{^cAj^ra^u^ 
 
 ANNIVERSARY SERVICE 
 
 FOURTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 NEW YORK, MARCH 5, 1S83. 
 
Presented to Princeton Theological Seminary 
 By the l^ev. Wendell Pfime, D.D. 
 
 To be Kept Always as a Separate Collection. 
 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERVICES. 
 
1863-1883. 
 
 TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 OF THE SETTLEMENT 
 
 HOWARD CROSBY, D.D., 
 
 AS PASTOR OF THE 
 
 FOURTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 MARCH 5, 1883, 
 
 IN THE CHURCH, B^OURTH AVE. AND TWENTY-SECOND ST. 
 
 "t 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 1883. 
 
Early in January, 1883, the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian 
 Church and Parish resolved, with marked unanimity, to cele- 
 brate the Twentieth Anniversary of the settlement of their pastor. 
 Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D., and a committee of arrange- 
 ments was appointed, under whose care this purpose was carried 
 out, composed of the following gentlemen : 
 
 Ralph Wells, William F, Lee, 
 
 George E. Sterry, James M. Farr. 
 
 Warner Van Norden, Elias J. Herrick, 
 Anson D. F. Randolph, Isaac V. Brokaw, 
 Morris S. Thompson, George G. Moore, 
 Charles N. Taintor. 
 
 The project from the beginning enlisted the hearty sympathy 
 and generous co-operation of the people ; and the committee 
 was thus enabled to make of the occasion an event memorable 
 to all concerned. 
 
 The clear, cold weather of the evening of the 5th of March, 
 favored the assemblage of a very large audience, that not only 
 packed the house of worship to its utmost capacity, but over- 
 flowed upon the streets. The pulpit was decked with beautiful 
 and rare flowers, and with plants of high-colored and luxuriant 
 foliage, — a cushion of blossoms in front of the desk, displaying 
 the number "20." In the crowded congregation were many 
 well-known representative clergymen, professional celebrities,, 
 and influential citizens ; while on the platform were numerous 
 eminent divines, including not only those who were to take 
 part in the exercises, but also the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, President 
 of the Union Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. Erskine N. White, 
 Rev. Henry J. Van Dyke, Jr., and others. 
 
 A most pleasing feature was the presence of former members 
 
of the church ; some of whom had come long distances to renew 
 old memories, and to share in the congratulations of the hour. 
 
 The services were thoroughly enjoyable. The organ and 
 choral voluntaries were appropriate, and rendered not only with 
 artistic execution, but also with evident devoutness ; while the 
 addresses were listened to with the intense interest they deserved, 
 and called forth lively applause whenever allusion was made to 
 the pastor. 
 
 The public exercises, which lasted until nearly ten o'clock, 
 were followed by a reception to Dr. Crosby, and a social reunion 
 in the chapel, where refreshments were served. A popular 
 response to the addresses of the speakers in the audience-room, 
 now found expression in numberless hearty salutations to the 
 Pastor, and mutual congratulations among the people. 
 
 This memorial is offered to all who share with us in love 
 for the Master in the belief that it records the occurrence of a 
 new starting-point in the prosperity of the Fourth Avenue 
 Presbyterian Church and parish, and is sent forth as a per- 
 manent token of love and gratitude to our beloved Pastor, and 
 as a present indication of faith in our future, under his wise 
 and faithful guidance. 
 
ORDER OF EXERCISES. 
 
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY SERVICE. 
 
 REV. S. IREN^EUS PRIME, D.D., WILL PRESIDE. 
 
 DOXOLOGY. ----__ T7i7ie, " Old Hundred." 
 " Praise God from whom all blessings flow." 
 
 SCRIPTURE READING. - By Rev. Charles P. Fagnani, 
 
 Pastor Grace Chapel. 
 
 Psalm 103. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 By Rev. Wm. J. McKiTTRiCK, 
 
 Pastor Hope Chapel. 
 
 Tune, " Dundee' 
 
 City of God, how broad and far 
 
 Outspread thy walls sublime ! 
 The true thy chartered freemen are, 
 
 Of every age and clime. 
 
 One holy Church, one army strong. 
 
 One steadfast, high intent. 
 One working band, one harvest song. 
 
 One King Omnipotent. 
 
 How purely hath thy speech come down 
 
 From man's primeval youth ! 
 How grandly hath thine empire grown 
 
 Of freedom, love, and truth ! 
 
 How gleam thy watch-fires through the night 
 
 With never-fainting ray ! 
 How rise thy towers serene and bright, 
 
 To meet the dawning day ! 
 
 In vain the surges' angry shock, 
 
 In vain the drifting sands ; 
 Unharmed, upon the Eternal Rock 
 
 The Eternal City stands. 
 
 Rev. S. Iren^us Prime, D.D. 
 
 OPENING ADDRESS. 
 
 ANTHEM. - _ - _ From Gounod's "Redemption'' 
 
 " Lovely appear over the mountains the feet of them that 
 
 preach, and bring good news of peace." 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 By Rev. James M. King, D.D., 
 
 0/ the Mcthcdist Episcopal Church, 
 
 By Rev. Wilbur F. Watkins, D.D.,. 
 
 Of the Protesta7tt Episcopal Church. 
 
HYMN. 
 
 Tunc, ''Austria. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 Hail, Thou God of grace and glory, 
 
 Who Thy name hast magnified 
 By redemption's wondrous story, 
 
 By the Saviour crucified ; 
 Thanks to Thee for every blessing 
 
 Flowing from the Fount of love ; 
 Thanks for present good unceasing, 
 
 And for hopes of bliss above. 
 
 Hear us, as thus bending lowly, 
 
 Near Thy bright and burning throne. 
 We invoke Thee, God most holy. 
 
 Through Thy well-beloved Son ; 
 Send the baptism of Thy Spirit, 
 
 Shed the pentecostal fire ; 
 Let us all Thy grace inherit, 
 
 Waken, crown each good desire. 
 
 Bind Thy people, Lord, in union, 
 
 With the sevenfold cord of love ; 
 Breathe the spirit of communion 
 
 With the glorious hosts above ; 
 Let Thy work be seen progressing ; 
 
 Bow each heart and bend each knee. 
 Till the world. Thy truth possessing. 
 
 Celebrates its jubilee. 
 
 By Rev. William M. Taylor, D.D. 
 
 0/ the Congregational Church. 
 
 By Rev. Robert S. MacArthur, D.D., 
 
 Of the Baptut Church. 
 
 CHORUS. - - - - From Mendelssohn s " St. Paul:' 
 " How lovely are the Messengers that preach us the Gospel of Peace." 
 
 ADDRESS. - - By Rev. William Ormiston, D.D., 
 
 0/ the Reformed Dutch Church. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 DOXOLOGY. 
 
 From all that dwell below the skies 
 Let the Creator's praise arise ; 
 Let the Redeemer's name be sung 
 Through every land, by every 
 tongue. 
 
 By Rev. John Hall. D.D., 
 
 Of the Presbyterian Church. 
 Tunc, " Duke Street^ 
 
 Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord : 
 Eternal truth attends Thy word ; 
 Thy praise shall sound from shore 
 
 to shore 
 Till suns shall set and rise no more. 
 
 BENEDICTION. 
 
 By the Pastor. 
 
THE ADDRESSES. 
 
THE ADDRESSES 
 
 At half-past seven o'clock the Rev. S. Iren/eus 
 Prime, D.D., took the chair, and the pulpit was 
 occupied by the officiating clergy and guests. 
 After the preliminary devotional exercises, the 
 President said : 
 
 My Christian friends of this church and congregation, 
 I appreciate very highly the honor that you have done 
 me in asking me to take the chair this evening. I re- 
 joice with you on this interesting occasion, an occasion 
 that will be memorable in the history of the church. 
 
 Before introducing to you the speakers of the even- 
 ing, it will be interesting and profitable to make a brief 
 review of the history of the church under the pastorate 
 of Dr. Crosby. 
 
 The church itself is now fifty-eight years old. When 
 Dr. Crosby came here in 1863 he found the church, 
 which had had three distinguished pastors before him — 
 Matthias Bruen, Erskine Mason, and Joel Parker — with 
 120 names as members on its roll, and only 47 of them 
 could be found in the city. The membership of the 
 church now is 1,413. During the twenty years of this 
 pastorate the number of persons who have joined the 
 
14 
 
 church on profession of faith, worshipping in the parent 
 church, is 456 ; those who have joined on profession^ 
 worshipping in the chapel, are in numbers 639, making a 
 total of 1,095, or an average of 55 per year for the twenty 
 years. During the same time there has joined the church 
 by certificate 807 in this house, and 73 in the chapel, 
 making a total of 880, an average of 44 yearly, or mak- 
 ing a grand total of persons received in these twenty 
 years 1,975, within 25 of 2,000 souls that have been 
 added to the church, or almost 100 for each of these 
 twenty years. The greatest number in one year was in 
 1867, when 135 were received, and the greatest number 
 by profession was in 1876, when 103 members were re- 
 ceived. 
 
 Two flourishing missions have been commenced, and 
 they are both in a highly prosperous condition ; regular 
 services are held in them, and each has a faithful pastor, 
 and both are doing an aggressive work. It is one of the 
 pleasant features of the evening that both of the pastors 
 are here and participate in these services. 
 
 In addition to these, two other missions were for a time 
 sustained until absorbed in other organizations. In its 
 three Sunday-schools the church has the care of nearly 
 1,500 children, all directly under the instruction of its 
 members. Besides the extended chapel-work, there are 
 maintained ''A Helping Hand," three sewing-schools, 
 meetings and lectures at the chapel, prayer-meetings, 
 young people's and mothers' prayer -meetings, also a 
 ladies' Bible-class in charge of the pastor, and the usual 
 meetings of the church. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that the families of all the 
 
15 
 
 former pastors of the church have attended the church 
 till changes have occurred by death or removal. Dur- 
 ing the twenty years, Dr. Crosby has been absent on ac- 
 count of sickness but three months, and from all other 
 causes one month, making a total of four months only 
 in the twenty years, excepting annual vacations. 
 
