DISCOURSE A ^'^ 
 
 (* MAR 2 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL \ /v , ,.^ 
 
 JOHN MACLEAN, D.D.,LL.D., 
 
 TENTH PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, 
 
 THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J., 
 
 FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1886, 
 
 BY • 
 
 JOHN T. DUFFIELD, D.D. 
 
 A MEMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED IN 
 
 THE MARQUAND CHAPEL OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY 
 
 ON 
 
 The Evening of Baccalaureate Sunday, 
 JUNE 19, 1887, 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES M. LUDLOW, D.D. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE TRUSTEES. 
 
€^t Jrinccton gress. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 The Rev. John Maclean, D.D., LL.D., Tenth Presi- 
 dent of the College of New Jersey, died at his residence in 
 Princeton, N. J., on Tuesday, Aug. lo, 1886. The funeral 
 services were held in the Second Presbyterian Church on 
 Friday afternoon, Aug. 13, President Maclean having been 
 connected with the Second Church since its organization. 
 The exercises were conducted by the Pastor, the Rev. 
 Lewis W. Mudge, D.D. The Rev. James O. Murray, D.D., 
 LL.D., Dean of the Faculty of the College, offered the 
 opening prayer. Select portions of Scripture were read by 
 Prof. Henry C. Cameron, D.D. The funeral Discourse was 
 delivered by Prof. John T. Duffield, D.D., followed by 
 a brief Address by Prof. James C. Moffat, D.D. The 
 closing prayer was offered by the Rev. Archibald Alexan- 
 der Hodge, D.D., LL.D., and the benediction was pro- 
 nounced by the Rev. David Magie, D.D., of Paterson, N. 
 J. The following gentlemen were pall-bearers : Samuel H. 
 Pennington, M.D., and the Rev. E. R. Craven, D.D., Trus- 
 tees of the College, Prof. Wm. Henry Green, D.D., LL.D., 
 of the Theological Seminary, Prof J. S. Schanck, M.D., 
 LL.D., of the College, the Rev Amzi L. Armstrong, and 
 the Rev. J. A. Worden, D.D., of the Presbytery of New 
 Brunswick, Mr. James Vandeventer of Princeton, and the 
 Hon. Wm. J. Magie, Justice ol the Supreme Court of New 
 Jersey. 
 
 The Trustees of the College requested the Faculty to 
 make arrangements for a Memorial service in the College 
 Chapel on the evening of Baccalaureate Sunday. By invi- 
 tation of the Faculty the Address was delivered by the 
 Rev. James M. Ludlow, D.D., of East Orange, N. J. 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE REV. JOHN T. DUFFIELD, D.D., 
 
 Professor in the College of Ne-^ Jersey. 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 If this were an occasion for grieving my place 
 would be with the mourners. On Tuesday morning 
 last when with his immediate relatives and one of 
 my colleagues I sat at the bedside of Dr. Maclean 
 and felt that hand which so often had extended to 
 me a warm greeting grow cold in my grasp and the 
 pulses become fainter and fainter until the heart 
 ceased to beat, I felt that I had lost my best earthly 
 friend. I have received many blessings from our 
 heavenly Father which call for thankfulness, but I 
 feel that I have special reason for gratitude to God 
 that for near fifty years of life's pilgrimage, it has 
 been my privilege to enjoy the acquaintance, and 
 for more than forty years the intimate personal 
 friendship, of John Maclean. Were this an occasion 
 for mourning I should not occupy the place I do to-day. 
 But who does not feel that the circumstances under 
 which we are assembled call not for grieving 
 but thanksgiving — thanks, not that John Maclean 
 is dead but that he lived ; thanks, that in early 
 
8 
 
 youth he became a follower of Christ and hence- 
 forth to its close his life was an epistle of god- 
 liness known and read of men ; thanks, that he was 
 so endowed by nature and by grace that upon all 
 with whom he was associated his influence was a 
 benediction ; thanks, that he had granted to him not 
 only wisdom but wisdom's "right-hand" blessing, 
 "length of days;" thanks, that though "by reason 
 of strength" his life was extended to more than 
 fourscore years, that strength was 7iot "labor and 
 sorrow;" thanks, that with faculties unimpaired, in 
 old age he brought forth fruit; thanks, that he 
 passed through the valley of the shadow of death 
 without fear of evil, that his end was peace and his 
 death a victory. 
 
 When I look on this casket w^hich contains all 
 that was mortal of President Maclean, and think of 
 the grand life that ended when he ceased to breathe, 
 I feel that without anticipating the time when " this 
 mortal shall put on immortality " we may appropri 
 ate the exclamation, " O grave ! where is thy vie 
 tor>' ? " 
 
 Except in the prospect of the resurrection of 
 those who sleep in Jesus, we seldom dare to utter 
 this triumphant challenge of the apostle. Often 
 the fatal summons comes to those who are in 
 the morning of life, full of bright hopes and 
 fond anticipations, the centre of a circle of loving 
 
and admiring friends, at the age when Hfe is sweet- 
 est, when the ties which bind to earth are strongest, 
 when the youthful spirit bouyant with joy and joyous 
 hopes was beginning to wonder why this world 
 should ever have been called " a vale of tears " — at 
 such a time has the summons come and given 
 another illustration of the sad truth which youthful 
 inexperience had begun to doubt — and as we com- 
 mitted to the tomb the remains of those thus prema- 
 turely smitten, we have felt that the grave had had 
 a victory. Often has the fatal summons come 
 to those in the prime of manhood, who had 
 advanced on their career only to be stopped at the 
 middle of the course, engaged in the battle of life 
 only to fall when the battle was at its height — at a 
 time when life's duties were most urgent, when 
 loved ones were most dependent, when influence 
 was most far-reaching and cherished schemes but 
 half-completed — at such a time has the summons come 
 reminding us that " man at his best state is vanity" 
 — and, as we committed to the tomb the remains of 
 those who were smitten so untimely, we felt that 
 the grave had had the victory and that a broken shaft 
 was the monument appropriate to their last resting 
 place. But who would think of erecting a broken 
 shaft over the grave of John Maclean ? Thanks be 
 to God, to-day we are permitted to carry to yonder 
 cemetery the precious remains of one whose career 
 
lO 
 
 did not terminate until he had reached the goal, 
 whose labors did not cease until he had accom- 
 plished the work that had been given him to do. 
 whose life did not end until its full term was com- 
 pleted — to whom death came not as an abnormal 
 untimely catastrophe, but the normal ending of a 
 finished course, a transition from the sphere of 
 service when the work prescribed was done, to the 
 sphere of the faithful servant's reward. When we 
 contemplate such a life and such a death as this, 
 without anticipating the hour when this mortal shall 
 put on immortality, we may triumphantly ask, " O 
 grave ! where is thy victory ? " When grain ripe 
 for the sickle is harvested and the wheat gathered 
 into the garner, the preserver, not the destroyer, 
 has the victory. 
 
 John Maclean was born in Princeton, March 3d, 
 1800, in the brick house on the north side of Nassau 
 street, immediately opposite the School of Science 
 building. He was descended from an honorable 
 ancestry both on his father's and mother's side, the 
 genealogical record of each family extending back 
 for centuries and including many distinguished 
 names. His father, Professor John Maclean, M.D., 
 was a native of Glasgow. At the early age of sixteen 
 he was graduated at the University of that city with 
 high honor and early attained distinction by original 
 researches in Chemistry — a science then in its 
 
II 
 
 infancy. After completing a course of Medical Lec- 
 tures at Glasgow, he attended Lectures on his fav- 
 orite studies — Chemistry and Surgery — at Edin- 
 burgh, London and Paris. He for a time engaged 
 with much success in the practice of his profession 
 in his native city, at the same time continuing his 
 researches in Chemistry. Preferring our Republican 
 form of government and believing that in the United 
 States he would have a wider field of usefulness, 
 he came to America, arriving in New York in April, 
 1795. At the ensuing meeting of the Board of 
 Trustees he was elected Professor of Chemistry and 
 Natural Philosophy. By his acceptance of this 
 appointment Chemistry for the first time became one 
 of the studies of an American College curriculum. 
 In an account of a visit to Princeton in 1801, Dr. 
 Archibald Alexander refers to Professor Maclean 
 as *' one of the most popular Professors who ever 
 graced an American^ College." He was at home 
 almost equally in all branches of science. In the 
 diary of Yale's distinguished Professor of Chemistry, 
 the late Benjamin Silliman, M.D., LL.D., there is 
 the following record : ''Brief residence in Princeton. — 
 At this celebrated seat of learning an eminent gentle- 
 man. Dr. John Maclean, resided as Professor of Chem- 
 istry. I passed a few days with Dr. Maclean and 
 obtained from him a general insight into my future 
 occupation. I regard him as my earliest master 
 
12 
 
 in Chemistry aiul Princeton as my starting point 
 in that pursuit." 
 
