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 BX 9225 .W47 W47 
 Wetmore, Apollos Russell. 
 In memoriam. Apollos Russel 
 Wetmore 
 

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In JlBFrnoriam. 
 
 FEB 2 61912 
 
 Apollos Russell Wetmore. 
 
In ^pmorienu 
 
 " They were a very religious people. All attended 
 " public worship. Before they had a meeting-house 
 " they worshipped God under the boughs of a tree, 
 " and in less than two years they built them a sanctu- 
 " ary and, eighteen years after, another." 
 
 These words refer to Thomas Wetmore and his fel- 
 low-settlers of the town of Middletown, Conn., in 1652. 
 Among the descendants of Thomas Wetmore in the 
 fourth generation was the Rev. Noah Wetmore, a 
 Presbyterian clergyman of Setauket, L. I., born in 
 1730. In his funeral sermon, preached at Hunting- 
 ton, L. I., by the Rev. William Schenck in 1796, are 
 found these words : 
 
 " I know little of Mr. Wetmore's ancestry — only 
 " that he descended from worthy, pious parents and a 
 " family remarkable for promoting the interests of 
 
" religion. As a preacher of the Gospel his sermons 
 " were well composed, and animated with a sacred re- 
 " gard to the honor of his divine Master and the salva- 
 tion of immortal souls. In the pulpit, you well 
 "know, my brethren, he spoke the word in all plain- 
 " ness and godly simplicity, and labored hard to win 
 "souls for Christ." 
 
 Noah Wetmore, the eldest son of this excellent 
 man, was born near Danbury, Conn., in 1767, and 
 came to New York about the year 1808 to take the 
 superintendence of the New York Hospital. A brief 
 sketch of his life gives the following description of his 
 character : 
 
 " His Christian spirit and character, combined with 
 "those of his excellent consort, rendered his inter- 
 " course and influence with the children of disease 
 " and affliction most salutary. . . . He was a man 
 " of prayer, a lover of the house and people of God, 
 " and was ready in the measure of his opportunity and 
 "ability for every good work in the Master's cause. 
 " His venerable personal appearance, combined with 
 " the weight of his acknowledged Christian character, 
 "marked him to the view of all around as ati old 
 " disciple, a father in Israel." 
 
 From these worthy ancestors the man, in whose 
 
memory these pages are written, inherited purity of 
 mind, steadfastness of purpose, and love of God and 
 his fellow-man. 
 
 Noah Wetmore married, on the 14th of February, 
 1792, Winifred Smith, by whom he had five children : 
 Apollos Russell, William Henry, Apollos Russell 2d, 
 David Woodhull, and Irena Winifred. All these have 
 passed away except the daughter, Mrs. Anthony P. 
 Halsey, now a widow. 
 
 Apollos Russell 2d, the subject of this memoir, 
 was born in Huntington, L. I., on the nth of 
 November, 1796, and received the name of a brother 
 who died at the age of three years in January of the 
 same year. His childhood was passed in his father's 
 household, surrounded by pure and wholesome influ- 
 ences that left a lasting impress on his character. 
 His boyhood was passed in the same household, sur- 
 rounded by the ever-changing scenes of hospital life, 
 and the experiences of these early days were never for- 
 gotten. His recreations were few in number and some- 
 what odd in their nature, consisting, in part, in games 
 of draughts with the seafaring men who were from time 
 to time inmates of the hospital, and who found their 
 only amusement in these trials of skill ; and, in part, in 
 assisting the surgeons in their operations by handing 
 
them instruments, holding lights, and doing such other 
 small services as lay within the limited power of a 
 lad. The earliest out-door sport that he remembered 
 in after-life was skating on the " Collect," and its 
 overflow on the Lispenard meadows, in the vicinity 
 of the Canal street of to-day. His interest in the 
 surgical operations in the hospital wards bred in him 
 so strong a predilection for the profession that about 
 the year 1812 he entered Columbia College with the 
 intention of preparing himself for the study of sur- 
 gery and medicine ; and it was during these college- 
 days that the stirring events in the city, incidental to 
 the war of 1812, occurred. In the autumn of 1814, in 
 response to the appeal of the Committee of Defense, a 
 body of the students, himself one of the number, went 
 to the heights north of the city and aided in throwing 
 up the line of intrenchments running from Fort Laight 
 across the Bloomingdale Road to the banks of the 
 Hudson. He often referred to this exploit with much 
 humor as the extent of his war experience. The fa- 
 vorite pastime of these college-days was shooting 
 plover on Hempstead plains, and he became an ex- 
 cellent marksman, as was afterward shown by his re- 
 cord at target-practice in the Governor's Guard. Two 
 years of study terminated his collegiate life, and he 
 
 6 
 
left Columbia on the announcement of peace in 1815. 
 He was influenced in taking this step by his father's 
 decided opposition to his choice of the medical pro- 
 fession, and by the determination of his intimate friend 
 and classmate, William Green, Jr., to leave college and 
 enter mercantile life ; and he obtained a position in 
 the hardware store of Kip & Ingraham in Greenwich 
 street, in which young Green was already employed as 
 clerk. After they had served this firm about three 
 years Mr. Green opened a hardware and iron store on 
 the corner of Greenwich and Vesey streets, and in 
 1 8 19 Mr. Wetmore and his brother David W. Wet- 
 more went into the same business on their own ac- 
 count, at the corner of Canal and Hudson streets. A 
 few years afterward Mr. Green was afflicted with a 
 severe illness, rendering it impossible for him to attend 
 to business, and in this emergency the friendship of 
 Mr. Wetmore led him to tender his services in super- 
 intending the affairs of his old classmate and former fel- 
 low clerk. This generous act had its natural result in 
 a union of interests between the two young merchants 
 and in an intimacy which lasted to the end of Mr. 
 Wetmore's life. After Mr. Green's recovery Mr. Wet- 
 more closed out his business, and, with his brother, 
 joined Mr. Green under the firm-name of Green & 
 
Wetmore. In 1824 the partners purchased the lots on 
 the corner of Washington and Vesey streets, and built 
 the stores which were occupied by them and the suc- 
 ceeding firm for many years. The business was car- 
 ried on under the firm-name of Green & Wetmore 
 until 1835, when Mr. Green retired, leaving the busi- 
 ness to be continued by the two brothers under the 
 name of Wetmore & Co., a style continued to the pres- 
 ent day. In 1843 Mr. David W. Wetmore withdrew 
 from the business, and Mr. Wetmore continued it, with 
 his son George C. Wetmore and his nephew David 
 Wetmore as partners. In 187 1 William A. DuBois was 
 admitted as a partner, and in 1876 Mr. Wetmore and 
 his son retired from the firm, leaving the business to 
 be continued by Mr. David Wetmore and Mr. DuBois. 
 This terminated Mr. Wetmore's mercantile life, and his 
 remaining years were devoted almost exclusively to 
 the benevolent enterprises in which he was interested. 
 He was married on the 30th of April, 1822, to 
 Mary Carmer, daughter of Nicholas G. Carmer. Miss 
 Carmer was a member of the Episcopal Church, and 
 the marriage took place in St. Paul's Church, the 
 Right Rev. John Henry Hobart, D.D., Bishop of 
 the Diocese, officiating. This union gave Mr. Wet- 
 more a devoted companion, whose loving approval and 
 
cheerful aid began with the first missionary efforts of 
 his early life, and faithfully continued until failing 
 health constrained her to become a passive witness of 
 his labors. She was a woman of remarkable intelli- 
 gence, great refinement of manner, and a lofty stan- 
 dard of courtesy that accorded admirably with the 
 modest dignity of address which was so marked a 
 feature in her husband's manner. She possessed a 
 keen perception of motive and character, and a fine 
 sense of justice and propriety that made her an in- 
 valuable counsellor in all matters involving the exer- 
 cise of discretion ; and her husband reposed the most 
 implicit trust in her tact and judgment. 
 
 The religious bias of his father's household was so 
 marked that it probably influenced him very strongly 
 in early life; but it was not until May, 1831, that 
 he took the pronounced step of uniting with the 
 Laight Street Presbyterian Church, then under the 
 pastoral charge of the Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox, his 
 wife also becoming a member of the same congrega- 
 tion. The young couple were at this time the parents 
 of five little children and the possessors of but moder- 
 ate means ; and Mr. Wetmore's mercantile affairs 
 made an almost imperative demand upon his time 
 and attention ; but the higher and nobler aims of 
 
his nature asserted themselves at once. Let his 
 own words, written nearly twenty years ago, tell the 
 story of the beginning of the work that has since 
 made his name so familiar in the households of the 
 poor: 
 
 " In the revival of 183 1 I became a member of 
 ' Dr. Cox's church in Laight street, and desiring to 
 ' do what I could for the cause of Him whom I pro- 
 ' fessed to love and serve, my attention was drawn to 
 ' the City Tract Society, under the direction of volun- 
 ' teer superintendents and visitors for the distribution 
 ' of religious truth among the neglected, and personal 
 ' efforts for the conversion of individuals. 
 
 " I became a visitor in a district of about one 
 ' hundred families, poor but respectable laboring peo- 
 ' pie. Very few observed the Sabbath or attended 
 ' church ; only one here and there professed religion. 
 ' By frequent and thorough visitation I became ac- 
 ' quainted with the character of the population, and 
 ' adapted my labors to their varied circumstances, 
 ' supplying the destitute with Bibles, inducing families 
 ' and individuals to attend church, leading children 
 ' to day and Sabbath schools, etc. ; in this way I 
 ' obtained influence, and was able to aid them by 
 ' advice, comfort them in trouble, console them in 
 
"sickness and in the hour of death. Very soon a 
 " change was seen in the neatness of their abodes, 
 " the cleanliness of their persons, and the conduct of 
 " their children. In some cases the truth made an 
 " impression and souls were converted. 
 
 " I soon established a weekly prayer-meeting for 
 " the district ; visited the families in the afternoon for 
 "the purpose of seeing cases of interest, circulating 
 "tracts and inviting attendance at the evening meet- 
 " ing, informing every family by notice of the place 
 " and time of meeting, thus securing good attendance. 
 "Very soon an increasing interest in religion was 
 "manifest, and many united with different evangel- 
 " ical churches on profession, some of whom were 
 " of marked and special interest, and furnished the 
 " requisite aid to conduct the devotions of the meet- 
 " ing. Some of these were at first so opposed to the 
 " truth and my visits to their families as to threaten 
 " violence, but by the grace of God their opposition 
 " was overcome, and many became devoted Christians. 
 " Some have entered into rest ; others are laboring 
 " to promote the cause of their Saviour. 
 
 " In 1833 I became superintendent of the ward in 
 " which my district was located, containing a popu- 
 " lation of about 25,000, divided into 100 districts, 
 
"with visitors from the evangelical churches seeking 
 "to build up the wall about their own sanctuary. 
 
 " I became so deeply impressed with the importance 
 "of this work, 'seeking the salvation of individual 
 "'souls,' that I secured the services of a devoted 
 " Christian, an elder in one of the churches, who 
 " spent all his time in visitation, directing the labors 
 " of others, establishing and sustaining prayer-meet- 
 " ings, gathering children into day and Sabbath schools, 
 "etc. The reported results were so encouraging that 
 " the Board of the City Tract Society engrafted 
 " the system of paid agency on volunteer labor, and 
 " thus it became practically CITY MISSIONS. A finance 
 " and agency committee was appointed, of which I 
 " was chairman, with power to select and locate as 
 " many missionaries, clergy or laity, as we could raise 
 " the money to sustain. Ten were employed the 
 " first year, 1834, sustained mostly by a few individ- 
 " uals, in localities most populous and enjoying few 
 " religious privileges. As the interest in the work 
 "increased and the funds were furnished, missionaries 
 " were employed in all the wards, districting the 
 " whole island. At the present time the society sus- 
 "tains thirty. Three of them are to German resi- 
 " dents, one to German immigrants, one to Swedish 
 
" immigrants, one to French residents, one to Jews, 
 "one to seamen, and the others are ward missionaries 
 " or assistants. The $340,000 contributed the last 
 "twenty-six years to sustain this effort was collected 
 "by individual application, without any additional 
 " agency or the expenditure of a dollar for any ser- 
 " vice but missionary labor and to supply the truth cir- 
 "culated. . . . Our success in supplying the spiritual 
 "wants of the poor led to the consideration of some 
 " system by which their temporal condition could be 
 "improved and the necessity of indiscriminate alms- 
 " giving be obviated. This resulted in the formation, 
 "in 1843, of the 'Association for Improving the Con- 
 " ' dition of the Poor,' of which James Brown, Esq., 
 " is president. The city is divided into districts as- 
 signed to male visitors, whose duty is to investigate 
 " all cases referred to them, and, if proper objects, to 
 " supply them with food and fuel. The advisory 
 "committee in each ward meet monthly to receive 
 " reports from visitors. The secretary, who is the 
 "tract missionary of the ward, prepares the report of 
 " that ward for the general agent. Thus at the 
 "monthly meeting of the board the entire operations 
 "are known, and appropriations necessary to meet 
 
 " the condition of each district are made. The chair- 
 
 13 
 
"men of the advisory committees compose the board. 
 " This society expends from $30,000 to $60,000 an- 
 " nually, which is collected by agents canvassing each 
 "ward. Any donor is a member, and is furnished 
 " with the annual report, directory, tickets, etc." 
 
 The early promise of the parent society has been 
 more than fulfilled in its vigorous growth since these 
 words were written. It became, in 1864, the " New 
 York City Mission and Tract Society," and was in- 
 corporated in 1866, and now employs forty-seven 
 missionaries, and has an annual income of nearly 
 $50,000. The society's fund of $100,000, for build- 
 ing mission chapels, was obtained mainly through 
 Mr. Wetmore's personal efforts, and has the prom- 
 ise, in the early future, of important additions. He 
 was the corresponding secretary of the society for 
 twenty-seven years, and became its president in 1875, 
 holding the latter office up to the time of his death. 
 
 His connection with the "New York Association 
 for Improving the Condition of the Poor" continued 
 for many years, during which he was one of its most 
 active and devoted friends. He became one of the 
 vice-presidents in 185 1, and retained the office until 
 the severance of his official connection with the as- 
 sociation, twenty years later. 
 
 14 
 
In 1849 a benevolent effort to improve the con- 
 dition of juvenile vagrants was made by organizing 
 a " Boys' Sunday Meeting," and in the autumn of 
 1850 the noble women interested in this enterprise 
 established a volunteer association, called "The Asy- 
 lum for Friendless Boys," at 109 Bank street. About 
 this time Mr. Wetmore and the gentlemen associated 
 with him in benevolent work applied to the State 
 Legislature for a charter for a juvenile asylum. The 
 first application failed. A second effort was success- 
 ful, and an act incorporating "The New York Ju- 
 venile Asylum" was passed January 30, 1851. The 
 charter made it obligatory upon the incorporators to 
 raise $50,000 by subscription, as a condition of their 
 obtaining a like amount and other assistance from 
 the city authorities. This amount was collected and 
 deposited in the Bank of New York on January 7, 
 1853, and the Board of Supervisors thereupon au- 
 thorized the payment of the same amount by the 
 city. On the first of January, 1853, the board of 
 managers leased the premises in Bank street, the 
 ladies having already transferred their enterprise to 
 their asylum building. On the tenth of the same 
 month the officers of the " Asylum for Friendless 
 
 Boys," in view of the superior facilities offered for 
 
 is 
 
this work by the charter of the new institution, trans- 
 ferred their inmates to the " New York Juvenile 
 Asylum," and fifty-seven boys, the entire number in 
 their charge, were sent to the "House of Recep- 
 tion " in Bank street. This was the beginning of 
 what has since become one of the most important 
 and successful reformatory institutions in the coun- 
 try. The "House of Reception" is now a large 
 brick building, erected for the purpose at 61 West 
 Thirteenth street ; and the extensive asylum build- 
 ings at One Hundred and Seventy-sixth street, on 
 Washington Heights, are models in their way. The 
 work of this society in caring for vagrant and neg- 
 lected children, and transferring them, after careful 
 training, to comfortable homes in the West, is too 
 well known to need description here. The fact that 
 in the twenty-eight years of its existence over 21,000 
 children have been committed to its care is a suffi- 
 cient comment. Luther Bradish was president of the 
 Asylum during its first year, 1853 ; in 1854 Mr. Wet- 
 more succeeded him and retained the office during 
 the remainder of his life. 
 
