FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Dhtsicm Section /^? / Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://archive.org/details/maltbiedbOOrobi I (til CC*t*'< W0 ycoi A Reminiscent Sketch and Memorial By Charles E. Robinson, D. D. God's endless Lie ' IVhat m IV hen earthly shadows fee tm For all eternity' t brig*- The unfolding of that love to see ' M. D. B. New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 1904, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 63 Washington Street Toronto: 27 Richmond Street, W London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street To Katharine Tallman Babcoci, ' °f Msltkti Davenport Ba: This book is affectionately dedicate J ( I oted friend of them both. Char/ej E. Robinson. This is the death of Death, to breathe away a breath And know the end of strife, and taste the deathless life. And joy without a fear, and smile without a tear And work, nor care, nor rest, and find the last the best. — M. D. B. P r e f a c e THESE pages arc not designed to afford a philosophic study of Dr. Babcock's life, nor an analysis of the sources of his remarkable power, but what the name given them indicates. They took shape first in the form of a biographical sketch, which the writer was requested to prepare for the students of Auburn Theolog- ical Seminary, while there two years during the year of Professor I loyt's absence in Europe; his lifelong intimacy with Dr. Babcock and his family being the reason for the request. The earnest desire expressed by many friends to have this sketch put in more per- manent form, is the excuse for its publica- tion. To do so required its enlargement 7 8 Preface sufficient to reach the proportions of this little book. It is not a life of Dr. Babcock, and should not be measured by the stand- ards of a biography. As it was not thought best to eliminate the personal features of the sketch, several claiming that it was just what they wanted, it has taken the shape and title of "A Rem- iniscent sketch" of a life too attractive and beautiful, too noble and helpful to have no memento. Now that it is prepared it seems wholly inadequate. It is impossible to write of Dr. Babcock in terms less than superlative. To do so would lead one to incur the chiding of his other friends. The quotations appended at the end of the volume, are not only to give the pathetic tributes to his memory, but to show that those who wrote them came also under the same spell of his short but memorable career. C. E. R. Pelham Manor, N. Y. y October, 1904. Contents I. CHILDHOOD .... 1 1 II. COLLEGE DAYS '9 III. SEMINARY LIFE 29 IV. LOCKPORT .... ■r V. BALTIMORE .... 71 VI. HIS WORK IN 'Villi SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES . 89 VII. NEW YORK .... 109 VIII. IN MEMOR1AM '35 I CHILDHOOD When I was a child — / spake as a child, I un- derstood as a child, I thought as a child. — Paul. And thy brothers, the help and the contest, the working whence grew Such result as from seething grape-bundles the spirit strained true : And the friends of thy boyhood — that boyhood of wonder and hope Present promise and wealth of the future beyond the eye's scope. — Browning. I CHILDHOOD THE remembrance of Maltbie Bab- cock's childhood, takes me back in thought to the earlier period when I first met his mother before her marriage* I seem to be once more at Hamilton College, sitting in the window of my room in u Mid- dle College, South Hall Third front middle." I see again the lithe girlish form of a young lad}-, who with elastic step is crossing the campus. It wa [ I Emily Maltbie, who was going from the residence of her late grandfather, Ex-President Davis of the col- lege, where his widow a notably brilliant and attractive woman was then residing, and where Miss Maltbie was passing the summer, to call on Mrs. President North on the south side of the college grounds. Soon after that I was presented to her, 13 14 Maltbie Davenport Babcock and subsequently was permitted to be very intimate in her family at Syracuse, after her marriage. It would require a separate article to pay any adequate tribute to the rare quali- ties of mind, heart and soul of the mother of Maltbie Babcock. Her memory is an inspi- ration not only to her children, but to all who knew her, and who came within the wide circle of her intense spiritual life. Mr. Henry Babcock, her husband, was an attractive, charming man, socially promi- nent in Syracuse. In his youth at school at " the Homer Academy," he became an intimate friend of him who is now the eminent missionary at Beirut, Syria, the Rev. Henry H. Jessup, D. D. Mr. and Mrs. Babcock lived with Mrs. Babcock's mother, the widow of the Rev. Ebenezer Davenport Maltbie, at one time pas- tor of Hamilton College Chapel. Mrs. Malt- bie's residence was in a quite stately house, situated in the centre of a large lawn on James Street, corner McBride Street, in one of Childhood 15 the most attractive quarters of the city of Syra- cuse. It has since been removed to a lower part of the lot, and now faces McBride Street, and although somewhat reduced in size, its lovely interior, as the home of Mr. Howard N. Babcock, Dr. Babcock's oldest brother, still shows what the place once was. It was the home of quiet, cultured, refined women, hushed to specially low voices, and silent step, because of the presence for many years of an invalid cousin, a woman of much beauty, but who never left her suite of rooms, and was rarely seen, save by her nurse, and at certain hours of the day by some of the members of the family. Mrs. Maltbie, with her tall form, dignified pres- ence, in white hair and widow's weeds, and her turban-like cap of white lace with its long lace strings, and with a look of other worldliness in her saintly u slow wise smile," gave an added charm to the strange quiet of the house. Her two daughters, trained to the greatest reverence for her, never thought 1 6 Maltbie Davenport Babcock of questioning her judgment or author- ity. The introduction of a boy like Maltbie into that house, followed in successive years by other boys and girls, full of life and child- hood's enterprise, entirely reversed the order of that quiet household. Maltbie was a boy to be reckoned with. And this venerable stately Mrs. Maltbie, accustomed to the un- questioning veneration of her children, found this " human boy " an astounding revelation. His merry voice ringing through the house, his unvelveted tread, his mischievous pranks, some of which he dared to play upon his grandmother even, and his startling, unin- vited intrusions upon the heretofore silent sanctity, and almost awe-inspiring mystery of the sick-room, brought a new life into the still house ; and they all delighted in it, even the invalid. Into this refined home, where to know Mrs. Maltbie well was almost like a liberal education to any young man privileged to Childhood 17 be intimate there, Maltbie Davenport Bab- cock was born August 3d, 1858. His child- hood was very attractive. He was a robust, independent boy ; sometimes willful, very merry, often full of mischief, and from the first he showed a great deal of character. In his boyhood he was a leader in sport, a mas- terful boy. I Ic came to be early a fine singer, and a very proficient player on several mu- sical instruments, notably, the organ, the piano, and the viola. When he was about fourteen years old he organized an orchestra, composed of boys about his own age, and when such things were not as common as they are now ; he also arranged the music for it. At sixteen he was a recognized champion baseball player, being specially noted as a pitcher. During his ministry his reputation as an athlete, and his taste for athletic pursuits fol- lowed him. The boys of the town, as well as those of his parish, would involuntarily get up their muscle as they saw him coming Oh, the wild joys of living, the leaping from rock up to rock — How good is man's life, the mere living how fit to employ All the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy ! — Browning. This is my Father's world. Dr earning, I see His face. I ope my eyes, and in glad surprise Cry, " The Lord is in this place." — M. D. B. II COLLEGE DAYS IN the autumn of 1S75 he entered Syracuse University. He was there also the leader of an orchestra, the leader of a glee club, president of a tx. ball club, and in the front rank in his class. At the same time he was so much a part of the social life of Syracuse, that he was wanted in all directions by