 I'rofessor Maclean was married in 1 798 to Phoebe 
 Bainbridge, daughter ol Absalom Bainbridge, M.D. 
 of New York City and sister of the distinguished 
 naval hero, Commodore William Bainbridge. She 
 was a lady of rare loveliness both of person and of 
 character. Professor Silliman refers to her in his 
 diary as " a lovely woman, who made my visits to 
 the house very pleasant to me." John Maclean 
 inherited in larcre measure his father's intellectual 
 ability and his mother's loveliness of character. 
 When but thirteen years of age he was admitted 
 to the Freshman Class at the beginning of the 
 Second Term, and was graduated with honor in 
 181 6 — the youngest member of his Class. 
 
 In the winter of 18 14-15 a revival of religion 
 occurred, in some respects the most memorable in 
 the history of the College, resulting in the conversion 
 of a large number of students, many of whom sub- 
 sequendy became eminent in the Church — Dr. 
 Charles Hodge, Bishop Johns, Bishop Mcllvaine, Dr. 
 Wm. J. Armstrong, Dr. Ravaud K. Rodgers, Dr. 
 Symmes C. Henry, Dr. Charles S. Stewart and 
 others. John Maclean, then a Junior in Colleo-e, 
 did not manifest any interest on the subject of relio-ion 
 until one day a friend, Edward Allen, said to him, 
 •' Maclean, have you heard the news ? " " What news ? " 
 
13 
 
 he asked. Allen replied, *' Hodge and Vandyke 
 have enlisted." He was for the moment startled by 
 the statement as there was at that time in Princeton 
 an officer engaged in obtaining recruits for the army. 
 After a brief pause Allen added, " They have enlisted 
 under the banner of King Jesus." Maclean replied, 
 ** Well, that was the best enlistment they could have 
 made," and was about to leave the room. His friend 
 requested him to remain and then spoke to him of the 
 importance of personal religion and urged him to give 
 the subject immediate attention. The result was the 
 conviction that he ought to do so and he at once 
 began the study of the Scriptures, with prayer that 
 he might be enabled to make them the rule of his 
 conduct. He was soon led to trust in Christ as his 
 Saviour but did not make a public profession of 
 his faith until after his graduation. 
 
 During the following year he was engaged as an 
 Assistant Teacher in the Classical School which had 
 recently been established at Lawrenceville by the 
 Rev. Isaac V. Brown. In the fall of 1818 he entered 
 the Theological Seminary and shortly after was 
 elected Tutor in Greek in the College. On the 
 resignation of Professor Vethake in 182 1 he took 
 charge of the Classes in Mathematics and the fol- 
 lowing year was appointed Professor of Mathematics 
 and Natural Philosophy. The same year he declined 
 an invitation to the Professorship of Mathematics in 
 
Dickinson College. In 1829 he was elected Vice- 
 President ot" the College and Professor of the Ancient 
 Languages. He had charge of both the Latin and 
 Greek Departments until 1836, when the increase in 
 the number of students rendered it necessary that 
 the Professorship should be divided. Prof. James 
 \V. Alexander was accordingly appointed Professor 
 of Latin and Dr. Maclean Professor of the Greek 
 Language and Literature. At the meeting of the 
 Board of Trustees in June, 1853, Dr. Carnahan 
 presented his resignation of the Presidency. At the 
 meeting of the Board in December, Dr. Maclean 
 was elected President of the College and was inaug- 
 urated at the Commencement in 1S54. In 1868, in 
 pursuance of a purpose he had several years pre- 
 viously formed, he resigned the Presidency, having 
 completed half a century in the service of the Col- 
 lege. 
 
 The simple fact that Dr. Maclean should have 
 filled in succession these different positions accept- 
 ably and successfully is evidence of his eminent and 
 varied ability ; yet of itself it would give a very inade- 
 quate impression of the extent and value of the ser- 
 vices he rendered to the College of New Jersey. 
 Without any disparagement to those associated with 
 him in the instruction and government of the College 
 it may be said that during almost the entire period 
 of his official connexion with the College he was the 
 
15 
 
 ruling spirit in the administration of its affairs. He 
 was a born leader of men. He combined those 
 qualities of mind and heart and character which win 
 the esteem and confidence of others, and give to 
 their possessor commanding influence. He was wise 
 in counsel, prompt in decision, energetic in action, 
 fertile in resource, tenacious in purpose and know- 
 ing no fear but the fear of God. He had in him 
 much of the stuff that martyrs are made of and 
 would have gone to the stake for a principle — at the 
 same time was charitable toward those who differed 
 from him, scrupulously considerate not only of the 
 rights but the feelings of others, courteous not by 
 rule but by instinct, of tender sympathy and generous 
 impulses, a high-minded, honorable. Christian gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 In 1828-9 the College passed through a crisis 
 that for a time threatened its very existence. Owing 
 to an unfortunate if not injudicious exercise of disci- 
 pline in 1824 — which it is proper to say was not 
 approved of though acquiesced in by Dr. Carnahan 
 who had recently entered on his duties as President — 
 upwards of twenty students were removed or with- 
 drawn from the Institution. The impression made 
 on the public was unfavorable and the number of 
 students still further declined, until in 1827 there 
 were but seventy-five enrolled. As the College was 
 almost entirely dependent on the receipts for tuition 
 
i6 
 
 and room-rent, it became greatly crippled financially. 
 Hoping to increase thereby the number of students 
 the charge for tuition was reduced. The result was 
 a still further diminution of income and a reduction 
 of salaries became necessary. Two of the three 
 Professors resigned. One of them, the Professor of 
 Ancient Languages, opened a Classical Academy, 
 "The Edorehill School," in Princeton. Professor 
 Maclean's talents, temperament and loyalty to his 
 Alma Mater were just what was needed fpr such a 
 crisis. Instead of yielding to the pressure of dis- 
 couraging circumstances, he devised a scheme for 
 not only filling the vacancies but increasing the 
 Faculty, and this without increasing the current 
 expenses. With characteristic magnanimity and a 
 self-reliance which was justified by the results, he 
 proposed to give up the Professorship which for 
 seven years he had filled with ability and success 
 and take charge of the Department of Ancient Lan- 
 guages ; that Professor Vethake, who was then in 
 Europe engaged in scientific studies, should be 
 appointed to his former Professorship; that Albert B. 
 Dod, who as Tutor in Mathematics gave promise of 
 his subsequent brilliant professorial career, should 
 be appointed Assistant Professor of Mathematics 
 and Natural Philosophy, to take charge of the 
 Department until the return of Professor Vethake ; 
 that the distinguished scientist Dr. John Torrey of 
 
17 
 
 New York, should be appointed to give an annual 
 course of Lectures at the College on Chemistry, and 
 that an Instructor in French should be appointed. 
 The scheme was approvedby President Carnahan, was 
 submitted by him to the Board of Trustees, and was 
 adopted. As an evidence of their high appreciation of 
 the abilities and services of Professor Maclean, the 
 Trustees of their own motion, probably at the sug- 
 gestion, certainly with the cordial approval, of Pres- 
 ident Carnahan appointed Professor Maclean Vice- 
 President of the College. 
 
