^„,« rf ft. »'*.«, *^^ PRINCETON, N. J. Shelf.. Roberts James, 1839-1906 A memorial of the Rbv t i W- Dale, D.D. '^^"'®' C2 wn/^ fjj "HE BEING DEAD, YET SPEAKETH." A MEMORIAL OF THE Rev. James W. Dale. d.d. PREPARED BY TH,E Rev. JAMES ROBERTS. D.D. PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 1886 Watson & McManus, 'Evans Printing House," Fourth & Library Sts. PHILADELPHIA. Ill Intraductary. Not long after Dr. Dale's death, a warm friend and former parishioner of his, with the sanction of the family of the de- ceased, requested the writer to prepare a suitable Memorial of his life and labors. Only vaguely aware of the difficulties involved in such an undertaking and prompted by a strong personal attach- ment, and deep appreciation of the sterling qualities of the man of God, so lately caught up from among us, he was led, at once, though not without misgivings as to his fitness, to accept the task thus imposed. In the prosecution of the work, the conspicu- ous absence of such material as usually falls into the hands of a biographer soon became apparent. Marked and influential as the life had been, the written records from which to construct an adequate Memorial are almost wholly lacking. No diary was kept. No memoranda of personal experience remained. Only occa- sional dates of events, and a few letters to his family and friends, had been casually preserved. ' Dr. Dale was a very reticent man and seldom spoke of liimself or his personal aflairs, except to his most intimate friends, and even to them with a lingering flavor of reserve. For instance, he carried on his remarkable researches on the subject of Baptism, by day and by night, for twenty long years, without ever saying to a human being that he was making a book, until he had gone over the whole ground of the Inquiry, and his first volume was ready for the press. The following narrative has grown largely out of more than twenty years of personal intercourse, begun when the writer was a student, and afterwards, for a while, a teacher, in the " Media Class- ical Institute." A friendship, the benefits of which the writer has ever since appreciated and enjoyed, then sprang up. Long and intimate association with him as a co-presbyter, seeing and hear- IV ing him often in the pulpit, meeting him in the field where he toiled with his hands, in the study and in the family, revealed much of his inner life to the author, more perhaps than to any outside of his own household. To these sources of information others, as far as possible, have been added. Interviews with men and women of his own age, who knew him well and were more or less intimately associated with him through all his public life, have been diligently sought during all the progress of the work. "Whatever thread, in the midst of a busy pastorate, has been within reach, has been seized and woven into this only too meagre history of a noble life. The gathering of the incidents here recorded has been a somewhat melancholy task, but the labor has not been without its rich reward. It has not been the aim unduly to exaggerate the character and labors of the deceased, but to magnify the grace of God. No man, since the days of the Apostle Paul, more sincerely felt and said, "By the grace of God I am what I am." It is to be regretted that this Memorial, which was ready for publication some years ago, for reasons which need not be here mentioned, has been delayed in its appearance. But it is to be remembered that the story of such a life can never grow old, and can never cease to be instructive and helpful to others. The way to its publication having been now, providentially, made clear, it is sent forth as the humble tribute of the heart to the memory of a beloved friend, who, "being dead, yet speaketh." In accord- ance with the spirit of the life of the departed, the memorialist begs that he may be permitted to lay -this little work, only where Dr. Dale would have it laid, on the altar of our risen and glori- fied Redeemer, and with the earnest prayer that the Divine Spirit who made Dr. Dale the manly man that he was will use this record of his devoted life for the encouragement and inspiration of others, and for the glory of His own great name. ^ , .^7 7 James Egberts. Fresoyterian (Jnurcfi, Darby, Pa. Aug. 1886. Cantents. • Page. Introductory, iii Birth and Ancestors, 7 His Mother and Early Home ,...., 8 At School and College, 15 Study of Law, 16 Ilis Conversion to Christ, . . • 19 Preparation for the Ministry, 20 Interest in the Foreign Missionary Field, 21 In the Service of the American Board, 27 The Study of Medicine, 28 Working, Waiting and Watching, 30 General Agent of Penna. Bible Society, 37 Missionary Hopes Ended, 40 Domestic Life, 41 First Pastoral Settlement, 44 Chester and its Churches, . 47 Labors at Media — Second Pastoral Charge, 49 Middletown and Media Pastorate Closed, 53 Third Pastoral Charge — Wayne, 50 Last Pastorate Ended, CO As a Preacher, 64 As a Pastor, 70 Activity in the Temperance Cause, 74 Authorship, 83 His Closing Years, 95 His Death, 100 Elements of His Success, . . . , 102 Impressions of Others, 113 From Eev. William H, Ilutton, 115 From Rev. Thomas D. Jester, 120 From Rev. Edward H. Robbins, 123 From Presbytery of Chester, 127 From "Presbyterian"— Rev. M. B. Gricr, D.D., .... 128 From "New York Evangelist"— Rev. W. P. Breed, D.D., . . .130 Public Memorials, 133 In Middletown Grave-yard, 133 In Media Presbyterian Church, 135 Birth an d AncBB tprB. James Wilkinson Dale was born October 16, 1812, at Cant- well's Bridge, (now Odessa) Delaware. He was the third son and the fourth child of Richard Colgate Dale, M. D. and Margaret (Fitzgerald) Dale. His ancestors, on his father's side, came from England, and were among the early settlers of the State of Maryland. They were Episcopalians. Dr. Richard C. Dale was a popular and suc- cessful physician. During the war of 1812, he became a surgeon in the service of the United States, and served under General Wilkinson, after whom his son James was named. He filled the office of High Sheriff of New Castle County, Del., from 1803 to 1806. He died in Wilmington, Del., May 10, 1818, leaving to the care of his widow a family of seven children and the settle- ment of his own estate, which was considerable, together with the affairs of his public office, which were still unsettled at the time of his death. Soon after the death of her husband, Mrs. Dale removed, with her family of five sons and two daughters, to the house of her father, Thomas Fitzgerald, in Philadelphia. The ancestors of Thomas Fitzgerald were Roman Catholics, but the faith of his fathers did not satisfy his mind and heart. From what we learn of him, he was a man of more than ordinary intellect, and of an inquiring mind. From Romanism, with which he never sympathized, he turned away dissatisfied and restless, that he 8 might search for light and truth elsewhere. He identified him- self with the Universalist body, and became one of the founders of the first church of that denomination which was organized in the city of Philadelphia. Universalism did not, however, afford rest to his inquiring mind, nor meet the wants of his spiritual nature. "While the teachings of Romanism were too narrow for him, the teachings of Universalism were too broad. He became dis- satisfied with certain sentiments which grew up among those with whom he was associated in the Universalist Church. For that rea- son, he left the denomination, as well as the congregation to whose organization and growth he had been a very large contributor in influence, in personal effort, and in money. Through the influence of their family physician, whose name I do not know, the Dale family were induced to attend what was then known as the Fifth, and now as the Arch Street Presbyte- rian Church, of Philadelphia, which, at that time, was under the pastoral care of the gifted and godly Thomas H. Skinner, D. D. Whoever this physician was, he did better for Presbyterianism and for Christianity than he knew when he introduced to the Arch St. Church the Dales, a family whose intelligence, spiritual power. Christian activity and liberality have been conspicuous in the denomination for nearly half a century. His Mather and Early Hame. Most men are made what they are by their mothers and the surroundings of their early home life. The training of the family to which the subject of this Memorial belonged was largely the 9 work of their mother. It may, therefore, be well to note what has come to hand concerning the home of his youth and his honored mother, who lived long and who will continue to live in the Church of Christ, for generations to come, through her children and her children's children. In a letter, dated Princeton Semi- nary, September, 1834, to his brother Gerald, who was in Phil- lips Academy, Andover, Mass., preparing to enter Yale College, James thus writes of his mother : "How seldom, dear Gerald, have we been called to look into the open grave receiving those we loved. A father and a grand- father have indeed been taken from us. But both before we could appreciate their loss. And we have been compelled to learn but little, from experience, the value of such tender relatives by miss- ing their watchful care. A mother was left us, to lead, with watchful care, by night and by day, her sons and daughters most successfully, through His (God's) blessing, amidst the wicked- ness of the world. I feel that I may with all propriety adopt this language without ascribing much to ourselves. When I remember to how great a degree we have all been preserved from open and gross violations of God's law ; from taking His holy name in anger on our lips ; from openly breaking His Sabbath days, have we not reason to praise the restraining grace which was thrown about us in the family circle, in the school, the play- ground and the street? * * * How little trouble, care or anxiety have we experienced in the preparation of food for our table or raiment to clothe us ? Whatever there has been of these things, Maa has borne them all. But how greatly have they been lightened, even to her, by the bountiful distribution made by the free goodness of God of the necessary and comfortable, not to say superabundant, things of this life." 10 lu another letter, written to his sister, Mrs. Mary D. Lelar, who was nearing the age of three score and ten years, when he was himself past sixty-four years of age, and when disease had compelled him to lay aside pen and pulpit that he might seek rest and recuperation for his over-taxed brain. Dr. Dale sets forth his affection for his family, and calls up some pleasant memories of the religious character of the home of his youth. The letter is dated Clifton Springs, N". Y., January 26, 1877. After writing of his health, and of Christian work in which he had been engaged during the Week of Prayer, he says : " May God make my own slight infirmity, the taking to him- self of my three little ones and their dear Mother (more and more missed and more valued), my own peerless Mother, and my elder Brothers, as true men and as true brothers, and as true sons, as ever lived, a rich and needed blessing to my soul. "And you, my sister, loved with all my heart, will have passed your ' three score and tenth birth-day ' before you shall have received this letter! Can it be possible? It seems to be quite impossible. But memory can go back when my dear sister was young and loved her foolish brothers, because she loved her Saviour. * * -5^ "And I had occasion to remember sweetly, a few days since, the time in Lombard Street, long, long ago, when our 'sister,' honored as well as loved, used, when Maa (ever blessed be her name!) was not there, to take the family Bible, and lay it on the Family Altar, and call her brothers and sisters around her and pray with them and for them. "Ah! Dear Sister, three score and ten are you? Well, three score and ten multiplied by the stars of heaven will not tell the blessing you have been to your Brothers ! Live on to four score. 11 and you will live deeper and deeper into the honor and love of your Brothers, while they live. Three score and ten ! Changes have been, for this is a changeful world, but one thing has never changed toward my beloved Sister; when 'clouds and darkness have been about His throne ' the face of Him who sat upon that throne has been ever toward her, shining brighter than seven suns, though, for the time she may not have been able to see it. Three score and ten ! Ah, but eternity is longer, and brings no old age, nor cloud to the Sun of Righteousness. There, there, may we all be there, to the praise of Grace, Grace." Not only in his letters did Dr. Dale show his great regard for his mother; but in -her old age, when the burden of years pressed heavily upon her, he always treated her with marked tenderness and reverence. The picture of the pastor of the Media Presbyterian Church coming up the aisle, on Sabbath morning, with his venerable mother leaning on his arm, and the gentleness with which he seated her in the pew, before he ascended the pul- pit, is one that can never be eitaced from the memory of those who have seen it. He was just as mindful and careful of her in private as in public. In his own home, where I have sometimes met her, when she would rise to go across the floor, he would has- ten to help her, if it was but a few steps that she intended to take. This much loved mother lived to be nearly eighty-two years of age, and to see all her children happily and prosperously settled in life. She died in Philadelphia, August 28, 1865. At her funeral, eloquent tributes were paid to her memory by Ministers familiar with her womanly life. That of her pastor, the Rev. F. R. Harbaugh, has been preserved and is here reproduced: 12 " Most appropriate are these rites of Christian burial, for a mother in Israel sleeps in Jesus. And meet it is at this hour to spend a few moments in reviewing a life so full of interest, and which has come to so peaceful an end. "And yet, beloved friends, it is not without considerable embarrassment that I attempt the portraiture of your sainted mother's life, not so much because of my comparatively brief association with her, as on account of the intrinsic delicacy of the subject. "1. Her birth dates nearly contemporaneously with the estab- lishment of the peace which followed the struggle of the Revo- lution. She was, therefore, one of the venerated few who remain as the representatives of the nation's infancy. A native of Phila- delphia, her home was early in life transferred to the State of Delaware. There she married and was left a widow, with a family consisting of five sons and two daughters. " Her respected and eminent husband — both as a physician and civil officer — high sheriff of the county of !N"ew Castle — dy- ing whilst the business of his office was unsettled, it devolved upon her to perform this duty, and also to settle the affairs of his estate — a work of no insignificant proportions, and one which called for peculiar abilities of no common order. Her adminis- tration of her husband's estate was such as to elicit the frequent and emphatic commendations of prominent members of the bar, both for the skill and correctness displayed, and also for the unusual dispatch with which it was accomplished. Her readi- ness and sagacity, her knowledge of and familiarity with the minutiae of intricate business, her appreciation of the responsi- bility as well as the delicacy of her position, together with the marked success of her personal management ; in these, and in many other particulars which might be enumerated, were evi- denced qualities which, confessedly by all, distinguished this 13 beloved mother — such as great vigor of mind, tenacity of purpose, strength of will, soundness of judgment, and undeviating self- possession under the most trying circumstances that can befall a widowed mother. "2. Having thus honorably and successfully adjusted the affairs of her lamented husband's estate, she gave herself exclu- sively to the guardianship of her large and interesting family. And here as a mother, as before, more particularly as a wife, fidel- ity and success were alike hers. She immediately assumed the position to which she was called by the removal of the father, and rightly maintained it to her dying hour, never yielding for a mo- ment to the erroneous and hurtful idea that parental responsibility and guardianship alike cease when children attain their majority. Difiicult, and even onerous as were the duties which now devolved upon her, she did not seek to evade them, nor hesitate to under- take their performance. By her was family religion perpetuated ; the morning and evening incense was continued to be offered. When her sons and daughters had grown up around her, they continued to be summoned to the family altar. As the head of the family she humbly and faithfully sought to honor God. And I may ask, without a suspicion of adulation, was ever a godly mother more honored in her children? Reared in the midst of the sinful enticements of a great city, not a child, by word or act, has dishonored their pious tutelage. "iN'or at home alone was her fidelity to be seen. Recognizing the divinely appointed connection which exists between the fami- lies of believers and the house of God, this sainted mother, with a regularity and consistency which became proverbial, each Lord's day led her little tribe to the tabernacle of Israel's God. When the house of the Lord was open, her house was closed, nor distance, nor frequency of services prevented her presenting herself and her children before God. The customary devotional services on the 14 evenings of the secular days of the week received the same atten- tion, and the result of all this faithfulness in puhlic and private training of her children is that she beheld all her children united with her in a common trust in Christ, before she was called to her reward in the church triumphant. " 3. At such an hour as this I desire to dwell as little as possible upon things merely secular, and yet I feel that I will not have performed my part as well as I might have done, should I make no mention of the pure, elevated, genuine patriotism of this beloved mother. Herself the venerated representative of the peace which followed the patriotic struggle for independence, the interest which she ever evinced in all that pertained to the recent National conflict will never be forgotten by those who were per- mitted to witness it. " Her understanding of the causes of the revolt, her apprecia- tion of the immense interests at stake, her abiding faith in the righteousness and justice and holiness of God, her intense love of country, and her desires for the preservation of the national honor as involved in the preservation of the integrity of the National Union, her clear and deep and abiding convictions of the rightfulness of the Government in resorting to the force of arms for the suppression of rebellion, her delight in witnessing the cessation of slavery, her sense of the direct interposition of God in behalf of freedom and right — these and kindred feel- ings and sentiments were so strong and so intense that, with her spirit infused into her children's children, it was no wonder that they fell only where the bravest fall. Such mothers ! what a blessing they are to the land. "4. In the religious experience of this sainted mother we have a most ample theme of itself. Only a few points can be dwelt upon now. Her belief was that of an intelligent Christian. All the leading doctrines of the Scriptures she received with all her heart, 15 and especially the great central doctrine of revelation, the atone- ment of Christ. Her views of and belief in the vicarious suffer- ings and death of Jesus as her personal substitute and Redeemer were unusually clear and correct, and most firmly established. She looked upon Christ's satisfaction for sin as a thing accom- plished. Her personal relations to that work, and its present benefits, viz.: justification, adoption and sanctification, these she regarded herself as actually possessed of. Her whole trust was in Christ. Everything was secondary to the blood of Jesus. And hence from her intelligent and firm belief in her personal justifi- cation before God, and acceptance with Him through the right- eousness of Christ imparted unto her, her piety was ever of that attractive cast which cheerfulness ever imparts. Her daily life evinced the composure and often the elevated frame of feeling of one who was assured of her peace with God. A beautiful coinci- dence is found in her life. She was born immediately after the peace which followed the struggle for independence, and was translated immediately after the return o"f peace to our troubled land. With the most sincere and grateful acknowledgments of the goodness of God to her, to her family, to the land, and to the church, she passed away to be forever with the Lord. " The Lord be praised for such mothers, and may their num- ber be greatly multiplied to the land and to the church." At SchDDl and CallegB. In his early youth, James W. Dale manifested a great fond- ness for study and a tendency to master thoroughly whatever he undertook. He went through the first Latin book that was put into his hands in two weeks. I happened to drop into his study, at Media, one afternoon, when he was rearranging the 16 books in his library. That same Latin grammar, which, he said he had not seen for many years, had turned up and was lying on his table. Lifting it from the table, he handed it to me and said : " That little book was my first introduction to the study of Latin. I well remember the evening that I first opened it. Our teacher told us to commit the large print to memory and to read carefully the small print of the lesson ; but I committed it all large print and small, and I still remember it." In this way, we see him laying deep and broad the foundations of the clear and strong thinker that he afterwards became. He entered the University of Pennsylvania, then among the foremost institutions of learning in the country, where he pur- sued his studies with great diligence, and graduated in 1831, before he was nineteen years of age, with the honor of being the Valedictorian of his class. ^Nothing special is known of his College life, except the fact that he was a conscientious, close and careful student. "While in College his mind was thoroughly set o" ^^® Study of Law. Accordingly after completing his Collegiate course, he entered the law office of Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll, who was then a leading member of the Philadelphia Bar and a member of Congress, and who was afterwards the Ambassador of the United States to the government of Great Britain. Among the fellow students of Dr. Dale in the law office of Mr. Ingersoll were the Hon. Judge Thompson, the Hon. Charles Glilpin, who became Mayor of Phila- delphia, Charles E. Lex, Esq., who was City Solicitor and President of the Board of Directors of Girard College, and the Hon. George 17 Sharswood, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. With these and others who became prominent, Dr. Dale was asso- ciated for about a year in the study of law. He had eminent fitness for the legal profession. Had he pursued this vocation on which he entered, there is every reason to believe that his position among lawyers would have been one of great prominence. In mental ability and in moral char- acter he would have been an ornament to the bar of the State and of the country. The future that opened up before the mind of young Dale when he began the study of law was bright with l^roniise and filled with the hope of the highest degree of success. He seems to have had every element of mind and of character essen- tial to lift him up very soon to the highest place in the legal pro- fession. His gifts of oratory were superior. He had a splendid mind, which was well adapted by nature to the study of juris- prudence ; and by severe study, he had already acquired that men- tal development which one gets only by long, close and continued application. He was fortunate in having learned at a very early age, how to study. Already he was regarded as a man of mind and of high scholarship. In addition to his intellectual ability, he had social standing. His own family and many of his friends were people of culture and of influence in society. He was a man of unblemished moral character. Even thoug-li he made no profession of Christianity, he had a profound respect for the re- ligion of Jesus Christ and for all who lived it in sincerity and truth. In his youth, he was pure in speech, and in manhood, his whole nature abhorred any thing that bordered on profanity 18 or even vulgarity. In the letter to his sister, Mrs. Lelar, men- tioned on page 10, lie writ'es : "A few days since, a little boy, about eight years of age, was sitting by his mother while she gave him counsel about swearing and things allied to it, when I was led to say: My sister told me when I was about his age never to say, ' By Gracious,' ' By Jim- miny,' and such like. And I had never forgotten her loving reproof, nor had ever sworn in my life, nor had ever heard one of ray brothers swear. A dear sister loving the Saviour is worth more than millions of gold to brothers who have learned to love her, though not yet learned to love their Saviour." So far as character was concerned, from a moral point of view. Dr. Dale, even before he became a Christian, could say with Paul : " Touching the righteousness which is of the law, blame- less." By and through his influential friends, legal business would have been put into his hands as soon as he was admitted to the bar. This would have started him in his professional career. So conspicuous would have been his fitness for the posi- tion of their counsellor at law, and such would have been his con- scientious faithfulness in the discharge of the trusts committed to him that he would, no doubt, have risen rapidly in profes- sional success until he reached the summit. All this promise of worldly honor and success was clearly enough before the mind of young Dale; but he learned to say: "0 Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." He found out that God had other work for him to do^ and, in His own time and way, God made plain the new path of duty before the mind of the ambitious student of law. 19 His CanvBrsian to Christ, About a year after he began the study of law, there was a special religious interest in the Arch Street Presbyterian Church. Daily services were being held, and many were dedicating them- selves to the service of Christ. Dr. Dale's eldest sister, Mary, was much concerned for the spiritual welfare of her young and promising brother, James. She invited him to accompany her to the meetings, but he declined her invitation, on the ground that he was too busy just then, and very anxious to finish, by a certain time, a law book which he was reading. With all a pious sister's loving tenderness, she persisted in urging upon him the importance of seeking " First the Kingdom of God and His righteousness," of securing the salvation of his own soul, and the imperative duty that rested upon him to do so now. Such was the earnest, persevering pleading of this devoted sister, that he yielded so far as to promise her, that, if the meetings were still in progress, after he had finished the book which he was reading, he would attend the special services of the church until they closed. He finished his book ; he kept the promise made to his sister ; and this was the last law book that he ever opened with a view to being a lawyer. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he consecrated himself to Christ. Having done this, he at once identified himself with the people of God by publicly taking upon himself God's covenant, which he did when he presented himself to the Session of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church and was received as one of its members. 20 In after years, when referring to this change which came so unexpectedly over the future of his life, he used to say with the Apostle Paul, " But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." He cheerfully gave up all his plans of worldly honor and success. He turned his back forever upon the pictured possibilities which hope had so brilliantly painted on the future that he had marked out for himself. He brought all his powers of physical endurance, his gifts of oratory, his cultured intellect, and all that he was and was to be, and laid all — head and heart, body and brain — as an offering on the altar of his Redeemer, to be used as He might direct, asking only, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" FrBparatinn far the Ministry. Very early in life Dr. Dale was impressed with the idea that if he ever became a Christian it would be his duty to be a minis- ter of the Gospel. His conversion at once settled the question of his future vocation. Accordingly, on October 16, 1832, the day that he was twenty years of age, he entered the Theological Seminary of Andover, Mass. Language was one of his favorite studies, and he selected this Seminary because, in his judgment. 21 it aiForded the best facilities for the study of the Greek and Hebrew languages, under the eminent professors, Rev. Dr. Moses Stuart and Eev. Dr. Edward Robinson. For the second year of his theological course, he was attracted to the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J., by the world wide fame of the cele- brated Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, and the rising reputation and popularity of the Rev. Dr. Charles Hodge. After spending one year at Princeton, he returned to Andover and completed the course of that Institution. He was licensed to preach by the Andover Congregational Association of Massachusetts, April 16, 1835 ; and he was ordained as an Evangelist, by the same Association, at Dracut, Mass., August 29, 1837. Interest in the Foreign Missionary Field. Not only did Dr. Dale give himself to the ministry, but also to the work of Foreign Missions. He did not make choice of the ministry as his life vocation because of its ease or its honor. He gave himself to the ministry because he had given himself wholly to Christ, Who now laid upon him the " Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." Having given himself to Christ, his only concern was to answer for himself the inquiry : " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Indeed, this was ever the rul- ing question of his whole life. It was soon after he entered the Theological Seminary that his duty to a perishing world began to press itself upon him. His heart went out toward the perish- ing millions who were living and dying in ignorance of " the glorious Gospel of the blessed God." The operations of his mind 22 in regard to this subject, the decision to which he came, the grounds of that decision and the motives by which he was actu- ated are all fully and clearly set forth in a letter to his much loved mother. As we have his views and mental operations, in his own words, it is best that we hear him speak on this important matter for himself. In reading this letter, it should be borne in mind that his mother did not look with favor on his determi- nation to become a foreign missionary ; also that the cause of Foreign Missions has made such rapid strides and has taken such hold upon the mind and heart of the Christian Church, during the last fifty years, that some of the arguments of this letter may not now be considered necessary, while others are just as applicable to-day as when Dr. Dale used them, fifty years ago. The letter is as follows : " Theological Seminary, Nov. 22, 1833. " Through God's mercy in sparing yet a little longer a bar- ren tree in His vineyard, I am permitted to address yet another letter to my beloved Mother. Were His mercies so few as to admit of being numbered, I would say that another was added to the list in being permitted to hear from yourself. How much I desired that the day should come 'round during my 'five weeks' in which you should revisit home, I need not now say. Three or four days was a little time to be disappointed in, but sufficient to place between us, again, nearly three or four hundred miles. But the little disappointment will doubtless work for our good, especially if the time speedily comes in which the revolving year will bring with it no day of hoped return. Yet, dear Maa, if the day shall come in which we shall have parted without the hope of return to one another, it will not be with- out the hope of meeting^ and if we but love Christ it will be a 23 hope that will not make us ' ashamed ', a hope that shall not perish even in death, but shall in that very hour in which God declares the 'hope of the hypocrite shall perish,' be changed for a reality, an eternal reality, which shall place us forever before the throne of our Lord, and make us ' pillars in His temple' to ' go out no more forever '. Yes, there is a rest, ' a rest which remaineth to the people of God '. There is a time coming when those who now go to the Saviour burdened with sin, and take His cross shall be made 'kings and priests unto God'; when they shall sit down at the feast of the Lamb, and shall 'drink wine new with Him in His Father's kingdom', and from those who meet in these heavenly scenes, there shall be no more part- ing. Though death were to part us, Maa, while we are pray- ing to be led to the ' Rock that is higher than I', and think- ing that our feet are placed upon it, could we not wait and look for that hour of great assembling ? And how much more should we be willing to remain apart, if it is God's will, when we can spend a part of the interval in laboring to prepare souls to inhabit those mansions of everlasting joy which the Saviour has gone to prepare. "Although, dear Maa, from your last letter, you do not seem now to suppose that it is God's will that we should be separated by many miles of land and water, yet, I feel assured that when your mind has become accustomed to the thought^ and you have for awhile stood upon the Bible that so raise th us above the world, and looked to pierce the religious gloom that overhangs the earth ; and have thought how poorly the command of the Saviour, who hath purchased salvation for us, has been complied with, that His disciples should ' go into all the earth, and preach the Gos- pel to every creature', how few have heard the ' only name given among men whereby they can be saved'; when these things are remembered, Maa will not enquire how near to her and dearest 24 relatives I may hold the Lamp of the Gospel, but rather urge me to haste and bear its beams to that people upon whom the day of the Lord has not yet shone ; who yet know not the love where- with God loved the world when He gave His only begotten Son to die for them, 'that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life'. " Yet, Maa, perhaps you may suppose that I have not weighed well the wants of my native land. I cannot but confess that when the Gospel light of the United States has been placed in one scale of the balances, and the thick gloom of idolatry, that yet covers so much of the world, has settled down in the other, the command of God, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me', and of the Saviour, to ' preach the Gospel to every creature', made the weight in the latter scale so preponderent that there did not appear much necessity for the long indulgence of a doubtful state of mind, yet I postponed an ultimate decision during a year, knowing that, in doing so, I should please my dear mother, and believing that I should not displease my Lord and Master. Now, however, longer delay appears unnecessary and attended with in- jurious consequences; the mind would be kept halting between two opinions, studies would be pursued with indefiniteness, and, at last, perhaps, duty be heard calling to the heathen. " But, Maa, that you may see that I am not without some realiz- ing sense of the condition of our own land, let me be a little more particular. The United States is a Republic, tolerating freedom of speech and conscience ; its people, as a whole, perhaps, the most enlightened in the world ; and among them, perhaps, vice less triumphant and universal than among any others, all of which circumstances are favorable to the rapid spread of the truths of the Gospel. Besides this, our growing country is creating a powerful influence upon other lands, some of which long for institutions similar to our own ; and this influence should be sanctified, as far 25 as may be, by the spread of pure religion among ourselves ; our western country, where there is so soon to bo so large a popula- tion, is, compared with some other portions of our country, desti- tute of ministers of the Gospel ; there are, perhaps, in the differ- ent States of our Union a thousand churches already organized in want of pastors ; and, finally, this country must be one of the greatest fountains whence must flow ' streams to make glad the city of our God '; here must be formed leaven to leaven the whole world. Great, indeed then, is the necessity laid upon all Christians to seek to spread pure and undefiled religion through- out our borders. But, notwithstanding those things, all of which I esteem as of greatest moment, I feel not now (and I leave to- morrow with God) a wavering as to the path of duty in which I should walk. " The reasons that have made plain my decision, I will now briefly relate. "We believe, Maa, that the day will yet come when in Asia, in Africa, and the islands of the Ocean, the once poor, heathen native shall be heard, saying, ' How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings.' But how long shall this day be postponed ? Should not Christians, ' knowing the time', after 1800 years feel ' that now it is high time to awake out of sleep'? Should they not feel that ' the night ' of heathenism 'is far spent ', and that ' the day ' of the Gospel 'is at hand '? Should they not be girding on the ' armor of light ', laboring and praying that the time may be hastened in which the ' kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ'? The accomplishment of this work must be entered upon to-day by every Christian in his particular sphere. To ministers of the Gospel, especially, the enquiry is addressed by their Lord, 'Whom shall we send?' and ' who will go for us ?' Some one must answer ' Here am I, send me '; or else how will the heathen know how to call for salvation ' on Him in 26 whom they have not believed ? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? and how shall they hear without a preacher V The question is who will go ? Many rise up and say, truly, we cannot go. Some, perhaps, hear not the call as addressed to themselves ; certain it is but few go. But what answer shall /give to Him who died upon the cross, and left His command that every creature should hear of His salvation, should He enquire of me, when seated on His throne of judgment, why the idolater, who stood by my side on earth worshipped a stock, or stone, or sun, or moon, had not ' heard ', that he might have ' believed ', and have called upon His precious name for salvation? "What answer could I make ? Must I not be speechless ? For surely I could not say, ' I knew that thou wast an hard Master', requiring me to give up friends, and home, and country, and go to the ends of the earth, for He has graciously promised to be with such, ' Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world'. With such a Friend and Comforter by my side, ought I, could I, count His service ' hard '? But should I, ' after preach- ing the Gospel to others', would I not be deservedly ' myself a castaway '? " But I see that I am passing beyond the limits I had assigned myself. What I mean to say is pretty nearly contained in this, that I believe the world to be in rebellion against its rightful ruler — God ; that I, having entered into his service, feel that the inter- ests of His kingdom will be better advanced by persuading those yet wielding their arms to lay them aside and penitently submit to Him whom they have forsaken, rather than by staying among those who have returned to their allegiance, persuading them to con- tinue faithful. Many, very many otlier things might be said upon this overwhelmingly interesting subject, the religion of Jesus Christ and the way of eternal salvation, but I leave them now. What I have said is as cold a statement of facts as could well be made." 27 From the above letter, we also learn that the missionary work of its writer was already begun ; that it began in his own family, and that its first fruits was the conversion of his youngest brother, Gerald F. Dale, to Christ. Having found the Saviour himself and having learned from sweet experience the precious- ness of the Redeemer, he, like Andrew, one of the first of our Lord's disciples, found his own brother, and brought him to Jesus. This brother also looked forward to the Ministry, and in- dulged the hope that he might be permitted to labor for Christ and the souls of men on heathen ground. Failing health, how- ever, compelled him to give up his studies and denied to him the privilege which his young heart craved ; but, in the Providence of God, he has been permitted to give to this work a son, who bears his own name, and who is, at this time, a successful and greatly honored ambassador for Christ in Zahleh, Syria. In the Service of the American Beard. Having chosen the foreign field as the place for the exercise of his ministry. Dr. Dale offered himself to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and was accepted as one of its missionaries. It was designed to send him to Rajpootana, Hindostan, to establish a new mission at that place. After his appointment, he joyfully writes : " Since reading a work, by Col. Tod, on the country, I feel an increased desire to be soon in the midst of that people, making a beginning in the erection of that temple to the true God, within whose walls every Rajpoot must sooner or later bow the knee of homage." 28 The Board did not deem it prudent to send Dr. Dale out alone to establish the proposed mission ; nor was any one known to its members who was willing to go with him. Meanwhile, being now a licentiate, the Board commissioned him to visit the churches of Long Island and of Eastern Massachusetts. He be- gan this visitation of the churches, in behalf of the Board, in the spring of 1835, and was engaged in it for a year. He preached wherever he could find an open door, or could open a door for himself, on the subject of Foreign Missions, with a view of arous- ing the churches to a deeper interest in that cause, and for the purpose of securing men and money for a more vigorous prosecu- tion of the work ; and especially did he keep before his mind the idea of finding some who were willing to go with him to his intended destination. His eflbrts for the Board were successful, in part at least, but he found no one who was willing and ready to be his companion to Rajpootana. During this time, calls were offered to him from several churches, but he discouraged them, and when they were made out without previously consulting him, he promptly declined them. The Study of Medicine. While watching the developments of Providence and wait- ing for marching orders from the Board, he did not spend his time in idleness. Various studies occupied his mind, as Theology, Botany, Human Nature, and especially the study of medicine. His waiting place was his home, in Philadelphia, where he attended the lectures of the Medical Department of the University 29 of Pennsylvania. It was his intention to get only a general idea of medicine, in order that he might be better qualified for the great work to which he had devoted his life. He supposed that this was all that his stay in America would permit ; but, unex- pectedly to himself, he continued in this line of study until he completed the course and received the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine, which was conferred on him in 1838. At his graduation, as a student of medicine, in accordance with the usual requirement of the University, he wrote a thesis. Most of the students wrote on some disease or organ of the body, but Dr. Dale selected as his subject, " The Connection Between Medical Science and Revealed Religion." The Professor under whose department a thesis came generally spoke to the student, during his examination, of his thesis. At any rate, Dr. Dale expected that, as his subject was a novel one, something would be said of the thesis which he had presented. He, however, passed from one Professor to another, but no man mentioned it. He heard from other students that some one of the Professors had spoken to them of their papers, and thought it strange that nothing was said of his. The last Professor by whom he was examined was Dr. Hugh L. Hodge, who was a brother of the Rev. Dr. Charles Hodge, of Princeton Theological Seminary. The young medical graduate thought within himself, as he went to his final examination. Surely Dr. Hodge will speak of my thesis, but even he said not a word. Years after, Dr. Dale, in relating this incident of his life to the writer, spoke of the great disap- pointment with which he went away from the examination of Dr. Hodge. It was not, as he said, because he thought there was 30 any special merit in his thesis, but because he expected that the novelty of his subject would call forth remark of some kind. Soon after he received his degree of M. D., he went to Alle- gheny, Pa., to spend some time with his brother, Thomas F. Dale, M. D., who had a large and influential practice in that and the neighboring city of Pittsburgh. Having studied the theory, he now desired to learn the practical part of the healing art. It was while he was thus engaged that he received the first intima- tion that the Medical Faculty had taken any notice of his medical thesis. "We can readily imagine his gratification when we learn that he received a letter from the Faculty, which expressed their great appreciation of his production, begged his pardon for hav- ing had it printed, without consulting him, and asked his accept- ance of a number of copies which they had forwarded to his address. Years after, he accidentally saw the same thesis in a volume containing important papers on medical subjects. Working; Waiting and Watching. During his medical course, young Dale worked almost inces- santly, night and day. In addition to his medical studies, he prepared sermons, preached every Sabbath and did much pastoral work. He was the regular supply of several of the Presbyterian churches, in Philadelphia, as the Fifth and Fifteenth. This re- quired him to make special preparation for the pulpit from week to week. So busy was he that his famous medical thesis was hastily written, at one sitting, and copied by the hand of his brother for presentation to the Faculty. 31 All tliroiigli tills busy period, he kept his foreign missionary work constantly before his mind. Indeed, it was this thought that gave impulse to all his purposes and direction to all his plans. The offer of pleasant pastoral settlements and the arguments and persuasions of loving friends were brought to bear upon him to induce him to turn aside from the foreign missionary field and to devote himself to home work. The steadfastness of his determina- tion was tested at every pf)int, but he stood lirm. Several of his letters, written to his brother, Mr. Gerald F. Dale, have been, for- tunately, preserved. "We make use of some extracts from these, because they give us the best idea that we can now get of his thoughts and occupations, of the incidents and experiences through which he passed during this season of suspense in regard to the future of his life: "April 21, 1836. "You have, no doubt, been much engaged this term, and I have not been wholly idle. Yet, I seem to accomplish but little from day to day. I have, as you already knoAV, been supplying one portion of Dr. Skinner's old flock, and have, at the same time, been attending medical lectures, also geological lectures, and botani- cal, and taking lessons in drawing. These duties, and others inci- dental to them, have occupied my time pretty closely, but I hardly feel satisfied with myself at the progress which I make in them. "I do not know how long I shall continue the study of medi- cine, though probably until August, at least. The Summer course then terminates. Should I go out in September, that Avill proba- bly close my studies in this country. Should I not leave then, I may resume them in the Fall. "Mr. Anderson is expected hi the city (Philadelphia) in a few weeks, to deliver instructions to two young men going out to China. 32 I am anxious to see him, as my movements may be affected by the question whether associates can be obtained to accompany me in the Fall. As yet, none are secured. I wish it to be determined as soon as possible, in order that my own arrangements may be made more definitely." , j^^^ 27, 1836. "I expect to continue in the cit}^ (Philadelphia) until August, when I leave for Prince Edward's and Allegheny Seminaries, cer- tainly. Providence permitting, and perhaps, Cincinnati and (return- ing) Andover. This will, in some measure, answer your inquiry as to my success in finding an associate. * * * I do not know whether you met Mr. Taylor, at present residing in the city, but of JS^ew Haven. He has said that were he ready, he knows of nothing to prevent his going to Rajpootana. His studies, however, I believe, will not close regularly until at least a year. But this need not prevent his becoming ultimately a fellow laborer in the wide field of ]!Torthern India. "I do not know, of course, yet what will be my success in obtaining those who will go forth immediately in this work. But I would not be over anxious in regard to it. I pray that I may do nothing to hasten unduly, or retard improperly, that which is right in the sight of God. "Should I not find an associate, who can go out, in the Fall, it may seem advisable to the Board that I should go out alone and, in some measure, prepare the wa.