adults and young people alike. A social function was hardly considered a success if he could not be pres- ent. Even then his mental alertness, and the multiform character of his work were very noticeable. One day I said to him, knowing how well he stood in his studies, in the midst of all this social diversion, " Maltbie, how do you contrive to do it all ? When do you study ? " " Why, Uncle Charlie," a title expressive of family in- 21 22 Maltbie Davenport Babcock timacy and not of blood relation, " you know that the University is a long distance from home. I almost always walk home alone, and as I carry my books with me I generally have my lessons by the time I reach there." At that early period in his life, he had acquired the habit, which was so characteristic of Carlyle, of grasping what was on the book's page without exactly reading the words. He could tell, in giving one passing glance at a shop window, what was there on exhibition, sometimes naming as many as forty or fifty different articles. His nervous energy, which to quote Dr. Purves's reference to him," was the symptom of the intensity of his life," led him to leave the social and college round on his first long vacation to spend his summer on a farm, as a " farmhand." He desired to get as near as possible to nature's heart; he knew that there was entirely another side of life, than the one he was leading as a favorite in col- lege and in society, and he wanted to be College Days 23 familiar with it. He was sure that there was much interest and happiness to be found in life, away from what was regarded as essential in conventional society. A typical Irishman and he were the only " hands " on the little farm. Life was quite primitive — the work was the hardest, the diet the simplest. Instead of becoming homesick and disheartened, he found a cer- tain relish and enjoyment in adjusting him- self to circumstances. Pat was an unfailing source of interest and entertainment to him, as, for years after- wards, he became to those to whom Maltbie, with inimitable droller)- would recount that summer's experience. The young collegian was boon compan- ion, and inspiring instructor to the ignorant Irishman. Finding him utterly in the dark about the moon's phases, and ignorant of the source of its brightness, as he was also of all the movements of the heavenly bodies, Maltbie turned the corn-field into a lecture 24 Maltbie Davenport Babcock room on astronomy. At one time Pat stood for the earth, and Maltbie revolved around him as the moon, turning to him now a full face, and then a quarter, and so on. At an- other time, Maltbie's hoe was stuck in the ground to represent the sun, and the rake illustrated the earth's distance from it, and was made to circle around it. Meanwhile, Pat leaning on his hoe, smiled on the beam- ing face of his young professor in astronomy, and with a mild expression, out of regard to the feelings of his conscientious comrade, but wholly inadequate to express his feelings he said, " Phwat a big thing an eddycation do be." The summer outing was an entire success, and the now brown and stalwart young fellow returned to Syracuse, with a stock of health and of stories which seemed never failing. More than one boy in sub- sequent years, under the fascination of Maltbie's recounting the humorous and strenuous incidents of that summer, followed his example, as some of the farmers in that College Days 25 region may remember, but alas ! they missed Pat and Maltbie alike. By the time he came to his senior year, he had made such an impression upon bis rela- tives and family friends, with re>pect to his diversified gifts, that his own family became greatly perplexed by their Btlggc what he should be and what he should nal men, who know how to centre all the lines of their intC their office, and have them radiate with vitalizing p the farthest reach of those interests, who, no matter what the new claim- which tin upon them, with each new e never upset nor confused, but their work : SO Maltbie Babcock, from the start kept in advance of his work. He newer seemed harassed nor hurried, and never driven. I Ie kept the reins in his own han lie began, at once, systematic visit as well as systematic study, i Ie had no such narrowness as to confine hi- pastoral visits to the poor alone ; as if the rich had so much in their wealth, that they needed no pastoral care nor oversight He had such snobbery as to limit his visits to the cultured and wealthy. He had a profound sympathy for the poor and lonely, for those who were •■ under the wheel." 54 Maltbie Davenport Babcock Any one under his care, however plain, unattractive or common was an object of his affectionate interest, and perhaps, because he might be plain, unattractive and common to others. To the uncomely parts of his parish he paid more abundant honour. He was on the alert to see how much could be made out of unpromising material. He found it most fascinating to note the change wrought in such an one, under the influence and mastery of Jesus. He neglected no one, poor or rich. An incident in his early pastoral work comes to my mind. I relate it without any hesitation, because it reflects very much credit, in the result, on the parishioner himself. He was a very well- to-do elderly man, in prominent business circles ; very reserved, and supposed to be inaccessible to religious influences. The young pastor sought him out ; for this very reason he did not propose to neglect him. He went to him, as one in need of redemp- tion. With the tact which he possessed by Lockport 55 nature and by grace, he urged him to con- sider and yield to the claims which Christ had upon him. The proud man was an- noyed that he should approach him on this subject, and curtly and coldly strove to close the interview, as if he were intruding upon him. But his pastor with calmness and sell | >n explained to him that he in the discharge of his holy business, just in that act, and firmly though courteously in- sisted that he should be so recognized Christian minister, and not as a boy. The offended parishioner was obliged to grant this, but he was so thoroughly annoyed and irritated that he ceased attending church, though his wile and some of the family were members of the Church, and not only did not withdraw but were entirely in sympathy with the earnest young pastor. As months passed by, and this prominent man did not return to the congregation, there were some who thought that it might be wise for the young man to own that he had intruded 56 Maltbie Davenport Babcock upon him, and to seek to bring him back. Mr. Babcock declined to do this, simply be- cause it would discredit the work as a Chris- tian minister, which he came there to do. He had entire faith that God would take care of this matter, and that He would bring it around all right in time. A half year passed away. One Sunday after Mr. Bab- cock had returned to the manse from the morning service, he saw this man walking up and down, nervously, in front of the gate. Finally, he opened it, and with rapid step pressed to the door, and rang the bell. Mr. Babcock answered it himself, and ushered him into the privacy of the study. There, the troubled man at once apologized for the rude way he had treated his pastor, owned that he had done what was just right, and acknowledged that he, his parishioner, had been all wrong, and that he had not had a happy day since then. He expressed a de- sire to be a Christian, and asked Mr. Bab- cock to pray for and with him. Then he Lockport 57 said, after prayer, " I want you to go with me to my house, where I wish to have it understood that I reinstate you as my pastor. I would like to have you offer prayer there ; and if the way be clear I wish to confess my faith in Christ at the next communion." I give this case in full, that his fidelity in his early ministry and his method of dealing with men may be clearly illustrated. It was while he was in this pastorate that he sought and won the hand of Miss Kath- arine Tallman, the daughter of Judge Tall- man of Poughkeepsie, thus forming a union in marriage, singularly close and beautiful, and blessed to the end, through the unusual combination of joy and sorrow ; and few ever suffered more and few ever enjoyed more in their united lives. His first illness, a very serious case of nervous prostration, and his only one until the last, the fatal Mediterranean fever, at Naples, and separated from that by nearly 58 Maltbie Davenport Babcock sixteen years of perfect