 The reconstruction of the Faculty was received 
 with general favor. The number of students imme- 
 diately increased and was promptly followed by an 
 increase of the Faculty. In 1830 Joseph Addison 
 Alexander was appointed Assistant Professor of the 
 Ancient Languages and Dr. Howell Lecturer on 
 Anatomy and Physiology. In 1833, at the sugges- 
 tion of Dr. Maclean, Joseph Henry was appointed 
 Professor of Natural Philosophy and entered on that 
 life-work which has made his name and that of the 
 Institutions with which he has been connected, illus- 
 trious. In 1834, the scholarly and eloquent James 
 W. Alexander, D.D., was appointed Professor of 
 Belles Lettres and subsequently Professor of Belles 
 Lettres and Latin. The same year Stephen Alexan- 
 der was appointed Tutor in Mathematics — the begin- 
 ning of his distinguished career as a Mathematician 
 
and Astronomer. By these valuable accessions to the 
 Faculty, the prosperity of the College was perma- 
 nently secured. At the close of President Carna- 
 han's administration in 1S54, the number of students 
 had increased to two hundred and forty-seven. In 
 1 86 1 the number of students had increased to three 
 hundred and fourteen, the graduating classes for 
 several years numbering near ninety. By the out- 
 break of the war the number of students was reduced 
 to two hundred and twelve, but at the close of Pres- 
 ident Maclean's administration in 1868 the number 
 had increased to two hundred and fifty-four, and the 
 accession the last year of his Administration was one 
 hundred and seventeen, the largest, up to that 
 period, in the history of the College. 
 
 President Maclean's administration marks a new 
 era in the financial condition of the College. Efforts 
 had previously been made to secure an Endowment 
 Fund — in 1825 by the Alumni Association, in '30 by 
 the Trustees, and again in '35 by the Alumni — but 
 these efforts were almost wholly unsuccessful. In 
 1853, when President Carnahan presented his resig- 
 nation, the permanent funds of the College did not 
 exceed $1 5,000. At the close of President Maclean's 
 administration in '68, the permanent funds amounted 
 to a quarter of a million. The College had also 
 received large gifts for grounds, buildings and special 
 expenses — the ground for the Observatory with the 
 
^9 
 
 first payment for the building of $10,000 from Gen. 
 N. N. Halsted, the ground for Dickinson Hall and 
 $100,000 from Mr. John C. Green, the property of 
 Doct.John N.Woodhull by bequest, contributions for 
 the rebuilding of Nassau Hall after the fire of 1854 
 and for other special objects. Several bequests to the 
 College made previous to 1868 were subsequently 
 paid. Without including these bequests, the aggre- 
 gate of gifts to the College during President Maclean's 
 administration was about four hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars. The College is to be congratu- 
 lated that these large gifts have been so far sur- 
 passed during the brilliant administration of his 
 illustrious successor, but it is no extravagant eulogy 
 to say, that on his retirement from the Presidency, of 
 all the names enrolled on the General Catalogue of 
 the College as Alumni, Professors, Trustees and 
 Presidents, there is no one to whom the Institution is 
 more largely indebted for its established prosperity 
 than to John Maclean. 
 
 The personal relations of Dr. Maclean and his 
 venerated predecessor were alike creditable to both 
 these distinguished men. Though quite different in 
 temperament and through almost the entire period 
 of President Carnahan's administration sustaining: 
 to each other a somewhat delicate official relation, 
 their intercourse was never marred by the slightest 
 jealousy or other unpleasant feeling. With a high 
 
20 
 
 appreciation of each other's abiHty and discretion, 
 and with impHcit confidence in each other's disinter- 
 ested devotion to the interests of the college, they 
 were confidential friends. No important action was 
 taken by either without consultation with and the 
 approval of the other. In his letter of resignation 
 President Carnahan refers to his esteemed colleague 
 who had been associated with him throughout his 
 entire administration. "To his activity, zeal, and 
 devotion to the interests of the College," he says, 
 " I must be permitted to give my unqualified testi- 
 mony." Subsequently as a member of the Board 
 of Trustees, he cordially favored the appointment of 
 Dr. Maclean as his successor. It was an interesting, 
 and to President Maclean an especially gratifying, 
 incident, that his first official act after his inaugura- 
 tion was the announcement that the Trustees had 
 conferred the Degree of Doctor of Laws on the 
 friend with whom he had been so long and intimately 
 and pleasantly associated. 
 
 In regard to the choice of a successor to Presi- 
 ident Carnahan it may be proper to mention that in 
 view of his world-wide reputation, his administrative 
 ability and his high Christian character, some of the 
 Trustees favored the election of Professor Henry, 
 who in 1848 had resigned his Professorship at 
 Princeton to accept the Secretaryship of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. When the matter was proposed 
 
21 
 
 to Professor Henry he was unwilling to be regarded 
 as a candidate, and recommended the election of his 
 friend Vice-President Maclean. He subsequently 
 showed his esteem for Dr. Maclean by having him 
 appointed one of the Regents of the Smithsonian 
 Institution. 
 
 With no less truth than when the words were 
 originally uttered, it may be said to-day, " a Prince 
 and a great man has fallen in Israel." John Maclean 
 was one of nature's noblemen, richly endowed with 
 princely gifts and virtues. He was a great man intel- 
 lectually. That abnormal development of healthy brain 
 was the organ of an intellect exceptionally vigorous by 
 nature, and strengthened and developed by faithful 
 culture. He was a man of broad scholarship. Whilst 
 making little pretension to what may be called the 
 ornamental branches of a liberal education, he was 
 proficient in the branches that are fundamental. Few 
 Presidents of American Colleges have been ready 
 as was he, in an emergency, to take charge of the 
 instruction in most of the studies of the curriculum. 
 Up to the close of life it was his daily habit to read 
 the Scriptures in the original. He was one of that 
 company of Christian scholars who, by their services 
 in the Institutions of this place and their contribu- 
 tions to the old " Princeton Review," made the name 
 of Princeton illustrious throughout evangelical 
 Christendom. 
 
22 
 
 In the discussion of the important questions 
 which agitated the Presbyterian Church a half cen- 
 tury ago, Dr. Maclean took a prominent part. He 
 published a series of letters in "The Presbyterian," 
 which were afterwards republished in pamphlet form, 
 defending with marked ability the action of the 
 Assembly of '37 on the questions at issue between 
 the Old and New School branches of the Church. 
 He represented the Presbytery of New Brunswick 
 in the important Assembly of '^,8^ when the division 
 of the Church occurred, and was appointed to pre- 
 pare a Circular Letter to Foreign Evangelical 
 Churches, on the issues which led to the division. 
 He was a member of the Assembly of 1843 
 and again of the Assembly of 1844, ^t both which 
 important questions as to the functions of the office 
 of Ruling Elder were decided — questions which for 
 several years previous had been discussed in the 
 religious periodicals and in the ecclesiastical courts. 
 The eminent ability with which Dr. Maclean defended 
 the views of the majority was recognized in each 
 Assembly by his appointment to prepare a reply to 
 the protest of the minority. 
 
 Dr. Maclean's most notable contributions to the 
 Review were two articles in '41, in reply to two Prize 
 Essays that had recently been published in Great 
 Britain and afterwards in this country with the sanc- 
 tion of the National Temperance Society, maintain- 
 
23 
 
 ing the duty of total abstinence on the ground that 
 the Scriptures condemned all use of intoxicating 
 drinks and that the '' wine " whose use was not for- 
 bidden in the Scriptures and which was used by the 
 Saviour in instituting the Sacrament of the Supper 
 was *' the unfermented juice of the grape." No 
 more exhaustive and conclusive argument in oppo- 
 sition to the doctrine of these Essays has ever been 
 published. The articles attracted much attention 
 both in this country and in Great Britain and secured 
 for their author a high reputation for classical, bib- 
 lical and patristic scholarship. 
 