 He was later in life actively interested in three 
 hospital enterprises, caring for three distinct classes 
 
 of bodily ailments. These were "The Presbyterian 
 
 16 
 
Hospital," covering cases for general medical and 
 surgical care, "The Woman's Hospital," devoted 
 exclusively to maladies peculiar to the sex, and 
 "The Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and 
 Crippled," established for the treatment and cure of 
 special injuries and deformities, the resident patients in 
 the last-named institution being exclusively children. 
 
 "The Presbyterian Hospital" was founded in 
 1868, by the munificence of the late James Lenox, 
 who matured the entire plan of organization and 
 management before communicating his intentions to 
 others. He selected the gentlemen who were to be 
 associated with him in the work and addressed a 
 note to each, inquiring if they would consent to be- 
 come managers in the new institution. Among them 
 was Mr. Wetmore who thus became one of the in- 
 corporators and managers of the hospital, and who, 
 by his lively interest in its success and his faithful 
 devotion to its interests up to the day of his death, 
 fully justified the confidence reposed in him by his 
 friend Mr. Lenox. 
 
 He was one of the incorporators of " The Woman's 
 Hospital," in 1857, and a member of its board of gov- 
 ernors ; and held from 1864 until his death the office 
 
 of vice-president. 
 
 17 
 
His name also appears as one of the incorporators 
 of "The Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and 
 Crippled" in 1863, and he was one of the vice-presi- 
 dents of the society from the time of its incorporation 
 until his death. 
 
 Still another charity, modest in its dimensions but 
 noble in its aims, enlisted his hearty sympathy and 
 untiring aid. This was "The Home for Fallen and 
 Friendless Girls," inaugurated in 1865, at No. 22 
 West Houston street. He was the chairman of the 
 board of managers of this institution from its open- 
 ing until his death, and it appealed so strongly to 
 his sympathy with the unfortunates whom it essayed 
 to lead back to the forsaken path of virtue, that his 
 efforts in promoting its interests were indefatigable. 
 In 1869 the " Home " was removed to more commo- 
 dious quarters at No. 86 West Fourth street, and 
 from that time until his death he was almost a daily 
 visitor, carefully supervising the house management 
 and devoting much of his time to the spiritual wel- 
 fare of the inmates. 
 
 Three other important branches of benevolent work 
 had his earnest support and co-operation, although de- 
 manding less of his personal care. These were "The 
 
 Society of the Lying-in Hospital of the City of New 
 
 18 
 
York," of which he became one of the governors in 
 1854, its vice-president in 1879, and its president in 
 1880; " The American Tract Society," of which he was 
 one of the directors and vice-presidents; and "The 
 Presbyterian Home for Aged Women," of which he 
 was one of the advisory committee, the "Home" 
 being under the management of a board of ladies. 
 It was his privilege, from the date of the establish- 
 ment of this admirable institution, to read the report 
 of the board of management at the annual meetings 
 of the society, and his advice and assistance were al- 
 ways freely given in furthering its interests. 
 
 To these several branches of benevolent work he 
 devoted for fifty years a large portion of his time, a 
 liberal share of his means, and the best efforts of his 
 mind. So faithfully and conscientiously was the duty 
 performed, that it may almost be called a consecration 
 of himself to the service of God and suffering humanity. 
 It may properly be cited, as a proof of the consistency 
 with which he labored to do his whole duty, that he 
 attended, with but few exceptions, every board or com- 
 mittee meeting of these various associations from the 
 time of their organization. The register at the Juven- 
 ile Asylum shows a record of three hundred and forty- 
 eight visits made by him to the asylum, in addition to 
 
 19 
 
his regular weekly and monthly attendance at meetings 
 at the House of Reception ; and for many years an 
 hour was devoted every morning to conducting the 
 daily services at the Home for Friendless Girls. Later 
 in life, when entirely relieved from business cares, he 
 might be found at almost any hour of any day either 
 attending a committee meeting or making an informal 
 visit at one of his beloved institutions. 
 
 To this vigilant supervision he added untiring in- 
 dustry and perseverance in raising funds for the estab- 
 lishment and maintenance of these various charities. 
 It is strange that a man, so self-reliant and so far 
 removed from self-seeking in any form, should have 
 possessed in such a marked degree the faculty of suc- 
 cessfully soliciting assistance from others ; but his ap- 
 proach was made with so much dignity and with such 
 unaffected confidence in the merits of his cause that 
 he was not often refused. It is estimated that of the 
 large sums subscribed for the several charities already 
 named about two millions of dollars were obtained by 
 his personal efforts. 
 
 This imperfect review of his work in the cause of 
 Christian philanthropy would be still more incomplete 
 than it is, were reference not made to another field of 
 labor, on his part, so extensive and so diversified that 
 
it is difficult to describe it in detail. This was the aid 
 quietly but cheerfully given from day to day to hun- 
 dreds of deserving applicants. Clergymen and mis- 
 sionaries in destitute circumstances, friendless strangers 
 in the city, the respectable poor in need of temporary 
 assistance, and even business acquaintances overtaken 
 by reverses of fortune all found in him a compassion- 
 ate and generous friend who never turned a deaf 
 ear to their words of distress. Beyond this, again, 
 his earnest interest in Christian effort, wherever put 
 forth, led him to maintain an extended correspond- 
 ence with clergymen and others, giving them, with 
 patience and care, the benefit of his own large ex- 
 perience, and in some cases securing for struggling 
 church enterprises the more material assistance of pe- 
 cuniary aid. 
 
 His connection with the Laight street church ter- 
 minated in 1 841, and he became a member of the Cen- 
 tral Presbyterian Church in Broome street, then under 
 the charge of the Rev. William Adams. In 1853 a 
 number of the members of this congregation, among 
 them Mr. Wetmore, organized the Madison Square 
 Presbyterian Church, and in 1855 occupied their new 
 church edifice on the corner of Madison avenue and 
 Twenty-fourth street, with their old pastor, afterward 
 
Dr. Adams, in charge. Mr. Wetmore was one of the 
 original trustees of the church, and for the last nine- 
 teen years of his life was chairman of the board, and 
 the testimony of his fellow-trustees as to his "zeal, 
 "attention, and fidelity" at their meetings and "his 
 "judicious assistance in the administration of the 
 "temporal affairs of the church" is already upon 
 record. 
 
 In the spring of 1848 he moved from St. John's 
 square, to No. 19 (now No. 18) North Washington 
 square, where he resided until the spring of 1 872. His 
 eldest son was married prior to the removal from St. 
 John's square, and during the ensuing twenty-four 
 years his other children, three sons and two daughters, 
 were married and settled in their own homes. This 
 led to the sale of the property on North Washington 
 square early in 1872, and Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore en- 
 gaged a suite of apartments in the same neighbor- 
 hood, Mrs. Wetmore's advanced age and feeble health 
 requiring exemption from the cares of housekeeping. 
 In April of the same year the venerable couple quietly 
 celebrated their golden wedding, a few members of 
 their immediate family only being present ; they had 
 at this time twenty-one grandchildren living. On the 
 15th of June, 1876, after a painful illness, Mrs. Wet- 
 
more died, and a few days later Mr. Wetmore re- 
 moved to the home of his youngest daughter at No. 
 33 West Ninth street, and remained with her during 
 the remainder of his life. During the winter of 1880-81 
 the increasing weight of years necessitated, for the 
 first time in his life, a few precautions against exposure 
 to the weather ; but excepting a few brief and lightly 
 borne indispositions no impairment of his usual robust 
 health was apparent. 
 
 The evening of the 20th of January, a very wild 
 and stormy one, was passed at home. He seemed to 
 be enjoying perfect health, and was in excellent spirits, 
 and, with his customary good nature, laughed and joked 
 with his little grandchildren in parting with them at 
 bedtime. He was last seen alive, a few minutes after 
 eleven o'clock, by his daughter, to whom he said good- 
 night with his usual cheerful manner. On the follow- 
 ing morning, all efforts to arouse him having failed, 
 the door of his apartment was forced, and he was 
 found lifeless in his bed. There were no evidences 
 of any suffering, and his features wore an expression 
 of placid repose. His earnest prayer, that he might 
 so die in sleep when his Lord should call him home, 
 
 had been mercifully and tenderly answered. 
 
 23 
 
— " Remember all 
 " He spoke among you, and the man who spoke ; 
 " Who never sold the truth, to serve the hour, 
 "Nor palter'd with Eternal God for power; 
 "... Whose life was work, whose language rife 
 "With rugged maxims hewn from life; 
 " Who never spoke against a foe ; 
 "Whose eighty winters freeze with one rebuke 
 "All great self-seekers trampling on the right." 
 
 These words of a great poet, though written of 
 
 u the foremost captain of his time," might justly be 
 
 applied to him whose life was so peacefully spent and 
 
 so peacefully ended ; a greater poet has said, " Peace 
 
 hath her victories no less renowned than War." It 
 
 was a life consistently guided by precepts of the 
 
 purest Christianity, and so full of the noblest humanity 
 
 that in his eyes no distress of mind or body was too 
 
 trivial to merit attention, and no obstacle to relief too 
 
 formidable to be met and overcome. No tribute to 
 
 the memory of such a man can add lustre to his name. 
 
 It can but testify affection and affirm the sense of loss ; 
 
 yet to those to whom that memory is dear it may be 
 
 pleasant to recall the traits that made him honored 
 
 and revered. 
 
 24 
 
His early training moulded a naturally docile and 
 affectionate nature into the resolute yet gentle char- 
 acter which was to carry him through a long life of 
 active and sagacious benevolence. His father's house-' 
 hold was almost Puritan in its faithful observance of 
 religious duties, its simplicity of home life, and its un- 
 compromising standards of right and wrong. All 
 these elements in the surroundings of his childhood 
 impressed themselves upon his mind, and remained 
 marked traits in his character in after-life, but so tem- 
 pered by a kindly charity of judgment that they lost 
 all semblance of austerity. His religious belief was 
 implicit and unquestioning, and revealed itself, with- 
 out ostentation, in all his thoughts and actions ; and 
 his reliance on that Father unto whom all hearts are 
 open was as simple and unaffected as the undoubting 
 faith of a little child. His sincerity of purpose was 
 unquestionable, and was strikingly illustrated in the 
 active missionary work taken up from the very hour 
 of his profession of faith. What the noble growth of 
 that modest beginning of toil in the Master's service 
 has been, has already been told, and its prompt and 
 energetic development marks with manly promise the 
 opening of the new life that was hardly to know an 
 idle hour. It was in these early efforts that his atten- 
 
 2S 
 
tion was first attracted to the sore bodily needs that 
 so often lie behind the spiritual wants of those who 
 go astray ; and no monitor was needed to point out to 
 this young soldier of the Cross that here was opened 
 a new path of toil, as broad and as long as the one he 
 had already marked out for his efforts. We can rest 
 assured that he entered upon it without hesitation. 
 This readiness to take upon himself new cares, with- 
 out pleading the sense of duty already fulfilled, was 
 one of the finest traits in his character, and it was 
 justly said, in an eloquent tribute to his memory, that 
 he seemed to have grasped in its best and broadest 
 sense the true moral of the parable of the Good Sa- 
 maritan. He never wearied of asking himself " Who 
 is my neighbor ? " and of finding his answer in the 
 dwellings of the sinful, the ignorant, and the poor, 
 in the neglected and homeless children of the streets, 
 in the unfortunates crushed down by the double bur- 
 den of sickness and poverty, and in the poor Magda- 
 len hurrying along her wretched road to ruin. In his 
 efforts to befriend these he combined the very best 
 elements of wise philanthropy — the love of God and 
 human kind that prompted action, unsparing liberality 
 to the utmost limit of his means, and untiring personal 
 
 effort in guiding measures for relief to a proper and 
 
 26 
 
enduring maturity. Strong as were his sympathies, 
 they were controlled by a sagacious appreciation of 
 the evils of misdirected and ill-advised charity and 
 indiscriminate alms-giving; these always excited his 
 manly indignation as a waste of valuable means to a 
 nobler and a better end. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that these labors among 
 the ignorant, the poor and the erring, were not, in 
 his case, the occupation of a man of leisure. They 
 were the employment of hours snatched from the 
 active business-life of a man making his own way in 
 the world, a consecration to the service of his God 
 of minutes doubly valuable in the early efforts to ac- 
 quire a competency. That he found the time, with- 
 out neglecting his fellow-creatures, to aid in the 
 development and extension of a business that eventu- 
 ally became very prosperous is but additional testi- 
 mony to the vigor of his manhood ; that he did not 
 amass great wealth was due simply to his considerate 
 liberality and his entire want of sordid ambition. 
 
 His impelling sense of duty was very strong, but 
 
 beneath it lay a deep and tender compassion for the 
 
 waifs and strays of the world, and an abundant store 
 
 of sympathy with the distressed in every station of 
 
 life. This kindliness of heart expressed itself in a 
 
 27 
 
multitude of ways quite apart from his organized 
 benevolent work, but so quietly that its record must 
 live in the hearts of those alone who have proved 
 the measure of his charity. It bred in him an earnest 
 solicitude for the welfare of others that even led him 
 to kindly chide truant children in the street just as 
 his conscience impelled him to fearlessly rebuke vice 
 wherever met. With this tender compassion for the 
 unfortunate, and with a serenity of mind that enabled 
 him to face all troubles with almost unruffled calm, 
 he combined a nature manly, courageous, and self- 
 reliant to the last degree. He met such wrongs and 
 misfortunes as fell to his lot with quiet dignity and 
 without complaint ; his generous nature, ever ready to 
 do battle for others, was slow to utter reproach for per- 
 sonal grievances. 
 
 His manner bore out the spirit of this considera- 
 tion for others. With somewhat of the formal polite- 
 ness of the old school, it was uniformly affable without 
 condescension. His simple code of etiquette was 
 founded on the Golden Rule ; it knew no distinction 
 of rank, and those in the humbler walks of life re- 
 ceived the finest flower of his courtesy as freely as the 
 rich. His perfect candor enabled all who were worthy 
 of his friendship to know him thoroughly. It is not 
 
 88 
 
asserting too much to say that there was not in his 
 nature the faintest trace of disingenuousness ; he was 
 as frank, as sincere, and, it may be added, as unsus- 
 picious as a child. 
 
 It was his good fortune to possess the abiding 
 friendship of many whom Providence had blessed with 
 bountiful wealth and the better store of Christian 
 charity, and the unsparing liberality of these friends 
 aided him again and again in founding and extending 
 many of the good works which remain as monuments 
 of this admirable fellowship. In one branch of his 
 work he had, for many years, the devoted assistance 
 of two noble women, who toiled faithfully at his side, 
 asking no other reward than that they might serve the 
 same Master. This enduring friendship and freely 
 given aid were very dear to him ; and the tears that 
 fell beside the silent form of him they had loved to 
 follow in the pleasant toil of so . many years bore 
 eloquent testimony to the love born of this beautiful 
 companionship. 
 