}^ If this be best, I am not only ready, but will most cheerfully arise to run in the way of Grod's commandments. This, in brief, answers another of your inqui- ries in relation to the influence exerted upon my mind b}^ conver- sations had Avith Thomas* on missionary matters. "My own mind has not, so far as I am conscious, been moved in the slightest degree from the position which it before occupied. ♦Thomas was his brother, Dr. T. F. Dale, of Allegheny, Pa. 33 i^othing lias been advanced which lias tended to make me hesitate as to what is duty. In saying this, I do not mean in the remotest degree to speak slightingly of the arguments which may be ad- vanced, showing the need of laborers at home; or which tend to i:)rove that particular persons should stay at home. There are many such, which are weighty and just. * * * "The will of God, exhibited both in Providence and Scripture, in relation to the spread of His kingdom through the world, ap- pears to me exceedingly plain. This will seems now to have a doubly binding force from the past and present neglect of all of us to fultill it. In coming to this decision and maintaining this stead- fastness of purpose, I claim for myself no unusual perspicuity of mind or grace of heart. The light shines too clearly to prevent conviction fastening itself upon my mind, and so long as I hold myself ready to do the will of God, I must go onward in the path which he marks out for me." "December 31,1836. "I had not expected when we spent the close of the last and the beginning of the present year together, that I should spend another in this land. But so it has been ordered in the Providence of God. It has not been in the power of the Board to send forth the mission for want of men, and now it seems that they are straitened in their desire for want of money. "In the meantime, my circumstances have been so ordered as to tend, in a high degree, if impro\'ed, to prepare me for my future anticipated work. I refer particularly to the oi)}»()rtunity for study- ing medicine, at the same time for preaching and thus becoming familiar with the mode of exhibiting truth. "While both of these objects have been furthered, I have had opportunity likewise to become better acquainted with mj'self, both in mind and heart; also with the general character of my 34 fellow-men, with whom I must hereafter be brought into such fre- quent and intimate contact." ^ '"March 16, 1837. "It is most probable that I shall continue where I am Ibr another year. The funds of the Board are now inadequate to meet the demands that are made upon them and they feel unwarranted, under the circumstances, to undertake the estal)lishment of new missions. They would feel unjustified in so doing, though men were ready to go forth. * * * There are those who stand ready to go by next Spring and have signitied the same to the Board. But under the peculiar circumstances, they hesitate to make the appointments, though they have not wholly declined. I trust, however, that it shall not be, when laborers are ready to go and take possession of new ground, in the name of the Great Master, that they will be hindered by the want of pecuniary means. I trust, therefore, by another Spring, that the Rajpoot mission will be entered upon according to the will of God. * * * "We are now in the last week of our Winter course of medi- cal lectures and within two weeks of the Summer course. I shall be happy in the termination of our seven hour sessions, daily, as I have been very happy in the privilege of even toiling through them. My health, however, has experienced scarce an hour's derangement, notwithstanding the Winter's studies ; and they have been much severer than gone through previously in the same period of time. I am preaching now every Sabbath to little companies, in Lombard Street. There is much to be done, and I find greater happiness in doing what little I can than I have experienced ever before." Through all this season of working, waiting and watching and of much anxiety in regard to the future of his life work — that missionary work to which he had so unreservedly consecrated him- 35 self — his letters show that he implicitly trusted his blessed Master; that he fully recognized the Divine Sovereignty; that he earnestly desired to know the will of God; that he sincerely sought to l)e led by that will, and to bring his own will into perfect harmony with the will of his Lord. This is the submissive spirit that runs through all his letters, during this trying period, and, in fact, through his entire life. When most men would have been crushed with despondency, he was ever hopeful; where others could see only the blackness of despair, he saw a rift in the clouds, through which he looked upon the smiling face of his Gfod and Father; where others could hear no voice of comfort and of hope, he could hear the Divine Master, as the disciples heard Him, saying: "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid". The following will to some extent illustrate further this feature of his character: "October 18, 1838. "My mind is becoming increasingly anxious as to my future course. The next step will, probably, be one which will determine the character and degree of my influence on the earth. It will consequently affect my eternity, and that of many others. There is but one path in which duty lies, while there are many, very many, which tempt the wandering step to tread them. I am well persuaded that it were better that a mill stone were hanged about my neck and I drowned in the depth of the sea, than that I should wilfully turn away from the path of duty whithersoever it might lead me. I am also fully persuaded that if any lack wisdom and ask of God, He will grant unto them all needed guidance. Hitherto, I have felt a pleasing assurance that I have committed myself unreservedly to His control. In looking l)ack on the way I have come, there is nothing which induces a belief that thus tar my steps have trodden a forbidden path. 36 "At present, I appear to have arrived at a point where the right onward path seems very greatly, if not entirely, hedged up. There is more than one diverging to the right hand or to the left. It may he duty to take one of these, or it may be duty to attempt pressing through the opposing barrier, to tread the brier under foot, and clamber over the rising rock, and leap the yawning chasm. If my heart were fully persuaded that the last was God's will, I believe I could, without feeling that there was occasion for hesi- tance or fear, go right onward, not, indeed, as feeling my own resolution or powers were adequate, but the grace of God. The principles which have guided me hitherto remain just as evidently true and immovable as when the mercy of God opened my eyes first to regard them as His everlasting truth. I would as soon expect heaven and earth to pass away as to see them fail. Circum- stances, in view of which those principles are regarded, may change, and it may be duty for us to change our course of action, just as much so as originally to enter upon it, but then the principles themselves remain unchangeable. "I have yet received no letter from Boston, though I have written twice. It is my desire to go there, on Monday next, Providence permitting, and continue on to Portland. Ere I return, material will probably be procured for a determination as to my labors for the coming year, may be for life, for eternity. May my whole body, soul and spirit be laid at the feet of my Divine Master, nor move thence till guided by His Spirit. ^ * * "Your o^vn plans, my dear brother, have been greatly modified within a short period. How delightful it is, at every period of doubt, to look up and ask, 'Lord what wilt thou have me to do?' And at every change, what quietude is difl:used through the heart when we can feel that God's will has been done, and therefore ours. May the grace of God be with you in all future changes, and your experience testify that grace is abundantly adequate to meet all your wants." 37 EjEHEral Agent nf Fenna. Bible Saciety. Dr. Dale did not remain long with his brother, Dr. Thomas F. Dale, as a practitioner of medicine. He had not studied medi- cine for mere professional purposes, but as a means to an end. That end was his greater usefulness and efficiency as a preacher of "the glorious Gospel of the blessed God" to the benighted heathen. God's call to him was "Go preach my Gospel"; and the "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel" was ever upon him. He did not care for the title, "Doctor of Medicine", which he so laboriously won. So indifterent was he about it, that, in a few years, the new acquaintances and friends that he made did not even know that he was a Doctor at all. It is evident that Dr. Dale found the material, of which he wrote in the letter of October 18, 1838, and which determined his labors, not only for one year, but for about seven years, yes, for life. Soon after this date we find that he had accepted an invitation from the Pennsylvania Bible Society to become its General Agent. In this capacity, his duties were laborious, as they deprived him of any fixed habitation, and required him to be almost constantly travelling from place to place, mostly by stages or canal boats. To a man of slturujus tastes and habits, who was a lover of books, this was not a congenial mode of living. But Dr. Dale saw in it the leadings of God's Providence; he saw the finger of his Mas- ter pointing to this as His work for him to do, and he did not hesitate to take up cheerfully the work that was laid upon him. So long as he heard the Divine voice saying: "This is the way. 38 walk ye in it," he went about his "Father's business", contented and happy. During his connection with the Bible Society, he visited all the cities and principal towns in the State of Pennsylvania, as well as many important points in Delaware and Maryland. In season and out of season, in private as well as in public, wherever and whenever an opportunity offered, he was ready to preach the Gos- pel of Christ and to present the claims of the Society which he represented. Through his instrumentality, funds were collected for carrying on the work, local organizations were established, and about seventy-five thousand Bibles were distributed. From his letters, we learn that, in the stages and on the canal boats by which he travelled, he had conversations with men of all sorts, which led to discussions on the Bible and the great themes of the religion of Christ. In various ways, his labors were abundantly blessed to the good of the Society and of many others with whom he came in contact. The Rev. Dr. W. W. Spear, of the Protestant Episco- pal Church, who was then acting as Secretary of this Society, thus writes of the value of the service and agency of Dr. Dale: " So long a period has passed that I cannot now recall particu- lars, but the general impression remains of a very pleasant charac- ter; so much so that I felt constrained to attend his funeral, at some inconvenience to myself, and without an invitation from others, and while there to volunteer a brief tribute to his worth. * * "It was nearly forty years ago that I was the acting Secretary of the Pemisylvania Bible Society, and Dr. Dale was the General Agent of the same. * * * "W"e all appreciated Dr. Dale's activity, geniality and usefulness in the Bible cause throughout the 39 State. It was a somewhat critical period in its history, reqnii'in(>; a special measure of judgment and kindness, as we were involved in a perplexing litigation with the Young Men's Bible Society of Pitts- burgh, which was likely to divide the strength and weaken the efforts of our friends. But through the labors of Dr. Dale and a committee of the Board, a fatal division was prevented for the time. Though Dr. Dale and myself left Philadelphia, and co-oper- ated no more, and seldom met during the long interval since, yet I know that he, as well as I, retained a warm feeling of personal regard through life." The work in which Dr. Dale was engaged, in itself considered, was not only uncongenial to such a mind as his, but it was calcu- lated to destroy the fixed habits of study which one acquires in a collegiate and theological training. It did not so act, however, in the case of Dr. Dale. In the midst of many changing scenes and of many things that occupied his mind and distracted his thoughts, he not only persisted in keeping up his classical studies, but he took up and mastered the German language to such an extent that he often spoke and sometimes preached in that tongue. On the 10th of July, 1845, he wrote a letter to the Managers of the Bible Society, and presented his resignation of the office of General Agent, which was accepted. At the close of his letter he says: "I would, therefore, render back to you the high trust con- fided to me as your General Agent. In so doing, niy heart is filled with the most grateful emotion in view of the coiifidence re^x^sed in me, as manifested by the original call to this post of duty and its uninterrupted contiiniance through a period of nearly seven years. My labors have been prosecuted with gladness of heart- May their fruit be unto the glory of God! With unfeigned regret, 40 I anticipate the dissolution of the relation which has so long sab- feisted between ns." Missianary Hopes Ended. He was now thoroughl}^ qualified, as it would seem to Dr. Dale and to others, for the work of a foreign missionary. By natural endowment, he had a strong physical constitution. He had energy and enthusiasm to follow the leadings of Providence in all his undertakings. He was courageous and courteous, and would not flinch from duty in the presence of any foe; and yet his treatment of an opponent would be such as to win him to the truth. By diligent study and mental cultivation, he had become a trained theologian and physician. His seven years' experience in the work of the Bible Society had brought him into contact with all classes of men, and had given him a fine opportunity for the study of human nature, which is aliout the same everywhere. But notwithstanding all these qualifications, it had now become evident to Dr. Dale that the foreign field was not to be the voca- tion of his life. It must have seemed strano;e to him to see the door to it slowly closing against him. He was kept back, first, by the difficulty of finding suitable persons to go with him to the special work for which the Board desired his services, and whom the Board deemed necessary. Then, secondly, there was the discouragement to the Board of an empty treasury, which sent Dr. Dale into other work for seven years. And, lastly, by this time, he had married a wife, whose health was such that she could not well leave home for a foreign land. It was 41 a sore disappointment to Dr. Dale when he fully realized that he must give up the hope which he had so fondly cherished through so many years, of preaching the Gospel of Christ to those who had never heard the glad tidings.* He had, however, learned early in his Christian life, that as the rivers are lost in the ocean, so the will of every true servant of Christ must be lost in that of his Divine Lord. He, therefore, cheerfully accepted the work which the Master had assigned to him, and gave to its prosecution the gifts and graces with which he was endowed. Whatever the foreign field has lost by this change in the current of his life, it is very certain that the religious world, as well as the community in which his life was spent, has been a great gainer. Samestic Life. While engaged as the General Agent of the Bible Society, Dr. Dale visited Newark, Delaware, where he was the guest of the pastor of the Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Elijah Wilson. Here it was that he met for the first time Miss Mary Goldsborough Gray, the daughter of Andrew and Rebecca Rodgers Gray, who were residents of New Castle County, Delaware. The acquaintance ripened into an aftection which resulted in their marriage, on May 14, 1844. In personal appearance, Mrs. Dale was a large, hand- some woman. By culture and disposition she was well qualified for her position as a pastor's wife. She was gentle in her manner, forbearing, patient and sympathetic in spirit. In her home, which * Since the above was written. Miss Annie G. Dale, Dr. Dale's youngest daughter, has become a foreign missionary, and is now laboring under the care of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, at Teheran, Persia. 42 was the chief sphere of her influence, she entertained his friends and her own with a queenly dignity, and yet with a cordial and warm hearted hospitality, which every guest beneath their roof richly enjoyed. In his earlier ministry, she accompanied him in his pastoral visits to his congregation, and always received a hearty welcome from the people. In later years when family cares in- creased, and ill health compelled her to be more and more a " keeper at home," she stood between him and many useless callers, when he was busy in his study. She would hear the case, and, if she thought it necessary to disturb him, she would report to him, or admit the caller into his study. Mrs. Dale, in her own quiet way, carried her full share of her husband's burdens and was in all respects a true wife and a faithful help-meet to him. So much was Dr. Dale occu- pied with numerous cares and labors outside of his home that the care and training of the children was largely left to their mother. Their home was made joyous by the birth of six children — two sons and four daughters. They enjoyed the pleasure of pro- viding for some of their children only a short time, when the Lord who gave them took them home to himself Their second child, and the third also, lived only two years and five months. In the same day one child was born and another died. In the midst of these Providences that darkened their home and filled their hearts with sadness and sorrow, these parents were sustained by their confidence in the wisdom and goodness of God, so that, like Job, they could say: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord". Dr. Dale spoke himself at the funeral of at least one of these children, from the 43 story of David's intercession for his child, and his submission to the will of God when the child was dead. The older people of his charge well remember him as he stood beside the little coffin of his beloved daughter, "Roddie," and preached to them of the sovereignty of God in the giving of children to bless the home and in the removing of them from our loving care to the arms of the Good Shepherd. It was manifest to all who heard him that his fatherly heart was sorely tried, and that his faith in God was more than equal to the test. Though he spoke through his tears, they were the tears of submission to Him who doeth all things well. After many years of patient and painful suffering, and al- most entire exclusion from society, of which she was a gifted and genial member, Mrs. Dale, on ITovember 14, 1875, surrounded by her husband and her three children, exchanged the burdens and sufferings of earth for the rest and enjoyment of heaven. This was the heaviest blow that had ever fallen upon Dr. Dale. He knew that he would most keenly feel the loss of his good wife's care, counsel and companionship. But in his own great loss, he saw her everlasting gain; he recognized the hand of his Father, God, and with all the confidence, simplicity and trust of a truly submissive child, he said: "Not my will, but Thine be done." In the old grave-yard at Middletown, where he had so often stood with his parishioners and buried the dead of his congrega- tions, he stood by the open grave of his own beloved wife, and, when her mortal remains had been lowered into their place of rest until the day of the resurrection, his soul was so filled with the Divine presence that he broke forth in a prayer so sweet and 44 tender that his voice seemed like that of a seraph before the throne of God. The very fountains of his being seemed to be broken up. In his prayer, he kissed the hand that had removed forever from his home his beloved Mary, the wife of his bosom, the mother of his children, and cast himself in all his loneliness, with his motherless offspring, upon the promises of God and the loving sympathy of Christ. The hearts of all who stood beside him were deeply moved, as, with bowed head and tearful eyes, they heard the man of great physical and intellectual strength pleading by the new-made grave of his wife, in fervent prayer with God. The deatfe of his wife was a wound that Dr. Dale carried with him through the remainder of his life. He never forgot her. He found a melancholy pleasure in speaking of her to those who had known her, and in thinking of what she had been to him as his help-meet, the sharer of his joys and his sorrows, his ever willing and ready sympathizer in prosperity and adversity. She was absent and yet ever present to his mind, moulding his life, sanctifying his character, and making him more and more meet for the saints' everlasting rest. First Fastaral SettlemBnt. Among the various fields of labor which presented themselves to Dr. Dale, he selected the Presbyterian churches of Ridley and Middletown, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He was, as we learn from a letter of one of the elders of the Ridley church, in- forming him of the action of these congregations, " unanimously 45 elected" to the pastorate of this charge. "It was," continues the letter, "well and handsomely done", June 21, 1845. The writer of the letter adds, "We will promise you and Mrs. Dale a warm welcome, and plenty of missionary work, which is what, I know, you will like". Concerning the invitation to become the pastor of these churches, Dr. Dale writes: "I am induced to regard the invitation favorably, because the field of labor to which, in God's Providence, I have been invited, though long neglected, promises happy results under proper cultivation". Soon after accepting the call, he entered upon his pastoral work. He was installed May 17, 1846. The field was an extensive one. There was much work to be done, and many souls to be won to Christ. The helpers were few, because the members of the two churches, from various causes, were discouraged and disheartened. They were scattered here and there over a territory of one hundred square miles, which made the regular attendance of many on the services of the Sab- bath an ^impossibility. There was but one other Presbyterian minister in the county, and not one self-sustaining church of any evangelical denomination. There were no railroads through the county, but only touching upon its outer borders. The young pastor was, therefore, largely cut oiF from fellowship and consult- ation with his ministerial brethren. The field was truly mission- ary ground, involving physical endurance of hardship and exposure, many sacrifices, much self-denial, and patient, persevering toil. In various ways he had quite as much hardship in many of these experiences as if he had been a foreign missionary. All this was seen by Dr. Dale when he accepted the call to these churches, and strange as it may seem to some, he made choice of this field for 46 the very reason that such was its character. He did not then, nor did he ever after, seek the easy places, or the places of worldly honor in the Lord's vineyard. Believing that the Lord of the vineyard had chosen his lot, he went to the churches of Ridley and Middletown knowing of the privations and hardships that were in store for him and of the scanty support that he would be likely to receive, as hopefully and cheerfully as if he had been called to one of the wealthiest and most influential churches of the land. The young pastor and his wife made their first home in the family of Mr. John Caldwell, who lived in the northern part of the City of Chester. The distance from Mr. Caldwell's house to Ridley is between three and four miles, and to Middletown it is between four and five miles. Weather never kept Dr. Dale from meeting his appointments. Through scorching sun, drizzling rains, drifting snows and driving storms, sometimes on foot, and often on horseback, he found his way to the place of meeting when even the sexton had not thought it worth while to open the church doors. It was his custom from the beginning of his ministry — a custom which he continued until almost the end of his life — to preach at least three times on the Sabbath and fre- quently during the week. In his early ministry, he was not satis- fied with merely preaching in the pulpit to those whom it might please to come and hear him, but, going beyond the limits of the church building, his voice was heard in school houses and in pri- vate dwellings all over the county, wherever he could get a place in which to speak and even a few to listen. He was constantly on the lookout for promising points of interest where people 47 could be gathered together and where preaching stations could be established. Among the first visible results of his aggressive labors in this direction was the organization of the Crookville church. It is now called Todmorden. A handsome church building was here erected, at the expense of Mr. William T. Crook, who was then the owner of the works at that place. Mr. Crook was a great admirer of his pastor from the beginning of his ministry to the end of his life. It was his appreciation of the zealous labors of Dr. Dale among those to whom Mr. Crook gave employment, that induced him to erect this sanctuary, that he might thereby provide a place of worship for his employes and strengthen the hands and encourage the heart of his devoted pastor. Unfortunately, this valuable property was never deeded to a Board of Trustees, and, in the changes of business and of fortune, it passed out of the denomination for whose use it was erected and fell into the hands of owners who used it, for a time, as a store house. It has, however, been again restored to its proper purpose as a house for the service of God, and is occupied by worshippers of a differ- ent denomination. Cheater and its ChurcheB. Chester was one of Dr. Dale's most important preaching points. He saw that there was a great commercial future before that (then) small village and so gave much time to the development of its religious interests. The seed which he sowed took root and its fruit was the First Presbyterian Church of that now flourishing 48 city. This church was organized in 1852. It gradually gathered sufficient strength to support, with the aid of the Board of Domestic Missions, a pastor of its own, which Dr. Dale secured for the congregation that he might be free to go and hreak ground elsewhere. As the city grew in population, the church increased numerically and financially. Being itself the result of the missionary spirit and labors of its founder, as the city grew, the people of this church began to do for other parts of it what had been done for them. Under the guidance of its pastor, the Rev. Alexander "W. Sproull, a few of its members organized a Sabbath school in the South "Ward, which so prospered as to make a demand for a building of its own and for the organization of a church. Accordingly, in 1866, "The Chester City Presbyterian Church " was organized by the Third Presbytery of Philadelphia. Previous to the organization, Mr. Thomas Reaney erected, at his own expense, a church building, complete in all its appointments and ready for occupancy, which he deeded to a Board of Trustees as a gift to the newly organized congregation. The First church next directed its energies to the North Ward of the city, where a flourishing Sabbath school was soon gathered and a suitable building erected for its use. In October, 1872, a church was organized in this location, by the Presbytery of Chester, with fifty-one members, which is known as "The Third Presbyterian Church of Chester". Thus there are now in the city of Chester, three self-sustain- ing churches, with three pastors, on the ground broken for Presby- terianism by Dr. Dale, and on foundations that were laid by him. 49 The value of the property owned by the three congregations amounts to about fifty-two thousand dollars, and their united contributions, according to the last report to the General Assem- bly, for home support and Christ's cause beyond their own bounds, for the year