 In 1873 he published in the Review a valua- 
 ble exegetical article on the Harmony of the dif- 
 ferent accounts of Christ's Resurrection, in which he 
 shows even in old age, familiarity with a somewhat 
 abstruse branch of Mathematics — the Doctrine of 
 Probabilities — proving thereby the credibility of the 
 different narratives by their evidently undesigned 
 agreement in so many different particulars. 
 
 The State of New Jersey is largely indebted to 
 Dr. Maclean for her present Common School sys- 
 tem. He was one of its earliest and ablest advocates. 
 He read a paper on the subject before "the New Jer- 
 sey Literary and Philosophical Society" in 1829, 
 which was afterwards printed and widely circulated, 
 and in 1833 published an article on ** Common 
 Schools " in the Princeton Review. 
 
24 
 
 After his retirement from the Presidency, his 
 Hfe-work was fitly crowned by preparing for the 
 press a History of the College from its origin to the 
 close of President Carnahan's administration — the 
 Preface containing many important facts in connex- 
 ion with his own administration. The work is 
 admirable for the exhaustive extent and minute 
 accuracy of its information, gleaned from every avail- 
 able record and document and supplemented from 
 the stores of his wonderful memory. It contains 
 judicious discussions of questions pertaining to the 
 instruction and government of the College, and 
 interesting biographical sketches of that remarkable 
 succession of distinguished men who had preceded 
 him in the Presidency. Having completed this labor 
 of love, with characteristic generosity he gave the 
 manuscript to an Association which he had been 
 instrumental in organizing, after his official connexion 
 with the College had terminated, to aid worthy stu- 
 dents in the College needing assistance. 
 
 President Maclean was a great man intellectually 
 — he was greater morally — greater in the elements of 
 a noble, manly, lovely character. It was for grandeur 
 of soul, rather than of intellect, that he was spoken 
 of as " a grand old man." He had an abnormally 
 large brain, he had a larger heart. It was this large- 
 heartedness that made him so loving and so lovable 
 — it was this that so endeared him to his pupils and 
 
25 
 
 to all with whom he was associated, that on the day 
 when he resio^ned the seals of the Presidential 
 Office, it was said by one not given to extravagant 
 expression, that " John Maclean was the most loved 
 man in America." The luxury he most indulged in 
 was " the luxury of doing good." To promote the 
 happiness of others was the ruling principle, the 
 passion of his life. His ready sympathy and his 
 generosity attracted to him those who were in 
 trouble, and to the extent of his ability it was 
 ever a pleasure to minister aid and comfort. 
 He was "given to hospitality," not because it was 
 a commanded duty but from the impulse of a 
 generous nature, and his cordial welcome, his 
 genial manner and his unaffected courtesy made 
 every one, friend or stranger, who entered his hos- 
 pitable mansion, feel at home. He was not only 
 unselfish but self-sacrificing in efforts to promote 
 the happiness and the welfare of others. He 
 repeatedly had sick students brought to his house 
 that he might be assured they would be properly 
 cared for, and that he might personally minister to 
 their comfort. A few years ago an incident acci- 
 dentally came to my knowledge that until to-day I 
 have not felt at liberty to mention publicly. I met 
 him one day on the sidewalk near my house with a 
 small package in his hand and walking rather briskly 
 toward the railroad station. I asked, " which way are 
 
26 
 
 you going?" With some hesitation, and blushing, as if 
 he would have preferred that his object should not 
 have been known, he replied, '' I met on the street 
 a few moments ago a colored man — a stranger — 
 who appeared to be unwell. On inquiry I learned 
 that he was in feeble health and was on his way from 
 Trenton to New Brunswick, where he had friends. 
 I asked him why he did not go in the cars ? He 
 said he had no money. I gave him enough to pay 
 his fare and directed him to the station. After leav- 
 ing him it crossed my mind that he had probably 
 had nothing to eat since leaving Trenton and was 
 faint from hunger, so I went to the baker's and 
 bought a loaf of bread which I am taking to him," — 
 and he passed on on his errand of mercy. I thought 
 of Him, who when on earth "went about doing 
 good," who washed His disciples' feet, saying, " I 
 have given you an example that ye should do as I 
 have done to you," and when I saw the venerable 
 Ex-President of the College becoming a poor col- 
 ored man's servant, and this without solicitation — 
 ministering personally to a stranger who had no 
 other claim than that he was needy and friendless — 
 I felt that it was the most Christ-like act I had ever 
 witnessed. Yet this was characteristic of the man. 
 Estimated by the divine standard, " he that would 
 be great among you let him be your minister, and 
 he that would be chief let him be the servant of all," 
 John Maclean was the greatest man I ever knew. 
 
27 
 
 Any portraiture of Dr. Maclean's character 
 would be defective that did not give prominence to 
 his piety. He was a truly great man because he 
 was " a good man, full of faith and of the Holy 
 Ghost." He was endowed by nature with the traits 
 of a noble character, but these natural endowments 
 would never have made him *' the grand old man " 
 he was, had they not been sanctified by grace. 
 That rare combination in him of manliness and love- 
 liness was an illustration of the spiritual meaning of 
 the declaration of the Psalmist, '' strength and 
 beauty are in Thy sanctuary." From the time he 
 ** enlisted " in Christ's service, seventy years ago, 
 until his earthly course on Tuesday last was finished, 
 he was a loyal soldier, a good and faithful servant 
 of Jesus Christ. His single aim in all things, was to 
 know his Master's will and do it. He was not only 
 a diligent student of God's Word but made that 
 Word the rule of all his conduct and the glor>^ of 
 God the chief end of his life. Scrupulously faithful 
 in the discharge of every personal and official duty, 
 he was earnest and unwearied in effort for the spir- 
 itual welfare of others. As a member of the 
 Faculty he was not only regular in attendance on 
 all the ordinary religious exercises of the College 
 but conducted a special half-hour service in one of 
 the recitation rooms, four evenings of every week of 
 term-time, for many years. When he became Pres- 
 
28 
 
 Ident, in addition to the accustomed Biblical Instruc- 
 tion on the Sabbath he took charge of one exercise a 
 week in religious Instruction \^Ith each one of the 
 Classes. In his Inaugural Address he emphasized 
 the fact that the College of New Jersey was founded 
 to promote religion as well as learning, and he 
 was " instant in season and out of season " In labors 
 and in prayers that this end might be fulfilled. 
 Steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work 
 of the Lord, his labor was not in vain in the Lord. 
 From his election to the Vice-Presidency until the 
 close of his official connexion with the College 
 scarcely a Class was graduated that had not passed 
 through a season of special religious interest and 
 that did not contain a number who had been hope- 
 fully converted in College. His religious activity 
 was not confined to the College. He was " ready 
 unto every good word and work." He took an 
 active interest in the welfare of our colored popula- 
 tion and was their trusted counsellor, their steadfast 
 friend and generous benefactor. It was mainly 
 through his instrumentality that the WItherspoon 
 St. Presbyterian Church was organized and their 
 house of worship erected. Some forty years ago, 
 when the interests of Presbyterianism in Princeton 
 seemed to demand a second Church, at the solicita- 
 tion of those immediately Interested and with the 
 cordial approval of his brethren, Including the pas- 
 
29 
 
 tor of the First Church, Dr. Maclean took charge of 
 the enterprise. By his energy and HberaHty he 
 contributed so largely to the success of the effort 
 that for many years our Church was known as " Dr. 
 Maclean's Church." After his withdrawal from the 
 College until a few months ago when prevented by 
 the infirmities of age, he was regular in his attend- 
 ance on its services, was in proportion to his means 
 probably the most generous contributor to its sup- 
 port, and by many a kind word and deed encour- 
 aged the Pastor in his labors. To this Church his 
 death is an irreparable bereavement. 
 