 If we turn from this retrospect of his life abroad 
 
 to a contemplation of his life at his own fireside, we 
 
 find him always self-denying, and with affectionate 
 
 consideration subjecting his own simple tastes to the 
 
 comfort of those about him. His devotion as a hus- 
 
 29 
 
band is unmarred by any taint of selfishness ; his in- 
 dulgence as an affectionate father is tempered by a 
 wise but considerate discretion ; his loyalty as a 
 friend is constant and enduring through all trials of 
 adversity. 
 
 In calling to mind our recollections of him, per- 
 haps our most loving memories are those of his de- 
 clining years. The commanding form, the ruddy and 
 finely emotional face, the kindly eye, and the benevo- 
 lent smile, all seemed to gather new beauty from the 
 snowy locks and waiting step of age. There was 
 much pathos in the closing days of his life ; although 
 there was almost complete command of all the facul- 
 ties, and an unwearied sense of duty to be done, it 
 was evident to those familiar with his character that 
 a growing anxiety was creeping upon him in the fear 
 that the days of his usefulness were drawing to an 
 end. With this increasing sense of age there was no 
 thought of exemption from active participation in 
 benevolent work ; his wish was that he might die in 
 harness, and it was not until the severe winter of 
 1 880-8 1 that he at last yielded to the urgent en- 
 treaties of those who were near and dear to him, and 
 permitted himself to be detained at home in inclement 
 
 weather and occasionally at night when the day had 
 
 30 
 
been unusually wearisome. This concession was made 
 with a good-natured mockery of such precautions, but 
 it is probable that an inward monitor more than once 
 breathed a warning too marked to be unheeded. 
 
 One rather unusual trait in his character, which 
 thoroughly illustrates his perfect sincerity of heart, 
 was his custom of praying aloud when alone at his 
 devotions. He evidently did not consider this in any 
 light except as the most natural and proper manner 
 of offering prayer and supplication to the Almighty, 
 nor would it probably have become known to others 
 had he not chanced to relate an incident involving a 
 mention of this habit. It occurred during his absence, 
 alone, from home. Late in his life a lady told him 
 that on this occasion she occupied an apartment ad- 
 joining his, at the hotel. She was very young at the 
 time and exceedingly timid, and on retiring to her 
 room for the night she was greatly disturbed at dis- 
 covering that a door communicating with the next 
 apartment was without fastening of any kind on her 
 side. She retired in considerable trepidation, and 
 was soon after much alarmed by hearing a man's 
 heavy footsteps in the adjoining room. While she 
 thus lay in a fever of apprehension, she suddenly heard 
 
 the voice of her neighbor raised in fervent prayer — 
 
 31 
 
"and then" said the old gentleman, with moistening 
 eyes, "then she went quietly to sleep." 
 
 For some reason this little incident moved him 
 deeply ; he never referred to it without that emotional 
 working of the features so familiar to all who knew 
 him well, and surely all who loved him will bless the 
 few words in which he was thus led to tell of his un- 
 affected approach to the throne of Heavenly Grace. 
 How sweet it is to know that the last words spoken 
 by the lips that never uttered a selfish wish, nor an 
 impure thought, were supplications to the Almighty 
 that in His mercy He would bless, preserve, and keep 
 all who are left to shed a tear over that peaceful grave. 
 We may be sure that on that last night upon earth, 
 when the gates of the Golden City were already open- 
 ing to welcome this worn and faithful servant of the 
 Lord, none of us were forgotten in the fervent out- 
 pouring of that affectionate and unselfish heart. It 
 was a fitting end to that blameless life that the lips 
 should close in prayer and the eyes in peaceful sleep, 
 to open in praises at the feet of the Redeemer and 
 in view of the city of the Great King. 
 
 New York, March 31, 1881. 
 
 32 
 
JPunpral #prfiirp8. 
 
 MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 'January 24, 1881. 
 
The REV. DR. CHARLES H. PARKHURST read the 
 following Selections : 
 
 " Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will 
 I deliver him : I will set him on high, because he hath 
 known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will 
 answer him : I will be with him in trouble ; I will deliver 
 him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, 
 and shew him my salvation." 
 
 " He that had received five talents came and brought 
 other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me 
 five talents : behold, I have gained beside them five talents 
 more. His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good 
 and faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over a few 
 things, I will make thee ruler over many things : enter 
 thou into the joy of thy lord." 
 
 " For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of 
 my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I 
 have finished my course, I have kept the faith : hence- 
 forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
 which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give mc at 
 that day : and not to me only, but unto all them also 
 
 that love his appearing." 
 
 35 
 
" For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal must put on immortality. So when this cor- 
 ruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal 
 shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to 
 pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up 
 in victory 
 
 Address by the REV. DR. ROSWELL D. HITCHCOCK. 
 
 The part I take in this service must needs be very 
 brief. Another duty, which is imperative, stands at the 
 door. The voice is silent to-day, and for evermore 
 within these walls, which might have spoken to us to- 
 day out of the fulness of personal knowledge, with an 
 emphasis and a tenderness of utterance which could 
 come only of a long pastoral acquaintance. 
 
 I knew our friend as he was known to many of his 
 fellow-worshippers around this altar. Yonder square 
 and the streets that border it will be the more stony and 
 the more cold to me in all the years to come, for the 
 vanished shadow of that manly and benign and Chris- 
 tian presence. I choose to think of him as incarnating 
 those simple laws and principles of Christian life, to 
 which we must all come at last : not what he believed, 
 but what he felt, and what he was, and what he did. 
 Our Lord has epitomized it all : love to God and love to 
 
 man. 
 
 36 
 
A few days before he died, at his last visit to the 
 Juvenile Asylum at Washington Heights, of which he 
 had been President since its organization, he addressed 
 the children, as usual, and in closing said : " Children, 
 I want you to meet me in heaven. I expect to go there 
 myself. Why should I not ? We have the promise that 
 those who love and fear God shall go there : I love and 
 fear him. Why shall I not claim his promise ? " This 
 is the order : first the love of God, and then the fear 
 of God to bind us faithful and for ever to his service. 
 When the fear of God is put first, as it was by Moham- 
 med, it indicates a sad decline of religion. The stern 
 voice of the prophet rang over a prostrate and unfruit- 
 ful Christianity. It would be a bad hour for us when 
 we ceased to fear God: it will be a worse hour when 
 we fail to put our love of God before our fear. In 
 these times we need very much — and all the more 
 because of a sentiment of weakness which may take us 
 to the other heresy — we need now especially to empha- 
 size love to God. This great heart \pointing to the 
 casket] was full of it. How easily he was touched ! 
 But he did not forget to fear God. Punctiliousness 
 of Christian service toward God marked all his course. 
 He was as careful to be, and to do, all that he thought 
 God wished him to be, and to do, as though he were to 
 
 enter heaven at last on the ground of his own merits, 
 
 37 
 
and not, as he always expressed it, through simple 
 faith in Christ. But to this love and service of God 
 he joined also in an eminent degree — and that, per- 
 haps, was most characteristic of him — love and service to 
 man. 
 
 It is now nearly nine years since my friend, and for 
 a time my colleague, Dr. Thomas C. Upperman, lay 
 dying in New York. In one of my last interviews with 
 him — (and his life had been marked by great consecra- 
 tion in humanitarian work) — he said, without any affecta- 
 tion, without any attempt to say anything that had not 
 been said before, but out of an honest heart, "I think 
 that when I get on the other side I will ask to be sent 
 to the spirits in prison." The service of man had been 
 the business of his life, and the ruling passion was strong 
 in death. So was it with our friend. 
 
 It is nearly fifty years since, under the ministry of Dr. 
 Cox, who has recently gone to his reward, he signed 
 himself the Lord's servant and served him from that 
 time. This revival in May, 1831, was the one which 
 brought in so much of what has been the power and 
 fruitfulness of the Christian church since then. No 
 sooner had he given himself to the Lord than he be- 
 gan his work, which has filled up and crowded more 
 and more these fifty years. He began at once to work 
 
 for man. And what a happy life he had ! What is it 
 
 38 
 
that we regret when we come together on an occa- 
 sion like this ? 
 
 I remember one funeral scene, which, after all, was 
 not funereal, in Joppa, eighteen hundred years ago, when 
 friends had brought out — what ? Her treasures of purple 
 and gold ? The tunics and the outer garments which 
 she had made for others. The treasures we take with us 
 through the vale are the gifts we have left behind us. Oh, 
 what a happy life, to feel that every day we have tried 
 to do more for others than we have been doing for our- 
 selves ! The shadow falls now on a stricken household. 
 The shadow travels around and will darken every hearth- 
 stone here to-day in its turn. We shall lie shrouded in 
 death. Our turn will come. Over the hills of Moab, 
 many, many centuries ago, there rang out these words 
 that will never be silent in the air: "Let me die the 
 death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." 
 
 Prayer by REV. DR. WILLIAM R. PAXTON. 
 
 O Lord, thou art over all, blessed forevermore. We 
 adore thee ; thou art the Father of our spirits and the 
 framer of our bodies. We bless and magnify thy great 
 and holy name. Thou art the Lord and Father of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we hope in thee. 
 We look to thee and realize that thou art our Father 
 and our friend. We can trust in thee at all times. In 
 
 39 
 
every hour of darkness, in every moment of sorrow, in 
 
 every day of trial, we can trust in thee ; for thou art 
 
 around and about us with thy loving kindness, and thou 
 
 art ordering the circumstances of our being here, so that 
 
 all things are working together for good to those who 
 
 love God and are the called according to his purpose. 
 
 We adore this wonderful interworking of things in 
 
 Divine providence so as to accomplish thy wise and 
 
 gracious purposes ; and in every hour of doubt, when all 
 
 things are troubled around us, we feel that we can rest 
 
 simply in God and feel sure that all is well. We come 
 
 this morning with our hearts oppressed with grief : but, 
 
 O God, thou canst appoint beauty for ashes and the oil 
 
 of joy for mourning. Give us thy gracious presence, 
 
 thy holy benediction, that our sorrow may be so sanctified 
 
 to the good of all our hearts that we shall feel that the 
 
 trial is appointed and blest of thee, and that it is 
 
 ordered for our spiritual good. 
 
 We come, O God, to ask that thy blessing may rest 
 
 upon this family in their time of affliction. Thou hast 
 
 taken away one who has been very dear unto them and 
 
 whom thou hadst spared to live to old age. O Father, do 
 
 thou come in with the consolations of thy blessed Spirit. 
 
 Comfort them with that comfort which thou alone canst 
 
 impart, and when they feel the aching void in their 
 
 hearts, do thou come in and fill it with thyself. 
 
 40 
 
May thy blessing rest upon this church of which he 
 was a member ; and grant, O God, that his place may be 
 filled by thy presence, and that the grace of God may rest 
 upon this people and upon the officers of this church, 
 with whom he was accustomed to mingle in offices of 
 love and sympathy, and with whom he worked hand in 
 hand in the great interests of thy kingdom. 
 
 We ask that thy blessing may rest upon the City Mis- 
 sion which he bore so many years upon his heart. O 
 God, may thy providence guide, and may the spirit of 
 God rest upon those who labor for its interests. And 
 now that he who has so long carried this burden and borne 
 this interest in his prayers at the mercy-seat, now that he 
 is taken away, we commend this great interest to thy care 
 and keeping, and ask that thy blessing may be upon it, 
 that thy providence may guide it, and that it may become 
 an instrument of great good. 
 
 O Lord, we gather this morning as those who have 
 known our departed father in Christ and mourn that he 
 is taken from us r but to rejoice that he has gone to thee. 
 We bear in our memories the record of his blessed lifej 
 of his works of faith, and of his labors of love. 
 
 We thank thee for all that thou didst permit him to 
 
 do, for the long life of usefulness to which thou didst 
 
 spare him, for that great loving heart by which he won 
 
 so many to the cause of benevolence and philanthropy, 
 
 41 
 
and to the cross of Christ. O God, do thou bless his 
 influence to our good, and now that he has passed away, 
 may the memory of his past action and past influence be 
 carried with us, that in all our spheres of labor we may 
 be animated to work as he worked, to trust as he 
 trusted, to hope as he hoped. Grant that thy blessing 
 may be upon each and all of us as we assemble this 
 morning. Guide those who shall speak, and let thy 
 benediction be upon this assembly, so that we shall feel 
 it was good for us to be here, that God has been in the 
 midst of us, that thou hast spoken to us out of this 
 solemn providence by such voices as have reached our 
 hearts, and shall influence us for good in the rest of 
 our lives. Let grace, mercy, and peace be upon each 
 one, and upon this assembly, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord and Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 Address by the REV. DR. WILLIAM M. TAYLOR. 
 
 That was a wonderful description of a good man's 
 life and death which was given by the apostle Paul in 
 the synagogue of Antioch, when, having occasion in his 
 argument to refer to the Psalmist, he said, " David, having 
 served his generation by the will of God, he fell asleep." 
 These were the words which came into my mind when I 
 
 was first informed of the departure of our venerable and 
 
 42 
 
venerated brother. Having served his generation by the 
 will of God, he has fallen asleep. A good man's life is 
 the service of his brother. The very soul of his good- 
 ness is devotion to the will of God. With David he can 
 say, " O Lord, I am thy servant, the son of thine hand- 
 maid : thou hast loosed my bonds." With Paul he tries 
 to say, " Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so 
 that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry 
 [the service] which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to 
 testify the gospel of the grace of God." With a greater 
 than either he aims after that consecration to God which 
 will enable him to say, " My meat is to do the will of 
 him that sent me and to finish his work." 
 
 Now, one could not come in the most casual way 
 into contact with our dear friend without knowing that 
 the soul of his goodness was devotion to the will of 
 God. But, then, the Christian service of his God takes 
 its peculiar character from the nature of his generation. 
 David, by the will of God, served his generation, and 
 his goodness ran into directions which were defined for 
 it by the conditions and requirements of his age. And 
 so it took directions which were not taken by the good- 
 ness of godly men in later times. So also with the Apos- 
 tles and those who have come after them. The great 
 law, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 
 heart, soul, strength, and mind, and thy neighbor as thy- 
 
 43 
 
self," remains forever unchangeable, but there is a new 
 interpretation given to the requirements of that law for 
 every generation, by the necessities of the times. And 
 so in Christian beneficence, evermore the old order 
 changes, giving place to the new, and God fulfils him- 
 self in many ways, lest one good custom should corrupt 
 the world. So Christian benevolence is prevented from 
 stereotyping itself, and is evermore finding new forms in 
 which to manifest itself before the eyes of men, and to 
 show its devotion to the great God himself. The com- 
 mand of the Saviour, "Go thou and do likewise," to the 
 lawyer, did not mean that he should wait until he saw 
 the poor traveller lying precisely in the emergency in 
 which he was found by the wayside, and then that he 
 should do precisely for that poor one what the Samari- 
 tan did for the man in trouble. No, it means this : that 
 we should ask ourselves continually, " Where shall I find 
 to-day the representative of that poor, half-dead man, 
 and what is there for me to do that corresponds with 
 the oil and the money which his benefactor gave him ? " 
 And these were the questions which our venerated father 
 was continually putting to himself : " Where shall I find 
 this poor, half-dead one?" he says. "I see him in the 
 degraded woman of the street, and I shall open for her 
 a Home for Fallen Girls. Where shall I find him ? I see 
 
 him in the juvenile delinquents of the city, the waifs of 
 
 44 
 
the street, for whom no man cares, and I will provide for 
 him a Juvenile Asylum. Where shall I find him ? I see 
 him in the ragged poor ones neglected by society as a 
 whole, and I will institute for him an Association for the 
 Relief of the Poor. Where shall I find him ? I find him 
 in the ignorant and depraved among the poor, who know 
 yet nothing or next to nothing of Christ and his salva- 
 tion, and for whose souls no man is caring, and I will 
 institute for him a Tract Society and a City Mission 
 Society." And so, day by day and year by year, through 
 those fifty years of service, he has been putting this 
 question continually to himself. His service of his gen- 
 eration was emphatically the service of his God, for it 
 was his love to Christ that inspired him to it all ; but 
 just as truly the service of his God was the service of 
 his generation, for he has been the means of irrigating 
 the city by many streams of beneficence. Having served 
 his generation by the will of God, he fell asleep. What 
 a beautiful description of a good man's death, and how 
 appropriate to the manner of our father's dying ! He 
 fell asleep. Sudden death — sudden glory. There used 
 to be a great horror and dread of sudden death, that 
 have found expression in the language of a litany which 
 all admire: "From sudden death, good Lord deliver us." 
 But I think there is a mistaken meaning here, and it 
 
 should rather be, " From death unprepared," for, after 
 
 45 
 
all — though it was a dramatist that said the words — " The 
 readiness is all, the readiness is all." And if one be pre- 
 pared, it makes no matter though the messenger come 
 for him with muffled footsteps in the hours of sleep — 
 nay, rather, it is most of all an honor to go, when the 
 earthly sleep fades into the heavenly rest. 
 