 The church has contributed for benevolent purposes, 
 and in addition to the usual pew-rents during the last 
 ten years, $170,000 in all. The total amount raised for 
 congregational and benevolent purposes during the past 
 ten years is $350,000. 
 
 Recognizing these facts, this congregation — not their 
 pastor, for they devised and arranged it — have deter- 
 mined to celebrate to-night this joyful anniversary, 
 marking the return of the day that united them in 
 the holy relation of pastor and people. 
 
 They thank God for such a pastor, a man whom God 
 has honored, whom the churches hold in honor ; a man 
 who combines in himself the scholar, the citizen, the 
 minister, and the friend ; of whom it is hard to say in 
 what department of Christian learning, work, and worth 
 he is most illustrious ; a man of courage, heroism, faith, 
 and pluck ; who, like John Knox, never feared the face 
 of clay ; born for the times, to be a leader of men, per- 
 haps to be a martyr. God bless him ! In the future he 
 is the man for the battles that are just upon us ; in every 
 conflict for virtue, purity, honor, morality, and religion- 
 whoever may waver and fail, you shall see in the thick, 
 est of the fight his white plume blazing like a star, as 
 his stout right arm strikes home for humanity and God. 
 God be thanked for giving you and the city and the 
 
world, the pastor whom we congratulate to-night on the 
 return of the twentieth anniversary of his settlement 
 here. 
 
 The order of the programme will be slightly changed 
 in consequence of the absence of Dr. Chambers, who, 
 from illness, has been compelled to be absent from the 
 city for a time. 
 
 After the choir had sung the anthem, '' Lovely 
 appear over the mountains the feet of them that 
 preach and bring good news of peace," the Chair- 
 man said : 
 
 My friends, it would be very interesting to me and 
 somewhat so to you, if I should, in introducing these 
 several speakers, give you a brief biographical sketch of 
 them, together with some account of the particular 
 church which they serve and the denomination also 
 which they represent ; but as there are six of them, and. 
 they are to occupy ten minutes each, and as they are all 
 as well known to you as they are to me, it is quite un- 
 necessary that I should take any of the precious time 
 this evening in such an account ; and, therefore, waiving 
 the form of introduction, I shall content myself with 
 merely announcing their names to you as they will come 
 in their order. As I said. Dr. Chambers is absent, but 
 his place will be supplied by the Rev. Dr. Ormiston, 
 who will come in in the course of the evening, and we 
 shall first have the pleasure of listening to the Rev. 
 James M. King, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 BY THE REV. JAMES M. KING, D.D., OF THE METHODIST 
 EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
DR. KING'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Christian Friends : Before 
 coming to this place this evening, a company of us as- 
 sembled here on the platform were requested to say 
 nothing in respect to the commander-in-chief who has 
 marshalled these forces for twenty years, but we after- 
 wards ascertained that the proceedings this evening are 
 entirely out of his hands, and in the hands of a com- 
 mittee ; but the presiding ofificer this evening has already 
 broken the rule, and under the apparent guise of solemnity 
 has followed the example of that eminent American phil- 
 osopher, Artemus Ward, who, lecturing on the subject, 
 " The Babes in the Woods," talked upon every subject 
 but that one, and closed up the discussion of each theme 
 by saying, *^ That is what I would have said had I been 
 lecturing on that subject." 
 
 A representative of the oldest of the denominations 
 in this city was to have appropriately opened the serv- 
 ices of this hour, and now a representative of the young- 
 est is called upon, and the procession of the denomina- 
 tions to follow under the grand leadership, as you will 
 see by reference to your programmes, makes me trem- 
 ble, so I will hasten to perform, promptly and briefly, 
 my glad duty and privilege in this memorable hour. 
 
 Statistics may be very brief and occupy but little 
 space, and yet be pregnant with great facts. We cele- 
 brate to-night the completion of a period of twenty 
 
20 
 
 years of the history of this Christian church under the 
 leadership of one pastor. You have hstened to the sta- 
 tistics which have told briefly the tale of struggle, of 
 progress, and of triumph, and I am sure that all of us 
 gathered here to-night are ready to say to its chief serv- 
 ant, '' Well done, good and faithful servant," and to say 
 to all these servants who have been co-operating with 
 him, ''Well done, good and faithful servants." We 
 have had all sorts of centennial celebrations during the 
 past few years, but it becomes us not to wait one hun- 
 dred years before we celebrate the achievements of such 
 a man and such a church, lest the tabulated results 
 should be confusing. 
 
 We give receptions and ovations to warriors after vic- 
 tories, and to statesmen after triumphs, and certainly 
 here are victories and triumphs more worthy of praise 
 than bloody conflicts and noisy displays. Successful 
 battles fought without carnal weapons, and grand tri- 
 umphs achieved without bluster. 
 
 This church has been happy in its pastor, and this 
 pastor happy in his people, but all denominations, and 
 all good citizens of this city, claim some proprietorship 
 in the man who has commanded this fortress for God 
 for a score of years. He has not stood inside of the 
 fort and sent out troops to do the fighting, but he has 
 gone forth and led in the encounter. 
 
 While this pastor has commanded the respect of men, 
 and rallied about him as friends hosts of the best of 
 men, he has also been fortunate in his foes. That is 
 not always true of all men. The law-breakers don't like 
 him. I recently heard one of them say, " I don't care 
 
21 
 
 about most of these pious people, but that Dr. Crosby 
 hain't got reHgion enough to keep him from fighting 
 us." Professional politicians have not taken to him in 
 late years, and especially since last fall they don't min- 
 gle his name with praises. The newspapers, whose con- 
 stituency is principally found among the class where the 
 *' Society for the Prevention of Crime " operates, are not 
 ardent in their love for him. Enemies of the American 
 civil Sabbath as a day of rightful rest and of protected 
 religious worship are not his extravagant admirers, and 
 occasionally his face looks out from the picture gallery 
 of cartoons, where, it is safe to say, that the hands that 
 traced them did not mean to make the features of loved 
 ones. 
 
 And this leads me to say that one of the chief faults 
 I have to find with Dr. Crosby is, that he fills so much 
 of the space in the newspapers, in imparting instruction, 
 and in attacking and in being attacked, that they have 
 but little room to say anything about the rest of us. I 
 have just returned from the South. I happened to pick 
 up a paper one day in a Southern city, and the first 
 thing that caught my eye was the heading, *' Dr. How- 
 ard Crosby and the Fifth Avenue Gamblers," and when 
 in Washington, one of the local papers headed an article, 
 " Dr. Crosby Needed in this City "; and when I got 
 possession of my New York newspaper, and learned that 
 Dr. Crosby had been speaking at a meeting of the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal Church Temperance Society, although 
 away from home, 1 knew that matters would be attended 
 to rightly because Dr. Crosby was not away ; and when 
 I reached Jersey City early Saturday morning last, I pur- 
 
chased a copy of a New York paper that first came to 
 hand, and the principal editorial was headed, " What 
 the Rev. Dr. Crosby Thinks of New York "; then, I say 
 to you, my friends, despite the fact that my intellectual 
 powers were somewhat clouded by a slumber scarcely yet 
 broken, I appreciated the fact that I was nearing home. 
 
 The editorial said, among other complimentary re- 
 marks : " No, New York is not a Sodom. The would-be 
 reformers like Dr. Crosby do not understand New York, 
 and are not in sympathy with a majority of the people. 
 It is a very much bigger place, and a far more cosmo- 
 politan one, than it was when they were young. Doc- 
 trines, political and social, which Presbyterian clergy- 
 men regard as God's truth, the majority of the popula- 
 tion of the city reject with aversion. They have their 
 own notions about what are the reforms most necessary, 
 and the methods best adapted to bring them to pass." 
 
 I guess this last utterance is so, and because it is so, 
 it is all the more pitiable that this " aversion " to truth 
 should find defenders in the public press. This morn- 
 ing I was amazed to find, in reading my paper, that only 
 two assaults were made upon Dr. Crosby yesterday, and 
 I could not account for this temperate state of things 
 until turning to the heading, " What is Going on To- 
 day," I found a notice of the combined assault to be 
 made upon him at his headquarters to-night. Dr. Crosby 
 has not become conspicuous by eccentric and abnormal 
 advertisements and exhibitions, but by great endow- 
 ments, conscientiously cultured and heroically employed ; 
 and yet with this vantage ground, it is difficult for me 
 to understand how he has found time to go out in so 
 many directions of helpful activity. 
 
23 
 
 I desire to pay my tribute to the grand work for God 
 and humanity wrought by this noble people, and I bring 
 to you the Christian salutations of another branch of 
 the Father's family. And to your honored leader I de- 
 sire to pay my tribute to his accurate and broad scholar- 
 ship, and to his executive ability, that have found their 
 field in lectureship and in chancellorship, and in promot- 
 ing the varied educational interests, religious, moral, 
 and secular, of this city. 
 
 I desire to pay my tribute to his spotless ministerial 
 character, that has never been subordinated to his other 
 varied callings, but has stood in the van of them all. 
 
 I desire to pay my tribute to him as a man and citi- 
 zen ; a man of the most pronounced convictions and 
 neutral on no subject ; a citizen, who, evading no per- 
 sonal responsibility, and seeking to arouse his fellow- 
 citizens to an adequate sense of theirs, has not hesitated 
 to face juries and judges, commissioners and mayors, 
 law-makers and law-breakers, and governors, and to 
 touch all possible springs of influence for the public 
 good. 
 
 I desire to pay my tribute to his unselfish friendship, 
 that is never jealous of a brother's success and is ever 
 jealous for a brother's weal. 
 
 I have not always agreed with him ; to do that would 
 not be creditable to either of us perhaps. Of course I 
 know positively that he has gone wrong in some things, 
 but I have always respected the depth and sincerity of 
 his convictions, and must confess that when he has 
 ceased speaking on what I have sometimes esteemed 
 the wrong side of a question, he has put his thoughts 
 
24 
 
 with such a royal air of authority and power, that I 
 have been for the moment indined to look again to the 
 foundations of my faith. His Calvinism, I conclude, 
 has given him his great courage, while an unconfessed 
 tendency to Arminianism has given him an awful sense 
 of responsibility that fitted him, so the brethren say, to 
 " preach with acceptability " for some time to a Metho- 
 dist congregation. 
 