 His last appearance in public was at the after- 
 dinner meeting of the Alumni on the day before 
 Commencement. It was the seventieth anniversary 
 of his graduation. He was, and for many years had 
 been, the President of the Alumni Association. The 
 scene of thrilling interest occasioned by his presence 
 will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. 
 When he entered the hall leaning on the arm of his 
 friend Dr. Schanck, the whole assembly rose and 
 welcomed him with cheers which continued, increas- 
 ing in volume and enthusiasm, until he was seated, 
 the central figure on the platform. He was unable 
 to respond, but a brief address which he had pre- 
 pared was at his request read by Professor Cameron. 
 He remained for a litde time, and when he rose to 
 retire the assembly again rose and remained stand- 
 
30 
 
 ing in respectful silence until he had left the hall. 
 Many eyes unused to weeping were wet with tears 
 as they looked for the last time on his venerable 
 form. Grateful as such an expression of the respect 
 and affection of the Alumni must have been to him 
 as his earthly career was drawing to its close, the 
 main inducement to attend the meeting was not the 
 ovation that awaited him. At the risk of hastening 
 the end which he knew was near, he was present, 
 that in his farewell address to the Alumni he might 
 once more, and under circumstances calculated to 
 make a deep and lasting impression, record the fact 
 that the College of New Jersey was founded for the 
 promotion of religion as well as learning, and to 
 express the hope and prayer that the design of the 
 pious founders of the Institution would ever be 
 sacredly regarded by those to whom its interests 
 might be entrusted. 
 
 Until near the very close of his life his faculties 
 continued unimpaired. He looked forward to death 
 and the life beyond with unclouded faith and a 
 blessed hope. He had fought a good fight, he 
 had finished his course, he had kept the faith, and 
 he was " ready " for the time of his departure. His 
 end was painless and peaceful. As an infant in a 
 mother's arms he fell asleep and entered into rest. 
 He is gone, but in many hearts until they cease to 
 beat his memory will be precious. 
 
31 
 
 God in His providence to-day is repeating the 
 injunction of His word, " Mark the perfect man and 
 behold the upright for the end of that man is peace." 
 Though "dead he yet speaketh." Such a Hfe and 
 death as his is the unanswerable argument for 
 the truth of our holy religion. It stands the test 
 proposed by its blessed Founder — its divinity is 
 demonstrated by such fruits. 
 
 That voice from heaven which the beloved disci- 
 ple heard in the Apocalypse is saying again to us 
 to-day, *' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord 
 — they rest from their labors and their works do 
 follow them." 
 
 Who will not join me in the prayer, " May my 
 last end be like his ? " 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE REV. JAMES M. LUDLOW, D.D., 
 
 Pastor of the Miinn Avenue Presbyterian Church, East Orange, N. J. 
 
ADDRESS, 
 
 I appreciate very highly the honor of having 
 been selected by my Alma Mater to voice the loving 
 respect for the memory of Dr. Maclean which fills 
 all our hearts. I appreciate also, and very keenly, 
 the fact that I cannot do justice to the subject. 
 Were this possible under any circumstances, the 
 lateness of your invitation and the fact that Professor 
 Duffield has already, upon the occasion of the funeral 
 service, delivered an eulogy which was so complete 
 as an analysis of the character and summary of the 
 life of our beloved preceptor, would have made me 
 hesitate to undertake the duty of to-night. I have, 
 however, overcome this feeling by the thought that 
 no one who knew Dr. Maclean will expect me to do 
 justice to his memory, any more than a son is 
 expected to do justice to the memory of his father, 
 when, swayed by the tide of grateful recollections, 
 he looks upon the dear face in the coffin, and says, 
 " How I loved him ! " But it is worth comincr back 
 
 o 
 
 to Princeton just to say that of Dr. Maclean. 
 
36 
 
 And however Inadequate my words may be in 
 themselves, they gather incalculable meaning in 
 that they will express the feeling of thousands of 
 livinor eraduates who received instruction from him, 
 and who, from all parts of the world, from the high- 
 est council chambers of the nation, from the labora- 
 tories of science and the retreats of philosophy, from 
 pulpits and court rooms, from all the paths of pro- 
 fessional and commercial life, hall his name with 
 loving recollections. The flowers of grateful tribute 
 come in such profusion that no one can arrange 
 them in a set speech. I bring a few ; but our 
 service, like Buddha's bowl, overflows with them. 
 
 The many relations which Dr. Maclean sustained 
 to the community, as professor in various branches 
 of literature and science, disciplinarian, writer, coun- 
 sellor and ecclesiastic, made many impressions of 
 him in many minds ; but there was one impression 
 which he made upon everybody : — he was great in 
 his goodness. Whatever else I may have to say, 
 with this I must begin, and to this I must revert ; for 
 his goodness gave quality to everything associated 
 with him. It was to his other characteristics what a 
 racial type Is to the features ; the common stamp 
 upon them all. It was not merely, as has been said, 
 the finest bloom of his manhood, but its very essence. 
 If you read the formal tributes paid to his memory 
 by various corporate bodies with which he was con- 
 
37 
 
 nected, you will observe that they, are climacteric in 
 this regard. Thus the men of science represented 
 by the Smithsonian Institute recognize his service 
 "in the cause of culture, o{ truth and righteousness^ 
 The resolutions of the Board of Trustees of the Col- 
 lege express appreciation of " his ability, learning, 
 benevole}ice, kijidness and ajfectio)iy His moral qual- 
 ities were to his other traits what the olow is to the 
 
 o 
 
 various hues of the sunset, giving to each its glory. 
 But I must note some of the hues as well as the 
 glory. Dr. Maclean was of marked individuality in 
 many respects. His personal appearance was nota- 
 ble. Dore's delineation of Virgil guiding Dante 
 through the shades of Inferno was not more unique 
 than that tall, straight form, its angularity broken by 
 flowing hair and long cloak, which our imagination still 
 sees moving among the trees of the campus. Nature 
 had endowed him with a rare physique. His muscles 
 were iron and his nerves steel ; a straight inheritance 
 of the Maclean clan that swung the claymore on the 
 Scottish border. And woe to the college athlete 
 who, prowling after mischief across the border of 
 propriety, felt his grip! Once, after he had turned 
 his seventieth year, a stalwart law-breaker whom he 
 had captured and brought to his office door, there 
 escaped him. The venerable man looked tor a 
 moment at the vanishing- form of the student, and 
 then, gazing upon his own hands, as it loth to admit 
 
38 
 
 the fact that their natural force was abated, with a 
 sigh, said. '' Well, I didn't think it ! " 
 
 Perhaps Dr. Maclean never knew the sensation 
 of physical fear. In the thickest of the melee be- 
 tween the ruffianism of town and college, by the 
 lighted fuse which was to explode the walls of Old 
 North, and in the secret caucus of disguised despe- 
 radoes, his form suddenly appeared, the impersona- 
 tion of the Gaelic motto of the Macleans, " Dreum 
 Rioghail do' chiosnuicht nach striochdeadh do Shlu- 
 aigh, — a royal clan of bravery which never sur- 
 renders to a multitude." 
 
