m^mu 3 
 
 wf te 
 
 
 ©•S-, W^3. 
 
 mm 
 
 llev. Henry H. "Ranck 
 
Columbia (HnitJer^itp 
 
 intlieCitpoflfttJtork 
 
 THE LIBRARIES 
 

 X. 
 
THE LIFE OF 
 THE REVEREND BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
^ 
 
 {/Uy^ 
 
 /UiAUijXJU 
 
The Life 
 
 The Reverend Benjamin Bausman 
 
 D.D., LL.D. 
 
 Henry Haverstick Ranck 
 
 Pastor of St. Andrew's Reformed Church 
 Reading, Pa. 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS 
 
 Philadelphia : 
 
 The Publication and Sunday School Board of the 
 
 Reformed Church in the United States 
 
 1912 
 

 'In his duty, prompt at every call, 
 He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all; 
 And as a bird each fond endearment tries 
 To tempt its new fledged offspring to the skies, 
 He tried each art, reproved each dull delay. 
 Allured to brighter worlds and led the way." 
 
 ^-'i/y/(l 
 
 PBE88 or 
 StEINMAN & FOLTZ 
 
 Lancaster, Pa. 
 
TO 
 
 Mrs. Benjamin Batjsman 
 
 who as helpmeet enriched and 
 
 completed a great life 
 
PREFACE 
 
 IN preparing this biography, I have endeavored, wherever 
 possible, to have Dr. Bausman's own words express what was 
 to be said. This assuredly will be the feature of chief interest. 
 There is but little quotation from his books. In the multitude 
 of extracts from diaries, letters, addresses and articles, the punc- 
 tuation, abbreviations, etc., have been in the main retained, in 
 the belief that therein would be found additional autobio- 
 graphical and even antiquarian interest. 
 
 One of the great satisfactions attending my work on this book 
 has been the ready assistance tendered by many, due reference 
 to which is made as a rule in the context. To all who have in 
 any way helped, I wish to express my gratitude. 
 
 I have been exceedingly fortunate in gathering mater'al. 
 Dr. Bausman had the wise habit of retaining his documents and 
 the important letters sent him. I succeeded in getting very many 
 letters which he wrote to friends and fellow-workers. Those to 
 Dr. Herman Rust, the largest and most important batch, I se- 
 cured through the kindness of Dr. John B. Rust, his son, to 
 whom I am under special obligation. My chief regret, which 
 many others will likewise feel, is that Dr. Bausman's letters to 
 Dr. Harbaugh, evidently quite numerous, were destroyed. 
 
 All the letters we have, which were written to Dr. Bausman, 
 and nearly all those from him, by the permission of the persons 
 who hold them, are to go into the archives of the Seminary at 
 Lancaster. 
 
 Since the death of Dr. Bausman, I have conversed with many 
 of his relatives and friends from whom I have obtained valuable 
 information and atmosphere. How important it was that con- 
 sulting these persons who had first-hand knowledge should not 
 be delayed is seen from the fact that at least five who gave me 
 
 7 
 
8 PREFACE 
 
 great help have since died — Drs. J. H. Dubbs, E, R. Eschbach 
 and Henry Mosser, Elder Isaac McHose and Mrs. Henry Baus- 
 man. 
 
 Deserving of special mention are Mr. M. A. Foltz, who as- 
 sembled for me much material of the Chambersburg period, and 
 Mr. Daniel Miller, who helped in many ways. All the work 
 was done in consultation with Mrs. Bausman, whose encourage- 
 ment and assistance have been invaluable. 
 
 I am indebted to Miss Alice Hill Byrne, of the Baldwin School, 
 Bryn Mawr, for her literary judgment on nearly all the pages, 
 and to Dr. Charles E. Creitz, the successor of Dr. Bausman in 
 the pastorate of St. Paul's Church, for counsel on many points. 
 He also, with the Rev. Clayton H. Ranck, of Baltimore, and 
 Mrs. Henry H. Ranck, assisted in reading the proof. 
 
 The task of writing this volume has occupied the spare time 
 of a busy pastorate for more than three years, and has been rich 
 in mental and spiritual remuneration. I have done my best 
 in my effort to present Dr. Bausman faithfully. My hope is 
 that some measure of the refreshing and blessing which have 
 come to me in preparing this biography may be his who reads 
 it. 
 
 I may add that a special pleasure has attached to these, my 
 labors, from the fact that my mother's mother was Dr. Baus- 
 man's sister. 
 
 Henry H. Ranck. 
 
 September 19, 1912. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapteb Paob 
 
 Preface 7 
 
 I. Ancestry: Early Years— 1824-1846 13 
 
 II. Marshall College — 1846-1851 50 
 
 III. The Seminary Year— 1851-1852 72 
 
 IV. Lewisburg— 1853-1856 92 
 
 V. Europe and the Holy Land— 1856-1857 109 
 
 VI. Lewisburg— 1857-1859 126 
 
 VII. Editor op the Messenger — 1859-1866 143 
 
 VIII. Chambersburg— 185&-1863 161 
 
 IX. Civil War Experiences 179 
 
 X. Reading, First Church— 1863-1872 192 
 
 XL St. Paul's Church— 1873-1900 210 
 
 XII. Europe and California— 1884, 1886 235 
 
 XIII. Editor of the Guardian— 1867-1881 253 
 
 XIV. Editor of the Hausfreund— 1867-1903 263 
 
 XV. Bethany Orphans' Home— 1865-1909 286 
 
 XVI. Church Boards 315 
 
 XVII. Characteristics 333 
 
 XVIIL Preacher and Pastor 351 
 
 XIX. Theology and the Church Question 371 
 
 XX. The Associate Pastorate— 1900-1909 392 
 
 Index 433 
 
INTRODUCTIONS 
 TO THE SECOND ISSUE 
 
 I 
 
 WHEN the Life of Dr. Bausman was first published, it was 
 well received. Soon thereafter came the Great World War, 
 and then the distracting aftermath which did not aid the circula- 
 tion of the book. Nearly all the many appreciations expressed 
 from time to time, urged that the younger pastors and students 
 for the ministry especially should read this Life, and ten years ago 
 Dr. Rufus W. Miller had a movement under way to get it into 
 their hands. His death however ended the efifort. 
 
 Now that we are the merged denomination of two great kindred 
 historic churches, it is felt, as leaders in both groups have said, 
 that to gain and promote sympathetic understanding, mutual ap- 
 preciation and still more effective unity, ministers and lay folk of 
 each should read the lives of the significant and representative 
 leaders of the other. Believing that the circulation of this Life 
 will aid toward these ends we are publishing this second issue and 
 offering it at half the original price. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was favored in being comfortable financially; he 
 lived simply and gave generously to many causes from time to 
 time and left substantial bequests, especially to the great church 
 interests as will be noted by those who follow his life story. He 
 had arranged that his devoted widow too should be in comfortable 
 circumstances and the Trust Company which supervised his in- 
 vestments continued to look after her affairs. She, manifestly 
 carrying out his spirit and wishes, gave liberally from time to time 
 while she lived to the great causes which he loved and at her 
 death, June 4, 1921, left an estate of over $60,000, as adjudicated 
 in the Courts of Berks County, Pa. Mrs. Bausman's near rela- 
 tives and friends were remembered with small gifts. A dozen 
 benevolent institutions in Reading were given bequests averaging 
 about $1000 each; the society for the Relief of Ministers, Bethany 
 Orphans Home Endowment and Phoebe Deaconess Home were 
 handsomely favored. To the causes of Home and Foreign Missions 
 however, the residuary legatees, she gave the largest bequests, the 
 former receiving $22,004.82. This ultimate phase of his hfe pur- 
 pose, the final disposition of his estate, needs to be known as a 
 further expression of his utter devotion to the great kingdom cause. 
 
 When the Seminary Chapel at Lancaster was reconstructed and 
 beautified in 1925, the Church's appreciation of Dr. Bausman as 
 
INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SECOND ISSUE 
 
 preacher and pastor was fittingly symbolized by erecting the 
 Pulpit in his memory and honor — the gift of St. Paul's Reformed 
 Church, Reading. 
 
 In my preface to the first issue of this biography, it is stated 
 that the letters written by and received by Dr. Bausman were to 
 be placed in the archives of the seminary library at Lancaster. 
 This was done early in 1915. There are 403 letters in the collec- 
 tion in two beautifully bound volumes — 170 written by him, 233 
 received by him. The late William Berwick, then the expert in 
 the Manuscript Department of the Library of Congress, Wash- 
 ington, did in most enduring fashion this delicate and difficult 
 work. I am assured that he was unsurpassed in his specialty by 
 anyone anywhere. 
 
 Dr. Goebel on first reading this biography remarked, "Why, 
 Dr. Bausman was a saint." This accords with the observation of 
 multitudes of others. There is a timeless quahty, a perennial 
 interest and inspiration in a unique personality such as this. 
 Feeling that the perusal of this life story will bring spiritual bless- 
 ing we put forth this second issue with the prayer that it may aid 
 in perpetuating Dr. Bausman's spirit which was that of his Master 
 whom he so passionately served. 
 
 Henry H. Ranck, D.D., 
 Pastor of Grace Reformed Church 
 September 16, 1935. Washington, D. C. 
 
 II 
 
 The second issue of "The Life of the Reverend Benjamin Bausman, 
 D.D., LL.D." at this time is most appropriate. Though he died 
 in 1909 and the first issue of his biography appeared in 1912, his 
 spirit is still felt by those who knew and heard him, yes, through- 
 out the Church in which he lived, labored, and died; and the 
 record of his life is as fresh and inspiring reading as when it was 
 first pubUshed. 
 
 As a young man in the twenties I enjoyed the rare privilege of 
 fellowship with Dr. Bausman in his home. I preached for him 
 occasionally while he was pastor in St. Paul's Reformed Church, 
 Reading; and only too infrequently did I hear him preach, an 
 experience never to be forgotten. More than once we sat in his 
 study and he reminisced till the midnight hour about the Reformed 
 Church in the first half of the nineteenth century, the early days 
 of Franklin and Marshall College and the Theological Seminary 
 at Mercersburg, Dr. Schaff, Dr. Nevin, Dr. Harbaugh, and other 
 men some of whom were his teachers, others his school-mates 
 and companions in the ministry. Those were the days of small 
 things and great men; and to me they seemed to belong to ancient 
 
INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SECOND ISSUE 
 
 history. But I never knew Dr. Bausman in his manifold activities 
 throughout his ministry of nearly sixty years until I read the 
 biography by Dr. Ranck, so rich in selections from his brief 
 autobiography, his writings, sermons, letters, editorials, and from 
 estimates of him by men both of the Reformed Church and of 
 other churches. He was known and revered far beyond the 
 bounds of his own denomination. The author caught the spirit 
 of his subject and portrayed him in such a way that the mind of 
 the reader is enriched and above all his heart is warmed by contact 
 with an inspiring and conquering personality. 
 
 I know of no man in the Reformed Church whose life and work 
 will call forth more appreciation from the ministers and laymen 
 of the Evangelical group than that of Dr. Bausman. He was of 
 German ancestry, loved the German people, could preach in 
 German, and edited a German paper — Der Hausfreund. He would 
 have felt at home with them and they with him. To know the 
 genius of a church one must know the men in whom the spirit of 
 the church lives and through whom it speaks. This fact was 
 brought home to me when I began to study the history of the 
 Evangelical Synod of North America in the histories of Muecke 
 and Kamphausen — both unusually well done. I know that Church 
 not merely through its constitution and creedal statements, its 
 mode of worship, and its missionary and benevolent operations, 
 but above all through its founders and fathers in America among 
 whom are: Garlichs, Nollau, Rieger, Baltzer, Irion, Otto, Becker, 
 and the indefatigable home missionary von Rague with twenty-six 
 congregations to his credit, the last two founded in his old age in 
 Chicago. Dr. Bausman shared with these men their love for the 
 Fatherland, their loyalty to America, their appreciation of the 
 Evangelical Reformers in Germany and Switzerland, and their 
 labors for every cause of the Church. 
 
 This book will awaken the best that is in the reader of the 
 present and the coming generation, and will enable him to under- 
 stand the spirit of the Church of his fathers as well as the secret 
 of the power of a minister who was a sterling citizen, a faithful 
 Christian, an unusually effective preacher of the Gospel, and an 
 incomparable leader in the educational, missionary, and benevolent 
 work of the Church. 
 
 More than once I have said what the author quotes: that Dr. 
 Bausman would have ranked among the first five ministers as 
 preacher, pastor, and scholar, in any church in America. I welcome 
 the second issue of this biography in order that the influence of 
 his life may be continued. 
 
 George W. Richards, D.D., LL.D. 
 President of the Evangelical and Reformed Church. 
 
 September, 1935, Lancaster, Pa. 
 
INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SECOND ISSUE 
 III 
 
 "Unless our dear Lord will send into Protestantism some new 
 principle of Catholic unity, or in His all-wise Providence check 
 the tendency to individualism, Heaven alone knows where 
 Protestantism will terminate." Thus writes Benjamin Bausman, 
 then a student at the Theological Seminary, Mercersburg, Pa., to 
 his friend. Rev. Herman Rust in Cmcinnati, Ohio, on June 18th, 
 1852. To us of another century these words seem to be almost 
 the voice of prophecy. They are as pertinent today as they were 
 in the middle of the last century. 
 
 Rev. Benjamin Bausman, D.D., LL.D,, for fifty-six years 
 engaged in the active ministry of the Reformed Church of the 
 United States, is truly to be reckoned among the great religious 
 leaders, not merely of his denomination, but of American Protes- 
 tantism of the second half of the last century. Distinguished as a 
 great preacher, lecturer and editor, his greatest service was 
 rendered as a pastor and churchman. A man of great CathoUc 
 and liberal spirit he yet was a realist, recognizing the fact that as 
 long as denominational divisions are with us the individual can 
 serve the cause of Christ best through the agency of the group of 
 which he is a part. 
 
 The Rev. Henry H. Ranck, D.D., Pastor of Grace Reformed 
 Church in Washington, D. C, has rendered the church a service 
 of the first order by giving us his volume, "The Life of Benjamin 
 Bausman." It is, indeed, more than the story of the life and 
 service of one man. So completely was the life of Dr. Bausman 
 interwoven with the whole fabric of the history of the Reformed 
 Church in the United States of his day that to know this one man 
 is to have obtained a rather thorough understanding of the work, 
 growth, and spirit of the whole church. The book is so ably written 
 that it deserves the widest possible distribution in the church. 
 
 We would especially recommend this volume to that part of the 
 Evangelical and Reformed Church, which having been dedicated 
 throughout its history to the principle of Catholic unity now has 
 entered not only into fellowship, but into organic union with the 
 Reformed Church, the former members of the EvangeUcal Synod 
 of North America. If we would live together, and work effectively 
 for the up-building of the church, we need to know and under- 
 stand one another. But even apart from this "The Life of 
 Benjamin Bausman" deserves a place in the Ubrary of every 
 Protestant minister and lay church leader. 
 
 L. W. GOEBEL, D.D., 
 
 Vice-President of the Evangelical and Reformed Church. 
 July, 1935, Chicago, 111. 
 
The Life 
 
 Benjamin Bausman 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Ancestry: Early Years, 1824-1846 
 
 BROTHER WOLFF does not worship you; but he thinks 
 there is only one of the kind in the world. In this he 
 is correct." Thus wrote Dr. Harbaugh on a visit to Chambers- 
 burg to Benjamin Bausman shortly after the beginning of the 
 Reading pastorate. A living theologian says of Dr. Bausman 
 that "he would have been one of the five leading men in any 
 denomination in the country." This uniqueness and eminence, 
 as a personality, leader and man of God, impressed every one 
 immediately and grew upon him the longer he knew Dr. Baus- 
 man. His quick rise to church leadership in but a few years 
 after beginning his ministry, and the undimmed splendor of his 
 career to its very close, is his own vindication of the judgment 
 of his friends. It is not for us to explain the psychic sources of 
 his personality; but the bent and persistence of his soul we very 
 naturally account for, as he himself did, in the brooding parental 
 care and nurture of youth. 
 
 Benjamin Bausman's home life was glorified in his memory, 
 and he found peculiar pleasure in speaking of mother and father, 
 sister, brothers and kin, as one notes from his diaries and from his 
 articles and sermons, all through his long life. The roots of his 
 
 13 
 
14 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 ruling principles are plainly found here, and he never ceased in 
 pathetic and beautiful iteration to give thanks for his godly- 
 parents. He was of German blood and was proud of it. He 
 recognized in his mother's ancestry a strain of the Huguenot, but 
 he was careful to state that the German predominated, for he 
 would have it so. He was swift to defend, against any unwar- 
 ranted charge, his race in the Fatherland or in America, particu- 
 larly the unspoiled common people whose stable piety and do- 
 mestic virtues he regarded as exemplary. 
 
 He wrote of a German home whose hospitality he enjoyed: 
 "Most beautiful was the unaffected tenderness between parents 
 and children. So gentle, openhearted, respectful, familiar in 
 tones of voice and modes of expression; in look, language and 
 manner there is a certain something in the intercourse between 
 Christian German parents and their children, which one finds 
 nowhere else." 
 
 He not only appreciated the beauty of this relationship, but 
 honored it in a fine fihal regard. 
 
 He was a hard worker through life; he advocated and enforced 
 disciphne in the church; he was gifted with a rare, practical 
 common sense, which made him a farsighted and prudent man of 
 affairs; righteousness and holiness were the under-girders of his 
 character and he well knew that these qualities were his because 
 of the firm but tender training of his parents. The rich impulses 
 of his piety were intertwined with the human strands of tender- 
 est filial feeling. Therefore, because of this conviction of ex- 
 perience, he became the insistent advocate of Christian nurture 
 as the only sane and telling method of character building. 
 
 He was always a true friend of the boys and girls and wrote 
 much for them, particularly in the Guardian. That he might 
 "point a moral or adorn a tale" he ransacked every nook and 
 corner of his early experiences and to this happy practice his 
 biographer is indebted for many facts. The reader is thus 
 privileged to learn the story of Dr. Bausman's ancestors and 
 early years largely from his own words. 
 
 In his latter years especially he would celebrate the anniver- 
 saries of important events in his own or his family's history by 
 
ancestry: early years 15 
 
 thankful, prayerful meditations upon them, and no doubt such 
 a mood was upon him seven years before his death when he pre- 
 pared what he entitles "Autobiographical Material." This 
 will be used largely in this first chapter. 
 
 In the autumn of 1802 a young Palatine of twenty years landed 
 in Philadelphia, after a two months' voyage from Amsterdam. 
 It happened just one hundred years ago. He was a native of 
 the lower Palatinate. His home was in Freilaubersheim, a 
 peasant village, about twelve miles from Bingen. Who that 
 has ever visited Bingen, can forget the picturesque city, embow- 
 ered among over-hanging, vine-clad hills? The west side of the 
 Rhine then belonged to France. Then, already France was lay- 
 ing plans for the invasion of Germany, which ten years later 
 Napoleon accomplished with such serious results. The young 
 man's time to enter the French army was at hand. That meant 
 that he must fight against his German brethren. "Give me 
 exile or give me death, but fight them I never will," he said. 
 Through the help of a friend, he secretly obtained a passport 
 and slipped away to America. 
 
 On a pleasant spring day, a small group of friends gave him 
 the usual parting greeting of pious Germans, "Adieu, lieber 
 Hannes, auf Wiedersehen" (Adieu, dear John, in hope of meet- 
 ing again.) His widowed mother gave him her tender embrace 
 and parting blessing. Between him and his mother and only 
 brother, it is the last parting. 
 
 "They meet no more on Bingen, 
 Loved Bingen on the Rhine." 
 
 A flat boat was in waiting to take the youth and a few travel- 
 ing companions down the river to Amsterdam. They had 
 bought it for this trip. Their chests were on board. Now the 
 moist eyes of the youth rest upon the charming scene for the last 
 time. Down the historic river floated the boat past the Binger 
 Loch (a whirlpool) and the Mausthurm (the ruins of an old tower) 
 and when almost out of sight, the parting friends waved the right 
 hand in final greeting, and with the left wiped away the tears 
 still falling fast. Those on the shore sadly returned to their 
 village home, and he, on the boat, floated gently along the roman- 
 tic lands, toward the new world in the far distant west, floated 
 away, too, from French tyranny which had marked him as a 
 soldier to fight against his Fatherland. Ere long the French 
 pickets on the banks opened fire on them and the bullets whizzed 
 around his head. At length they engaged a German with his 
 
16 ancestry: early years 
 
 farm-wagon to convey them overland to Amsterdam. In 1856 
 two of that little group at the Bingen wharf, then old men, told 
 me the story of that parting scene one hundred years ago. 
 
 Andreas Bausman, his father's brother, had come to America 
 many years before. The owner of a large tract of land near 
 Lancaster, Pa., himself childless, he invited his nephews to come 
 to this country to help him in the management of his estate. 
 Here the young Palatine found a welcome home and plenty of 
 work. Later he fell heir to the bulk of his uncle's estate. Thus 
 it happened that I was born in this country instead of in Europe 
 or somewhere else. 
 
 According to I. D. Rupp's "Thirty Thousand Names," 
 Andreas Bausman landed at Philadelphia November 10th, 1764, 
 having sailed from Rotterdam on the ship Boston. 
 
 The Bausman family at Freilaubersheim were plain peasants, 
 and their ancestry is traced back to one Philip Bausman, born in 
 1538. The office of burgomeister in the home town was held 
 several times by a member of the family. 
 
 Andreas Bausman was not the first of the family to venture 
 to the New World. His father's brother, William, came as 
 early as 1746, and was a prominent citizen of Lancaster during 
 the Revolutionary period, when he served as barracks-master 
 and as "commissioner to seize the personal effects of traitors," 
 and also as chief burgess. It was he who built what is perhaps 
 the oldest house now standing in Lancaster, 121-123 East King 
 Street, before which many a visitor pauses to read the quaint 
 inscription: 
 
 "William Bowsman and Elisabeth Built this House, 1762. " 
 
 His son William was likewise prominent in county politics 
 and served as Register of Wills and Recorder at the beginning 
 of the new century. It was at his door that Dr. Bausman's 
 father knocked and asked for food. He was travel- worn and 
 weary, and it was not surprising that his story of being on the 
 way to his rich uncle Andreas in the country nearby was doubted. 
 He enjoyed his meal after spending some time on the wood pile. 
 This chilly reception was forgiven. In after years, when reverses 
 came to these distant relatives, he took pleasure in helping them. 
 
ancestry: early years 17 
 
 Andreas Bausman died in 1814. In his will he remembered 
 with small amounts cousins and relatives in Europe and in Amer- 
 ica, but the will reads further: "As to my Real Estate, con- 
 sisting of a plantation adjoining the Little Conestoga Creek, on 
 which my nephew John Bausman now liveth, another plantation 
 next adjoining whereon I now live, and a small tract of woodland 
 in Martic Township, and 2 houses and lots on Orange and Water 
 Streets in the Borough of Lancaster, with all the rights and 
 appurtenances thereto belonging I give hereby and bequeathe 
 to my said nephew John Bausman, son of my deceased brother 
 Henry," etc. 
 
 Thus Dr. Bausman's father entered into a large inheritance, 
 which was originally intended for both nephews. The older 
 brother chose to remain in the old village of the Fatherland, the 
 stay of the aged mother. Undoubtedly she was glad to have 
 him remain. Family tradition has it that he feared the perilous 
 voyage, and when he thought of the stormy Atlantic said, "I'll 
 never cross that great water." 
 
 The history of the First Reformed Church of Lancaster records 
 that in 1813 it received a legacy from Andreas Bausman, in 
 memory of his deceased wife, to the amount of $50.00; and in 
 the year following he left another legacy of $500.00 to the congre- 
 gation, the interest of which was to be used for the poor. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's father was confirmed in the village church 
 of his old home when he was thirteen years old. He brought 
 with him a German hymn-book, on the inside cover of which 
 is written in German script under date of December 24, 
 1804, what is translated as follows: "This book belongs 
 to John Bausman. He brought it with him from Germany. 
 He bought it for nine Batzen. He loves it and whoever finds 
 it shall return it to him. I love the Lord with my whole heart 
 and will remain true to Him until death. 
 
 Johannes Bausman." 
 
 The "Autobiographical Material" continues: 
 
 My father at once connected with what is now the First Re- 
 formed Church of Lancaster, where the uncle had been an elder 
 for many years. In 1805, April 4, he married Elizabeth Peters, 
 2 
 
18 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 a member of the same church. She was born in this country; 
 her ancestors on her father's side came from Alsace. Thus 
 she seems to have been of a mixed German and French descent. 
 How much of each I do not know; evidently much more of Ger- 
 man than of French. They were a happy couple; industrious, 
 thrifty, godly; of different dispositions and temperaments, yet 
 well mated. The husband, a man of robust, manly strength, 
 on occasions somewhat impulsive; the wife of a more calm, gentle, 
 contemplative nature. The two complemented each other, as 
 Schiller says: 
 
 "Denn wo das Strenge mit dem Zarten, 
 
 Wo Starkes sich und Mildes paarten, 
 
 Da giebt es einen guten Klang." 
 
 During a period of eighteen years, nine children were born 
 to them, eight sons and one daughter. I came last, the Benja- 
 min of the tribe. All grew up to adult years. One died at nearly 
 forty years of age. The rest all reached a greater age. 
 
 The date of Benjamin Bausman's birth was January 28, 1824. 
 
 Ours was a lively home, with the irrepressible life of nine 
 buoyant, bouncing youngsters. What a table mother used to 
 spread for us! Her brood kept her hands and heart busy. I 
 always sat aside of father. There is no place like a well conducted 
 farm home to raise such a family, where the surplus vitality of 
 the young has free scope at work and play. The sons were all 
 trained to work on the farm. The daughter was taught the art 
 of housekeeping; of which she made diligent use in the raising 
 of a large family. 
 
 Father held to the typical German method of parental train- 
 ing. His word was law; when broken there was trouble in camp. 
 He gave me only one flogging; it was an orthodox application 
 of the rod, grievous at the time, but it has worked the peace- 
 able fruits of righteousness ever since. Mother, too, had her 
 rod, laid at a conspicuous place. To that her finger would point 
 at any outbreak of naughtiness. As a rule that answered the pur- 
 pose. To us children she was always the more approachable 
 of the two, was more readily touched with a feeling of our in- 
 firmity, sometimes interceding for us penitent offenders. When 
 counseling about studying for the ministry, I approached father 
 through her. There was no urgency for or against the step. 
 "Pray God for light, this is a matter between you and Him. Do 
 what He tells you," said both. How wise they both were! 
 
ancestry: early years 19 
 
 Ours was a religious home, after the German style. At table, 
 father always folded his hands before his plate in silent prayer. 
 His devout family heard whispers which used to make me feel 
 very solemn. Every one of us was taught a little table prayer, 
 which each prayed in his own fashion. I never heard father pray 
 audibly at table; but this silent prayer was never omitted, no 
 matter what visiting guests might be present, and we had many 
 of them. 
 
 In a corner on a bench behind the dining table stood a large 
 old family Bible, heavily bound, with metallic corners and clasp. 
 Aside of it was an old well-worn German prayer-book. It was 
 his custom to read both in the evening, sometimes aloud for the 
 whole family. Often I noticed him weeping in reading the sweet 
 stories of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Jesus. He loved to sing 
 German hymns and taught some of us younger children to sing 
 them. He always took the English and German church papers. 
 Our family read the Reformed Messenger more than sixty years 
 ago. Mother taught us our prayers. These consisted mainly 
 of certain passages from the Bible or verses from hymns. Our 
 first altar was her lap, at which we knelt in our night slips and 
 poured out our child hearts to God. Those little talks with 
 God were very real to us. 
 
 There were no Sunday-schools near us; indeed, very few any- 
 where. Our church going was not very regular; that is, not 
 twice every Sunday. We had two miles to church. Usually 
 father and mother would attend every Sunday morning. They 
 would go in a one-horse chaise, the only vehicle then in use. 
 
 At the proper age every one had to attend the pastor's in- 
 structions in the Catechism. We were told to go and we went, 
 and that was the end of it; and we went to study. We had to 
 commit the Catechism. I remember that I and a brother used 
 to rise before daybreak to commit our lessons. Such rules may 
 now seem somewhat rigid; but I think they have borne good 
 fruit. 
 
 I can trace about one hundred living descendants of the two 
 lovers that found each other a hundred years ago. They are 
 like other people, of varying degrees of Christian earnestness; 
 but so far as I can ascertain there are less than half a dozen who 
 are not sincerely striving to live a consistent Christian life. 
 Five became ministers of the gospel, one of whom entered upon 
 his reward on the threshold of the sacred office. [Clarence G. Baus- 
 man, grandson of Dr. Bausman's brother Samuel.] 
 
 On Communion Sundays his father and mother would eat 
 nothing whatever until they returned from service. A grand- 
 
20 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 daughter of Father Bausman recalls how she often saw him 
 poring for hours over the old family Bible and then walking to 
 and fro on the house porch meditating upon it. He would be 
 so absorbed as to be oblivious of the chatting and laughing of a 
 crowd of younger folk about him. 
 