 My highest hope for this people is, that the coming 
 twenty years may repeat the history in ratio of the past 
 twenty, only starting from the advanced stand-point of 
 momentum where you find yourselves to-night. 
 
AD DRESS 
 
 BY THE REV. WILLIAM F. WATKINS, D.D., OF THE 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
DR. WATKINS' ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and my dear Christian Friends : 
 It gives me very unfeigned pleasure to be present on this 
 joyous occasion, and to mingle my congratulations with 
 those of the brethren who occupy this platform, con- 
 ;gratulations both for the pastor and for the church ; for 
 I take it that the occasion would not be complete if 
 these twofold congratulations w^ere not made. While 
 we are met to do honor to this pastor, we are not to fail 
 ^Iso to remember this church; for what would have been 
 the pastorate of the best man or the most gifted man 
 who could have filled this pulpit, without the loving and 
 loyal co-operation of the people whom it has been his 
 privilege to serve ? Let us never forget that unless 
 Aaron and Hur hold up the hands of Moses, the battle 
 will not go well on the plain ; and let us not fail to keep 
 in mind the fact that while the name of the honored 
 leader, because he is conspicuous, is known of all men, 
 and is praised as widely as it is known, yet there are 
 many who have not been mentioned outside these walls, 
 but whose record is on high, and to whose prayers and 
 love and zeal the great success of the past twenty years is 
 in no small measure due. Therefore, I repeat, that the 
 congratulations which I come to offer are to be shared 
 by the church and the pastor alike. 
 
 I come as an Episcopalian to a gathering, not only of 
 Presbyterians, but of representative Christian people of 
 
28 
 
 this city, to be one of the guests at a festival which I 
 suppose, had it occurred in other years, might not have 
 called together such a gathering as this, either in the 
 pulpit or in the pews. Twenty years ago, or more, sir, 
 controversies were rife between the Presbyterian church 
 and the church of which I am a minister, and I remem- 
 ber to have read some very formidable discussions be- 
 tween Presbyterianism and Episcopacy. I very much 
 doubt if two distinguished ministers, representing the 
 two bodies, could find a hearing now were they to at- 
 tempt to discuss the points at issue between the two 
 churches. The day for such discussions seems to have 
 gone by ; not, I suppose, that we are indifferent to the 
 truth which we believe we stand for — and if we do not 
 believe we stand for some truth, shame on us ! But we 
 have learned '' to live and let live." I have no apology 
 to make for being an Episcopalian. I don't ask any- 
 body's leave or permission to be one ; I don't conceal 
 the fact that I am one, but I do bless God that over 
 and above that denominational title, I hold always the 
 larger and the grander title of a Christian ; yes. Chris- 
 tian first, and churchman next ! Christ first and denom- 
 ination second. 
 
 So I take it we meet to-night. 
 
 Things, sir, are becoming strangely mixed. I suppose 
 nobody will question the staunch Presbyterianism of 
 Dr. Howard Crosby, and yet would you believe it — I 
 don't know that I ought to tell this now, perhaps I am 
 letting out a secret ; yet the temptation is too strong 
 to be resisted, and if anybody is blameworthy, let the 
 fault be placed on his own shoulders, for he told me the 
 story himself some time ago. 
 
29 
 
 A good Episcopalian woman living in Florida was 
 very much interested in behalf of a poor struggling 
 church belonging to the Protestant Episcopal commun- 
 ion ; she wrote a letter to Dr. Crosby asking for a con- 
 tribution to the feeble church, and said, amoncc other 
 things, " Knowing that you are one of the most influen- 
 tial ministers of ^;/r church, I make free to appeal to 
 you." 
 
 Now, I say, that when such a state of things has come 
 to pass, that in these days Dr. Crosby is recognized in 
 Florida by a good Episcopalian, as a well-known and 
 influential minister of that church, there is no reason 
 why we should not meet and mingle here to-night our 
 congratulations. My dear friends, I think it is quite 
 time for us all to learn the lesson that it is a proper 
 thing to do honor to the living zvho deserve to be honored. 
 I can appreciate the feelings of my dear brother, when 
 he so earnestly besought us before we came in here 
 to spare him. We all know that his modesty is only 
 equalled by his merit. And we can all understand some- 
 what the embarrassing position in which he finds him- 
 self this evening; but why should we withhold our meed 
 of praise from the true and the good until their heads 
 lie beneath the sod ? llow often it is that men fail 
 in life to get the recognition that is due them. How 
 often it is that those who ought to give them their 
 encouragement and their sympathy and their support, 
 from the fear that they may spoil them, keep it all back ! 
 Their enemies are not so considerate, oftentimes filling 
 the air with maledictions, but not until the good man's 
 lips and ears are closed, do we wake up to the fact that 
 
30 
 
 we have had a great and good man among us ! I take 
 it there is no impropriety in giving to the living the 
 praise which they deserve ; and therefore it seems to me 
 that the words which have already been spoken, and 
 which may be spoken to-night in praise of the pastor of 
 this church, are not improperly uttered. Let them be 
 said now, rather than wait until he is dead. He is not 
 in any danger of being spoiled by praise, so my brother 
 who has just preceded me has reminded you ; and if 
 there be people in this city and in this country who 
 hate Dr. Crosby because he hates the devil, and all for 
 whom the devil stands, let us, who believe in God, and 
 in righteousness, and in him who works zealously for 
 God, and for what he believes to belong to God, be 
 ready to stand by him, shake him by the hand and say, 
 ** God bless you ! be of good cheer, brother, we love 
 you, and we believe in you. Go on in your good way, 
 and be even more successful in the future than in the 
 past." I think we have in the ministry that we are met 
 to honor to-night an illustration of one truth, and that 
 is, the supreme power of character. My dear friends, the 
 world wants true men, honest men, men of positive con- 
 victions, men who have the courage of their convictions ; 
 and whatever other gifts a minister of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ may possess, in the long run his power will be in 
 exact proportion to his character. That is the mightiest 
 force for good after all, a force which tells as nothing 
 else will tell ; no eloquence, no learning, no zeal, can 
 take the place of real, downright, thorough-going, in- 
 grained integrity. We want it in the pulpit, we want it 
 in the pews, and the men who are to mould this worlds 
 
31 
 
 the men who are to turn about the current that is sweep- 
 ing hellward, and send it Godward, are men without 
 blemish and above suspicion, and, I take it, such a man 
 is he whom we to-night are met to greet, and to whom 
 we extend our brotherly congratulations. 
 
 There is one other thing about this pastorate and this 
 church which commands my admiration and respect. 
 They stand for the old faith ; and in this day of uncer- 
 tainty and unsettlement, when the men who are preach- 
 ing seem not to know just what they are to preach, and 
 when the churches seem to have forgotten their mission, 
 it is a great thing for the pulpit to give no uncertain 
 sound, for the trumpet to speak its message so that all 
 can understand, and I thank God that there is one pul- 
 pit in this city whose utterances are never uncertain as 
 to the faith once delivered to the saints. Yes, in a time, 
 I say, of unsettlement and uncertainty, in a time of giv- 
 ing up and tearing down, a time of compromise and sur- 
 render, let us be thankful for a church and a minister 
 who stand by the old truth. There is no new truth in 
 religion, my friends. Truth that claims to be new is apt 
 to be false. 
 
 My ten minutes have expired. If any of you suppose 
 it is easy to make a speech on a subject so full and so 
 suggestive in ten minutes, I should like very much to 
 have you try it. In conclusion, I want, on my own be- 
 half and on behalf of my congregation, to extend our 
 heartiest good wishes to this pastor and to this church, 
 and I pray that God's best blessings may rest upon 
 them both in the future, in even richer measure than in 
 the past. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 BY THE REV. WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, D.D., OF THE 
 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 
 
DR. TAYLOR'S ADDRESS. 
 
 My Christian brethren, I cordially thank you for the 
 invitation which you have given me to be present, and 
 take part in the services connected with this celebration. 
 I would have come whether you had asked me or not. 
 I would go a long way to do honor to so noble a friend 
 and so beloved a brother as Dr. Crosby. It has been my 
 happiness to labor with him, side by side, in this city, for 
 eleven years, and all those years he has grown in my 
 esteem and in my affection. I have not always agreed 
 with him, but I have always loved him, and I have often 
 been proud of him. I was, I think, most of all, proud of 
 him in 1877, when I heard him read that magnificent 
 paper of his on the Christian ministry, to the first 
 great meeting of the Presbyterian Council. There were 
 two papers, which, by common confession, indicated the 
 high-water mark of that council ; the one was the paper 
 on Apologetics, by Dr. Patton, now of Princeton ; the 
 other was a paper on the Christian Ministry, by Dr. Cros- 
 by, of this church. It was with a glow of honest pride 
 that I heard, in the capital of my native land, the emi- 
 nence of that paper recognized on every hand ; and as I 
 look around me to-night upon the people of his charge,, 
 and upon the Christian brethren by whom he is sur- 
 rounded, I see the reason of the excellence of that paper. 
 It was autobiographical in its character, and he was lay- 
 ing bare the roots of his own ministerial success. 
 
36 
 
 Two qualities have always seemed to me to stand very 
 distinctly out in Dr. Crosby's character, both of them 
 noble. The first is his transparent honesty. He always 
 says what he means, and he always means what he says ; 
 no duplicity about him. The next is his unflinching 
 courage. Whatever he is convinced to be right, that he 
 will go and do ; if his intellect is convinced of the correct- 
 ness of a course, his conscience will hold him to that 
 course. What a splendid soldier he would make ! and 
 what a magnificent soldier he has made, under the ban- 
 ner of the Lord Jesus Christ ! He never quails before 
 anybody. He seems to me as he walks along the street 
 to be a kind of incarnation, may I say, of the lines of 
 Faber : 
 
 " Right is right, since God is God, 
 And Right the day must win. 
 To doubt would be disloyalty, 
 To falter would be sin." 
 