health intervening, was in the third year of this pastorate. That illness involved six months of great anxiety for his people, his friends and his family. Four weeks of that time, just pre- vious to his removal to the care of Dr. Jackson, he spent at our house, the manse of the First Presbyterian Church, Rochester, N. Y., where, what little I could do for him, in direct personal care, seemed peculiarly grate- ful to him. It will hardly be thought strange that then, we were more closely knit together than ever, and that a brooding paternal love, always felt for him, deepened and rooted through that experience. May this inade- quate tribute to his memory be regarded as the outgrowth from that root. It was a year of great trials. His own serious illness, the loss of their little child at birth, his wife's loss of health, never com- pletely restored ; the death of her mother and grandmother, two very interesting and beau- tiful women, and objects of the tenderest af- Lockport 59 fection, all compressed within the limits of that year, made it one never to be for- gotten. In seven months Mr. Babcock was com- pletely restored, as the result of the succ* ful treatment at the Jackson Health Resort, Dansville, X. Y. But the trials showed their influence, through God's grace, in deepened religious life, heightened spirituality and in broadened affections. Before that time he had been indifferent almost, except to his very nearest, to the expression of his really affectionate nature. In his early life, his society and college friends opening their hearts to him, as they always did, sometimes almost passionately charged him with not loving them as they loved him, which is often the experience of leaders in college. The fact was that he was never willing to be tied to any one person, except in his home, where his love was complete. He chummed all his friends, not one alone. But from that ex- perience, he grew rapidly in the power, I may 60 Maltbie Davenport Babcock say purpose to express, in a fine and manly way, most attractive to those whom he loved, and who loved him, the great deeps of affec- tion in his soul. This was the only time he had ever been ill, until the Mediterranean fever; so absolutely robust had he ever been, so perfect his health, that his friends heard with incredulity of his illness. It was impossible to associate anything of the kind with him. He realized after that, prob- ably better than any one else, the necessity of taking the most intelligent care of his health; for while he seemed fresher, and more physically alert than ever, he took the greatest pains to keep his body in the best possible condition. He was there- fore consistent and conscientious in tak- ing his vacations, and in making the most of them. Those who were permitted to be his companions, at such times, recall them as among the most charming and delightful out- ings of their lives. Music, fishing, sailing, driving, private dramatics, droll charades, golf, Lockport 6 1 tennis, unique rollicking entertainments, and roaring fun, were all surrounded with and il- lumined by an all pervading Christian spirit, which made the passage from the greatest fun to evening prayers as natural and as un- forced as possible. It was while he was at Lockport, that he came to a clear idea of what his vacations should be. He was very fond of the sea. But the average seashore hotel had no attrac- tions for him. With a few chosen friends, he and his wife hired a plain, quiet farm- house at Duxbury, near Plymouth, Mass., engaging the owner of the house and his wife to take care of them. This they held for a number of summers, until he bought land at Wiano, on the south shore of Cape Cod, where he built a very pretty cottage. Duxbury was the centre of a unique vaca- tion life. There was not a thing connected with living on the seashore, which he did not master ; that was his way. He could not content himself without knowing all that 62 Maltbie Davenport Babcock there was to be known of the region, wher- ever he was. He could sail a boat as well as a skipper. He became a skilled fisherman. He learned the habits of the different kinds of fish. He became thoroughly familiar with the history of that region. The salient points of character in the fisherman of Mas- sachusetts Bay, and of Cape Cod he thor- oughly appreciated and enjoyed ; he was hail fellow with them all. He and those with him, regularly attended and contributed to the little church. He did not take his parish cares with him, but he was as intensely and as joyously a Christian, in all his summer outings as at home. And at night after games and frolics, that flashed and scintillated with wit that cannot be recalled now, so subtle and constant, the evening prayers, reverent and tender, more unique even than those of Robert Stevenson — pulsating with the joy of life, were something never to be forgotten. It was in these vacations that he gave Lockport 63 loose rein to his dramatic talent. No one could listen to his preaching, with his uncon- ventional way of Stating truth, without notic- ing that vivid dramatic gift of his, all uncon- sciously used. But in his vacation, sur- rounded by trusted friends, he gave free play to this native talent in charades, and humor- ous recitations, and the telling of dialect stories in an inimitable way. There photograph which caught him and his party in the droll representation of various kinds of invalids, with him as the country doctor. He is not, in that picture, Maltbie Babcock, at all. He is the other man ; he is mc wholly into the character of the absorbed, kind, and faithful country practitioner. He- is dear old " Weelum McClure," save that Ian Maclaren's delightful creation of that character came afterwards. 1 le never at- tempted the type of minister which Dickens so caustically delineated — if the reality ever existed, for he loathed it, and turned away from it, to the representation of those carica- 64 Maltbie Davenport Babcock tures among the Germans, Irishmen, French- men, or backwoodsman, which, while most amusing, presented inherent, sturdy, manly qualities. When he went back to the " Pat " of his early farm experience, he was no longer the lithe, graceful, beaming faced Maltbie Babcock ; he was instead, in face, figure and tone of voice Pat, just Pat. At the right time and in the right place he dearly loved a good story ; and many a time, my first greeting on entering his house, was his ringing cheery voice from the hall above, " Uncle Charlie, I have a new story for you." In one sense, it was this dramatic power that made him such an excellent musician, or artist, or shoemaker, or carpenter, fisherman or sailor, whatever he undertook. In later years, while at Baltimore, he was accustomed, after the hard strain of the win- ter's work, and before the pressing demands which the month of June always makes upon the city pastor, to go to Florida, for two weeks of tarpon fishing, a great fish to be Lockport 65 found only in those southern waters, hard to catch, and very gamy. To haul one in, and safely land him, required the utmost skill, patience and strength. The effort, after hooking him, is full of excitement, and suc- cess arouses the greatest enthusiasm. Dr. Babcock became a successful and noted tar- pon fisher. He was while there, a tarpon fisherman ; on his boat everything in plan, talk and work turned towards tarpon. He was dressed for his calling. One would not dream, who did not know him elsewhere, that he was the thorough musician, the charming man of society, the platform de- fender of great causes, the distinguished preacher of Baltimore. He was bound to catch that tarpon ; he studied his ways; he learned his moods ; he took advantage of his tricks and landed him ! The fishermen of Florida bays and inlets never forgot him, and constantly quoted him. In his study at Baltimore, there hung upon the walls, a half of a huge tarpon, cut 66 Maltbie Davenport Babcock lengthwise, properly prepared and mounted on a cedar slab, a trophy of one day's suc- cessful fishing, its silver scales as brilliant as if burnished metal. If his letters to the Baltimore papers on this sport, and describ- ing his " catches," and the general experi- ence of fishing in Southern waters could be gathered and published, they would form a volume which would be well-nigh as popular as anything of his now printed. It was in this way that he took his first tour abroad, accompanied by his devoted wife and a few intimate friends. It was a golden