 He fell asleep. That tells of peace. We do not 
 readily go to sleep amid noise and confusion, but when 
 all is silent around. And so I think it is not stretching 
 the figure — " he fell asleep " — to say that it is an indica- 
 tion of the peacefulness of the Christian heart in dying. 
 What a contrast when the words were used regarding 
 Stephen ! The multitude was stoning him, and the howl- 
 ing crowd was around him, while Stephen was calling 
 upon God, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," — "and when 
 he had said this he fell asleep." No matter what was 
 around him, there was peace within. And that was true 
 of our friend and father. 
 
 Then I think we may accept the teaching of the figure 
 
 to this effect, that there is rest in sleep. Our father and 
 
 our friend, after the work and the fever and the worry 
 
 of life, rests with Jesus. And I think in this generation 
 
 that one great idea which guided him comes closely to 
 
 our hearts. Year after year, from early morning until far 
 
 into the night, we toil at our various pursuits, and even 
 
 those who are engaged continually in works of benefi- 
 
 4 6 
 
cence, though they never weary of the work, are often 
 weary in it. And so, I think, to many, the idea con- 
 nected with heaven, that is most attractive, is that of rest. 
 Our brother is at rest. 
 
 Then it tells of a future awakening. We must not, of 
 course, stretch the figure so far as to make it mean that 
 the spirit is unconscious after death ; for they who are in 
 Christ depart immediately to be with Christ. Still, the 
 body is resting, and for that there is an awakening be- 
 yond. The resurrection is hinted at in this falling asleep ; 
 and so, even in the grief of dying, there is the comfort of 
 the reappearing. Our brother shall rise again. We shall 
 see him and our hearts shall rejoice ; and in the faith of 
 that reunion, when in purified soul and body reunited we 
 shall be together with the Lord, we may not only wipe 
 our tears to-day, but sing a song of triumph. He shall 
 rise again. There is to be an awakening. " My set time 
 in the grave," says Job, " will I wait till my change comes. 
 Then thou shalt call and I will answer : thou shalt have 
 respect unto the work of thy hands." Long ago, when I 
 was a village schoolmaster in the west of Scotland, I 
 sometimes wandered out by the banks of the Inverness 
 for an evening walk, and came upon the churchyard in 
 which there were the ruins of an old church, part of 
 which had been roofed in and made a burial-place for the 
 family of the Marquis of Lome that lived hard by ; and as 
 
 47 
 
I examined all about, I got a lesson of faith and trust 
 which I have never forgotten. I found a flat gravestone 
 with the moss and lichens all growing into the letters, and 
 with a nail I scraped them out until I read these words : 
 
 " I go to the grave as to my bed, 
 Yet not there to remain, 
 Awhile for to repose therein, 
 And then to rise again." 
 
 The poetry is doggerel enough, but the faith is some- 
 thing that no earthly power could have reached. Then, 
 looking at the portal, into the graveyard of the Lome 
 family, I was surprised to see the device of a phoenix 
 rising from the ashes of the past, and the inscription 
 round it, " I bide my time." So may the Christian 
 when he goes to the grave always say, " I bide my time. 
 My set time in the grave will I wait till my change 
 comes." 
 
 "We make the grave our bed, and then are gone. 
 Thus at the shut of eve the weary bird 
 Leaves the wide air, and in some lonely brake, 
 Cowers down and dozes till the dawn of day, 
 Then flaps her well-fledged wings and bears away." 
 
 In the faith of that resurrection is it well with you ? 
 Nor can we forget the influence of a good man. 
 
 Here was Paul quoting David and drawing from him 
 
 4 8 
 
hundreds of years after he died. So this man's life will 
 have its influence long, long after his death. There are 
 thousands in the far West bearing the marks of his im- 
 press upon them to-day, and there are multitudes of his 
 coadjutors still with us who will feel, while they live, the 
 influence of his example. He has not taken that with 
 him. It will remain and work, after. God grant that it 
 may move some of the young portion of this audience to- 
 day, to give themselves in the early vigor of their man- 
 hood to the work which has so glorified this life that has 
 gone. I have been impressed during this last two or 
 three years with the fact of the disappearance from the 
 midst of us of so many gray heads that were well known 
 among us for their works of faith and labors of love. 
 Where are their successors ? You should be their suc- 
 cessors, my young friends, who are in the ranks of the 
 Christian church ; and let the service this morning be to 
 you an appeal to come and consecrate yourselves to this 
 noble work, to carry on these things which our father 
 here began and so steadfastly maintained through life. 
 It lies upon one's heart sometimes as a burden, that there 
 are so few among the young men in the city, of influence 
 and position, willing to take the stand so long maintained 
 by our father and friend, around whose remains we are 
 this morning assembled. 
 
 Let his disappearance from among us move multitudes 
 
 49 
 
to come forward and say, " Here we are, to do a little, at 
 least, of the good work for which he was so honored." 
 
 A life like this demands no tears when it is taken 
 away, except for ourselves. We mourn for his absence, 
 but we do not mourn for him. He has gone to be with 
 Christ ; and there are many among us who will re-echo 
 the words of my honored friend who preceded me, " Let 
 me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be 
 like his." 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 Abide with me ! Fast falls the eventide, 
 The darkness deepens — Lord, with me abide ! 
 When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, 
 Help of the helpless, O abide with me ! 
 
 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day ; 
 Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away ; 
 Change and decay in all around I see ; 
 
 thou who changest not, abide with me! 
 
 1 need thy presence every passing hour ; 
 
 What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power? 
 Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be ? 
 Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me ! 
 
 I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless ; 
 
 Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; 
 50 
 
Where is death's sting ? where, grave, thy victory ? 
 I triumph still, if thou abide with me. 
 
 Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes ; 
 Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies ; 
 Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee ; 
 In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me ! 
 
 Benediction by the REV. DR. WILLIAM ORMISTON. 
 
 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of 
 
 God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be 
 
 with you all. Amen, 
 
 Si 
 
#PFtnO!K 
 
 By the REV. DR. CHARLES H. PARKHURST. 
 
 MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 Sunday Mornings March 27, 1881. 
 
#pptnon. 
 
 It has been said that all good lives belong to the 
 public. Especially does death remove from them the 
 seal of privacy, and make it equally our privilege and 
 duty to convert them to purposes of general advantage, 
 and draw from them suggestions and incentives such as 
 they may be severally suited to convey. 
 
 The ranks of our church-membership have been in- 
 vaded with singular and painful frequency since the 
 opening of the year, and several instances afforded of 
 lives lived long, consecratedly and fruitfully, any one 
 of which, rightly considered, would be profitable to this 
 congregation for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 for instruction in righteousness. 
 
 Out of these I have selected for a brief sketch and 
 characterization this morning, the life of Mr. A. R. 
 Wetmore, who fell asleep at his residence in this city, 
 January 21, 1881, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. 
 
 More as an introduction than as a text I have chosen 
 
 55 
 
a portion of Scripture from the Book of Job, in the 29th 
 chapter, beginning with the nth verse : 
 
 When the ear heard me then it blessed me : and 
 when the eye saw me it gave witness to me. 
 
 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the 
 fatherless, and him that had none to help him. 
 
 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came 
 upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 
 
 I put on righteousness and it clothed me : my judg- 
 ment was as a robe and a diadem. 
 
 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. 
 
 I was a father to the poor, and the cause which I 
 knew not I searched out. 
 
 Our object this morning is not eulogy. We desire 
 to get Mr. Wetmore's life and character before us only 
 that it may preach to us. A man is the best sermon. 
 There are persons all about us, some in our congrega- 
 tion this morning, possibly, who listen with incredulity 
 and ill-disguised impatience to formally prepared dis- 
 courses. It is on their account, especially, that I would 
 see introduced into our pulpit discipline a strong bio- 
 graphical element. There is no getting away from a 
 life. Even our Holy Scriptures are made up for the 
 most part only of short, trenchant biographies. Truth 
 and Gospel in the concrete come nearer to men than 
 
 in the abstract. It is suitable, therefore, that very much 
 
 56 
 
should be made of these old, precious lives, that have 
 been intrenched in the might of God, and that have 
 been living epistles of the power and grace of his Son. 
 It is as personal power that the Gospel works controll- 
 ingly among men. Christ committed his Gospel not 
 to paper but to men. " Go ye into all the world." "Ye 
 are the light of the world." 
 
 It is the part of our discretion, therefore, that we 
 push the eminent souls of the earlier and later saints 
 into the world's observation. Though men ignore Chris- 
 tianity as an idea, they may be softened and enticed by 
 the personal results which it yields. The people, you 
 will remember, were averse to the idea that Peter could 
 cure the lame man ; but "beholding the man which was 
 healed standing with them, they could say nothing 
 against it." There is no controverting a personal fact. 
 A life, there is no getting away from. Destroying our 
 sacred books would not blot from the world its personal 
 Christianity ; but blotting from the world its personal 
 Christianity would render obsolete our sacred books. 
 Christianity is not records but men. Society gets its 
 impulses from person. "The life was the light of 
 men." That was written of Christ's life, but it holds 
 of all life. The life is the light of men. "And the 
 Word was made flesh." All word needs to be made 
 flesh before it works forcefully and redemptively. To 
 
 57 
 
say with St. Paul, "I know whom I have believed," is 
 vastly more than to say, I know what I have believed. 
 Men are not stirred by neuter influences. Words are 
 a feeble matter by the side of life. Living is the best 
 preaching. It is the most intelligible preaching. We 
 do not understand faith, perhaps, but we easily appre- 
 ciate a man of faith. Living is the most persuasive 
 preaching. Dr. Peabody once said that were Christians 
 all they ought to be, he doubted whether there would 
 be need of offering any other evidence for Christianity 
 than the lives of its disciples. " Beholding the man which 
 was healed standing with them, they could say nothing 
 against it." And this which Dr. Peabody said was 
 expressed a long time earlier by St. Paul when he wrote 
 in his letter to the Thessalonians, "Your faith to God- 
 ward is spread abroad in every place, so that we need 
 not to speak anything." 
 
 In our sketch, therefore, of the splendid activities 
 of this benign old father in Israel, I want any among 
 us who regard Christianity skeptically when viewed in 
 the abstract, to give ingenuous regard to this concrete 
 personal illustration of it, and to frame their estimates 
 of Christianity, not from forms of thought but from 
 shapes of life. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore was the continuation from a long line 
 
 of godly ancestry. He preserved in himself impulses 
 
 58 
 
and tendencies that were in part the bequest of antece- 
 dent generations. It seems as though we were reading 
 from his own memoir when we encounter the following 
 words occurring in an obituary notice of his father. 
 
 "He was strongly attached to the doctrines of grace 
 as presented in the standards of the Presbyterian and 
 Dutch Reformed Churches, and he embraced and ad- 
 hered to them, not in mere speculative regard to them 
 as orthodox truths, but embodied them in the constant 
 culture of Christian experience, and in the exercise of 
 his Christian hope and service. He was a man of prayer, 
 a lover of the house and people of God, and was ready, 
 in the measure of his opportunity and ability, for every 
 good work in the Master's cause. His venerable personal 
 appearance, combined with the weight of his acknowl- 
 edged Christian character, marked him to the view of 
 all around as an old disciple, a father in Israel." 
 
 Hardly could all of this have been more true of 
 Noah Wetmore than it was of his son Apollos. And 
 we can easily forget that it was the grandfather in- 
 stead of the grandson whose eulogy was being pro- 
 nounced in 1796, when we find occurring in it these 
 words : 
 
 "The doctrines he taught and duties he pressed 
 upon others were happily exemplified in his own life 
 
 and conversation, agreeable to the Apostle's charge to 
 
 59 
 
Timothy : ' He was an example to believers, in word, 
 in charity, in conversation, in faith, in purity.'" In 
 such a degree did the past survive in the present, and 
 ancestry perpetuate itself in posterity. 
 
 Apollos Wetmore, the subject of our narrative, was 
 born in Huntington, Long Island, in 1796. He came 
 with his father to New York when ten years old, on 
 the occasion of his father's being called to the super- 
 intendentship of the New York Hospital, a position 
 held by him for about thirty years. While a boy, and 
 living with his father at the hospital, he used to aid 
 the chaplain by holding for him the candle while he 
 conducted the hospital devotional service. In this 
 humble way did he begin to let his light shine. At the 
 age of sixteen he entered Columbia College, where he 
 remained for two years, applying himself very closely 
 to his studies, but obliged at the end of that time to 
 withdraw on account of impaired health, and to seek 
 more active employment. He entered business at once 
 and remained actively engaged in it until within about 
 six years of his death. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore did not become a professing Christian 
 
 till he was thirty-five years old. His conversion was 
 
 one of the fruits of an extensive revival which added 
 
 to the churches something like two thousand souls. 
 
 He became a member of the Presbyterian church in 
 
 60 
 
Laight street, under the pastoral charge of Rev. Dr. 
 Cox. This brings us to an interesting and critical 
 point in the career of the new convert. It is a very- 
 serious matter, always, — the position that a man takes 
 when he first becomes a Christian. When we know 
 what Christianity means and represents to him during 
 the first weeks of his Christian experience, we know 
 probably what Christianity will represent to him, and 
 what sort of an expression of it he will make to others, 
 all his life long. We read it of some of the first disci- 
 ples of our Lord, that they "forsook all and followed 
 him." We have heard St. Paul inquiring, in the mo- 
 ment of his conversion, " Lord, what wilt thou have me 
 to do ? " And the Christianity of these, through life, 
 carried the stamp that was impressed upon it in the 
 earliest moments of their Christian history. 
 
 In a letter written by Mr. Wetmore occur these few 
 lines relative to just this critical juncture. He writes : 
 "In the revival of 183 1, I became a member of Dr. 
 Cox's church, in Laight street, and desiring to do 
 what I could for the cause of Him whom I professed 
 to love and serve, my attention was drawn to the City 
 Tract Society." "Desiring to do what I could for the 
 cause of Him whom I professed to love and serve." When 
 my eye fell upon those words from his own pen, it 
 
 seemed as though I was looking directly upon the key 
 
 61 
 
of the whole half-century of devout Christian philan- 
 thropy that ensued. It is interesting, as denoting the 
 particular line of service upon which he thus early 
 entered, and which for nearly fifty years he so un- 
 tiringly prosecuted. But it is far more interesting as 
 denoting that peculiar quality in his Christianity, and 
 that unreserved thoroughness of his conversion, that 
 with such promptness put him into Christian service, 
 and with such endurance and constancy held him there. 
 It is important as demonstrating that that fifty years, 
 with all of sweetness, discipline, and help, with which 
 the period was so richly fraught, is due to the power 
 exercised over his heart and life by his divine Master. 
 