 Of the intellectual character of Dr. Maclean It Is 
 not easy to form an estimate. The circumstances 
 of the College forced him to give instruction In so 
 many departments that it would have been a marvel 
 if he had found additional time to prove his genius 
 In any. But so strong and facile was his mental 
 energy that it developed a notable degree of talent 
 for almost every subject that interested him. He 
 was able to hold the different chairs in Princeton, 
 not through your mere partiality ; for, it Is now 
 known — what his modesty at the time concealed — 
 that he received overtures from other colleees to fill 
 similar professorships with them. Dr. Matthew B. 
 Hope, than whom Princeton never had a shrewder 
 judge of men, used to say that had Dr. Maclean 
 given himself to any particular study in science, 
 
39 
 
 philosophy or language, he would easily have at- 
 tained celebrity in it. If we doubt this, we may find 
 the reason for the failure of Dr. Maclean to become 
 a master In specialty, not In the lack of special 
 ability, but rather in the possession of certain other 
 intellectual impulses which made his thoughts over- 
 flow any single channel. He saw too many things, 
 if not at once, yet in quick succession, and was im- 
 patient of one-threaded continuity. There were too 
 many windows In his mind to show a ray through 
 the keyhole ; yet the keyhole ray — as good Prof. 
 Alexander used to show us in the laboratory — would 
 reveal mysteries which wide windows could not. A 
 specialist not only focuses mental light upon his 
 theme; sometimes he must exclude light. If Dr. 
 Maclean lacked any intellectual equipment, It was, 
 perhaps, of the nature of adjustable shutters. His 
 mind was like an ancient temple, open to the sky. 
 He was, moreover, of that practical turn of talent 
 which requires an Idea to be run Into definite shape, 
 to become solidified in fact, in order to be long re- 
 tained In interest. These, a wise critic observes, 
 are the qualities of a born ruler, a commander of 
 men, who catches Ideas quickly, but needs power to 
 execute them. Heinrlch Heine called Bonaparte "a 
 wide-eyed man" who could "see the whole things of 
 the world, while we others can only see them one by 
 one, and then only in shadow." But that "wide 
 
40 
 
 eye" would have thoroughly penetrated no depart- 
 ment of knowledee had circumstances settled him 
 as a professor in the school of Brienne, instead of 
 thrustino- him out amid the whirl of "affairs." Carnot 
 said that Bonaparte could not have made a scientific 
 man. Perhaps the same was true of Dr. Maclean ; 
 if so, for the same reason. 
 
 But he could have commanded men. At first it 
 seems an odd fancy, that of Dr. Maclean doffing the 
 gown and donning the military cloak. But, having 
 been once suggested, the fancy grows less fanciful. 
 His face, while suffused with benignity, had the 
 Cromwellian square brow, and straight Caesar-lips 
 formed for short crisp sentences. His frame was 
 full of nervous impulse which could not endure the 
 quiet of the study when there was need for a proc- 
 tor's service out of doors. One can imagine that 
 long white hair floating on the wind in a cavalry 
 charge ; though it is impossible to conceive of it fly- 
 ing before any enemy. 
 
 In council Dr. Maclean was eminently wise. 
 One intimately associated with him in the govern- 
 ment of the college says, that he saw almost intui- 
 tively what would prove in the long run the best 
 policy, though he lacked — or disliked to use with 
 the noble men associated with him — what we ordi- 
 narily call " policy," in leading others to second him. 
 He did not seem to appreciate the adage, '* The 
 
41 
 
 longest way round is the shortest woy home ; " but 
 struck out across fields on the straight Hne of definite 
 statement of whatever was in his mind. He failed 
 to accomplish many of his purposes because others 
 did not appreciate them. Had he been in untram- 
 meled authority many of the best things the college 
 has done would have been done much sooner. 
 
 As an illustration of his astuteness in this respect, 
 I may instance Dr. Maclean's relation to the Public 
 School system of the State of New Jersey. In January, 
 1828, he delivered in the College chapel, before the 
 New Jersey Literary and Philosophical Society, an 
 address which he entitled " A Proposition for a 
 Common School System." At the time the State 
 appropriated annually ^15,000 for educational pur- 
 poses. With this sum, and without definite system, 
 of course next to nothing was accomplished. Dr. 
 Maclean urged that this appropriation should be 
 used only as a sort of bounty to stimulate the 
 various townships to raise money themselves ; and 
 that laws be enacted enabling the towns to tax 
 themselves to any amount for this purpose, so that 
 suitable buildings might be erected everywhere; the 
 appointment of a Board of Education, with a Super- 
 intendent of Public Instruction ; the foundinj^ of a 
 State Normal School for the special training of 
 teachers ; etc. He insisted that the schools should 
 be absolutely non-sectarian, — in his words, " There 
 
42 
 
 should be in no case the least Interference with the 
 rii^hts of conscience, and no scholar should be re- 
 quired to attend to any lesson relating to morals or 
 religion, to which his parents may be opposed." 
 Within the year after this address was delivered, 
 the Legislature took the Initiative of the present 
 Common School system, which is built closely upon 
 Dr. Maclean's idea; and the first township that 
 availed itself of the new system did so in response 
 to his personal appeal to its citizens. It Is pleasant 
 and significant to note that this important proposi- 
 tion regarding Public Schools came from the College 
 devoted to higher learning ; and that this appeal on 
 behalf of the liberty of every citizen to have his 
 children educated without religious bias that offend- 
 ed his conscience, was made In the chapel of Nassau 
 Hall, a place supposed. In that day, to be conse- 
 crated to Presbyterian orthodoxy. Princeton has 
 been accused of Puritanism; but It was evidently 
 more of the Roger Williams type than that of the 
 fathers about Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 Dr. Maclean possessed a rare faculty for measur- 
 ing men, and was seldom deceived in an estimate of 
 either ability or character. At a time when he him- 
 self constituted at least one-half of the Faculty, and 
 when the state of the finances and repute of the 
 college raised the question of abandoning the enter- 
 prise, Prof. Maclean saw that the institution would 
 
43 
 
 be saved only by securing a corps of instructors 
 whose recognized ability would make it worth sav- 
 ing. That " wide eye" of his detected the latent 
 possibilities of such young men as Joseph Henry, 
 Albert Dod, and John Torrey ; and he secured them 
 for Princeton. He thus attracted public attention to 
 this place as a centre of scientific and literary, as 
 well as theological light. It has been well said that in 
 view of his shrewd and accurate judgment, and his 
 self-sacrificing devotion at the time of the prostration 
 of the College, in the decade from 1822-32, the then 
 young Prof. Maclean was the second founder of 
 Nassau Hall ; and the honors of the Presidency 
 which afterward came to him, were given as much 
 in grateful recognition of what he had already done, 
 as in hope of his coming service. 
 
 There was somethinor ominous in his estimate of 
 the future careers of the young men whom he studied 
 in the class room. As I think of my college mates 
 in their present positions, some of honor and others 
 of uselessness through indolence or dissipation, I 
 recall a conversation which took place at the house 
 of a trustee, a quarter of a century ago, in which 
 Dr. Maclean acted informally as Class Prophet. 
 His words have proved oracular. He knew us 
 undergraduates as well as we knew one another. I 
 have seen a letter written to him by an undergradu- 
 ate, detailing the habits of certain students. On it 
 
44 
 
 is written in the Dr.'s hand, " I suppose that I know 
 these men better than my informant does." Many 
 a student has repented the folly of imagining that 
 he had deceived him, and of interpreting his leniency 
 as blindness to faults. We remember how he used 
 his spectacles for mirrors as well as lenses, and saw 
 us in the class room when he was facing another 
 direction; which thing is an allegory of the way he 
 inspected our characters and lives when we were 
 least suspicious of it. A thoroughly good man is 
 gifted with a sort of moral clairvoyance. Some are 
 as sensitive to the approach of a person of sinister 
 motives as a photographer's plate is to whatever 
 obstructs the light. Dr. Maclean's dislike for some 
 persons was similar to that accredited to Gen'l 
 Washington for a certain young officer. He would 
 say nothing against him, except when he felt the 
 hazards of the military service required that he should 
 warn his fellow-officers, — " Put no trust in him in 
 matters of emergency." The young man's name 
 was Aaron Burr. A student might cloak himself in 
 hypocrisy so as to escape detection by most others, 
 but he could not indurate himself in his deception, 
 so that the fine moral maenet in Dr. Maclean's 
 nature would not feel him. 
 
 This leads me to speak more definitely of some 
 of the moral traits of our preceptor. 
 
45 
 
 He was sincerity itself: not simple-minded, but 
 single-minded; many sided as a crystal, but with 
 each facet so truly cut that they all focused at the 
 centre — in his heart. We may say that the lens of 
 his soul was achromatic : it did not even ravel the 
 edge of the light that came through it, but let it fall 
 in pure white radiance upon everything. No man 
 ever realized more fully Shakspeare's description, 
 
 " His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles ; 
 His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate ; 
 His tears pure messengers, sent from his heart; 
 His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth." 
 
