 
 the meadows, towards Elizabeth and Bergen, and 
 compelling the building of a new town on the other 
 side of the river : how it has improved in architecture, 
 in the number and character of its fine residences and 
 stores, and public buildings and chui'ches, and in the 
 condition of its streets, (some of us remember the 
 old " Spring openings" in our public streets, an annoy- 
 ance and a disgust to pedestrians, and how a scow was 
 di'awn with horses through the soft mud of our great 
 thoroughfare — we remember, too, what an advance 
 it was when we could have an omnibus running 
 through Broad street, where we have now four horse 
 car lines — ) how its commercial and manufacturing 
 
12 
 
 interests and wealth have advanced, giving it a prom- 
 inent place among the cities of our nation ; of its 
 numerous schools, its well managed excellent public 
 school system, developed .within the penud of which 
 I speak — of the general enterprise and activity of the 
 people, and a public spirit too slow of growth and 
 manifestation but of late awaking to energy — of 
 these things I cannot take time to speak. I can only 
 thus allude to them. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago, the only churches north of 
 us were the Methodist Church on Quany street, (now 
 Eighth Avenue,) and the House of Prayer then re- 
 cently built. Indeed to cross the " Stone Bridge," 
 just above Clay street, was almost to go into the 
 country, and most, nearly all, of the houses there now 
 have been built within this period. Since I came 
 seven Presbyterian Churches have been organized 
 within our present city limits, making the whole num- 
 ber of Churches of our denomination now, 16 ; to 
 which should, in reality, be added the Bethany Chapel 
 Mission, which is a large and important congregation 
 though not formally organized as a Church. Ten 
 new houses of worship have been built for these 
 Churches, not including the High Street Church 
 which was finished and dedicated soon after my 
 coming. Besides these, three edifices at least have 
 been renovated and greatly improved, and several 
 handsome Chapels have been erected, including our 
 own, which was dedicated in the spring of 1871. 
 Our house of worship has undergone change and 
 improvement, in its interior, and has received an 
 organ. Its exterior still waits for the hoped-for change 
 which may, if possible, make it '' a thing of beauty." 
 
13 
 
 Meanwhile other denominations have equalled, and, 
 in some instances, surpassed ours, in their increase, 
 and in the costliness and beauty of their buildings. 
 The whole number of houses of worship, as reported 
 in our last Directory, is 83, including- 10 Roman 
 Catholic, 3 Jewish, 1 Universalist, 1 Swedenborgian. 
 To these must be added 18 Mission Stations, some 
 quite important, making the whole number of places 
 of religious worship 101 ; besides some Mission 
 Schools not included in this list. 
 
 The changes which have taken place in the Minis- 
 try of the several Churches are very many. I cannot 
 dwell on them. Of those who were Pastors in this 
 city when I came, only two remain : the Rev. Dr. 
 Stearns of the 1st Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. 
 Dr Fish, of the 1st Baptist Church. Dr. Brinsmade 
 then Pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, and 
 Dr. Abeel of the Second Reformed (Dutch) Church, 
 are now living in the city without pastoral charo-e. I 
 can count up forty-two Pastors, besides myself, includ- 
 ing those who are now settled here, who have minis- 
 tered to these Presbyterian Churches during the 
 period under re^dew. But two of our Pastors actually 
 in service died daring that time ; the Rev. Dr. Row- 
 land, of the Park Church, and the Rev. Mr. Brayton, 
 of Calvary Church. Several others, I recall only five 
 or six, of other denominations have died in their 
 charges here. I have officiated by preaching,, and 
 giving charges to Pastors, and people, at between 35 
 and 4() ordinations and installations, almost all within 
 the bounds of the Newark Presbytery, and have borne 
 my share in the general work of the Chm-ch, in the 
 Presbytery and Synod and Assembly and public insti- 
 
14 
 
 tutions. My name is the seventh in the Hst of Pastors 
 of this Church. The time of my six predecessors, 
 (inckicling the six months' pastorate of the Rev. Dr. 
 Prentiss) extended over just 40 years — my own term 
 of service is more than one-third, about two-fifths, of 
 of the hfe time of the Church. Of my predecessors, 
 only one is hving, the Rev. Georo-e L. Prentiss, D. 
 D., who was settled November 6, 1850 and dismissed 
 April 15, 1851, and who is now Professor of Pastoral 
 Theology, Church Polity, and Mission Work, in the 
 Union Theological Seminary, New York. 
 