 The poor were helped generously, and trampers always found 
 in that home a lodging and a meal. The meekness of Father 
 Bausman is shown in his experience with one of them, Mathias, 
 a German, who was a frequent visitor. He came to the home 
 drunk and "stoutly abused my father. Did not we boys expect 
 that the ungrateful man would be thrown out of doors? Yet 
 father answered him not a word." This heaping coals of fire 
 on the tramp's head evidently had its effect, for "early next 
 morning, he skulked away and never repeated his visits for 
 months afterward." 
 
 Offenders did not always get off so easily, however. Dr. 
 Bausman writes of a traveling peddler, whom he calls a Neulander, 
 who was selling "Kaiser's Pillen." He was clerical in dress and 
 appearance and won Father Bausman's confidence. He "com- 
 mitted a considerable sum of money to him which he wished to 
 send to relatives in Europe." The Neulander turned thief as 
 was learned by letter from the friends in Europe. A guilty con- 
 science kept the peddler away for a long time, but again he ap- 
 peared, 
 
 coming down the lane with stately steps. What now? After 
 tea, father took him into a room by himself, confronted him with 
 the statements of the European letters and read him a lesson 
 in burning words under which the rogue seemed to squirm and 
 writhe. In vain were his efforts to smoothe over or palliate the 
 crime. He was a scoundrel and a thief and was told so by one 
 who had confided in him. It was a stormy time the two men 
 had together. 
 
 Mother Bausman was tall and slim, of a nervous, keen, fine- 
 grained nature. There remains, we regret to say, no photograph 
 of her, but her son Benjamin is said to have resembled her very 
 markedly in appearance and temperament. He referred to her 
 very often in his writings and sermons and always with the ut- 
 
ancestry: early years 21 
 
 most tenderness and sometimes with tears. "What I am under 
 God I owe to my mother more than to any other human soul, " 
 he was wont to say. 
 
 Her mother's maiden name was Lutz. Her paternal ancestors 
 came from Bischweiler, Germany. 
 
 Abraham Peters, her brother, lived to a great age. He was a 
 man of unimpeachable integrity and was prominent in the affairs 
 of Lancaster County. He was one of the founders of the Millers- 
 ville State Normal School and for a time a member of the State 
 Legislature. 
 
 Dr. Bausman wrote thus in the Guardian of his early church 
 training: 
 
 Our now sainted parents, from early boyhood, always took us 
 with them to church. Often of a pleasant Sunday morning we 
 walked a distance of two miles to the old stone church in Lan- 
 caster. We can still remember how we sat with them in their 
 pew, and with what a solemn pleasure we first watched father 
 and mother bowing their heads and whispering their short pray- 
 ers as they sat down in their pew. And how earnestly they 
 sang. And how tired we sometimes got because our feet could 
 not reach the floor, and our child-mind could not feel the same 
 interest in the sermon as older people. And yet the whole serv- 
 ice seemed a heaven on earth to us. The kneeling place around 
 the outside of the chancel railing sat full of little children, who 
 looked like angels, circling around good old parson Hoffmeier, 
 waiting to carry forth and impress his message upon the hearts 
 "of those who are heirs of salvation." The organ loft and one 
 side of the gallery were crowded with boys and girls. True, 
 some of the more restless ones gave stern sexton Hubert a world 
 of trouble. And many watched him working the long mysteri- 
 ous levers of the large organ-bellows. In short the congregation 
 assembled for public worship was composed of parents and their 
 children. 
 
 One pleasant Sunday morning our dear father, with two of his 
 boys with him, walked lesisurely up West King Street, on his 
 way to church. In passing Cooper's Hotel he was accosted by 
 an acquaintance. He was not a member of the church, a man 
 of wealth and wild, reckless habits; indeed was known by the 
 
 soubriquet of "wild John S . " His sons were as wild as 
 
 their father, whom they treated with disobedience and disre- 
 spect. He had evidently been drinking too much the day and 
 night previous. As he sat on the board bench in front of the 
 
22 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 hotel, listening to the solemn ringing of the church-going bell, 
 our father passed along. 
 
 After the usual greeting, his acquaintance pressed him to take 
 a seat beside him. He replied that he could not. 
 
 "Why not? Where are you going?" 
 
 "I am going to church," said father. 
 
 "To church? Do you go to church every Sunday?" 
 
 "Yes, if I possibly can." 
 
 "And do you always take both your boys with you?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Why, how can you get them to go with you? Mine would 
 not do that." 
 
 "I have no trouble with mine. I take them with me when 
 they are small, and as they grow older they wish to do it with- 
 out being urged. I have an old book at home, which I read a 
 great deal. It says: 
 
 "'Train up a child in the way he shall go, and when he is old 
 he will not depart from it ! ' I have tried to do that, and thus far 
 have found it true with my children." 
 
 After a short pause wild John S sadly replied: 
 
 "B., I wish I had done the same. You are a happy man, far 
 happier than I am. My children give me no comfort. They are 
 leading an unchristian, reckless life. And what is worse, they 
 have learned it of me." 
 
 "S , it is your own fault. Come, begin a Christian life. 
 
 Come with me to church. Make a beginning." 
 
 "Alas, it is too late now. Too late to train my children in 
 the way they should go, after they have grown up and been hard- 
 ened in sin. And I set them the example. B., you are a happy 
 man, but I am very unhappy." 
 
 They parted, the one with a little boy at each hand, thank- 
 fully went to the sanctuary. The other pondered long and 
 sadly on the bench. The one took his children with him to church 
 and sought to train them in the right way, and so far as human 
 eye can see and tell, they have not departed from it. The other, 
 with his offspring, have made shipwreck of life, have been ruined 
 in body, reputation and soul. 
 
 I faintly remember certain incidents in my early childhood. 
 One was standing by my mother's lap with folded hands slowly 
 repeating my httle evening prayer. 
 
 One night when a mere child, I fell asleep on a bench in our 
 open summer house. Thinking that I had been put to bed I 
 was not missed by my mother. About midnight the rain patter- 
 ing on the roof awoke me. Greatly frightened I pounded against 
 the window of mother's bed room and called for help. How 
 
ancestry: early years 23 
 
 quickly frightened mother Ufted me into her warm bed! Since 
 then I have often knocked at the window of God's tender love 
 in the night of some great distress and he always opened the 
 window and lifted me into His Fatherly shelter. 
 
 Each of us boys began his career in farming by attending the 
 sheep, taking the cows to pasture, picking apples, carrying water 
 and the 10 o'clock lunch to men in the hay and harvest field; 
 spreading the grass after the mowers; turning and raking hay 
 and tramping it down when put into the mow, carrying the sheaves 
 into heaps for shucking in the harvest field. Later the youth 
 with scythe in hand was put into line with the mowers. In the 
 harvest field he was put to raking and binding sheaves, after the 
 cradlers. A pleasing sight were lines of from five to ten men in 
 a row, all simultaneously swinging scythe or cradle as with one 
 stroke, with the precise regularity of a pendulum. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's published writings supplement this "Auto- 
 biographical Material" with many hints and impressions of the 
 sweet old home life: 
 
 Our babyhood is a blank. After it, comes the twilight of con- 
 sciousness. Into that dim dawn of our knowing and known life, 
 memory eagerly strives to peer. A dreamy vision of a little 
 check frock and apron often haunts my memory. Was it mine? 
 And then on a certain day the boisterous owner thrust his awk- 
 ward little limbs into a pair of pantaloons and "roundabout." 
 And he bounced after everybody around the premises, with in- 
 finite prattle, displaying the insignia of boyhood. And well he 
 might. Hitherto he was a child in a frock, now a boy in panta- 
 loons. Very well, must you know, my dear reader, what 
 an epoch this transition from a frock to pant-life makes in the 
 history of a boy! No wonder that such an important turn in 
 his affairs should impress itself on his memory. Beyond that, 
 his life is pre-historic, antediluvian. 
 
 Another event I can remember more distinctly. It was on 
 my sixth birthday. And great was my joy over its blessings. 
 "Old Remmig" was the flax-breaker and sheep-shearer for the 
 whole neighborhood. He was a great snuffer, a great swearer, a 
 great whiskey-drinker, and a great Har; when out of humor he 
 was the terror of the children. Seated on a chair aside of the 
 old clock, giving vent to my joy, the ruffian slyly seized my ear, 
 and well nigh lifted me from my seat, seeming determined to pull 
 it out by the roots. My joy was turned into a shrieking sorrow. 
 Had I possessed the strength of a man to back my boy-wrath, 
 "Old Remmig" would very likely have left the room with a 
 
24 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 bloody nose. Every almanac reminded me that January was a 
 very bad month to be born in. That all thus born are sefi-willed, 
 ill-natured, selfish — in short, people hard to get along with. 
 And I having the ill-fortune, as I thought, to come into the world 
 in this month tried my utmost to behave so as to prove the al- 
 manac a liar. But "Old Remmig" threw me off my guard, and 
 that yet, on my birthday. Was it a wonder that I did just 
 what the almanac said I would? This event fixed itself clearly 
 and indelibly upon the tablet of memory. And poor "Old 
 Remmig" helped to write it there, of whom I can remember no 
 good thing — naught but his snorting efforts to cram more snuff 
 into his nostrils than there was room for, his drunkenness, his 
 horrid oaths, and his incredible yarns. 
 
 The old cradle, "a little black box on runners," became to 
 him in after years a kind of altar through its precious associa- 
 tions with his mother. The old grandfather's clock to the chil- 
 dren was the first great wonder in the house. "How proud I 
 was when I was first able to tell my mother what time it was!" 
 
 In the large hallway of the house was hanging a cage of turtle- 
 doves whose cooing vocalized for the home the spirit of harmony 
 and happiness and left a lasting impress on all who entered 
 there. 
 
 We will stop there on the top of this hill in the old lane, in the 
 shade of this locust tree, and rest a few minutes. I will put the 
 hand-trunk aside of the fence. From a boy I have enjoyed this 
 outlook. It is not as extensive as that from the Bunker Hill 
 monument, or of Eagle's Peak, near Womelsdorf, Pa., still to 
 me it is extensive. From here I see far back into the world of 
 my boyhood. You see its horizon; the boundary encircling it 
 is Lancaster, Chestnut Hill, and elevations towards Millersville 
 and Turkey Hill, Conestoga Centre, Stumptown, and Willow 
 Street. Here, at this fence I often stood, then and since, look- 
 ing musingly over this little world. For several miles around 
 here lived our neighbors. Once I knew them all and they all 
 knew me. Since then many have died. 
 
 The old barn! How new it looks, and yet it is fifty years old. 
 Better than your Kinder Gardens, the gymnasium, or boat 
 racing, is the barn and barnyard to the farmer's boy. Here 
 young animal life appeals to his sympathetic nature. Kittens, 
 calves, colts, young pigs, pigeons, goslings, young chickens and 
 lambs he cares for and caresses with tender affection. Hungry 
 as he gets, he would rather go without a meal than that any of 
 
ancestry: early years 25 
 
 them should suffer want. They call out and cultivate certain 
 humane qualities — indeed, these irrational little animals help to 
 mould and educate the coming man. Reader, you may follow 
 me through the winding ways of this old barn. Just as it used to 
 be. There the calves are tied to the little trough, right back of 
 their mothers, in the cow stable. The colt stable is empty. 
 The young pigeons are still watching in their cotes for the return- 
 ing mother to bring them a feast. These "fodder gangs" call 
 up many old memories. There is the old nail above the door 
 to which I used to hang the lantern when almost too small to 
 reach up. For, on winter mornings, a great while before day, 
 did we boys quietly go after our work here in feeding the cattle. 
 Back here is the cross gang through which I carried many an arm- 
 ful of hay. It is a dark, secluded place, even in day-time. 
 There, where none but the eyes of God saw me, I often knelt 
 down with my hat and prayed. On account of its retired lo- 
 cation I used it as a "closet." Ever since, my mind attaches a 
 certain sacredness to this dark passage. And for this reason 
 you must allow me to kneel down in prayer for a few moments. 
 I still feel that the God of my boyhood is in this place. It has 
 become a sort of Bethel to my heart. 
 
 There is the "hay-hole," communicating with the mow above. 
 I must climb up, just as in the days of old. Somehow I cannot 
 climb up so nimbly as of old. With the agility of a cat could I 
 do it then. Surely I am larger and stronger now, but the limbs 
 and joints are no longer used to this kind of work. Still, have I 
 not done it well? If it were raining I would climb up on the 
 hajonow, lie on my back and listen to the pattering of the rain 
 on the roof, as we did in the days of yore. 
 
 These large mows, filled with hay and straw, afforded an in- 
 teresting field for exploration. Great was the joy when a nest 
 full of eggs were discovered. In search of these the most fatigu- 
 ing climbing was undergone. And many a hat bottom was 
 broken out of its place by doing service as an egg basket. 
 
 Let us go fishing. Not so much for the fish as for the walk. 
 Here under this white oak tree, we will rest a little. You see it 
 stands on the highest point of this hill, "the creek hill," as we 
 used to call it. The Little Conestoga winds along the base of it. 
 With boyish pride I led many a playmate to this spot, to show 
 him "the highest mountain" in this part of the world. So I 
 thought then. I find now that it is only a hill, and not very high 
 at that. Right around us lies the hunting ground of our boy- 
 hood. Down there is a ravine, once the home of a family of 
 woodchucks (ground-hogs). They had their homes in holes in 
 the earth. During school or working time, Saturday afternoon 
 
26 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 was given us for pleasure and sport. These ravines used to be 
 a resort for rabbits. With the help of the dogs we would chase 
 them into the woodchuck holes, then fill the hole with a trap. 
 Sooner or later the poor rabbit was compelled to come out, when 
 the trap would catch it for us. Now the holes, rabbits and wood- 
 chucks are nearly all gone. 
 
 How pleasant to wind along this shaded creek! You see, it 
 is not large. Here, where this old sycamore tree leans over the 
 water, used to be our bathing place. How clean and well-mowed 
 this grassy woodland is! The cattle do this work as well as a 
 lawn mower. Let us examine a few old beech trees in this cor- 
 ner of the woods. For more than fifty years their smooth bark 
 tempted the ambitious youths of the neighborhood to carve 
 their names on them. 
 
 On the smooth rind of these beech trees the farmer boys of our 
 neighborhood have sought an immortality of name by their rude 
 carvings, for more than three-score years. The oldest dates 
 have been well nigh grown over. Later ones are still clearly 
 seen. One name of a well known friend, "S. B., 1837," has out- 
 lasted the growth, wear and weather for almost forty years. 
 
 Yonder is the coasting hill, adown which, in coldest days and 
 moonlight nights, our rude home-made little sled bore us with 
 great speed. Many an upset did we have, midway down its 
 slopes, such as now would skin and break one's older limbs. 
 Then it added to the sport. Under yon cedar tree was a small 
 fish pond, whose inmates afforded us boys a world of amuse- 
 ment. With noiseless steps we stole to the bank, and watched 
 their playful gambols, now poising themselves in graceful repose, 
 then darting hither and thither, ploughing up the mud to hide 
 themselves from view. 
 
 The first pantaloons and the first ride a-horseback are great 
 events in the life of a farmer's boy. My first lessons in riding 
 were taken on old, worn-out horses. Nothing gives farmer boys 
 inore amusement than an old horse, good-natured, patient, and 
 kindly, allowing children to crawl about him at pleasure without 
 throwing them off. "Old Jin" taught me the A, B, C's in rid- 
 ing. Far back as memory reaches she was a very old mare. 
 Black as a raven, with a hairless tail, somewhat short of breath 
 and weak-kneed. She was the mother and grandmother of a 
 tribe of jet-black horses, which did faithful service on our farm 
 for many years thereafter. 
 
 "Tom" taught us to drive the cart to the mill. Of the same 
 color, and of a like tail, strong in limb and trusty. How proud 
 a boy feels when he holds the fines for the first time! He had 
 a way of laying his ears back, and snapping at us, when teased. 
 
ancestry: early years 27 
 
 Pulling a load up a long hill set him wheezing and coughing. 
 For old horses, like old people, do not retain the active breath- 
 ing of their younger years. Great fun would it afford us to ride 
 him to water or pasture. His hard trotting would greatly bounce 
 the juvenile riders, and test their skill. Very nervous, too, did 
 he become, and somewhat hard of hearing. Of which afflictions 
 the mischievous boys sometimes took cruel advantage. The re- 
 port of a gun, or a stone thrown against the barn door near by, 
 would throw him on his knees in a nervous fright. 
 
 One moonlight night we took him on a hill, back of the barn. 
 One of the men had a gun with a heavy load in it. Around him 
 stood the boys. One held him, the other shot off the gun. Poor 
 "Tom" fell on his knees as if a ball had gone through his heart. 
 
 "Pete" came somewhat later. Lighter and lithe of limb, but 
 as black as the others. He had more refined qualities, and was 
 honored with the lead in the wagon. Full well I remember with 
 what an arched neck and a proud swing of his head, champing his 
 bit, he would trot along in the chaise or gig. In summer, instead 
 of a fly-net, his silver mounted harness was adorned with long 
 branches of asparagus. In the two-seated gig there was only 
 room for father and mother, and little me. He was always 
 ready for a little run on the road. An attempt of other horses 
 to pass would start him. He would lower his body and stretch 
 his limbs to their utmost capacity. How it used to amuse my 
 father and frighten his little boy! In harness he was a graceful 
 trotter, and took good care not to hurt the people he had in 
 charge. My first lessons in church-going are associated with 
 Pete. 
 
 In his old age he taught me the more advanced lessons in horse- 
 back riding. Unfortunately for him we boys found out that in 
 spots he was ticklish. The touch of the hand between his hips 
 or of the heels at his flank would set him to violent kicking. 
 High in the air would he fling his legs. The poor old horse was 
 much annoyed in this way, and vainly tried to pitch his per- 
 secutors off his back. 
 
 Full well do I remember the spot, where the song of the katy- 
 dids set me a dreaming. I was a boy. Sent on an errand, I 
 returned through a lonely grove, just after nightfall. Ill at 
 ease, through boyish fear, with hurrying steps I hastened home- 
 ward. The more I hurried, the louder became the confused 
 twitter of these autumnal insects. Every leaf, in every tree, 
 seemed to be alive with fairies shouting after me: "Stop, boy, 
 stop and think of coming days." 
 
 By the side of a tree I stood, as if held by the charm of some 
 unseen power. How those myriads of Katys preached to the 
 
28 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 boy, until he forgot his fear, and the darkness seemed as the 
 noonday. They set me dreaming about a coming hfe. It was 
 not all a dream. As I walked away, to betake me to my little 
 bed, I wondered whether they would keep up this universal rev- 
 elry all night, or would they too go to bed? The trees have 
 been hewn down and the grove has become a plowed field, but 
 the spot remains sacred to the memory of the katydids. 
 
 Few incidents of childhood do we remember so vividly as the 
 sting of bees. Did we not rage and rush to and fro, boo-hooing 
 with boisterous wrath, rubbing the painful red spot which the 
 malicious little animal had wounded. 
 
 More pleasant was his recollection of 
 
 the darkey chimney-sweeps perched on high, rolling out their 
 simple melodies heard at the neighboring farm houses for miles 
 round. To us country boys the sweeping of the chimney was a 
 sort of country concert in mid-air, which always secured a hearty 
 welcome to the dark-visaged visitor. While his song lasted^ 
 not a stick of wood nor pail of water could one bring. The mo- 
 ment he began, every youngster came scampering from orchard, 
 barnyard and wood-shed to enjoy the music. 
 
 The falling stars made a vivid impression on him: 
 
 It was early on a Wednesday morning, November 13, 1833. 
 About five o'clock in the morning, it was. Two little boys, my- 
 self and an elder brother, slept in the bed of a cozy room. Two 
 other beds happened to be in the same room — one occupied by 
 another brother, the other by a hired man. The last two beds 
 had already been vacated. About five o'clock in the morning, 
 a familiar voice called up toward the window of our bed-room, 
 "Boys, quickly get up, the stars are falling from heaven." With 
 that, another voice, in tenderer tones, called up the stairway, 
 "Boys, arise in haste, the stars are falling." 
 
 Sweet as sleep was to the said boys at that early hour of a 
 frosty November morning, they leaped to the window to see 
 what all this meant. For a few moments, they stood and looked 
 at myriads of "stars" darting through the air and falling earth- 
 ward, like the first flakes of a coming snow storm. In haste 
 they put on their garments, muttering as if but half awake, and 
 in dream-like wonder over this strange sight. Under the roof 
 of an open out-building they stood, lest these falling balls of fire 
 might strike their heads. Thicker and faster they fell; some 
 darting horizontally through the air, others falling to within a 
 few yards of the earth and then vanishing. 
 
ancestry: early years 29 
 
 For a long while, the two boys stood beneath the roof and 
 watched the falling stars less frightened than amused; for the 
 morning was very dark, and the fiery shower far exceeded the 
 brilliancy of any display of rockets or fire-works which the in- 
 genuity of man can produce. That day they went to school, 
 as usual. One can well imagine that there was little studying 
 done. The school children brought wild and spectral stories 
 with them. Their usual games were omitted during recess. At 
 noon, every one hastily devoured the contents of his basket, so 
 as the sooner to join the wonder-loving and half frightened crowd. 
 Some that read in the Testament, turned to the XXIV Chapter 
 of Matthew. There we read it. Was the Bible the Book of 
 God? And the Bible says when the stars shall fall the end is at 
 hand. Now our tender child hearts fluttered, as we talked over 
 these strange things on our homeward way in the evening. Hap- 
 pily, a few words from our pious mother calmed our fears. 
 
 For a few days, business and labor to some extent were in- 
 terrupted. Some farmers had appointed "butchering" for that 
 day. "We shall need no more meat, why then should we butch- 
 er?" was the remark, and the day's work was not done. Many 
 were greatly perplexed about housing their vegetables. "Why 
 fill our cellars, if the Judgment day is at hand?" Persons with 
 a fussy, superficial piety kept running from house to house, cry- 
 ing "Lo here! and lo there!" Those of earnest faith quietly 
 went about their business, served and worshipped God as they 
 had always done, knowing that "he who telleth the number of 
 the stars, and calleth them by their names, lifteth up the meek, 
 while he casteth the wicked to the ground." 
 
 Young Bausman had his boyish ambitions; one was to drive 
 the stage coach from Millersville to Lancaster, and another was 
 to saw a fiddle at a hoe-down. As a youth he entered with keen 
 zest into the social joys of country life, the corn-husking parties, 
 the apple-peeling parties and the old-fashioned "Metzel Soup," 
 which was a feast of visiting friends and helpers with games at 
 the close of a day of the tragic work of butchering. Pleasanter 
 to his memory were the old-fashioned Christmas customs and 
 the "sweet charity," in which he was privileged to have part: 
 
 Our home was a short half hour's walk from an inland town in 
 Pennsylvania. The town had its share of poor folk, widows and 
 orphans, living in small huts, in back alleys, and along the out- 
 skirts of the place. In summer-time they gleaned in the harvest 
 fields around this home. In corn-husking time they gleaned 
 
30 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 again. Full well I remember these godly widows, some of them 
 bowed down with age and care, with little knapsacks slung to 
 their shoulders, wherein to carry their harvest. Early in the 
 morning, before the sun had melted the white October frost from 
 the fields, I met them in busy quest of the gleaner's share. Now 
 and then a kind-hearted husker would intentionally leave an ear 
 or two hanging in the way of Christ's poor ones, knowing well 
 that the owner of the field would be pleased to see her bag filling 
 rapidly. The old gleaners were told to house their gatherings 
 in the wood shed. Afterwards each one's share went to her door 
 with horse and cart. One of the boys took it thither for the 
 sake of the infirm widows and for his own sake. For hereby he 
 was taught a lesson of practical charity. "Fill the cart with 
 wood and unload it at Granny Weber's door. She will need it 
 this coming winter." Thus ordered the farmer. Usually there 
 was such an outgush of gratitude, when the poor souls saw the 
 unloading of the gifts, such a heartsome blessing of the boy and 
 his parents, as to set him happily musing all the way home over 
 the blessedness of doing good. 
 
 The livelong winter these widows plied their old spinning 
 wheels, from morning till night, spinning the hemp, flax and wool 
 of their country friends and knitting stockings for the children. 
 Many a time I listened to the hum of the wheel, and wondered 
 how their old tired feet could work one way and their cautious 
 hands at the spool, spindle and thread another way. 
 
 It was the week before Christmas. A busy week in the coun- 
 try home, for then "the butchering" had to be done. An ox 
 and four hogs were slaughtered. The second day before Christ- 
 mas the cake baking was done. Large tables in the bake-house 
 were covered with cakes, in all manner of forms — birds, horses, 
 hearts, lambs, stars, all carefully spread out on "paddy-pans." 
 We children, meanwhile, watched the progress of events, burden- 
 ing the bakers with many curious questions. A great mystery 
 to my child-mind w^as the large bake-oven, which for a season 
 seemed to devour all put into it. I peered into its glowing cav- 
 ern and watched with watering mouth the nut-brown cakes which 
 it brought forth. 
 
 The day before Christmas was the "preparation day." The 
 turkey had to be killed, and many other things provided for the 
 Christmas dinner. The boys were again sent in various direc- 
 tions, to practice "pure and undefiled religion." One wagon was 
 closely packed ^dth numerous baskets and packages, each con- 
 taining a nicely arranged variety of gifts — meat, sausages, apples, 
 cakes, and, perhaps, articles of clothing. Ere the boy started, 
 the loving heart that had devised all these pleasure-giving pack- 
 
ancestry: early years 31 
 
 ages, standing aside of the wagon, repeated her instructions: 
 "Be careful that you make no mistakes. This is for Mrs. Snow, 
 yonder long basket for Mrs. Harris, that bag for Mrs. Weber, 
 and this round basket for the pastor," whose basket contained, 
 among other things, a large turkey. From house to house drove 
 the boy, leaving the appropriate gift at each, and receiving in 
 return such a blessing from the fatherless and widows as are 
 worth more than gold and silver. The little old widow Weber 
 rubbed her hands, and laughed like an overjoyed child. Indeed, 
 she had reached her second childhood. The pastor — well, of 
 course he had expected all, but was none the less grateful. Half 
 the thankful messages sent to the parents by the receivers, the 
 boy could not remember. Only this much, that they were very 
 happy. 
 
 Scarcely had this wagon left the home when another of the 
 boys, mounted on a gray pony, with large saddle-bags and a 
 basket, tightly packed, was started on a visiting tour among 
 country widows in the neighborhood. No less thankful were 
 these than their poor sisters in the town. Indeed, to their dying 
 day they remembered and blessed the boys that brought them 
 gifts — which blessing some of the said boys, now that they are 
 men, do greatly prize. 
 
 It was a stormy Christmas Eve. The sleet rattled against the 
 windows. Around the large "ten-plate" stove, filled with hick- 
 ory logs, sat the family. The boys repeating their reports of 
 their merciful errands to the widows, the parents telling the chil- 
 dren how these pious poor people would, on this stormy night, 
 pray the dear Christ-Child to bless them in their little beds. 
 Then followed many questions from the little ones — whether 
 Mrs. Weber had always been poor, whether Mrs. Harris had any 
 little children, and whether Christkindel would bring them any- 
 thing that night. 
 
 There was no Christmas tree. Then, as now, this tree was 
 more of a town than country growth. The smaller children 
 were still allowed to believe in a real bodily Christkindel. It 
 would surely come that night. Where will mother set the bask- 
 ets this time? In a dark front room— the parlor becomes the 
 reception room of the kind heavenly visitor. Two bread baskets 
 with a clean white cloth spread in them, are placed on chairs. 
 The little innocents, half-frightened, hold on to the mother's 
 dress, as they follow her into the parlor, and watch the arranging 
 of the baskets. Many puzzling little troubles they have. When 
 will it come? Where will it get in? Ought not the front door be 
 left open? Will the baskets be large enough? How heavenly 
 this unsuspecting confiding trust! 
 
32 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 What a fearful fuss the dogs are making! "Watch" runs bark- 
 ing about the house, as if he would tear some one to pieces. 
 
 Hist! Somebody's knocking. 
 
 "Come in," says father. And in they come, such as they are. 
 A half dozen jovial fellows, led by a so-called Belsnickel. 
 
 "O ma!" scream a group of us smaller children, and seize 
 hold of her dress, like an affrighted brood rush under the wings 
 of the mother hen when the hawk is after them. Belsnickel 
 may either mean a fur-clad Nicholas, or a flogging Nicholas. In 
 the wintry Christmas nights, he is usually robed in furs, and 
 carries his whip with him. 
 