 His loyalty to Christ has given him his courage and 
 his honesty. He has both of these, because he is a 
 Christian. 
 
 But it is not the man, nor the scholar, nor the citizen 
 that we have come here to-night to honor, so much as 
 the pastor. All these other things are great ; so great 
 that each might well have been the sole object of his at- 
 tention ; but they have been only the accessories of his 
 life. After all, his pastorate has been the great thing, 
 and ye are his epistles, written, as he would say him- 
 self to-night, ''in his heart"; yes, but we must add, we 
 who have stood around him all these years, " known and 
 read of all men." This has been a long pastorate — 
 
37 
 
 twenty years. There are not many pastors in the city 
 who have been here now for more than twenty years. 
 That indicates, on the part of Dr. Crosby, that among his 
 many qualities he has '' the gift of continuance." He 
 didn't give you the best first, and then burn out. I think 
 it testifies to his excellence as a pastor that he has been 
 here in the blaze of this city for twenty years, and is, 
 to-day, more thought of by you than ever. Why? Be- 
 cause he has kept at the preaching of this book ; he has 
 taken his texts from the Word of God ; he has kept on 
 as an expositor, going through it, and so he has not ex- 
 hausted himself, because he can not exhaust the book. 
 Many preachers take themes from everywhere else than 
 from the Scriptures. The fool's eyes are in the ends of 
 the earth, and so it seems to me to be with some of the 
 preachers ; but when a man takes to expounding this 
 truth he can say not only teneo, I hold it, but teneor, I am 
 held by it. And I think one of the reasons of the short 
 pastorates which we hear so many complaints about, all 
 over the country, is, that men have taken to preaching 
 out of other books, from the newspapers sometimes, 
 rather than from the Word of God ; and that the work 
 of exposition has gone out of fashion. It is coming back 
 again ; I think that is due to our Sunday-school studies ; 
 but when it comes in real power, we shall have the old 
 long pastorates back along with it. 
 
 This has been a prosperous pastorate. We have had 
 the statistics ; I have forgotten the figures, but at the 
 moment I thought they were very remarkable; 1,975, I 
 think, added in the twenty years, and of these, 1,095 on 
 confession of faith. Now, all that seems to indicate to 
 
38 
 
 me that the church has been both aggressive and educa- 
 tional ; and here, I think, you share the credit with your 
 pastor. Sometimes it is said that the prosperity of a 
 church is all owing to the minister. I think that is often 
 just as wrong as it is to say that the failure of a church 
 is all owing to the minister. I think the congregation 
 has a great deal to do with it. The kind of men by whom 
 one is surrounded and the kind of work which they do, 
 has often as much to do with it as the labor of the pul- 
 pit. It seems to me that you have been responsive to 
 my friend's exhortations, and especially have you been 
 careful to carry on abreast of each other those two activi- 
 ties, the educational and the aggressive. The church 
 exists for mutual edification, and also for the advance- 
 ment of the kingdom of Christ in the world, and true 
 prosperity in the church can only be secured by carrying 
 these things abreast. Now, one of the greatest factors 
 in the prosperity of this church has been your mission- 
 ary aggressiveness, in connection with those two chapels 
 carried on by you, side by side with the pulpit educa- 
 tional influence exerted by my friend and brother. These 
 two things ought always to go together, and only when 
 they do go together can you have prosperity and peace. 
 If the aggressive should usurp the whole attention, then 
 there will be extravagance and emotion. If the educa- 
 tional should usurp the whole attention, then the intel- 
 lect will run to seed, and may run away after false doc- 
 trines, and, perhaps, unbelief altogether. The Salva- 
 tion Army, with its irreverent speech and questiona- 
 ble methods, v/ill illustrate the danger of becoming 
 simply and only aggressive. The Unitarian defection, 
 
39 
 
 developing into the disintegration of the followers of 
 Parker and Frothingham, may illustrate the danger of 
 becoming purely educational in our church life; but 
 when we carry them both along abreast, then we are safe. 
 If you are in a boat and try to move yourself with one 
 oar, you simply go round and round ; but if you take 
 both oars you go steadily on. Just so this church has 
 had the educational oar and the aggressive oar, and you 
 have gone on for twenty years. My advice to you now 
 is to keep on ; keep both oars steadily at work, labor on 
 faithfully and well, and may God spare you and your 
 pastor to each other, so that you may have, if He please, 
 a fortieth year of anniversary, and may have to tell of 
 grander and greater results than those spoken of here to- 
 night. 
 
 My ten minutes are up, but I would like to say one 
 word more. There is a great responsibility attached to 
 the having of such a ministry. Suppose a young man of 
 your acquaintance is about to become a minister and 
 begins to talk to you on the subject. You say to him, 
 ^' Yes, but have you ever thought that it is an awful 
 thing to be a minister? " That is true, but a great many 
 people have never paused to look at the fact on the 
 other side, that it is an awful thing to have a minister. 
 It is a great privilege, but yet an awful thing to have 
 such a faithful ministry as I know this has been. '' We 
 are unto God a sweet savor in them that believe, and in 
 them that perish. To the one we are the savor of death 
 unto death, and to the other the savor of life unto life. 
 And who is sufficient for these things ? " 
 
AD DRESS 
 
 BY THE REV. ROBERT S. MACARTHUR, D.D., OF THE 
 BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
DR. MACARTHUR'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and good friends : By no special 
 appointment of my particular church, by no special ap- 
 pointment of the denomination to which I have the 
 honor to belong, am I here to-night to represent either 
 on this joyous occasion. I am well assured, however, that 
 I do not misrepresent either the church or the denomina- 
 tion,when I say that I am honored in coming to give honor 
 to the pastor of the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church. 
 I am not at all surprised that that Episcopal lady in 
 Florida, of whom we a little while ago heard, should 
 write to Dr. Crosby, and ask a collection for the benefit 
 of the church to which she belonged. Dr. Crosby be- 
 longs to everything that is good everywhere. 
 
 Some time ago a friend of mine was in Scotland, and 
 he desired to call upon a minister in the town, and, 
 while he was being driven from the railway station to 
 the house, he asked the driver if he knew this man. 
 *' Oh, yes," he said ; " I know him very well." '* Well, 
 what kind of a man is he?" He replied, " He is every- 
 body's body." Well, I thought of that remark when 
 Dr. Watkins was telling us of the lady to whom he re- 
 ferred — Dr. Crosby is everybody's body. 
 
 It will be thirteen years in May since I saw him and 
 heard him for the first time. You know that Dr. Cros- 
 by told us before we came down that we were not to 
 allude to him, and, inasmuch as none of the other 
 
44 
 
 speakers have made any such allusion, I feel it some- 
 what incumbent upon me to do it, and therefore I shall 
 not be misunderstood, even by him, in any personal ref- 
 erence that I shall make. At that time I saw him and 
 heard him for the first time. He delivered the address 
 before the students of the Rochester Theological Semi- 
 nary at the time of my graduation. The address occa- 
 sioned some discussion. In fact, Dr. Crosby has a habit 
 of stirring the waters every time he puts the paddle in ; 
 and he stirred the waters quite a little by the address to 
 which I have referred. I met him, as I say, for the first 
 time, and I shall never forget — and I am glad to have 
 this opportunity to-night of referring to it in this public 
 way — I shall never forget the cordial words which Dr. 
 Crosby spoke to me then. He had learned that I had 
 received a call a little time before to this city, and he 
 was the first man that gave me a welcome to New York, 
 and that welcome he has continued to give. And one 
 thing further. Dr. Crosby gave me the thought which 
 has been the dominant one in my ministry in this city 
 since the 15th of May, 1870, when I began my Vv-ork 
 here. 
 
 And that leads me to mention the^first characteristic, 
 as I think of it, of this pastorate. This pastorate is an 
 emphatic testimony to the value of the so-called ordi- 
 nary means of grace. Many of us have almost lost faith 
 in the ordinary means of grace. When we think of 
 great aggressive work for God, we think it necessary to 
 have a hippodrome ; we think it necessary to have an 
 evangelist to have special services ; but this pastorate 
 of twenty years has honored God in the ordinary means 
 
45 
 
 of God's house, and, if I have understood the figures 
 aright, there has been about one person brought into 
 this church every week on a profession of faith during 
 these twenty years. God's word has been honored, and 
 God has honored the faith of His servants. I think this 
 is a matter of great importance just at this time. I set 
 myself squarely against the setting apart certain periods 
 of the year for certain special services in God's house. 
 Our work is to be always and everywhere for God in the 
 salvation of souls. I know that what we call a revival 
 of religion, in the technical sense of the term, has 
 brought large numbers of men and women into the 
 church. I think, however, that a revival presupposes 
 two things : first, some degree of spiritual life in the 
 church, and secondly, a vast amount of spiritual death. 
 Some of you heard me say yesterday that when such a 
 condition as that exists it is well to have a revival. 
 Why, yes, give a patient quinine ! give him brandy ! 
 give him anything, rather than that he should sink into 
 coma and death ! But the sad thing is that the patient 
 should ever get so low. Quinine is better than chills, 
 but health is better than either; and a healthy condition 
 of the church is what we desire, and I am sure that these 
 twenty years have shown a healthy,' vigorous, joyous 
 life ; and this church has brought forth fruit every year 
 and every month and every week. 
 