 Now there are men bright and scholarly that are 
 perplexing themselves and blinding themselves by ver- 
 bal and doctrinal difficulties in our holy scriptures. 
 Here is a fact, my friend, deep as life, fifty years 
 broad, and fifty times fifty years in its secondary 
 scope, better worthy of your thought and acumen. Is 
 there room in your system of unfaith, and in your gos- 
 pel without a Christ, for Mr. Wetmore with his fifty 
 years of devout philanthropy ? 
 
 The tract movement with which he became thus 
 
 immediately identified was, three years later, developed 
 
 into the City Mission, of whose finance and agency 
 
 committee he was made chairman. He engaged the 
 
 62 
 
first city missionary. In the first year of the Mission's 
 existence, there were ten missionaries in its employ. 
 There are now forty. As a sample of the work done 
 by the City Mission during the half-century, we may 
 specify the distribution of ninety thousand bibles and 
 testaments, fifty-one million tracts, the gathering of 
 one hundred and fourteen thousand children into Sun- 
 day-schools, and the addition of thirteen thousand con- 
 verts to evangelical churches. And it will be in place 
 to add, in immediate connection with this summary of 
 results, a single sentence from the minute adopted by 
 the Mission and Tract Society on the day of Mr. Wet- 
 more's funeral, as follows : " From the time that the 
 City Tract Society took on its missionary form in 1832, 
 Mr. Wetmore has been the recognized leader and most 
 active promoter of the work." 
 
 The success enjoyed by the society in promoting the 
 spiritual interests of the poor led to the inquiry how 
 their physical condition could be similarly improved, and 
 resulted in the formation, in 1843, of the "Association 
 for Improving the Condition of the Poor ; " of which, 
 also, Mr. Wetmore became one of the founders and main 
 supporters. 
 
 To this last society there was made, in about the year 
 
 1850, a donation of $10,000. " It was thought best not to 
 
 expend this money in the usual way," Mr. Wetmore 
 
 63 
 
writes. The question arose what application could be 
 made of it that would be most effective and economical. 
 It was decided finally to employ it in the interests of va- 
 grant children ; and the outcome of this decision was the 
 establishment of the New York Juvenile Asylum, which, 
 since 1853, has brought under its healthful physical and 
 mental discipline and Christian nurture something more 
 than twenty-one thousand children. As indicating the 
 large share which Mr. Wetmore had in initiating and sus- 
 taining this enterprise, I quote briefly from the resolu- 
 tions adopted by the trustees of the Asylum on the occa- 
 sion of Mr. Wetmore's death : 
 
 " He was one of the original founders of the Asylum, 
 and had been its president for nearly thirty years. To 
 him pre-eminently this Asylum is indebted, for it was by 
 his personal efforts that the large amount of money neces- 
 sary for its establishment and support has been obtained." 
 
 Other institutions which, in greater or less degree, 
 owe their formation to him, are the Presbyterian Hospi- 
 tal, the Woman's Hospital, the Hospital for the Ruptured 
 and Crippled — in which, during the seventeen years of its 
 existence, above sixty-seven thousand patients have been 
 treated — and the Home for Fallen and Friendless Girls, to 
 which during the past six years he has daily given at 
 least one hour's personal attention. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore's devotion to these outside interests in 
 
 64 
 
no wise impaired his loyalty to his own church, nor 
 abridged his efforts for its prosperity. To him was due, 
 in a considerable measure, the securing of funds required 
 for the erection of this edifice. He was an efficient mem- 
 ber of the Board of Trustees from the organization of 
 the church, and for above twenty years its honored chair- 
 man. 
 
 This sketch, meagre and barren though it be, renders 
 quite unnecessary any detailed characterization of the 
 man. Mr. Wetmore had an unlimited capacity for sym- 
 pathy and for service. His affections were unhedged. 
 His sympathies never ran in grooves. In thought he was 
 a Presbyterian ; in heart he was nothing less than a mem- 
 ber of the Church of Christ. He was never engrossed. 
 There were always energies of thought and feeling in 
 reserve to respond to new demands made upon them. 
 His engagement in one sphere of activity operated in no 
 degree to weaken his interest in other spheres. He was 
 always busy, but always at leisure to the man that wanted 
 to see him ; nor did all his splendid philanthropy draw in 
 the least upon that fund of domestic affection needed to 
 make a fond husband and a sympathizing and tender 
 father. 
 
 He was himself a child to the last. The years mel- 
 lowed him without withering him. He dropped into easy 
 
 sympathy with all ages. He was always fresh. Neither 
 
 6s 
 
time nor public services tarnished the transparency, 
 marred the simplicity, nor dulled the quick sensitive- 
 ness of his heart. 
 
 He was loyal to his own purposes. His patience did 
 not become impatient, nor his perseverance grow tired. 
 His devotion took no vacations, and yet faith in his own 
 purposes and plans stopped just this side the point of ob- 
 stinacy. He had his own views but yielded them grace- 
 fully when overruled. He did not cling to an opinion 
 because it was his opinion ; and whatever measure it was 
 decided in committee to be proper to adopt, he would 
 labor as earnestly as any to see executed, however it 
 might conflict with his own judgment and taste. This is 
 an infrequent grace, and the outcome of rare nobility. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore believed in men, and gave them always 
 the largest credit possible. He surveyed people on their 
 best side. He wrapped them in the mantle of his own 
 charity. "You are too suspicious," "You must make 
 allowances," were among his frequent admonitions. 
 
 A distinguishing trait of Mr. Wetmore was his influ- 
 ence with men of ample means. People that were un- 
 approachable to others, to him were easily accessible. 
 This is explained by the confidence they had in his in- 
 tegrity and in his discretion. What they put in his hands 
 they expected would be used honestly and applied judi- 
 ciously. Added to this was the fact that he never took a 
 
 66 
 
rebuff. A refusal he did not interpret as an affront. On 
 one occasion, while soliciting from a prominent citizen a 
 subscription for some benevolent enterprise, he was met 
 with the brusque rejoinder, " I should think you would 
 find it disagreeable business to beg and be refused." " It 
 is my Master that is refused, not I," said Mr. Wetmore ; 
 "I am only his agent." The gentleman gave him his 
 check for the desired amount. 
 
 He believed in converting men by direct personal 
 individual effort. It was in that way that his Christian 
 activity began and continued. He believed in bringing 
 the church to the people when the people would v not 
 come to the church. At a time when there were only 
 between seventy and eighty Protestant churches in the 
 city it was objected to Mr. Wetmore that these accom- 
 modations were ample and adequate, and that if people 
 wanted to be saved they could come to the churches and 
 be saved. "Was this the language of Christ," he an- 
 swered, " when the subject of man's redemption was dis- 
 cussed in the councils of eternity ? Did he say to the 
 Father, ' They have the law, let them keep that if they 
 wish to be saved ? ' or did he condescend to come into 
 the world and go about doing good, carrying the gospel 
 to the door of those who stood in need of its proffer of 
 life and salvation ; and not only so, but urging it upon 
 
 their attention and acceptance ?" It was Mr. Wetmore's 
 
 67 
 
policy to shape the gospel into adaptedness to human 
 conditions. The abstract excellence of a measure did 
 not win his approval if it failed of concrete effects. His 
 heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel was that they 
 might be saved ; and church usages and traditional meth- 
 ods were nothing to him if they showed themselves un- 
 equal to this result. 
 
 With him it was a part of life to do good. He 
 always found time for it. As he viewed it there was no 
 incompatibility between business and beneficence, be- 
 tween trade and evangelization. His business prosperity 
 was unquestionably hindered by his large charitable 
 engagements. And so that other Samaritan, of whom 
 we read in Scripture, would certainly have come sooner 
 to his journey's end had he not spent a night at the inn 
 nursing the wounded Jew. It is enough for our purpose 
 that he has demonstrated by his example, that to him, 
 who has the heart for it, there is room inside the same 
 life for affectionate devotion to the family, devout loyalty 
 to God, and glorious contribution to the weal of sinning 
 and suffering men. 
 
 And this brings us to our last point, that the secret 
 of all this exceptional life and the enormous fruitfulness 
 of it lay in the one simple fact of consecration. Mr. 
 Wetmore's conversion was like St. Paul's conversion, 
 thorough and entire. Like the fishermen at the lake-side, 
 
 68 
 
he "forsook all and followed him." There was no com- 
 promise between convenience and duty. " I am only 
 my Master's agent." "What can I do for the cause of 
 Him whom I profess to love and serve?" That we have 
 seen to be his first question. It was also his last one. 
 The splendid results of his life are not referable to 
 genius. Mr. Wetmore was not a brilliant man. He 
 had health, heart, and sense, and these three he put 
 totally at his Lord's service, and the issue is what we 
 have seen. 
 
 And now, my friend, with health, heart, and sense ; es- 
 pecially, my young friend, with years of vast possibility 
 before you, take this life of Mr. Wetmore, in all its 
 splendid completeness and incalculable fruitfulness, and 
 let it preach to you. Who in this congregation is the 
 young Elisha that will take up the mantle fallen from 
 our departed Elijah ? 
 
 May this, and all the saintly lives whose ministry has 
 so recently closed among us, work upon us worthily and 
 constrainingly, by the grace of God, creating in us like 
 exalted purpose and saintly ambition, and lifting us also, 
 by and by, to that yonder firmament, where they that 
 turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for- 
 ever and ever. 
 
 69 
 
JM^morial JRpsoltifions. 
 
THE NEW YORK CITY MISSION AND TRACT SOCIETY. 
 
 In meeting of the New York City Mission and Tract 
 Society, held January 24, 1881, the following minute was 
 unanimously adopted : 
 
 In the death of Mr. A. R. Wetmore the New York City Mis- 
 sion and Tract Society has lost its honored and beloved presi- 
 dent, who, for fifty years, has been untiring in his disinterested 
 zeal and devotion to its best interests. 
 
 From the time that the City Tract Society took on its mission- 
 ary form in 1832, Mr. Wetmore has been the recognized leader 
 and the most active promoter of the work. 
 
 His thorough and unreserved consecration to Christian ser- 
 vice and his generous gifts of time and money have stimulated 
 and encouraged many. Intelligently attached to the church of 
 his choice, his warm Christian sympathies broadened out beyond 
 denominational lines to all, of every name, who held the common 
 faith of the gospel. 
 
 His affectionate and personal interest in the welfare of the 
 city missionaries under his direction endeared him as a father to 
 one and all. His active connection with this and with other re- 
 ligious and benevolent associations, and his conspicuous fidelity to 
 every trust, drew to him the respect and the confidence of the 
 community in an eminent degree. 
 
 It was permitted him, in large measure, to see the fruit of his 
 prayers and toils in the firm establishment and prosperous growth 
 of the institutions he originated and carried forward, and in the 
 hopeful salvation of multitudes of souls. Even when increasing 
 years might well have excused him from further active service, he 
 allowed no abatement of zeal, and continued to meet every ap- 
 
 73 
 
pointment with unvarying punctuality to the last, ceasing at once 
 to labor and to live. 
 
 His extraordinary devotion to the cause of city missions is 
 an illustrious example to all ; and his revered memory will long 
 be gratefully cherished by his associates. 
 
 (A true extract from the records.) 
 
 L. E. Jackson, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 MISSIONARIES' MEETING. 
 
 At a regular meeting of the Missionaries of the New 
 York City Mission and Tract Society, held in their room 
 on Saturday, January 22, 1881, having heard of the death 
 of the beloved and venerable head of the society, the 
 following minute was adopted and ordered to be placed 
 on their records, and that a copy be sent to the bereaved 
 family. 
 
 "The cedar is fallen ! " The City Mission mourns to-day the 
 loss of its head ; the chair, so long occupied by him, he has va- 
 cated forever. 
 
 Apollos Russell Wetmore is no more. He was born in Hunt- 
 ington, L. I., on November 11, 1796, became one of the directors 
 and superintendents of the City Tract Society in 1833 ; in 1837 he 
 became corresponding secretary, which office he filled until 1864. 
 The society then became incorporated as the New York City Mis- 
 sion and Tract Society. As vice-president of the new organiza- 
 tion he attended all its meetings and took an active part in all its 
 affairs. On the death of Rev. Dr. DeWitt, in 1874, he was elected 
 president, and continued in that office until the day of his death, 
 January 21, 1881. 
 
 74 
 
To the missionaries his memory will always be very precious 
 for the numberless acts of kindness they have received at his 
 hands, for his tender sympathy in all their trials, for the Christian 
 spirit he ever exhibited toward them and in which all the affairs of 
 the society were conducted by him. To those who have known him 
 longest, it is the loss of a father. From them the head of the 
 family has been removed to his eternal rest, and they look long- 
 ingly forward to the day when they will meet him among the hosts 
 of the redeemed. 
 
 They remember him as the friend of the widow and orphan, 
 the poor, the ignorant, the wayward. The youth from the asy- 
 lums will bring their tributes of gratitude, the sick from the hos- 
 pitals, the sinful from the reformatories, the aged from the homes, 
 with multitudes of others to whom he has been a benefactor. As 
 was said of one of the early Christians, "he was to those in afflic- 
 " tion a consoler, to age its staff, to youth its guardian, to 
 "poverty its provider, and to abundance its dispenser." 
 
 His name is written on the tablets of many an institution ; it is 
 engraved on the hearts of the missionaries, and shines with the 
 brightness of the sun on the imperishable records of heaven. 
 
 The sympathy of the missionaries is extended to the bereaved 
 family. The hour has arrived for which they have been looking. 
 Earth is poorer to them to day, but heaven is richer. They have 
 glorious memories of the past to cheer them and the assurance of 
 the everlasting happiness of the departed. The Lord will give 
 them many consolations in this bereavement. 
 
 John Ruston, 
 
 Secretary of Missionary Meeting. 
 
 75 
 
THE NEW YORK JUVENILE ASYLUM. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Directors of the New 
 York Juvenile Asylum, held on Saturday afternoon, Jan- 
 uary 22, 1881, to take suitable action with reference to 
 the death of our late president, Apollos R. Wetmore, 
 Hon. Peter Cooper, vice-president, in the chair, the fol- 
 lowing minute was adopted : 
 
 The Directors of the New York Juvenile Asylum have heard 
 with profound emotion and regret of the sudden death of their 
 venerable and beloved president, Mr. A. R. Wetmore. 
 
 He was one of the original founders of this asylum, and had 
 been its president for nearly thirty years. To him, pre-eminently, 
 this asylum is indebted, for it was mainly by his personal efforts 
 that the large amount of money necessary for its establishment 
 and support has been obtained. Also, it was by his own wise and 
 able supervision, as president, that the institution has attained to 
 the noble proportions that it now exhibits. It is difficult for us to 
 find words adequate to express our sense of his great services to 
 this asylum, which remains a perpetual monument in honor of 
 his memory. 
 
 It was the earnest desire of his heart that this asylum should 
 succeed in attaining the end for which it was established — that of 
 lifting up the downcast and erring children of this city, of placing 
 them in an asylum where they could be carefully trained and in- 
 structed, and then be started upon a course of life that would 
 enable them to become good and useful citizens of our common 
 country. To promote these noble ends, Christian and patriotic, 
 
 he devoted all his energies, and he gave gratuitously not only his 
 
 76 
 
time and money but his heartfelt wishes and prayers. All this, 
 as well as his ever genial and kindly manner to his colleagues, 
 commanded our highest admiration and affection. 
 
 We cannot but rejoice that kind Providence prolonged his 
 days to such a good old age, preserved his health, happiness, and 
 usefulness literally to the last day of his life, and then, when his 
 long warfare had been accomplished and his mission ended, 
 caused him to pass away from this life in a gentle sleep, to awake, 
 as we firmly trust, in another and a better world. 
 