 Our Belsnickel is, most likely, some well-known neighbor 
 friend. Under his ugly mask (Schnarraffensgesicht), and an 
 outlandish dress, such as no child ever saw mortal wear before, 
 no one can tell who he is. We children tremble as in the presence 
 of an unearthly being. Really, the Nickel tries to be pleasant, 
 jabbers in some unknown tongue, and takes a few chestnuts and 
 candies out of his vast bundle on his back, and throws them on 
 the floor for the larger boys. One after another shyly picks up a 
 gift. Among these older boys is a self-willed fellow, who some- 
 times behaves rudely. Whenever he picks up something. Nickel 
 thwacks a long whip across his back — across his only. Where- 
 upon the little ones scream and hold on to their mamma with a 
 firm grip; and the older ones laugh aloud. The guilty boy puts 
 his hand where the whip has made an impression. Again the 
 unknown being puts his working hand into the bag and scatters 
 gifts, and again cracks his whip on the bad boy. How does this 
 ugly man know who has been naughty? 
 
 I began my schooldays in a small one story frame building 
 which stood on the edge of our farm where two roads met. A 
 part of the house was occupied by a family; one room about 
 ten by twenty feet in size was used for the school. The benches 
 had no backs; the few small windows furnished too httle light 
 and the low ceiling allowed too little healthy air. 
 
 It was this little building which later was conveyed to the edge 
 of the Franklin and Marshall College grounds. Seeing it from 
 a college window while on duty as a member of the Board of 
 Visitors of the Seminary, Dr. Bausman's memory was set going 
 and the result was a most delightful reminiscent article in the 
 Guardian on "The History of a School House:" 
 
 The school master's name was Schwartz, who was revered by 
 us as one of the great men of the world. He boarded around 
 
ancestry: early years 33 
 
 among the farmers, coming and going as freely as the children of 
 the family. He was a great tea drinker. When the busy servant 
 girl waiting on the table could not promptly fill his cup, he would 
 thump the table and cry out before us all, "Tea, tea, TEA, 
 Betz." This explosion gave us little folks at the table great 
 trouble to keep straight and sober faces. 
 
 The small school room was packed with children. The im- 
 pure air produced drowsiness especially in the school master. 
 Many a nap he took leaning back in his chair, behind his little 
 desk, — going to sleep in the presence of his company. At first, 
 the closing of his eyes was the signal for a general row among the 
 scholars ; but we soon learned to our dismay that Master Schwartz 
 was given to thinking with his eyes closed. Peeping through 
 his half opened eyes he would discover the transgressors and lay 
 on the rod lustily. Our master had a great fondness for flogging 
 boys. The slightest movement of the feet or tongue brought 
 the rod on one's back. Fortunately he rarely hurt anyone. So 
 lightly and so often came the thwack, that we sometimes hardly 
 knew whether he intended to fondle or flog us. 
 
 On the opposite side of the street was the blacksmith shop of my 
 uncle, Jacob Peters. His furnace was the daily wonder of us 
 scholars. Between school-hours he always had a group of timid 
 spectators around the door, watching with childish curiosity the 
 great bellows make the fire on the hearth roar, and when he 
 drew the heated iron there was a rush for the street to escape 
 the large sparks his strokes sent spitting around, as he hammered 
 it out on the anvil into horseshoes, nails and tires for wagon 
 wheels. 
 
 Full well I remember one of the proud days of this school. In 
 the morning, uncle called me to the door of the blacksmith shop: 
 
 "I will give you a cent, this evening, if you will not get a 
 whipping today." 
 
 ''Will you, uncle?" 
 
 "Yes, take my word for it." 
 
 I triumphed. Not once did the master flog me that day. I 
 demanded the reward, and got it. No penny gave me greater 
 pride than that. But it required great exertion to get it. 
 
 Withal Schoolmaster Schwartz was a good teacher. Among 
 other lessons he made us commit hymns to memory. A pleasing 
 scene occurs to my memory, where my brother and I spent hours 
 by ourselves in a certain room and studied our hymns by the 
 light of the tallow candle. How the one found it so easy a task 
 and the other so hard. Many a choice hymn such as "When 
 all thy mercies, O, my God;" "From all that dwell below the 
 skies;" "Jesus shall reign where'r the sun;" "Alas, and did my 
 3 
 
34 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Saviour bleed," were treasured up in the memory, and there 
 they remain to this day. 
 
 These hymns we were taught to sing. Often the tediousness 
 of school hours was relieved by singing. I served as the juvenile 
 leader of song. That was one of my child honors. After all 
 had been duly arranged on certain benches, and the hymn an- 
 nounced, the master called on me to begin, the rest joining in the 
 song. Often as I repeat or help to sing one of these hymns, it 
 calls up the memory of Schoolmaster Schwartz. 
 
 John Shissler was our second schoolmaster. He could hardly 
 compare, in teaching ability, with the average Pemisjdvania 
 teacher of to-day. For his day he was esteemed as a good school- 
 master. When I learned to know and obey him his head had 
 turned prematurely gray, and now and then his face turned un- 
 naturally red. The old brick school-house stood a half a mile 
 from the village, on the edge of a large tract of woodland. The 
 trees have been cut down, and the spot where the school-house 
 stood is now a part of a cultivated field. Still, our childhood 
 memories hold tenaciously to the early impressions. For it the 
 tall forest trees and the school-house live on. Many a merry 
 game did those trees witness. What is now called "base ball," 
 we played then, and just as well as they do now, only we did not 
 play it on Sunday as many now do. We pitched quoits, played 
 corner ball and shinny and build houses of dry leaves, — all 
 this we did on a playground of ten or fifteen acres. Instead of 
 ringing a little bell to call us to school, the teacher simply came 
 to the door and called "Books." Usually, it was a very unwel- 
 come call, in the height of our fun and frolic. 
 
 I have often wished that some good painter would give us a 
 graphic and true picture of the children of an old-time country 
 school at dinner. Very few could go home for their dinners. 
 Imagine from fifty to a hundred children in a small room. Hav- 
 ing for an hour past allowed their imaginations to rummage 
 through their well stored baskets, their appetites meanwhile are 
 whetted to their keenest edge. At length comes the welcome sig- 
 nal. Each party groups around its basket, spread on the narrow 
 bench or table. Cold meat, sausage, bread, carefully spread, 
 cakes, pies, etc., are relished with a zest such as one never has in 
 later life. A little phial of molasses in the basket was considered 
 a luxury, not so much on account of spreading the contents on 
 the bread, as for the gleanings of the phial. The greatest kind- 
 ness a scholar could show a comrade was to let him make and 
 drink molasses water from his empty phial. I can still see them, 
 with head flung back, laboring to suck the delicious liquid through 
 the narrow neck of the bottle. Many older and wiser people 
 
ancestry: early years 35 
 
 could learn a useful lesson from those school children at table in 
 a country school house. Little marks of kindness are bestowed. 
 Here and there you see one leaning across the table, to share 
 her little delicacy with a less-favored playmate. If it cannot 
 be molasses-water, it is a piece of pie, ginger cake, or a "pepper- 
 nut." Their table abounds with chatty conversation and mirth- 
 ful laughter, all of which is healthful for body and spirit. Save 
 during very unpleasant weather, the schoolmaster would take 
 his dinner home, leaving the scholars to have it their own way. 
 It was a noisy scene, but not a sinful noise. A noise such as the 
 long line of swallows have on the barn tops, in the pleasant days 
 of June. 
 
 Schoolmaster Shissler's punishments were inflicted by the use 
 of the rod, the ruler and a pair of leathern spectacles. The most 
 painful was whipping the palm of the offender's hand with the 
 flat ruler. The greatest consternation was produced by the 
 spectacles. For a while he would allow the confusion to reign, 
 pretending to be deeply engaged in study. At length he threw 
 the spectacles at one of the noisiest, who had to bring them to 
 his desk, put them on and stand up and face the school for a 
 specified time. Vividly I remember with what a thrill of horror 
 I would hear the piece of leather whizzing over our heads, not 
 certain at first but that it might be intended for me. It was 
 the severest punishment inflicted. It made the offender look 
 Hke a monkey. In spite of one's pity, you could not help but 
 laugh at the poor culprit, and for the life of him he himself could 
 not laugh. Few things are so mortifying as to be laughed at 
 when one can not join in the laugh. My word for it, so far as I 
 can remember, I never wore those spectacles. 
 
 He carried a small phial containing a mysterious liquid. A 
 little stick of wood, dipped into this would at once ignite; with 
 this he lighted his cigar and the stove kindling in winter time. 
 The little bottle seemed to us scholars possessed of magical 
 properties, for then people knew nothing of lucifer matches. 
 The moment he opened his bottle the scholars watched the per- 
 formance with bated breath. All the writing was done with 
 quills, for nothing was then known of steel or gold pens. The 
 mending of these consumed much of his time. 
 
 On the day before Christmas some country schoolmasters 
 were locked out of their castles by the scholars, and kept out till 
 they would consent to furnish the whole school with Christmas 
 presents. We had often heard how gloriously the scholars of 
 other schools had fared by this plan. Unfortunately, our master 
 was a Squire. And a Squire, some thought, might take us right 
 off to prison, if we provoked him in this way. One Christmas 
 
36 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 season, a few brave boys led the way, and the rest followed. In 
 the morning the scholars took possession of the school house. 
 The door was locked and if I remember rightly, the shutters, too. 
 How some trembled like an aspen leaf with fright! Others 
 peeped through the key-hole and listened for the master's coming 
 tread. We had reason to tremble. Our master was distant to 
 his scholars; besides, he did not seem to relish a joke as some 
 people do. He might just that morning be in one of his ill humors. 
 You may smile at the scene, but I question whether the people 
 of besieged Troy, or those of Vicksburg, felt the seriousness of 
 their situation more keenly than did that group of children in a 
 besieged country school house. 
 
 At length we heard his tread. "Hush," was whispered round. 
 Silent as the grave was the school, for once. Such order the 
 master perhaps never produced before. In vain he tried to open 
 the barred door. He commanded us to open. To disobey his 
 command usually brought a storm about our ears. Such an act 
 of disobedience, refusing to let him enter his own school house, 
 was a daring feat. A paper was slipped out under the door, 
 solemnly setting forth our demands — candies, cakes, nuts and the 
 little nick-nacks that make up the ordinary Christmas presents 
 of country children. It was a fearful suspense, this deliberation 
 of the schoolmaster on this stately proposition. What could we 
 do if he should fly into a passion, force open, and lay about him 
 with the rod! There was no way of retreat left open, no open 
 windows through which to leap out. Ah, dear reader, to children 
 such a performance has all the momentous importance which 
 historic events have to older people. At length the master pro- 
 posed to surrender, upon our terms, as specified in the paper. 
 The door was opened. He entered with a smile and we hardly 
 knew whether to smile or to scream from fear, lest after all he 
 might visit us with dire punishment. He ordered us to our 
 seats, wrote a note containing a list of the articles promised and 
 sent a few of the larger boys to the village to buy and bring them. 
 Studying was impossible during their absence. The joy was too 
 tumultuous to be bottled up even for an hour. And the kind- 
 hearted schoolmaster was as mirthful as we. At length the 
 boys came, with great baskets, full of spoils of our victory. Each 
 one got a nice Christmas present. Never before had our master 
 seemed to us such a good man. For months this great siege in 
 our schoolhouse, and the grand victory of the besieged, was the 
 daily topic of talk among the scholars. And in all the country 
 round about, it was soon noised abroad that the Squire had 
 been locked out by his own school. And the scholars, even the 
 most timid and worst frightened, shared the glory and renown 
 of the victory. 
 
ancestry: early years 37 
 
 Our schools in Lancaster were of a better class. "Billy Reed, " 
 a small, somewhat quick tempered man, with crippled feet, was a 
 marked improvement. He had a galvanic battery, which was 
 a great mystery to us boys. One day he operated on us. With 
 joined hands we were drawn up in a line. The first boy was in 
 touch with the instrument, the last one held the tail of a dog. 
 The violent shock sent the howling animal out the door into the 
 street, to the great amusement of the boys. 
 
 A Mr. Fetter and his wife taught the parochial school of the 
 First Reformed Church. He served both as organist and school 
 master. Here we attended school for several winters. He was 
 a kind, conscientious teacher, who strove by his exemplary charac- 
 ter as well as by his instructions to advance his pupils. We 
 usually went to school from 6 to 8 months in a year. The sum- 
 mers were given to farm work. 
 
 "Tommy Yarrel" taught in the school house at Chestnut and 
 Prince Streets. The building is still used as a school house. He 
 was considered one of the best teachers of the city: a man of 
 stately bearing, gray-headed, dressed in faultless style, always 
 in black, with a broad white necktie. He was largely built, of a 
 ruddy complexion, always grave, sometimes somewhat abrupt 
 and strenuous in demanding order; in appearance not unlike a 
 dignified clerg>Tnan or bishop of the old school. Himself child- 
 less, indeed unmarried, his long experience enabled him to under- 
 stand and help young people to lay the foundation of character. 
 
 In the First Reformed Church of Lancaster all of us children 
 were baptized and confirmed. The first pastor I can remember 
 was Father Henry Hoffmeier, grandfather of the late Dr. J. H. 
 A. Bomberger, then an old man with furrowed face and brow. 
 He baptized me. He could preach only in the German language. 
 After him services in both languages began to be held. As usual 
 in such cases the transition from German to English caused un- 
 pleasant disturbances among the people. 
 
 In 1840, I and brother Philip were sent to instruction in the 
 Catechism. The Rev. Geo. W. Glessner was our pastor. He 
 was a man small of body, but he had a heart warm with the love 
 of Christ. He was intensely earnest in his catechetical instruc- 
 tions. In applying the lessons he would often weep. He was a 
 very impressive preacher and his life abounded in good works. 
 He was my spiritual father. We committed the German Cate- 
 chism and I was confirmed with his first class of Catechumens. 
 The whole confirmation scene is still vividly pictured in my mem- 
 ory. I still remember how as I and my brother stood side by side 
 before the altar, while the pastor was reading the confirmation 
 form and I was mentally praying, a sudden fainting sensation 
 seized me and for a few moments I was unconscious. Although 
 
38 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 fearful that I might sink to the floor, the Lord held me up. At 
 our first communion our pastor had the Rev. Mr. Schmaltz from 
 Frederick, Md., to assist him. As the communicants were turn- 
 ing away from the communion altar, the visiting minister shook 
 hands with each one. As he held my hand, he said, "Will you 
 promise me one thing? When you get home, go into a room by 
 yourself, kneel down and pray God to help you to become a good, 
 useful man." I promised him that I would. I still remember a 
 Ixigh wooden chest in a certain room at which I knelt and fervent- 
 ly prayed, as he told me to do. I never met the good man there- 
 after to thank him for that personal challenge at my first com- 
 munion, God knows how much it had to do in determining my 
 subsequent life. 
 
 The thoughtful youth was indehbly impressed by the people 
 and happenings around him: 
 
 When a boy we had a hired man in our family, good Michael 
 Sheridan, an Irish Catholic. He worked hard and faithfully. 
 He told us pleasant stories as we followed him in his work and had 
 an eye on our boyish habits with an affection and a pride that 
 was pleasing to behold. He slept in the same room wdth us 
 boys. There were three beds in the room. In the one nearest 
 to his, I and my brother slept. Among my many pleasing mem- 
 ories of this hard-working Irishman none impressed itself so 
 vividly on my mind as his fixed habit of prayer. No matter 
 how tired he was nor what was going on in the bed room, he 
 never went to bed without first kneeling down at his bed and 
 praying. He prayed long and in a half audible whisper. Stran- 
 gers might enter the room, but he never seemed to be in the least 
 disturbed. As soon as we heard his devotional whispers, our 
 voices were hushed. He never urged us to pray, but when he 
 knelt down, all the rest of us felt that we ought to pray too. 
 
 In the country one's neighbors are locally further off, but in 
 sympathy they are nearer together than those in cities. A case 
 of sickness or death affects and afflicts aU the country round 
 about. Without banding together in secret orders, the neigh- 
 bors of our boyhood home were in the habit of visiting the sick 
 and bereaved; even the younger members of the family would 
 sit up at nights, with their sick and dead neighbors. Well do I 
 remember, when a half-gro^vn youth, how I sat with an aged 
 man of God, through long winter nights, Andreas Kaufman 
 had for many years been a Mennonite minister. Book learning 
 had he none; indeed no other kind of learning. He knew his old 
 German Bible to be true, and by some effort could read it. As 
 
ancestry: early years 39 
 
 for preaching at the Mennonite meeting, he was a very weak 
 vessel. Yet everybody heard him gladly, because all knew him 
 to be a good man. 
 
 Though a weak expounder of God's word, he was a model 
 Christian, just and merciful to man and beast. In all the coun- 
 try round about, there was no better neighbor, no man more in- 
 offensive, meek and fruitful in kind wishes and works than he. 
 In a certain autumn, when the leaves were fading and falling, 
 the good old man felt signs of his approaching end. For months 
 he patiently lay on a bed of pain. It fell to my lot to watch 
 with him on certain nights. At first, the nights seemed very 
 long. As the tedious leaden hours dragged their slow length 
 along, I heard no sound but the heavy breathing of my aged 
 friend, the crackhng of the burning wood in the stove, and the 
 slow steady tick of the tall old clock in the corner of the room. 
 Sometimes the winter's storm would blow the snow and sleet 
 against the windows, as an accompaniment to the sad sounds. 
 Very often some one would relieve me towards morning. Cozily 
 buried in a great feather bed, under the roof, at the head of the 
 narrow uncarpeted stairs, I slept sweetly for a few hours, in spite 
 of the howling of the storm. 
 
 Many a grateful word did the old man speak to me during those 
 wakeful nights. He was as confiding and simple as a child, and 
 had much of its innocence. 
 
 It was a strange and not unpleasant schooling for me, this 
 waking with Andreas Kaufman, and listening to his prayers, 
 sighs and words of calm and sure hope. Though a stirring youth, 
 I learned to sit in solitary silence during those long hours, as 
 patiently as a mother wakes by her sick child. Indeed I liked 
 it. When my turn came I felt glad. Looking back from the 
 present to that waking experience I can see better than I could 
 then, how my communion with the old preacher, and bestowing 
 an occasional night of kindness and sympathy upon him, helped 
 to cure me of a selfish wordly spirit. Going home across the 
 fields in the cold dawn of day, I had kind thoughts of him and of 
 all I knew, and the way seemed short, and heaven not far olf. 
 Now I see what good lessons I learned from those night watches. 
 Among his last words was his dying blessing upon his youthful 
 friend, for watching with kind sympathy at his sick and djdng 
 bed. And after I became a man, his aged widow continued to 
 bless the boy that spent the night-watches with her sainted 
 Andreas. And this patriarchal blessing I felt resting on me 
 with a mysterious power. I still think there was something in 
 it. 
 
40 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 In seeking for the formative influences in the early life of Ben- 
 jamin Bausman, we must take due account of the Mennonites. 
 Numerically, they are strong in Lancaster County, and a pious, 
 godly people they are, simple in their habits, eschewing the 
 fashions and allurements of the world, kindly neighbors and 
 rarely appearing in the law courts. The Bausman home was 
 surrounded by these quiet, sturdy families. The Bausmans 
 often went to their services in the nearby meeting house, and 
 Mennonite ministers were present at and had part in the funeral 
 services of both the father and mother of Dr. Bausman. The 
 social atmosphere of the home was that of these ''plain people." 
 Dr. Bausman's only sister married a Mennonite and some time 
 later went with him to the Mennonite Church. But two of his 
 brothers remained single and the others married women of Men- 
 nonite families. These wives all came with their husbands to 
 the Reformed Church, but retained for the most part the sweet 
 and simple garb of their mothers. Dr. Bausman, by taste and 
 education, was for dignity, order and the artistic in life and 
 worship, but he always glorified the homely virtues, preached and 
 practiced a simple-hearted piety, kept his heart tender toward 
 those humble in station, and always insisted that his church ser- 
 vices must be of such a nature that the most unlettered could 
 appreciate and enter into them heartily. The Mennonite sur- 
 roundings of his early years left upon him a molding and lasting 
 impress. 
 
 We come now to "the turning point" in Benjamin Bausman's 
 life, a period of pain and anxiety, of doubts and heart-searchings, 
 which threw him back on his God. When he had worked him- 
 self into the clear as to his life-work, there was no more occasion 
 to doubt of it. Let him tell his own story of his "Choice of a 
 Profession," as he wrote in the Guardian the first year of his 
 editorship. It is moreover, a sample of his best writing. After 
 sketching briefly the history of the family to the point of his 
 father's retirement from the active work of farming, he proceeds : 
 
 By and by the sons worked the farm — and worked it well. 
 The father by this time increased his estate. As each son in 
 turn reached a certain age, he was started on a farm of his own, 
 
BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 AT ABOUT 20 
 
ancestry: early years 41 
 
 and a younger one took his post on the old "place." Although 
 they had never been told so, this system of promotion made the 
 impression that they were all destined to be farmers. One after 
 the other stepped out of the dear old home, and started in life. 
 The transition was easy. For they had been trained to this 
 pursuit. It was the sphere of their choice. For it they possessed 
 special aptitudes, and for no other. For each to have a farm 
 was a tempting prospect, which few would be willing to lose. 
 
 One, a younger son, drifted towards this destination, with 
 serious misgivings. He had gone to school more than the rest. 
 His studies kindled in him a thirst for knowledge, and a growing 
 distaste for farming. Not that he had any dislike for work, or 
 a lack of respect for his father's occupation. But his spirit 
 yearned for a wider and higher sphere; for something else. And 
 he could not tell what that something else was. He had no 
 clear sense of duty. Of one thing he was certain — that farming 
 was not to be the work of his life. Beyond that he could not 
 see his way clear. He was in darkness and doubt. He groped 
 around him for sympathy, and failed to find it. His comrades, 
 even his own brothers, could not understand him. "What is 
 the matter with you? You act so strangely this while past." 
 This was the cold comfort he received. His godly mother, in 
 her heart of hearts, seemed to understand him fully. He wrestled 
 with God. At times a lonely sense of abandonment oppressed 
 him. He prayed with locked doors, under trees, in the barn, 
 behind the curtain of night — wherever he could find God alone. 
 He was shut up by tradition, education, training, general habit, 
 and by a thousand environments, to enter an occupation from 
 which he shrank with mysterious dread. 
 
 He quit going to school. It was thought he should now labor 
 with a view to his future farming pursuits. During the interval 
 of a few years he worked, read and prayed, in a state of pain- 
 ful suspense and uncertainty. At length the father advised him 
 to resume his studies at school, for by this time he too felt per- 
 plexed. He had no wish to force his son into a sphere for which 
 God had not designed him. "Go to school again, my son. God 
 grant that light may soon dawn upon us." So spake the good 
 man. The boy ought to have unburdened himself to his pastor. 
 
 This brings us to the period of twenty years ago. It was in 
 the fall of the year. The corn had all been husked and housed in 
 the large cribs. The apples had been picked, cider made, apple- 
 butter boiled. A lot of large stock had been "tied up." This 
 tying up of wild Western cattle, into a Pennsylvania barn for the 
 first time, is always an exciting work to farmer boys. They often 
 cut up all sorts of pranks before you can force them into the 
 
42 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 stables. Some of them become fierce and frantic when they are 
 in. Heavy ropes and strong arms must be used to drag them to 
 their places. All this Casper — for thus we shall name him — 
 helped to do before the school term commenced. The winter 
 previous he had fed the cattle. And a dreary winter it was. 
 
 At length school time began. The leaves were falling. As 
 he walked through the woods, his footsteps produced a strange 
 rustling among them. Autumn winds were sighing and Casper 
 felt sad. He encountered a new trial. Ignorant as to the pro- 
 fession or occupation God had called him to, he could not know 
 what branches to study. About a mile from his home stood 
 the country schoolhouse — an humble brick building, on the edge 
 of a large grove. Years before, when a prattling, frolicking boy, 
 Casper used to play ball under the old trees. He still remember- 
 ed the long hours through which he used to worry, on the hard 
 high benches without backs when his feet could not yet reach 
 the floor. In a corner on a bench stood the old water bucket 
 and the tin cup. With this he brought many a heavy bucket of 
 water up the tiresome path, from the "spring," at the lower end 
 of the grove. Aside of the school-house stood the old frame 
 meeting house, and a long shed to shelter horses Sabbath days. 
 High stone steps led to the meeting-house door. On these the 
 children used to crack nuts. The grove was unfenced — an open 
 public pasture ground. All day long the cows from a neighbor- 
 ing village cropped the short grass, and kept up an incessant 
 tinkling of bells — bells pitched on every imaginable key. In 
 the autumn, when hickory-nut time came, the boys would in- 
 dulge in climbing exploits. 
 
 Now Casper returns to his old play-ground. No longer a 
 child, he knows but few of the scholars. His former sports no 
 longer charm him He feels no inclination to engage in the in- 
 nocent amusements of the children. His teacher gives him a 
 seat near him, two benches from where he sat years before. Now 
 his feet can reach the floor. He sternly sticks to his books dur- 
 ing school and play hours. 
 
 The teacher was a man, in scholarship, above the average of 
 his profession, an amiable born gentleman, who had gained his 
 position and character by means of much labor and self denial. 
 Casper unburdened his heart to him, and found him a wise coun- 
 sellor and sympathizing friend. He advised him to begin with 
 Arithmetic, Algebra and English Grammar. To these branches 
 he at once applied himself with utmost diligence. He toiled 
 over his books till midnight. It was a dreary labor to him. He 
 felt out of his element in the school; in years and attainments, 
 far beyond the other scholars. One, a comrade, sat by his side — 
 
ancestry: early years 43 
 
 his equal in age, and studying the same branches. Another, a 
 few seats off, who was perhaps twice his age, a cobbler with a 
 family, who tried to study, but to little purpose. The rest were 
 children, such as are commonly found in country schools. 
 
 That autumn Casper's teacher had been elected the second 
 time as a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature. To take 
 his seat in that body, it was, necessary for him to cease teaching 
 on the first of January. A successor was to be elected by the 
 citizens of the school districts. One day he remarked to Casper 
 and his comrade: "Boys, in a few weeks I shall have to quit 
 teaching here. I wish you two to take charge of the school. 
 I can safely recommend you for the position, and that will se- 
 cure you an election." 
 
 Neither of the young men deemed himself qualified for the 
 post; but the kind and earnest request of their friend led them at 
 length to consent. The teacher was one of the most popular in 
 the district. There could be no doubt about their getting the 
 place. Indeed, the community would consider themselves very 
 fortunate in securing the services of two young men held in such 
 high esteem by their instructor. Casper, at length thought he 
 saw signs of a coming dawn, he felt a sense of inexpressible re- 
 lief; this solved the whole problem, he thought; God wanted 
 him to become a teacher. The education of children is, after 
 all, a more solemn and important work than farming. To mould 
 immortal minds and plastic hearts for truth, piety, and com- 
 munion with Christ — what a high and holy calling! The heavens 
 brightened; his heart was brimful of joy. He told his parents. 
 ''Well," said they, "bide God's time, dear child; do whatsoever 
 He bids thee." 
 
 On a chilly, dreary day of Christmas week, the election was 
 held at the school house. A few days before, Casper and his 
 friend heard that Schwartz, the cobbler, was trying to secure 
 the position. The young men laughed heartily, for the poor 
 man was notoriously one of the most ignorant, stupid persons 
 in the district. They asked no one to vote for them. Every- 
 body knew them, their parents and their manner of life; — knew 
 the cobbler too, and his irremediable ignorance. Besides this, 
 they had the teacher's recommendation. Their election, they 
 thought, was a foregone conclusion. 
 
 Neither of them went to the election. Anticipations of cer- 
 tain victory were mingled with Christmas joys at home. The 
 next day a neighbor dropped in. "Merry Christmas, Casper," 
 was the greeting. "Merry Christmas to you likewise, neigh- 
 bor Albrecht, " greeted Casper. "Hast heard the election news, 
 Casper. " "No, what is the result? " " Gus Schwartz is elected. ' ' 
 
44 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 "Ah, nonsense! Let us have the truth — what is it?" "True 
 as I hve, the cobbler has been elected, and by a pretty large 
 majority at that!" "He has?" replied Casper, flushed with ex- 
 citement. "What in the name of reason do they want with 
 such a man as a teacher? Why, he knows less than three-fourths 
 of the scholars! He stuck at the simplest sums in the Rule of 
 Three! He is so impenetrably stupid in geography, that he 
 could hardly tell you whether Paris is in France or Russia! Why, 
 he absolutely cannot read, much less spell! Why, he" — 
 
 "Keep calm, my child," said Casper's mother, "all things 
 shall work together for good to them that love God. You know 
 we often sing: 
 
 Whate'er my God ordains is right, 
 
 He never will deceive; 
 He leads me by the proper path, 
 
 And so I to Him cleave, 
 
 And take content, 
 
 What He hath sent. 
 His hand can turn my griefs away, 
 And patiently I wait His day." 
 
 "O yes, mother, that is all very true; but do you think that 
 God can use such a stupid cobbler as a school teacher?" 
 
 "My child, my child! beware how you question the wisdom of 
 our Heavenly Father! You are excited now; guard your tongue 
 till you are more calm." 
 