ending April 1, 1882, amounted to twelve thousand one hundred and fifty-four dollars. A movement is now on foot looking toward the erection and organization of a fourth church, in South Chester. Labors at Media. — Secand Fastaral Charge. For some time Media had been looming up as a point of special interest. It had become the county seat instead of Chester, and was showing some signs of prosperity and of prospective growth. Dr. Dale had his eye upon it from the very beginning of its im- portance. While he continued to feel a deep interest in the pro- gress of the work at Chester, it had been committed to other hands, and he no longer felt the same responsibility for its success. And now, in April, 1858, he resigned the charge of the Ridley church, after having been its faithful and devoted pastor for twenty-one years. It was about this time also that he removed the place of his residence from Crookville to Media, so that he might be convenient to the new enterprise on which his atten- tion and his energy had for some time been directed. The upbuilding of a church at the new county seat was attended with many difficulties and trials. For years there were but few signs of encouragement and little or nothing to give inspiration to hope. A less hopeful man than Dr. Dale 50 would have given up such an undertaking in hopeless despair. But he was not easily discouraged. Faith, patience, perseverance and hope were leading traits of his character. He was a careful student of Divine Providence and of natural science, especially of astronomy and geology. From his knowledge of the wondrous ways and works of God he learned much which he used as aids in the cultivation and development of his own character. It was for this purpose that he familiarized his mind with the mar- vellous facts and the immense figures of geology and astronomy. After reading his printed sermon, "Time and its Unfoldings", a discourse preached on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his pastoral relation, and noting the application which he makes of the facts and figures of science, no one will be surprised to find him a man full of faith and of hope, doing his God-given work with good cheer and patience, trusting in the Lord and leaving all the results and issues of his labor with Him. A quotation from the sermon itself will best illustrate this thought: "Astronomers tell us that the breadth of the earth is not sufficient as a base-line wherewith to form an angle with the nearest star, that thereby we may measure its distance. Such a base-line can only be secured by waiting, waiting through days, weeks, months, until the earth shall have rolled through one-half her orbit, and thus furnish a base-line, not of eight thousand miles, but of two hundred million miles. Such a base gives us a measurable star-angle, and yet only (so vast is the distance) one which is of seconds in extent. If we would reach results that are grand and remote, we must learn to wait." It was by such contemplations as these that he learned to wait, to wait the solution of many a perplexing problem in his 51 life, and the unfolding of God's plans and purposes respecting his own work. Thus it was that, in the midst of many discourage- ments, he continued to preach at Media with an eloquence and a power that astonished strangers, who often expressed surprise that a man of such rare gifts and graces should be permitted to remain in a place of such comparative obscurity. He paid no heed to such compliments as he often received in this way, but went on quietly with the work, which, he felt, his Master had given him to do. In every discouragement, faith steadied him ; hope inspired him. Faith was at the foundation of every new undertaking, and hope reached out to its completion. These were the piers of the bridge over which he walked from the beginning to the end of all that he undertook for the glory of God and the good of his fellowmen. With much prayer and planning, he secured the location and style of the Media church edifice. The corner stone was laid July 4, 1854, and part of the building was ready for use in November, 1855. With the solicitude of a father for his child, he superintended its erection and watched the workmen as they laid in order the stones and the timbers of this new sanctuary for God's worship. He gave generously of his own inherited means and, by his personal eftbrts and influence, he secured subscriptions from others for carrying forward the enterprise. For a number of years after the completion of the building, the property that he possessed was kept subject to a mortgage which he had given as security for money that had been l)orrowed to pay in full the bills of the contractors, merchants, mechanics and workmen as they came due, so that the only claims against the property, when 52 the building was finished, were held by Dr. Dale and his well tried, steadfast and life-long friend, Mr. John C. Beatty. It was a glad day for Dr. Dale when he saw the substantial church edifice in which the congregation of the Media Presbyterian Church now worship completed from the foundation stone to the large gilded hand which once adorned the steeple, with its finger, as he used to say, "Pointing to the skies and to God, to remind all who look upon it that God alone is the true object of the adoration and worship of all men, and to lift the thoughts of the passer by to him who gives to us every good and every perfect gift." As yet there was no church organization and the congregations were very small, while the audience room was comparatively large. That the house was built in accordance with the hopes of its pro- jector for the future growth of the congregation, rather than to meet the demands of the feeble fiock then gathered, is evident from the fact that on the Sabbath after it was opened for religious services only fourteen persons met for public worship. After years of the most laborious toil, a self-denial, and, indeed, priva- tion, on the part of Dr. Dale, which were known only to his fam- ily and himself, the church was regularly organized with forty-six members, and he was unanimously called, October 26, 1866, to be its pastor, at a salary of one thousand dollars per annum. He was, at the same time, formally installed by the Presbytery of Philadel- phia. He now decided, the Lord willing, to make Media his home for life and the upbuilding of its Presbyterian church his chief pastoral work. 53 MiddletDwn and Media Fastarate Clased. In less than five years after his installation, at Media, and while he was busy with the work which he had there laid out for himself to do, there came, unexpectedly to him, a call from the Wayne Presbyterian Church. He was, at first, reluctant to give any encouragement to those who presented this call. He preferred to remain where he was. But so earnestly were the claims of this call pressed upon him that, after a full and prayer- ful consideration of all the interests involved, he felt that the call from "Wayne church was from God, and that it was his duty to accept it. His pastoral relation to the Middletown church had continued from the beginning of his ministry in Delaware County until the present time, and it was no easy matter to think of sev- ering a relation that had existed so pleasantly for more than a quarter of a century. The Media church was also very dear to him, because he had toiled and suffered to bring it to the point at which he was now to leave it. Many and strong were the ties that bound this pastor and people to each other. He had been in their family and social circles as a sharer in their festivities and enjoyments; he had knelt with them around their domestic altars, and had commended them and their little ones to the Father of all ; he had married the fathers and mothers, and he had baptized their children; they had been together at the marriage feast, in the chamber of sickness, and by the open grave. He had been their guide and counsellor in the perplexities of life; he had sympa- thized with them and comforted them in their sorrows. He was 54 as a father to the children, and to the young men and maidens ; he was as a brother to their parents. It was hard for him to say to such a people that the ties by which they had been so long and so tenderly bound must be cut, and it was hard for them to give their consent to the dissolution of the relation that existed between them. A special meeting of the Presbytery of Chester was con- vened August 3, 1871, to consider and issue the case. All of the churches concerned were within the bounds of that Presbytery. Each of the churches was represented by Commissioners. Dr. Dale told how the call had come to him, and how his own mind was impressed by it. He stated that, in his judgment, it was hm duty to go to Wayne, and requested with much emotion that his present pastoral relations be now dissolved, and that arrange- ments be made for his installation as pastor of the Wayne church. Mr. Henry B. Black, who was one of Dr. Dale's spiritual children, as well as a warm friend and generous supporter of his pastor, spoke for the commissioners of Middletown and Media and the congregations which they represented. He stated that the peo- ple of the Middletown and Media churches had reluctantly agreed to unite with their pastor in his request now before the Presby- tery, provided it is evident to them that an adequate and guar- anteed salary is embodied in the call from the congregation of the Wayne church, exceeding the salary paid to him by his present charges. It was stated by Mr. Black that the congregations which they represented felt that the talents of Dr. Dale could and should command a far higher salary than they were able to pay, and that they were willing to deny themselves of all that Dr. 55 Dale was to them as a pastor, only on the ground that, at "Wayne, he would receive a larger temporal support, and thus be freer to devote himself more exclusively to his chosen lines of study. The Wayne commissioners promptly gave the assurance asked for by the commissioners on the other side. It should be dis- tinctly noted that Dr. Dale had nothing whatever to do with the question raised in regard to his salary. He had already settled the question of duty, irrespective of all financial considerations. He was far from what would be called "a worldly-wise man". The compensation of dollars for his services was a matter that gave him, perhaps, too little trouble. How to be most useful to his fellow-men, and how best to promote the glory of God, were ever the ruling thoughts of his life. iN'one knew these things better than the people of Middletown and Media, whose servant he had been, during so many years, for Jesus' sake ; and hence their desire to make sure of a competent temporal support for him, which the people of Wayne were just as ready to promise as they were to ask. All the parties having been heard, the Presbytery dissolved the pastoral relation existing between Dr. Dale and the Middle- town and Media churches. Thus closed a pastorate which was full of faithful service, rich in the advancement of Presbyterian- ism, the best and highest interests of mankind, and the progress of the kingdom of Christ. Another quotation from the Twenty -fifth Anniversary Ser. mon of Dr. Dale, to which reference has already been made, will show, as some of the ripened fruits of his self-denying labors, the 56 onward march of the Presbyterian Church during the twenty -five years of his ministry: "Twenty-five years ago, there were (in Delaware County) seven Methodist Episcopal churches, now there are eleven; Jive Protestant Episcopal churches, and now eight; three Baptist churches, and now five; one Roman Catholic, and now four; none colored, and now two; four Presbyterian, and now ten; sixteen Friends, and now the same number, sixteen. Since 1845 the evangelical churches have doubled their numbers, keeping pace with the population, which has also doubled. Within this pas- toral charge where there were two churches, there are now five, besides one regular preaching-place (Glen Riddle), where we hope that a church edifice may before long be erected and a church organized. * * * There is not a pastor of any denomination in Delaware County, who retains the pastoral charge which he had at the commencement of this quarter of a century but my- self; and in the Presbytery of Philadelphia, with which this pastoral charge has been connected through all that period, there is but one pastor, the Rev. Henry A. Boardman, D.D., who retains the charge which he held at the beginning of this period." Third Pastnral Charge— Wayne. "Wayne is on the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, about fourteen miles from Philadelphia. Its residents are mostly the families of men whose business is in Philadelphia, and who travel daily between their homes and the city. From a brief Historical Sketch of the Wayne Presbyterian Church, prepared by the Board of Trustees, we learn that the pretty church edi- fice, not far from the Wayne Station, " with the lot of ground 57 upon which it is erected, also the parsonage, with the lot of ground attached thereto, was the gift of J. Henry Askin, Esq., under whose personal direction the building was commenced and completed." The real estate thus presented was valued at about twenty thousand dollars. This church being in Delaware County, within the limits of which Dr. Dale's entire pastoral life had been spent, and also within the bounds of the Presbytery to which he already belonged, it was easier for him, if he changed at all, to accept such a pastorate as this, than to move to some more distant point. From the moment that the pulpit of the "Wayne church be- came vacant, in April, 1871, the officers of the church felt that the coming pastor must be a man of more than ordinary spiritu- ality and intellectual ability, that he must be a man of unusual wisdom and prudence. Mr. Howell Evans, who had been with the church from its beginning, and who had taken a deep inter- est in all that pertained to its organization and growth, suggested the name of Dr. Dale. He was not a stranger to the congregation. He had been in the county for five and twenty years, and had made himself a power for good. He had an established character and reputation, and it was felt that he would at once command the respect and confidence of the community. He had, also, been with the people of Wayne church at almost every important step in their history. In quietly canvassing these matters, the officers and the most influential members of the congregation cordially agreed with the suggestion of Mr. Evans, and united in the con- viction that Dr. Dale had all the essential qualities for which they were looking. The only question was, Would he come? 58 This question, as we have already seen, was settled to the satis- faction of all the parties concerned. A formal call was extended to him, June 19, 1871 ; and his installation took place, under the direction of the Preshytery of Chester, September 28, 1871. He was most kindly and cordially received by the people, and began his ministry with great promise of usefulness and success. On the Sabbath following his installation, he preached a sermon on " The Earliest Settlement by Presbyterians on the Delaware River and in Delaware County," from Psalm 60: 4: "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth;" also. Psalm 20: 5: "In the name of our God will we set up our banner." The sermon gives a concise presentation of the establishment of Presbyterianism in the region of the church, and of the distinctive principles of Presbyterianism, The policy of his ministry, as pastor of the Wayne church, is set forth under the last division of the sermon ; and this shows not only his attachment to his own denomination, which he loved so well, but also the largeness of heart of a true Presbyterian, and his readiness to extend the hand of fellowship to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth. It is as follows: "The true end for which every church banner should be dis- played is to maintain God's truth, and to promote God's glory. * * ^ To be governed by such an end will wither to the roots all unholy rivalry and jealousy among Christians. A single love to God will beget unfeigned love to all who 'fear Him.' The history of the Presbyterian church for long centuries shows a deep love and an earnest advocacy for the truth of God. We 59 would have the history of "Wayne church to show as clearly that the truth is no less loved by its pastor and people. May we hold the truth in love — in love to God, that He may be honored by it ; in love to His people of every name, that its power may be dis- played in making them one in Christ; in love to God's enemies, that they may be blest through it by Him who 'so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for it.' In this spirit we will welcome to this pulpit, on all suitable occasions, the minister of the Gospel, though he may not bear the Presby- terian banner, if he shall have received a banner from our com- mon Lord. And when that holy service which commemorates the dying love of our Divine Redeemer shall here be celebrated, we will welcome to its observance not merely those who gather be- neath the Presbyterian banner, but no less, all those of every name who call Jesus Lord, and do, with a penitent heart and a believ- ing soul, rest upon Him as their Saviour and ours. Then shall we feel assured that He who has given to His people a banner of truth to display, will throw over us also His banner which is love." Owing to the ill health of his wife, who had been an invalid for a number of years. Dr. Dale did not occupy the Wayne parson- age, but continued to live at Media. He went to Wayne on Saturdays, and often in the middle of the week. The want of a home of his own at Wayne, was largely compeusated for by the kind hospitality which was most generously and cordially ex- tended to him by the families of Messrs. Charles Eldredge, Howell Evans and J. Henry Askin. He usually stayed with the family of Mr. Askin, from Saturday until Monday. Everything was done by this family to meet his wants and to make him comfortable. They regard it as a precious privilege to have been permitted to entertain him so often. His coming to them from 60 week to week was looked forward to with much interest, and, now that he is gone and comes no more, his presence, so fre- quently in their home, is cherished among the sweetest memories of the household. For nearly five years his pastorate continued in this way. There was nothing remarkable about it. By his interest in the temporal and spiritual welfare of his people and by his sympathy with them in their afilictions and sorrows, he endeared himself to them as a worthy pastor and a faithful friend. Forty-eight persons were added to the membership of the little church ; and in various directions that indicate prosperity and give good cheer to a working pastor and people, there were many encouraging tokens of the Divine favor, which gladdened the hearts of all who felt an interest in the success and permanent growth of this young enterprise. Last Pastorate Ended. Early in the Summer of 1876, in the midst of his work, with many plans in his mind that reached into the future, he was sud- denly stricken down with a disease from which he never fully recovered. The best medical skill was consulted, and his phy- sicians said that he was threatened with softening of the brain. All agreed that mind and body had been overtaxed, and that he must take a rest from all ministerial and mental labor in order to recuperate nature's wasted energies. When he recovered, as he thought, from the first attack, he declared himself as well as ever he was in his life. To gratify his physicians and friends, 61 however, he consented to take a season of rest — the first that he had ever taken in all his ministry. During this time the writer met him at Saratoga Springs, on his way to Clifton Springs, and being asked about his health, he replied: "I feel as strong and almost as well as I ever did in all my life. I see no reason why I should not engage in my accustomed work. I have only laid it aside in deference to the advice of physicians and the wish of my family and friends." After being aljsent from home for more than three months, a good part of the time having been spent at Clifton Springs, N". Y., he returned with the intention of resum- ing the accustomed routine of his life, but his physicians gave him no encouragement in carrying out his plans. They rather positively assured him that the continuance of his life depended upon the continuance of rest for a longer period, and earnestly urged him to resign his pastoral charge, in order that he might be free from all responsibility and anxiety in regard to the affairs of a church. With his accustomed submission to the orderings of Divine Providence, he said to God, with a child's confidence in an affectionate father, "Thy will be done." Dr. Dale made a statement of his case to his congregation; told the people of his intention to resign his charge, and to ask the Presbytery to dissolve the pastoral relation existing between them; and asked them to unite with him in this request. Under the circumstances, there was nothing left for the congregation to do but to acquiesce in the wish of their pastor. Mr. Howell Evans, who has known Dr. Dale during all of his ministry, who has been an elder of the Wayne church from its organization 62 until the present time, an admirer and personal friend of its pas- tor, who, as an officer of the church, was brought into close and intimate relations with him, which were pleasant and congenial to them both, and who was also familiar with the mind of the congregation, thus writes of him, of the high esteem in which he was held by the people of "Wayne, and of the feelings with which they accepted his resignation: "It was with unfeigned regret that the congregation of Wayne church acquiesced in the request of Dr. Dale for the dissolution of the pastoral relation which had existed so pleasantly and har- moniously between the people of Wayne and their pastor. His Christian character and gentlemanly demeanor, his great learn- ing and deep piety, his manifest unselfishness in the work of the ministry, and his untiring efforts to win souls to the Redeemer, united with his great earnestness, made him a power for good in the pulpit, and endeared him to the people of his charge. The Lord greatly blessed his ministry amongst us, and made him an honored servant of Jesus Christ in winning souls to the knowledge of the truth, and in the upbuilding of God's people in their spirit- ual life. "Failing health made it necessary for him to relinquish the charge of our congregation. His ministry will ever be held in the tenderest remembrance by all who were privileged to attend upon it. The eloquence and the spirituality of his preaching left an impression upon his hearers which, we are sure, can never be forgotten. The condition of the impenitent seemed to rest as a burden upon him, and his earnest pleadings with them to be reconciled to God, seemed to spring from the very depths of his soul, as he, with tears, pointed them to Christ, 'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' Christ was ever the burden of his preaching. His constant theme was Christ, 63 'able to save unto the uttermost;' Christ waiting to receive all who look to Him for salvation, and Christ able and willing to sustain all who put their trust in Him. He has now entered upon his rest and reward. Sweet to us is the memory of the re- lation that we sustained to each other for nearly live years. En- couraged by his teachings, we cherish the hope that, when our appointed time comes, we shall meet, no more to part, in the 'Father's house' with its 'many mansions.'" The matter was brought to the attention of the Presbytery, by a statement from Dr. Dale similar to that which he had made to his congregation, and a request that the pastoral relation ex- isting between him and the Wayne church be dissolved. The commissioners from the church stated that it was with much re- gret the congregation had agreed to unite with their pastor in his request. In a resolution, which was adopted, the Presbytery gave expression to the deep regret with which its members liad heard the circumstances which demanded the step that they were called upon to take, and to their sympathy with Dr. Dale in his aftlic- tion. The pastoral relation that had existed between Dr. Dale and the Wayne church, since September 28, 1871, was then, on October 23, 1876, dissolved. Thus ended his third and last pastoral charge. He was now free from all the care and responsibility of a church, but it was by- no means a freedom that he enjoyed. So much did he love and desire to preach that there were times when he was like a caged lion, and notwithstanding the silence that was imposed uj^on him, the barriers that were thrown around him by the counsels and cautions of jihysicians and the entreaties and persuasions of 64 friends, there were times when he did preach in spite of every thing. He was now at liberty to seek the restoration of his health, which he did by travel and by a strange kind of rest from much study. "While he is thus engaged, as we have seen something of his labor and its results, let us look more particularly at the man himself, in some other aspects of his work and character. As a Freacher. Dr. Dale was a grand preacher. I shall never forget the first time that I heard him preach. It was at the Spring communion in the Middletown church, on a beautiful Sabbath in the month of May. Dr. Dale was then in the noon-day of his strength and power as a preacher. The texts from which he preached that morning were. Job 9: 33 — "Neither is there any daysman betwixt us;" and Job 33: 24 — "Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom." This was the first time that I had ever seen Dr. Dale. I was at once imj^ressed with his dignified bear- ing, his solemn manner, and his intense earnestness. The sermon that followed the announcement of the text was, up to that period of my life, the grandest and most impressive to which I had ever listened. The sentences of the preacher were as clear as crystal, and his very words seemed to breathe the breath of life. With an eloquence that stirred the souls of his hearers to their pro- foundest depths, he pictured man in his utterly ruined, hopeless and eternally lost condition, until I could not see how the impeni- tent could fail to feel deeply their wretched, helpless, hopeless state. On the other hand, he presented the adaptation and free- 65 iiess of the Divine remedy for sin. Pointing to the emblems of a Saviour's broken l)0(ly and shed blood, he set Christ before his hearers, in all the blessed fullness of His atoning work, as the miglity Redeemer of mankind; the sinner's only ransom from the power and dominion of sin and its everlasting consequences ; the believer's only hope of eternal life. Never before had I so felt the conscious tlirol)bings of Christ's presence, Christ's compas- sionate tenderness, Christ's bomidless love. Conscious of my own emotions, I ventured to glance, for a moment, from the preacher to the people, to see the effect on others. All appeared spell-bound. It seemed to me that there were tears in almost every eye. Young men and maidens, in the strength and pride of their manhood and womanhood, as well as older men and matrons, were weeping like little children. When he came to the administration of the Sacra- ment, the very elements seemed to glow with the life of heaven. The whole service was one of the most sweetly solemn and tenderly impressive communion seasons that I had ever attended in all my life. Since then four and twenty years have come and gone, but the appearance of the preacher and the impressive solemnity of that hour are as fresh in my memory as though they were the experiences of yesterday. I felt grateful that it was to be my privilege to sit, for at least two years, under such an edifying, a powerful and profitable ministry. On that day I set Dr. Dale down as prince among preachers, and, though I have since heard most of the great preachers of the country, I have never had any reason to change my first impression. Often since then, I have heard him preach with an eloquence that I have seldom, if ever, heard equalled. 