summer of delight wherever they went. His letters written en route to his people in Baltimore and printed in their church paper, The Brown Memorial Monthly, reflect his discernment, his mental grasp, his felicity of expression, his understanding of the heart of things, and his ever present con- sciousness of the heavenly horizon to such a degree, that it is to be hoped that they too, like his last letters from abroad while Lockport 67 with the Auburn Seminary party, to his M society of the Brick Church, New York, may be put in permanent literary form. They deserve such preservation. He had an in- satiable desire to get to the core of every- thing. On shipboard, he went everywhere. Any suffering passenger, in second cabin or steerage, he helped and comforted. He got acquainted with the engineers, even the stokers looked for his coming with an ap- preciative smile. It was this same dramatic or imitative talent of his that enabled him to make the most of his German and French. What little he had n( those languages was through the college instruction in modern languages of years ago; and college French and German does not take one very far into the intricacies of conversation. But he util- ized his few phrases and idioms, to an aston- ishing degree ; a word, a phrase with a shrug of the shoulders, a characteristic turn of the head, seemed to take him a good way, in making him understood, to the homesick sec- 68 Maltbie Davenport Babcock ond cabin or steerage passenger, who looked for his coming with longing, and hailed him with delight. It was in the same way that he went through the Steel Mills, and into the coal mines, when visiting us in Scranton. One of the young, skilled officials of the Steel Mills conducted him through, and said, afterwards, that he took in the whole system with remarkable celerity and comprehension of mechanic law, and put himself in friend- liest accord with the men. The next day he invited a member of my family to go with him through the mills, and explained the whole process as clearly as if he had been to the manner born, while in every shop the men greeted him as an old friend, so quickly had he the day before established a basis of comradeship with them. It was the experiences of that third year in his first pastorate, which caused his people of Lockport, who appreciated and loved him more than ever to see that it would not be wise to insist upon his remaining there. Lockport 69 They agreed with all his other friends that the call which came from the Brown Me- morial Church of Baltimore, Md., in 1887 was of the Lord's directing. V BALTIMORE I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ jfesus." — Paul. Lord I pray That for this day 1 may not swerve By foot or hand From Thy command. Not to be served, but to serve. This too I pray That for this day No love of ease Nor pride prevent My good intent Not to be pleased, but to please. And if I may Vd have this day Strength from above To set my heart In heavenly art Not to be loved, but to love. — M. D. B. BALTIMORE NOW in the second parish, with the results of hi matic and thorough study, with deep expe- rience in sorrow, with his rapidly developing gifts, and greatly increa he en- tered at once upon a career of usefulness and influence through fourteen years of service, in every way remarkable. Here his poetical gift was awakened. He had read largely in the .seminary, and in his first parish, in the be>t poetry. 1 le specially delighted at this period in Word-worth, later he was devoted to Tennyson, and during the long horseback rides of his journey in the Hoi)' Land, just before the end, he learned " In Memoriam " by heart. Nearly all his poems, which are in the Memorial volume, u Thoughts for every-day living," were 73 74 Maltbie Davenport Babcock written in Baltimore. Here also he put forth his first musical compositions, which attracted marked attention, and were re- garded, under the circumstances, as quite wonderful. A year and a half after his death, the organist of the Brick Church, New York, who had followed Dr. Babcock from Baltimore, gave an organ recital to the special musical friends of Dr. Babcock, in which only his compositions were played. Here, in this parish was more clearly re- vealed than ever before, his power over young men. It was a power indeed, a pas- sion with him which fairly dominated him. The Johns Hopkins University afforded him a great field for the exercise of this power. A room was set apart for his use. Special hours were appointed for his recep- tion of students. It became, in a good sense, like a confessional. It was the waking of many men to a new life. They flocked about him, they followed him. He visited The Hill School at Pottstown every Baltimore 75 other month, Robert Speer going the alternate months. The opportunity there afforded him for preaching and influencing boys, at the most impressionable age, was greatly appreciated by him, and responded to by them. Hundreds of them were lifted up to nobler ideals and nearer the Chriht, by him. He went again and again to Vale, Princeton, and Harvard for .similar service. All this will be more fully described in the chapter on " I lis Work in Schools and Colleges." There was developed within him, while in Baltimore a more intense desire than ever to save men. He seemed to feel to the full the immensely strong figure of Jude's " Others save with fear — pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." No firemen of to-day, trained to daring feats, to save his fellow men from the flames, in most dangerous places, ever felt more the exhilaration, in the supreme mo- ment of rescue, than this man, on fire with a y6 Maltbie Davenport Babcock holy passion to deliver souls. He showed peculiar aptitude for personal work with men. While, I think, he never had an evangelist in his own church, it was not because he doubted the efficiency of good ones, for he had great sympathy with, and admiration for Mr. Moody ; but because he did not need them. His church was always in a quickened condition. Although he had his own clearly chosen methods of work, he never claimed that they were the only ones. He rejoiced in the success of those who worked on different lines from his own. All modes of reaching men, such as Salvation Army work, Rescue Missions, Young Men's Christian Associations, or Young Women's, and Christian Endeavour Societies enlisted his hearty sympathy. He was a very popu- lar delegate to great Christian Endeavour Conventions. His presence, specially at Cleveland, and at London, England, where he went simply to be a delegate, made a deep impression. There are those who can Baltimore 77 never forget their association with him at such times, particularly on the steamer, on the way to the World's London Convention. There never was any Union movement in Baltimore for the deepening and broadening of the religious life, and the increase of its effectiveness, in which he was not oik the inspiring Leaders. A unique Christian worker, Mr. Todd Hall, the Baltimore detective, was once in Scranton addressing the Young Men's Christian ition, on a Sunday afternoon, at the Lyceum Theatre. When it was announced that Dr. Babcock would address them, on the next Sabbath, Mr. Hall, moved irresistibly, cried out, " < )h, I say, fellows, he's .1 daisy." He became one of the most prominent religious leaders in all that region. He was looked upon as a special feature of Baltimore. The entire city, of all denominations and associations held him with mingled pride and love. The Rev. Henry W. Luce, from my charge in Scranton, and now for a number of years 78 Maltbie Davenport Babcock supported by that church as a missionary in the Shantung Province, China, wrote of Dr. Babcock recently — " I was so interested in the book of his letters from Palestine to the Men's Association of the Brick Church, that I could hardly lay it down until I finished it — you may remember that you once gave me a letter of introduction to him. I found him at his home in Baltimore. I think that I never spent a few hours in any one's pres- ence, whose influence left such a clear and abiding impression upon me. The music, the conversation, and above all the spirit of the man still abide in my heart. I sat down at his desk and the ' Do it now ' motto, which he had written and pasted on the rim of his desk cover, has often been a reminder to promptness. And above all, was his frank- ness, and his power to make you feel it. So God blesses the earth with His children." He