 "Yes, mother, you are right," said poor Casper. "I spoke 
 rashly, and I pray God forgive me. But to be defeated by a 
 man who can not even read, write or cipher decently — to be de- 
 feated by him in your own neighborhood, where everybody knows 
 that I am better qualified than he — to be defeated, after I have 
 had the Assemblyman to back me — and by this cobbler! Did 
 you ever hear of such a thing? I tell you, mother, it is enough 
 to excite one. Besides, this defeats my plans of future useful- 
 ness. Now I am adrift in a dark, stormy sea again." 
 
 "My son, 'a prophet is not without honor, save in his own 
 country.' If our blessed Saviour was willing that this should 
 be said of Him, how much more should we endure similar re- 
 proach. You are not adrift. Your father and I have often 
 prayed that God might guide you. His hand is at the helm. 
 'He is leading you in ways you know not of.'" 
 
 "Neighbor Albrecht, do tell us how this thing has happened." 
 
 "Well, I can tell you all about it. You know Schwartz is one 
 of the cobblers of the village. Many wear the shoes he has 
 made and mended. They say he is an honest, industrious man, 
 which you know he is. Many people in this district reasoned in 
 
ancestry: early years 45 
 
 this wise: Schwartz is a poor man, with a wife and five children 
 to support. His children must have bread. He needs the situa- 
 tion to support his family. You and your friend have no wife 
 and children to support." 
 
 "Did you ever hear of such a set of Hottentots?" 
 
 "Stop, stop, Casper, let me finish now. Besides, they go on 
 to say, that you young men have parents who have money to 
 keep you going. In short, they voted for Schwartz to give bread 
 and clothing to his wife and children." 
 
 "Very well, I am content. If such are the requisite qualifica- 
 tions of a school master in this district, he is welcome to the 
 position. Schwartz is an honest, industrious cobbler, but a 
 most contemptible school teacher. My word for it, ere long he 
 will learn one lesson thoroughly, if he has never learned any 
 before, and that is the well-known adage: 'Shoemaker, stick to 
 thy last.'" 
 
 Again Casper was in great trouble about his future calling. 
 What he should now get at was a dark problem. He prayed for 
 light and his parents helped him to pray. He concluded to con- 
 tinue his studies in the academy of a neighboring town, till the 
 following spring. He studied hard; spent much time by him- 
 self — perhaps too much. This uncertain state of mind cast a 
 gloom over his whole work. The pious lady with whom 
 he boarded vainly tried to cheer him under his dreary trials. A 
 few weeks after he had commenced, the cobbler sent Casper and 
 his friend word to please come and take the school off his hands, 
 that he had run aground. He returned to his "last" a wiser, if 
 not a more learned man. Casper grappled with algebra and 
 all manner of other hard lessons, some of which had never been 
 written in books. As to teaching that was now out of the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 He read much, ran wildly to and fro in quest of knowledge; 
 read books good and evil, the Bible and Byron, to satisfy his 
 restive spirit. His father took the German Reformed Messenger. 
 In it he read appeals for more ministers. Articles which entreated 
 young men in the name of Christ to devote themselves to the 
 sacred office. What if I would study for the ministry? he thought 
 to himself. His new teachers gave a fresh impulse to his mind, 
 infused a new vigor into his studies, kindled a keener thirst for 
 the truth. Along wdth this the pastor of a neighboring church 
 urged him to enter Christ's vineyard as a laborer — urged him 
 with the most tender, earnest entreaties. A score of difficulties 
 were in his way. He had no speaking talent; was too far back 
 in his studies to spend six or eight years in a course of study. 
 It seemed like half a life-time thrown away. The man of God 
 
46 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 prayed for him and soon left him without an excuse. In short, 
 the following spring Casper went to College. He is now a min- 
 ister. Among many lessons which he thanks God for, is the one 
 he has learned from his defeat by cobbler Schwartz. That taught 
 him humility and submission and helped him to choose a pro- 
 fession. Had he succeeded he might be the teacher of a district 
 school to this day. His defeat was a turning point in his life. 
 
 In the foregoing Dr. Bausman assumes the name of Casper 
 from a quaint wiseacre of a hired man of whose joviality he 
 often spoke in after years. The school teacher who became 
 legislator was Jacob G. Shuman, "the most popular man of the 
 village." "Neighbor Albrecht" was a school director and 
 could therefore speak of the painful result of the election with 
 authority. 
 
 The "academy of a neighboring town" was Franklin College, 
 Lancaster, and the time of his attending it the early months of 
 1846. 
 
 The concluding paragraph of Dr. Bausman's "Autobiographical 
 Material" is about the "man of God, pastor of a neighboring 
 church:" 
 
 One day a plainly dressed young man visited our house. He 
 was pastor of the neighboring Millersville charge, a weak and 
 newly constituted pastoral field of which he was the first shepherd. 
 Although not my pastor, he took a kindly interest in me and I 
 often attended his ministrations. Young in the ministry, in 
 impaired health and with an incomplete course of study, neither 
 learned nor eloquent, he was a very saintly man and beloved by 
 saint and sinner because he loved everybody, the Rev. Peter 
 Sweigert. Like David Brainerd he laid himself on the altar of 
 God as a whole burnt offering. When about parting at the front 
 door, he paused a moment and said to me, "God wants you to 
 become a minister of the gospel." I was startled, for such a 
 thought had never entered my mind. "What, I become a min- 
 ister! It is not possible." "Yes, the Lord hath need of you. 
 I beg you do not turn a deaf ear to this call. We will both pray 
 for light till I see you again. Farewell." Thus after a season 
 of mental uncertainty and unrest, this humble man was sent to 
 interpret the voice of God to my soul. With the childlike faith 
 of ancient times, people would have called my friend a prophet 
 or an angel of God sent as was Elijah to Elisha, to lead a poor 
 soul groping in darkness into a God-appointed life calling. To 
 
ancestry: early years 47 
 
 Peter Sweigert, under God, more than to any other person I am 
 indebted for being a minister of the gospel. In less than a year 
 thereafter, this loving and lovable man of God entered upon his 
 reward and in less than a year later, I entered Marshall College 
 in Mercersburg to study for the ministry. It was a surprise to 
 my parents. I had expected them to urge or dissuade me. They 
 did neither, but committed me to the divine guidance. Father 
 said, "I will give you all the money you need to prosecute your 
 studies, if God calls you." 
 
 No doubt many influences worked together in leading Ben- 
 jamin Bausman to decide for the ministry. The first time he 
 led in prayer was in the prayer-meeting of the First Reformed 
 Church, Lancaster, when called on by Christian Gast, father of 
 Prof. F. A. Gast, D. D., of the Lancaster Seminary. The in- 
 cident impressed him and was a step in the direction of his life 
 calling. Father Gast, too, urged him to study for the ministry 
 and was one of his kindly counsellors. 
 
 Another occurrence which doubtless had its bearing on his 
 great life decision was on his visit to Pastor Glessner's at butcher- 
 ing time with meat and sausages: 
 
 After the baskets had been emptied he insisted on taking the 
 awkward chap into the parlor of the parsonage. To my con- 
 sternation he introduced me to a gay looking young gentleman 
 just arrived from Germany, whom he called Dr. Schaff. Well 
 do I remember his black hair and his face fresh like a blushing 
 spring rose surmounted with gold spectacles. He took me by 
 the hand and expressed himself pleased with my way of visiting 
 my pastor. As a bashful country lad, I stood in awe of the 
 brilliant German scholar. He then laid his hand upon my shoul- 
 der, saying, "I hope to see you in our seminary one day as a 
 student for the ministry." I then little expected that his hopes 
 would be realized. 
 
 This must have been in the winter of 1844 and 1845, for Dr. 
 Schaff had arrived at Mercersburg from Germany in August, 1844. 
 In the spring of 1846 the short course at Franklin College was 
 terminated and Benjamin Bausman entered definitely on the 
 new life upon which he was set. He was twenty-two years old 
 when he went to Mercersburg to prepare for college and the 
 date of his departure became ever afterward for him a sacramental 
 
40 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 day of serious meditation, which he referred to in diary and 
 many an article with tender memories as in the following: 
 
 It was on May 6, 1846. A pleasant, balmy spring morning 
 fixed for my departure for College. Of all that had preceded I 
 will not speak. It was to be my first home-leaving, the first 
 passing out from under the watchful parental care of home into 
 the untried life of a College student. Both parents did their 
 part in providing the needed outfit. Naturally the inventive 
 affection of my mother did the most. A trunk of little and larger 
 articles — not even forgetting needles, thread, woolen yarn and a 
 piece of beeswax. For weeks before her busy hands knitted, 
 sewed and wrought in many ways and meanwhile her heart 
 prayed for her youngest born about to leave home. I watched 
 her folding and packing, one article after the other was carefully 
 put in its place. Now and then a tear warm from her heart fell 
 into the trunk. Not that I went without her consent. Indeed 
 she was thankful for the privilege of giving a son to the ministry. 
 Still the cheerful offering cost her mother's heart many a tear; 
 perhaps more for my sake than for her's. Her tears were packed 
 with the other gifts of love in the trunk. The garments and 
 other useful articles have long since been worn out, but the tears 
 remain to me a fresh and imperishable blessing. 
 
 At length the trunk was carried on the front porch. Mean- 
 while the carriage came to take me to the train. Many caresses 
 and kisses had she lavished on me in childhood. For some years 
 I had entered into the more bashful and shy period of youth and 
 early manhood, when one's filial affection is less demonstrative. 
 That first parting on the front porch, receiving my dear mother's 
 parting embrace, sobbing as she kissed me, and wiping the fast- 
 falling tears from her face, as we rode out the lane, all this came 
 back so freshly to my heart this 6th day of May, 1881, that for 
 a while I could think of nothing else but this. How many pleas- 
 ant discoveries did I make when I first came to unpacking my 
 trunk in my College room! Many days after, I continued to 
 discover little nick-nacks, keepsakes and things pleasant to have, 
 which she had hidden in some unexpected corner of the trunk. 
 I saw her afterwards, prayed with her when sick and stood by 
 her soul when she went to heaven, and often since I have visited 
 her grave. Yet in thinking of her, she mostly appears to my 
 mind in connection with her busy motherly care when providing 
 my first outfit for College. Not as a distressed and feeble in- 
 valid, nor as a dying saint, do I now think of her the oftenest, 
 but in her plain dress and tidy white cap, her pale face beaming 
 with tears, as she crouched down aside of the open trunk and 
 
ancestry: early years 49 
 
 carefully packed its precious contents. And somehow, to this 
 day, I have a notion that the placing of every package in the 
 trunk was attended with a prayer for me. Sitting on a later 
 porch which covers the site of the old one, looking out upon 
 the same fields and starry skies which she used to see, did this 
 scene of the 6th of May, 1846, crowd upon my memory. Amid 
 newer buildings and changed surroundings, not only the images, 
 but the reality of the old in one's life. From twilight of even- 
 ing till far into the night do I yearly sit in solemn reverie on the 
 later porch, and while listening and looking at the voices and the 
 sounds of the night coming on, commune with the spirits and 
 lives of the years gone by. 
 
 The trunk, now old and travel-worn, I have sacredly preserved. 
 For you, dear reader, it would have no attraction, for me it has 
 precious value. Not for a great price would I consent to part 
 with it. Often have I opened its lid and looked into its empty 
 parts, and passed my hands over its inner surface, and gratefully 
 thought and felt how in all these years past it has been filled with 
 the tearful blessings of a mother's love. How strange yet how 
 true, that a mother's prayers can be thus associated with and 
 hallow a perishable relic of the past! 
 
 My mother died ten years before my father. Her death left 
 him exceedingly forlorn and sad. He would often sit by him- 
 self in thoughtful loneliness and wander to her grave and weep 
 there. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Marshall College— 1846-1851 
 
 WHEN Benjamin Bausman came to Mercersburg in the 
 spring of 1846, it was to enter the preparatory depart- 
 ment of Marshall College, where he continued his studies until 
 he entered the Freshman class in the fall of the following year. 
 He was graduated in September, 1851. 
 
 The impression is abroad that the early Mercersburg teachers 
 were intellectual giants, and this is abundantly confirmed by the 
 experience and judgment of Mr. Bausman. As a student he 
 revered them and held them ever after in the highest honor. 
 
 In later years he wrote of his first coming to the old mountain 
 town and the unusually hearty reception given him by the stu- 
 dents. He learned very soon that they were impelled by a very 
 definite motive, for the rivalry between the Diagnothian and 
 Goethean Literary Societies was then very intense and even 
 bitter. He mentions P. C. Prugh as one of those who warmly 
 welcomed him. They were afterward bosom friends. He spent 
 his first night at the Utelian Club. 
 
 Geo. W. Aughinbaugh became his instructor in Latin. In 
 after years, when he entertained his old teacher in his home, he 
 would refer jovially to his wrestlings with the paradigms: "It 
 was you who taught me hie, haec, hoc, and a hard master you 
 were." Dr. Aughinbaugh survived his pupil and spoke of him 
 as "an earnest student and more than ordinarily interested in 
 my method of teaching and guilty of no pranks." 
 
 Daniel J. Neff wrote of him shortly after his death: 
 
 I am his only surviving classmate. I have very pleasant 
 recollections of Benjamin Bausman. It was my privilege to 
 enjoy his friendship during all my college days. He had no 
 special predilection for mathematics, although he regularly at- 
 tended the recitations, and maintained a fair average in his class, 
 
 50 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 51 
 
 in that branch of study. In languages, natural science and all 
 other departments of the college curriculum, he was very pro- 
 ficient. Whilst he was not a plodder, he was very diligent, 
 studious and attentive to all his duties as a collegian. I always 
 thought he was especially gifted as a writer; his compositions 
 and orations were much above the ordinary. He was pleasing 
 and affable in deportment, of a cheerful and happy disposition, 
 and as a conversationalist he was very interesting and entertain- 
 ing. He was held in high esteem by the students generally as 
 well as by the professors. He had no disposition whatever to 
 be frivolous or to indulge in tricks. He would occasionally refer 
 in a jocular way to Lancaster County as the "Invincible Old 
 Guard." 
 
 All that one can learn about his college years, particularly in 
 the earlier part, points to his exceeding seriousness. He was one 
 of the very few who did not participate in the serenade of a newly 
 wedded pair in the preparatory building in which he roomed as 
 "a preparatorian. " 
 
 The mysteries of mathematics were always a puzzle to him. 
 In the common schools, when he and another were taking ad- 
 vanced work, it is reported of him that after worrying over a 
 problem, he fired the book into the corner in disgust. 
 
 "Mathematics, save the severe exercise of patience which it 
 cultivates, is as void of edifying impressions as the Libyan Des- 
 ert is of water," he afterward wrote. His weakness in this 
 branch no doubt kept him from winning "honors" at gradua- 
 tion. He always spoke in depreciation of his scholarship and 
 would humorously remark that if the positions in class standing 
 had been reversed he would have been near the head. 
 
 In the various student activities he was a leader. He sang in 
 the Glee Club and in the church choir. He took lessons on the 
 melodeon, which instrument he selected as "best suited to my 
 taste." He was very active in the Schiller German Literary 
 Society, and president of it in 1850, when the Ranch German 
 Society was united with it. 
 
 The Goethean Literary Society took much of his time and he 
 valued highly the training there received. His first performance 
 was like that of many another man who afterward became em- 
 inent and was for good reasons vividly recalled by him: 
 
52 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 I was still a green student, newly arrived, and all before me 
 were in classes ahead of me and knew everything and I nothing. 
 How wise they looked, like modern Solons! The sight of J. 0. 
 Miller, H. Rust, W. H. Super and others knocked the bottom 
 out of my memory before I reached the middle of my piece. 
 Just then and there it was a horrid, indeed a heart-rending failure 
 to me. 
 
 Mr. Frank R. Diffenderffer, of the Lancaster New Era, in en- 
 couraging the members of the Goethean Literary Society a few 
 years ago to greater efforts in getting new members, cited Ben- 
 jamin Bausman as a worthy example for them. It was in October, 
 1849, when the fall session began that Diffenderffer came to enter 
 the preparatory. On the stage from Chambersburg to Mercers- 
 burg, old students buttonholed him for the Goethean. He had 
 a letter of introduction to George B. Russell, but he was prevailed 
 on to meet the Lancaster boys, Bausman and Peters, first. At 
 the end of the route the students were gathered. Bausman was 
 standing in the crowd and was called. He took charge of Diffen- 
 derffer. This was Saturday and Bausman had him room with 
 him till Monday, "in process of incubation," meantime showing 
 him about, helping him get a room, stove, wood, etc., until he 
 had him "fixed" for the society. Only then was he permitted 
 to find Russell and show him the letter of introduction. With 
 something of elation Bausman wrote in his Journal for that day: 
 "We got his name for our society this evening." 
 
 At the Commencement of Franklin and Marshall College in 
 1901, Dr. Bausman referred to this incident in his address on the 
 semi-centennial of his graduation and said: "I claim large credit 
 in the fundamental training of a first class journalist in the person 
 of Mr. Frank Diffenderffer of the New Era of this city." 
 
 The Goethean and Diagnothian Society halls were completed 
 during Bausman's student days, and both organizations were 
 beset with difficulties in paying for them. Bausman gave largely 
 to save his society's honor, served on the hall committee and 
 figured in the magistrate's office at Fort Loudon because of 
 litigation involved. He filled all important offices from time to 
 time, being elected president at the end of the Junior year. 
 
 Benjamin Bausman went to college to study for the ministry 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 53 
 
 and he never lost sight of his object. We have his regularly 
 kept Journal from his Sophomore year on. It is our chief source 
 of information for his college days. One is impressed, in reading 
 it, with his intense piety, which would be regarded as super- 
 seriousness in a student of our day. His age was of course 
 beyond that of the average student. He was twenty-three years 
 old when he entered the Freshman class. 
 
 Everything he sees and does is judged from the religious point 
 of view, and he subjects himself nearly every day to the severest 
 self-examination. His Journal is for him a kind of confessional 
 in which he brings himself up before thenar of God nearly every 
 night of his student life. This Journal is also for him a medium 
 of expression, where he gives utterance to his solemn meditations. 
 These are very profuse. He kept a diary to the end of his life, 
 but after entering the ministry he had other channels for ex- 
 pression and his diary notes became more brief. 
 
 His spiritual life and development while at college interest 
 us most and our sources give us more information on this phase 
 of his life than on any other. Like every great saint he felt 
 himself beset with many foes. The very studies of the course 
 itself had a chilling effect on spiritual fervor. Ten years after 
 graduation, writing editorially in the Messenger on the Day of 
 Prayer for Colleges, he oaid : 
 
 Many look upon a college as an Eden without a serpent, where 
 a man could not well help but be pious. The social atmosphere 
 of students is often vitiated by immoral young men. In study- 
 ing the classics they must wade through infectious pools of heathen- 
 ism. While the study of some branches fosters piety, there is 
 danger lest that of others will pump it out of the heart. 
 
 This is plainly an echo of his own college experience, yet he 
 insisted on the disciplinary value of all studies in the curriculum, 
 and throughout his life plead that students for the ministry should 
 in every case, if possible, take the full college course. 
 
 His enjoyment of religious services was intense and he made 
 use of every opportunity. After being at college two and one- 
 half years he missed his first Sunday preaching service, because 
 of sickness, but spent the day in reading Southey's "Wesley." 
 
54 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 "Three inestimable sermons in one day! Oh! for grace that the 
 truth might germinate in me and many other souls unto eternal 
 life!" he exclaimed on another occasion. Beside these three 
 church services on the same day, he attended student's prayer- 
 meeting in the morning and thereafter the Sunday-school in 
 which he was a teacher. This was his usual Sunday program, 
 though sometimes he also attended the prayer meeting in the 
 Reformed Church of the village before the Sunday-school ses- 
 sion. He attended the student's prayer-meeting on Friday 
 evenings very regularly and the Bible Class thereafter, also the 
 German prayer-meeting held for a while on Thursday evenings. 
 
 What blessed seasons are these occasional meetings after hav- 
 ing engaged during the week in the prosecution of my studies. 
 To me indeed a blessed privilege. 
 
 He could not omit these services with a clear conscience. 
 
 I did not go to prayer-meeting this evening because of the in- 
 clemency of the weather and abundance of other duties, a poor 
 excuse I must acknowledge. 
 
 Aug. 11, 1848 — Was prevented from going to prayer-meeting 
 by several students in my room. An unhappy evening it was in 
 contrast to that spent in the lecture room. Oh! for more of that 
 spirit which seeks rather to please God than man! 
 
 This evening was called on to lead in prayer. What a solemn 
 thing it is for a sinful mortal to draw near to God, as the repre- 
 sentative of a whole meeting and make known their wants. I 
 never feel the want of divine aid more in worshiping God than 
 when I am called on to pray. Sometimes this indisposition of 
 the soul to pray is a sad indication that our religion is at a low 
 ebb, and is a sure and solemn admonition to be more frequent 
 and fervent at the throne of God's grace. 
 
 No service of the church stirred his soul so much as the cele- 
 bration of the Holy Communion which was preceded by Prepara- 
 tory Services on Friday and Saturday. 
 
 I know of no scene on earth more impressive than the celebra- 
 tion of the Lord's Supper. What a striking proof of the wisdom 
 of the great Head of the Church in its institution! To me it is 
 always an occasion for a pause to consider whence I am and 
 whither I am going; a day of reckoning in which I am to square 
 my accounts, but oh! what an infinite balance I always 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 55 
 
 find charged against me; the experience this day has again proved 
 incontestably that "I have been found wanting." What a 
 countless number of sins of omission and commission crowd 
 upon our minds on such occasions, so that we are always made 
 to tremble in view of the near approach we are making to "Him 
 who is of purer eyes than to behold evil." 
 
 He seems almost morbid in his lookout for his own short- 
 comings and perils. 
 
 "I am twenty-five years old this day. I have lived many 
 days, yet not one without sin. " He sometimes "doubted whether 
 he was really adopted into the family of God," and often felt 
 quite sure that he was declining in piety. 
 
 Commenting on the preacher of the day : " He had many good 
 thoughts in his sermon but delivered them in a manner very 
 uninteresting." 
 
 No sooner had he made this criticism than he condemned him- 
 self for it. 
 
 But oh! foolish man that I am to sit in judgment for a trans- 
 action of this kind. The simplest sermon I ever heard contained 
 enough truth to cheer the weary pilgrim; but we are liable to 
 lay too much stress on oratory and a florid style. When there 
 is that hungering and thirsting after God of which David speaks 
 there will not be so much fault-finding. 
 
 This is certainly unusual talk for a Sophomore. 
 
 Near the end of the same year he makes observation on being 
 elected Secretary of the Goethean Society, Vice-President of the 
 Schiller Society, and a member of two important committees: 
 
 What responsibilities are beginning to devolve upon me. 
 The Lord has graciously favored me with respectability among 
 my fellow students. Lord, save me from the pride of my own 
 heart. Lord, in proportion as I am successful make me humble! 
 
 We read in the Journal of the summer of 1848: 
 
 A circus was in town to-day. Was strongly tempted to go, 
 but a kind Providence interposed and by a single circumstance 
 prevented me from sanctioning with my presence some feats of 
 the Prince of darkness. 
 
 A few weeks later he attended a boisterous political meeting 
 but not without compunction: "I think I did wrong perhaps in 
 
56 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 countenancing the movement so much as to honor them with 
 my presence. Such conduct often exerts a bad influence on 
 others." 
 
 One is glad to note that he went to Chambersburg to see Gen. 
 Taylor with satisfaction, and Tom Thumb without self-condemna- 
 tion. Of the latter he said: "Decidedly the most remarkable 
 little fellow I have ever seen." 
 
 Spent the greater part of the day in doing nothing. O, that I 
 might be more deeply sensible of the preciousness of time, so 
 that I might earnestly engage in obeying the injunction of Holy 
 Writ, "what thy hands find to do, do with all thy might!" 
 
 And this a Saturday! 
 
 I was deterred from going to church both morning and after- 
 noon in consequence of company. I strongly disapprove of 
 Sabbath visiting, but to-day I went on grounds I deemed justifi- 
 able, though I now apprehend that in the sight of God my con- 
 duct was not justifiable. 
 
 Of another Lord's Day he writes: "I did not enjoy my Sab- 
 bath much, having had to entertain a new student." This was 
 extreme, unwholesome. Puritanic piety and he came after a 
 while to recognize it as such. These sentiments find expression 
 in his Journal for the most part during 1848 and 1849. He 
 suffered moods of painful dejection from time to time. "To-day 
 felt very much depressed in spirit, and yet I have no reason to 
 be thus, I am very highly favored. " 
 
 Again when afflicted with a boil he was very much out of 
 sorts, yearning for his home: "I have many friends here, but no 
 mother." 
 
 At this period he was allowing his mind to run continually on 
 gloomy things and said: "I like to attend funerals," and he did 
 so frequently, dwelling on the "solemn and impressive" thoughts 
 occasioned thereby. He thus records another experience: 
 
 Last night I had one of the most fearful dreams. I dreamt I 
 was on my death bed. Eternity with its awful realities seemed 
 to stare me in the face. The anguish of soul I suffered is in- 
 describable. I awoke and lo! it was a dream. My joy in being 
 reheved from so distressing a state is indescribable. 
 
MAESHALL COLLEGE 57 
 
 Through all this floundering in the Slough of Despond there was 
 never a hint of failing faith. Indeed his depression but drove 
 him back on God. Through it all he was bent on preparing 
 himself rightly for the high calhng on which he had entered. On 
 an anniversary of that ever memorable departure from home he 
 wrote: "Three years ago I left home for the first time for college. 
 With a sad heart and trembling hand I bade adieu to parents 
 and friends to engage in an undertaking the most momentous 
 that ever engaged the mind of man." 
 
 Shortly after this he became a teacher in the Sabbath-school 
 of the Reformed Church in the village. 
 
 Oh! what an unutterable responsibility! Knowing that this 
 is the fact, what manner of person ought I not to be! a "living 
 epistle known and read" by my scholars as well as by "all men." 
 May the closet become a testimonial of my faithfulness. May I 
 drink deep of the Fountain opened in the house of David for 
 sin and uncleanness. May I experience the power of the truth 
 I am to communicate. 
 
 He was haunted during this period with forebodings of an 
 early death, and often referred to it. Returning home at the end 
 of the Sophomore year he wrote: "Yea, perhaps I have crossed 
 the threshold of my last year in time. I would devote all my 
 energies of body and mind to the glory of God. Lord, strengthen 
 this desire." 
 
 The last of his gloomy cogitations we find on the first day of 
 1850: "A dark and mysterious prospect is before us. The last 
 day of the year may find me in the doleful tomb." 
 
 No doubt there was a wide-spread fear of death abroad during 
 the previous year, owing to the cholera epidemic. The "day of 
 fasting, humiliation and prayer" appointed by the President 
 of the country was solemnly observed at the college. The fare- 
 wells of the Seniors in the Goethean Society on their vacation 
 were "truly affecting such as I never witnessed in the society 
 before," owing to pathetic references to separation and death 
 mingled with religious feelings and expressions that would seem 
 strange in college students to-day. A case of cholera was re- 
 ported in Mercersburg and on that day he wrote: "This dread- 
 ful epidemic has been carrying away its thousands in this coun- 
 
58 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 try. Nothing but the power of the Omnipotent can avert it 
 in its maddening course and save us from becoming its victims." 
 An incident happened in the spring vacation of 1849 which 
 impressed him vividly, as one sees from the way he wrote of it 
 a score of years later: 
 
 Once I had an athletic boatman to take me to a fish-basket, 
 near the breast of the dam, in the Susquehanna, at Safe Harbor. 
 In rowing me he came near dropping one of his oars. While he 
 nervously blundered, the torrent swept the boat within a few 
 paces of the edge of the dam. The river was very high, tumbl- 
 ing into a boiling abyss below. The brave boatman laid to his 
 oars, till they apparently creaked to the very fibre. The boat 
 seemed to be poised on the verge of the grave, as I looked down 
 into the foaming waters in which I thought my poor life was now 
 to end. They were long moments. The boatman battled the 
 torrent like a Titan. As I saw him gradually gaining on it, I 
 felt like one plucked out of the jaws of death by the hand of a 
 merciful Providence. With a light heart he sped shoreward, 
 and how thankful mine was, God only fully knows. God helped 
 him to rescue our lives. 
 