 Now, I find that this pastorate is also a testimony to 
 the popularity and power of Scripture exposition. Dr. 
 Taylor has touched upon this thought. I must, how- 
 ever, allude to it briefly again. I beg you to observe 
 that I have said popularity. The most popular book in 
 
46 
 
 the world to-day is the Bible. Even Dr. Crosby, with- 
 his vast and varied erudition, could not have drawn a. 
 congregation in this house for twenty years, expounding 
 any other book than the Bible. No, sir ; the effort 
 would have exhausted both Dr. Crosby and the book,, 
 even though its author were Shakespeare. The most 
 popular book in the world to-day is the Book of God» 
 A man who sends the plummet of his investigation 
 down deep into that Book will never send it down in 
 vain. This Book will ever be new ; ever be fresh ; ever 
 be glorious, like its divine Author. I tell you that the 
 men to-day in this city who are to stand up as kings be- 
 fore their fellow-men are the men who draw their in- 
 spiration from the Word of God. The men who are to 
 stand in the future are the men who are loyal to the 
 truth as it is in Jesus Christ. We are not here to apol- 
 ogize for God ; we are not here to apologize for the 
 Word of God ; we are here to declare this Book, and 
 God will take care of His truth. I do not think we are 
 called upon often — certainly I do not feel called upon — 
 to attack all forms of error directly in the pulpit. I 
 think we often dignify an otherwise unseen and despica- 
 ble foe when we attack him in the pulpit. Some men 
 are just like the horse described in the Bible ; they 
 " smell the battle from afar," and are ready to rush to 
 the defense of God's truth m opposition to some popu- 
 lar error. I would not attack error often. I don't 
 think the pulpit is the place to advertise the devil's 
 nostrums. I never would strike him unless I was sure 
 that I could give him a deadly wound. I think error is 
 inherently weak. The best way to preach down error 
 
47 
 
 is to preach up truth. Error will tremble and totter 
 and tumble by its own inherent weakness. 
 
 This pastorate, therefore, has been a testimony all 
 through these years to the popularity and power of 
 Scripture exposition. It has also been a testimony dur- 
 ing these years to the fact that the highest scholarship 
 is in perfect harmony with the most simple evangelical 
 faith. There ought not to be, there can not be any con- 
 tradiction between the two. It is absolutely impossible 
 that God can contradict HimiSelf. The God of Genesis, 
 the God of geology, the God of science, and the God 
 of Revelation is one God. Why, friends, if we can in- 
 terpret God's thoughts as written on the ledges of the 
 rocks, and God's thoughts as written on the pages of 
 His Book, they must harmonize. God is one God and 
 can't contradict Himself. The teachings of science, 
 so called, may contradict certain interpretations of the 
 words of God ; but when we get at God's thought, 
 whether in science or revelation, that thought must be 
 consistent with itself. I believe in God's Word ; I 
 glory in it ; in every drop of my blood I believe in this 
 blessed Book, and in the victory which it is sure to win ; 
 and I know if we take our place beneath the cross of 
 the crucified Christ, we shall find that an uplifted Christ 
 is the mightiest magnet to draw the hearts of men. 
 With undaunted heart I stand here to-night beneath the 
 cross of Christ, that for twenty years, with warm heart 
 and loving hand. Dr. Crosby has uplifted in this place. 
 In him the highest scholarship in the American pulpit 
 finds its noblest exercise in sitting at the feet of the 
 great Teacher, and there in giving to others the truths 
 there learned. 
 
48 
 
 I would like to say more, but my time is up. I am 
 full of gratitude to God for so noble a man. He does 
 us all good. I never meet him but I am the better for 
 it. I hope God will spare him to celebrate the fortieth 
 and the fiftieth anniversary, and I hope I may then have 
 the opportunity to give him my humble and hearty 
 meed of praise. 
 
ADD R ESS 
 
 BY THE REV. WILLIAM ORMISTON, D.D., OF THE 
 REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. 
 
DR. ORMISTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 I KNOW well how to appreciate the paternal benignity 
 of the dear father who has introduced me. None know 
 better than he, that I belong to a nation which is pro- 
 verbially blate — that is diffident — and that personally I 
 am known to be sluggish of thought, slow of speech, 
 and am greatly embarrassed by a large audience, spec- 
 ially such a magnificent and inspiring an assembly as 
 this. 
 
 I owe it entirely to an event which I regret, the ab- 
 sence of my colleague, Dr. Chambers, that I have been 
 called to this platform at all. I regret the cause, yet 
 rejoice in the privilege. No man in this vast congrega- 
 tion, or in this great city, could stand here with more 
 hearty good-will than I now do, to pay a cordial tribute 
 of love and respect to our noble-hearted brother, the 
 pastor of this congregation. I highly esteem him for 
 all his lofty intellectual and moral endowments, for his 
 varied and extensive attainments, for his wide and emi- 
 nent usefulness, and for his high purpose and thorough 
 consecration as a servant of God and the friend of man. 
 But as he is present, I would not wound afresh his mod- 
 esty by saying one-half I think in his praise. If you 
 will only recall one-half that has been said to-night of 
 his vast erudition, extensive and accurate scholarship, 
 and rare powers of vigorous expression ; of his ardent 
 zeal, his dauntless courage, his firm unflinching adhe- 
 
52 
 
 sion to the right, and his indomitable perseverance un- 
 dismayed by any obstacles however seemingly insur- 
 mountable ; — if you will conceive of him as he is, with 
 his well-knit frame, his great broad brain, his tireless 
 energy, all consecrated to one grand work — fearless, 
 unselfish, heroic in whatever he undertakes — the chan- 
 nels of his activity exceedingly various, the motive and 
 the object one ; — if you only think of all these things, 
 you will have a faint idea of what in other circumstances 
 I might, could, would, or should have said. 
 
 Once I met Dr. Crosby before I became a resident of 
 New York. When my venerated brother. Dr. Hall, had 
 just come to the city, there was a meeting in a large 
 hall, gathered, I think, to give . him and his a welcome. 
 The audience-room was large, and densely crowded with 
 a multitude of people, enjoying themselves walking and 
 talking. The chairman — the same who presides with 
 such dignity over this orderly assembly to-night, not so 
 venerable then as now — attempted more than once, in 
 vain, to hush the joyous and tumultuous company. 
 Knowing that it would require lungs of brass and a 
 voice of thunder to enable a speaker to be heard, he 
 called on Dr. Crosby. He rose, and his voice ringing 
 like a bell, pealed over the din, and as if by magic the 
 tumult was hushed, and the audience listened. It was 
 my privilege to follow him that night, forming the first 
 of many fellowships on the platform. Then commenced 
 my acquaintance with one, with whom I have had now 
 for many years the most kindly, genial, loving, and 
 brotherly intercourse. He becomes dearer to me every 
 day, and we are drawn more closely together every time 
 
53 
 
 we meet. Not even the slightest misunderstanding, or 
 the faintest shadow of a doubt, has ever marred the 
 mutual confidence of our intercourse. 
 
 It has been said to-night that he sometimes troubles 
 the waters — a man of such force and individuality of 
 character, of such strong and decided convictions, must 
 necessarily do this — and many waters are all the better 
 for being stirred ; many stagnant pools require the mov- 
 ing of an angel to educe their healing virtue ; and al- 
 though when first stirred, the water may seem drumlie, 
 it soon settles, becomes clear, and healthy, and drinka- 
 ble. 
 
 I will ever retain a most delightsome reminiscence of 
 ten days I spent in his society, in the land of my birth. 
 Dr. Taylor eloquently alluded to an address of great 
 power, which Dr. Crosby at that time delivered before 
 the Presbyterian Council. I also heard that marvellous 
 speech, wonderful for its wealth of thought, its terse 
 and telling diction, and astounding velocity of utter- 
 ance. It fairly overwhelmed our Scottish brethren, and 
 took their very breath away, and had it lasted much 
 longer the results might have been fatal. It swept 
 over that grand assembly like a mighty wind resistless 
 and effective. But while powerful as a giant, he can be 
 playful as a child. He accompanied me to the home of 
 my boyhood, Habbie's Howe, 
 
 " Where a' the sweets o' spring and simmer grow," 
 
 a scene of exquisite beauty and enchanting loveliness ; 
 the eye of man could scarcely rest on a bonnier land- 
 scape, either in Scotland or out of it. Here Allan 
 
54 
 
 Ramsay laid the scene of his '' Gentle Shepherd " — the 
 only genuine pastoral in the English language — and 
 that is written in the Scotch dialect. The poet's fancy 
 has peopled the entire glen through which wimples the 
 burn, "which kisses wi' easy swirl the bordering grass,"" 
 with lads and lasses of other days, whose mutual loves 
 and confidences awaken pleasing memories in all true 
 hearts. When we visited the enchanted spot, the air 
 was moist — I will confess, exceedingly moist — but it 
 had no effect in quenching his enthusiasm, or arresting 
 the flow of his fancy, the play of his humor, or the ex- 
 ercise of his memory in recalling a world of beautiful 
 things. Next to the pleasure of looking on the well- 
 known, dearly-loved scene itself, was the delight of 
 seeing it in company of such a man as Dr. Crosby. He 
 would have made a most poetic and patriotic Scotch- 
 man. We gazed together upon the very home, then 
 vacant, and walked over the field, where as a merry, mis- 
 chievous, bird-nesting boy, I spent the years of a happy, 
 mother-blessed childhood. All the hallowed associa- 
 tions of that place and time are linked with him who 
 was my companion that day, and have enshrined him in 
 my heart of hearts, amid its holiest treasures, whence 
 no power can ever remove him. Out of my heart, 
 brother, you can not go. You are there for aye ! 
 
 I shall now conclude by saying what my colleague, had 
 he been here, would have said, perhaps with more pro- 
 priety, that the venerable Dutch Church, and especially 
 the Collegiate Church, of which I am a pastor, presents 
 through me the expression of her kindliest regard, and 
 her maternal affection for one of her own sons, who, if 
 
55 
 
 I may be allowed to say it, should have been under the 
 old rooftree still. It was for us, a great pity that he 
 left ; but for you, a great blessing and a lasting boon. 
 Whether he would have found an equally wide field of 
 usefulness with us I do not know, but it will always be 
 to me a kind of regret, that when he left the College 
 at New Brunswick he had not come to the Collegiate 
 Church. It were an honor to any man to become his 
 colleague. I am right glad, however, to perceive that 
 this people who have long enjoyed his services, so heart- 
 ily appreciate their privilege, and so highly estimate his 
 worth. It speaks well for them. May they long look 
 on him as their teacher and leader. As a neighbor min- 
 ister of a church which can scarcely be distinguished 
 from the one I serve — the only difference between the 
 Reformed and the Presbyterian being, that the former 
 is the most Presbyterian of the two — I feel that though 
 not a colleague in the technical sense, he is a fellow- 
 laborer, a brother greatly beloved. 
 