had no one method of reaching people, but perhaps no one ever used his pen more effectively than he, for this purpose. He Baltimore 79 wrote many letters daily to different mem- bers of his parish, about their spiritual needs, but in no stereotyped manner. Each note was sui generis, pervaded with his strong, cheery religious life, and marked by his C attractive style. There was not a member of his congregation, but what was aware of his personal interest in him, and affected by it. As a result of this faithful work, there were constant additions to his church. After his death it was wonderful, except to th knew his real life, to find how many DC whom society, so called, and the great world knew not, held him as their dcare>t friend. As Ian Maclaren refers to the other persons, than the twelve " who emerge like pictures from the shadow in the gallery, like unad- dressed letters in a biography, like initials in a diary — they are persons of whom we only get glimpses, or whose acquaintance with Jesus is barely mentioned. There is this un- known, whom we can only call ' the goodman of the house,' who rivalled Joseph of Ari- 80 Maltbie Davenport Babcock mathea in the offices of friendship — affording Him his choicest room wherein to keep the feast." So men and women in the humblest ranks of . life, had cherished notes from Dr. Babcock, brief, but characteristic and vitaliz- ing, which in his delicate thoughtfulness he had sent them ; or they recalled memorable visits, or some spoken word, which will never be forgotten. He would have scorned to make these expressions of interest and of con- sideration, to the favoured few alone. As the sun gives to each blade of grass all it can hold of his light and heat and life, as if it were the only blade of grass, so he had the charming way of giving to every one he met, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, something of his very self, and at the time, the very best of himself. While a man of reserves, and in another sense of reserve, he never held back the best or most brilliant thought that came to him, in conversation, as if it were too good or too valuable for the time, and only to be used for some great occasion. If some spe- Baltimore 81 daily select circle were having him at dinner, with a choice " bill of company," as well as of fare, or gifted friends had secured him for some long planned outing, or for some charm- ing drive, and supposed that they were get- ting what was denied ordinal")' mortals, they were greatly mistaken. He knew where and when that little club of working girl.-, in his congregation, took their lunch, or where th ise struggling college boys were boarding themselves, or where those clerks were in their small and cheerless hull bedroom- of dreary boarding-houses, and he would drop in On them, with a way and manner as at- tractive as when with those who held them- selves as forming the choicest circle- of the city, and which they can never forget. He- was the ideal friend of the young man. One of his Baltimore " boys," William Forman Clarke, paid a tribute to his memory which shows how the young men of his parish came to regard him. u How great and powerful in the sight of 82 Maltbie Davenport Babcock God must be the man, who during so short a period of life on this planet can do so much good. And he above all others was a man ! His laugh, his gesture, his music, his preach- ing, all sent a warm flow through your body and soul. He was but a man, and yet such a man ! Where shall we find one such as he." Like the fabled man of the bedia- monded coat, which dropped jewels wherever he walked, Maltbie Babcock gave his best at each time, frankly, freely, joyously. This was one of the sources of his power as a pastor. He was truly, and not professionally, a friend of every one in his parish. Very few men of his age could write to men over seventy, as he wrote to one v/ho had retired from active life, to the quiet of his last illness. I quote from a letter in the " Thoughts for Every-day Living." " It is a comfort to look back and think what good friends we have been, and then to make a jump into the fu- ture, and know that there, the real summer season of friendship comes. I hope that you Baltimore 83 are fairly comfortable, though I hardly dare to, for it is no joke letting go of our tools as they wear out. But you are God's workman, and some fine day, lie will give you a new kit, and set you at tasks, in which, and of which you will never weary. I love to think of our unchanged friendship, and that though we may not be cronies on the back piazza, or in the garden much more, if any more in this world, we shall be in Paradise, which alter all, is God's garden — with no serpent." To another, whose little child had died he sent a most comforting letter, in which were these words : " Always think of me as your friend, and take advantage of my friendship ; what are we here for, but to love and help one another?" He thought and felt far into the heart of things. I le had sacred intuitions of sorrow. A parishioner, receiving such words as these, would cherish them forever. u Per- #- haps the richest of God's earthly gifts is an accepted sorrow. Do not lose this one. Accept it. Say, ' Speak, Lord, for Thy serv- 84 Maltbie Davenport Babcock ant heareth/ and He will tell you some things worth all it cost to hear them. I cannot say what, but you will know." Here, in Baltimore, there came to him, also, a deeper and more unique spiritual life, giving to his humour, his table-talk, his rec- reations, his prayers and his preaching an indescribable power. He knew where the sources of spiritual life were, and daily re- sorted to them. He slept soundly through the night, like one who made a business of it, and as if to lie awake was a neglect of a God- given opportunity to " knit up the ravelled sleeve of care." But he did not waste the morning hours. The hour before breakfast, after his toilet, was his special hour to be alone with God and His word ; not for study, that he took up later in the morning, but for worship, for communion and for intercessory prayer for his large congregation, and for special cases that lay on his great sympathetic heart. It was here, through this direct per- sonal contact with the heart of God that he Baltimore 85 became charged for the day, to give off, as he did constantly and joyously, the fullness of God, which his Heavenly Father imparted to him so freely. Perhaps he evinced his gifts a.s clearly as anywhere in his table-talk or conversation. He would press on daringly, eagerly into some dark subject, his thought rushing out into the darkness like a rocket, and then sud- denly bursting into coiTuscations, explosi like the supreme moment of the rocket's sweep, lighting up the darkness, and filling his companions with wonder at his bold and brilliant flights of fancy. And yet those who were nearest to him and who saw the most of him felt, I think, that nowhere did the depth, breadth and power of his nature so reveal itself as in prayer. His prayers were never the same. In one way they were like the chameleon which takes its colour from what it feeds on. They reflected the en- vironment, and gave voice to the feeling and spirit of the moment, wherever he was. 86 Maltbie Davenport Babcock Whoever followed him then, whether friends at the family altar, or the great congregation, felt as if they were brought into the presence of the Almighty, and near to the heart of God. Church after church essayed to draw him away from Baltimore. Two churches in Philadelphia, three in New York, one in Washington, two in Chicago, and others wanted him, but for all those glad, fruitful years, he remained at his post, apparently im- movable. He sought no change. He was as far as possible from putting himself in the way of calls. He tried to avoid them. No one was happier, or merrier than he. No one drew more delight from song of bird, colours in nature and pencillings of leafless trees against the sky than he. " Now behold the Master's drawing Clear against the cold, gray sky; Not a trace of warmth or colour, But fine feasting for the eye." All the phenomena of natural life minis- The Park Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, Md., was the fruit of a most successful mission of the Brown Me- morial Church under the ministry of Dr. Babcock. On the death of Dr. Babcock its name was changed to "The Babcock Memorial Church." Its Church edifice was erected by the devoted friends of Dr. Babcock in