 With the turn of the half century which he considered to be 
 the end of 1849, came a decided change in his outlook on life as 
 he himself expressed it in the meditation on his birthday, which 
 in early years was celebrated on January 29th: 
 
 Some dark and gloomy days have fallen to my lot, but I have 
 no one to blame but myself. I am daily becoming more firmly 
 convinced that Christianity is not something gloomy and dull 
 but cheerful and happy. The imagination that we must se- 
 clude ourselves from the rest of mankind and live like hermits 
 or monks, to five in accordance with the requirements of the 
 gospel, is false. A vast amount of human misery is the result of 
 an active imagination, caused by anticipations which are never 
 realized. The most trifling disappointment or mere apparent 
 insult often furnishes material for a melancholy temperament to 
 pine away in sadness for months. The beautiful world in which 
 we live, every blade of grass, every green tree, the rippling brook 
 as well as the mighty deep, the twinkling heavens by night as 
 well as the king of day by day, all, all proclaim the goodness of 
 their Creator. And shall man surrounded with all these beauties, 
 the matchless splendor and magnificence of God's creation pre- 
 sented to his contemplation, and capable of understanding many of 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 59 
 
 the mysteries and wonders of nature, shall he remain mute, and 
 spend his days under the dotings of an imaginary sorrow? No! 
 all these things were created for man, and unless he rejoices in 
 them and praises God for them, it is a sad indication that he 
 cannot recognize the beneficence of God and His revealed will, 
 to some extent at least, in nature as well as in His written word. 
 The sentiments of the mother of the Father of our Country ex- 
 press a great truth, "I am still determined to be cheerful and 
 happy in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned 
 from experience, that the greater part of our happiness or 
 misery depends on our disposition, and not on our circumstances. 
 We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our 
 minds wherever we go." 
 
 This passage is full of self revelation and also of prophecy. 
 He was sensitive and self conscious and always remained so, but 
 he will no longer allow the perils of a finely wrought soul to en- 
 snare him and spoil his peace of mind and his usefulness. Seri- 
 ousness was the dominant note of his character and must always 
 remain so, but hereafter it must not be paraded. Cheer and 
 optimism must to the fore. There was a strong strain of Puri- 
 tanic temper in his life, but hereafter it becomes less pronounced. 
 The sharp edges of its ascetic rigor are smoothed down. Ben- 
 jamin Bausman had the experience of F. W. Robertson and of 
 many another serious soul. The reign of law was succeeded in 
 the soul's growth by entrance into the realm of liberty which 
 is by faith in Christ Jesus. This entrance on his 27th year 
 seems to mark also the awakening in him of that poetic apprecia- 
 tion of nature which was so characteristic and irrepressible in 
 him. After he began to write for publication, a few articles 
 nearly every year would appear on the charm of the several 
 seasons and their spiritual import. 
 
 Those who knew Dr. Bausman well were impressed with his 
 geniality and humor and the warmth of his personal friend- 
 ship. His buoyancy of spirit gave itself on occasion to a very 
 riot of innocent hilarity. We see something of this in his earliest 
 extant letter, written June 12, 1850, to Herman Rust, then pastor 
 of the Millersville charge, the warmest personal friend of his 
 student days, and of the early years of his ministry: 
 
60 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 What mighty contests rise from trivial things! And so you 
 have weighed me in the balance of your infallible (?) judgment, 
 and found me wanting. You will certainly acquire some no- 
 toriety in the world yet, if nothing else. By and by you will 
 proscribe all anti-tobacco men as rationalists. For what earthly 
 right have they to pry into the chemical and sonorous combina- 
 tions of the Virginia weed, when thou canst prove out of the in- 
 exhaustible store house of thy majestic information that Dr. 
 Schaff occasionally emits his regaling fumes, or that our friend 
 and very entertaining scriptor, G. H. Bomberger, blunts his 
 nasal sensibilities, by charging his olfactory apparatus with a 
 profuse supply of Demuth's unrivalled "pulvis sternustatorius. " 
 "Who shall dispute what the reviewers say! Their word's suf- 
 ficient! And to ask a reason, in such a state as their's, is down- 
 right treason." 
 
 When Benjamin Bausman was at Marshall College the ques- 
 tion of union with Franklin College and removal to Lancaster 
 was under discussion. The students were almost unanimously 
 in favor of it, and they had demonstrations and took actions to 
 further it, in which he took prominent part. The Rev. J. C . 
 Bucher was collecting money for this project, and Benjamin 
 Bausman's father gave $1,000 toward it. When he heard it he 
 wrote, "This news affords me unbounded pleasure." 
 
 Benjamin Bausman revered all his professors, but with the 
 students generally he was under the spell exercised by Dr. Nevin, 
 for whom he had the utmost admiration. The thanksgiving 
 sermon in 1848 impressed him very much. "In my humble 
 opinion, Dr. Nevin is equal, if not superior, to any of the literati 
 of our country. In his sermon to-day he exhibited a knowledge 
 of the affairs of government which would reflect credit upon the 
 greatest statesman of the world." 
 
 Many of the Doctor's sermons were beyond his depth, and he 
 referred altogether to his own incapacity to grasp, when he made 
 this comment: "Dr. Nevin's sermon was pronounced good by 
 those who understood him." Again of a sermon he said: "The 
 way of the transgressor was never more horribly depicted to my 
 mind. His language even failed to express his emotion." 
 
 Four months before his death Dr. Bausman read an essay 
 before the Reformed Ministerium of Reading on "A Chapter of 
 Unpublished History" in which he said this of Dr. Nevin: 
 
HERMAN RUST 
 
 BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 AT ABOUT 26 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 61 
 
 His primary aim was to teach students to think; merely storing 
 the mind with undigested facts was not sufficient. His lectures 
 were often beyond our grasp. I usually took notes at church. 
 Afterward I rewrote them in more extended form. This process 
 of elaboration in my mental crucible was a healthful discipline 
 and an aid in mastering the subject more fully. 
 
 The two societies in a joint meeting got into a furious quarrel. 
 All were on their feet and blood was about to be drawn when Dr. 
 Nevin opened the door and we heard the shout, "Order." The 
 explosion of a bomb could not have been more effective. With a 
 wave of his. hand toward the open door he filed them out without 
 another word. And a sheepish looking lot of harmless sheep 
 they were. You wild Diags still scornfully call us "the pious 
 Goetheans," 
 
 At a certain meeting a set of members were to be tried for 
 drunkenness. The culprits appeared before the court armed 
 with clubs and fired with liquor. To avoid bloodshed the Doctor 
 was called in. Instead of severely reprimanding the guilty par- 
 ties, he appealed to the sense of manly self respect in us all. I 
 now see that he understood the case better than we did. 
 
 He addressed the students one day on an important subject. 
 Like some of the rest of us, one of his juvenile declamations 
 was the lines, "You'd scarce expect one of my age," etc. This 
 piece had remained latent in his memory for fifty years. Un- 
 wittingly he began his address with his full solemn tone of voice, 
 "You'd scarce expect one of my age," when we broke out in un- 
 controllable laughter as only students can laugh. Without 
 using the second line, he joined in the boisterous merriment at 
 his own expense. He had a keen sense of humor. His laughter 
 seldom found audible expression, however. When greatly amused 
 the corners of his mouth twitched, and a half audible sound would 
 be heard. Arnold Brooks, Col, Murphy's negro porter, who 
 overheard his passenger student speaking about Dr. Nevin's 
 assailants, remarked one day, "No use, sah, no use; dat three- 
 story head of Dr. Nevin's is more than a match for all of them." 
 
 Mr. Bausman pronounced Dr. Porter one of the best preachers 
 he ever heard, excelling in oratory and elegance of style, and 
 being most forceful and convincing. Dr. Schaff preached with 
 great power and Bausman's comments on him are like this: 
 "The discourse was such as we seldom hear." 
 
 Only in one particular do we find him uttering himself in 
 criticism of his professors and he did it with the force and severity 
 of deep conviction. He complained again and again of the im- 
 
62 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 morality and rowdyism of a small group of students, some of them 
 the sons of "pious praying parents," who were not informed of 
 their lapses from sobriety and virtue. 
 
 Our faculty, much as I respect them, will surely be account- 
 able for the awful doom of these depraved youths. They par- 
 don, take on probation and reprimand instead of enforcing a 
 rigorous discipline, and by their unexampled leniency, appar- 
 ently at least, connive at the awful depravity and offenses 
 of rowdyism. If such a course be persisted in, we need not be 
 surprised if the curse of heaven, like a blasting mildew, will 
 sweep this institution from the arena of existence. For charity, 
 exercised in such cases, ceases to be a virtue, and the guilt in- 
 curred by a leniency which makes the law a code of unbounded 
 mercy, thus divesting it of the robe of justice, such a guilt I say 
 almost admits of no palliation. Take away these few rowdies 
 and there is not an institution in the land that can furnish a 
 more moral and even pious portion of students. 
 
 He even went so far as to pronounce this rowdyism "the con- 
 sequences of the unpardonable leniency of the faculty," and 
 added: "Nothing but a sacred regard for duty induces me to 
 remain in such a bedlam of confusion." 
 
 With manifest approval he noted the suspension of two stu- 
 dents for "repeated irregularities" and the expulsion of another 
 for drunkenness and for the circulating of infidel literature. He 
 was greatly moved, however, by Dr. Nevin's touching prayer in 
 the chapel services for the erring boys. 
 
 This conviction of the need of firm dealing with offenders was 
 not simply the passing expression of an idealistic, highstrung 
 young man, but as will appear an abiding principle of his life 
 and work. 
 
 Benjamin Bausman entered on the work of the Christian 
 ministry long before his ordination, for he sought every oppor- 
 tunity as a student to render a religious service. He was a mem- 
 ber of the Board of Managers of the Mercersburg Bible and Tract 
 Society from his Freshman year, and helped to distribute religious 
 literature in the vicinity. He often sat up with sick students over 
 night to the detriment of next day's recitations; but he enjoyed 
 it and counted it a "school of wisdom." Next in importance 
 to his own spiritual welfare was that of his fellow students. He 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 63 
 
 had on one occasion a "solemn interview ^vdth a friend who has 
 experienced a lamentable declension in piety and religion." 
 When one of the daring blasphemers of the college joined the 
 church he exclaimed, "What a glorious manifestation of the 
 power of Christ! He seems to be really changed." 
 
 His hunger for religious inspiration could not be satisfied 
 Avith the stated services at the College and the Reformed Church. 
 He went to every service possible. His pietistic temper 
 responded to much in the meetings of the Albrights and Method- 
 ists; but he was filled with unutterable disgust at their confusion 
 and noise. Yet this aversion was mingled at the same time 
 with sympathy and pity for "these poor, deluded people." 
 
 Of a negro bush meeting in a neighboring grove he observed 
 that the "sermon would reflect credit on some ministers of a 
 lighter complexion." 
 
 A notable day in his student career came in the vacation 
 after the Junior year, when he made his first address, "in pubHc." 
 It was to the Sunday-school at Conestoga Centre, part of the 
 Millersville charge, whither he was taken by the pastor, Herman 
 Rust. He was "somewhat embarrassed at first." On the even- 
 ing of the same day he was persuaded to go to the pulpit and 
 offer the first prayer. "The first time I have ever been on a 
 pulpit to take part in the services. Oh! that I may become 
 prepared for the great work, in a proper manner, for who is 
 sufficient for these things." 
 
 We have every reason to think, from references in the Journal 
 and other hints, that Mr. Bausman covered a wide range of 
 general reading in history, poetry and essays during his college 
 course. He was already in the habit of taking notes of his read- 
 ing. A number of note books are left us, some of whose extracts 
 we are quite sure were recorded during the college days, among 
 others written down in following years. It is therefore impos- 
 sible to make even an approximate hst of the books he read; but 
 we have definite knowledge of his reading the following: Ma- 
 caulay's "History of England, " Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico, " 
 Carlyle's Essays, Borrow's "Bible in Spain," Channing on 
 Slavery and Temperance, Young's "Night Thoughts," Shake- 
 
64 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 speare, Cowper, Goethe and Schiller, and the stylists, Addison, 
 Goldsmith and Irving. 
 
 For recreation he walked, went on fishing and botanizing ex- 
 cursions, visited friends within reach of the college. He had 
 relatives near Carhsle and Waynesboro. These he visited quite 
 often. Social fellowship always refreshed him. He had a genius 
 for friendship. 
 
 On his way home at the end of his Freshman year he attended 
 the commencement of Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg. He 
 made comparisons, of course, which show his pride in his own 
 College: "If I am misled I know not, but in my humble opinion 
 they did not acquit themselves as well as our graduates." 
 
 During the spring vacation of his Junior year, he took a driv- 
 ing trip by way of Hagerstown and Frederick to Washington, 
 and he had the joy of holding the reins of the brisk span. P. C. 
 Prugh and Samuel Mease were with him. He there attended 
 the theatre for the second time in his life. He was pleased with 
 the ''Fall of Tarquin," "though if weighed in the gospel balances 
 it would doubtless be found wanting." Several days were 
 spent in sight-seeing, but the Senate was the place of supreme at- 
 traction. It was the time of the famous "Compromise Meas- 
 ures" and he afterward wrote delightfully of the "Statesmen of 
 the Old School," whom he saw and heard: 
 
 "Tom Benton of giant form and thundering voice, the slender 
 form of Clay, the massive head and drowsy look of Webster, 
 the gray eyes and spare face of the scholarly Seward, the fairy 
 like form and glib tongue of Foote, Hale stout and stalwart, Cass 
 dignified and venerable, and Filmore the courteous Speaker." 
 
 The Journal carefully and quite regularly kept for nearly 
 three years is silent for five months prior to graduation day. 
 Senior vacation month was spent at home. We have a letter 
 written then to his beloved friend Rust, recently gone to a pastor- 
 ate in Cincinnati. From it we take a few paragraphs: 
 
 Lancaster, August 19th, 1851. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 Your last was received last week. But how is this? It strikes 
 me your letters come very tardily. It tries a person's patience 
 to have his expectations on tiptoe for weeks. 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 65 
 
 "Human nature is human nature" all the world over, after 
 all. When a small clod of it is shifted from some low bottom 
 land up to an eminence, it often forgets even to look back to see 
 whether there are others following. When folks get to be big 
 they naturally sleep a little longer and imagine duty to be inex- 
 orably severe at the expense of affectionate ties which friend- 
 ship is so loath to break. Still I won't be cruel nor uncharitable. 
 I don't believe that you are capable of faithlessness. Often 
 when moaning in spirit over evanescent joys and the absence 
 of kindred spirits, memory and that invisible source of friendly 
 intercourse, sympathy, whisper that ties which shall endure in 
 the world beyond cannot be broken by the conditions of time and 
 space. Well, so be it, Herman. The Lord prepare us for those 
 blissful regions where the communion of saints will be unsullied 
 and unhampered by the clogs of mortality. Your letter, like 
 all epistles which emanate from you, was perused and reperused 
 with the greatest avidity. Am happy to hear that the clouds 
 overhead are not quite so portentous after all. Hope that you 
 will be eminently efficent in your calling. 
 
 Mr. Harbaugh's people seem determined to proceed in the 
 erection of a new church. I think the amount of funds at their 
 command will fully warrant them to do so. The old Dominie 
 is still flourishing. If his mind keeps pace with his body his 
 impetuous progression will soon roll him on to the sofa of D. D. 
 independence. He is a fine, whole souled man, and of course 
 according to your philosophy, form and contents are inseparable 
 and commensurate. Mr. Keyes' church [St. Paul's] will be 
 dedicated at the meeting of Synod. The neatest church in Lan- 
 caster, and one of the handsomest spires I ever laid eyes on. 
 
 Our folks are all as usual except mother. Her health is failing 
 very much. I fear her lungs are affected. She has a very an- 
 noying cough. May the Lord restore her again if it be His will. 
 Although she has reached three score and ten, the legal summit 
 of man's life, it would still be hard to lose such a dear friend. 
 Few men have been favored with better mothers than we have 
 been. Her untiring zeal to imbue our youthful minds early 
 with love and filial obedience to God can never be remunerated 
 in this world. Her prayers and tears in behalf of her family 
 during the tender days of childhood and in maturer years are 
 the richest legacy a kind Heaven could have bestowed upon us. 
 I trust, nay I know, that God will not leave so many sleepless 
 nights, so many hours of maternal solicitude unrewarded. If 
 there be such a place as heaven I know she will get there. Oh! 
 may we all meet around the throne of God, a family united on 
 earth, undivided in heaven. Father and Mother and brothers 
 
66 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 all desire to be kindly remembered to you. You cannot con- 
 ceive how frequently and anxiously they all inquire about you. 
 Well, I suppose it is time for me to stop. A while ago I was 
 lampooning Prugh with all the vigor of a merciless judge; now 
 I am weeping. What a jfit emblem of mortal life. Joy and 
 sorrow, rejoicing and weeping. Do write soon again. Finished 
 my graduation speech last week. I expect to be at Mercersburg 
 in three weeks from tomorrow. 
 
 I am still, dear Herman, 
 
 Yours in the Lord, 
 
 Ben J. Bausman. 
 
 Prof. Wm. M. Nevin, Mr. Bausman's teacher in English, 
 wrote him August 17, 1851: "My dear friend: I have read 
 your speech with much pleasure. I have seen nothing in it which 
 it struck me should be stricken out — 'nothing extenuated or 
 aught set down in malice.' It transcends, to be sure, the ten 
 minutes by a few minutes more, but if as well spoken as written, 
 it will certainly hold the attention of the audience untired. Please 
 commit it well that you may do it full justice in the delivery." 
 
 Commencement day was on September 10th and the subject 
 of Mr. Bausman's graduating oration was, "Truth the Crown of 
 Thought." "It was a very creditable performance," says his 
 classmate, Daniel J. Neff. His brother Philip, who was present, 
 said he got through with his oration very well, but the self-con- 
 scious performer had this remark: "When I was about half 
 through my oration, I halted, not knowing another sentence, 
 but after a short pause, I could proceed again." 
 
 Fifty years afterward at the Franklin and Marshall Commence- 
 ment, Dr. Bausman facetiously referred to the event: 
 
 I do not believe the audience understood what I was driving 
 at. I am sure I did not. As I had to divide my energies with 
 the Glee Club on the choir loft, and the duties of graduating 
 with the class on the stage, I appeared to great disadvantage, 
 for I narrowly escaped a breakdown in the midst of my pon- 
 derous subject. 
 
 In his Journal he wrote: 
 
 This day forms an epoch in my brief history. Under the kind 
 providence of God, I have at length reached the goal of my col- 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 6/ 
 
 legiate career. How strange, five and one-half years seem but a 
 speck of the past. How often would I have fain stopped by the 
 way, had not the Lord beckoned me still onward. His name 
 shall have the praise. 
 
 "Here I'll raise mine Ebenezer; 
 Hither by Thy help I've come; 
 And I hope by Thy good pleasure, 
 Safely to arrive at home." 
 
 Four years after graduation, he wrote one of his earliest ar- 
 ticles for the Guardian on "Titles and Toys," in which he spoke 
 contemptuously of the diploma which gave the title A. B. — "for 
 our incipient greatness and cost us five dollars. We value it 
 highly for the autographs of the subscribers but beyond that it 
 is good for nothing. It was the dearest piece of furniture we 
 ever bought, and moreover told things which are not true." 
 
 These words about himself are not to be taken too seriously, 
 for, as always when he spoke touching himself, it was depreciat- 
 ingly and in this particular article he was protesting against the 
 indiscriminate conferring of degrees by College Boards. 
 
 Benjamin Bausman was twenty-seven years of age when he 
 was graduated from Marshall College. He profited immensely 
 by his academic course. He went to college with a definite 
 object in view and he kept it always before him. He received 
 a broad and rich culture; he learned to think; he was a receptive 
 disciple of the great teachers he was privileged to sit under, and 
 was always unspeakably grateful for their service to him. 
 
 While Bausman was at Marshall College Dr. John W. Nevin 
 was President and Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philos- 
 ophy; William M. Nevin, A. M., was Professor of Ancient Lang- 
 uages and Belles Lettres; Dr. Philip Schaff was Professor of Es- 
 thetics and German Literature; Traill Green, M. D., was Profes- 
 sor of Natural Science; Theodore Appel, A. M., and Thomas D. 
 Baird, Esq., A. M., were the Professors of Mathematics and Me- 
 chanical Philosophy and the latter also of Political Economy. 
 
 In a miscellaneous note-book we find the summaries of Baus- 
 man's expenses for the four years in college and they seem to be 
 complete. The sum total given is $1,551.00. 
 
 In the latter part of his course he remarked on the "sad de- 
 
68 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 clension" in the piety of many students. "As for myself I feel 
 very sensibly the lamentable change I have experienced during 
 my course of study thus far." The cause of it he claimed was, 
 "want of watching and prayer," because the "sentinels around 
 the camp" were not on the alert against the enemy; "we are 
 not properly sensible to our liability to fall or retrograde." Yet 
 we feel sure that one who could speak thus of his moral foes was 
 not asleep. This attitude indicated rather increasing sensitive- 
 ness, clearer ideals and normal growth in the godly life, with 
 humility and sanity. 
 
 With his student friends, Samuel Mease and P. C. Prugh, he 
 took a trip to Ohio and Indiana immediately after graduation 
 and visited relatives and friends there. His letters to Herman 
 Rust at Cincinnati are the only record we have of this journey. 
 
 Strawton, Hamilton Co., l^.>., Oct. 10, 1851. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 I hail from a new world, a world possessing many Edenlike 
 charms. Would that you could be with me to enjoy the artless 
 munificence of Dame Nature, for the power of communicating 
 our enjoyment to some kindred spirit always enhances our pleas- 
 ure. I had no occasion to be in such a fidget when I left you 
 on Monday. The boat did not leave until 5 o'clock P. M., an 
 egregious imposition, that merits the denunciations of an out- 
 raged public. But, as we often find it, — good resulted from evil. 
 About an hour before we set sail, as I was standing at the stern 
 of the boat, supporting my head, feverish with impatience, on 
 my elbow, pondering over the pollution of the soul that could 
 be guilty of such faithlessness, someone called me by name right 
 back of me, when I espied David Dorwart and family just coming 
 on board, old tried friends formerly of Lancaster, more latterly 
 from St. Louis, but at present on their way to Iowa. This af- 
 forded a happy relief from previous dejection. The remainder 
 of the evening was spent in pleasant jovial chat. They had 
 been to see my parents shortly before they left Lancaster. 
 
 Our boat was tolerably pleasant. Got into some kind of a bed, 
 such as it was. About four in the morning the captain unloaded 
 me upon the bleak shores of the Ohio in the neighborhood of 
 Madison. I felt my way through the dark to some inn, em- 
 ploying the organs with which nature has blessed me rather 
 extensively. After a good deal of thumping some strange look- 
 ing genius presented himself with eyes closed, "his whole coun- 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 69 
 
 tenance contracted into one single brow of woe," mute as a 
 hobgoblin, but he could not terrify this child. I was bound to 
 have possession of part of the premises. I laid down on the 
 tender side of an uncushioned sofa. In less than five minutes 
 I was feasting myself on elysian joys, running through the streets 
 of I don't know where, with Thomas at my elbow in quest of a 
 Catholic Church. Methought we found the church, made our 
 wonted observations, until a little auditor of the canine species 
 defiled the sanctuary with his unsanctified vocal organs. Some 
 of the good brethren called upon you to eject the intruder. Of 
 course, with your characteristic obedience and with your usual 
 clerical gravity you gave "Pink" a twirl by the ears, practically 
 enforcing mortification of the flesh. Next followed the opening 
 and deciphering of a number of letters. Can you conceive of a 
 happier employment? But soon the hustle of our grinning cus- 
 tomer convinced me that I was but dreaming. How sad the 
 change! — Reached Indianapolis with the cars about noon. By 
 4 P. M., the time I '.it for Nobleville, I felt sick, wretchedly sick, 
 sick, far from friends and home, sick, without one friendly heart 
 to throb in sj^mpathy for such a cheerless mortal. Need I say 
 that I longed for you? At Nobleville I called at a tavern for a 
 little sweet wine, thinking that it would exert a sanative influence. 
 The fellow, surly as a dog, said as he would have to any toper, 
 "Can't have any liquor here, sir." I endeavored to convince 
 the man that I was in a sober mood, and wanted a sip in the form 
 of medicine. I finally stepped into a drug store, and called for 
 a "remedial horn." I inferred from the expression on the "mon's 
 countenance" that he regarded me as a victim of "dehrium 
 tremens." 
 
 This is culling experience from real life!! Dearly bought, a 
 precious treasure, buried in an uninviting soil, to which fond 
 memory will often recur unfondly. Along the way I became 
 acquainted with a gentleman and his lady residing near where 
 I was going to, and they very kindly offered to take me some 
 seven miles on a coach with them. About dusk a common mud 
 wagon, springless as a fence-rail, stopped before the door for me. 
 Upon examination I found it pretty heavily laden with store 
 boxes, and moreover a driver and four passengers besides my 
 little self. With a sick head and heart I mounted the so-called 
 coach with slow but reluctant steps and sat myself down on the 
 soft side of a store-box. When I left the cars I flattered myself 
 that riding on a rail was over for one day at least, but I soon 
 discovered my error. Here however the coach crossed the rails 
 at an angle of ninety degrees. Pshaw, my pen refuses to serve 
 in such an unpleasant narration. After a very fatiguing ride 
 
70 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 we reached a little village several miles from here. I determined 
 to subject myself to no further suffering that day. Our coach 
 drove up to the hotel of the place, and thus afforded me a chance 
 to escape from such a terrific series of "heart-rending" thumps 
 and jolts. After I had engaged my lodging with the landlord, 
 I conversed with him on some of the most striking news of the 
 times. In the meanwhile half of the room was covered with 
 mattresses, and men, women and children were made to take 
 charge of them "pell mell." The sight aroused my languishing 
 energies, and I commenced to debate the question with myseff 
 whether any argument, physical or moral, nay whether even 
 dire necessity itself, could force me into such quarters. Finally 
 to relieve my anxiety I put the matter to a test. Conceive my 
 joy when I was ushered into a comfortable little room, myself 
 the sole occupant. With a heart throbbing with devout grati- 
 tude to God for His sustaining grace and protection during a 
 day never to be forgotten, I committed "my all" into His hands, 
 and resigned my wearied limbs into the arms of "tired nature's 
 sweet restorer, balmy sleep." 
 
 Reached this place Thursday morning. None of my friends 
 recognized me. Still feel somewhat unwell. I find that uncle 
 and two of his sons have gone over to the Evangelicals. He told 
 me last evening, however, that he would never have left our 
 church if this destitute region had been properly supphed with 
 the means of grace. I met a good old man yesterday who used 
 to work for my father, but now has a large respectable family, and 
 is in good circumstances. He exclaimed, "Why is it that the G. R. 
 Church does not send a minister to us?" and then named at least 
 a dozen families in his immediate vicinity, anxiously waiting for 
 someone to minister unto them in holy things. 
 
 There is a union church near here, Lutheran and Reformed, 
 but our interest is never represented. And some of the Lutheran 
 ministers that were here are as mean men, as impertinent rascals, 
 as ever defiled the sanctuary of God. One man has been among 
 our members trying to persuade them that the G. R. Church 
 is no longer a distinct church organization; that she had re- 
 linquished all the features of the sacraments which are essential 
 to her existence as a church. I wish I could meet the fellow. 
 I am opposed to fighting the battles of the Lord with carnal 
 weapons, but if I could not convince such an infamous rogue by 
 dint of moral arguments, I would feel very much inclined to bring 
 my muscular endowments to bear upon him, sensibly if not 
 cogently. I suppose your letter is in the ofl&ce at Nobleville for 
 me. It being eight miles distant I could not get it as yet. My 
 cousin is going in this afternoon when I expect to get it. If you 
 
MARSHALL COLLEGE 71 
 
 wish'to leave for the East in the early part of next week, I will 
 come directly on to Cincinnati. If not, I will visit some friends 
 in Wayne County, this state, before I return. 
 
 Indla-Napolis, October 13th, 1851. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 Have received no letter from you to this day. What shall I 
 do? I think I shall go to Milton, Wayne County, Ind., tomorrow 
 and visit some friends in that region of country. The Lord 
 willing I will then get to Cincinnati on this day a week, and leave 
 the next day for home if you possibly can get ready. I would 
 come forthwith, but as you did not expect to leave before then 
 when I saw you last, I deem the above plan more expedient. 
 
 I left my uncle's this morning in company with a friend of 
 mine, and arrived here about half an hour ago (7 A. M.). 
 
 If only you could be with me. Last night I had a glorious 
 time. Just think. Stopped at a place, where all comforts of 
 parlor, dining room, nursery, kitchen, etc., were combined in one 
 single room, and that a room of ordinary size. The only place to 
 admit light was a small opening filled with six window panes. 
 I was all night at this place, bear in mind, and slept there too. 
 Slept in the same room with the lady of the house, some five or 
 six children, a couple that were married the evening previous — 
 the bride and bridegroom. Oh — None of your common folks 
 either, but they are among the "elite" of the neighborhood. The 
 lady is somewhat after the pattern of Robert Burns's Highland 
 Mary, and her husband is a respectable young man. Good living 
 we had withal sweet potatoes and chickens. This is studying 
 human nature with a vengeance. You may talk about your 
 travels in the "auld counthry," your tossing on Lake Erie, and 
 your ex-Milk-walking, [a reference to a recent financial venture 
 of Rust's at Milwaukee] but "gude mon," what is all that to my 
 experience during the last four and twenty hours? I have often 
 wished to get a glimpse of pioneer life. At last I have succeeded. 
 I have seen the elephant. Ye men who flourish amid an abund- 
 ance of worldly splendor, ''passing rich with forty pounds a year, " 
 disdain to mingle with these children of nature. I would not 
 have exchanged that little cabin last night for the most gorgeously 
 furnished hotel east or west of the Alleghanies. But in haste. 
 Affectionately Yours, 
 
 Benny. 
 