 Peter Cooper, 
 
 Vice-President. 
 
 Peter Carter, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Memorial services were held in the chapel of the 
 asylum on January 28, 1881. 
 
 THE NEW YORK ASSOCIATION FOR IMPROVING THE 
 CONDITION OF THE POOR. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Managers of the New 
 York Association for Improving the Condition of the 
 Poor, held February 14, 1881, at No. 79 Fourth avenue, 
 a full attendance being present, the President, Howard 
 Potter, announced that, since the last meeting of the 
 board, an old and greatly esteemed fellow-citizen, Mr. 
 Apollos R. Wetmore, for many years actively connected 
 with this association, had gone to his rest. 
 
 77 
 
Mr. Wetmore died on the 21st of January last, at his home in 
 this city, in the eighty-fifth year of his life. He was one of the 
 founders of the association, and his name appears among the list 
 of its visitors in the first published report of the association in 
 1845. In 1851 he became one of the vice-presidents of the asso- 
 ciation, succeeding J. Smyth Rogers, M.D., who died early in the 
 spring of the same year, and continued to hold this office till the 
 year 1871, a period of twenty years. During this long connection 
 Mr. Wetmore was one of its most assiduous and devoted friends. 
 He was widely known from his connection with very many of our 
 benevolent organizations, and was conspicuous among his co- 
 workers as one never weary in well-doing. 
 
 Whereupon it was unanimously 
 
 Resolved, That this board, with a grateful remembrance of the 
 many and great benefits conferred upon this community by the 
 deceased in the course of his long, honorable, and most useful 
 life, and especially remembering his services in the organization 
 of this association and in connection with its work for so many 
 years, makes this minute of its sense of the loss which, by the 
 death of Apollos R. Wetmore, has befallen the City of New York, 
 and his family and friends, and expresses its sincere sympathy 
 with the latter in their bereavement. 
 
 Resolved, That the secretary be directed to send an extract 
 from the minutes of these proceedings to Mr. Wetmore's family. 
 
 (A true copy.) John Bowne, 
 
 Secretary. 
 78 
 
TRUSTEES OF MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN 
 CHURCH. 
 
 Board of Trustees of the Madison Square Presbyterian 
 Church, January 24, 1881. 
 
 Since the last meeting of the board they have lost their hon- 
 ored and venerable chairman. 
 
 The long and useful life of Apollos R. Wetmore, with all its 
 unwearied activity, has ended in a peaceful death. He rests 
 from his labors, and his works do follow him. 
 
 One whose highest happiness it ever was to help, guide, and 
 befriend the poor, the erring, and the friendless ; unmindful 
 alike of the cold of winter and the heat of summer, forgetful 
 only of himself, in spite of advanced years and obstructions, 
 which he might easily have accepted as a dispensation from 
 active service, he went on to the end, with courage, faith, and 
 hope, and so terminated a career full of years and honor. 
 
 No doubt he has already heard in the City of God the wel- 
 come " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
 
 " prepared for you from the foundation of the world 
 
 " Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these, my 
 " brethren, ye have done it unto me. " 
 
 Although we shall no more behold the face of our beloved 
 friend, nor witness his zeal, attention, and fidelity at our meetings, 
 it will be a pleasure to recall, with fond and affectionate remem- 
 brance, his commanding presence, his sweet disposition, and his 
 judicious assistance in the administration of the temporal affairs 
 of the church. 
 
 Nor will we forget what an important part he took in its build- 
 ing and establishment, being always ready with his means, his 
 
 79 
 
credit, and excellent judgment to assist the building committee 
 upon whom the great labor and official responsibility rested. 
 
 His surviving associates in the board of trustees desire to bear 
 their testimony of respect for the memory of Mr. Wetmore, who 
 has passed through such an extended and busy life without stain 
 or reproach. 
 
 (Copy from the minutes.) 
 
 F. F. Marbury, 
 
 Clerk of the Board of Trustees. 
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL. 
 
 Another co-laborer has fallen by our side, another co-worker 
 has gone from his work to his reward. 
 
 At the advanced age of eighty-five years, Apollos R. Wetmore 
 has been called to his rest. 
 
 His life has been one of ceaseless activity in his Master's work. 
 From the moment he gave his heart to Christ, he dedicated his 
 life to His service, and the controlling aim of his subsequent years 
 seems to have been how most earnestly to respond to the heavenly 
 injunction " Go work in my vineyard." 
 
 No individual in our community has had so large a share in 
 organizing the many philanthropic enterprises in our midst, all 
 designed and successfully working for the benefit of the various 
 classes of our community, " relieving the poor and the suffering ," 
 " protecting the weak," " raising the fallen," and extending the 
 Master's Kingdom. 
 
 One element contributing perhaps to his long life and general 
 health may be found in the constant activity which his continued 
 interest in these various objects induced, and which were to his 
 
 closing hours subjects of his constant care and solicitude. 
 
 80 
 
But this noble life has closed. As might have been expected, 
 his end was peace. Having retired in his usual health and cheer- 
 fulness on the evening of January 20th, he passed during the 
 night, apparently, without a pain or a struggle into the "joy of 
 his Lord." 
 
 " Having served his generation by the will of God, he fell on 
 sleep." He walked with God and was not, for God took him. 
 
 Few men have been endowed with the large-hearted Christian 
 philanthropy of Russell Wetmore, and to few have been ac- 
 corded Grace to follow, through so long a life, so closely in the 
 footsteps of the Divine Master. 
 
 Let us follow him as he followed Christ ; may we " die the 
 death of the righteous, and may our last end be like his." 
 
 Henry M. Taber, 
 
 Recording Secretary. 
 
 THE WOMAN'S HOSPITAL IN THE STATE OF NEW 
 
 YORK. 
 
 At the monthly meeting of the board of governors 
 of the "Woman's Hospital in the State of New York" 
 the following minute was adopted, and the secretary was 
 directed to enter the same as part of the proceedings of 
 the meeting, and to forward a copy to the family of the 
 deceased : 
 
 Mr. A. R. Wetmore was one of the incorporators of the 
 Woman's Hospital in the State of New York, and from its incor- 
 poration, in 1857, until the day of his death, he was a member of 
 its board of governors. In 1864 he was elected to the position 
 
 81 
 
of vice-president of the board, an office which he held until the 
 time of his decease. 
 
 Seldom absent from the meetings of the board, always inter- 
 ested in the prosperity of the hospital, he has for nearly a quarter 
 of a century faithfully and intelligently served this institution, 
 giving warm sympathy and practical co-operation. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore was especially devoted to the raising of money 
 for the completion and maintenance of this hospital, and, as has 
 been said, probably no man ever lived in this city, and we may 
 say in this country, who has been so successful in obtaining large 
 sums for the various objects of Christian philanthropy, and no 
 man ever excited less prejudice in asking. Warm in his feelings, 
 courteous and persuasive in his manners, always advocating a 
 worthy benefaction, he would obtain subscriptions from those 
 whom most men hesitated to approach. 
 
 This institution, feeling how deep a debt of gratitude they owed 
 to their associate who had been the means of bringing such gen- 
 erous material aid to the work, unanimously, by authority of this 
 board, named the first pavilion erected "The Wetmore Pavil- 
 ion ; " and though far removed from any selfish desire that his 
 services should be appreciated, yet it was a joy to him that his 
 name was thus to be closely associated with efforts for the relief 
 of human suffering. 
 
 The source of all Mr. Wetmore's deeds came from a deep, 
 though childlike, belief in the truths of the Christian religion, in 
 the light of which he walked, and in the strength of which he died. 
 
 Charles N. Talbot, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 82 
 
LADY SUPERVISORS OF THE WOMAN'S HOSPITAL. 
 
 Whereas it has pleased Almighty God, by His mysterious but 
 all-wise providence, to call hence from this life, to the life beyond, 
 the late and honored vice-president of the board of governors of 
 the Woman's Hospital, we, therefore, the lady supervisors, offer 
 our most sincere sympathy to the members of his family for the 
 loss of one who, during his long life, has been always going about 
 to do good. 
 
 It was a fitting close to such a life of devotion to the Master, 
 that he should quietly fall asleep in his own home, to waken in 
 that Happy Home where no sorrow shall appal him, and there are 
 no more tears for him to dry, and where he will " see the King 
 in His beauty and the land that is very far off." 
 
 M. Read, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 SOCIETY FOR THE RELIEF OF THE RUPTURED AND 
 CRIPPLED. 
 
 In recording upon their minutes the death of their associate 
 and vice-president, Apollos R. Wetmore, who died January 21, 
 1 88 1, the managers of the Society for the Relief of the Ruptured 
 and Crippled wish to express their high appreciation of his benev- 
 olent labors and great usefulness in perfecting its organization and 
 extending its great work of charity among the suffering and help- 
 less. 
 
 He was one of the incorporators in founding this great charity, 
 
 and has always been one of its most devoted members. 
 
 83 
 
His inflexible principles in administering its affairs, his benev- 
 olent and Christian impulses and unwearied voluntary labors for 
 the benefit of his fellow-men in this and other institutions, entitle 
 him to the distinction he attained of a true philanthropist. The 
 memory of his good deeds will long remain and be an incentive to 
 younger men to imitate his good example. 
 
 It is ordered that this brief tribute of honor and respect for 
 the memory of our late associate be entered in full on the records 
 of the society, and that a copy be sent to his bereaved family, 
 signed by the president and corresponding secretary. 
 
 Samuel Willets, 
 
 President. 
 William A. W. Stewart, 
 
 Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 SOCIETY OF THE LYING-IN HOSPITAL OF THE CITY 
 OF NEW YORK. 
 
 New York, April 13, 1881. 
 At a quarterly meeting of the board of governors, 
 
 held this day, the following notice of the death of the 
 
 late president of this society was ordered to be entered 
 
 on the minutes : 
 
 On January 21, 1881, the venerable president of this board, 
 Apollos R. Wetmore, died at the age of eighty-five years. He 
 became governor of the society in 1854, its vice-president in 1879, 
 and its president in 1880. He was one of its wisest, most capa- 
 ble and faithful counsellors and officers, attending with diligence 
 and efficiency to its duties and to the promotion of its humane 
 
 purposes. 
 
 84 
 
No name has been more closely identified than his with the 
 charitable and benevolent institutions of this city. He gave to 
 them his heart, his time, and his means. To benefit his fellow- 
 men was the well-performed mission of his life. His career has 
 been one of eminent usefulness and goodness. 
 
 His death is deplored by the community as that of one of its 
 most excellent and honored members. 
 
 This board, regarding with deep sensibility his removal from 
 their midst, direct this note to be entered on their minutes. 
 
 (Extract from the minutes.) 
 
 Andrew Warner, 
 
 Secretary, 
 85 
 
^riftufps, pfr. 
 
The New York Observer, February 10, 1881. 
 
 It was a bitter cold day, when a party of friends went 
 up to the Juvenile Asylum to hold a memorial service 
 with the children in honor of the late president of that 
 great institution. It was one of the coldest days of the 
 severest winter in the city in the memory of the most 
 of us. By the elevated railroad we went to Washington 
 Heights, and thence, over the ice and snow, to the asy- 
 lum, which is a mile or more farther on. The cold wind 
 pierced to the bones. 
 
 When I came to this city, forty years ago, Mr. A. R. 
 Wetmore very soon appeared with some one of his many 
 useful, practical, and sensible schemes for the benefit of 
 his fellow-men. During all the intervening years I have 
 felt safe in commending and supporting every benevolent 
 enterprise to which he put his hand, and everything that 
 he undertook was prosperous. He had no hobby. He 
 was a philanthropist in the broadest and best sense of that 
 much misused word. The old, the young, women and 
 men, the sick and wounded — all were objects of his care. 
 It was enough for him that suffering could be prevented 
 or relieved, and then his good sense was employed to 
 
 devise the ways and means. He kept a book for each 
 
 89 
 
one of his many objects — a subscription book — and this 
 he would send around to those who were able and willing 
 to do good with their money ; the giver signed his name 
 and the amount, and returned the book with a check for 
 the money. If there was special need for extra aid, Mr. 
 Wetmore would call and state the case. But as a general 
 thing, it was only necessary for him to send the silent book, 
 which told its own story. The check that came back was 
 no check, but a great stimulant to the cause. 
 
 He was the father of this juvenile asylum. Down in 
 the city a house of reception was opened for the waifs, the 
 destitute, deserted, or vicious children, with no friends to 
 care for them ; in this house they are detained for a time, 
 washed, clothed, fed, cured if diseased ; taught the fear 
 of God ; and then sent up to this asylum to be trained for 
 usefulness. Homes are provided for them in the country. 
 He was as a father to these children. This was his great 
 family. Like as a father pitieth his children, so did Mr. 
 Wetmore, in the spirit of his Father in heaven, have com- 
 passion on those who were lost in the wilderness of this 
 city. It was therefore very becoming when Mr. Wetmore 
 died, and his virtues had been celebrated in the Madison 
 Square Church, in the midst of his friends and fellow-citi- 
 zens, that these children of his care should have a memo- 
 rial service in the house of many mansions that he had 
 
 provided for them. 
 
 90 
 
This was the cause of our journey to the asylum on 
 this bitter, biting-cold day. 
 
 Peter Cooper, the venerable Peter Cooper, New York's 
 first citizen now, was one of the party. A wonderful man 
 he is. When you are reading this letter (February 12, 
 1 881), he will be celebrating his arrival at the age of 
 ninety ! Yet he is just as actively employed in works of 
 usefulness as he ever was, and his life has been full of 
 them. He is vice-president of the asylum, and Mr. Wet- 
 more, its president, lived to be eighty-five. Wonderful 
 old men both of them. They were good boys ; honored 
 their father and mother, and their days have been long 
 in the land. Mr. Cooper was of age, in active business, 
 " ever so long " before I was born. And here he is to-day 
 riding out eight miles from home, on this dreadfully cold 
 day, to assist in a service of respect to the memory of his 
 friend. The names of the other partakers in the cere- 
 mony are familiar to the city and country : Kingsley, 
 Stoddard, Quincy, Trow, Dana, Reed, Dwight, Peck, 
 and the Carters, brothers, publishers whose works praise 
 them. 
 
 And what a sight was before us as we entered the 
 chapel ! Six hundred and fifty boys and girls, in one 
 solid assembly ! The indefatigable superintendent, Mr. 
 E. M. Carpenter, with assistants and teachers and visi- 
 tors, made an audience of seven hundred. Neatness, 
 
 91 
 
order, profound attention, and solemnity marked the oc- 
 casion. With tenderness and unconcealed emotion they 
 sang words of resignation; when Dr. Stoddard led them 
 in prayer they prayed, and followed with "Our Father," 
 which they rendered with soothing effect — for they were 
 in one sense all orphans, now again bereaved, and they 
 were well taught to look to Him who is in heaven. 
 
 It was a strange and very impressive sight when Mr. 
 Cooper stood up and addressed these poor children. His 
 long gray locks hanging to his neck, his form trembling 
 with the weight of years, his good name linked with great 
 charities, and blest by thousands who are now in posts of 
 honorable usefulness through his wise munificence ; and 
 the certainty that he cannot long survive to make public 
 addresses, these facts gave zest to his discourse, as he 
 leaned with one hand against a pillar and talked to the 
 children of his own early life ; how his parents taught 
 him never to do a wrong thing, always to do the right, 
 to study the Bible, and follow the perfect example and 
 obey the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was good 
 to hear a man who has amassed great wealth by honest 
 industry, and has used itwisely and well for others, now 
 in his old age inculcating his principles upon the young. 
 And his heart was so full, that when Mr. Robert Carter 
 had spoken to the children with tenderness and effect, 
 
 Mr. Cooper again arose and repeated a poem full of good 
 
 92 
 
advice; and when the next speaker sat down, Mr. Cooper 
 came forward for the third time and related some striking 
 facts to enforce the virtues that had been commended. 
 All the addresses were in testimony of the loving kind- 
 ness of Mr. Wetmore's heart, his fidelity and industry, 
 and of the gratitude due to his honored memory. 
 