 Extending our view a little beyond our city limits, 
 we find great changes in our Presbytery. The field 
 that was occupied by the Newark Presbytery twenty- 
 five years ago, has greatly increased in population, and 
 in the growth and prosperity of Churches. Since 
 the reunion of the two branches of the Presbyterian 
 Church, formerly known as the Old and New Schools, 
 our territory has been much restricted, and our Pres- 
 bytery now numbers but six Churches outside the 
 limits of this city. Of the ministers composing the 
 Newark Presbytery at the time of my installation, 
 only six, including myself, are now living in connec- 
 tion with it. Let me here bear grateful testimony to 
 the very pleasant relations which have always existed 
 between these ministers. Both in the Presbytery and 
 in oui' Pastoral associations there has been a most 
 happy harmony, and loving respect for each other, and 
 united endeavor to discover and illustrate the teach- 
 ings of the Bible, and promote each other's prosperity 
 and secure the advance of Christ's kingdom. I doubt 
 whether there will be found in any body of men of 
 the same number and equal standing in scholarship 
 and ministerial ability, a more deUghtful union. 
 
15 
 
 The Reunion lias been one of the most prominent 
 and important events in our recent ecclesiastical his- 
 tory. It was a sad hour wlien in 1837 the Church 
 was rent asunder : though doubtless God overruled 
 the separation, and the life of the two distinct 
 branches, for g-ood in many respects. But it was a 
 glad hour when, in 18G9,^at Pittsburgh, Pa., the two 
 sundered portions flowed together into one ; and when, 
 in 1870, the one Assembly of the reunited Church 
 met in Philadelphia, and addressed itself with one 
 heart to the common interests of the whole Church, 
 the common work of Christ It was a grand triumph 
 of Christian principle, of Christian charity and liber- 
 ality. It was a healing of breaches, a subduing of 
 animosity, an awakening of confidence, whose mani- 
 festation was beautiful, whose effect has been most 
 salutary. The event has passed into history, and will 
 adorn the annals of our Church and our country. 
 The Church is putting forth her strength in the Lord's 
 service. Already we are beginning to forget that we 
 were ever two divisions; "like kindred drops," we 
 have been mingled into one and are working together 
 in love. We have a glorious Church organization, 
 with a sound basis of doctrine, and admirable system 
 of government, a wise mingling of law and liberty, 
 of freedom of thought and investigation, with rever- 
 ence for the carefully digested views of the Confession, 
 and for the supreme authority of the Holy Scriptm'es ; 
 a grand field for growth and conquest for Jesus spread 
 before us ; a well trained ministry ; a constituency 
 comprising sound practical sense, true enterprise and 
 energy, and thorough education, and material resour- 
 ces ; with Theoloorical seminaries and colleges and 
 
16 
 
 schools ; and a public opinion that demands spiritual 
 life as essential to a Christian character, and that 
 favors revivals, and reforms, and all healthy progress. 
 A noble history lies behind us. God grant that the 
 future may be worthy of the past, and of our high 
 privileges. May the Presbyterian Church, of which 
 we form a part, be true to her trust, and her opportu- 
 nities ! May she do her part to make this a righteous 
 nation, as well as to save multitudes of souls here, 
 and in heathen lands, to the Redeemer's glory ! 
 
 The period covered by my pastorate has been one 
 of intense interest in the history of our country and 
 of the world. The nations have passed through trials 
 of war, and the cause of human liberty and the ele- 
 vation of men to a higher plane of intelligent citizen- 
 ship, has made no little advance. Look in what 
 direction you will, and you cannot fail to perceive 
 that man has made progress in these twenty-five 
 years, that the world is not what it was a quarter of 
 a century ago. Some of the most important inven- 
 tions, some of the greatest improvements in naviga- 
 tion and manufactures, some of the ablest discus- 
 sions of principles bearing on human freedom and 
 social elevation, have occurred within that period. 
 There has been a wonderful *' waking up of nations," 
 a terrible testing of old systems, and in many cases 
 a com]3lete overthrow of them. The accumulations 
 of the past have projected themselves on our time, 
 and made it one of the grandest periods of history. 
 Right in the midst of its movements we cannot esti- 
 mate them as they will appear in the light of the 
 future. But with the exception of a few great epochs 
 