 This is the Journal record for October 24, 1851: "Returned 
 home this morning after a journey of six weeks to the West, I 
 saw much, felt much, enjoyed myself much and I trust was 
 profited much." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 The Seminary Year— 1851-1852 
 
 BEN*JAMIN BAUSMAN spent about one year in the Theo- 
 logical Seminary at Mercersburg. In those days the 
 theological course was not so clearly outlined as it is now. 
 There was no definite graduation with the issuing of a diploma. 
 The students passed their time in resident study, and then left 
 to enter the ministry when they were so minded. Some stayed 
 for two years; some remained only a few weeks or months. 
 
 Mr. Bausman desired to take the second year, but did not, 
 for reasons which will appear. Dr. Nevin and Dr. Schaff were 
 his professors. He took their lectures, but did a large amount 
 of general theological reading, and much thinking and discuss- 
 ing of the great religious questions with his fellow students; but, 
 best of all the privileges that can come to a student, he enjoyed 
 the intimate fellowship of his great, stimulating teachers, with 
 whom he could in perfect frankness discuss his difficulties and 
 have the sympathy of their great souls. 
 
 Early in this year came an experience of great moment in the 
 mellowing and enriching of his soul, — the illness and death of 
 his mother. When he retm-ned from his Western trip he "found 
 poor mother prostrated by disease." At the opening of the 
 seminary year in the beginning of November he returned to 
 Mercersburg, but with evident reluctance, for his mother was 
 still unwell. He was advised to prosecute his studies, however, 
 because she might linger all winter. 
 
 In three weeks he was hastily summoned home because of her 
 "speedy decline." His Journal records this entry regarding her 
 illness and death, which came on the 18th of December: 
 
 When I reached home, I concluded not to leave her before her 
 final deliverance. My experience during the four weeks she sur- 
 vived was mingled with joy and grief. I spent much time with 
 
 72 
 
THE SEMINARY TEAR 73 
 
 her. She delighted to speak of her death, of the sufferings of 
 Christ, and the sweet peace she derived from the assurance that 
 he suffered for her. How blessed to have such a parent! Thus 
 has gone my best earthly friend, a treasure in Heaven which will 
 draw my heart thither. O, how happy that she thus passed 
 away. The poor have lost a good friend. Many evinced their 
 sorrow at her funeral. She sympathized tenderly with all the 
 distressed. Her piety showed itself in actions. To her I am in- 
 debted, under God, for what I am. Her tender admonitions 
 when a child, her unwearied zeal in directing me in the path of 
 holiness, have given my life a direction in favor of Christ and 
 His cause. O, for grace to remain faithful in the Master's service 
 and for a happy reunion with her at "home." She was buried 
 on Sunday, December 21st, at ten o'clock. Notwithstanding 
 the unpleasant cold weather, she had a large funeral. Mr. 
 Harbaugh preached on Jeremiah, "Weep not for the dead." 
 Now the cold wind moans heedlessly over her grave. A Mother 
 in Heaven! Blessed thought! 
 
 He found relief during this trying time in several letters to his 
 sympathizing friend, Herman Rust, of which a few extracts 
 follow: 
 
 Lancaster, Dec. 3rd, 1851. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 Your last is before me. It is like oil of joy on a bleeding heart. 
 This is a queer time to date a letter, think you? Two o'clock 
 in the morning! Mother is very low. "Her sand of life is 
 fast ebbing to its last finish." Her heart, "still like a muffled 
 drum, is beating, funeral dirges to the grave." How true! 
 Surely poets are the interpreters of the human heart. They 
 seem to feel all the ills and joys of their poor fellows. Now she 
 is passing up and down the banks of Jordan eager to "launch 
 away" for the "Canaan we love." Just think! A soul impa- 
 tient to plume its wings for worlds of uncreated bliss! A soul 
 standing on the Pisgah of faith, and having a prospect of the 
 blissful fields of the promised land ! A soul flying around against 
 the walls of its cell eager to "fly away and be at rest." A soul 
 longing to be from its clay undressed that it might go home! 
 Pardon me for chirping in these plaintive strains. Out of the 
 abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 
 
 Lancaster, Dec. 19th, 1851. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 Mother is dead. So be it. Lord. 
 
 She expired yesterday at noon. When I penned your's of 
 yesterday morning, I thought the struggles of death were per- 
 
74 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 commencing. She had a clear mind to the very last. 
 About 10 o'clock she said we should all pray for her. At 11 
 o'clock she asked whether we had taken the feathers out from 
 under her, which is generally done before people expire, under 
 the impression that they die easier. Shortly before her last she 
 said if only she would not take another coughing spell. 
 
 About 11:30 o'clock we saw that she was dying and lo, she 
 fell asleep, sweetly and calmly, like an infant in the arms of its 
 mother, almost without a struggle. I was reminded at the time 
 of those touchingly beautiful lines: 
 
 "Hark! they whisper — angels say- 
 Sister Spirit come away!" 
 
 I almost feel like David after his child had died. I will not 
 return to the Seminary until after New Year. 
 
 The solemn and trying experience, never to be forgotten by 
 the prospective preacher, came to Mr. Bausman in the 
 spring vacation. He made the following record of it in his 
 Journal : 
 
 Preached my first sermon, Sunday evening, April 25th, 1852, 
 in the English language before Rev. H, Harbaugh's congregation 
 in Lancaster on Is. 40: 9, "Behold your God." The services 
 were held on the second floor of the G. R. School house, which 
 has been converted into a place of worship. The room was 
 crowded and the audience attentive throughout. I felt some- 
 what hampered owing to a want of room in the pulpit, still I 
 spoke with considerable ease. How precious is the help of the 
 Lord in such a time of need! Thus have I mounted the walls of 
 Zion for the first time in the name of the Triune God. He is 
 my only hope for the future. 
 
 A touching recollection of this occasion he wrote of twenty 
 years later. A drunken Swabian tramp who frequently visited 
 the Bausman home took a special interest in Benjamin, particu- 
 larly after he became a student. 
 
 During vacation he would visit me and ask many questions 
 about the progress of my studies, sometimes trying to help me 
 with an array of scripture verses. He seldom went to church. 
 Only once I saw him there. It was when I preached my first 
 sermon to a congregation of our neighbors. He came to hear 
 
THE SEMINARY YEAR 75 
 
 his friend. I saw him sitting in the back seat near the door, 
 looking so sorrowful. Save my relatives, there were few people 
 in that congregation for whom my heart yearned more tenderly, 
 and no face among them remains so vividly impressed on my 
 memory as that of my vagrant-friend. 
 
 He wrote later of having lost the thread of his discom-se in 
 this first sermon: 
 
 Vainly and somewhat noisily I strove to teach I scarcely knew 
 what. As is usual in such mishaps, what the sermon lacked in 
 sense it made up in sound. It was an awkward ministration. 
 I still feel like blushing at the thought of it. 
 
 The next week I met one of Harbaugh's members, by no means 
 an ignorant man. He said to me: 
 
 ''That was a deep sermon you preached on Sunday Our 
 pastor could not begin to preach a sermon like that. It is not 
 in him. He can preach a plain, practical discourse, but in depth 
 nothing to compare with yours. [That, I thought, was just the 
 trouble, too deep for me to touch the bottom.] Him I can 
 understand without any trouble. I understood very little of 
 your sermon [neither did I, methought]; but I could see that 
 it was more able than any our pastor could preach." 
 
 Knowing Mr. Bausman's disposition to minimize and jest 
 at his owTi doings, we cannot take these words at their face value. 
 His brother Philip, who followed all his movements with pride 
 and admiration, regarded the sermon as a creditable effort. He 
 evidently delivered it without the manuscript, but it was care- 
 fully written out in full. The neatly written manuscript is now 
 yellow with age. It is a sermon that would reflect credit on any 
 seminarian. It reveals his characteristic clear, easy flowing 
 style, abounds in pertinent scripture quotations, and shows that 
 comprehensive, simple analysis which one saw in all his ad- 
 dresses. His outline was: Behold your God. I. In Nature; 
 II. In His Word; III. In the Redemption through Christ. 
 
 We think we have seen in the first texts and sermons of min- 
 isters what is generally quite conspicuous in their personal and 
 spiritual make up. No text of all Scripture could more con- 
 cisely express what was deepest and all pervasive in Mr. Baus- 
 man's consciousness than the call to ''Behold your God." 
 
 He wrote to Rust: 
 
76 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAIJSMAN 
 
 After a great deal of reluctance I preached my first sermon 
 outside of Mercersburg before Mr. Harbaugh's people on Sunday- 
 evening last. Will have to preach at Millersville and Centre 
 next Lord's Day. I did not expect all this and therefore left 
 Mercersburg without special license from Dr. Schaff. Their 
 importunity and promise to answer for the consequences (Har- 
 baugh and Reber) was the main cause of this my seeming ir- 
 regularity. 
 
 At Conestoga Centre the first sermon was repeated. 
 
 At Millersville to a crowded and attentive audience he preached 
 on Matt. 9: 12, "They that are whole need not the physician, 
 but they that are sick. " 
 
 The following extracts from letters to Rust show his outlook, 
 feelings, purposes, movements, mental temper, etc. It should 
 be borne in mind in reading these earlier letters to Rust that the 
 intimacy was most cordial — a David and Jonathan friendship. 
 He expressed himself so freely only to his closest friend, and 
 never dreamt that any other should see his letters. The ex- 
 uberance and wordiness is just what one would expect in a bril- 
 liant, healthy young man, facing his career with high hopes. 
 
 Lancaster, April 27, 1852. 
 Harbaugh has been at me ever since my return to go to Lewis- 
 burg. He says those people would wait for me till Fall. I con- 
 fess that I felt very reluctant to go to a place where I must preach 
 every Sunday to the same congregation, and that a pretty in- 
 telligent one. I had always expected and in fact desired to com- 
 mence with some country charge, composed of several congrega- 
 tions, where I would have a good deal of stirring and riding about 
 to do. I look upon this as a very important provision to insure 
 my future usefulness to the church. As a general thing my 
 health is as good as usual, but I feel by no means certain that 
 my system would bear up under very close confinement for a 
 very long period. An impaired state of health is so common 
 among ministers generally, that a person feels very loath to im- 
 pose upon himself duties which might produce a similar result. 
 But then we do not always know how much we can endure, or 
 what the Lord may require us to bear for his cause. I must 
 confess that the urgency of the good Bro. during the last week 
 has somewhat unsettled me. He told me this morning that 
 they expect to unite a country congregation with the Lewisburg 
 charge. In that event they would require one English sermon 
 
THE SEMINARY TEAR 77 
 
 every Sunday, and one German sermon every two weeks, and 
 on the intervening Sunday services would be expected in the 
 country. This would make less preaching to the same audience. 
 Harbaugh wishes me not to commit myself in any other direc- 
 tion until I hear more about them. Herman, what shall I do? 
 I hope, at least, I am wiUing to go where the Lord directs, but 
 how difficult it is sometimes to ascertain His will distinctly is 
 a question in which you have had painful experience. Whether 
 I will receive an invitation is still a matter of the future. I tried 
 my utmost to deter Harbaugh from presenting my name as a 
 candidate, but without any effect. If he does, may God help 
 me to discern His will! 
 
 Now, Herman, do write soon, and give me the benefit of your 
 counsel. Please keep this to yourself for the present, since all 
 this talk might seem premature if it were known generally. 
 Peter has taken unto himself a wife and is at Mercersburg at 
 present. He wishes to see me very urgently respecting ''the 
 Seminary, married life, and the G. R. Church." I will therefore 
 leave for Mercersburg on next Monday, so as to meet him before 
 his departure for the West. I feel somewhat unwell today. 
 Suffered intense pain for about three hours, but a slight dose of 
 medicine has given me relief. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 Benny. 
 
 How much did you pay for your copy of "Stapfer's Grundle- 
 gung?" I bought one in the city for about ten dollars. Is it 
 too much? 
 
 Theological Seminary, June 18, 1852. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 Well, wie gehts du. Hab dich doch schon lang nimme g'sehen. 
 Hab dei Brief g'rickt. Sell wor en schoener Brief. Hoscht 
 noch meh so. Ich gleich sie so zu lese. Ja, Ja, so gehts ebbe. 
 Mir hot ebbe alsfort Trubbel. Gel du, Bruder.* 
 
 I received yours. I wish you had written me a snorten hairy 
 letter, for the benefit of Dr. Schaff. For I would have been 
 tempted to show it to him if it had been filled with billingsgate 
 quotations, and redolent with fish-woman vulgarity. I'll get 
 a chance to pay you back some day, mind if I don't. I triumphed 
 over you in every instance thus far, I beheve. In the "hexe" 
 
 *Well, how are you? Haven't seen you for a long time. Got your letter. 
 That was a nice letter. Have you more like it? I like so to read them . Yes, 
 yes, so it goes. One always has trouble. Not so, brother. 
 
78 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 controversy I lambasted you most cruelly, and in that "fault" 
 business I succeeded in sharpening your sense of vision some- 
 what. But I must say you came the Yankee over me in show- 
 ing it to Dr. Schaff. But that was taking advantage of me. 
 
 My dear brother, if you were in any of our Eastern cities you 
 would be just as eager to have a beautiful edifice in which to 
 worship as any other man, I care not what you say to the con- 
 trary. You may talk about "party strife, self -exaltation, and 
 the spirit of rivalry" as much as you please. I defy you to 
 show me a Protestant minister in the whole universe of God, 
 not excepting the big catholic heart of the Rev. Herman Rust 
 of Cincinnati, who is utterly free from these motives. These are 
 the terrible consequences of schism. And a man who is fighting 
 valiantly amidst all the conflicting absurdities, divergencies and 
 nullities of our ruling Protestantism, might as well try to make 
 me believe that he could fling himself to the mountains of the 
 moon by the straps of his boots, as to escape wholly from being 
 tainted with this pernicious spirit. Why, sir, the mere effort of 
 rising above this spirit in Protestantism would be nothing more 
 nor less than what you charge upon others. Unless our dear 
 Lord will send into Protestantism some new principle of Catholic 
 unity, or in His allwise Providence check the tendency to in- 
 dividualism. Heaven alone knows where Protestantism will 
 terminate. 
 
 Theological Seminary, Mercersburg, Sept. 3, 1852. 
 Be assured that I would be equally gratified if we could dwell 
 nearer together, but whether the "Master" will permit us to en- 
 joy this pleasure seems somewhat of a question just now. I was 
 very glad to hear of your increasing success, and the still more 
 encouraging prospects you have in the future. I am pleased 
 with your plan of operation. I look upon parochial schools, 
 properly conducted, as one, if not the most efficient means of build- 
 ing up the church. and have been licensed! The 
 
 Lord have mercy on the Church, a minister of the Gospel ! 
 
 What pious infatuation. And this was done ostensibly "against 
 light and better knowledge," and principally by men who knew 
 all about him. I was told confidentially, from head quarters, 
 that the Tiffin men burnt their fingers most cruelly, only during 
 the several weeks he staid there. He is that same identical old 
 coon at heart, whether you put him into some Eastern harem 
 where he can gratify his lusts, or try to hide his hideous moral 
 deformity behind the sacred desk. I regard this as a sacrilegious 
 prostitution of ecclesiastical power, for which the Western Church 
 
THE SEMINARY YEAR 79 
 
 will have to do bitter penance some day, mind that. If he won't 
 add another laurel to his unenviable fame for lewdness before 
 he will be twelve months older, in the form of seduction, love- 
 scrape, or be tried before a civil tribunal for some other caper, it 
 will not be his fault. With all my Christian charity, of which you 
 
 know, I have a considerable amount, I look upon as a had 
 
 man, and what makes him still more outrageously wicked, is to 
 enter the holy ministry, with such a large bill of heinous perpe- 
 trations against God and man unsettled, unrepented of, and 
 consequently unpardoned by both. And in the face of all this, 
 conscious to a great extent of his moral turpitude, and with the 
 explicit injunction of God before their eyes, that they should 
 "lay hands suddenly on no man," "the Synod of the G. R. 
 Church of Ohio and Adjacent States," "in solemn conclave met," 
 licensed and ordained him to preach that Christ whom he has 
 practically dishonored again and again. Away with this whole 
 business. It grieves me to think about it. 
 
 On Thursday of next week is to leave the Seminary for 
 
 the state of matrimony. Your friend Miss is to be the 
 
 happy bride. will be another ornament to the Church in 
 
 the West. Last Spring he entered the Seminary, fresh and green 
 out of the Sophomore class, and on an average attended about 
 one lecture out of three during the session, and lo! he is fledged 
 already for public service. Well, so be it, circumstances alter 
 cases, and sometimes principles, says Dr. Schaff. Prof. Gerhart 
 paid us a flying visit a short time ago. He barely remained a 
 day. Had the pleasure of taking him to Greencastle. It is 
 very probable that the Mercershwg Revieiv will be stopped at 
 the coming meeting of the Alumni. Dr. Nevin told me a few 
 days ago, that he wished to have it stopped, or transferred into 
 the hands of some responsible party. He don't wish to be its 
 editor any longer. Costs him too much time and labor. I fear 
 there is something still more serious at bottom. I feel pretty 
 sure that Dr. Nevin will go to the Roman Catholic Church, if 
 he lives ten years longer. He is in a very critical state of mind. 
 I fear his next article on Cyprian will create a terrible muss. I 
 am told it is strong. 
 
 Billy is going to apply for license. Why don't you fellows 
 
 make him stand back until he will have studied theology? Poor 
 chance of getting rid of quack preachers in the West, so long as 
 every half-fledged tyro is pushed into the ministry, especially 
 
 under such inexcusable circumstances. will be married to 
 
 a lady of in a few weeks. So goes the world, Herman, 
 
 marrying and giving in marriage. How will we do, think you? 
 I don't know what will become of me. I dreamt the other night 
 
80 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 that I had popped the question, and the dear thing took me at 
 my word. But such a pickle I never was in. I rued the bargain 
 but couldn't get out of it until I got awake. There's the rub. 
 If a person could back out, but when you try one, you are bound 
 to keep her. There is a report very prevalent here that I am 
 engaged to a lady in Lancaster. I wish I would know to whom. 
 I suppose by this time you will think of giving me some more 
 paper. Thank you. Benny. 
 
 Lancaster, September 17, 1852. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 Your last came to hand yesterday. So you thought I intended 
 to surprise you. I wish I could. Perhaps you would like to 
 know my difficulty. It is not a want of time, for I expect to 
 spend several months, at least, away from Mercersburg to re- 
 fresh and recruit myself. And where could I do it more joy- 
 fully and successfully than by gamboling through that garden 
 spot of Ohio — the Miami Valley — with my little Herman at my 
 side? Yes, Herman, I long to see you. This desire seized such 
 a firm hold on me after I read your letter last evening, that I 
 fell into a sort of a melancholy homesickness. But I can't go. 
 Why, think you? Too poor!! That is just the "long and short 
 of it." I have a kind father, Herman, a boon for which I shall 
 never cease to thank the Beneficent Giver of all good. He has 
 never refused to meet my wants, though sometimes I created 
 wants unnecessarily, which I now plainly see. But father is 
 getting old, and old age, you know, always brings with it some 
 very peculiar notions, which require a very tender treatment. 
 He expected that I would finish my course in the Seminary this 
 Fall, and was consequently somewhat disappointed to hear of 
 my intention to return to Mercersburg next Spring. Now I 
 would not suppose for a moment that he would refuse to give me as 
 much money as I would need to go West, but I understand his 
 present state of mind well enough to know that this would make 
 him feel unhappy for a while at least, and more especially since 
 I was out there a year ago. Now I consider it my solemn duty, 
 which, by the help of the Lord, I mean scrupulously and re- 
 ligiously to perform, to soothe and cheer the declining pathway 
 of my tottering sire, from whom I have inherited so much that 
 is good and abiding; even to bear with his weakness, to yield 
 to his prejudices, and to remove and quiet the promptings of 
 dissatisfaction. This, then, is my excuse for not coming to see 
 you forthwith. Do you think it is satisfactory? If I had the 
 money at my command, I would come with a light and joyful 
 heart; but necessity is a hard and cruel tyrant. 
 
THE SEMINARY YEAR 81 
 
 We had a very interesting commencement at Mercersburg, — a 
 very large attendance, especially of strangers. Dr. Nevin de- 
 terminately withdrew from the Review, and also announced his 
 intention not to go to Lancaster, but resign as President of the 
 College as soon as the Board can fill his place. The Alumni re- 
 solved to continue the publication for another year on trial, and 
 empowered the publication committee to appoint an editorial 
 chair, and if the Review could not possibly sustain itself, to dis- 
 continue it at such a time, during the ensuing year, as they may 
 see proper. The expression of your sentiments respecting the 
 Church and Dr. Nevin I read with much interest. I wish I 
 could talk the matter over with you. I have had some gloomy 
 and serious thoughts on these differences. I can't agree with 
 you, however, in some of the positions you assume. "If a Pro- 
 testant minister should persuade himself that the Roman Catholic 
 Church be the only saving church, he would still not be justifiable 
 to leave the Protestant Church." Your inference is that his 
 course would be purely selfish. Your conclusion is nothing 
 more nor less than that a compliance with our honest conviction 
 is selfish, and consequently sinful. Whilst the Bible doctrine is — 
 which you and I profess to follow — "let everyone be persuaded 
 in his own mind," and thus let him act. Your position evidently 
 is the selfish principle run mad. For the Bible abounds with 
 monitions which according to your standard appeal to this selfish 
 principle in us. And is it not a cardinal principle of Protestant- 
 ism that a man should follow and obey his better conviction. 
 Ah, here exactly is the absurdity, the insuperable contradic- 
 tion of Protestantism. Every man must in duty follow his hon- 
 est convictions, with but one exception — to be careful not to 
 follow them into the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 I confess I am often pained to hear with what contempt Dr. 
 Nevin speaks and writes about Protestantism. I have long 
 since felt that he is a singular exponent of German Reformed 
 doctrine, but I trust he has also been the means of infusing to 
 some extent, a healthy, vigorous life into our Church. We 
 should be more Catholic in the good sense. Narrow-hearted 
 bigotry is not a doctrine of the Gospel. But I must forbear. 
 
 I have had many invitations to preach during vacation, but 
 I won't do it. I had intended to preach some, but I found that 
 I would have a pretty hard time if I would convince Goodrich, 
 Reber, Keyes, and Harbaugh. All insisted on me to preach for 
 them, for some two or three times, which would keep me busy 
 to prepare enough sermons. I find that my mind needs rest 
 and hence I refused all to be consistent. 
 
 Geo. Williard attended our commencement and urged me 
 
82 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 very much to come to Columbus and take charge of the German 
 interest in connection with some country congregation, but so 
 much German would be too laborious for me, and, moreover, 
 Dr. Schaff and others of our ministers wish me to stay in the 
 East, as there is such a pressing demand for ministers here. I 
 shall try and bide my time patiently until the good Master will 
 direct. 
 
 I attended a Whig mass convention in Lancaster yesterday. 
 What think you are the future prospects of our government? 
 What will be the ultimate issue of the tendencies at present 
 at work in our national life? Good Sir, I very much fear the 
 Devil is no longer in the minority. What a recklessness and cor- 
 ruption even in high places. Open and avowed blasphemy in 
 public speakers to pander to a vicious, godless populace. I 
 don't make a straw's difference for Whig or Democrat, so far as 
 the parties are concerned. We are insulted when we hear an 
 earthly friend abused, and can we hear our best Friend derided 
 •without being insulted? Should we not resent such impious 
 defamation? Whatever may be the final destiny of this country, 
 of one thing I am convinced, that it will not continue in its pre- 
 sent form until the end of time. Our national crimes and po- 
 litical corruption have so long since merited the vengeance of 
 Heaven. I venture to predict the approach of that day when 
 the American poet will sing his plaintive dirge like the Roman 
 female, who sounded her mournful notes over the ruin of the 
 once proud city: "Rome, Rome, thou art no longer as thou once 
 hast been." 
 
 Your Benny. 
 
 Lancaster, October 16, 1852. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 I have just finished my breakfast, received and read your 
 letter of the 11th, and now for a reply before I fold it up again. 
 Well, I am extremely sorry that I cannot usher myself, "in pro- 
 pria persona," into your hale, fat, plump little presence, and 
 give your mushy hand such a crushing grip as would make you 
 writhe and yell under the pang of affection for at least two hours. 
 But now be careful! Unfold the letter very cautiously, for 
 "mind ye in troth, the auld gemmen might be stuck up in some 
 corner or ither, an pounce right on to yer skin." Hould him, 
 mon, he's cummin. Now, Herman, just make up your mind 
 that I won't obtrude my cumbersome insignificance upon your 
 intensely excited "ox-(h)yde" while you are peeping from under 
 it at this letter. I am far enough from Cincinnati not to dis- 
 
THE SEMINARY YEAR 83 
 
 turb your safety, But the fact is, I am none the better "for a' 
 that," for I would hke very much to look at ye, and talk at ye, 
 and pounce at ye, and juk at ye, but there's no go, as the saying 
 is. A man would after all much better take things coolly, and 
 make up his mind not to snarl and growl at the objects inter- 
 posed by fixing necessities, for if he don't, he will all his life be 
 the football of accidental impulses. Well, but now let us talk 
 sensibly. But that letter of yours is still before me. Well, 
 here are some inducements next in order. 
 
 No. 1. "Dr. Rice's Lecture on Romanism." Pretty weighty 
 that is. Would like to hear some sensible man talk on that. (2) 
 "Mission Festival of the Catholics." Ah, that is music to mine 
 ears. Catholic. "There's magic in the sound." Show me a 
 tree whose roots extend so far back into the past, and which 
 still has its branches pendant with the rich clusters of gospel 
 truth and salvation. Nay, I%sk is not that the tree from which 
 even we Protestants have derived all that is permanent, stable, 
 and of saving power in our religion? Where is there a tree 
 whose branches extend farther, whose top promises to reach 
 higher far than any parasites, who suck all the life out of her they 
 can get, and then turn around and villify her, crying exultingly, 
 "We are the Temple of God, we are the Temple of God." But 
 this is a progressive age, and ours a progressive religion. Cogent 
 argument that. "This is after all a great country," as good 
 Dr. Schaff generally says, when he has given the last theological 
 dose to some dyspeptic Protestant stomach, for you know dys- 
 pepsia is predominantly protesting in its character. The Dr., 
 like an experienced physician, knows full well that what such 
 persons need most is a little opiate: "After all a great country, 
 this. It cannot be denied; and all the result of Protestant civ- 
 ilization." But I must forbear, else you might take up the 
 gauntlet of controversy again. What comes next? (3) Bar- 
 num's Elephants!!! Good brother, save me from "them ar 
 creturs." I have seen "the elephant" so often that you won't 
 catch me looking at him in a hurry. You present a number of 
 other inducements, which will have their weight under proper 
 circumstances. 
 
 But now for that point. You know "points" are so hard to 
 get at, because they have no local existence. But this is some- 
 what more tangible than a point. Only have patience, and I 
 will get at it by and by. I believe I told you perhaps I would 
 come West on a visit. But now you should not make too sure 
 about it, because it is very uncertain as yet. I can't come next 
 week, nor is it likely the week after. I told Jerry Good that 
 those people would have to write immediately, if they intend 
 
84 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 to invite me. They have not done this, although it is nearly 
 three weeks since I wrote to him. From this you see that I 
 cannot go next week in any event. Under these circumstances 
 I have consented to visit that charge near Harrisburg on to- 
 morrow a week, after which I know not where I will go. Pos- 
 sibly I may come West. But, really, I have been spoken and 
 appealed to so seriously by persons whose counsel I must re- 
 spect, that I would consider myself highly culpable in treating 
 with heartless silence the crying, famishing wants of some charges 
 in the East. And, moreover, think you, Herman, that under 
 existing circumstances in the East, I would be doing right to 
 remove to a field, far distant from my paternal home, where I 
 would be deprived of the possibility of comforting and soothing 
 the declining days of my venerable sire. How pleasant to strew 
 but a few roses on his shadowy pathway. Herman, perhaps 
 you never enjoyed this delightful experience. Your parents 
 have long since gone to their long home. Perhaps e'er very 
 long mine will have fallen asleep in Jesus' arms, too. But while 
 they are still with us, how delightful it is to cheer their hearts, 
 which have always throbbed with anxious solicitude for our 
 welfare. We watch every little chance to evince our love to 
 them, by a tender remark, a kind act, or a cheerful look. But if 
 I go West, bleak distance will hide me from his presence, and I 
 can no longer vie with my brothers to bestow upon him the fond 
 tokens of filial gratitude and affection. Still if I am convinced 
 that "the Master calls me," I will go, with the fond hope that 
 there will be a joyful family reunion in heaven, a home which is 
 "far better." We dare not love father or mother more than 
 Him. These are some of my reasons why I doubt the propriety 
 of my going West. Still I shall patiently await the further in- 
 dications of Providence. Upon the advice of Dr. Schalf and 
 others, I have written on to Baltimore for my dismission from the 
 Seminary, in order to prepare myself to enter the field. To- 
 morrow, the Lord willing, I expect to preach twice at Millers- 
 tovvTi; and on Monday morning Reber and myself intend to start 
 on the early train for Baltimore. Should I go West, it will not 
 be until the expiration of a few weeks, as I will be employed 
 two weelcs in visiting that place at Harrisburg, at least I think 
 so. In the meanwhile, write to me again, and don't forget 
 affectionately to keep in remembrance 
 
 Your old and tried friend, 
 
 Benj. Bausman. 
 