the Brown Memorial and Babcock Memorial Church at the cost of about $60,000 and dedicated Dec. 1, 1903. Baltimore 87 tered to his joy. And no man enjoyed men, best of all to him, more than he. After his death, Robert Speer, in an article in the June number of the Record of Christian Work of that year, paid a most exquisite and appre- ciative tribute to these, as well as to other qualities of his rare nature. His music was a wide, deep channel through which he poured the strong emotions of his soul. Seated at his organ, with his wife at the piano, or the reverse, he revelled in the grandest compositions of the great masters. No commonplace music found recognition there. He was familiar with the best, the noblest harmonies. Through these, or through his own delightful improvisations, he would literally " Pour out his soul within him." It was unquestionably one of his modes of worship. His profile at such times bore an expression of aspiration peculiarly impressive. VI HIS WORK IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES Go Right On Working. — M. D. B. It is not growing like a tree In bulky doth make man better be ; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere : A lily of a day Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night — // was the plant and flower of Light. In small proportions we just beauties see ; And in short measures life may perfect be. B. JONSON. VI HIS WORK IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES A SKETCH is not necessarily a frag- ment, or a part of an object. It should aim to present an entire out- line. Imagination delights to fill in the details. Imperfect as this sketch must nc sarily be, it would be still more so if there were no reference to Dr. Babcock's work with the students m school and college. University preachers arc comparatively new features in academic life, and have come to be important factors in it. To the work of the University chaplain were added the visits of lay speakers and preachers dis- tinguished for their special gifts in influenc- ing young men. The Hill School at Pottstown, The Hotch- kiss School at Lakeville, Conn., and Harvard, 9i 92 Maltbie Davenport Babcock Yale and Princeton Universities, among other institutions of learning, have been quick to appreciate and to take advantage of this new movement to bring the ablest and most con- secrated Christian preachers and lay speakers in contact with their students. In this way hundreds, not to say thousands of young men have been awakened to the life in Christ. It was impossible that Dr. Babcock should be left out of such work. By " na- ture and nurture" he was peculiarly fitted for it. He was not only the boy's and the young man's man, but hero; and few men ever influenced their lives so forcefully and fruitfully as he. This sketch of him cannot therefore leave out this important department of his activity as a Christian worker. But as this was on fields where I had not walked with him, and desiring to secure some testimonies at first hand, I have written to The Hill School at Pottstown, Pa., and to Harvard and Yale Universities for some direct impressions of Schools and Colleges 93 his work there. The long summer vacation, and the consequent absence from the univer- sities of those to whom I applied, have pre- cluded anything but brief descriptions from that source. The Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, of Yale, wrote : " I remember very plainly Dr. Babcock's last sermon in the college chapel here. It was on ' power.' He traced the use of the word through the New T< ment, and the sermon was certainly a very strong one. I happen to call to mind two remarks which I overheard as I passed out of the chapel. One student said, 4 That was the greatest sermon I ever heard.' The other replied, ' Yes, and would he not make a great actor ? ' Both were impressed with the power of the man, and one called at- tention to a certain dramatic clement in his preaching. It is beyond question that Dr. Babcock was considered by the students one of the most virile, direct and helpful of the Yale preachers. He was also specially approachable by the men, and he always 94 Maltbie Davenport Babcock was glad to avail himself of any opportunity for personal interviews with them." The Rev. Dr. Francis G. Peabody, of Har- vard, wrote : " You ask me for some remi- niscence of the impression made by Dr. Bab- cock through his preaching to students of Harvard University. Under the system of religious administration at Harvard, Sunday evening worship is led by ministers of the various communions and from all parts of the country, so that those who are regular attendants are likely to hear the most com- manding voices of the American pulpit. Dr. Babcock, in his short career, preached twice in our chapel ; and the response to his message on the part of our young men was almost without precedent or parallel. I shall never forget the throng of youths who crowded towards him at the end of each service to express their gratitude. His accu- rate understanding of the habit of mind pre- vailing among educated youth, his entire freedom from professionalism of manner and Schools and Colleges 95 material, his personal vigour and charm, all combined to make him singularly winning ; and he seemed to me the ideal of what a preacher to young men should be. I re- member also, as a part of the same impres- sion, his own expressions, in both instance-, of the peculiar joy he had in this co^ preaching, and the sense of unconstrained contact with young minds. He was a most unusual combination of the boyish and the mature, the spontaneous and the reflective, the jubilant and the sympathetic ; and these varying moods penetrated his sermons and gave them a peculiar appeal to the tidal life of youth. Many young men who thus listened to him at our university will, I be- lieve, date not only their keenest impressions of religious truth but their confidence of the reality and simplicity of religion from the Sunday evenings with him in Appleton chapel." Dr. John Meigs, principal of The Hill School, Pottstown, Pa., where Dr. Babcock 96 Maltbie Davenport Babcock went on alternate months with Robert E. Speer, for several years, gave me the follow- ing exceedingly interesting account of his work in that institution : " Of no man can Paul's words, •' All things to all men/ be more aptly used than of Maltbie Babcock. It was true of him by reason of the force of his own nature, but more true because of that law which he himself characterized as ' Nature plus Nurture.' It was profoundly true be- cause of the diversity and richness of his gifts, which betrayed the lover of Nature, 1 the living garment of God,' and of all forms of physical activity, as well as the poet, musi- cian and artist. He was all these by nature ; but how much more by nurture ! " These gifts were combined in a radiant, magnetic personality that defies analysis. His employment of his rare powers seems even more marvellous than their possession. " Self-effacement, that the face of Christ might more truly appear in his life, was the law of his service. Necessarily conscious of Schools and Colleges 97 power, to him it was the power of God work- ing in and through him ; delighting in the exercise of his gifts, he seemed alive only to the sense of the goodness of God who made him a servant for Jesus' sake. And yet, con- tradictory as it may appear, the kindling, quickening radiancy and joyousness of his speech and countenance might easily have suggested, to those who knew him not, the very ' abandon ' of self-confidence, while those who really knew his soul found ever in this only the irrepressible joy of one who knew in whom he had believed, and was, therefore, confident. u In no field of work did he make more distinctive use of his many and varied gifts than in his intercourse with boys and young men. I lis intense vitality and enthusiasm kept him ever young. His power of imagi- nation instantly grasped their point of view and enabled him to put himself in their places ; to think their thoughts after them ; to enjoy their sports, to feel their struggles, 98 Maltbie Davenport Babcock to know their temptations. There was no professional ' tang ' about him ; no peculi- arity of manner or idiosyncrasy of personality to baffle or repel, but, from the first instant of meeting, there was everything in manner and form and speech to attract and charm the young. Boys forgot their shyness and reticence before this minister of grace, whose habits indicated the man, whose habiliments revealed the gentleman, and, instinctively, gave him the freedom of the city, of their hearts and minds. 