17 
 
 there has never been a period of such intense interest 
 
 and importance. Other ages tell on this. Other men 
 
 labored and we have entered into their labors. But 
 
 unquestionably we have been living- 
 
 " In a grand and awful time, 
 In an age on ages telling/' 
 
 and it may well make us serious, dear friends, to-day, 
 as we reflect on the past, and ask whether we have 
 borne our part, faithfully, manfully, christianly, in the 
 grand movement. The growth of our own country 
 has been remarkable ; and we have gone through a 
 great war, which severely tested our national strength, 
 and out of which we have come a Nation still ; the 
 weeds of mourning entwining themselves with our 
 garlands of victory, and remnants of animosity 
 embittering some hearts, but more decidedly than 
 ever one nation, under one flag, with one consti- 
 tution, and, spite of all temporary and local excite- 
 ments, with one undercurrent of patriotic loyalty. 
 And as one of the grand results of the strife. Slavery 
 has been abolished from our country. The negro 
 race among us has been emancipated. Liberty has 
 been won for all the inhabitants of the land. In the 
 history of this quarter century, these two events will 
 be prominent : the war for the Union, and the eman- 
 cipation of the slaves. And as I look back upon the 
 struggle, and try to review the course and position 
 which your Pastor adopted in his conscientious 
 endeavor to inculcate a Christian patriotism, to uphold 
 Law and Liberty, to stand for the Nation and for 
 God, I am thankful to be able to say, that I find 
 nothing to regret. Besides this great strain and trial, 
 our country has passed through seasons of commer- 
 
18 
 
 cial disaster and distress — notably such a season was 
 that of 1857. But perhaps still more trying is the 
 protracted period ot dullness of trade, loss of profits, 
 bankruptcy, and disturbance of labor, and pressure of 
 pov^erty, through which we are now passing. These 
 are parts of God's discipline of us as a nation. May 
 He give us grace to learn the lesson and make the 
 chastening a blessing to us. The distress of 1857 
 was followed by a glorious revival of religion, and 
 prepared us for prosperity and also for the trials of 
 the war which came after it. May this distress be 
 succeeded by a gracious work of the Holy Spirit, 
 and a large ingathering into His kingdom — with 
 a return of prosperity guarded by dearly bought 
 righteousness. 
 
 And it is a matter of no little interest that 
 the close of my quarter century is coincident with 
 our national Centennial year. The events of this 
 year, wliich has made us all more studious of past 
 history, more fond of our country, more generous 
 towards all other nations, more self-respectful and 
 considerate of others, are raj^idly passing into history. 
 I have sought to improve its lessons as it passed. 
 The Great Exposition, which has been the memorial 
 of our nation's growth and our indebtedness to God, 
 the proclamation of international courtesy, and the 
 symbol of that universal enterprise and outreaching 
 of the active human intellect and skill which char- 
 acterize our country and our age, has almost disap- 
 peared. But its influences remain ; and we trust they 
 will go not a little way to guard us against the evil 
 results of the intense political strife which marks the 
 closing months of the year, the peculiar strain to 
 
19 
 
 which our institutions are now subjected. Surely the 
 loyalty and common sense of tlie nation will show 
 the world whom we invited to celebrate our Centen- 
 nial with us, that there is vigor enough in our con- 
 stitution and legal enactments to lift us out of these 
 difficulties, and to guard against their recurrence ; 
 that our nation is more than a party, and that to the 
 great majority of all parties patriotism is more than 
 self-seeking, and Law more than trickery. 
 
 We must also notice among the events of this 
 period, the large and numerous revivals of religion 
 with which the Church has been favored, the devel- 
 opment of lay preaching in connection with the 
 revival movements of the last few years, and the 
 special efforts to reach great masses of the people 
 in our large cities ; also the new forms of the 
 Temperance Reformation and woman's work in it, 
 as well as in Missions, Home and Foreign ; and the 
 increased interest in the Sunday School cause, and 
 the study of the Bible. There has also been a large 
 development of the spirit of Christian unity, differ- 
 ent denominations working harmoniously together, 
 and a tendency to unite organizations that are similar 
 in their general outlines of doctrine and polity and 
 history. 
 