 Of this visit to Baltimore Dr. Bausman wrote in his "Auto- 
 biographical Material : ' ' 
 
THE SEMINARY TEAR 85 
 
 I was licensed at a meeting of the Eastern Synod, in 1852, at 
 Baltimore. This Synod then covered the territory east of the 
 Allegheny mountains, now embraced by the Eastern, Potomac 
 and Pittsburg Synods. The sessions were held in the old Second 
 Street Church, which Dr. Heiner served for many years. I was 
 seated in a front pew; with visible emotion he introduced me to 
 the body as a candidate for licensure. Although only one candi- 
 date for the holy office, and he not a very promising one, it seemed 
 to encourage the members of Synod. Dr. Theodore Hoffeditz 
 was Chairman of the Committee on Examination and Licensure, 
 and he reported favorably on my case. 
 
 John F. Mesick, President, and Samuel R. Fisher, Stated Clerk, 
 signed the license. It was issued on the twenty-first day of 
 October, 1852. 
 
 The visit above referred to was to the Hummelstown charge 
 near Harrrisburg; the outcome of which was a call to the same, 
 November 15, 1852. 
 
 In the "Chapter of Unpublished History" read before the 
 Reading Reformed Ministers January, 1909, is a section of un- 
 usual interest on "Romanizing Tendencies." It helps one 
 the better to understand the several references to Catholicism 
 in the letters to Rust, as well as to get a glimpse of Seminary life 
 in Bausman's day. 
 
 It "^all be a surprise to many who were impressed by the evan- 
 gelical enthusiasm of Dr. Bausman in later years to know that the 
 Roman Church ever had any charm for him in its claims of 
 Catholicity. Several years ago he remarked to a body of min- 
 isters, who were discussing Romanism, that he was once tre- 
 mendously exercised by the church question, and was perilously 
 near the danger point in the drift toward Rome. That time was 
 evidently the Seminary year. 
 
 How tenderly and tolerantly he speaks of the professors and 
 students in their perplexities: 
 
 Both Dr. Nevin and Dr. Schaff were keenly alive to certain 
 weaknesses in Protestantism. As its name implies, it stood too 
 much for a mere protest against error; it lacked positiveness in 
 its teachings; it seemed to rest largely on negations. A mere 
 denial or negation is not a good foundation to build upon. In 
 their teachings and writings they both felt it their duty to point 
 
86 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 out its weakness no less than its strength. In order to indoctrinate 
 us the more thoroughly, they advised us to read certain books by 
 Catholic authors: such as Mohler's "SymboUsm or the Doctrinal 
 Differences between Catholics and Protestants;" Cardinal Wise- 
 man's works; "Protestantism and Cathohcity Compared in their 
 Effects on the Civilization of Europe," by Balmes, a briUiant 
 Spanish author. 
 
 This was at the time of the Tractarian Controversy, among 
 a small group of men in the University of Oxford. They wrote 
 a series of tracts which aimed to extract the good out of Catholic 
 history, from the early Fathers down to the present. Parallel 
 to this appeared Dr. Nevin's articles on the same subject. It 
 was interesting and sometimes annoying reading, for we students 
 had not always the steering power to wind our way around the 
 shoals and quicksands of such perilous investigations. As a 
 result some of us were in danger of drifting beyond our intel- 
 lectual depth. I at one time unburdened my spiritual troubles 
 to Dr. Nevin, troubles about my personal salvation. He sym- 
 pathized with me, said that these great questions had to be met, 
 and advised me to grapple in prayerful earnestness with them, 
 that God would in the end help me to solve them. With similar 
 frankness I opened my heart to Dr. Schaff. He simply repeated 
 his arguments we had heard in the lecture room, almost every 
 one of these I had the impertinence to meet with the reply: 
 "Yes, Dr. Schaff, but did you not tell us that this particular 
 argument was no longer tenable?" Perhaps it was not respect- 
 ful, yet I could not help but use some of his own ammunition 
 against him. 
 
 I believe both these great men felt it their duty to prepare us 
 for our future work by disclosing some of the weaknesses of old ac- 
 cepted arguments which were no longer tenable. The result 
 was that eight or ten students landed in the Catholic Church, 
 just as Newman and Manning and others of the Oxford Tracts 
 landed in the Papacy. A large group of able men like Geo. D. 
 Wolff, Dan'l Gans, Jno. Ermentrout, Moses Stuart, Forney 
 from Hanover, Coblentz from Middletown and others sought 
 peace in Romanism. As in the beginning of the careers of Drs. 
 Nevin and Schaff, Dr. Berg went to the Gibraltar of Protes- 
 tantism, as he called it, the Dutch Ref'd Church, and Dr. 
 Jacob Helffenstein of the Market Street Church, Germantown, 
 Philadelphia, to the Presbyterian Church, taking his large flock 
 and valuable church property with him. I believe that from 
 their point of view they were sincere. It was, however, a trying 
 time for our dear Church. Every succeeding transition added 
 fuel to the fire of those in the opposing camp. 
 
THE SEMINARY YEAR 87 
 
 Under such conditions some of the best students lost their 
 theological equilibrium. Some of these developed the teach- 
 ings of the Professors into illogical extremes; and some kept 
 up a fire in the rear. 
 
 A group of eight or ten German students came to Mercersburg 
 from Lippe Detmold, Germany, to prepare for the ministry in 
 destitute sections of the West. They had a very meagre prepara- 
 tion for the Seminary, whilst they were sincerely pious. Dr. 
 Schaff's teaching was strong meat for their pietistic taste. They 
 felt it their duty to complain to the Board of Visitors. Dr. 
 Schaff felt it keenlj-, the more so because he had been very kind 
 to them. One day when we were assembled in the classroom, 
 the good man gave vent to his wounded feelings. He reminded 
 them of his repeated material kindness to them, and grieved 
 that he should receive such treatment from his countrymen, 
 whom he had befriended. Despite their imperfect equipment, 
 these German brethren later were among the founders of the 
 Mission House in Sheboygan, Wis., of which Dr. Mtihlmeier, 
 one of their number, was for many years the efficient president. 
 
 During this time of theological unrest, there was considerable 
 alarm among the more thoughtful ministers of the church as to 
 whither things were tending at Mercersburg. 
 
 "Resolved, that Protestantism is essentially gnostic," was 
 the subject of debate in our theological society one evening. 
 C. Z. Weiser and I did our utmost for the affirmative and won 
 the debate, both as to the merits of the debate and of the subject 
 itself. Our extravagant logic got us into trouble. Some of our 
 arguments were reported to the Board of Visitors, which led to our 
 arraignment at a special meeting. It is due to myself to state 
 that in this case Weiser was the chief offender. I remember the 
 scene in the lecture room very well. Only Dr. D. Zacharias of 
 Frederick, Md., Dr. C. F. McCauley, then of Middletown, Md., 
 and I think Rev. J. Rebaugh, I can now recall. Weiser was 
 called up first. The first question was: Had he made use of a 
 certain objectionable expression complimentary to Romanism? 
 He frankly replied, "Yes, I said that. I wish you would solve 
 the question for me. I will be very glad to be reheved." The 
 Board did not explain it for us, and we were permitted to go 
 our way in peace. 
 
 Dr. Harbaugh at one time called Dr. Nevin a mawler of here- 
 tics. He certainly handled his mawl gently on his wandering 
 boys. All this happened during a few years before the removal 
 of the College to Lancaster. 
 
 The next two letters to Herman Rust show that at the end 
 of his student career, Benjamin Bausman was in hopeful and 
 
88 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 happy spirits, alive and responsive to the human interests 
 around him: 
 
 Lancaster, Nov. 23, 1852. 
 
 Well, I have been at Lewisburg. Spent nearly two weeks 
 there. Preached for those people two Sundays (four sermons). 
 I went there in compliance with an invitation from the consis- 
 tory, and preached to the finest and most attentive audiences 
 that I have yet addressed during my short career of "speechify- 
 ing." I tell you now, they are "some pumpkins." Lewisburg 
 is a town very much like Dayton, fine, tasty buildings, broad 
 and clean streets, and pleasant pavements and boardwalks. 
 The congregation is not very large (perhaps 160 or 170 members), 
 but composed of sterling material. I visited a good many of 
 them during the last week, and was pleased without exception. 
 They have a fine, new church, built after the modern style, with 
 a number of large, massive columns in front; a neat, chaste steeple, 
 mounted with one of the most melodious bells that ever saluted 
 my ears. Don't that sound big? But it's a fact. Nothing but 
 the plain, sober, unadorned truth. If it is too highly colored, 
 you may shade it a little, if you please. I suppose the picture 
 has its dark side too. Lewisburg will soon be connected with 
 our larger cities by the Sunbury and Erie Railroad. The people 
 pressed me ha.rd to come in their midst, and the consistory told 
 me that they would send me a call next week. I did not commit 
 myself, but, on the contrary, told them that they should call an 
 older man who had more pastoral experience; but they would 
 not listen to me. I really almost feel like shrinking from the 
 responsibilities of the pastorate of such an important congrega- 
 tion. I shall place the whole matter into the hands of the Lord 
 and await His bidding. 
 
 Heisler will not remain with them. He was married and his 
 wife is one of the most pious and worthy young ladies I have 
 met for a long while. Her praise is on every person's lips in 
 Lewisburg. And what is still better, there are some more there 
 of the "same sort." I never preached to so many pretty girls 
 at one time as I did last Sunday afternoon, and a week before. 
 It seems to me if anything could unman a young man, it would 
 be the sight of such a ivo-man-ly an audience. But there is 
 nothing of which I would rather speak to young friends whom 
 I esteemed, or even loved, if you please, than of the glad tidings 
 of Salvation. Away with these silly love-stories. We can only 
 love properly as we love in Jesus Christ, 
 
 Herman, let me have your advice about the Lewisburg ques- 
 tion. Milton is also vacant. I preached there on Sunday night 
 
THE SEMINARY YEAR 89 
 
 a week. We have a fine congregation there, and also a very- 
 pretty church. They promise to raise a man $400. Write 
 soon again, and forgive my long delay. 
 
 Yours, etc., 
 
 Benj. Bausman. 
 
 Mercersburg, Dec. 17, 1852. 
 Dear Herman: 
 
 Your last of the 8th instant furnished a happy relief to my 
 head and heart. The pleasure of its perusal was very much 
 enhanced by the tardiness of its arrival. Just think, I hail for 
 the. last time from the quiet retreat of No. 18. A few days more, 
 and I will bid a final adieu to this sunny spot of my history. 
 Altogether seven years of my life have been spent here, years 
 of no inconsiderable importance to me. A period full of anxiety, 
 but withal abounding with pleasure at every point. A joyful 
 period this was, buoyant with humble, childlike hope. And, 
 moreover, a happy period, a delectable dish, well filled and sea- 
 soned somewhat with the pepper of harmless grief to impart zest 
 to its enjoyment. This was a glorious period, in which folly 
 and wit have been vieing for the mastery. Its genial associa- 
 tions and delights live only in memory. Their recollection will 
 perhaps often disperse the gloom of darker days. These, and 
 many others, are the "friends I will leave behind me." Oh, 
 how dear! Many happy hours I spent with cherished friends in 
 harmless mirth and pleasure. Many in the holy retreats of my 
 own soul, 
 
 "Talking with my past hours, 
 And ask them what report they have borne to heaven 
 And how they might have borne more welcome news." 
 
 Many I spent in happy communion with Him who is our ever 
 "present help in time of need." Fond seasons, though past. 
 
 The student's life has something peculiarly attractive to a 
 serious, contemplating mind. Here the range of our activity 
 is included mainly within the compass of our own sanctum. If 
 we are deluded by faithless friends, or weary with human folly, 
 we can lock our door and seek communion with the wise and good 
 of the ages, through their writings, whose spirit and genius still 
 linger in solemn quietude around these undying monuments. 
 Here our responsibilities are condensed into the little range of a 
 "student's home," where we can face them with unwavering 
 firmness and trust in God. delightful home! How it grieves 
 me to leave thee! How often I found rest within they hallowed 
 
90 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 walls, a happy retreat from the cheerless frowns of a cold and 
 selfish world. No more shall I salute thee after a joyful return 
 with the soothing notes of "home again." That music is always 
 sweetest which is produced by the living chords of the heart, 
 when, like a feathered songster, we chirp forth the gushings of 
 melodious feelings. Every object around me has assumed the 
 character of an old friend. There is the clock, a faithful monitor 
 of departing hours, and, as Cowper says, "still points its moral 
 to the heart." It has faithfully tolled the knell of six of the 
 smartest years of my life, which lie sadly buried in the bosom 
 of the irretrievable past. Many a waning midnight taper wit- 
 nesses the sleepless vigilance of this moral sentiment, while I 
 was turning over mouldy pages, and lingering amid "wandering 
 mazes lost." Its own hoarse unmusical beatings bear evidence 
 to the ravages of time. 
 
 Here stands the old time-worn armchair, to whose comfortable 
 ministrations you can bear testimony. He is a kind old friend 
 of mine. Often when fatigued with care and severe study, has 
 he borne me on his ample arms into the land of dreams and cloud- 
 less joy. 
 
 And then to part with the professors — those dear men. Me- 
 thinks I could share all I have with them. A few evenings ago 
 I stepped into Dr. Schaff' s study, where I met the two Drs. No 
 sooner did I enter the room before Dr. Schaff arose and met me 
 in a most paternal manner, remarking, "O Mr. Bausman, we 
 have just been talking of you." And then both he and Dr. 
 Nevin spoke to me with all the tender solicitude of parental 
 fondness. How I love those good men; aye, and will continue 
 to love and cherish them to my latest breath, wherever the search 
 of truth may lead, and however much the world may abuse and 
 forsake them. O may this not be the empty promise of a faith- 
 less Peter! Is it not wicked, a shocking impiety, to defame and 
 abuse men for no other crime but that of seeking the truth with 
 honest hearts! Shame on the boasted pretensions of modern 
 fashionable piety! But I must leave them, no more to listen 
 to their teachings, no more to meet them in the lecture-room; no 
 more to mingle with them in the joyful retreats of their families. 
 No more! 'Tis a hard word. The brief span of my past in 
 Mercersburg is a lovely spot, radiant with pleasure, abounding 
 in fragrant joys, some few of which grew amid thorns, but are 
 all the more lovely for that. And must I tear myself loose from 
 so much that I love to cherish in my history? I have reached 
 one of those little eminences on the mountain of human life, 
 from which I have a distant view of the valley through which I 
 have traveled. What a past is behind me! Peopled with the 
 
THE SEMINARY YEAR 91 
 
 living impressions of my influence; numerous rivulets which 
 will help to augment either the tide of good or evil. What a 
 vision! O for a painter's pencil, or a poet's fancy! But I must 
 press onward and upward. ''We have here no abiding city." 
 Oh what recollections crowd upon my mind, with a rushing in- 
 tensity that baffles utterance. How I would love to linger a 
 little while in happy retrospect, before the scene recedes. But 
 
 "Away, away, away." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 Lewisburg — 1853-1856 
 
 O ENJAMIN BAUSMAN had just entered upon his 30th year 
 -*-' when he began his work in his first pastoral charge. Fifty 
 years after his ordination to the gospel ministry, St. Paul's 
 Church, Reading, gave fitting expression to the event in a 
 Jubilee celebration, in which the matter of chief interest was Dr. 
 Bausman's address on Thursday evening, February 26, 1903. 
 
 The journey to my first field of labor happened in February. 
 The weather was cold and a deep snow covered the earth. I 
 stepped off a Pennsylvania Railroad train at a small station, at 
 the junction of the Juniata and the Susquehanna. Two farmers, 
 Michael and Jacob Brown, with a two-horse wood sled awaited 
 me at the station. Wrapped in buffalo robes, with our feet 
 buried in straw, we soon started on a sleigh ride of forty miles 
 along the west bank of the Susquehanna. I then had a liking 
 for sleighing, but had not been trained to such a long stretch at 
 one sitting, on seats without backs, and with such a primitive 
 team. At that time there were no railroads along the Susque- 
 hanna, north of the Junction. 
 
 Two things I vividly remember upon our arrival at Lewis- 
 burg: the great relief in exchanging the sled for a warm parlor, 
 and a babe wrapped in soft clothing, on a settee near a stove. 
 Some twenty years later the babe became the wife of Dr. Wm. 
 M. Reily. Good Daniel Schrack, my host while at Lewisburg, 
 was her father. 
 
 This evening it is fifty years on the hour, that I was ordained. 
 It happened of a Saturday evening, in the First Reformed 
 Church, Lewisburg. The committee on my ordination were the 
 Revs. Richard A. Fisher of Sunbury, Daniel Gring of Milton, 
 and Ephraim Kieffer of Mifflinburg. The first was absent on 
 account of sickness, and the second mistook the time. Dr. 
 Henry Harbaugh being in Lewisburg on a visit, consented to 
 assist Mr. Kieffer in the services; he preached one of his charac- 
 teristic sermons, on Rom. 1:1, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christy 
 called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God." 
 
 92 
 
REFORMED CHURCH, LEWISBURG, IN WHICH 
 REV. BENJAMIN BAUSMAN PREACHED 
 
LEWISBURG 93 
 
 Lewisburg was a good place to begin my ministry. The town 
 had less than 4,000 inhabitants; the congregation had 160 mem- 
 bers, half of them living in the country; they were an honest, 
 sincere, God-fearing people, unspoiled by the novelties and fol- 
 lies of city life. They were good judges of a gospel sermon and 
 with healthy, uncritical appetites received and assimilated the 
 bread of life. The community was in some respects in advance 
 of the average Pennsylvania town. On the subjects of temper- 
 ance and antislavery it was then considered radical. It was a 
 college town. What is now Bucknell University was then known 
 by the name of Lewisburg University. Dr. Hov/ard Malcomb, 
 its President, and Dr. Bliss, its Greek Professor, showed me 
 much kindness and often preached for me. Col. Eli Slifer, then 
 Secretary of the Commonwealth under Gov. Curtin, I have rea- 
 son to hold in grateful remembrance. Le^visburg was my first 
 love. The sturdy morals and personal kindness of its people in 
 my own and other churches, grow more beautiful and precious 
 to me as the years go by. 
 
 In the Journal of the day of his ordination and installation, he 
 wrote: "The transaction was, to me, very impressive and solemn, 
 many were moved to tears. . . . May the Lord in His in- 
 finite mercy help me to be faithful." 
 
 On the following day, Sunday, the Holy Communion was 
 celebrated. "I felt very singular as I, for the first time, handed 
 around the elements of Christ's dying love," he wrote. On the 
 succeeding Lord's day, March 6th, the introductory sermons 
 were preached, the German in the morning and the English in 
 the afternoon. He preached in the German language every other 
 Lord's day morning while pastor, and had two small congregations 
 in the country where he occasionally preached, Dreisbach's and 
 the Union Church. 
 
 The English introductory sermon was from Matt. 10: 7, "As 
 ye go preach, saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. " The 
 very first sentence of it shows the solemn earnestness which filled 
 him on the threshold of his fife calhng: "The office of the holy 
 ministry is attended not only with precious privileges, but also 
 with unutterable responsibihties. It places within our reach the 
 highest and most enduring pleasure that the human heart can 
 desire, 'the luxury of doing good,' but is calculated to fill the 
 firmest heart with painful misgivings." 
 
94 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Especially during the early months of this first pastorate, he 
 had frequent periods of depression and discouragement, exclaim- 
 ing often after his sermons, "Who is sufficient for these things!" 
 When he got on better, his heart would say in gratitude, "The 
 Lord helped me." We read this outpouring of the agony of his 
 soul in his Journal of April 3 : 
 
 Feel very much exhausted and perplexed. Indeed without an 
 increase of physical strength and greater calmness of mind I 
 do not see how I can bear up long under the burden of ministerial 
 labors. I feel such a want of confidence and such a total sense 
 of insufficiency that nothing but a sense of duty not to disappoint 
 the congregation leads me sometimes to attend the services. 
 O what a poor miserable being I am to minister in holy things. 
 Whither shall I flee for help? Lord, save or I perish. Lord, 
 what wilt Thou have me to do? Should I serve Thee in some 
 other sphere? O, show me. Lord, I cast myself upon Thee; 
 help me, lead me, deliver me, save me. Amen. 
 
 Yet shortly after this, he could write to his friend Herman Rust : 
 
 My success thus far warrants me to be encouraged. The 
 congregation respect and confide in me, and try every means to 
 encourage me. I have a class of nine catechumens, which I 
 am told is a larger number than they have had heretofore. They 
 afford me much pleasure, and are all warmly interested. One 
 young man will study for the ministry, who is already prepared 
 for the Freshman class in college. I love this people, and have 
 reason to hope that the Lord has some work for me to perform 
 here. If I only had sufficient strength to bear up under the 
 labors that await me. These cares press heavily on a person 
 unaccustomed to them. 
 
 The demon of discouragement would never depart for good 
 from a spirit so sensitive as Benjamin Bausman's, but after the 
 first three months, he got on more comfortably. He was far 
 from satisfied with his prayer-meeting, however, for it showed 
 symptoms which some ministers think belong only to the twen- 
 tieth century: 
 
 These weekly meetings are so poorly attended. The ladies 
 attend well, but very few of the men. Sometimes there is but 
 one praying member there, sometimes none at all. I am to keep 
 up the prayer-meeting and yet they will not help to pray. These 
 
LEWISBURG 95 
 
 people profess great love and respect for me, but why will they 
 not do what I say. Is it not perhaps my fault? Lord, show me. 
 O for grace that I may be saved from murmuring. 
 
 In terminating the first year of the Lewisburg pastorate, he 
 expressed this humble judgment of his work: 
 
 I preached and lectured 114 times during the year. I have 
 reason to believe that by the blessing of God I have been the 
 means of doing some good: have pointed many to the Lamb of 
 God that taketh away the sin of the world, have been instru- 
 mental in leading a few to the cross. for more grace, more 
 zeal, more vigor, more fitness to carry on my ministrations. 
 
 By the end of his second year, even the most discouraging 
 feature of his work responded to his solicitude and prayers, and 
 he could make this entry: "Prayer-meetings increase every 
 week. The Lord seems to be working among us. Much tender- 
 ness of feeling." 
 
 Never robust, always obliged to be careful of his health, even 
 throughout his life, he yet lost very little time because of sickness. 
 In the early spring of 1854, on a week's visit to his aged father, 
 he contracted a severe cold. Of this and other things he wrote 
 after recovery to Rust: 
 
 I was unable to preach for two successive Sundays. I have 
 not been ill for a long time. I became so accustomed to health 
 as to grow ungrateful. The Master saw this and graciously in- 
 terposed with a remedy — affliction. It was good for me. I have 
 often thanked him for it since. My dear people evinced much 
 sympathy and kindness for me during my illness. I never be- 
 fore experienced so sweetly the tenderness of the relations exist- 
 ing between pastor and people. A great many called to see 
 me, manifesting the warmest sympathy and trying every effort 
 to make me comfortable. 
 
 Last week we had services every evening. We added seven- 
 teen to the church, nine by confirmation and eight on certificate. 
 There is a great deal in our present experience which tends to 
 discourage and fill one with a sense of the vanity of much of our 
 earthly life. The mass of men seek shadows and shapes that 
 die, and sometimes we so far forget ourselves as to fall in love 
 with them. I am sometimes so deeply impressed with the utter 
 vanity of the world and much that is in it, that I almost despair 
 of power to disentangle myself from it. Not that I fear of fall- 
 
96 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 ing a prey to its seductions. The pomp, power and show of the 
 world are vulgar and repulsively disgusting to me. 
 
 When the Master makes use of me to lead one sinner to Him- 
 self, I feel that heaven permits me to do a real action, which 
 shall live when my feeble voice dies. So I felt last Saturday. 
 When I laid my hands upon these young persons, my heart told 
 me that I lived not in vain. The Saviour through my agency 
 led them to Himself. If I ever performed a real act, that was 
 one, made living and immortal by the blood of an endless life. 
 One such a privilege amply repays one for long seasons of trial 
 and self-denial, and affords a sweet consolation amid the moral 
 emptiness and fleeting vanity with which society so much 
 abounds. 
 
 That is a sound, sensible article of yours in the Review. You 
 are a good distance from Rome yet. 
 
 Bausman. 
 
 The year 1854 brought to Mr. Bausman some soul struggles 
 and heart trials of which only a few were permitted to know. 
 He had these in mind, no doubt, as he wrote in the quiet hour of 
 the year's close: "0, what mercies has the past year brought! 
 Some severe trials to keep and guard me against danger, provi- 
 dences which dug about the heart, that the Lord might refresh 
 and bless it." 
 
 The Lewisburg charge was making fine progress under the 
 pastoral care of Benjamin Bausman. In the summer of 1854, 
 the church building was repaired, frescoed and refurnished. In 
 the spring of 1855 his salary was increased. This we would con- 
 sider very necessary when we learn that the salary on which he 
 agreed to become pastor was but $350 per year. The original 
 call issued December 9, 1852, stipulated no definite amount, only 
 such sum of money in regular half-yearly payments as shall be a 
 "sufficient compensation for your services." This gives one a 
 glimpse of the loose agreements obtaining widely touching 
 the compensation of ministers two generations ago. That prac- 
 tice was demoralizing on pastor, congregation and church work 
 in general, when the ministers's pay was the regular church col- 
 lections, commonly spoken of by the Pennsylvania Germans as 
 "was fallt." In response to his demand for a definite agreement, 
 they promised him $275 per year, but he felt that the "laborer 
 
LEWISBURG 97 
 
 was worthy of his hire" and that for the good of the people by way 
 of self-respect, they should pay a decent salary, hence the $75 
 more "demanded" was speedily "guaranteed" by telegraph. 
 
 Salary with Benjamin Bausman was of course a minor concern. 
 He had an independent income and made large subscriptions to 
 church objects, even in this early day. He learned the lesson of 
 charity from his parents and his eye was keen to see and his hand 
 ready to help the needy. 
 
 Mrs. Lizzie A. Reily tells of how one day he sat in a room of 
 their home and the family washer- woman passed through. He 
 spoke but a few words with her and discerned at once her distress 
 and said to Mother Schrack, "That woman has trouble, I wonder 
 if they have enough to eat," and promptly sent her a substantial 
 gift, which he learned later was greatly needed. 
 
 Though not strong physically, and often feeling overburdened 
 by the pastoral claims of his parish, Benjamin Bausman found 
 time to write many articles for publication, during the first three 
 years at Lewisburg. In the German Reformed Messenger and 
 in the Guardian more than thirty articles from his pen were 
 published during this time. A week before his ordination he was 
 already at work on a series of "Sketches," which are signed 
 "Spectator." They are eleven in number and run through the 
 year; but the first five appear in the several issues of the Messenger 
 for March. They are spicy, pointed and practical. In them, he 
 seems to be finding himself in the several topics discussed, and 
 clarifies his own judgment on them as he expresses himself for 
 the benefit of others. There was very little modification of these 
 views even to the end of his life. 
 
 "No, 1" tells of a drunken father who came to ask him to 
 ofiiciate at the funeral of his daughter. The gist of his reflection 
 is that, while "we feel deeply concerned for the salvation of the 
 pagan world, we should pray and feel no less for our countrymen 
 and neighbors whose wretchedness we daily witness." 
 
 Other "Sketches" call for the honoring of the hoary head, that 
 
 children obey parents, that parents train up children rightly. On 
 
 this latter important theme he was as emphatic and urgent 
 
 as young ministers generally are. "No. 5" is a comical sketch 
 
 7 
 
98 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 of tobacco chewing and spitting in churches, which he thought 
 was due to the example of ministers. He Hved to see great 
 improvement touching this habit. "No. 6" calls for better 
 congregational singing and deprecates "praising God by proxy" 
 through choirs. "No. 8" would still be an excellent tract for 
 the times. It deprecates the profaning of the sanctuary and the 
 ministerial office, by church sales, secular announcements at 
 church services, etc. The last of the "Sketches" is a trenchant 
 plea for "more ministers." Every fourth charge in the Church 
 was vacant, one hundred ministers were needed at once. At 
 that time, Dr. Wolff, who was elected to the Seminary professor- 
 ship, held his acceptance in abeyance, and the sketch scores those 
 ministers who "retired in dignified ease or abandoned preach- 
 ing for teaching." 
 