 He prized the same sincerity in others. In deal- 
 ing with students he was especially anxious that 
 nothing, even in the severest discipline, should 
 tempt them to dissimulation ; to grow the moss in 
 the clear crystal of the soul's sense of honor. An 
 illustration of this occurs in his history of the College, 
 where he condemns the action of the Faculty in re- 
 quiring a student under censure for misconduct, 
 before restoration to '* admit that the discipline in- 
 flicted by the Faculty was just." Dr. Maclean 
 objects that the Faculty might not be infallible in 
 their judgment, and, therefore, must not ask from the 
 student so much as a word which does not come 
 spontaneous!)- from his conscience. 
 
 This thorough sincerity was associated naturally 
 with the keenest sense of honor. His soul was 
 
46 
 
 chivalric. For example, however much he needed 
 detailed information of the conduct of the students, 
 he invariably refused to be assisted by any one who, 
 in giving assistance, stooped from the highest dignity 
 of self-respect, or strained the tie of courtesy which 
 bound him to his fellow-students. I have seen an 
 anonymous letter written to Dr. Maclean by an 
 officious student, exposing the irregularities of some 
 of his companions. The letter was preserved, per- 
 haps for the purpose of identifying the hand-writing. 
 Let us hope for the writer's sake that he was never 
 discovered ; for across the bottom of the page is 
 written in good round letters, " A witness too cow- 
 ardly to come to me, and give his name. (Signed,) 
 John Maclean." With such white-livered reformers 
 the President would have nothing to do. 
 
 Dr. Maclean was a philanthropist. Every grand 
 and humane movement had his practical sympathy. 
 But his philanthropy was of an unusual kind. There 
 is a vague, vapory, world-embracing sentimentalism, 
 that delivers orations, writes poetry and outlines 
 schemes for the amelioration of the race, but does 
 not see a next door neighbor's needs ; a great mist 
 that never condenses into the bright refreshing rain 
 drops, but hangs above the parched field of human 
 want, the sign to knowing ones of continued drought. 
 Dr. Maclean's philanthropy was not of this sort, but 
 of the divine kind spoken of in Scripture, which 
 
47 
 
 " drops fatness upon the pastures of the wilderness." 
 If he sat in the Board of Direction of the Coloniza- 
 tion Society for sending negroes to Africa, he also 
 saw to it that an old and decrepit colored man got 
 his breakfast every morning from his table. To 
 help the colored church in Princeton he involved 
 himself in financial embarrassment. He was a 
 patron of the American Bible Society; but he was 
 also a Bible Society by himself, and had the 
 Scriptures translated into German for distribution 
 among the Germans of this neighborhood. He 
 was a Tract Society also, for he paid for the 
 publication of many tracts, and distributed them 
 with his own hand. He was a member of the Prison 
 Association ; and frequently walked from Princeton 
 to Trenton on Sabbath morning to preach to the 
 convicts in the State Prison. He was a great advo- 
 cate of making the College especially the nursery 
 of young men for the ministry. But his charity was 
 wider than his ecclesiastical interest, so he founded 
 the Princeton Charitable Institution to help worthy 
 young men without regard to the profession they 
 might choose, and prevent any from being even 
 tempted to enroll themselves for the ministry that 
 thereby they might secure a liberal education. For a 
 time he was this Charitable Institution, its brain and 
 heart and purse, until those of greater means were 
 stimulated by his self-denying example to become its 
 
48 
 
 patrons. There was a wreath upon his coffin, sent 
 from afar, every leaf of It an immortelle of some 
 fadeless memory of his kindness, as many years ago 
 four young men, strangers to Princeton, found Dr. 
 Maclean's house their home, and himself a father. 
 
 Now we have the explanation of that saying of 
 the elder Hodge, that Dr. Maclean was " the most 
 loved man in America." He was loved by more 
 people because he loved more people individually, 
 and held them by gratitude for personal favors. 
 I said to a prominent man a few days since, " You 
 knew Dr. Maclean well ? " " Yes," he replied, " very 
 well. I knew him as a scholar ; I knew him as a 
 wise counsellor; but best of all I knew him by his 
 goodness to me." I quote the words, not because 
 they are peculiar, but because there are hundreds 
 of persons who can say the same thing. He held 
 multitudes not by any glamour of general reputation, 
 by the fascination of glowing abilities, by the renown 
 of public position ; but each one by a separate thread 
 of personal admiration and gratefulness. The motto 
 of his life was the last sentence that fell from the 
 lips of his dying mother. I have been allowed to 
 read a letter written to his brother six or seven years 
 ago. It was to be opened only after his decease ; 
 and left to his brother the charfre of seeing that a 
 certain student, if he had not completed his educa- 
 tion at the time of the Doctor's death, should have 
 
49 
 
 received several hundred dollars to defray his college 
 expenses. He ends the letter, as I am permitted to 
 quote, '' You remember, the last words of our 
 mother were, ' Be kind to everybody.' " Great heart ! 
 he was kind to everybody; and everybody loved 
 him as naturally as everything reflects the sunshine. 
 One delicate feature of his kindliness I and 
 every old graduate can witness to. He always 
 tried to keep fresh the memory of his own feeling as 
 a student. His venerable years, the dignity of the 
 Presidency, the necessities of discipline, these could 
 not prevent him from putting himself in the young 
 man's place. By the way, that modern adage of 
 charity, " Put yourself in his place," is far surpassed 
 by an ancient one. St. Hildegarde used to say, " I 
 put my soul within your soul." Old Dr. Maclean 
 put his soul within the soul of the young man, if 
 ever a man did. He felt for us as boys ; he felt us; 
 he felt himself in us. He saw more wisely than we, 
 but he saw from the standpoint of our interest and 
 our impulses. In cases of misconduct he saw clearly 
 that the evil motive might have been little, and 
 disorder been due to the drift of the circum- 
 stances of our college life, to thoughtlessness, or the 
 mere impulse of fun. Even where real depravity 
 may have been at the bottom of irregularities, he 
 recognized the point where the wicked intent might 
 have exhausted itself or been checked by its own 
 
so 
 
 consequences, as an overflow of water is sometimes 
 checked by its own deposit. He watched for the 
 moment when the wayward purpose might be turned 
 back to its legitimate channel. Hence his discipline, 
 though often criticized by outsiders, generally proved 
 the right thing for the subject of it. An illustration 
 will show this. Many years ago two young men 
 were playing cards after midnight. There was a 
 knock at the door. The pack was hastily gathered 
 up. A comrade glided behind the closet door. The 
 occupant of the room became the picture of the con- 
 sumer of the midnight tallow as he bent wearily 
 over his books. The President entered. " You 
 were playing cards, sir? " " No, sir," was the hesi- 
 tating reply. The Doctor raised a coat from the 
 table, and held in his hand the winning card in that 
 game between himself and the student. His lantern 
 as quickly revealed the abashed features of the man 
 behind the closet door. My informant, the man 
 behind the door, says that the fear of expulsion 
 from college was nothing compared with the sense 
 of shame that came upon him, as the Doctor looked 
 from one to the other, and quietly said, " Good-night, 
 gentlemen ! " They were never summoned for dis- 
 cipline. " We didn't need it," says my friend, now 
 one of the most useful and honored men in the land ; 
 " that look of Dr. Maclean, so righteous against our 
 sin and so pitiful for our weakness, had in it more 
 
51 
 
 disciplinary force than any formal punishment could 
 have had ; and Dr. Maclean knew it. He just left 
 us hanging there in the contempt of our own 
 thoughts. Though I hadn't lied, I went to my room 
 with such a feeling that I vowed I would never play 
 a game of cards again ; and I don't believe my com- 
 rade ever told another lie so long as he lived." 
 When I heard this story I could not help thinking of 
 our Lord's reclaiming Peter with a look ! 
 