11 He sometimes visited schools and preached to the boys who, from year to year, eagerly looked for his return. We can see him seated, for the first time, at a table with a group of young fellows. Expecting to see a typical clergyman they look at him critic- ally and find nothing characteristic of ' the cloth.' He opens conversation with some casual, friendly remark, and in the common courtesies of the table indulges in pleasant- ries, tells an interesting story, makes them Schools and Colleges 99 forget themselves, and has them spellbound before five minutes have passed. One story after another is told, each one more interest- ing than the last, until the boys at other tables look around to observe and share the merriment. But it is not all fun. As nat- urally and spontaneously as he has narrated the amusing anecdote does he glide into the recital of some strong, stirring incident of human life (alluding, perhaps, to its Christ- ward side), as one might speak of an event of moment to any other dear, intimate friend. The young boy feels no self-consci no embarrassment, no recoil, as if he were being forced into the courts of heaven ' vi et armis,' but tingles with glad surprise to find new and obvious connection between human and divine life. " Once, in giving an account of his expe- rience with a black leopard in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, and of how nearly he lost his arm by his impulsive kindness in feeding the dangerous brute, he described the treat- ioo Maltbie Davenport Babcock ment he underwent at the surgeon's hands. As he showed the scar on his hand where the leopard's claw had caught him, he swiftly turned the conversation from the exciting channel of adventure into the serious one of application, and, in effect, preached a little sermon to those boys that will long be re- membered by his hearers. He was like his Master, who ever preached from the common events of life, and took the flower in the field, the bird in the air, the cloud in the sky, the seed in the ground for His texts. " On the occasion of his first visit to the school he arrived in time for evening prayers, Saturday night. After the brief service he stood for almost an hour before the boys and told them of a recent fishing trip for tarpon. As interesting as his vivid portrayal of his exciting experience in landing the fish was the sight of those boys listening with eager faces, some with open mouths, to that wonderful narrator. With what power and dramatic art he told that story ! Those who Schools and Colleges 101 listened felt as if they too were struggling with the great fish, as with the perfect imita- tion of a man with the rod in his hand he described how he played with it. One saw by the intense expression of his face that he was living over the experience again in im- agination ; and, as lie narrated it, he | trayed the whole scene before his audience. As he moved from side to side, one could see the fellows involuntarily move, too. They would not lose sight of a gesture or an ex- pression of his mobile countenance. Was it any wonder that a man so in touch with the things most dear to boys' hearts should, on the following morning, hold them in the hollow of his hand, as he preached to them on the great theme of ' Overcoming'? He baited their attention, drew them to him, and, literally, fished for them as he had for the tarpon, and caught them as he had the fish, — always supremely and tirelessly a 1 fisher of men.' " One of the secrets of his power in preach- 102 Maltbie Davenport Babcock ing to boys and young men was that very dramatic instinct which made him, all un- consciously to himself, portray, by gesture and expression as well as word, the thoughts of his mind. Once in preaching of the two men in the Bible, one of whom said * I go ' but went not, and the other of whom said ' I go not ' but went, he gave, as a picture of the man who was quick and ready with his words, the formal salutation. Putting his heels together and straightening himself up, he said in quick military fashion, as he saluted with his hands to his forehead, « Aye, aye, sir,' and then went on to describe the boy always quick to assent but impotent to do. " Maltbie Babcock used his singular gift of word-painting and dramatic recital to reach the naive mind of youth, who understand the concrete but are often repelled by the ab- stract. Always assuming, or assuring them of the sonship of his youthful hearers to the Father, he never preached in theological or doctrinal terms. His theme was life, and Schools and Colleges 103 life controlled and guided by Jesus Christ as the only life worth living. He made straight- forward appeals to the hardihood and man- hood of young men. He made them feel the glory of strife and struggle, the impo- tence and ugliness of sin, and the misery of an invertebrate life and character. His was the red-blooded, robust gospel, the over- coming and conquering life. ' It made brutes men, and men divine.' " Two weeks before sailing on his own last voyage he preached in the school from the text 'There go the ships.' His words bore largely upon three lines of thought — the port, the cargo, and the pilot. Who that heard him that night will ever forget his description of each man standing at the wheel of his life, of the different pilots of ambition and lust, selfishness and dishonesty, cowardice and hypocrisy, who came up to ask for a turn at the wheel, and his earnest appeal to those young lads, just starting out upon the voyage of life, to let Jesus Christ, 104 Maltbie Davenport Babcock the true pilot, the only one who knows each rock and reef and peril of the voyage, take the wheel of their lives. " He did not yield to the temptation to preach only to the multitude, ignoring the individual. He was as willing to take time to listen, in private, to the recital of his temptations by some weak, wayward boy, or of his intellectual difficulties by some thought- ful and sincere lad, as he was to walk the streets of the great city with some despairing man in the last throes of a struggle for self- mastery, past midnight and on into the early morning hours of dawning light and triumph. " Great as was his power as a preacher, greater was his influence as a friend in mould- ing the lives and characters of the youths who knew him, by reason of his own elevated and consistent practice. His standards of con- duct for himself were most rigorous, his generosity and charity to others were well nigh boundless. Not a few great preachers, seen under the searchlight of daily inter- Schools and Colleges 105 course, lessen or lose their influence because of reservations and discrepancies between dictum and deed. Not so with Maltbie Babcock. While he won his young hearers by his gifts and ideal personality, and held them with his strong and direct preaching, he fashioned and formed them through his noble and flawless daily life." Keep but God's model safe — New men will rise to take its mould." This chapter would not be complete with- out this contribution from Mr. Robert E. Speer, who not only knew Dr. Babcock very well, but is himself also one of the foremost of successful workers among boys and young men in schools and colleges. " I think Dr. Babcock died on the thresh- old of his work for young men, especially for students. From his pastorate in Balti- more, aside from his remarkable work in Johns Hopkins University, he had gone out a little to the colleges and universities ; but 106 Maltbie Davenport Babcock he was just coming into a larger activity in this sphere from his pastorate in New York when he passed on. And yet he had already done a great deal. In half a dozen colleges and schools he was known and loved, and his visits were looked for with eager expec- tation. In some of these, his first visits had swept all barriers away, and given him a place of fullest admiration and regard in the hearts of the young men. In one, at least, his unconventional, fresh style was a little startling, but on his second visit, he won his way, and was voted by the graduating class that year, either the most popular, or next to the most popular preacher of the year. But such words do not describe his place and spirit. It was not popular that he sought to be, but spiritually helpful and creative. And young men felt this, and realized that they were hearing a man who lived the high and radiant life, and longed to win them to it. The same qualities which gave him power with other classes, gave him power with Schools and Colleges 107 young men. The genial, leaping joy; the hopeful, confident note of moral victory ; the piquancy and intellectual zest of his way of putting things ; the warmth and reality of his own acquaintance with the Saviour ; the nobility and unflinching fidelity of his prin- ciples and ideals ; the ability to relate the truth and power of the gospel to the com- mon temptations and ordinary life of young men — these were only a few of the charac- teristics that made him simply fascinating to many young men. lie knew their hearts, and he was bent upon winning them to the pure and Christlike life. One of his ser- mons which had a never failing charm for young men was on ' Overcoming.' This message of positive strength and good cheer, beyond all clouding, awoke in young men and boys those ■ intimations of immortality' which it takes much sin to slay, and the light came back upon the skies of life again. And his own rich life assured young men that the highest life is the widest and fullest. 