66 In the Spring of 1862, he was nominated to preach the annual sermon before the Brainerd Evangelical Society of Lafayette Col- lege. It was customary to seek the services of some prominent, widely known preacher for this occasion. So little was Dr. Dale then known outside of the community in which he dwelt, that, before his election, the question was asked, "Who is this Mr. Dale?" (He was not then known as Dr. Dale.) Assurances having been given that he was thoroughly competent to meet the requirements of the day, he was chosen, and at the Commencement in June, performed the duty assigned to him. As was often his custom, he announced two passages of Scripture as his text — Luke 2 : 49 — "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" and John 12: 28 — "Father, glorify Thy name." Uniting the thoughts of these two texts, he announced as his theme, "Our Father's busi- ness for our Father's glory." The matter of the sermon and the manner of the preacher were as appropriate to the time and place as it was possible to make them. His words were all aglow with that intense earnestness which is the soul of eloquence; and he held the intense interest of his hearers from the beginning to the close. The large First Church was filled with the most cultured people of Easton. There was every thing in the surroundings to inspire any preacher, and Dr. Dale rose grandly to the splendid height of his magnificent opportunity. The writer was heartily thanked by students and others for having brought such a preacher before the Society and for having given to them such a pleasant and profitable treat. No one now asked, "Who is Mr. Dale?" All who heard him were enthusiastic in his praise. A special meeting of the Society was convened to pass a vote of thanks to him and 67 to ask from him a copy of the sermon for publication. In their request for the sermon, the Committee expressed the mind of the Society when they wrote to him : "The simplicity and inexpressible beauty of the theme, — a theme so pregnant with important thought — as well as its able development, have induced the Society to solicit a copy for publi- cation, in order that the great subject — ^^Our Father's business for our Father's glory" — which you so earnestly presented for our consideration, may be permanently kept before our minds as the governing principle of our lives, leading us ever to make our busi- ness God's business, for God's glory." After Dr. Dale had preached the sermon before the Brainerd Society, there were many who asked, ""Why is it that such a man is not better known?" "Why is it that such a preacher does not fill a more prominent pulpit ?" Such questions were often asked by those who did not know the spirit of the man. In answer to all such inquiries, it may be said, that Dr. Dale never sought a promi- nent place for himself; he never asked his friends to intercede for him with tliis church and that; he never used his own influence or sought that of his brethren and friends to get a hearing in a vacant pulpit. His name was seldom found on the list of the seventy-five or one hundred candidates which may be found in the hands of the Session of almost any ordinary vacant church. He acted on the principle that God knew him, and where and how he could best serve Him; that God knew all the vacant churches and their needs, and, if He thought best, could put him in any church in all the land. Moreover, he made the mistake of preaching too long for the modern congregation. He devoted 68- considerable time to the profitable exposition of the Scripture lessons which he read, and thus prolonged the services far beyond the average length. He had to be heard oftener than once to be appreciated. Without his own intervention, he was several times sought out and consulted by the officials of influential vacant churches with a view to becoming their pastor, but so well satis- fied was he with the work in which he was engaged, that he gave little or no encouragement to any movement that looked toward his removal from Delaware county. He went there with no other thought than that it was to be the field of his life's work. As the years went on, the roots of his influence went down deep and broad throughout the community and sent out their branches in various directions. He became immersed in studies which he could pursue with far more satisfaction and success in the retirement of his rural parish than in some conspicuous city church, which his friends considered him unusually well qualified to fill, and in which they would have been glad to see him placed. God had given to him a work, which was quite congenial to his taste, and, evi- dently, God kept him where it could be best accomplished. Then the motto of his life was that which he presented to the young men of Lafayette College — "Our Father's business for our Father's glory." I know of no sentiment which more clearly and thor- oughly expressed the aim and end of his own unselfish being. I listened to the sermon when he preached it, and I have read it since in the light of what I knew of him and applied much of it to himself. Here was^his idea of one's position in life, as he gave it in that sermon: 69 "As engaged in 'our Fathcr'H business,' there is no position which is low, no duty which is ignoble, no act which is menial. Under the law, all offenses, as violations of law, had an equality of guilt. 'He that offcndeth in one point, is guilty of the whole.' In 'our Father's business,' all things have an ecjuality of dignity as entering into His glory! 'Whether we eat or drink;' whether Ave learn or teach; whether we hold the plough or throw the shuttle; whether we swell the crowded exchange or sit solitary by the cradle; — 'whatsoever we do,' if in 'our Father's business to our Father's glory,' it is, thereby, dignified and sanctified and an offering made meet for His acceptance." One of the counsels which he gave toward the close of tlie sermon was, "Be not envious of the allotment of others," under which he said: "The blazing star appears to us immense and glorious, while a twinkling night-star seems tiny and trivial; yet, in the Creator's eye, the latter may excel the former in grandeur and in glory. Kings and princes, the wise and noble, the rich and prosperous, are illustrious in the eyes of their fellows. If, in their several allotments, they are about their 'Father's business,' do you rejoice in the tri])ute which they bring to your Father's glory, even though your lot should not be among such. As God gives unto you, so do you return unto Him. " Bring forth from your heart self — self! that enemy to your- self, to all righteousness and God, and slay it before Him. Thus shall you be ever free to do your 'Father's Inisincss.' Thus shall you exult, exult only, and exult forever in your Father's glory." These considerations may help any who are interested to un- derstand why it was that Dr. Dale did not stand in some promi- nent pulpit, the object of admiring multitudes. It was the will 70 of God that he should engage in other work, less conspicuous for the time, and he was happy and contented in doing what he re- garded as the will and work of his Heavenly Father. Yet all the while, in his own quiet, unobtrusive way, and without trying to do it, he was chiselling out for himself a name that shall endure, and that will be spoken with the most profound respect when the names of many of his seemingly more brilliant cotemporaries shall have been entirely forgotten. Ab a Fastar. In the early days of his ministry, Dr. Dale was indefatigable as a pastor. With his young wife, he spent much time among the people of his charge. They used to go and spend several days together, at different points, in their one hundred square miles of territory, visiting from house to house, and holding meetings for preaching and prayer. At these times, and also at all his out-posts for preaching, many belonging to other denominations, and to no denomination at all, came out to hear him, and there are multi- tudes still living who gladly testify that his teaching and preach- ing were abundantly blessed to the saving and to the building up of their souls in Divine truth. Such was the extent of his preaching and pastoral visiting, in these early days, that more than one person has said, "There was scarcely a house in Delaware county that he did not convert into a sanctuary for the worship of God." As a pastor the young folks found in him a genial companion, who, by his own life, taught them how to get the highest enjoy- 71 ment out of the world, without becoming part and parcel of the giddy whirl, and without even compromising their Christian pro- fession or character. The older people found in him a strong helper, and a wise counsellor in the tangled and perplexing affairs of life. The sick, the sorrowing and the troubled, found him ever ready to sympathize with them, and able to draw for them, from the fountain of God's precious Word, those comforts and consola- tions which never fail to support believers in the midst of trial and trouble, and which have ever carried them through the deep waters of affliction. As the years went on, he did less of what is strictly called "pastoral visiting;" he withdrew himself more and more from the social life of the community around him, for the reason that he became so thoroughly engaged in the study of the subject of Bap- tism. He was as conscientious in this as in every thing else that he did. He came to feel that in this study his Master had given to him a field of labor, broader than that of his pastoral charge, better calculated to advance the truth and to promote the glory of God. Absorbed, however, as he became in this study, when their condition was known to him, he always found time to visit the sick, and such as specially needed him to minister to them the comforts and consolations of the Gospel of Christ. Those who came to him on spiritual errands, and even socially, received as cordial a welcome from him as if he had been a man of "society," with abundance of leisure at his disposal. In fact, until " Classic Baptism" was published, no one knew what a busy man he was, and what an immense work he was (quietly accomplishing. 72 The weekly cottage prayer meetings, which he regularly con- ducted, constitute an important and interesting feature of Dr. Dale's pastoral work. They were held in the private parlors of the members of the congregation, on Wednesday evenings, and were well attended. The services were very simple, hut very im- pressive. Dr. Dale sat during the exercises, and talked in a con- versational manner, as a father would speak with his children. There was an earnestness in his voice, and in the thoughts that he presented, which showed his anxiety for the salvation of souls and the upbuilding of God's people in their Christian life. The hymns which he gave out to be sung were evidently selected with care and with a purpose. They were of a devotional character, and gave expression to some phase of Christian experience. The sen- timent of the first hymn was often the topic of the hour and the text of his first address. Instead of one long address, he usually made two or three; or he divided his address into two or three parts, with a stirring hymn and a prayer between each part. Every part of the service seemed to fit into every other part. The hymns sung, the Scripture read, the prayers offered, and the remarks made, all seemed to be linked together in such a way that the dullest mind could scarcely fail to catch the unity of thought that pervaded the whole, and to carry away some one grand impression from the meeting. As he analyzed the precious- ness of some Divine promise, exalted some glorious attribute of the Diety, unfolded some doctrine of the Bible, opened up some line of Christian duty, or laid bare the insidious influence of some damning sin, there was a stillness in the assembly that was easily felt, but hard to be described. Many went to these meetings 78 weary, and found rest; cast down, and were lifted up; discouraged in the moral battle of life, and went away determined to renew it with greater vigor. The weak faith was strengthened; the faint hopes were brightened ; the limited joy was enlarged. The gen- eral impression of these cottage prayer meetings may be described in the words of Peter on the mount of transfiguration: "Lord, it is good for us to be here." Dr. Dale was pre-eminently gifted in prayer. His public prayers were not the mere performance of a public duty. It was evident to all who heard him that he was himself a man of secret prayer, a man who, like Enoch, walked with God, and who enjoyed the companionship of the Almighty. In his prayers there was much of what we call " unction," the presence of which one can readily detect, but scarcely define. The beginning of his prayer usually consisted in his adoration of the Almighty, which was grand and filled all hearts with a sense of the Divine presence and glory. As he went on, he seemed to get utterly lost in his contem- plation of the glorious attributes of God and the perfections of his character. To him the presence and nearness of Grod were a living reality. The Being whose presence filled immensity and whose perfections were so overwhelming and awe-inspiring was after all his Friend and Father, sweetly and tenderly revealed in the person of His own Son Jesus Christ. There was no undue familiarity with God, and yet there was such a dignified freedom and intimacy that he seemed to talk with Him face to face, as an afl:eetionate child talks to a loving father. As all knelt in prayer, at the cottage [)rayer meetings, when Dr. Dale was their mouth- piece at the throne of grace, no want of the needy soul was over- 74 looked, no special case of affliction or trouble was forgotten. He prayed like one who realized that God alone is worthy of our worship, adoration and praise ; and that He is the hearer and an- swerer of prayer. He lifted every heart up to the very throne of God, or rather he brought God so near that all were conscious of His presence and, like Jacob, were ready to exclaim: "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. * * * How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven." Such was the impression that his prayers made, whether offered at the family altar, the social prayer meet- ing, or in the sanctuary. There are many for whom he prayed collectively and individually. Eternity alone will reveal the indebt- edness of many, and, indeed, of the whole community in which he dwelt, for the earnest, fervent and importunate prayers which he presented to God in their behalf. Activity in the Temperance Cause. While he was yet a student in the Theological Seminary, his letters show that Dr. Dale was thoroughly interested in the cause of temperance, which, with him, meant total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage. He saw the desolation of homes, the degradation of character, and the destruction of everlasting life daily produced by intoxicating liquors; he saw this monster fiend stalking abroad through all the land, and determined, as a duty to God and to his fellow-men, that he would do his part toward the destruction of this ruinous foe of human happiness. On the ground of expediency he was a total abstainer, so that the 75 silent influence of his example might be a constant appeal for sobriety in others. The motto which he adopted for himself and recommended to others was: '■'•Abstain entirely from the use of in- toxicating liquors FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS." In addition to the quiet influence of his example, he made direct, aggressive and constant efforts for the enlightenment of the people and for the suppression of the liquor traffic. He frequently preached on tem- perance in his own pulpit, and during his whole ministry, he was ever ready, except when providentially hindered, to respond to every call that came to him from any quarter to preach sermons, deliver lectures and addresses on the subject. In every Christian way that came within his reach he was more than willing to give his time, his means, his ability and his influence to the advance- ment of the cause. These sermons and addresses were models of their kind. The spirit that pervaded them was always the spirit of the Gospel of Christ. At such times the best citizens of all denominations in the community heard him gladly. There was a time when the announcement that Dr. Dale would speak on tem- perance, would draw a full house at any hour, in almost any part of the county. Dr. Dale was sometimes highly dramatic in his pulpit efforts, but never more so than when temperance was his theme. At midnight, on December 15, 1851, a citizen of Media stepped into the Delaware river, at Chester, Avhile in a state of intoxication. This was made the occasion of a funeral address on the death of the man, by Dr. Dale, from the words: "Ye shall know them hy their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or flgs of thistles?" The addres-s ^vas a most searching presentation 7(3 of the evils of the liquor system, illustrated and enforced hy facts and figures gathered from the immediate community, the county, the State, the whole country, and from other lands as well as our own. Like a kind, sympathetic, hut steady-handed surgeon, the preacher plunged the knife of reason and of divine truth into this festering ulcer on the hody of civilized humanity until the most skeptical could hardly fail to see the sorrow, desolation, degrada- tion and death which it is constantly producing. With legal skill he arraigned the tempters of the unfortunate man until they must have keenly felt, as they read his words, his withering denuncia- tion. We give some extracts from this sermon which will show how Dr. Dale handled this subject and also illustrate his dramatic Btyle: "He was now invited by a friend to accompany him home. To this he replied that a business engagement would require him to take a different route. Both, however, advanced to the door for the purpose of departing, when C was arrested, on its threshold, by another invitation to drink. He hesitated. Now looking toward his departing friend, and now toward the voice of temptation. Life and death vibrated in the balance. It was a moment of suspense so pregnant with results that the anxious heart might well stop its throbbing while the issue is making up. It is done. Death has triumphed. There on that bar for a table, with a bit of silver for a pen, with intoxicating liquor for the ink, with Hhe sale' for a hand, with all the parties concerned as wit- nesses to the instrument, a covenant with death is written out — while underneath the whole is written, in characters unobserved then by any, but which afterwards flashed out as in letters of fire — ''Sour of execution, twelve, midnight!' 77 "Oh! had there been some prophet in that hour to reveal those awful words, how would the hand of seller, and drinker, and victim, like that of Belshazzar and. his lords, have been un- loosed from the cup and all, in horror, fled from that room together! But alas 1 there is no Daniel to inter^jret. There is none to crush the blossom ere the fruit ripen. No eye sees the spectre of death in their midst. Visions of 'sport' float in the fumes which rise from the intoxicating cup. These visions are soon changed into realities. The unhappy man is soon bereft of reason and is, for ' sport !' treated as a butfoon. Peculiarities of character commend- able in sobriety, but now distorted by a detlironed intellect, are made the occasion for jest and ridicule. 'Sport' like this 'grows by what it feeds upon.' Consequently there is soon superadded the disfigurement of his person. His face is blackened. Thus the 'sport' thickens. " Later in the evening he is grotesquely arrayed in his ap- parel, now torn and cut. * * * The heathen drugged the irrational beast to minister to their appetite; the taste of Christ- ians selects as its victim a ' fellow-citizen, a husband, and a father!' "As the hour of midnight approaches, this sporting with such petty trifles as the rationality of manhood, the self-respect of a citizen, the honor of a husband, and the dignity of a parent, wearies. The unhappy victim ceases to be baited. He is left to stand alone, drunk, at the corners of the street. " The chill December blast goes howling by. The snow-flake hurtles in the air. And there, dimly seen through the darkness, he stands arrayed in 'coat torn and turned inside out, in hat with front cut out and drawn down so that his blackened visage may peer out through the opening.' * * Answer all ye who look upon the hideous spectacle — Is that the man who, a few hours since, with all the feelings of a husband and a father, eagerly sought his 78 quiet home, a place at the evening meal, repose, after the day's toil, in the bosom of his family? Ah! truly 'the fruit' is ripen- ing. " But see ; he turns toward the river ! Has that wintry blast driven the fumes of intoxication from his brain? Have those snow-flakes cooled his fevered system ? Has he awaked at last, left now alone, to a consciousness of his degradation? Do the thoughts of to-morrow, of its laugh, and jest, and scoft', of the story of 'the sport' which he has aflbrded, rush through his brain? Does the remembrance of home, of wife and children, rise up maddening before him ? Do reflections like these bring with them a burden too great to be borne? Does he choose death rather, and is it, therefore, that he turns toward the river? Is this fruit about to ripen into suicide? If so, it is no new thing. "But, it may be that that Winter's night has so chilled that illy protected body, and benumbed every faculty, that he is all un- conscious whither he goes. Perhaps he dreams that his steps are tending homeward. When his foot treads upon the pier's brink, it may be that he imagines that it is the threshold of his own dwelling. Alas! it is the threshold of eternity. The fruit has fully ripened. One more step, and he treads upon the empty air — plunges into the icy flood! A cry! a death-cry, rings above the waters! ye, who solicited, who sold, who made 'sport,' have ye so soon and so deeply sunk into slumber that that death- shriek enters not your ear? A struggle, and he goes down be- neath the freezing waters. He rises again. Hark! is that the voice of prayer ? Has that ice-cold shock re-enthroned reason ? When midnight has closed every human ear, does he cry unto that God to whom 'the darkness and the light are both alike?' What is the prayer oflfered up in that awful hour? Is it for those without whom the Delaware would not now enfold her cold wind- ing-sheet around him ? Is it for them he prays — 'Father, forgive 70 them,' they knew not what they rlid? Or, is his latest breath poured out in prayer for a wife soon to be a widow; for chil- dren soon to be orplians? Or, is it for his own soul he prays, 'Lord, lay not this sin to my charge.' God knoweth. His ear alone heard those last death-cries which rose aljove the wintry storm, and rolled along the fast congealing waters. His eye alone witnessed the falling of the ripened fruit, the death-struggle in the Delaware. "Although under a December sky, the fruit has ripened fast. From the going down of the snn until midnight, manhood has ])een debased, a valuable citizen has been irrecoverably disgraced, the head of a family has been treated for 'sport' so as heathen treat not their slaves or their beasts, and suicide, or other murderous form of death, has sent a soul unsummoned into the presence of Almighty God, there to announce that, in yet another case, ' the fruit' had ripened on the boughs of the traffic in intoxicating liquors, and fallen into eternity^ When the borough of Media was about to be incorpor- ated, it occurred to Dr. Dale that it would be a good thing to have a clause in the charter, forever prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage within the borough limits. The more he thought of it the more it seemed to him that earnest efforts should be promptly made, to secure perpetually to the community so great a blessing. With careful delibera- tion he counted the cost; he considered the opposition likely to be encountered, and the quarters from which the opposition was likely to come; he measured the strength of every foe; and then decided that, with the blessing of God on his best and most pei-sistent effort, the borough of Media would begin its history with a prohibitory clause in its charter. 