 The past twenty years in the history of this congrega- 
 tion has been marked by unanimity, activity, and pros- 
 perity. May the achievements of the present prove but 
 the earnest of the future, the pledge of greater things 
 to come. 
 
 May your pastor go in and out among you for the 
 next twenty years as he has in the past, with even more 
 abundant favor and success. We know that his scholar- 
 ship will become richer, his experience deeper, his spirit- 
 ual perceptions clearer, and he will bring still more than 
 ever out of the treasure of the Word things new and old. 
 The next five years of his pastorate, if he is spared, will 
 
56 
 
 be richer in spiritual productiveness, and better for the 
 edification of the people of his charge, than any preced- 
 ing ten. How fresh and abundant the manna which he 
 is now fitted to supply. His last work will prove his 
 best. 
 
 As a man, a citizen, a patriot, a philanthropist, a schol- 
 ar, a preacher, a pastor, a servant of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, a brother, I honor him. The church to which I 
 belong renders him her due meed of praise. Long may 
 he live, even forever ; as long on earth as God can spare 
 him from Heaven, and then eternally there. 
 
AD DRESS 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN HALL, D.D., OF THE PRESBYTERL^N 
 CHURCH. 
 
DR. HALL'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Dear Christian Friends : I have had rather a curi- 
 ous personal experience in this matter. Some two weeks 
 ago my attention was called in the morning of the day, to 
 the circumstance that my brother had so long been the 
 minister in this place, and I was in my study thinking 
 of the matter, and saying to myself that it ought not to 
 pass without some public notice ; and then I began to 
 cast over in my mind what one of this congregation I 
 knew to whom I could venture to make a suggestion on 
 the subject, and I thought of Mr. Lee, and was actually 
 about to begin a note to him on the matter, when the 
 attendant came up to tell me there was a gentleman be- 
 low who wanted to see me particularly, and I stepped 
 down and met a gentleman of this congregation who 
 had come to tell me that the congregation was making 
 arrangements for this meeting, and that they had done 
 me the honor to ask me to come and take some share 
 in the proceedings. I regard it as a very rem.arkable co- 
 incidence, that while I was crediting myself with some 
 degree of originality, my thoughts should haye been an- 
 ticipated in this way and at this particular conjuncture. 
 Now, my dear friends, I have not a speech to make to 
 you, for this particular reason, that I took the opportu- 
 nity to deliver the substance of my speech to the church 
 that I serve, to my own people, yesterday afternoon, and 
 Dr. Crosby not being present, I felt free to say some 
 
6o 
 
 things that perhaps I should not feel free to say here. I 
 shall only mention one or two of the things which I 
 think younger ministers, the students of our seminaries, 
 and brethren like the young men who have opened the 
 exercises of this meeting, might lay to heart with great 
 advantage. Dr. Crosby has been a persistent, earnest 
 student of his Bible. The result is, his discourses have 
 continual freshness. They do not lose their charm ; he 
 speaks, but the spirit of inspiration speaks through him, 
 and the result is there is no monotony, no dullness in 
 his message. A minister, it seems to me, in ordinary 
 circumstances ought to labor to be a student in the 
 original tongues in which the Scriptures are given to us. 
 I think it is a great advantage to him to know his Greek 
 and Hebrew. At the same time, he will not do his 
 preaching in these tongues ; he will be careful to speak 
 in English to the people. I remember when I was a 
 boy, in the elocution department in the school, there 
 was a piece the boys used sometimes to recite, in 
 which a very learned and a little pedantic person re- 
 ceives a visitor, and he asks the visitor before the con- 
 versation begins, whether he wishes to make his 
 communication in the ancient or in the modern lan- 
 guages. The visitor intimated that he wanted to 
 speak in the modern languages. ''Well, then," said 
 the pedantic gentleman, ''will you please come to 
 the other side ; this is the ear I keep for the ancient 
 languages, and this is for the modern." Now, I think, 
 that a minister has to speak in the modern languages, in 
 order that the people may be able to understand him ; 
 but it is a great advantage when he is acquainted with 
 
6i 
 
 the languages in which the Scriptures have been commu- 
 nicated to men in the beginning. This will contribute 
 to his effectiveness in other directions than in the pulpit 
 exclusively. For the time being I have been selected 
 to occupy the place which, for many useful years, Dr. 
 Crosby occupied as the Chancellor of the University of 
 the City of New York. I say I do not succeed him, but 
 the attempt to be in the place for the time has given to 
 me some adequate idea of the enormous amount of 
 work that he has been able to do on educational lines, 
 at the same time that he has been the diligent and suc- 
 cessful pastor of this church. He is a citizen of no 
 mean city, and it seems to me that he has not felt at 
 liberty to forget his place as a citizen. The human race 
 has sometimes been flippantly distributed into three 
 classes — men, women, and clergymen. I do not accept 
 the justice of that classification. We ministers are men, 
 and we are human through and through. We are to be 
 gentle, but we are to be manly ; we are to be fearless 
 and courageous, but we are to be forgiving and magnan- 
 imous. And if any man wanted an idea of just such a 
 man, it seems to me he might with propriety turn to 
 him whom we may properly regard as the guest of this 
 evening. 
 
 There is no need to speak of Dr. Crosby from the 
 stand-point of a brother minister. I believe I have been 
 longer by his side than any brother who has preceded me 
 this evening. This is the sixteenth year in which I have 
 had the privilege of being associated with him ; and 
 when the church was in 19th Street we were very much 
 nearer locally, but not so near socially as we have come 
 
62 
 
 to be since then ; and the more I have come to know my 
 brother, the more profound my respect has been for him ; 
 and the more I have seen the human and the gentle and 
 the tender things in him, the more true and deep has 
 become my affection for him. 
 
 The Church of which he is a minister has done the 
 highest honor that it is possible for her to confer upon 
 any one. Some years ago he was the Moderator of our 
 General Assembly, and it is the testimony of all, that 
 never a better Moderator occupied the chair ; and when 
 we met the last time in Synod we couldn't find any bet- 
 ter person for that duty. The General Assembly and 
 the Synod of which he is a member, have in the most 
 distinct way testified to the esteem in which he is held, 
 and the confidence with which he is regarded. As to 
 his courage and fearless exposure of what is wrong, as 
 to his downright hatred of the mean and treacherous 
 and bad, it is not necessary for any one here to speak. 
 One of the brethren who preceded me uttered, I think, 
 some very wise words, entirely in place, in relation to the 
 tone of despondency that is sometimes assumed by min- 
 isters when they are dealing with errors, and making the 
 interest of a discourse turn upon the element of assault 
 that is in it. These words, it seems to me, deserve to 
 be pondered. Many ministers, to show how important 
 their work is, and how necessary it is that they should 
 speak the words they are going to speak, unconsciously 
 magnify the danger and give an impression of things a 
 little exaggerated. As if David on that memorable 
 battle-field where he was so conspicuous a figure, before 
 going out to the encounter had turned round and made 
 
63 
 
 a long speech to the Hebrew people upon the enormous 
 magnitude of the giant that was before them, and the 
 tremendous danger to which the Israelitish nation was 
 now exposed. He didn't do that. No, but he took his 
 aim, and the stone went forth, and the thing was left to 
 speak for itself. And so it seems to me in some degree 
 we may do, if, like my brother, we go through this world 
 setting forth its positive truth, glancing at its errors and 
 blunders here and there only according to their relative 
 superiority. So we take possession of the minds of the 
 people with the positive truth, leaving but little room in 
 which errors and blunders and mistakes can be accommo- 
 dated. These are characteristics, it seems to me, of the 
 ministry that has reached such an honorable stage ; and 
 I can desire nothing better or greater for my brother 
 than that for many years to come he may be strength- 
 ened and upheld by the Head of the Church to persevere 
 in the same course. 
 
 And now before I sit down, I venture to speak a word 
 to those who have enjoyed and now enjoy these Scriptu- 
 ral ministrations. I know that the word I speak ought 
 to be spoken with great gentleness and with very great 
 tenderness, and in that temper I try to say it to you, 
 dear brethren. Every good quality of your pastor that 
 has been emphasized to-night, and other good qualities 
 that have not been emphasized — for none of us can fol- 
 low Dr. Crosby into the homes where his Christian sym- 
 pathies are felt so keenly — I say every good quality in 
 this ministry enhances your responsibility as a people — 
 my friends and brethren, your responsibility one by one. 
 What have you been doing under these years of faithful 
 
64 
 
 teaching? Have you been standing still, or growing in 
 grace ? taking in simply, and never giving out ; or taking 
 in, that you may be able in your time to give out? You 
 are to be congratulated that during all these years you 
 have not once passed through the time of distraction 
 that so frequently is experienced by congregations and 
 communities when they are testing the relative merits 
 of candidates, and trying to make up their minds about 
 one particular individual. I congratulate you upon 
 this ; but I would have you bear in mind that this again 
 is an additional element in the weight of responsibility 
 that rests upon you. You have received much through 
 this ministry. How much are you rendering back to 
 the King and Head of the Church? And now, is it 
 necessary for me to say to you — no one has said it, and 
 perhaps I would not venture to say it if I had not, I 
 think in some degree, the feeling of a minister — do not 
 be afraid to give hearty appreciation to your pastor. 
 Do not be afraid to give him ample sympathy ; do not 
 be afraid to show your genuine affection for him, for 
 you know he is old enough now not to be in very great 
 danger of being spoiled. Let him know that he is first 
 in your hearts, and in all fitting and proper ways let him 
 feel that a grateful people stand by him, not indeed for 
 his own personal and selfish purpose, but for that high 
 and unselfish and dignified end that is continually in his 
 mind and on his lips— the best interests of men and the 
 glory of Christ our Saviour and Lord. 
 
CONCLUDING EXERCISE, 
 
CONCLUDING EXERCISE. 
 