 Dr. Maclean had the rare faculty of administer- 
 ing discipline in such a way as not to alienate the 
 offender. They came to love him best who had 
 reason to fear him most. He was so manifestly 
 just that he gripped the delinquent by his conscience, 
 and then embraced him with his love. There is 
 something not only Christian, but peculiarly Christ- 
 like, in that. A student who had been rusticated 
 says that he spent the weeks chiefly in fishing and 
 thinking what a good man Dr. Maclean was. Some 
 of us old fellows who shouted loudest a year ago 
 when that venerable form was lifted for the last time 
 to the platform at Alumni dinner, — who shouted first 
 and cried afterward, — put a meaning into our action 
 which nobody but Dr. Maclean and ourselves knew. 
 There were secrets between us which he was too 
 good ever to tell, and which, perhaps, we were 
 ashamed to. His full biography will never be writ- 
 ten. Its materials would have to be gathered from 
 
52 
 
 too many hearts. For it we must wait until we are 
 together In that clear revelatory light of heaven, 
 where our sins are so thoroughly cleansed In the 
 blood of the Lamb, and our preceptor's praise so 
 thoroughly merged In the praise of His Master, that 
 we shall be willing to have It all come out. 
 
 Of his relation to the Faculty of the College, It 
 is not my place to speak. I talk of him only from the 
 standpoint of a student's memories. The fragrance 
 of the thousand loving thoughts which fill the hearts 
 of these noble men who were with him in the Faculty 
 must be caught in the phial of other words than 
 mine. But I may say that two of the professors 
 have to-day used In my hearing the same expression, 
 " Dr. Maclean was the best friend I ever had." 
 
 His relation to the College after his resignation 
 as President, as described to me, Is a most beautiful 
 illustration of his great heartedness. When he re- 
 signed, he resigned altogether ; demitting every- 
 thing except his love and loyalty, which he could not 
 demit, for they were parts of his life. From Presi- 
 dent he became in an instant only patron. Things 
 were to be different, — as it was Intended his distin- 
 guished successor should make them different, — but 
 Dr. Maclean would not criticise. He saw his own 
 image and superscription no longer upon the coin 
 that was issued, but, for its gold's sake, he valued 
 the coin not a grain less ; — and we will keep the old 
 coin always In circulation with the new. It takes 
 
more than ordinary generosity to rclinciiilsh tlie reins 
 of control, all at once ; for tlu! finoers become shaped 
 to them. Moses could sini^ a song as he turned 
 over affairs to Joshua, who should lead the people 
 into a land, he himself could not enter. So Dr. 
 Maclean's last years were a song of praise for the 
 prosperity he was privileged to look upon. I am 
 permitted to lay upon his memory a beautiful tribute 
 — the most delicate of my offerings. It is a sentence 
 from the pen of Dr. McCosh : — 
 
 ** Dr. Maclean's whole conduct towards me was 
 ever delicately kind; and my wish for myself is that 
 I may receive half the kindly affection which he did 
 from his pupils on his retiring from his work in this 
 College." 
 
 I had marked as a separate head to speak upon, 
 Dr. Maclean's religious character. Hut have I not 
 been talking of his religious character in all I have 
 said ? He put his religion into everything he did. 
 All his graces came from the one pervading grace 
 of the Divine Spirit. But allow me to refer to his 
 conversion. He always had an intellectual faith in 
 Christ. His childhood home, like a tent in the ancient 
 camp of Israel, opened toward the Tabernacle of 
 God's covenant, and he was as familiar with religious 
 truths as the Israelites were with the smoke of the 
 altar that canopied the sacred structure. The occa- 
 sion of his definite thoughtfulness upon the subject 
 of his personal relation to God Dr. Duffield has 
 
54 
 
 already related. He did not make a public confes- 
 sion of his faith until two years after his undoubted 
 conversion. We have here an illustration of Dr. 
 Maclean's susceptibility to quick and deep reli- 
 gious feeling, and, at the same time, the caution 
 and patience with which he examined his own 
 emotions, to see if they were grounded in as 
 deep conviction of substantiable truth. The feeling 
 which came so easily to his eyes and lips was no 
 surface sentiment, but experience which, like the 
 water of a mountain lake, had worked its way up 
 through many hidden veins of profoundest thought. 
 His religious life was not a series of impulses, but a 
 steady flow, like that of a river, deep in its experi- 
 ence, wide in its charity, all agleam with beauty, and 
 bearing beneficence to everything that came in con- 
 tact with it ; a life which in all its vicissitudes, sought 
 God's glory as constantly as the stream in its wind- 
 ings seeks the sea ; a life that now is lost in the 
 glory that it sought ! 
 
 But I must stop. One lesson only I press out 
 from these many memories of Dr. Maclean ; one 
 gleam comes back from that glory into which he has 
 entered, to guide us thither. It is this thought — the 
 greatness of goodness. 
 
 In the early barbarism of the race men revered 
 physical prowess. Pagan civilization esteemed intel- 
 lectual culture. Christianity has crowned character. 
 But how easy the relapse to Paganism, to Barbar- 
 
55 
 
 ism, as In France from cliaractcr to culture, and from 
 culture to the " rehabilitation of the flesh ! " It is a 
 significant thing that a great literary institution like 
 this puts its freshest laurel around the brow of good- 
 ness. Integrity makes a man an integer, without 
 which, whatever may be his genius or scholarship he is 
 but a fraction. To exalt one without virtue, as Car- 
 lyle puts it, only to enlarge his denominator and be- 
 little himself We may go further, and doubt if even 
 the intellect can be trained to see far on straight lines 
 of truth if there be not back of it the purpose of 
 moral rectitude. One of the ancients said, "The soul 
 of the good is pure unmixed light; the soul of the 
 evil-disposed a dark vapor through which nothing 
 appears undimmed or undistorted." This is on the 
 line of Jesus' words, "The pure in heart shall see 
 God; " and in proportion to purity only can we see 
 the truth as it lies in the direction of God. Behold 
 Horace Bushnell, wrestling with the problem of life 
 and destiny, and finding no solution : then falling 
 back upon this, — " One thing I do know, that right 
 is right ; " and getting upon his knees he vows to do 
 the right. Then, says his biographer, " he rose with 
 a star upon his brow." 
 
 It is only the good that the world cares to remem- 
 ber. A young man not knowing the world, says, 
 "I will perpetuate my memory by the glow ol my 
 ability." But nothing so soon fades from sight as 
 mere useless ability, the flare of genius. liven 
 
56 
 
 Pharos, the wonder of the world, went out when 
 they forgot to bring fuel. Another says, " I will do 
 something that men will not forget. I will build my 
 monument of deeds." But nature itself seems jealous 
 men who make monuments to themselves. Desert 
 sands obliterate stately cities, and the silent passing of 
 the centuries rubs down the pyramids. It has been 
 observed, however, that the most abiding evidences 
 of man's occupancy of the earth are wells. Those 
 dug by unknown herdsmen in prehistoric times are 
 flowing yet, as Jacob's well invites the villager of 
 Nablous, and those of Abraham and Isaac draw the 
 Bedawin and his herds to Beersheeba. Open a 
 vein of beneficence, and mother earth will keep it 
 flowing for the nourishment of her children. So a 
 good deed opens the heart of the Eternal, who is 
 Love. His nature, and that means all nature, is on 
 our side. He who inscribes himself in the Divine 
 remembrance need not fear to be forgotten of men. 
 The Psalmist says, " I have seen the wicked in 
 great power, spreading himself like a green bay tree. 
 Yet he passed away, and lo! he was not; yea I 
 sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the 
 perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end of 
 that man is peace." — Literally, " Futurity belongeth 
 to that man of peace." The good never die. So 
 our service to-night is not a mere memorial of a 
 good life that is spent. It is the salutation of a good 
 man who has passed just beyond our sight.