 In reply to my inquiry of Mr. Cooper, as to the means 
 of preserving health at his time of life, and whether he 
 found the stimulus of alcohol necessary, he said no, that 
 he was strictly temperate, and always had been ; that he 
 was regular in his habits, but used no particular means 
 for preserving health. 
 
 I took a stroll through some of the rooms of the great 
 building. One hundred cots in each of seven dormitories 
 was something to see, each with a snow-white coverlet 
 upon it. I turned up the bedclothes to see if there were 
 enough to keep them warm ; having counted five blankets 
 on each bed, I said : " That's more than I have, I think it 
 will answer." 
 
 And then we returned to our homes down-town, hav- 
 ing spent six hours on this mission of respect to our de- 
 parted fellow-worker and friend. We felt it a tribute 
 justly due to him, and not unlikely to have a wholesome 
 influence on the six hundred and fifty orphans who might 
 well call Mr. Wetmore father. 
 
 Yet this was only one of the many ministries of mercy 
 
 93 
 
of which his life was full. He was not a public speaker. 
 Diffident to a fault, he said little, but always abounded in 
 work ; endearing himself to the poor, so that in the midst 
 of a great city riot, when stores were plundered by a mob, 
 the poor formed a guard around his and protected it from 
 violence ; having the confidence of the rich, so that they 
 would lend him money without security, and give him what 
 he asked for his works of charity. 
 
 Neither granite nor marble, carved into whatever 
 forms of strength and beauty, is a fit symbol of the 
 character of such a citizen. Warmth, tenderness, benefi- 
 cence, wisdom, patience, perseverance, faith, hope, and, 
 above all things, charity — these and other graces must 
 blend in the living man, not a cold statue of Parian mar- 
 ble nor a gigantic obelisk of granite, but a living, loving 
 man, carving out of his life a character that will shine 
 with the brightness of the firmament, when statues and 
 obelisks, pyramids and pillars, have crumbled into dust. 
 
 IrENjEUS. 
 
 The New York Evangelist, February 10, 1881. 
 
 The memory of this venerable philanthropist will be 
 long and pleasantly fragrant with its many Christian 
 odors, perfuming our Christian charities and benevo- 
 lences with its rare and rich qualities for years to come. 
 
 94 
 
God gave him many exceptional advantages for His gra- 
 cious work, and for its most acceptable accomplishment ; 
 a handsome, manly face and figure, full of winsome and 
 attractive expression ; a voice of sweet, melodious tone, 
 informed by ever-active Christian emotions ; and a man- 
 ner at once commanding and dignified, courteously sweet, 
 and inviting the confidence and trust it justified. And 
 these external signs were true manifestations of the in- 
 ward graces and fruits of the spirit always abiding in him. 
 More than any man whom I ever knew, he was always a 
 Christian in great things and small, on Sunday and week- 
 day, in business and recreation. But it was in his home, 
 surrounded by his saintly wife and by his loving children, 
 that his reigning purity of heart and mind, his habitual 
 charity that "thinketh no evil," and his kindly nature, so 
 interfused with the best emotions, shone most beautifully 
 and attractively. It was such a home as we fancy that at 
 Bethany to have been, where the Master loved to go and 
 rest amid His blessed work of doing good. 
 
 What " a feast of good things " was such a life ! A feast 
 to which were bidden and were welcome not only the hon- 
 orable, the rich, the noble, and the great, but those from 
 the highways and hedges, the poor, the fatherless, and the 
 unfriended. As the farmer at Marshfield murmured as 
 he looked for the last time at the silent, majestic face of 
 
 Daniel Webster, " Marshfield will be lonesome without 
 
 95 
 
you, Mr. Webster," so these poor orphans and friendless 
 ones looking tearfully at the grand head of Mr. Wetmore 
 as it lay in its noble repose might even more truthfully 
 and touchingly have sighed "We shall all be lonesome 
 without you, Mr. Wetmore ! '' 
 
 Surely such a life cannot have been lived in vain. 
 Surely such a living and bountiful epistle, at once gos- 
 pel and epistle, example and precept, will so strengthen, 
 teach, and equip others in smaller spheres, although it 
 may be, and with lesser esteemed and internal graces and 
 powers, that they will rise up and make the world less 
 lonesome for the orphan, the friendless, the wandering, 
 and the sinful. J. D. S. 
 
 Englewood, N. J., February 3, 1881. 
 
 The Illustrated Christian Weekly, March 5, 1881. 
 
 A biographical sketch of this eminent Christian phi- 
 lanthropist may well be prefaced by a glance, though it 
 be but cursory, at his ancestry. On referring to the gen- 
 ealogical annals, it appears that the Wetmore family in 
 America is descended from Thomas Whitmore, who came 
 from the west of England to Boston in 1635, an ^ was 
 among the early settlers in the Connecticut colony. In 
 the fourth generation from this ancestor is found the 
 
 name of the Rev. Noah Wetmore, who was educated at 
 
 96 
 
Yale College, and ordained to the gospel ministry in 1760, 
 and was settled at Brook Haven, L. I., where he died in 
 1796. 
 
 It was said of him that as a preacher of the gospel his 
 sermons were well composed, and animated with a sacred 
 regard to the honor of religion, and the salvation of im- 
 mortal souls. He was an example to believers in word, 
 in charity, in conversation, in faith, in purity. 
 
 Noah, a son of the preceding, born in 1767, came with 
 his family to this city in 1808, to take the superintendence 
 of the New York Hospital, in which charge he remained 
 thirty years or more. On removing to New York, Mr. 
 Wetmore united with the Presbyterian church in Cedar 
 street, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Romeyn. 
 
 Apollos Russell, the son of the above, and the subject 
 of this sketch, was born November 11, 1796, and came 
 with his father to this city in 1808. 
 
 He entered Columbia College with the intention of 
 fitting himself for the medical profession, but his health 
 becoming impaired, he entered into active business, in 
 which he continued through the remainder of his life. 
 Mr. Wetmore, in speaking of his early days in New York, 
 would often refer to the associations of the Cedar street 
 church, and it is very likely that his Christian training 
 developed a strong religious bias, though he made no 
 open confession of faith. 
 
 97 
 
Among the influences for good in his early surround- 
 ings, he not infrequently spoke of the impression made 
 on his youthful mind by that benevolent man, Rev. John 
 Stanford, D.D., a Baptist clergyman, who visited the hos- 
 pital as chaplain, and for whom he would hold the light, 
 as he conducted evening service. 
 
 Not to dwell longer upon this part of his life, we come 
 to that important period, when in the full flush of man- 
 hood, a decided stand was to be taken. It was in the 
 Laight Street Presbyterian Church, under the care of the 
 Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox, that Mr. Wetmore publicly con- 
 fessed Christ, in May, 1831. Mr. Wetmore was at this 
 time thirty-five years of age, with a family of five young 
 children demanding his care, and a growing business re- 
 quiring all his attention. A glance at the religious condi- 
 tion of the city at this time will be interesting as showing 
 the influences which shaped and determined the line of his 
 Christian activities. 
 
 The City Tract Society, which the Rev. Dr. W. A. Hal- 
 lock and others had organized in 1827, was enlisting more 
 and more the active co-operation of evangelical Christians, 
 and Harlan Page was working up the idea of personal 
 effort for individual souls. In the Presbyterian Church, 
 the third Presbytery was organized, January, 183 1, and at 
 once measures were taken for the revival of religion in 
 the churches. The pastors and elders visited the churches 
 
in rotation, with such good results that a " four-days' meet- 
 ing " was appointed in the Central Church. This marked 
 the beginning of a deep religious movement, which ex- 
 tended to all the churches of all denominations, and 
 brought in an aggregate of two thousand souls from the 
 world. 
 
 It was in the midst of this great spiritual awakening, 
 when religious interest was intense and Christians were 
 aroused to aggressive effort, that Mr. Wetmore took his 
 stand for Christ. It would seem that his thoughtful at- 
 tention was very soon arrested by the evident usefulness 
 of the "Tract Effort," as it was generally called. Many 
 of his neighbors and friends were personally engaged in 
 carrying it forward, among whom may be named Lewis 
 Tappan, Arthur Tappan, Moses Allen, W. W. Chester, W. 
 E. Dodge, Leonard Corning, Dr. Lewis Hallock, David 
 Hoadley, and Cornelius Baker. Mr. Wetmore took a 
 tract district in the Fifth Ward, organized a neighborhood 
 prayer-meeting, and every week visited the families of his 
 charge, and was permitted to see most encouraging results. 
 He was very soon brought into the board of managers of 
 the City Tract Society, and made superintendent of the 
 Tract Effort in the Fifth Ward. The divine blessing so 
 evidently resting upon these labors, it was thought best 
 that men should be employed to devote their whole time to 
 the prosecution of the work, and accordingly Moses Allen 
 
 99 
 
engaged a man for the Eighth Ward and Mr. Wetmore 
 for the Fifth Ward, and so commenced the tract mission- 
 ary movement. 
 
 At this time Mr. Wetmore wrote frequently for the 
 religious newspapers, giving accounts of the operations 
 of the tract visitors, and showing the value of this Chris- 
 tian agency for the salvation of souls. From one of these 
 articles the following extracts are given : 
 
 "The reports of the tract visitors received this month 
 are of an animating character, as they contain many facts 
 of a deep and thrilling interest, calculated, in an eminent 
 degree, to show the value and importance of this institu- 
 tion." 
 
 Mr. Wetmore then proceeds to show in several particu- 
 lars, the adaptation of this effort to the condition of the 
 people, and meets an objector who says: "We have now 
 between seventy and eighty Evangelical churches in this 
 city, and many other means of grace ; let the destitute 
 come and avail themselves of these if they wish to be 
 saved." 
 
 To this Mr. Wetmore says : " I would answer this ob- 
 jection by asking two questions, and, first, Was this the 
 language of Christ when the subject of man's redemption 
 was discussed in the councils of eternity ? Did he say to 
 his Father, ' They have the law, let them keep that if they 
 wish to be saved ? ' or did he condescend to come into the 
 
world and go about doing good, carrying the gospel to 
 the door of those who stood in need of its proffer of life 
 and salvation ; and not only so, but urging it upon their 
 attention and acceptance ? And second, Will the objector 
 give up his pew for the purpose of seating the poor who 
 do not attend any church, and who can be brought in ? 
 These questions are simple, and can be answered and ap- 
 plied to this subject with perfect ease. The fact is, the 
 time must come when every block in this city must be 
 supplied with this or some other means equally or more 
 efficient, or this city cannot, as we now view the subject, 
 be brought to Christ." 
 
 With such views of the spiritual destitution of the city 
 and the need of earnest Christian effort to bring the gos- 
 pel to bear upon the hearts and homes of the people, it is 
 no wonder that Mr. Wetmore's ardent spirit glowed and 
 burned with intense solicitude that Christians should be 
 kept to their duty to bear the word of life to the needy, 
 and that souls should be saved. 
 
 With his tender compassion for the sinning and the 
 sorrowing, and his intimate acquaintance with the suffer- 
 ing, it was but natural for him to put his hand to any and 
 every scheme, projected for the relief of those who were 
 in trouble. So he was one of the founders of the Associa- 
 tion for Improving the Condition of the Poor, the Juven- 
 ile Asylum, the Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled, 
 
the Woman's Hospital, the Presbyterian Hospital, and the 
 Home for Fallen and Friendless Girls. 
 
 Large sums of money were raised, chiefly through his 
 personal efforts, for the establishment and maintenance 
 of these institutions, so that in the aggregate many mil- 
 lions of dollars must have passed through his hands. In 
 addition to the work for the societies with which he was 
 directly connected, there were other calls upon his time 
 and attention, to which he was always ready to respond. 
 Feeble churches in the city, missionary fields in the far 
 West, needy ministers, and friendless men and women, 
 were constantly appealing for counsel, sympathy, and 
 aid. Many special subscriptions were set on foot and 
 successfully completed through his personal effort. In 
 the lists of collections he made, which he carefully pre- 
 served, these names, as subscribers, most frequently ap- 
 pear : W. B. Crosby, Isaac Bronson, Arthur Bronson, An- 
 son G. Phelps, James Brown, Geo. Griswold, Pelatiah 
 Perit, Robert L. Stuart, Alex. Stuart, W. M. Halsted, R. T. 
 Haines, C. O. Halsted, W. L. King, James Suydam, A. M. 
 Bruen, John C. Green, J. C. Baldwin, Robert B. Minturn, 
 Jona. Sturges, J. F. Sheafe, W. H. Aspinwall, James Boor- 
 man, John Johnston, James Lenox, Thomas C. Doremus, 
 and others. 
 
 Such was his conspicuous fidelity to every trust, that 
 he won the confidence and respect of the community in 
 
an eminent degree, and men would give to him when they 
 would to no one else. In times of business panic, when 
 banks had shut down, and confidence had fallen, and 
 credit was gone, there were capitalists, who voluntarily 
 came forward, and offered to Mr. Wetmore any amount 
 of money he might need. 
 
 How the view of Mr. Wetmore, at the head of a large 
 business establishment, and actively engaged in all the 
 philanthropic movements of the day, impressed the be- 
 holder, let another say. When Rev. Dr. J. W. Alexander 
 came to this city thirty years ago, he very soon found Mr. 
 Wetmore — as did every pastor sooner or later — and in one 
 of his familiar letters to his friend, Rev. Dr. Hall, of Tren- 
 ton, he says : " Mr. Wetmore, who conducts the City Mis- 
 sion, is an extraordinary man. He is ten hours every day 
 at his business, yet labors beyond everybody else in reli- 
 gious matters, and is withal as gentleman-like a man as 
 you will find in a summer's day." 
 
 To the city missionaries under his direction, he was as 
 a father, always ready to advise and assist in every emer- 
 gency ; and his revered memory will long be gratefully 
 cherished. There are thousands of happy homes all over 
 the land that have been made bright and good through 
 influences that were set in operation by Mr. Wetmore, in 
 the Juvenile Asylum and the City Mission. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore was social in his disposition, of cheerful, 
 103 
 
buoyant temperament, most delightful in the home circle, 
 and happy and inspiring in his associations with his fel- 
 low-man. He was quick to discern character, calm and 
 clear in his judgment, and decided and prompt in action, 
 and, intelligently attached to the church of his choice, his 
 warm Christian sympathies flowed out over all denomina- 
 tional lines, to all of every name, who held the common 
 faith of the gospel. "When the Rev. Dr. Edward N. Kirk 
 and others, engaged in evangelistic movements, visited 
 the city, they always found their way to 81 Vesey street, 
 which was reckoned as the headquarters of all the reli- 
 gious and benevolent operations of the city. And Mr. 
 Wetmore carried on an extended correspondence with 
 ministers in and out of the city, who were interested to 
 learn of Christian work in New York. 
 
 The secret of the usefulness we have been portraying 
 lay in one word, consecration. It is evident that Mr. Wet- 
 more, when he gave himself to Christ, made no reserve. 
 Time, talents, means, influence, all that he possessed, were 
 given unstintedly to Christian service. It were well if the 
 forcible appeal made by the Rev. Dr. W. M. Taylor, at the 
 funeral service in the Madison Square Church, for the 
 younger men to come forward, and emulate this illustri- 
 ous example of Christian fidelity, would be heeded. What 
 an irresistible power for good is one consecrated man, and 
 
 if a number of young men should thus devote them- 
 
 104 
 
selves to the cause of Christ, who could calculate the 
 result ? 
 