 At the close of Dr. Hall's address, the President said : 
 
 I ask your attention to the following invitation and 
 notice given by the Committee of Arrangements : 
 
 The present and former members of the congregation 
 worshipping in this church, and also all clergymen 
 present, are cordially invited to pass into the chapel at 
 the close of this service to greet the pastor, and take 
 part in a social reunion. 
 
 We will now sing the doxology in long metre, and 
 after the doxology the congregation will remain standing, 
 and Dr. Crosby will say a few words, and will close with 
 the benediction. 
 
 The congregation arose and united in singing the 
 doxology, " From all that dwell below the skies." 
 
 Before pronouncing the Benediction, Dr. Crosby 
 spoke as follows : 
 
 I have never been so frightened or embarrassed in all 
 my life but once, and that was thirty-seven years ago, a 
 little before I was married. I will say just a word be- 
 fore pronouncing the benediction. As I sec these dear 
 brethren on the platform with me my mind reverts to 
 
6S 
 
 that evening twenty years ago, when I stood in this 
 aisle, and four dear brethren installed me as pastor of 
 the Presbytery. Where are those four ? Dr. Samuel 
 Hanson Cox, Dr. William Adams, Dr. Joel Parker, and 
 Dr. Henry B. Smith, all four have gone to the eternal 
 home. We are here, but in a few short years we will pass 
 away and others will take our places. How solemn life 
 is ! how we all ought to have our eyes fixed upon the 
 glorious future to which our Lord directs us through 
 His grace. The one thought, dear brethren, that is on 
 my mind to-night, while I thank these dear brethren 
 who have come and saluted us, and thank you for your 
 kindness in instituting this anniversary festivity — the 
 one thought I would have us all entertain is the won- 
 derful grace of God, which is the source of all that is 
 good. If there has been anything at all good in this 
 ministry, I can recognize that grace as especially exhib- 
 iting itself through three channels : first, my own dear 
 father and mother, who brought me up from my earliest 
 childhood in the fear of the Lord, and who prayed from 
 the beginning that I should be a minister of the Gospel 
 for Christ ; secondly, the loving regard and fellowship 
 and example of these dear brethren with whom I asso- 
 ciate from day to day, and from whom I learn so much ; 
 and, thirdly, your own constant, faithful, sympathetic 
 upholding, your unwearying Christian labors, your con- 
 sistent example to me, your pastor. No pastor could 
 help being fervent, if not faithful, with such a constitu- 
 
69 
 
 €ncy as you are, always with him. These are the mani- 
 festations of the Divine grace. As I said before, let us 
 all ever lean upon that grace which forgives our iniqui- 
 ties, which renews our character, which prepares our 
 home, which conducts us to it. 
 
 Eenediction by the Pastor. 
 
PASTORS, ELDERS, AND DEACONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church 
 
 FROM 
 
 ITS ORGANIZATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 PASTORS. 
 
 MATTHIAS BRUEN, - . . . Installed June, 1825. 
 
 ERSKINE MASON, ----- " Sept. 10, 1830. 
 
 JOEL PARKER, - - . . . >' April 25, 1S52. 
 
 HOWARD CROSBY, - - . - - March 25, 1S63. 
 
 ELDERS. 
 ^^a7ne. Date of Installation. 
 
 Knowles Taylor April 24, 1825. 
 
 Marcus Wilbur " " 
 
 Simeon Hyde August 7, 1833. 
 
 Joseph Brewster " " 
 
 Abijah Fisher " 
 
 John A. Davenport October 21, 1838. 
 
 Elijah H. Kimball 
 
 Jared W. Tracy December 4, 1842. 
 
 Charles Gould .... " " 
 
 William A. Wheeler 
 
 James C. Bliss November 12, 1843. 
 
 John E Hyde 
 
 William Faxon <* •« 
 
 Oscar F. Avery June 8, 1862. 
 
 Marcus C RiGGs " " 
 
 Theodore McNamee November 8, 1863. 
 
71 
 
 Name. Date of Installation. 
 
 Ralph Wells October 2, 1864. 
 
 Charles Taylor " " 
 
 D. B, St. John Roosa January 7, 1866. 
 
 James G. Baldwin 
 
 Lawrence P. Cummings February 24, 1867. 
 
 Cornelius W. Brinckerhoff " •' 
 
 William F. Lee " " 
 
 Henry Parsons October 24, 1869. 
 
 J. Bennet Tyler " " 
 
 Walter Edwards, Jr July 10, 1870. 
 
 George W. Lamson April 28, 1872. 
 
 George Pancoast " 
 
 James McIntosh January 18, 1874. 
 
 George E. Sterry December 23, 1874. 
 
 James M. Farr " " 
 
 Albert J. Lyon April 13, 1879. 
 
 George L. Newcomb " " 
 
 Charles N. Taintor February 6, 1881. 
 
 Warner Van Norde?c " " 
 
 DEACONS. 
 Norman White August 4, 1833. 
 
 John T. Gilchrist " " 
 
 Peter A. Cowdrey November 12, 1843. 
 
 John S. King ...... " 
 
 Alfred Riggs February iS, 1S47. 
 
 Royal H. Waller " 
 
 M. M. Backus January 3, 1850. 
 
 George P. Fitch 
 
 J. Hervey Ackerman November S, 1863. 
 
 Henry Parsons February 24, 1867. 
 
 Elias J. Herrick October 24, 1869. 
 
 William B. Crosby 
 
 Reuben Langdon April 28, 1872. 
 
 M. M. Budlong February 6. 1S81. 
 
 William E. Bullard 
 
 John Stewart 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMQN. 
 
 PREACHED BY DR. CROSBY, ON SUNDAY MORNING, 
 MARCH 4, 18S3. 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 " That day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced : for God had 
 made them rejoice with great joy : the wives also and the chil- 
 dren rejoiced : so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar 
 off." — Neh. xii. 43, 
 
 In the Book of Proverbs we find this profound saying, 
 " The heart knoweth its own bitterness ; and a stranger 
 doth not intermeddle with its joy." It is the recognition 
 of the inward source of grief and joy, and the conse- 
 quently circumscribed limits of their effects in any one 
 case. In one house there is jubilation ; in the very next 
 house there is mourning. One city is full of flags and 
 drums on the receipt of a great civic blessing ; another 
 city that same day is plunged in gloom, and the funeral 
 toll of a hundred bells proclaims the fearful ravages of 
 the plague. The happy, light-hearted man stands by the 
 side of one whose heart is pierced with agony. 
 
 The thouo^ht should beQ^et in us two results — a careful 
 search for the true spring of joy in the heart, and a pres- 
 ence in our joy of a true sympathy for those who are in 
 affliction. The search for the spring of joy will lead the 
 soul to God, who alone can minister a joy which sur- 
 mounts earthly sorrow, and our sympathy will always 
 have proper objects of its healthful regard. 
 
 The joy of Jerusalem on the day to which our text 
 refers was a joy in God. Nehemiah had completed the 
 walls of the city in spite of enemies without and within, 
 and the holy city began to appear something like what it 
 
76 
 
 had been in the olden time before the Babylonian destruc- 
 tion. A religiojs reform had accompanied this temporal 
 prosperity, and the people had, in two great processions 
 meeting one another, passed around the new walls, and had 
 joined in the temple courts to sing praises to God, who 
 had so signally blessed them. Their faith offered up the 
 sacrifices that symbolized God's pardoning grace, and 
 their shouts of joy, that filled the air with happy tumult, 
 spoke out their gratitude to Heaven. It was one of the 
 golden days of Israel, marked by the characteristics of a 
 true and manly piety. But one had to be an Israelite to 
 enjoy that day. He had to be personally united to the 
 history and destiny of Jerusalem to hold the secret of 
 that happiness. Even a Job in the land of Uz (if there 
 were any such Job in that late day) could not have taken 
 part in this joy, except by a generous sympathy. The 
 conditions of the Israelite made it distinctively an Israel- 
 ite's joy. 
 
 And so is it with us in our churches to-day. There is 
 a special individual life to each company of Ciiristians, 
 the joys and sorrows of which are peculiarly their own ; 
 and while other Christians may, through a noble sympa- 
 thy, show a true fellowship at these times, yet the real 
 secret of the joy or grief belongs only to the special 
 church. 
 
 We, the members of this Fourth Avenue Church, go 
 about our. Jerusalem to-day. We join together to lift up 
 our hearts in praise and thanksgiving to God for His 
 abundant mercies. We have come to one of those natural 
 marks of passing time, where it becomes us to review the 
 past and to take courage for the future. For twenty years 
 I have been permitted to minister to this church. In all 
 that time, with the exception of the summer vacation of 
 six weeks, and the fulfilment of duty at Synod and Gen- 
 eral Assembly, I have been absent from the church but 
 
17 
 
 four months, three of which were on account of illness 
 and one in order to attend the Presbyterian Council in 
 Edinburgh. Thus graciously has God spared my health 
 for so long a period. In. that time I have been permitted 
 to see the church grow from about 120 to 1,400 members, 
 and to become one of the most active and useful churches 
 in the whole Presbyterian denomination. About 2,000 
 have united with us in these 20 years, the exact figures 
 being these : 1,095 ^n profession, 880 on certificate. 
 
 Of these, 1,263 worshipped in this building, and 712 in 
 the missions. Of the 712 in the missions, 639 joined by 
 profession and 73 by certificate ; 27 of the whole number 
 left after uniting with us and then returned, so that they 
 are counted twice. 
 
 The number of additions by profession have averaged 
 23 per year here, and 32 per year at the missions. 
 