 It has been a period of remarkable mental activity 
 and research. Increased light has been thrown upon 
 the Bible, by the advance of science in various de- 
 partments — the discovery of manuscripts, researches 
 in Archaeology and Philology, in Geography and 
 Geology and History ; and the creeds and customs 
 of the Church have been subjected to rigid scrutiny. 
 No one fails to observe that the Christian preaching 
 
20 
 
 and teaching- of the day differ from those of the past : 
 and there has arisen the fear that we have departed, 
 or are departing, from ''the faith once delivered to 
 the saints." The fear is not unreasonable : but a 
 careful examination will show that while the thing 
 feared has come to pass to some extent, still in the 
 main the change is in form rather than in substance ; 
 in the modes of presenting truth, rather than in the 
 truth which is presented as fundamental and vital : 
 perhaps also in the philosophy of religion, the 
 methods of viewing and explaining certain doctrines, 
 rather than in the doctrines themselves. In some 
 quarters there may be a disposition to substitute sen- 
 timent for sound doctrine, and a gospel of manhood 
 for the religion which abases human pride and exalts 
 the grace of God : but these are exceptions not more 
 numerous nor larger, in proportion to the increased 
 population of Christendom, than they have ever been ; 
 and not at all wonderful in view of the waking up 
 of the human mind that characterizes our time — the 
 freedom of the press, the independence and earnest- 
 ness of inquiry, the increase and equalizing influence 
 of intelligence. If the pulpit seems to have less 
 power than formerly, it is only because other agen- 
 cies in enlightening men and teaching religious truths 
 have come into prominence and extensive use : yet 
 they, without the pulpit, would be shorn of their 
 moral power, and they can never supplant it as a 
 spu'itual, renovating, and saving agency. I think 
 there has been a gain in breadth of views and catho- 
 licity of feeling, in the greater prominence given to 
 what affects the practical life, and in directing atten- 
 tion to the person and work of Christ as the centre 
 
21 
 
 of Christianity. We have attained to some wiser, 
 because more correct, interpretations of the Scrip- 
 tures. We have, perhaps, in our preaching less phi- 
 losophy, and more Bible — not merely more quotations 
 from the Bible, but more of the Bible truth and 
 Spirit. Just now there is a healthful reaction from 
 the vapid sensationalism which threatened to submerge 
 the pulpit and dilute Christianity, and a call for sen- 
 sible, instructive preaching and teaching, based on 
 the clearly perceived meaning of the Bible. The 
 gospel of mere sentiment, the gospel of humanity, is at 
 a discount. Men feel that they need something more 
 substantial for the uplifting of their fallen nature, the 
 saving of their souls. They must have bread from 
 heaven to eat. There is probably less preaching of 
 the law, less holding up of the terrors of the Lord, 
 less also of abstruse metaphysics, and of the '' dry 
 bones " of theology, less positive demand of absolute 
 acceptance of all the minutiae of the Confessions and 
 their explanations as held by any particular school ; 
 but the old truths of human sinfulness, of personal 
 guilt, of righteous condemnation, of God's mercy, of 
 Christ's vicarious suffering, of sovereign grace ready 
 to save — the living theology of the Bible — still main- 
 tain their ground, and form the staple of teaching not 
 only in our Presbyterian churches, but in the great 
 body of Christendom. Creeds may be modified, and 
 theologians die ; but Christ lives, the same yesterday 
 and to-day and forever. 
 
 '' Our little systems have their day ; 
 
 They have their day, and cease to be : 
 They are but broken lights of Thee, 
 And Thou, Lord, art more than they." 
 
22 
 
 Philosophies, scepticisms, disbeliefs have run their 
 course — old ones and new ones are now dashing them- 
 selves against the rock of Christian truth — but they 
 will die, while the word of the Lord abideth forever. 
 The things '' which the prophets and Moses did say- 
 should come, that Christ should suffer, and that He 
 should be the first that shoiJd rise from the dead, and 
 should show light unto the people, and to the Gen- 
 tiles," these things which we have learned from our 
 fathers and from the word of God, and which have 
 been taught all these years in this pulpit — these things 
 stand fast. 
 
 The world is in commotion. Great changes are 
 going on in States, and in society, and even in the 
 visible Church. But Christ is gaining dominion. 
 The gospel has made wonderful progress. The mis- 
 sion work has had large success. The leavening 
 influence of Christianity is potent, and silently work- 
 ing out vast results. An intelligent and careful 
 writer (Dr. Clark, Missionary Herald, November, 
 1876,) has recently said, "the number of evangelical 
 believing church members in this country at the 
 present time is far greater than the entire number in 
 Christendom in 1776 ; and it is not too much to say 
 that there is more real aggressive power for the pro- 
 motion of the cause of Christ put forth to-day, at 
 home and abroad by the Christians of Scotland or 
 New England than by all Protestantism a century 
 ago." " We are come to an age of intellectual revolt 
 against the errors and the superstitions of the past. 
 It is not confined to the realm of Christendom, but 
 embraces large sections of the heathen world, and 
 soon must embrace them all. The light of modem 
 
23 
 
 civilization is shining in on the dark places of the 
 earth, and men are waking from the stupor of ages." 
 The river of holy water which Ezekiel (xlvii : 1-12) 
 saw in vision pouring forth from the Sanctuary is 
 spreading its deep flood over the earth, carrying 
 healing to all the nations. Jesus shall reign every- 
 where. 
 