 The last day of his life, in a few words addressed to 
 the boys and girls in the Juvenile Asylum, Mr. Wetmore, 
 spoke impressively of his own Christian hope of heaven, 
 and his earnest desire that his young hearers should all 
 meet him there. 
 
 The useful life thus briefly sketched well illustrates 
 such a scriptural portraiture as is set forth in these pas- 
 sages of the Word of God : 
 
 " Not slothful in business ; fervent in spirit ; serving 
 the Lord. When the ear heard me, then it blessed me, 
 and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me ; because 
 I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and 
 him that had none to help him. The blessing of him 
 that was ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the 
 widow's heart to sing for joy." 
 
 " For David, after he had served his own generation, by 
 the will of God, fell on sleep." After fifty years of unin- 
 terrupted, unremitting labor in works of Christian benefi- 
 cence, continued to the very last day of his life, A. R. 
 Wetmore peacefully fell asleep, without a stroke of pain 
 or suffering, early on Friday morning, January 21, in the 
 eighty-fifth year of his age. Funeral services were held 
 in the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, with which 
 
 he had been identified from its formation, on the Monday 
 
 105 
 
following, when the city missionaries and representatives 
 of the various societies, and a large concourse of citizens, 
 were present to testify their respect. 
 
 Lewis E. Jackson. 
 
 The New York Observer, January 27, 1881. 
 
 One of the most useful and valued of the Christian 
 philanthropists of New York, Apollos R. Wetmore, was 
 called to his rest and reward on Thursday night of last 
 week. Although at the advanced age of eighty-five years, 
 he had continued to enjoy perfect health, and had at- 
 tended to the daily business of his life, the work of Chris- 
 tian benevolence, up to the hour when he retired to rest 
 on Thursday evening. He spent the afternoon in attend- 
 ing to the affairs of one of the numerous charitable insti- 
 tutions with which he was connected, and the evening in 
 social intercourse with his family and friends, and retired 
 without any intimation of the coming event. The next 
 morning when he was called he made no answer. He 
 had passed away during his sleep and without a trace of 
 any struggle with death. 
 
 In May, 183 1, Mr. Wetmore united with the Laight 
 
 Street Presbyterian Church, then under the pastoral care 
 
 106 
 
of Rev. Dr. Cox, and immediately entered upon a life of 
 Christian activity and practical benevolence which was 
 continued to the night of his death with unabated zeal 
 and with extraordinary success in all that he undertook. 
 It was through his personal instrumentality that the New 
 York City Tract Society was formed in 1831, and became 
 an efficient instrumentality in spreading the gospel, the 
 whole city being districted and regularly supplied with 
 religious reading and with other means of grace. This 
 society subsequently developed into the City Mission, an 
 undenominational organization, with the extensive and 
 important work of which our readers are familiar. Mr. 
 Wetmore remained in the presidency of this institution to 
 the last, having presided at the meeting of its executive 
 committee the Monday previous to his death. He was 
 also president of the New York Juvenile Asylum, the 
 great prosperity and extensive usefulness of which was in 
 a large measure owing to his fostering care and un- 
 wearied efforts on its behalf, especially in the raising of 
 the funds for its buildings. He was one of the governors 
 of the Woman's Hospital, and raised a large portion of the 
 funds by which it was erected. One of its buildings is 
 known as "The Wetmore Pavilion." He was one of the 
 governors of the Presbyterian Hospital and of the Hos- 
 pital for the Ruptured and Crippled, was one of the foun- 
 ders of the Association for Improving the Condition of 
 
 107 
 
the Poor, and chairman of the board of managers of the 
 Home for Friendless Girls. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore was distinguished for his efforts and suc- 
 cess in raising the needed funds for the various charitable 
 and benevolent institutions with which he was connected. 
 Probably no other man ever lived in this city, and we may 
 say in this country, who had been so successful in obtain- 
 ing gifts in large sums for the various objects of Christian 
 philanthropy, and no man ever excited less prejudice in 
 asking for money. His unvaried Christian courtesy and 
 gentleness was one of the secrets of his success, and the 
 confidence reposed in his judgment gave an assurance 
 that what he asked for was really needed and would be 
 well employed. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore was married April i, 1822, to Mary Car- 
 mer of this city. Eight years ago he celebrated his gold- 
 en wedding. Mrs. Wetmore died three years later. 
 They had six children — Henry C. Wetmore, now dead, 
 George C. Wetmore, Theodore R. Wetmore, and William 
 Wetmore, and two daughters, Mrs. Henry Mesier and 
 Mrs. Charles E. Carryl. 
 
 The funeral of Mr. Wetmore was attended in the Madi- 
 son Square Presbyterian Church, of which he was a mem- 
 ber, on Monday, by a large concourse of the Christian 
 people of the city. The pastor of the church, Rev. Dr. 
 
 Parkhurst, opened the exercises by reading selections 
 
 108 
 
from the Scriptures ; Rev. Dr. Paxton led in prayer ; ad- 
 dresses were made by Rev. Drs. Hitchcock and Taylor, 
 and the benediction was pronounced by Rev. Dr. Or- 
 miston. 
 
 The New York Weekly Witness, January 27, i88r. 
 
 A popular pastor said last Sabbath morning that he 
 
 had seen in the previous day's paper two obituary notices, 
 
 one filling a column, the other about a quarter of that 
 
 space. The first was of an actor who had spent his life 
 
 in making people laugh. The second was of a Christian 
 
 philanthropist who had spent a long life in benevolent, 
 
 enlightened, and successful efforts for the alleviation of 
 
 suffering and the elevation of the people of New York, 
 
 and who had accomplished more good than any other 
 
 man in the city. This very striking contrast showed most 
 
 clearly the " earthy " character of our daily press ; or rather 
 
 that the great majority of its readers are more interested 
 
 in mirth than in philanthropy, and in comic theatrical 
 
 representations than in city missions, juvenile asylums, 
 
 or hospitals for the sick and aged. Whatever may be the 
 
 human estimate of the relative importance of Sothern and 
 
 Wetmore, we can be at no loss as to the divine estimate. 
 
 Our Lord nowhere tells us to imitate comic actors, but he 
 
 109 
 
gives us the example of the good Samaritan, and says go 
 and do likewise. 
 
 Several years ago there was much talk about the worst 
 man in New York, and by way of contrast we took the 
 liberty of pointing out in the Daily Witness Apollos R. 
 Wetmore as the best man in this city. We had just be- 
 come acquainted with one after another of his great and 
 greatly successful philanthropic enterprises, and we were 
 amazed that one man could have accomplished more in 
 the line of commencing and carrying out public benevo- 
 lent institutions than perhaps all the other contemporary 
 philanthropists of the city put together, his only parallel 
 being that wonderful character Isabella Graham of the 
 past century. We commend to our readers the record of 
 Mr. Wetmore's efforts in another column, but no language 
 could portray the benign aspect of the venerable patriarch 
 when presiding at the juvenile reformatory over the six 
 hundred healthy, good-looking, well-taught, well-behaved 
 children of both sexes gathered there from the slums of 
 the city. 
 
 The New York Herald, January 22, 1881. 
 
 An old-time merchant, an all-time philanthropist, 
 
 passed from the definite to the infinite early yesterday 
 
 morning, when suddenly, quietly, peacefully, and pain- 
 no 
 
lessly, Apollos R. Wetmore died in his home on West 
 Ninth street. Few men were better known. None better 
 deserved the universal respect of their fellows. A long 
 life of usefulness was passed by him in this city, where 
 his bright business tact secured to him the normal results 
 of industry and honesty, and his great benevolence led 
 him continually into fields of labor the reward for which 
 is found elsewhere. 
 
 But perhaps Mr. Wetmore found more personal pleas- 
 ure in less conspicuous charities than in these more pub- 
 lic and to an extent perfunctory benevolences. He rarely 
 said, "Go thou and see," but as a rule, " I will go myself 
 and care for them." He lived a practical benevolence. 
 He gave money as well as advice, and, what is often harder 
 to give, time, and patience, and personal attention. He 
 was especially happy in his home, and had the pleasure 
 of celebrating, some eight years ago, the golden wedding 
 with the lady — Mary Carmer — to whom he was married in 
 1822. 
 
 Mr. Wetmore was apparently in perfect health when 
 he retired on Thursday night. He had conversed freely 
 and with interest with an official of one of our public in- 
 stitutions, whom he bade "good-night" in a cheerful and 
 
 even playful mood. Yesterday morning, as he failed to 
 
 in 
 
appear at breakfast time, a servant was sent to call him, 
 but he had gone. So far as inference may be drawn, the 
 venerable man had slept to the end and peacefully passed 
 away. It is understood that funeral services will be held 
 on Monday next, in the Madison Avenue Presbyterian 
 Church, and if a moiety of those who knew and loved him 
 seek to attend, the spacious edifice will be packed from 
 rail to loft, and thousands more will wait outside. 
 
 The New York Times, January 22, 1881. 
 
 Apollos Russell Wetmore, whose name has been prom- 
 inently associated with the best philanthropic efforts in the 
 city for the last twenty-five or thirty years, died quietly in 
 his bed at an early hour yesterday morning, at the resi- 
 dence of his son-in-law, Mr. Charles E. Carryl, No. 33 
 West Ninth street. Mr. Wetmore retired to his room in 
 his usual health on Thursday night, having passed the 
 afternoon in examining the affairs of the New York Juven- 
 ile Asylum, in which, as one of the founders, he was par- 
 ticularly interested. He left the office of the asylum about 
 five o'clock, and went home. Yesterday morning he did 
 not make his appearance at the breakfast table as usual, 
 and, after waiting a few minutes, one of the members of 
 the household went to his room. He was found lying 
 upon his bed in apparent repose, and had evidently ex- 
 
pired in sleep without a struggle. The extremities were 
 still warm, showing that life had been extinct only a few 
 minutes — or an hour at furthest. The event was not al- 
 together unexpected, for, in addition to his advanced age, 
 Mr. Wetmore lived in constant danger of apoplexy, and 
 had been warned by his medical adviser that his demise 
 would be sudden. He had often observed that he had no 
 dearer wish than " to die with the harness on." 
 
 As a philanthropist, Mr. Wetmore was regarded as a 
 practical man in the management of institutions rather 
 than a theorist. He believed in doing, not in talking, 
 and devoted his time to results rather than theoretical ex- 
 planations. His name ranks with that of Howard and 
 Peabody in this department of modern activity, and his 
 association with a project was considered as a guarantee 
 both of the good faith of its promoters and of ultimate 
 success. Thousands of children during the last twenty 
 years have owed their rescue from infamy and vice to his 
 efforts, and thousands of the city's poor have blessed his 
 name as that of a benefactor. His uprightness was a 
 proverb, his kindness to the suffering a sunny spot in 
 human experience. The arrangements for the funeral 
 have not been fully perfected. The services will take 
 place at ii o'clock a.m., on Monday, at the Madison 
 
 Square Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Mr. Parkhurst offi- 
 
 113 
 
dating and the Rev. Dr. Hall assisting. Seats will be re- 
 served for the delegates of the various boards with which 
 he was associated, but other details, such as the names of 
 pall-bearers, etc., remain to be announced hereafter. 
 
 The New York Commercial Advertiser , January 21, 1881. 
 
 As a philanthropist, as a friend of the poor, the unfor- 
 tunate, the friendless, the name of "Wetmore" is entitled 
 to be associated with that of Howard or Peabody. Those 
 who mourn his departure will number thousands of per- 
 sons in humble life unknown to the world at large, but 
 who nevertheless in the mind of their benefactor were 
 among the most worthy. Thousands of young children, 
 too, saved from crime and infamy through his interven- 
 tion, or given places of usefulness in the walks of indus- 
 try, "will call him blessed." 
 
 The New York Times, January 25, 1881. 
 
 The funeral of Mr. Apollos Russell Wetmore, whose 
 thirty years of active philanthropic work were closed last 
 week by sudden death, took place from the Madison Square 
 Presbyterian Church at 10 o'clock yesterday. The audi- 
 ence comprised a very large number of faces familiar in 
 
 114 
 
commerce and the professions. The coffin rested upon a 
 low bier in front of the altar railing, and was a simple 
 black casket, heavily trimmed and bearing the name and 
 age of the deceased. A single floral symbol graced its 
 head. It consisted of a wheat-field freshly harvested, the 
 sharp stubble penetrating to the surface in the midst of 
 a groundwork of verdure composed of smilax and other 
 evergreens. The field was bordered about with a heavy 
 margin of white roses, some of which were only half 
 opened, and across it was laid a sickle of white flowers at 
 the base of a large sheaf of ripened grain. In the pulpit 
 were seated the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst, the Rev. Dr. William 
 M. Taylor, the Rev. Dr. William M. Paxton, the Rev. Dr. 
 Hitchcock, and the Rev. Dr. William Ormiston. A few 
 minutes before the services were opened with reading of 
 the Scriptures and with prayer, the officers and directors 
 of the New York Juvenile Asylum assembled in the pri- 
 vate room at the right of the pulpit, whence they were 
 escorted to the pews assigned them. Among them were 
 Vice-President Ezra M. Kingsley, Mr. Henry Talmadge, 
 the treasurer, Mr. Charles D. Adams, Mr. Edmund Dwight, 
 Mr. Benjamin B. Sherman, Mr. Oliver E. Wood, Mr. An- 
 drew H. Green, Mr. C. C. Peck, Mr. John W. Quincy, 
 and Mr. Clarkson Crolius. The name of Mr. Quincy 
 headed the list of pall-bearers, and among his associates 
 
 were Mr. Oliver E. Wood, Mr. Thurlow Weed, Admiral 
 
 i is 
 
W. E. LeRoy, George W. Lane, J. F. Sheafe, Morris K. 
 Jesup, and R. M. Buchanan. The pall-bearers were fol- 
 lowed by the officers in a body, and delegations were pres- 
 ent from the managing boards of the City Mission and 
 Tract Society, the Woman's Hospital, the Society for the 
 Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled, and the Bible So- 
 ciety. 
 
 As the coffin was placed upon the bier, the choir sang, 
 " I heard a voice saying unto me, write." The congrega- 
 tion was addressed by the Rev. Drs. Hitchcock and Tay- 
 lor. The former reviewed the life of Mr. Wetmore at 
 length, and spoke of his great services to the cause of 
 humanity everywhere, and of his unswerving integrity 
 and honor. Dr. Taylor's address was in a similar strain, 
 but dwelt with more especial emphasis upon the multi- 
 tude of philanthropic works to which Mr. Wetmore had 
 put his hand, their success, and their value as monuments 
 to his zeal and fidelity. The services were drawn to an 
 end with a contralto solo — "Abide with Me" — and the 
 benediction by the Rev. Dr. Ormiston. The remains were 
 taken to the Marble Cemetery, in Second avenue, for in- 
 terment, but many of the congregation lingered in the 
 aisles and at the altar, admiring the various floral pieces 
 contributed by the various societies. Among the well- 
 known citizens present, in addition to those already 
 named, were Mr. William E. Dodge, Mr. William E. 
 
 116 
 
Dodge, Jr., the Rev. Dr. Crosby, Mr. J. B. Cornell, ex- 
 Judge Mitchell, ex-Judge Peabody, Mr. Jackson S. Schultz, 
 Judge Brady, Mr. F. F. Marbury, the Rev. Dr. John Hall, 
 John E. Develin, Mr. Elbridge T. Gerry, Dr. Heman C. 
 Dyer, Mr. Robert H. McBirney, Mr. John Taylor John- 
 ston, E. D. Morgan, Justice Bixby, Theodore W. Dwight, 
 James M. Brown, and Robert L. Stuart. 
 
 "7