 Of our present number of 1,400 communicants, as far 
 as v/e can ascertain, there must be 400 who can not be 
 found, many of these moving away from the church or 
 the missions and failing to ask for their letters of dismis- 
 sion. The church has been a missionary church. Grace 
 Mission and Hope Mission have been for nearly all this 
 period of twenty years monuments of the patient and 
 faithful energy of Christian hearts. The large pecuniary 
 burden of the support of the flourishing missions has been 
 easily and cheerfully borne. Faith Mission and Gospel 
 Mission were for several years maintained by this church, 
 and at the same time the Chinese Mission was started b}' 
 the indomitable zeal of Miss Goodrich, so that five mis- 
 sions flourished at one time under the fostering care of 
 the devoted men and women of this Fourth Avenue 
 Church. The benevolent gifts of the church have been 
 an average of nearly $17,000 a year, and the expenses 
 of the church have amounted to over $18,000 a year, so 
 that a total of $35,000 a year have been contributed by 
 
78 
 
 the members of the congregation, apart from all their 
 private gifts, of which the church can take no cognizance. 
 I can not but regard this as a very large amount, coming 
 from a church in which very little pecuniary wealth has 
 been known. Indeed, it has been a matter of congratula- 
 tion that no few rich men have represented the church by 
 large donations, but that the great aggregates have been 
 made by the hearty contributions of all. The church has 
 ever been a giving as well as a working church. 
 
 The church, moreover, has been a harmonious church. 
 Not a ripple of strife or division has been ever seen 
 among us. There has been promoted by all a strong 
 family feeling, and brotherly love has been exhibited 
 throughout the church life. The appointed assemblies of 
 the church have been well attended, and the congregation 
 has always entered with earnestness into the public serv- 
 ices. The member of the church oldest in connection is 
 Mrs. Bruen, the widow of Rev. Matthias Bruen, who was 
 one of the twelve that constituted the church in 1825. 
 She now lives in Newport, in a happy old age. Miss 
 Susan Dederer and her sister, Mrs. Hickox, who united 
 1831, and Miss Elizabeth H. Green, who united 1836 (and 
 who v/as so active in her Christian usefulness among us), 
 come next in order. Then follow Mr. Richard B. Kimball 
 and Mr. John G. Williams. But all these are now provi- 
 dentially parted from us. The members oldest in connec- 
 tion who are now present with us are Mrs. Anna R. Cole 
 and Deacon George P. Fitch, who united in 1841. These 
 are all who remain from Dr. Erskine Mason's day. Of 
 those who joined in Dr. Parker's pastorate there are still 
 with us only the following : Norman G. Kellogg, Mrs. 
 Rachel B. McCauley, Miss Eliza F. x\rnold, Mr. and Mrs. 
 E. W. Hutchings, Miss Van Bokle, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel 
 Churchill, Mrs. Van Amringe, Miss Susan Van Amringe, 
 Mrs. Keeler and Mr. George E. Sterry. These are the 
 
79 
 
 only 14 worshipping with us to-day who were present in 
 the church when I became its pastor. 
 
 The church has had (in its whole history of 58 years) 
 35 elders. Of these, 17 have rested from their earthly 
 labors, i has entered the Gospel ministry, 5 have removed 
 to other churches, and 12 remain, although four of these 
 are unable, through illness, to discharge their official 
 duties. 
 
 The church has also had (in its whole history of 58 
 years) 16 deacons. Of these, 5 have died, 5 have been 
 dismissed to other churches, and 6 remain, one of whom, 
 Mr. George P. Fitch, has held his office for ;^^ years. 
 
 I need not give particulars concerning the two missions 
 and one home Sunday-school. It is sufficient to say that 
 113 devoted servants of the Lord are continually giving 
 their faithful labor to these departments of evangelistic 
 work, which show an efficiency and faithfulness indicative 
 of the zeal and faith so engaged. 
 
 During my twenty years' pastorate, a hundred and 
 sixty-two of our members have been removed from, earth 
 to heaven. This is exclusive of the missions, where the 
 record of deaths has evidently not been kept with exact- 
 ness, as only 32 deaths in all have been reported. The 
 162 in twenty years makes an average of more than eight 
 a year who leave our fellowship here for the Church 
 Triumphant. 
 
 During the twenty years, we have dismissed to other 
 churches 642 members, an average of 32 per year ; re- 
 ceiving from other churches, on the other hand, a yearly 
 average of 44. This fact shows the fluctuating character 
 of a part of our city congregations. I say " a part," be- 
 cause there is a solid nucleus of the church which does 
 not change ; but there are roving Christians who never 
 stay long in any one church, but, in nervous restlessness, 
 flit from one spiritual home to another, longing for 
 
8o 
 
 novelty. Then it should be also remembered that changes 
 of residence sometime compel changes in church connec- 
 tion, and such changes in residence are all too frequent in 
 our city, although very often necessary. 
 
 Our lists tell us of 17 of our members who have entered 
 the ministry during the last twenty years, all of whom are 
 now actively engaged in the important duties of their 
 ecclesiastical office. Our record also gives the sad state- 
 ment of five of our members excommunicated for gross 
 offences, which rendered their fellowship impossible. 
 
 In the course of the twenty years an old debt of 40,000 
 dollars has been paid off, and the church has built for 
 itself the beautiful and commodious chapel building con- 
 tiguous, and the plain, but neat and useful, edifice for 
 Grace Mission, besides contributing toward a fund for the 
 purchase of an edifice for Hope Mission. I think that all 
 these expenses together would amount to nearly a hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, from which would be deducted 
 16,000 dollars, which, by some oversight, still remains as 
 a mortgage upon our chapel. 
 
 In importance as a church of energy and efficiency, the 
 Fourth Avenue Church stands very high in the roll of 
 churches connected with the General Assembly. Of the 
 5,744 churches on the roll, our beloved church stands 
 among the first ten. 
 
 The church has had but four pastors in its 58 years of 
 existence. 
 
 First was that most active and honored man of God, 
 the Rev. Matthias Bruen, whose memory is most precious 
 in the whole Presbyterian Church, by reason of his zeal 
 in the cause of missions, and who was the actual founder 
 as well as first pastor of this church. His pastorate only 
 continued four years, when a sudden death removed him 
 from a mourning people at the early age of ;^6 years. 
 
 Dr. Erskine Mason, the second pastor, was third in 
 lineal descent of that renowned family of distinguished 
 
8i 
 
 ministers whose names are cherished in the annals of New 
 York. Grandson of Dr. John Mason, and son of Dr. John 
 M. Mason, whose fame extended to both sides of the 
 ocean, he was the equal of both father and grandfather in 
 the faithfulness of his ministry, the culture of his mind, 
 and the eloquence of his discourse. For 20 years this 
 noble preacher ministered to this church, when, in the 
 vigor of his days, at only 46 years of age, he was taken 
 from his labors to his reward. 
 
 In 1852 Dr. Joel Parker came. He had been an earnest 
 and successful preacher both in New York and New 
 Orleans. He was in the full maturity of his years when 
 he began his ministr)^ Under his guidance, the church 
 moved from the edifice in Bleecker Street, which it had 
 occupied 26 years, and planted itself in 1852 on this pres- 
 ent site, then the extreme north of the city. This caused 
 a change in the name from " The Bleecker Street Church " 
 to "The Fourth Avenue Church." The change of posi- 
 tion was perhaps premature. At least, it was made 
 against a very strong protest on the part of a large 
 minority, and hence Dr. Parker labored against great dis- 
 advantages. He closed his ministry here in 1863, and, 
 after a few years' ministry in Newark, returned to wor- 
 ship with us till his death, in 1873, at the age of 74 years. 
 
 If these three venerated pastors of other days w^ere now 
 alive, we should not see much difference in their ages. 
 Mr. Bruen would be scarcely 90, Dr. Mason would be 78, 
 and Dr. Parker would be 84. They all belonged to the 
 same generation. With the present pastor a new genera- 
 tion was represented in the pulpit. It is a remarkable 
 fact that the Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox took part in the 
 installation of each of the four pastors of this church. 
 
 But this is enough of statistical and historical matter. 
 Let me add a few words of the spirit and character of the 
 church. Never has pastor had a happier lot than the 
 
82 
 
 pastor of this Fourth Avenue Church. He has always 
 found himself surrounded by men and women of the best 
 type of Christian life. They have been ever to him an 
 example and an encouragement. Forward in Christian 
 work, liberal in pecuniary gifts to the causes of Christian 
 benevolence, lenient toward his faults, giving him a cor- 
 dial support and co-operation at all times, this people 
 have filled his soul with joy and thanksgiving, and if 
 good has been done by the pulpit, the cause is to be 
 found largely in the pews. The pastor has never had an 
 adverse word spoken to him, or anything but a hearty 
 greeting given him by the members of this flock. He has 
 never heard of an unkind word spoken of him to others. 
 On the contrary, he has received such kind words as he 
 has felt he in no way deserved, but which, nevertheless 
 (such is human nature), he enjoyed appropriating. It is 
 not strange that my heart has grown fast to this church as 
 the lichen to the rock. It is not strange that, outside of 
 my own immediate family, my warmest affections seek 
 their outflow here. Each mernber is a brother, a sister 
 most dear, in whom I see my Saviour's likeness, and with 
 whom I shall dwell forever in that Saviour's home. God 
 has prospered us, and to-day we proclaim the thanks- 
 giving of our hearts, as did Nehemiah and his brethren 
 at Jerusalem. We recognize our gracious Lord as the 
 giver of all this good. We would not have a boasting 
 spirit, but rather a grateful spirit, as we devoutly thank 
 the Author of all our peace. 
 
 May we not allow any worldly ambition to enter this 
 church. May we not seek to please men, but God. May 
 we continue to love the simple and pure Gospel of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. May we forget the things that are 
 behind (except to be thankful for them), and press for- 
 ward to new work for Jesus and new happiness in that 
 work. May we remember our dear brethren and sisters 
 
83 
 
 in heaven, who used to sit with us here, and who to-day- 
 are witnesses of our joy ; and may thoughts of those 
 saints quicken our piety and give us larger views of life 
 and duty. May we hasten to complete what we find un- 
 finished, to supply what we find lacking, to build up what 
 we find broken down in the structure of our lives, using 
 for this the Word of God, which is given to make us per- 
 fect (2 Tim. iii. 17), and that Mercy-Seat to which we each 
 have free access by the blood of the Lamb of God. Let 
 us in this way avoid all the follies of the world and all 
 the fallacies of an infidel philosophy, and maintain the 
 inspiring knowledge of the presence of Him with whom 
 we can fear no evil, until in His grace and power He 
 shall usher us into the glory into which so many of our 
 dear ones have preceded us.