80 He began the movement, which was to make the new county seat forever free from the sale of intoxicating liquors as a bev- erage, by visiting personally a large number of prominent and in- fluential persons in different parts of the county, to whom he pre- sented his idea and the methods by which it was to be realized. Some doubted the wisdom of such an undertaking ; some were al- together indifferent; some were sure that such a clause in the borough charter would never be a success. There were others, however, who sympathized with Dr. Dale, and promised to give to him their hearty cooperation. A public meeting was called, which was attended by citizens from more than one-half of the townships and incorporated districts of the county. This meeting appointed a large committee. Dr. Dale was made Secretary of the committee, and in this capacity almost the entire work of the committee fell upon him. It could not have fallen upon a more willing, laborious and efficient worker. As Secretary, Dr. Dale prepared an "Address from the Central Committee to the Citizens of Delaware County," which was signed by twenty-three influen- tial persons as the committee. The address sets forth the origin and object of the committee's appointment, and pleads earnestly in behalf of the insertion of the prohibitory clause in the charter of the new county seat. Dr. Dale addressed letters of inquiry to members of the bar, asking them, '''•What is the connection, if any, between the use of intoxicating liquors, and the criminal business of our courts f He also sent letters of inquiry to clergymen, to phy- sicians, to manufacturers, and to county officers, concerning the use and the effects of intoxicating liquors, as they came under the observation of each of these classes of citizens. In every case, 81 the habitual use of intoxicating li(j^uors was declared to be evil, only evil, and that continually. These inquiries and the replies thereto are to be found in a pamphlet of 47 pages which Dr. Dale had published, under the title of "Facts to Think About, and What's the Remedy?" "Without going farther into detail, suffice it to say that, largely through the wisdom, zeal, influence and toil of Dr. Dale, the Media Charter passed the House of Representa- tives, at Harrisburg, February 12, and the Senate February 26, 1850. Speaking of this result, in the closing address of the com- mittee, though it was almost wholly due to his own laborious efforts, he more than modestly shares the honor with his fellow- citizens, as follows: "A bright hope has been enkindled by this result of your efforts. A spark has been stricken out among the hills of Dela- ware. To what end? To be extinguished, and thus render our darkness more terrible? Shall this be? ISTo! The twcntN'-two townships of Delaware answer, No! We will watch over it, and breathe upon it until it burns, and glows, and radiates with beams of truth all over our great commonwealth. "You may claim this result as emphatically your own. The movement of which it is the offspring was peculiarly a home movement. It originated among yourselves. It was advocated by yourselves. These pages are filled with the testimony of those who are a part of yourselves. And when, in the progress of things, the decision of the question was transferred to Harrisburg, your representatives nobly bore aloft the banner you had unfui-led, until the fullest triumph rested on its folds." His work in this direction was not at an end when the char- ter with its prohibitory feature was secured. That cliarter must 82 now be made effective. It must bo maintained and preserved. The first real difficulty that sprung up was the want of a bourse of public entertainment. There was no hotel. Without a license to sell intoxicating liquor, no one was willing to take the risk of erectinsj a house sufficiently large and commodious to accomodate the travelling public. It soon began to be rumored that the char- ter must be repealed in order to secure hotel accommodations for those whose business called them to the county seat. Even those who were once the friends of the charter were losing faith in the success of its operation and beginning to advocate repeal. Dr. Dale was not slow to recognize this as an important and critical time in the history of the charter, and one that its friends must promptly meet, or give it up. In those days the people of Delaware county were accustomed to hold an annual meeting in some large grove, which they called a "Harvest Home." A part of the day was usually spent in lis- tening to addresses on the subject of temperance from eminent home and foreign speakers. This was a time also when the tem- perance leaders quietly consulted together and formed their plans for the future. Dr. Dale was always prominent among the speak- ers and the counsellors at these harvest homos. It was while on his way to one of these gatherings that he conceived the idea which saved the charter from repeal, and which has kept its pro- hibitory clause in operation until the present hour. That idea was the organization of a company for the erection of a suitable building to be used as a temperance hotel. This was the burden of Dr. Dale's speech at this harvest home, and such was the success of his effort that a company was organized, the stock was sub- 83 scribed and, in time, the houRo was built, leased and opened for the entertainment of the travelling public. Its name, "Charter House" was suggested by Dr. Dale, as a reminder to the people of Media and to all visitors that the sale of intoxicating liquors, as a lieverage, is forever prohibited within the corporate limits of the borough. Thus the prohibitory clause in the charter of the town of Media, with the " Charter House," as its visible representative, constitute a monument to the memory of Dr. Dale more than to that of any other human being. Of course, he had many coi- workers, but he was its author, its promoter, and its able and suc- cessful defender. All through his busy life he watched it with eagle eyes; and when its life was threatened, as it was some two or three times, he laid aside everything else and sprang like a strong man armed to its defense, and saved it from repeal. This rich legacy which Dr. Dale has left is worth infinitely more to the people of Media and Delaware county than millions of dollars. Autharship. During his ministry the sermons of Dr. Dale were frequently published in the newspapers, and quite a number appeared in pamphlet form. The early files of the county newspapers are filled with columns from his ready pen in defense of various interests pertaining to the welfare of the community and the cause of truth and righteousness. He regarded himself not only as an ambassador from the court of heaven to men, not merely as a Presbyterian preacher and pastor; but, also, as a Christian citizen; and, as such, he wrote much as well as spoke much in behalf of 84 the people's interests and rights whenever and wherever they were assailed. But his volumes on Baptism are the great and crowning work of his life. Yery early in his pastoral settlement Dr. Dale began the independent study of the subject of Baptism, without the slightest intention of stirring up controversy, making a book, or publishing a line. He took it up, as he tells us himself, for his "own personal instruction." As he says: "The treatment of the subject as heretofore conducted left the merits of the case, in some respects at least, clouded with uncertainty and embarrassed with perplexity. For my own satisfaction I sought to find out the reason for this unsatisfactory result." As he continued the study of his subject his interest in it continued to increase until it became the ruling theme of his thought. He was not satisfied to accept the researches of others, nor the conclusions to which they had come. He, therefore, determined to investigate, as thoroughly as possible, the whole subject independently for him- self, without any regard to the conclusions to which his mind might be driven by the stern demands of facts and the logical results, which would of necessity grow out of such lines of thought as he proposed to pursue to their very end. If he had theories* on the subject he laid them all to one side and set out as an earnest and honest inquirer, with only one simple question, which he kept ever before his mind, viz., What is truth? He was not satisfied to skim along the surface of his subject, but he penetrated it to its deepest depths, satisfying himself at every point that he stood * If Dr. Dale's mind was biased at all, when he took up the independent study of the subject of Baptism, I have reason to believe that it was a bias in favor of Baptist views. 85 upon the solid rock of eternal truth. He received nothing second hand. IIo accepted no definition of words, nor interpretation of texts of Scripture merely because they were sustained by high authority. While he ever bowed with respectful deference to great names, and to the conclusions of accepted scholarship, yet lie did not allow these to wholly settle a point for him. If he met with a difficulty, (he met with many,) and it was capable of independent investigation, he took it up for himself, worked out patiently and often laboriously his own conclusion and set it down as such. If his result was in harmony with that of famous scholars who had previously trodden the same path, he was pleased ; if not, he felt that he must, after, perha})s, a careful review, al)ide by his own. N'ot only did he read the sacred Scrip- tures in the original languages and analyze for himself the words and passages that bore upon his topic, but he imported from France, the only country in which they were then published, the original works of the Latin and Greek Fathers, which he studied day and night, for years. In a letter to his brother, who was going to Paris, and through whom he imported the books, he writes : "My special object is to investigate a theological question which turns on certain points of usage in the Greek language. The Greek of the New Testament is, I think, very explicit; but some think that 'the Fathers' are opposed to the inter}>retation derived from the New Testament usage and would, hence, throw doubt on such interpretation. My impression is that there will be found an agreement between the New Testament and patristic usage, on a proper examination. This can only be made by an extended search through the Greek writers of the first centuries. 86 I think that the result will vindicate the expense and labor ; besides there will be great incidental advantage in the study of these earliest writers upon the great themes of Christianity. I have, therefore, concluded to order the set of the Greek Fathers as they stand in the catalogue for the first four centuries; and to select some of the Latin Fathers. ^ * * "As to the price of the books I would like to get, I judge, from the catalogue statement, that the cost (without any deduc- tion) would be about $175. This is a large amount — larger than I would be able to devote to this purpose — but as I am desirous to pursue the inquiry in which I am engaged to a satisfactory issue, I thought that I would be justified in appropriating $100 to this. If Richard, who kindly offered his aid, would supple- ment the amount, I would receive it, as the offer was meant to be, an evidence of sweet brotherly love beyond the price of silver and gold I" Not more delighted is the child with his new picture-book or toy than was Dr. Dale when he unpacked and stood up in order on the shelves of his library, in paper covers, some thirty- six volumes of the writings of the Latin Fathers and some sixty- five volumes of the writings of the Greek Fathers. For years it was his constant delight, night and day to pore over these ancient authors with the deepest interest. So much did he give himself up to the study of these works that there were times when he was ut- terly indifferent both to food and to sleep. Sometimes he would tell his wife, in the morning, that if it could possibly be avoided, he would rather not be disturbed all day, no, not so much as to eat. The good wife would regard his wishes and, for that day, would stand between the study and all intruders, except that, at times. 87 during the day, she would quietly slip in with some food, on a plate, which she would set down within his reach, and then as quietly slip out without speaking a word. Many, many a time he went into his study early in the long winter evenings and sat, without a thought of the flight of time, until the morning dawned. More than once after such a season of prolonged mental activity has he discovered to his great astonishment that the night was past and that the day had come, only by discovering that the brightness of the sun in his study was brighter than the light of the lamp beside which he had spent the night. As a result of these studies, of these days and nights of concentrated thought, there gradually grew around him the material out of which his books on Baptism were made. During a college vacation, in the Spring of 1862, the writer was spending a few hours socially with Dr. Dale, in his study at Media. In his own kindly way the Dr. was asking the young collegian about his studies, the college professors, etc. At that time I was, and have been ever since, an enthusiastic admirer of Professor F. A. March,* L. L.D., both as a man and as a teacher. Having heard me describe the course of instruction given by Prof. March and his method of teaching. Dr. Dale said something like this: I wish that I could get Professor March to read a book for me. I have a book. There, you are the first and only person to whom I have ever said that I had a book. It is a book on Bap- tism. For years I have worked away at the subject, without * Dr. F. A. March is Professor of Uie English Language and Comparative Philology in Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., and ranks among the foremost scholars and teachers of his department in this country. consulting anybody -^Vitli regard to my labors or their results, except the works of the authors which I have read and studied, I am now at a point where I feel that I need counsel. A part of my labor is now ready for the printer, if what I have written is at all worth printing. I think that there is something in my book, and that I have reached results in a way that will prove valuable to the cause of truth ; but I cannot tell how my work and the conclusions which I have reached will impress other minds. My own mind is perfectly clear as to the correctness of the result and the scientific accuracy of the method by which it has been reached ; but I want some one to read the book who is competent to do so, and who will give to me his honest opinion in regard to its merits. It is not the opinion of a theologian that I want just now. I want the judgment of a linguist and phi- lologist. From what you say of Professor March, I believe that he is just the man to read it. He seems to have all the essential qualifications. That part of the book about which I am the most concerned is in his line. Then he has never seen me and knows "nothing about me, so that he is not likely to be prejudiced in favor of my book by any feelings of personal friendship. He is in a position to examine the book critically and to judge of it on its own merits without any regard to the author; and that is just the position in which I want the man to be who reads it at this time. "Will you ask Professor March to read my book for me? He can take his own time to examine it, whether it be six months, or a year, or even longer. I am in no hurry to rush into print. My beloved preceptor. Dr. March, kindly consented to read the book, which has since become well known as "Classic Bap- tism." I had the honor of putting it into his hands, and then of carrying it back to Dr. Dale, with his hearty endorsement of the points concerning which Dr. Dale wanted his judgment. Dr. 89 Dale was greatly pleased when he read the letter of Dr. March and found that the eminent philologist had put the endorsement of his great name on the conclusions which he, a plain country parson, had quietly hammered out in the retirement of his rural study. Dr. March pronounced the book a work of real merit, and said: "It is the most elaborate discussion of a single word that I have ever seen. * * * It is full of subtle analysis ; but it is all so perspicuous and earnest that it holds the attention throughout." Dr. March also expressed the hope that the manuscript would soon be published. Before publishing it, Dr. Dale sent it to others, who were eminent for the particular kind of scholarship that fitted them to examine it and to give an intelligent judg- ment of the merits of the book. These scholars were carefully selected from a variety of literary institutions and Christian denominations, so that as candid and impartial an opinion as pos- sible might be obtained. It was not mere praise that Dr. Dale wanted. He never hankered after that. He earnestly desired the most candid and searching criticism of the methods of his in- vestigations and of the conclusions to which his investigations had brought him. All to whom the manuscript was sent, or who read the proof-sheets as they came from the press, seem to have been of one mind in regard to the conclusions of the author and the accuracy of the methods by which these had been reached. After reading the book, Frof. Thayer, (Congregationalist) of An- dover Theological Seminary, wrote to Dr. Dale : "If I were to utter my first impressions, I should break out in unfeigned admiration. That one occupied with the duties of 90 the pastorate should have the leisure, patience, and mental energy for an inquiry seldom surpassed, as respects thorough research, is to me a marvel. I can give emphatic testimony to the analytic power and acuteness which the treatise exhibits, as well as to the marked perspicuity and directness of statement." The Rev. Daniel R. Goodwin, D.D,, (Episcopalian) Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and Professor of Theology in the Protestant Episcopal Divinity School of Philadelphia, wrote : "I have read your work on ' Classic Baptism' with a satisfac- tion amounting almost to admiration. If it has any fault, it is that the discussion is too thorough and radical to be generally appreciated. But it is a work for scholars; and, in fact, just such a discussion is what was needed. It has long been my conviction that the Baptist controversy is practically narrowed down to this one point: their allegation, that the Greek baptizo means abso- lutely and always, ex vi termini^ 'to dip' or 'to immerse,' and nothing else. If this position is turned, the Baptist cause is irre- coverably lost. "Your book will reflect credit, not only on your alma mater ^ but on the scholarship of the country. I am many degrees prouder of the University of Pennsylvania than I was before reading it." George Allen, LL.D., Professor of Greek in the University of Pennsylvania, wrote: "Any tenant of the Greek chair must feel complimented to have his critical judgment asked upon an inquiry so elaborate as yours. * * * I can fairly do no more than express my sincere admiration of the exhaustive character of your examination of passages from the entire range of classical literature, and of ih.Q singular acuteness with which you have scrutinized the phenomena 91 of language thus presented. * * * Your treatise, when pub- lished, will be sure to attract the attention of classical scholars, as well as of theoloii-ians." The Rev. Joseph Cummings, D.D., LL.D., (Methodist) Presi- dent, &c., of Wesleyan University, wrote: "I have read 'Classic Baptism' with great interest and profit. It is altogether the most thorough and exhaustive discussion of the topic that I have ever met with, and I doubt if its equal can anywhere be found. * * * The treatise is full of argument and illustration, compactly and systematically arranged, forming for the preacher and the theological student the most perfect hand- book on this topic extant. It gives me great pleasure to commend the work with unqualified approbation." The Rev. C. W. Schaefifer, D.D., (Lutheran) Professor in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, wrote: "My delay in replying to your favor is to be accounted for only by the absorbing interest of the work you did me the honor of placing in my hands. I have endeavored, as you requested, 'to look over it,' but have found that next to impossible. My atten- tion has been fixed by every part of it, so that I have had to go into the regular study of it. Its rare originality of plan, the exten- sive reading indicated, the accuracy of discrimination everywhere met with, the honest impartiality observed, and the quiet, pleasant humor that every now and then looks out, altogether combine to mark it as a work of unusual attractiveness, and destined, I doubt not, to exert a commanding influence upon the general subject of this famous controversy. The conclusion, so a^ttly stated on page 354, is clearly made out, and, as I consider, nothing but the spirit of determined adlierence to mere traditionary usages could man- age to stand out against it." 92 " Classic Baptism " was published, in 1867 ; "Judaic Baptism," in 1869; "Johannic Baptism," in 1871; "Christie and Patristic Baptism," which contains twice as much matter as either of the other volumes, appeared in 1874. As these volumes were issued, one after another, from the press, they were noticed at considera- ble length in the editorial columns of many of the religious papers of the country. The solid and stately Quarterly Reviews devoted pages to the most favorable criticism of their contents. The foremost professors, pastors, teachers and preachers were strong in their commendation of the author and of the work which he had so well accomplished. Each volume as it came out increased, rather than diminished, the admiration of scholars for the author, and added fresh laurels to his already scholarly repu- tation. Scholars of all denominations, except those of Baptist proclivities, seemed at a loss to find language strong enough to give expression to their admiration for Dr. Dale, and to their endorsement of his faithful and laborious researches, and the sound- ness of the conclusions to which his studies had driven him. "Classic Baptism" was spoken of as "a marvel;" as "a master- piece;" "an extraordinary book;" "taking rank with Edwards on the Will;" as "the ablest treatise on the subject in the English language." "Judaic Baptism" was called "thorough, exhaustive, convincing;" "sound, judicious, conclusive." The author was spoken of as "patient," "vigilant," "laborious in his studies," "deep," "broad" and "profound" in his scholarship. The re- ligious papers of the Baptist denomination also gave considerable space to the review of these books. As a rule these papers dis- paraged and ridiculed both the author and his work. '-'•The 93 National Baptist" however, was an exception, and spoke of him as an "author of no small ability," whose "work is worthy of careful attention," while "the deliberateness and fullness of the investigation challenge our admiration." It would be an easy matter to till many pages with the highest praise, the fullest commendation and the most unqualified endorsement of these volumes of Dr. Dale from those who are recognized as of high authority, but enough has been given to show the kind reception which his work received from leading Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, Congregationalists and Presbyter- ians. Among all their testimonials and criticisms there was a remarkable agreement in regard to the method and the results of his investigations. If any of our readers are curious to know how leading Baptists received the results of Dr. Dale's researches, and what they said of them, they are referred to "Baptist Criti- cisms of Classic Baptism," to be found on page 21 of "Judaic Baptism." These are curious enough, and well worth reading. The publication of these scholarly volumes, at once lifted their author out of the comparative obscurity in which he had lived. His company, his counsel, and his acquaintance, were sought by men eminent in the theological world, who had never seen or even heard of him before the appearance of his books. Other writers in the same field began to quote him as authority; and, to-day, there is, perhaps, no higher authority than Dr. Dale on his side of this troublesome controversy. One thing is certain, and that is, that no man will be regarded as versed on this subject, who has not devoted much time to the study of Dr. Dale's books. For 94 many years to come he will be recognized as a standard author, and his books will be consulted and quoted as of the highest au- thority. In recognition of his scholarship and of his ability as an au- thor, Hampden Sidney College, Virginia, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and soon after the University of Pennsylvania, his own alma mater, from whom he had received the degrees of A.B., A.M., and M.D., also conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Dr. Dale was exceedingly gratified with the kind and favorable reception which his books received from scholars and theologians. He was surprised, as well as gratified, for he had accomplished far more than he had anticipated. He had become, in one department of sacred learn- ing, an acknowledged authority, the teacher of men on whom he had been accustomed to look as his superiors. He had won for himself a name and a fame which he had never sought. Such was his modest estimate of his own ability, that his success and the honor bestowed upon him