 Our history, my brethren, shows that this Church 
 has not been in vain. For sixty-five years it has 
 been holding forth the truth, and working for God. 
 The original 93 are now represented by 587. The 
 whole number that have been connected with it, is 
 2204 Here very many souls have been born into 
 Christ's kingdom. Very many have been trained in 
 Christian intelligence, character and usefulness, and 
 this Church has been in this community a power for 
 good, and a fountain of benefactions and of healing 
 influences to wider and distant regions. 
 
 I trust that our work together in the past twenty- 
 five years has not been fruitless. We have our de- 
 ficiencies and faults to lament. None of you are more 
 sensible of these tlian is your Pastor of his own. 
 But we have abundant reason to thank God for good 
 accomplished. Sadness mingles with the feelings with 
 which we review the past. That is always so. Time 
 brings many changes of sorrow and of joy. How 
 many who were here when I was installed are here 
 no longer ! Nay, how few of the older persons are 
 here to-day, who were here then ! There is not a 
 family into which during this period death has not 
 come ! Those 718 funerals ; over how wide a space 
 have they spread their sorrows ! In how many hearts 
 
24 
 
 have they engraved the ineffaceable grief ! The graves 
 of our departed, what treasures they contain ! All 
 down these twenty-five years they have been leaving 
 us one after another, father, mother, husband, wife, 
 child, sister, brother ! To some of us it is but as 
 yesterday that they were here with us. Ah, yes ! 
 the review of the past brings them all before us. 
 
 " The youth in life's green spring, and he who goes 
 In the full strength of years, matron and maid, 
 And the sweet babe, and the gray headed man." 
 
 It repeoples our homes, puts back the little babe in 
 the empty cradle, and fills again the vacant chair. 
 But the changes are not all sorrowful, and even many 
 of the sorrows are beautiful. Seen now through our 
 tears, they are surrounded with a heavenly radiance, 
 like the rainbow that comes when the last drops of 
 the passing shower catch and reflect and refract the 
 rays of the returning sun. 
 
 And the children have grown up to be men and 
 women, and other children have been born ; and the 
 new generation steps into the places of the old. 
 Thank God for our joys ; thank Him for our sancti- 
 fied sorrows ; thank Him for sweet memories of the 
 departed ; thank Him for the enlightening and soft- 
 ening power of experience and faith, which enables 
 us to look back and see that the soitow which 
 was so great and at the time so strange, was a divine 
 benediction. 
 
 But we have done with the past, except as we 
 may carry its marks and its memories, and profit by its 
 teachings in the future. We have our present re- 
 sponsibilities and privileges. No Church, as no nation, 
 can five on its history. We must live in the present. 
 
25 
 
 A Church must be a living Church, seizing* upon 
 present opportunities, adapting* its modes of working 
 to present emergencies, to the characteristics of its 
 own time, fighting the sins of to-day, meeting the 
 questions and problems of to-day, telhng '' the old, 
 old story " in the language of to-day and so as 
 to save the souls that are dying to-day ; a living 
 Church, not fossilized, and resting on its fine history, 
 or its orthodoxy, or its social position ; a living, work- 
 ing Church. 
 
 And so the ministry must be a living not a dead 
 ministry : not a ministry going through a routine, 
 and preaching and working just as it would years 
 ago, without inquiring whether there is need of new 
 processes and new thoughts. We believe in a perma- 
 nent as contrasted with a temporary and changing 
 ministry. Each system has its advantages. The 
 Churches of Newark are becoming noted for retain- 
 ing their Pastors many years. In general it speaks 
 well for the Churches and the ministers. When a 
 minister loses his interest in his work, or in his parish, 
 when he becomes indolent or indifferent, or unable 
 to discharge the duties of his position, then his 
 ministry should close. Much is said about Churches 
 desiring young ministers. There is no fault to be found 
 with that if it be not carried to a foolish extreme : 
 then it punishes itself. Many of our most influential, 
 active and laborious ministers, held fast in the hearts 
 of the people, are men considerably past middle life. 
 The minister must take care not to grow old too fast. 
 He must keep himself fresh and young, by unremit- 
 ting study, by sympathy with the young, by a wide 
 awake interest in passing events, by familiarity with 
 