108 Maltbie Davenport Babcock He could talk to them of any subject they chose. He could tell them of music, of art, of tarpon fishing, of poetry, of politics, and most of all, and this was the subject he chose, of Christ. Of course he had his own church work to do, and he reached multi- tudes of young men there ; but even larger doors were opening before him among the thousands of students of our land; and he was but beginning a great work here, where the field is whitest to the harvest, and the grain to be gathered of value unsurpassed. There is no other class which puts reality to as severe a test. That he met their test- ing, and commended himself to them as gold was but one of the many evidences that, with him, the Refiner's work was done, and he could pass on." VII NEW YORK Whose eye foresaw this way ? Not mine. Whose hand marked out this day T Not mine. A clearer eye than mine, 'Twas Thine. A wiser hand than mine, ' Twas Thine ! Then let my hand be still In Thine, And let me find my will In Thine ! — M. D. B. VII NEW YORK WHEN hifl call from the Brick Church, New York, came, so brought that even his own people at Baltimore, at last, must reluctantly con- fessed that the directing hand of Providence was apparent in it, he sought the counsel oi several friends, and kept the matter open be- fore God. The entire city of Baltimore was stirred with a strong desire to retain him. Committees from the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University and from the students, from the Ministers' Union and from many churches, and from various boards in the city waited on him, beseeching him to decline the call. The prominent citizens of every pro- fession, and of every creed, and almost every race, strongly urged him to stay with them. ill 1 1 2 Maltbie Davenport Babcock But when he became convinced that he was being led, they finally yielded, virtually say- ing, " The will of the Lord be done." At the time that the committee of the Brick Church prosecuted the call, and went to Baltimore to meet Dr. Babcock and the session of the Brown Memorial Church, and pressed the claims of the great needs of New York City, Dr. van Dyke accompanied them. It was a memorable meeting. Dr. van Dyke afterwards said, that while he never had had any reason to doubt the love of his people for him, he had never known any minister loved as Dr. Babcock was loved by that people. The session broke down and sobbed. Dr. Babcock was com- pletely melted. Dr. van Dyke was deeply moved. The chairman of the committee of the Brick Church said afterwards that he would not wish to be present again at any meeting so harrowing to one's feelings. How can one describe that one year in New York City ! It is a story that cannot New York 1 1 3 be told. Crowds waited on his every public utterance, eager, awakened and devout. Old men and young, old women and young, and children, who specially loved him, were closely drawn to him, and held by him. The children who always know, unerringly felt that he was their friend and lover. He had a sort of free-masonry with them that cap- tured them and captivated them. A little incident that came to the knowledge of the family, after he had gone, particularly in- terested and gratified them. A little fellow living in that quarter of the city, but not in that congregation came home one day in a state of great enthusiasm and excitement, and we will let him tell the story in his own words. " Mother, I have had the time of my life ! O I have had a bully time ! I've been to a fire ! " " But, my son, I told you that you must not go to a fire, without some older person to go with you." " Well, that's just what I did — I was standing on the curb and watching a big fire engine go tear- H4 Maltbie Davenport Babcock ing by, and wishing I could go too, when a man stopped, and said to me, ' Little man, would you like to go to that fire ? ' and I said, ' You bet I would ! ' and he just took my hand and said, ' Come with me,' and while we were going, he told me all about fire engines, and some grand stories about fire- men saving people's lives from burning build- ings, and everything ! " " Well, my boy, who was it ? " " Why it was that minister at the Brick Church." The story is cherished be- cause it was very like him. His personal appearance, as the great preacher in the Brick Church must be con- sidered as a part of his power. It was masterful and most attractive. Few souls were ever more perfectly embodied. Dr. Ford of Sidon, Syria, who saw him only one night, as the Auburn Seminary party stopped there, en route for Beirut, wrote of him as follows, " The life and soul of the party was Dr. Maltbie Babcock, of the Brick Church, New York, successor to the Rev. Dr. New York 1 1 5 van Dyke. He is a man of overflowing spirits and fun ; tall, bright, sociable, un- assuming, and consecrated. I can see why he has justly conquered, so quickly, a high place in the ranks of the distinguished clergymen of the great metropolis." A leading physician in Maple him at the hotel, before he was taken to the hospital, where he died from Mediterranean fever, was profoundly impressed with his physique. He referred again and again to his magnificent physical frame, his muscular power, and humorously said that he should little rcli.-m having such a man attack him on a dark night in the streets of Naples. With this, one must have in mind his personality, protean, and magnetic, giving him an influ- ence that pervaded whatever place he en- tered. His presence was felt all through the house. It was hardly necessary to say " lie is here." I recall a description given by one of his family, of an unexpected visit he made at the old home in Syracuse. Having 1 1 6 Maltbie Davenport Babcock to go to Rochester from Baltimore, to give an address, he took an early train the next morning, reaching Syracuse before six o'clock. The dear old house stood " silent and aware." No one had as yet risen. There was not a nook nor corner of that house with which he was not perfectly familiar, and it was therefore easy for him to make a noiseless entrance. He opened the piano and began to play. Every one up-stairs was awakened. There was no mis- taking the touch, his music was a part of his unique personality. In a few moments his brothers and sisters were leaning over the stair rail, crying, in joyful excitement — " Maltbie ! It is Maltbie ! " It was this strange, almost mysterious personality which made it impossible to report him. No verbatim speech ever quite conveyed what he said, as he said it. As the scientific, botanical analysis of a flower does not pre- sent the flower itself, for the beauty and the fragrance have escaped, the analysis being New York 1 1 7 secured, at their expense ; so no report of his address or sermon held that, which was so much a part of what he said ; his way of saying it. Dr. Purves said, after his death — " Maltbie Babcock im- pressed all who met him, or heard him, by the vigorous outflow of life, which he com- municated to friends and hearers. It seemed to be the personality of the man which took hold of them, and held them fast His mental acuteness made truth sparkle as he uttered it. lie analyzed it, illustrated it, turned it over before you, that you might Bee it at different angles. lie often da/./.lcd by his brilliant suggestions ; yet his di