by men of the highest theological at- tainments and classical culture, were as much of a surprise to him as they could possibly have been to those who ridiculed his "Clas- sic Baptism" as the work of "a mere pastor in a small country village." Dr. Dale received no pecuniary profit from the sale of his books. '^OY did he publish them with any such purpose. His motive was far higher than any mere financial considerations. In their publication he was kindly and substantially aided by his generous brother-in-law, Mr. Gustayus S. Benson, who, from time to time, sent sums of money to him, and humorously claimed a 95 silent partnership in the work. The following letter of Dr. Dale, acknowledging one of these gifts of Mr. Benson, dated January 1, 1874, shows his motive in publishing his books, and his finan- cial expectations: "How happy would I be if your silent partnership in 'the publication of my works on Baptism' held out any promise of a pecuniary return -for your investment. If, however, they should make a valuable exhibit of God's truth, that will be regarded by you and by me, I trust, as of more worth than silver and gold. "I hope, before long, to put it (the last volume) in the printer's hands. I hope, also, that the work (now substantially completed with the old year) will be accepted of God as Ilis own trutli,and will be used for His own honor and glory I" His C Id sing Years. After being released from the pastoral care of the Wayne church. Dr. Dale went to the Sanitarium, at Clifton Springs, N.Y., for rest and treatment. He remained there from November, 1876, until April, 1877. "While at Clilton, he was supposed to be rest- ing, but, in reality, he had only changed the place of his labors. He often preached at Phelps, a short distance from Clifton ; he ministered to the sick and the troubled; he officiated at funerals and at weddings; he did about everything that he was asked to do in the line of ministerial work; and he was so willing to help his fellow-men, and so ready to sympathize with the afflicted and the troubled, that he did far more than it seemed to his anxious friends he ought to have done. During the Week of Prayer, in January, 1877, and for some weeks following, he attended almost 96 daily religious services, often conducting the meetings, and usually- taking part in them. He was never really conscious of his own physical condition and of the danger to which he exposed himself by yielding to the requests of others, and to the impulses of his own nature to work, speak and preach as he did. To his eldest sister, Mrs. Lelar, he writes from Clifton, under date of January 26,1877: "I have wished to write to you every day since receiving your letter of January 8th, but I have been quite busy. Can you believe it? The same day that I received your letter, the mail brought me six, some requiring prompt and pretty extended re- plies ; and then (don't be frightened,) I have attended and con- ducted a meeting every day since, and preached twice each Sab- bath! "Don't be alarmed at 'too much work.' I have been quite 'prudent.' It seemed to me that now and here was just the time and place to make a trial of the results of a long rest since July ; to begin with little mental work, and then advance to what might be nearer a full line of duty. I felt that if there should be any infirmity developed, I could fall back promptly on the 'Sani- tarium' close at hand, and seek more fully its restorative influ- ences. Better do this here, than wait to go far away, where return would be difficult or impracticable. I am happy to say to you that, after doing pretty full duty in the pulpit and in the lecture room, I do not feel in any single particular, either bodily or men- tally, the worse for it. * * * "You may be sure that I am acting thoughtfully, and not heedlessly. I know that I have no right to offer unto God service which He does not require at my hands — ' Obedience is better than sacrifice' — and I have sought to know His will, and believe that He has made it very plain to me. I am entirely satisfied that, if 97 1 should die in the work whicli I have attempted to do, I should be found in the place where He would have me to be. Would that I had like assurance that the work was prosecuted in the spirit it should be. But 'by the grace of God I am what I am.'" Almost immediately after his return from Clifton Springs, he resumed his regular work in the pulpit and in the study. He received an invitation from the Session of the "West Presbyterian Church, of Wilmington, Delaware, which was vacant, to supply their pulpit, which he accepted. He continued to preach with great acceptance to this congregation for about three months. Strong and warm were the attachments that sprang up between him and many of the people during that time. This was especi- ally so between him and those who entertained him, from week to week, and who saw most of him during his weekly visits. Few men would bear acquaintance better than Dr. Dale. Few charac- ters would bear close inspection better than his. The more he was known, the better he was appreciated, and the more was his society desired. In the home, as well as in the pulpit ; in the social circle, as well as in the public ministrations of the sanctu- ary, Dr. Dale endeared himself to many of the people of the West church. During this time he also busied himself with the work of an evangelist. He preached with great simplicity and power at pro- tracted meetings, and in this way he was a valuable helper of his brethren in the ministry. At such times his preaching was es- pecially earnest and impressive, and carried conviction home to the minds and hearts of his hearers. Many of the pastors around him can testify to the great willingness and cheerfulness with 98 winch Dr. Dale came to their aid for a Sabbath, or even for a week or two, when his aid was sought. At home, in his study, he was busy trying to condense and to popularize his works on Baptism. The Rev. Dr. C. E. Stowe, as well as many others of Dr. Dale's scholarly friends and admirers, had expressed the wish that "out of this forest of philological learning, there might be, in due time, a little grove selected for the security and comfort of the unlettered believer." It was the intention of Dr. Dale to make such "a little grove," in other words, to write a book on Baptism which all Christian people could read with interest, pleasure and profit. He found that the books which he had already written and published could not well be abridged or condensed, without lessening their value to preachers and to theological students, for whom they were especially written. He, therefore, determined to prepare such a popular presentation of the subject as would put the valuable results of his studies within the reach of the masses of God's people. This was the task which he had set for himself, and on which he was engaged when the Mas- ter called him to lay aside his pen and to enter upon his everlast- ing reward. In his "Twenty-Fifth Anniversary" sermon. Dr. Dale spoke of Glen Riddle as a regular preaching-place, " where we hope that a church edifice may before long be erected and a church organized." For many years Glen Riddle had been one of his stated preaching points. He lived long enough to see the realiza- tion of his long cherished hope of a church edifice erected and a church organized at that place. It had long been the intention of Mr. Samuel Riddle to build a church in the community which 99 his own energy and enterprise had established and reared. For many years he had given gratuitously a hall, which he had fitted up, at his own expense, for Sabbath school and church purposes. Mr. Riddle put this building, with all its appointments, at the disposal of Dr. Dale for religious uses. Here Dr. Dale preached regularly during the greater part of his ministry. As he was now without any pastoral charge and could give his time to the Glen Riddle enterprise, Mr. Riddle felt that the time had come for him to give visible embodiment to those plans of which he and his beloved friend, Dr. Dale, had so often spoken. On one of the sites in his possession, Mr. Riddle erected a handsome church edifice, at a cost of $10,000, which he freely conveyed as a gift to a Board of Trustees, for the use of a Presbyterian church. Tlie building was dedicated, July 4, 1880, to the worship of God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. On October 19, 1880, a Commission of the Presbytery of Chester met in the new and beautiful edifice and organized a Presbyterian church. Fifteen persons united with the new organization by letter from other churches, and five on confession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. This was another glad day to Dr. Dale. The new house of worship and the newly organized Presbyterian church were the ripened fruits of many years of patient waiting, laborous toil and fervent prayer to God. He was young and vigorous when he first ran the Gospel plow through the fallow ground at Glen Rid- dle. He had now reached the summit of life and was descending the other side of the hill toward the deeper and darker shades of the valley of the shadow of death. With tears of joy and thanks- giving he welcomed this new token of the Divine favor, this new 100 seal of the Divine approbation upon the work of his life. He had gone to Glen Riddle through many a dark and stormy night, and preached sometimes his fourth or fifth sermon for the day, to a little handful of hearers, when a fainter heart would have failed, and then returned through the darkness to his own homo at a late hour. If ever he had any misgivings in regard to the wisdom of his labors and exposures, he had none now. His reward was greater than he could express. Up to the time of his death he continued to be the preacher in charge of the Glen Riddle congregation. The carriage of Mr. Riddle was ever at his disposal to convey him to and from the church; the doors of Mr. Riddle's house and the 'hearts of his family were always thrown wide open to welcome him ; everything in their home that could minister to his entertainment and his comfort was made subservient to him. His Heath. Two things chiefly occupied the mind and heart of Dr. Dale during the latter part of his life. These were the preparation of a volume on Baptism for popular use, and the pastoral care of the young church at Glen Riddle. "While thus engaged, the call came to him to lay aside his Father's business for his Father's glory in the church militant, and to transfer that business for the same great end to the church triumphant. The pen, which had done so much to right the wrongs of men and to promote the cause of truth and righteousness, had made its last stroke. The eloquent tongue, that had so often spoken in trumpet tones for Christ, was 101 never again to be heard pleading with men to be reconciled to God, giving comfort to the sorrowing, strength to the weak, cheer to the desponding, courage to the tempted. The last conflict was entered. Victory was almost won. His last illness presents few items of interest to those outside of his own immediate famil}' . For a few days his sufferings were great, but he bore them with that heroism which was so character- istic of his whole life. He was patient and submissive, as he had always been, to what he regarded as the will of God. He was anxious to keep the minds of his family as easy as possible with regard to his condition, and to avoid giving trouble to his children who waited upon him with filial tenderness. Soon the busy brain that had worked so incessantly for more than half a century, and that had achieved so much, lost its balance and refused obedience to the master which it had so long served. His thoughts wandered back to the scenes of his early home, and to the work of his early life. Once more he was the General Agent of the Penn- sylvania Bi])le Society, distributing and selling Bibles and reckon- ing their price. As the end drew near, he became quiet and drowsy. It was the calm that follows the storm. In that peace of mind which succeeded the weary, restless, mental wanderings of several previous days, he fell asleep, and in that sleep peace- fully passed away to his great reward, and to the well-earned ever- lasting rest that remains for the people of God. He died at Me- dia, April 19, 1881, in the 69th year of his age, of the disease which had arrested him in the midst of his work in the Summer of 1876. As the news of his death sped forth, his spiritual chil- dren, scattered all over the community, cried, "My father, my 102 father." The churches to which he had ministered felt that a great man in Israel had fallen that day, and that they had lost a wise, prudent and faithful counsellor. All over the county, it was felt that one of its brightest intellectual and spiritual lights had been extinguished. He was mourned by a wide circle of friends, and, indeed, by a whole community, who appreciated his intel- lectual worth, and who admired his noble, generous, manly Christ- ian character, and honored him as a true man of God. Three children survive him — one son, who bears his honored name, and two daughters. To them he left the most desirable legacy that a father can bequeath to his offspring — "A good name, which is rather to be chosen than great riches," and the assurance that for him to be "absent from the body is to be present" forever "with the Lord." In trying to measure the length of his life, we are reminded of the oft-quoted lines: We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives, Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. Elements af His Success. If the success of a man's life consists merely in the money that he makes and in the material wealth which he leaves behind him, then the life of Dr. Dale cannot be regarded as a success, for he spent far more money than he ever received for his services. But if success consists in the amount and quality of the good work which a man does, in the benefits which his life confers upon 103 mankind, the honor which it puts upon God'« truth, and the con- tribution which it makes to God's glory, then the life of Dr. Dale was eminently successful. Though the greater })art of it was spent in comparative obscurity, it was, in the best sense, a successful life. Many a name which, durijig his own life-time, glittered for a sea- son like a star of the first magnitude, has already been forgotten. The names of many pulpit orators, on whose utterances multitudes hung with bated breath while Dr. Dale was toiling away patiently and laboriously in the seclusion of a country parish, unknown and unhonored, save by the select few who knew him, will pass into obscurity, while his name will be held in remembrance by schol- ars, theologians, preachers, and teachers, for many generations. His is not the fame of the blazing meteor, which comes with a Hash, and as suddenly disappears; but it is that of the newly-dis- covered planet, which has come to gild the starry heavens with its glory, and which will take many centuries to complete its orbit. Though some of the more conspicuous elements of his character have already been hinted at, it may be well, before closing this narrative, to tix attention separately on some of those which were the basis of his marked success. 1. He was an indefatigable worker. When scholars wrote to him that it was a marvel to them that one who was a pastor had found time to write such a book as "Classic Bai)tism," they little thought that he had, at that time, so far pursued the sul)ject tbat four other volumes equally large were almost ready for the printer. They knew nothing of the variety and magnitude of other labors on which he had bestowed much thought and time. When he read the " I marvel " of one of his critics, he said: "How 104 much more would lie marvel if he knew that the greater part of Classic Baptism' was written by the bedside of my sick wife, with my pen in my hand and my foot on the cradle to keep our babe asleep." For many Sabbaths in succession, between 1858 and 1860, I have known him, in the morning, to superintend the Media Sabbath school; preach in the Media church; preach, in the afternoon, in the Media jail; superintend the Middletown Saljbath school; preach in the Middletown church; hold a twi- light service in some private house; preach at Glen Riddle, in the evening, and then ride home on horse back, a distance of three miles, at a late hour. In the early history of Media he bought a few acres of stony ground, from which he dug out and removed the stones and which he plowed, planted, sowed and reaped with his own hands. At certain seasons of the year his week days were mostly spent in this way, and a large part of the nights were spent in the study. At another period of his life he added to the work already mentioned the teaching of a private school. In addition to these labors, he attended with great regularity the meetings of the Presbytery and the Synod to which he belonged and took an active part in their proceedings. He also made and met many other appointments in the interests of the church and the welfare of the community. As much as of any man it may be said of Dr. Dale that he was "abundant in labors." He had what is sometimes called an "iron constitution." Instead of trying to preserve it and make it last as long as possible he taxed it to the utmost with all the work, both physical and mental, that it would possibly bear. When I remember the amount of outside work which I know that Dr. Dale performed, I am astonished beyond 105 measure as I turn over the pages of his scholarly books. I can scarcely realize that they are the work of the same man. I am surprised that he lived as long as he did. As one of the condi- tions of his success we set down the fact that lie was a hard, con- stant and skillful worker. If hard work is the price of success, Dr. Dale paid it in full. 2. He was •pre-eminently gifted in the social qualities of his nature. This may seem strange to those who only met him casu- ally or at a time when his mind was occupied with some impor- tant problem of study. At such times it was not unusual for him to pass his best friend on the street unnoticed and unobserved. In this way he unconsciously gave offense. In the social circle, however. Dr. Dale was a ready and a large contributor to the en- joyment of all classes. He was always a model of the refined, cultured, Christian gentleman. There was always a dignity about his manner which prevented any one from introducing in conversation with him any thing that bordered on the profane or the vulgar. At an evening company he was one of the most genial of ipen. He approached everybody in the most pleasant way. He had a suitable word and a genuine smile for all with whom he came in contact. He knew how to turn conversation in such a way as to make himself agreeable and the subject interesting to the pereon with whom he conversed. When he turned away to 'speak to another, he left behind him the wish that he had stayed longer and talked more. It was under his own roof, how- ever, as his guest, orin the home of a friend, when he was a guest, that one saw most of his genial character and social nature. n 106 It was during the time that he had no charge of his own, and when he spent days together in the homes of his brethren, at their request, preaching for them and assisting them in special services, that many who had known him for years found out that they had really never known him at all. Having him in their homes they discovered what was to them a new revelation of his character — the charming, social qualities which he possessed. When the time to part came, it was found that he had captured all hearts, the children included, in the home of his brief sojourn, and that the farewell words must be spoken to one who was hence- forth to be counted among the absent friends of the household. In his social intercourse with brother ministers he never belittled the work of others, nor did he speak uncharitably or unkindly of his co-laborers. He did not speak so much of men as of the work that men did, as of the affairs of every day life, of important institutions, of principles and of the great problems with which the moral and religious world were battling. There was a vein of humor in his nature that spiced his conversation and which runs through the pages of his books. He could be humorous and playful and yet never forget that he was God's ambassador to bring men to the knowledge of Christ. Those who came in contact with Dr. Dale, socially, were ever after his life-long admirers and friends. It was in this way that he attached to himself, during the early part of his ministry, the Caldwells, the Leipers, the Crooks, the Riddles, the Hinksons, the Cochrans and the Beattys; in later years, the Blacks and others at Media ; and still later, at "Wayne, such devoted friends as the Askin, the Evans and the Eldredge families. All these, aiid others, proved efficient helpers 107 to him in his work, at different periods of his ministry, and loved him with a loyalty that was steadfast to the end of life. 3. He was a man of 'positive and outspoken convictions. Dr. Dale never left any one in donbt, who had a right to know, as to where he stood in regard to important issues relating to the com- munity, the church or the State. He had convictions, strong and decided on all important matters. He was an exceedingly modest man, and did not unnecessarily thrust his opinions upon others; but, when the time came, he never hesitated to speak them out. This he did whether he was in harmony with the people about him or not. This trait of his character manifested itself in his bold advocacy of the temperance cause, and in all his pulpit and public utterances. A single illustration may be mentioned. During the civil war the Ladies Aid Society of Media had engaged a lecturer to give for their benefit a steriopticon exhibition of battle-fields and scenes of the war. Tickets were sold and an audience that filled the court room had assembled, when a telegram was received stating that the lecturer was unable to be present. As a number of prominent gentlemen were iu the audience, it was suggested that these address the meeting on the war issues of the day. At that time the question of engaging the negro in military service was before the country, and was being everywhere discussed. It was one of the prominent themes of the speakers at that meeting ; and all, except Dr. Dale, seemed to be of one mind. Dr. Dale was invited to speak, and took up the same topic as the others who had preceded him, but in a veryi different strain. After some introductory remarks, he spoke somewhat as follows: 108 Now as to what shall be done with the negro in this con- flict, I differ from those who have preceded me. JSTevertheless, when my fellow citizens, and especially when my neighl^ors, ask for my views, as you have done to-night, on any subject, I am always glad to give them. Two distinct nations never, in the history of the world, lived together on an equality. The senti- ment of the nation does not favor equality. It must not be thought that I am opposed to the elevation of the negro. I am not. I have received the black man into my pulpit, and have sat there with him while he has preached for me. I have set him at my table, with my family, and we have eaten with him. He has slept in my guest chamber. Who of you, who are here to- night, have shown more of such kindness and cordiality to the negro? Still I am decidedly opposed to putting into his hand the sword and the musket with which to fight our battles. Three hundred thousand negro soldiers must work a political and social revolution in the land greater than the history of the world can show. To fight the battles of the country implies the right to vote. The hand that is not too black to handle a musket, is not too black to cast a ballot. This is just, as well as logical. Let us not fail to consider the logical consequences of the step now under contemplation. * * * Such were his convictions, and though they were unpopular, he boldly uttered them. Men smiled at Dr. Dale's idea of the connection between the musket and the ballot; but he was men- tally or willfully blind who did not see his sincerity and the posi- tiveness of his convictions. Thus it was ever with him. If those to whom he spoke, or by whom he was surrounded, were in accord with his opinions, he was greatly gratified; if not, he never con- cealed his views of truth and X'ight, but rung them out with a 109 distinctness which made men clearly understand his position on all important matters. Neither in the afiairs of Church or State, was it ever a question with him, What will be acceptable to the community? His questions were. What is right? What is truth? He sought the answers to these questions independently, and the answers which he wrought out in his own mind, he unhesitatingly proclaimed, at the proper time and place, without regard to the favors or the frowns of men. This trait of his character made positive enemies for him, but it also made him many positive friends, and commanded the respect of even his enemies. This was one of the most important elements of his success. Only men of such character can stand for so many years conspicuously in one community, and perform work of such magnitude as that which Dr. Dale performed. The time-server soon spends his but- terfly day and sinks out of sight, while the man of mind and positive convictions works on, year after year, grows in the esteem and confidence of others, and leaves his impress on the community in which he has spent his life. 4. Dr. Dale was a thoroughly religious man. There are many thino-s in connection with his work and diameter that attract our admiration. His physical constitution was so perfect that, after the most laborious work of the Sabbath, he seldom experienced what is known among ministers as "blue Monday." He was usu- ally as fresh on Monday as he was when he began the work of the Sabbath. Without a murmur, he did the work of two or three men during his active ministry. But, much as we admire him for his abundant and unwearied labors, for the numerous sacrifices that he uncomplainingly endured, for his splendid intellectual at- no tainments, and his powers of physical and mental endurance, we admire far more the honesty and simplicity of his Christian char- acter, his consistent and conscientious adherence to the path of duty as the Divine hand laid it out before him, his entire conse- cration to Christ, and the sweet submission of his will to the will of God. Whatever else he was, Dr. Dale was a thoroughly re- ligious man. Religion was something more to him than a mere system of theology. It was a living reality. It was a power that pervaded his whole being, and gave tone and character to his entire life. It was the centre and circumference of his daily living. From the very beginning of his Christian life, he walked with God. One thought ruled his life. It was not self, but Christ. One aim ani- mated him. It was not to make for himself a great reputation, but to promote the glory of God. In thought and in speech he dwelt much on the Divine glory. He saw that glory beaming out of every star and in every blade of grass, and conscious of his own sonship to the Father of all, and of his obligation to Him, he made the prayer of God's well-beloved Son his own, and often cried; "Father, glorify Thy son, that Thy son also may glorify Thee." It was an easy thing for Dr. Dale to speak of religion to others, because his own soul was so full of love to Christ. No one ever enjoyed intercourse with him, any length of time, who did not carry away from him the impression that he was a man in holy communion with God. In his religious conversation there was nothing forced. The love of Christ alone constrained him. It was out of the abundance of a heart filled with a personal sense of obligation to the Saviour of lost sinners, that he spoke of Him and of the interests of His kingdom to his fellow-men. Ill Take him all in all, Dr. Dale was a well-rounded specimen of Christian manhood, physically, mentally, morally, and spiritu- ally. At home, as a son and a brother, he was full of filial and paternal devotion; as a husband, faithful, considerate and tender; as a father, kind and affectionate. The motto of his household was: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." As a citizen, he was patriotic, active and zealous in promoting the highest welfare of the country and of the community. As a minister of the Gospel, he was a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. The value of such a man's work and influence can never be told. The worth of his character can never be fully estimated. It is pleasant for those who knew him to cherish the memory of his noble, manly character, made still more beautiful by his acceptance of Christ as his Saviour in the dawn of his manhood, and by the grace of God daily bestowed upon him. Though dead, Dr. Dale still lives. He lives in the hearts and lives of those whom he led to Christ, in the churches to which he ministered and which grew out of his manifold labors, in the scholarly books that he has given to the world, and in the noble example of exalted and dignified Christian manhood which he has left behind him. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, 8aith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do fol- LOW THEM." SOME IMPRESSIONS M ADE BY THE CHARACTER AND WORK OF THE Rev. James W. Dale, D. D., ON OTHERS. 115 Impressinns of Dthers. During the preparation of this work the author wrote to the Rev. William 11. Hutton, whose acquaintance with Dr. Dale was somewhat similar to his own, and to the two pastors of the two congregations to whicli Dr. Dale ministered for so many years, for the impression which his life and work had made upon them. In reply he received the communication to which the name of each is attached. From the Rev. William H. Hutton, Pastor of the Greenwich Street Presbyterian Chttrch, Philadelphia, Pa. I first became acquainted with the Rev. (then Mr.) Dr. Dale in November, 1859 — nearly twenty-two years ago. I was then a student in the " Media Classical Institute," and worshipped in the Media Pres- byterian church, of which he was the pastor. During the time I remained at the " Institute," prior to entering Hamilton College, as a guest at his home, and as a regular attendant upon both the Sabbath and week-day services of the church, I became familiar with his labors, and learned to appreciate his character. There were few men for whom I entertained greater respect — few men who appeared to me to labor with so little desire for popular effect, and so great a desire to honor and glorify the Master. There was an earnestness, a persistence, in the prosecution of his work, that, viewed in the light of the immediate surroundings, was truly heroic. But, to be more definite and specific, 116 I may present, in bare outline, a picture of the man and his work, made familiar to me during an acquaintanceship of more than twenty years. His Character and Manner. — The first impression made by Dr. Dale, upon a new acquaintance, was not always the most favorable. There appeared to be, in his manner, a formality, a reserve, a lack of the genial and sympathetic. But this was more apparent than real. It arose from an inherent dignity of character, and a certain courtliness of manner. To those who knew him, he was one of the most polite, genial and gentlemanly of men. True, he was rarely demonstrative ; and seldom sought to make an impression by any expression of mere sentiment. He was singularly free from levity; indulged very sparingly — if ever — in joking; and was delightfully modest, simple and unaffected, in social address. He had great reverence for sacred things. This was . quite conspicuous both in his public ministry and in his private conver- sation. He was wholly innocent of those irreverent witticisms heard so often in the j^ulpit ; and for the vulgar habit of punning on Scripture language, he manifested a strong aversion. He was not, however, lacking in wit or humor; and could, as occasion required, give expres- sion to the most delicate sentiments in the most appropriate language. In the most ordinary intercourse, he neither transcended the limits of strictest propriety, nor expressed himself in phraseology either ques_ tionable or equivocal. In the manifest sincerity of his speech, and the perfect guilelessness of his manner, there was a positive charm. He never was suspected of being other than he appeared to be. As A Preacher. — He possessed all the natural qualifications for a public speaker. He had a voice of great compass, well trained, and in perfect control. His enunciation was clear, distinct; and his gift of language remarkable. His sermons were carefully prepared ; and were models, both as to the matter presented, and the manner of presenting 117 it. His theme was the Cross. The Saviour was magnified in his min- istry ; and earnest and tender were his appeals for a life of obedience to the Son of God, and the Saviour of sinners. He would have "every petition addressed to the throne of grace linked with the dear Redeemer's name." Dr. Dale was a logical preacher. His subject was so divided and subdivided, that the dullest intellect could not fail to be interested, nor the feeblest memory fail to be impressed. Then the style was simple, lucid, and the illustrations, beautiful, forcible. Some of those sermons and illustrations I can now recall after the lapse of twenty years. The manner of delivery was eloquent, impressive. There was, as the theme demanded, a happy alternation and inter-blending of the calm, the earnest, and the impassioned. Some of the most eloquent and thrilling- pulpit utterances to which I have ever listened were from the lips of our deceased friend. How the students did enjoy listening to Dr. Dale when he was thoroughly aroused, and engaged in the discussion of some mooted point in theology! And how stimulating to thought were those exhibitions of dialectic skill, cogent reasoning, and keen analysis, that so abounded in his preaching ! As A Pastor, — In the discharge of his pastoral duties, his conse- cration to his work appeared quite conspicuous. The labors he was called on to perform were manifold and exacting. He preached either on the Sabbath morning, afternoon, or evening, in one of his many parishes. He superintended, in some instances, the Sabbath schools in connection with these churches. He held cottage prayer meetings during the week in houses quite remote from his own residence. He attended upon the sick, comforted the afflicted, and buried the dead. And these multiplied pastoral duties, so exhausting to the body, and wearying to the mind he discharged with rare fidelity. 118 Nor was his pathway to the churches where he preached, or to the homes which he visited, over smooth pavements, and along well lighted streets. lie was a country pastor; and country pastors alone are familiar with the hardships incident to the faithful discharge of pastoral duties in a country parish. Along wind-swept hills and dark valleys he passed ; through summer's heat and winter's cold he rode ; over dusty highways and muddy roads he trod in the keeping of his appointments. In blazing sun and blinding snow, when the shadows darkened and the stars brightened, he was faithful to his trust. How often he climbed to the old Middletown church when the wintr}'^ winds blew fiercely, and the falling snow made white the surrounding landscape ! How often did he return from the services at Grleu Riddle, in the calm silence of the night, guided to his home by the light of the waning moon, or twinkling stars I And how frequently he threaded his way to the weekly prayer meeting along the crooked and slippery paths, and through a darkness that might, almost, be felt! And these self-denying labors were performed without the stimulus of either a large salary, or a very loud applause. Perhaps that which appeals to us most forcibly, and pathetically, in reviewing his life, is the fact, that with the fruits of his own labor he sought to supplement his somewhat meagre salary. How skillfully that clerical spade was han- dled ; how carefully the little farm was cultivated ; and with what par- donable pride he pointed to the substantial fruits of his muscular activity 1 Still he never betrayed any restlessness ; nor was he wont to chide his people for any seeming lack of liberality. There was always such a cheerfulness in his manner, that his lot might well be envied by those occupying more conspicuous positions, and receiving a larger earthly reward. Indeed, in certain features of his life and character, he recalls that quaint, poetic picture of the "Village Preacher:" 119 "A man he was, to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year ; Remote from towns he ran his godly race, Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change, his place." As AN Author. — In the world of scholars and theologians. Dr. Dale is known by his published writings. His substantial volumes on "Classic," "Judaic," Johannic," and "Christie and Patristic Baptism" have extended his fame far beyond the limits of his country parish, and won for him an eminent position both as a controversialist, and scholar. Certainly, few works recently published have attracted such attention, or received such commendation. In these carefully written volumes are presented the results of wide reading, great research, and critical scholarship. The labors of years greet us as we scan these pages. Here we find the fruits of the most patient, plodding, industry ; and the most profound and protracted study. In reading these volumes in the light of the author's surroundings, and manifold duties and engagements, we may well "marvel" — with the venerable Dr. Skinner — at the "labor and ability" with which he prosecuted his "masterly dis cussion." It was with no little pride that the writer — then a student in the Union Theological Seminary — introduced " Classic Baptism" to the notice of the learned professors; and with no little pleasure he read the approving criticisms of these eminent scholars. But the literary labors of Dr. Dale are not referred to for the pur_ pose of criticism, but in order to the better appreciation of his charac- ter. He loved the truth. He was willing to make any necessary sacrifice that the truth might be established. And hence the labors performed, and the self-denials endured. It was not for pecuniary gain that these volumes were written. It was not to win a reputation for brilliant scholarship that these books were published. It was emphati- 120 cally to elucidate, and establish what he believed to be the truth. Hence let his memory be honored, and his example imitated, in the pursuit of, and love for, the truth. In my library there is a volume presented by Dr. Dale It is addressed to "my friend," and was sent to me from Media in February, 1861. That "friend" would now tenderly lay upon the bier of his "friend," this little tribute of esteem and affection, in the faint hope that it may aid in perpetuating the memory of one, whose character and life may be fitly described in the words of the Christian poet: "I would express him simple, grave, sincere; In doctrine uncorrupt ; in language plain. And plain in manner ; decent, solemn, chaste, And natural in gesture ; much impress'd Himself as conscious of his awful charge ; And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too ; affectionate in look And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men." From the Rev. Thomas D. Jester, successor to Dr. Dale, as Pastor of the Middletown Presbyterian Church, Delaware Co., Pa, In youth Dr. Dale was a worshipper in the Arch Street church dur- ing the days of Dr. Skinner. When I was a student in Union Theologi- cal Seminary, Dr. Skinner was Professor there. One day he said to us: "I will now recommend to you some books on the subject of Baptism. I will mention first of all the works of Dr. Dale. And I may say I do it with a little pride. I call him one of my boys, and I feel proud of him. He was always in his place in the sanctuary when I was pastor 121 of the Arch Street church in Philadelphia, and I remember that fair open face that was turned upward to me with such interest. But the reason I recommend his books first is because he has gone so thoroughly over the field, there is no need for any one else to follow. He has gleaned the field. His work is a master-piece." I told the incident one day to Dr. Dale, and he said he remembered him well, and spoke with interest of the venerable man. And it may be said truly. Dr. Dale in his youth came under the influence of a most devout, simple-minded godly man. He had a very tender nature It is true he made no pretensions to such, nor was he anxious about what people would conceive him to be. Paul's language was constantly fulfilled in his manner: "But with me, it is a very small tiling that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment; yea, I judge not mine own self." But underneath all this lay a very warm sympathetic mind. After the death of his wife, I offered to him our pulpit to say what he chose concerning her. He re- plied : " I always feel at home in old Middletown, but even there my feel- ings would overcome me, I fear. " I told him the pulpit was always at his disposal. He thanked me, and said, " Perhaps some day I may be able to say something," but that day never came. He evinced the same tenderness at the bedside of the sick, and over their graves ; and among children he was a child. There are many incidents in the minds of others, which I am partially acquainted with that would illustrate the truth of this position — the tenderness of the man. But how a man of such deep feeling could dwell apart from men can be explained on the ground that he subordinated everything to a fixed purpose, and this is one element of his greatness. He is great who can bring every- thing into subjection to a sense of duty. Life is too diversified for many to become great. The power of concentration is wanting. 122 A word in regard to his temperance work. In tliis he stood head and shoulders above all men in Delaware County. Take his life out of the temperance cause here since 1845, when he came into the county, and you have taken out the greater part of the grace of God; and when that is taken out what is there left to any movement. Movements have come and gone in that time, like waves of the sea surging up on to the shore to drop hack again. Dr. Dale stepped down from his heights, welcomed and joined hands with those who were working by "tidal waves," as one was called, and he gave permanence to whatever was good in the movement. It was the grace of God in him; and he moved on unshaken in the temperance work while these tidal waves were falling back into the deep. It would be very interesting to note how many evanescent temperance movements he has passed through — doing what could be done through them — seeing them at last collapse, and leaving him alone the staunch defender of total abstinence. None of these things moved him from his fixed principles. He dwelt pre-emi- nently in the atmosphere of Divine grace. He was a man of self-denial. Once they offered him $800 be- tween them, Ridley and Middletown. He was getting $600. He told them he would not take it. At that time Dr. Dale was doing all his own work — such as milking his cow, and tending to his horse, and other like deeds. And I was informed by Mr. Henderson, who built his house, that Dr. Dale quarried most of the stone for the foundation of that house ; and said he, " I have seen him working with coat and vest off, and the sweat flowing freely." He could say with the Apostle Paul, " These hands have ministered to my necessities." All this was in the interest of our Lord's cause. And further, on his old list of subscribers, to the rebuilding of the church in 1846, is Dr. Dale's name 123 at the head for $50; and go on down the paper and we find his name again for $50. All this on a salary of $600. But who has not noticed his purity? I never remember anything that had the slightest approach to or appearance of evil. He was as pure as the water in a mountain lake. He left an abiding impression on the people of this county towards helping them to see God. Of his writings let me say, that I think the time has not come for an appreciation of his works. In them is the foundation and ma- terial for a defense of the subject. Men will hereafter build with what he has gathered. There is an immense amount of material in them ; indeed all that can be gathered on the subject; and when the time comes for a re-adjustment of doctrinal and denominational positions, the works of Dr. Dale will be found to be the dictionary of the occasion. He was the centre of Presbyterian polity in Delaware County, pursued a necessary course to its developments. He preached in Ches- ter, when there was no sign of a church there, and encouraged the growth of the First church there which has developed into three. He founded Media church, and lastly the Glen Riddle church. All the qualities that dwelt in him were in constant, active exer- cise. He never knew what it was to spend an idle moment He stood up among us intellectually and spiritually as a mountain, and I esteem it a great blessing that ever I came under his benign influence. From the Rev. Edward S. Robbhis, successor to Dr. Dale, as Pastor of the Media Presbyterian Church, Delaware Co., Pa. My relations to Dr. Dale were peculiar. 1 was his successor in the pastorate of the Media church; and he was a resident of the town, and practically a member of ni}- congregation, from his resignation to 124 the day of his death. "When I received the call to the church, one of the first questions I asked, was, whether the old pastor would remain in the congregation, I had often heard of difficulties, and divisions under such circumstances. I was assured that Dr. Dale expected to leave Media in a short time. Otherwise, I should probably have declined the call. But he did not leave. In the Providence of God the way was closed, and his plans frustrated. Yet the anticipated difficulties from his presence did not appear. For nine years he exerted a positive, strong, helpful influence. He shewed the interest of a father in the young pastor. He made kindly remarks to others, some of which reached my ears, and cheered my heart. He continued to have the work of the church in mind, was always ready to counsel and sympathize with me, and was prompt to assist in any way, great or small. In public meetings outside the church, he appeared to take special pleasure in bringing me forward, giving the weight of his influ- ence in my behalf This testimony seems necessary, even though it involves, to some extent, the obtrusion of my own personality. There were certain more general characteristics, which were very marked in Dr. Dale : I. He had the manners of a gentleman. To some, he seemed cold and repellent. The difficult}^, however, was in themselves, their mor- bid sensitiveness, (otherwise, undue desire for attention,) or their rough-and-ready ideas of courtesy. He was, undoubtedly, a reserved man. But he was genial rather than cold ; attractive, rather than repellent. There was no hollow display of interest in others. His words of friendship and sympathy were expressions of genuine feel- ing. He forced himself upon no man. No man ever failed to receive a hearty reception from him. He was a pleasant companion in the social circle. His powers of general conversation were great. He 125 was full of entertainment for young and old. lie took active part in the games which require quickness of apprehension, and ready wit. He was a model in social conversation ; for he seldom talked about persons, and was slow to express an unfavorable judgment of any one. This was specially notable, because he was positive in his denunciations of all wrong-doing. II. In intellect, his great characteristic was intensiveness. He con- centrated his powers upon the subject before him. He was, in conse- quence, profound. He went beneath the surface, traced the accidents to the substance, and laid hold of great underlying truths. He dwelt much, in thought and speech, upon the glory of God. To him, this was no abstraction. It was his every-day meditation. Another result of his intensiveness was his 2-)ersii>tence. His purposes were neither suddenly formed, nor easily abandoned. In any work he undertook, he persevered. Difficulties daunted him not. He counted the cost clearly, beforehand. Thereafter, it was simply a question of the next step to be taken. This intensiveness did not produce narrowness. In religion, temperance, and politics, he was liberal. lie had broad views of the unit}^ of all who trust in a Divine Redeemer. He was the great leader of the temperance forces in Delaware county. But he based the duty of total abstinence upon the requirement of self- sacrifice for the sake of others. He was misunderstood, during the excitement of the late war, and considered a sympathizer with seces- sion and slavery. As a matter of fact, he was a member of an eman- cipation society before the extreme agitation of the question began. He was in favor of peace, as was every true Christian, until peace was no longer possible. In politics, after the war, he was independent, thinking too deeply to be deluded into voting for a corrupt, wicked man, because the machinery of part}' could be controlled in favor of 126 such a character. His intensiveness led, also, to originality He had his own way of looking at things, probing them in all directions, and discovering new aspects of truth. For this reason, not only his sermons, but even his remarks in the prayer meeting, were alwajj^s edifying. III. He had rhetorical, and oratorical gifts. There was a vein of poetic feeling in his mental constitution, which often manifested itself. He had an extensive vocabulary. His voice was powerful, with a wide range of tone and expression. At his best, he was very effective, few men more so. He was at his best when the theme of discourse had made special impression on his own heart, by reason of long meditation, or unusual circumstances. lY, His heart was exceedingly tender. He loved his family with a great devotion. He had a special interest in all children; and, as is usually the case, they knew it, and came readily to him. He was very sensitive; noting every little attention, and feeling any neglect or unkindness. He was responsive to feeling in others; rejoicing with those who rejoiced, and weeping with those who wept. He was, espe- cially, a sympathizing friend to all who were in trouble. His religious character has been already indicated, by the various points presented. The glory of God was his end. The good of his fellow-men was secondary only to this. Courteous, genial, powerful in mind and body, persevering, and tender, he consecrated all to the Mas- ter. Those who knew him loved him. All respected him, even those who rarely entered a church. They felt that he was more than merely good. They recognized in him a manly Christian, one in whom strength and goodness were combined. 127 MINUTE OF THE TRESBYTERY OF CHESTER. Prepared by the Rev. Robert P. DiiBois, of New London, Pa., and adopted at Middletown, Pa., October 5, 1SS3. "The Rev. James Wilkinson Dale, D.D.,one of the original mem- bers of our Presbytery, departed this life, at Media, Pa., on the 19th of April, 1881, aged 68 years. It is eminently fitting that here, at Mid- dletown, the scene of his earliest labors amongst us, and not far from the home in which he so long lived, and at last died, we should put upon record a minute expressive of our esteem for him whilst living and our respect over him when dead. " Our departed brother was no ordinary man, but one who excelled in various directions. As an early and steadfast advocate of temper- ance, his work will be long remembered in this region, and especially in the borough of Media. As a close student and author, his four exhaustive volumes on Baptism gave him a standing and reputation which pedo- baptist churches will admire and fondly cherish. In the way of organ- izing Presbyterian churches, especially in Delaware County, he fulfilleP'W™^ , . ■ CAVLORO rniNTCDiMU.s *