26 
 
 the sources of information, of amusement, of occu- 
 pation, of perplexities, that are open to him, by a 
 ready attention to occurring events and calls upon him, 
 by a warm heart, and largely by forgetting himself in 
 the stirring life of his people and his time, and by 
 drinking continually at the well of salvation. I 
 hardly know whether I am growing old or not. I 
 should not think so at all were it not that I know that 
 twenty-five years added even to a y(^ung man's life 
 carry him forward, and that I see others growing old 
 around me : and that I am called sometimes to marry 
 those whom I baptized as children, and even to baptize 
 their children. But no matter about the years, if 
 there only be vigor, and heart, and aptness enough 
 for my work. Ha\dng obtained help of God who 
 has led me through all these years, I continue unto 
 this day ; and by His help I shall continue to preach 
 among you the glorious gospel of the grace of Grod, 
 as long as He gives me strength to do so ; or until 
 His Providence shall indicate that my ministry shall 
 cease. 
 
 Let us, beloved friends, go into the future, with a 
 bright and cheery confidence. Let us ''go in this 
 our might." May God grant that the future may be 
 even brighter than the past. Oh that these swift 
 passing weeks may witness the ingathering into the 
 Church of dear friends to whom these many years I 
 have preached, for whom I have prayed. The past 
 records its accumulated responsibilities. A faithful 
 ministry however feeble must witness against those 
 who neglect it. A quarter century hence where shall 
 we be 1 How many of us will be living then ? 
 Many doubtless of those who hear me, and myself 
 
27 
 
 probably with them, will have passed away from the 
 earth ; but many of you will be living here, and with 
 your families around you will be carrying forward 
 the work of the Church. Many of the children and 
 youth here to-day, will then be the active men and 
 women, upholding and guiding the energies and life 
 of the congregation. In the growth and prosperity 
 of the city during these coming years may you bear 
 your part and enjoy your share, and be able at the 
 end to say, " Bless the Lord for all His benefits 
 towards us ; for these harvest sheaves which we are 
 permitted to pile upon His altar." 
 
 A grand field is spread before us. Let us work on 
 cheerily, people and pastor, elders and trustees, par- 
 ents and children, teachers and scholars, work on, 
 sowing in faith, with love and prayerfulness, confi- 
 dent that a harvest will come in the future as it has 
 in the past. 
 
 " Sow ye beside all waters, 
 
 Where tlie clews of heaven may fall ; 
 Ye shall reap if ye be not weary, 
 . For the Spirit breathes o'er all. 
 
 Sow, though the thorns may wound thee ; 
 
 One wore the thorns for thee — 
 And though the cold world scorn thee, 
 
 Patient and hopeful be. 
 Sow ye beside all waters 
 
 With a blessing and a prayer j 
 Name Him whose hand upholds us, 
 
 And sow thou everywhere. 
 
 Sow, though the rock repel thee 
 
 In its cold and sterile pride ; 
 Some cleft there may be riven, 
 
 Where the little seed may hide. 
 
28 
 
 Fear not, for some may flourish, 
 
 And, though the tares abound. 
 Like the willows by the waters. 
 
 Will the scattered grain be found. 
 Work while the daylight lasteth, 
 
 Ere the shades of night come on ; 
 Ere the Lord of the vineyard cometh, 
 
 And the laborer's work is done. 
 
 Work ! in the wild waste places, 
 
 Though none thy love may own : 
 God guides the down of the thistle 
 
 The wandering wind hath sown. 
 Will Jesus chide thy weakness, 
 
 Or call thy labor vain ? 
 The word that for Him thou bearest, 
 
 Shall return to Him again. 
 On ! with thine heart in heaven. 
 
 Thy strength in thy Master's might, 
 Till the wild waste places blossom 
 
 In the warmth of a Saviour's light. 
 
 Watch not the clouds above thee. 
 
 Let the whirlwind round thee sweep 
 God may the seed-time give thee, 
 
 But another's hand may reap. 
 Have faith, though ne'er beholding 
 
 The seed burst from its tomb ; 
 Thou knowest not which may perish, 
 
 Or what be spared to bloom. 
 Room on the narrowest ridges 
 
 The ripened grain will find. 
 That the Lord of the harvest coming 
 
 In the harvest sheaves may bind." 
 
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