 Other articles appeared signed by "B. B." or by his full name; 
 but in December, 1854, he took the nom-de-plume "Nathan," 
 and showed himself to have the same fearless directness as the 
 original of that name. "Nathan" stirred things, his articles 
 were taken up by other correspondents and quoted by various 
 papers, and Dr. E. V. Gerhart called him "the best contributor 
 we have had for years." 
 
 Eleven articles were signed "Nathan" before he narrated over 
 that signature his experiences and observations abroad. The 
 first shows Mr. Bausman's keen discernment of a subtle tempta- 
 tion which comes to the minister. It is entitled ''Abuse of the 
 Pulpit." It warns against the use of personal ties in the sermon, 
 lest the pulpit become "a lingual whipping post." 
 
 A most comical article is that on "The Sleeping Worshiper," 
 sympathetic withal, for he himself as a young man knew how 
 hard it was to keep awake on a hot Sunday after a toilsome week, 
 especially under a dry sermon. "Criticism versus Puffing" 
 shows his passion for the genuine and real and calls for honesty 
 in book reviewing, that we may have reliable critics as "ushers 
 in the hall of letters." In no expression of his was shown keener 
 insight into the moral needs of the church than in the article, 
 "Sweep Before Your Own Door," which appeared in March, 
 
LEWISBURG 99 
 
 1855, The "belligerent attitude" of the different denominations 
 is noted: 
 
 It is rare to find an article which does not smell of brimstone. 
 We are slow to see our own defects but evince astonishing skill 
 to see those of other churches. We are very much afraid of 
 Puritanism and at times evince greater concern about its impuri- 
 ties than our own; we should sweep before our own door. 
 
 We claim that we have not enough ministers to give our people 
 the bread of life. That will not exonerate us. 
 
 We have not enough of the spirit of Christ among us, for this 
 after all is the real cause. ... In point of zealous missionary- 
 enterprise, Puritanism furnishes us a worthy model for imita- 
 tion. . . . We are like Bunyon's man with the muck rake who 
 could not see the celestial crown above him, because he was too 
 busy raking together the straws, sticks and dirt of the floor. 
 We should first try and cure our own evils. Therefore to your 
 tents and to your brooms, O Israel, and sweep before your own 
 doors. 
 
 These articles opened the eyes of the Reformed Church to the 
 fact that it had in the man who wrote as "Nathan" a new spir- 
 itual leader and it was quick to turn to him. 
 
 Seven articles for the Guardian were written during this period 
 and the first three were translations from the German: "The 
 Earthly and the Heavenly Bride," "Defects in the Education 
 of our Daughters" and "Golden Thoughts for Parents." This 
 was at a time when there was much written on the education of 
 young women in that splendid young people's magazine. The 
 simplicity and piety enjoined in these articles would be con- 
 sidered very old fogyish in the twentieth century — e. g., "the in- 
 judicious custom of giving parties to children." 
 
 The other four articles were contributed in the latter half of 
 the year 1855. "Botanical Reflections" is a very beautiful and 
 significant article. He has "a feeling for flowers, akin to the 
 tenderness which parents have for children." He dislikes the 
 "murderous business" of "post mortem examination" of them, 
 which is "vandalism." The living flower interests him rather 
 than its scientific dissection; so religion interests him as a thing 
 of life rather than critical examinations and theological discus- 
 sions. This article expresses his religious point of view, viz., 
 
100 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 that the vital and the practical rather than the abstract and 
 the theoretical, are pre-eminent in their claims upon him. 
 
 Another article full of humorous hints and striking metaphors 
 is on "Titles and Toys" and criticises the "indiscriminate ex- 
 travagance of conferring titles," — "the dashing business our 
 college boards are doing in the dubbing mania. " We can see 
 in this article the determination of the young pastor to be gen- 
 uine. He wants no "feathers in the cap of his character." He 
 will be true and ring true, as he boldly utters the convictions 
 of his soul, and he asks no other guaranty. He closes with 
 this noble passage: "Let the world applaud or renounce, speak 
 out. O, stifle not the utterance of your generous nature, your 
 deeds are your diplomas, known and read of all men. " 
 
 To have written so much in the trying years of beginning his 
 ministry was a proof of his unusual mental vigor. What he 
 said was so sound, timely and wholesome, that he won the con- 
 fidence of the Church at once. He loved to have a parish, but 
 he was too big for service in but one charge; the entire Church 
 must be his parish. 
 
 Benjamin Bausman's writings at the beginning of his ministry 
 gave fine and full promise of the copious and helpful literary work 
 which was to flow in continuous blessing on the Church for fifty 
 years. 
 
 The most annoying feature of Mr. Bausman's early ministry 
 at Lewisburg was the hypocritical sectarianism with which he 
 had to contend. Because of his temper and training he hated this 
 spirit of sect and schism which was much more prevalent then 
 than now, and would be found at its worst in a small town where 
 each of the several denominations would be represented with a 
 struggling congregation. He fraternized with the other "or- 
 thodox" ministers of the town and exchanged pulpits with them, 
 and rejoiced in their esteem and fellowship. He felt very keenly 
 the sharp thorns among these roses, however, for he was grieved 
 and oppressed at any breach of trust. Regarding one of them 
 who coaxed "a pious young lady," one of his members, "to the 
 anxious bench," he wrote to his friend and neighbor, the Rev. 
 Chas. H. Leinbach: 
 
LEWISBURG 101 
 
 I try to believe the fellow was sincere, though it led him to 
 steal. I don't blame the man so much as the abominable sect 
 spirit which is inseparable from Protestantism. It tempts a 
 man to steal and rob. I don't trust myself. Perhaps I would 
 do the same thing if I had the chance. Ach, Charlie, der Teufel 
 hat gewiss zu viel zu thun mit diesem gauzen Wesen.* 
 
 By the way, have you ever read "Mohler's Symbolism?" 
 Ahj but that fellow can take the Protestant scales off a man's 
 eyes. Such unneighborly, uncourteous treatment uncovers 
 afresh the festering sores of a dismembered church and impels 
 one to read Catholic books. Ah, Charlie, there is something in 
 the matter and manner of these Catholic authors which must 
 inspire us with confidence. If a man has half an eye he can see 
 that they have infinitely the advantage over Protestants in point 
 of logic and history. The Lord have mercy upon us in our un- 
 deniable predicament. 
 
 In a similar strain he wrote to Herman Rust: 
 
 I have just read a short article of yours in the " Kirchenzeit- 
 ung," addressed to the Salem Sabbath-school. I admire your 
 success in simplicity of style. It is a rare gift to be childlike either 
 in habit or style. It is after all the language of simple, una- 
 dorned nature that speaks to the heart, and moves the affec- 
 tions of the school-boy and the sage. When I read that short 
 touching article, penned by one with whom I feel myself united 
 by so many lovely affinities, I almost realized the wish expressed 
 in one of our popular odes, "I wish I were a boy again." I felt 
 like a boy, eagerly read over the contents as if they really had 
 been intended for me, tears rolled down my cheeks, and perhaps 
 I was fully as much moved and benefited as those children were 
 when they heard your letter read. O, how precious an unassum- 
 ing, childhke disposition! No wonder that ''of such is the 
 kingdom of heaven." There is so much deception even among 
 the best of men, and what makes it still worse, in our own hearts. 
 If we could only retain the spirit and disposition of early child- 
 hood! But our own sad experience proves that it is naturally 
 impossible. We must therefore again "become as little chil- 
 dren" by grace. But O, how slow the process! It is hard to 
 see how I have grown more childlike in spirit in the last few 
 years. It is extremely difficult for a Protestant minister under 
 existing circumstances to excel in that meekness and lowliness 
 of spirit which the Gospel requires of us. The whole question 
 
 *Ah, Charlie, the devil surely has too much to do with this whole business. 
 
102 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 simply resolves itself into this, where people have no faith in 
 the church, they must have faith in the minister. And to se- 
 cure faith in him, he must be pretty, he must be thoroughly at 
 home in sacred cunning, and abound in the milk and water elo- 
 quence of modern pulpit fustian, which he has to mince, mutter, 
 and mum, according to the tastes and capacities of his hearers. 
 Look at the stimulants that surround a minister, and are cal- 
 culated to excite a morbid ambition and a desire to excel in the 
 above named qualifications. Here is the endless everywhere- 
 prevailing competition between Protestant churches, this ac- 
 cursed selfish, disguised Jesuitism, which boasts of its fraternal 
 feelings, prays for a man and his cause and his congregation on 
 his own pulpit, but does all in its power secretly to undermine 
 him, for the kingdom of ChrisVs sake. Here, amid [the fuss and 
 flurry of this Christless, graceless warfare, a man, to move along 
 successfully, must be capable of stooping to little mean acts, to 
 pander to a perverted public taste, however corrupt, and to 
 speak and act as soft as the veriest mush-head that ever flourished 
 and figured through "the human face divine." And, more- 
 over a man must be an unyielding sectarian, a narrow-hearted 
 niggardly bigot. If he lacks these inglorious qualities, his dearly 
 beloved brethren (?) will rob him of his members and material. 
 Surely we would like to build up our congregations, and if we 
 would do this, we must possess the above popular requisites. 
 This excites desires and aspirations in me which I know and 
 feel are damnable in the sight of God, and which I abhor in my 
 innermost soul. Under such circumstances, a man is either 
 driven to Christ or despair, to repose in Him like a helpless 
 child or be swept along with the general current. My own ex- 
 perience has been a painful teacher to me in this respect. Here 
 is the pastor of the largest and wealthiest congregation of the 
 place. To my face he treats me very kindly, brothers me all 
 over, feigns great love and concern for our church in general, 
 and my congregation in particular. And yet this man, whom 
 I wish well, and pray the Lord to forgive his faults, this man, 
 who, I believe, gets a salary of $800, and I $350, who professes 
 to be such a warm brother in Jesus, this man sneaks around 
 through some of our famihes, and attempts to entice them to 
 his church. I have no fears whatever that he will succeed. The 
 hearts of our people are with the church and therefore with me. 
 But his meanness grieves me so, — this dastardly meanness, and 
 unchristian cowardice, which fawns and cringes before a man's 
 face, and will skulk behind his back in unscrupulous deception. 
 Don't you believe if he could take away the third part of my 
 congregation, he would do it, if he knew that the remaining two- 
 
LEWISBURG 103 
 
 thirds would thereby be driven back into the world or to woe? 
 But of course he would do it for the glory of God. 0, it is hard 
 to look at the wounded dismembered body of Christ. 
 
 And this accounts for the present anomalous position of our 
 Church. Owing to the teaching of our professors, our member- 
 ship for a number of years past have largely imbibed a catholic 
 anti-sect spirit. They see the contradiction between Sectarian- 
 ism and the spirit of the Gospel. They unconsciously have been 
 led to see this. Both ministers and the laity abhor Sectarianism. 
 And yet a denominational existence apart from Sectarianism is 
 both a moral and a physical impossibility. I know full well 
 that our professors are not German Reformed. I have known 
 this ever since I could understand their writings and lectures. 
 But can you think hard of a man when his faith and Christian 
 charity is too broad to be confined within the narrow limits of 
 any particular part of the Christian Church? Don't you feel 
 just the same on that point? I am sure I do. That was the 
 main reason why Dr. Nevin wished to be loose from the College 
 and Seminary. He knew long ago that he was not a German 
 Reformed in spirit, but an evangelical Catholic, and has often 
 and freely avowed his convictions on this point. If we wish 
 to maintain the distinctive character of our Church, your fears 
 and complaints are perfectly correct, and the half you have not 
 told. Neither Dr. Nevin or Schaff, nor the Ref. Messenger are 
 exponents of Reformed doctrines. I have been disgusted with 
 the Western Missionary; but I fear the Messenger is going to the 
 other extreme. This everlasting glorifying of our Church, and 
 all because Dr. Nevin is in it, is sickening and puerile in the ex- 
 treme. I love and admire Dr. Nevin. But I am sure he don't 
 want us to act the fool with him. The Messenger should be free 
 from Dr. Nevin and every other man. And if Fisher will not 
 soon pursue another course, the Lord only knows what a rock 
 he will prepare on which to shatter our Church. What has the 
 school question, the glories of the Roman Church, and the thou- 
 sand and one questions of the day which are odious to the Pro- 
 testant world, to do with the consolidation and building up of 
 our Church? They may be true, but they are not seasonable 
 under present circumstances. What we need now is to unite 
 our forces, to cultivate a general church consciousness, not to 
 drive off our best congregations by assuming positions we can- 
 not carry out. 
 
 One can readily see how this racy and forceful letter ran hot 
 out of his bitter experiences in his parish. 
 
 Yet with all his catholicity and liberality of spirit he was not a 
 
104 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 latitudinarian, neither then nor at any time in his life. An in- 
 cident of the first year of his ministry shows this. A new de- 
 nomination was starting in the town and its minister came and 
 asked Mr. Bausman to preach for him. He refused, giving as his 
 chief reason: "The fundamental difference between us was too 
 great to have any church fellowship." 
 
 His yearning for ministerial fellowship found harmonious 
 satisfaction among the neighboring brethren of his own com- 
 munion who in less than a year after his arrival formed them- 
 selves into an "association" at his room. It was "a most de- 
 lightful intercourse" and we feel quite sure he was its leading 
 spirit. They frequently exchanged pulpits and had outings to- 
 gether. There were many charms in this life and he reveled in 
 it. 
 
 In the year 1855 he was importuned by Dr. G. W. Williard and 
 Herman Rust to consider the claims of Ohio. About the same 
 time came the invitation "to officiate preparatory to a call," 
 for the Second Reformed Church of Reading, made vacant by 
 the resignation of the Rev. Moses Kieffer. The latter was not 
 so readily decided as we gather from his diary of the time: "Lord 
 help me to do right. Oh, how hard to discern the path of duty 
 sometimes." He was clear and decided a few days later, as we 
 see in his letter to Rust: 
 
 I had an urgent call from Kieffer's congregation in Reading. 
 Dechned. No use to visit other places before a man's mission 
 is fulfilled in the one he has. 
 
 I abhor the reputation of a hunter of good charges. My 
 principle is that a man should remain in one place as long as he 
 can be useful, and not fish about to better his purse and his belly 
 whenever he has a chance. 
 
 Rust pined for the presence and companionship of Bausman 
 in Cincinnati and repeatedly urged his claims. He was bitterly 
 disappointed when the final refusal came. Regarding the con- 
 sequences involved in such a change Bausman wrote him: 
 
 Heisler remained only a few years. And I was told repeatedly 
 that if I should leave while the people feel towards me as they 
 do now, there would be a greater hubbub by far than when Har- 
 baugh left. I scarcely know why it is so. My efforts are cer- 
 
LEWISBURG 105 
 
 tainly very unpretending. Now, my dear brother, I shall be 
 very loath to leave this people in such a manner as to tear down 
 as much or more than I built up. Nor can they get just any- 
 body they please. Ministers are scarce in our Church, especially 
 such as would precisely suit this place. And I think it would 
 be wiser policy for us to keep carefully what we already have, 
 than to neglect and let this go to waste, that we may build up 
 new and unestablished points. Besides, it is very doubtful 
 whether I would suit that new interest. It requires too much 
 German for me. I am not the man for those foreign Germans. 
 It needs a man of greater polemical skill than I possess, to get 
 along with those rationalists. Now whilst I am willing, — and 
 if I am not I pray for grace that I may be, — to endure self-denials 
 for the Master, and it seems to me I could rejoice in the privi- 
 lege of bearing the most grievous burdens for His sake, I yet feel 
 it a duty to refrain from a situation in which I would have to 
 labor to great disadvantage. True Gospel self-denial does not 
 consist in throwing one's self into a position which one is unfit 
 to fill. Do not you see then that your ardent friendship has 
 taken captive your unsuspecting judgment, so that with a total 
 disregard of existing circumstances and the advice of my friends, 
 you urge me to break loose here and accept your proffered hos- 
 pitality. I must confess your offer is very tempting. 
 
 I do not aspire after city congregations even if they were per- 
 manently established. I prefer to labor in a country town. 
 But preference is not Providence, and therefore I want to be 
 convinced by Him. 
 
 The character of the other congregations in this place is such 
 that they would take every advantage of the absence of a pastor, 
 and take away all the material they could. Now should I tear 
 myself away from them, leave them shepherdless perhaps for 
 a year or more at the risk of falling a prey, to a great extent, to 
 the plunderous proselyting rapacity of other denominations? 
 This is a revolting idea to my mind, and I am sure it would be to 
 yours. 
 
 The first part of the pastorate of Benjamin Bausman at Lewis- 
 burg terminated with the end of March, 1856. He had "con- 
 templated a visit to Europe for several years," and the ap- 
 pointment by the Synod in October, 1855, crj^staUized this latent 
 purpose. The Synod met in Chambersburg and he took an 
 important part in it. He was chairman of the Committee on 
 the State of Religion. His feelings, purposes and reasons for 
 going abroad are well voiced in letters to Herman Rust: 
 
106 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 October 29, 1855. 
 
 I am glad, glad with heart, mind, soul and strength that you 
 have found an helpmeet. Eureka. My warmest wishes and ar- 
 dent prayers attend you. Wherever my lot may fall in life, the 
 news and assurances of your conjugal happiness will always 
 make my trials less trying, and my pleasures more pleasant. 
 
 I was appointed delegate to the Western Synod, and had in- 
 tended accordingly to visit the West next Spring. But Synod 
 saw fit to confer on me another appointment, which I think 
 claims my first attention. You will have learned before this 
 reaches you, that I was appointed one of the delegates to the 
 German Church Diet in September next. I regard the appoint- 
 ment as clearly Providential, and therefore feel it my duty to 
 go. I desire to go for my own improvement, to visit our relatives, 
 and to serve the Master and His church. God willing, I will 
 leave in the Spring, and will be absent at least one year. I am 
 making efforts to have my place supplied during my absence. 
 My intended trip makes quite a stir in some quarters. I wish 
 you could go along. "Have married a wife, etc.!" Verzei 
 mir.* We had a delightful meeting of Synod. Peace and 
 harmony all around. Gerhart is doing fine. He made and is 
 still making many friends. I am almost ashamed of this singu- 
 lar letter. Forgive my nonsense. I am a queer compound. 
 I usually pour out my whole heart into my letters. All its con- 
 tents, secrets and publics, follies and foibles, serious and silly 
 things, like so many nuts and shells, are tumbled onto paper. 
 Shake the hand of your dear one right heartily and lovingly for 
 Your Friend, 
 
 Benny. 
 
 I would be very glad if you could accompany me to Europe, 
 but "I have taken a wife, and therefore I cannot go." Thank 
 God for it. You have more than a dozen European tours could 
 give you — a loving, affectionate wife. Glad as I am in being 
 able to make this tour, and much as I prize such a privilege, I 
 would be willing to forego all, for a boon the want of which under 
 any circumstances must be regarded as a Providential calamity. 
 In its most tolerable aspect, it is a necessary evil. Heaven pity 
 the man doomed to endure it! 
 
 The Church Diet is merely the occasion of my tour, not the 
 cause of it. If the other delegates will be present, it will be 
 useless for me to be there. My object is more particularly to 
 
 *Excuse me. 
 
LEWISBURG 107 
 
 visit our relatives, and to travel. I think in the providence of 
 God, this is just what I need. Sometimes, and especially re- 
 cently, I have felt exceedingly unpleasant. It is hard to be a 
 minister in our Church. Our training begets theological un- 
 certainty and distrust. We are taught the nature of and warned 
 against the influence of error, where it is impossible wholly to 
 avoid it. With such a fault-finding training, which qualifies 
 a man to detect the ulcers in his own system, magnified tenfold 
 by his blear-eyed vision, it is extremely difficult to be its firm 
 and faithful apologist. I will not say that my views are cor- 
 rect. That is precisely the misery of my present position. To 
 show a man that a view or position is false, and get him to abandon 
 it without giving him a better one to stand on, is only making 
 bad worse. That which is distinctively Reformed, or Protest- 
 ant, in Mercersburg Theology, lacks the positive element just 
 as much as the rankest Puritanism. The great characteristic 
 is der Geist der stets verneint* which is prolific of scepticism. 
 Sometimes these theological suspicions and practical, visible 
 illustrations of false tendencies around me, in addition to my 
 natural timidity and want of confidence in my mental and moral 
 fitness to preach, have made me feel very unpleasant. I have 
 wished that the Lord might relieve me from such, to me, unpleas- 
 ant relations. I have had many happy seasons in the ministry. 
 I have often thanked God that He has called me into it. He 
 has signally blessed my labors. And yet! And yet! This 
 sense of uncertainty and doubt! Perhaps it is from the Devil. 
 O what poor sinful beings we are. 
 
 I think my better plan is to quit preaching for a season. My 
 people have unanimously requested me not to resign. I still 
 felt as though I should resign. But it is hard to tear one's self 
 loose from a people, with whose affections and prayers his very 
 being is interwoven. I felt sad on account of a request which 
 ought to have been a source of joy, and my strong vigorous man- 
 hood shed gushing tears because my congregation granted me 
 leave of absence for fifteen months, and besought me to continue 
 their pastor. What strange stuff we are made of? 
 
 Thus, then in Gottes Namen, I expect to enter upon this 
 journey. What the result will be, God only knows. I feel 
 satisfied that He will direct and regulate it for my good and His 
 Glory. 
 
 He wrote in his diary of the last Sunday with his flock: '*0, 
 how hard to part from my people! Could scarcely preach this 
 
 * The spirit that constantly denies. 
 
108 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 morning. The heart choked for utterance. This afternoon 
 every pew of the church was crowded. Spoke with more ease." 
 On the next day while he was packing his luggage many called, 
 some bringing "presents, others their tears and prayers." The 
 day was ended with this touching prayer: 
 
 Lord Jesus, keep and preserve my flock. Into thy hands I 
 commit them. Make them Thine, forever Thine. And now, 
 Saviour, I go away from them, keep the little ones of Thy fold. 
 Embrace and bless them. Support the old, the sick, the weak. 
 In Thy name I enter upon my journey. Lord, Thou knowest 
 I would honor and glorify Thy name, thereby. Go with me. Keep 
 and preserve me from all impending evil. Above all. Holy 
 Father, for Jesus' sake preserve my heart from evil, that I may 
 grow in purity and holiness, and prepare me to suffer and do Thy 
 will and I will praise Thee forever. Amen. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Europe and the Holy Land — 1856-1857 
 
 THE Luebeck Church Diet, September 9, 1856, was the fixed 
 point, in Mr. Bausman's proposed travels. He purposed 
 to visit his relatives in Germany, and many other places must 
 be seen; but what shall his course be? How can he travel with 
 most profit? There were many questions about which he wrote 
 to Dr. Schaff before starting and he spoke thus of his plans: 
 
 I shall spare no labor nor expense to make a pious and profit- 
 able improvement of my time. I desire to spend five or six 
 months, if I have them to spare, at one of the Univers- 
 ities. Where think you could I get some Ketzer Pflasterf* I 
 want to see Europe dead and alive. I want to see her in her 
 dishabille, her week day dress. Hence my tour will be a rough 
 and tumble Wanderschaft, in which I will sing and pipe my 
 way along von Ort zu Ort,^ so as best to improve my craft. 
 
 His beloved teacher took great interest in the purposed visit 
 to many scenes with which he was famihar, and his advice was 
 most valuable. He should see and study "interesting men who 
 are after all worth more than things." Dr. Schaff gave him 
 scores of names of teachers and preachers whom he should hear 
 and visit, with letters of introduction to many of them. 
 
 Mr. Bausman had been dissuaded from taking the second 
 year in the Seminary course, and he was never satisfied. His 
 passion was to serve his Master efficiently, and the trip abroad 
 gave him what he could not get from study alone. He endured 
 privations and made perilous ventures with this end in view, 
 trusting Providence to guard him from danger because his motive 
 was pure. He gleaned an experience and a fund of first hand 
 information touching the Church, Christian life and religion, 
 
 * Plaster or cure for a heretic, 
 t From place to place. 
 109 
 
110 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 which gave him a unique and commanding influence, and he 
 crystalUzed and conserved it in his articles and books. 
 
 He wrote about forty articles for publication while abroad; 
 they were fresh and readable, from vivid, first impressions and 
 signed "Nathan;" twelve appeared in the Guardian under the 
 general title ''My Pilgrim's Pouch ;" twenty-five in the Messenger 
 under the heading "Foreign Correspondence;" two in the 
 Western Missionary and a few in the Lewisburg Chronicle. 
 The books came later, "Sinai and Zion" in 1861, "Wayside 
 Gleanings" in 1875. 
 
 The interval between lea\ing Lewisburg and taking ship was 
 occupied in a visit to his father's home and in preparation for his 
 departure. The application for his passport of the Lancaster 
 Notary gives us an outline sketch of Benjamin Bausman's person 
 as he was then, in his thirty-third year: "Stature, six feet — fore- 
 head, medium, oval — eyes, hazel — nose, Roman — mouth, mediimi 
 — chin, long — hair, dark brown — complexion, light — face, long." 
 
 Dr. Schneck, who likewise attended the Luebeck Diet, was 
 also a man of great stature. Their friends rallied them and said 
 they needed not to fear drowning in case of shipwreck on the At- 
 lantic, as they could easily wade to shore. 
 
 A few days before the departure, Father Bausman gathered 
 his children, along with their children — a company of about 
 forty — to the old home, that the traveler might begin his long 
 journey with the family blessing. The grandchildren are now 
 grandparents, but they remember vividly the happy reunion, 
 with what wonder they thought of their uncle's visit abroad and 
 they still cherish the precious mementoes given them by their 
 kindly grandfather. 
 
 Mr. Bausman went on board the steamer Atlantic, at the 
 Canal Street wharf, New York City, on Saturday morning, 
 April 12th, and arrived at Liverpool within eleven days. He 
 soon discovered that he was not cut out to be a sailor, for he was 
 among the first to become seasick. He always had to suffer 
 from that disgusting nausea when on a boisterous sea. Dressed 
 "like a Cahfornia gold digger," the minister was disguised; but 
 before the week was out his identity was disclosed through one 
 
EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND 111 
 
 who knew of him as minister and writer. The genial Captain 
 Eldridge had him preach the second Sunday on board, and a 
 most impressive and effective sermon it was on Jer. 12: 2, "What 
 wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan." He was humbly grateful 
 for the good it did, as judged from the many words of apprecia- 
 tion from the passengers. He modestly wrote to his brother 
 Philip: "It was the occasion and their relish for the truth and 
 not the manner in which I said it. For they seemed to listen 
 with almost breathless attention, so that they snatched thoughts 
 and words from my lips before they were rightly uttered." 
 
 Next to his own race, the Germans, no people appealed to him 
 more than the Scotch. He loved them for their piety and moral 
 rigor, for their poetry and literature. He hurried, therefore, a 
 few days after his arrival at Liverpool toward Edinburgh, "the 
 monumental city of Great Britain," its "northern Athens." 
 The word Lancaster had charms and associations ; it was the name 
 of his home town in America, hence he must see the original in 
 England. He stopped there a few hours but was not favorably 
 impressed with the "smoky town, with steep hills and crooked 
 streets bearing not the slightest resemblance to my native Lan- 
 caster." 
 
 The four days in Edinburgh were made most delightful, for he 
 was entertained part of the time by the distinguished publishers, 
 Clark & Son, who showed him much kindness. The scenes as- 
 sociated with John Knox the Reformer, and "the unfortunate 
 yet lovely Mary Queen of Scots" greatly interested him; but 
 the crowning privilege was to hear Dr. Candlish, the theologian, 
 and more especially Dr. Guthrie, "the Clay of the Scotch pulpit," 
 whom he heard speak for about fifteen minutes. "How thankful 
 I felt for that brief address — that glimpse of the noble Scotch- 
 man. " 
 
 He visited Melrose Abbey, Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter 
 Scott, Stirling, the Highland lakes and mountains, pausing at 
 "Gashaliel, where I wrote in my Pouch while a cobbler mended 
 my boots." He carried very little baggage with him — at first, 
 a carpet bag which later in his travels was exchanged for a lighter 
 valise, for he had not gone far in his wanderings until he wrote 
 
112 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 to his brother, "I am sorry I did not take still less baggage with 
 me." 
 
 A Sunday was spent in Glasgow and a day at Ayr, the home 
 of Burns. The visit to "Scotia, lovely land," was all too short, 
 but he had to be going and he exclaimed on leaving: 
 
 I love her history and heroes, her poets and her peasants, her 
 mountains and her moors. Should I live to return to my native 
 land I will read her bards with greater pleasure, and try to be a 
 better man for having visited the scenery which their genius has 
 embelhshed and the blood of heroes enriched. 
 
 He was delighted with the Scotch, so "frank and ardent in 
 their intercourse with strangers," but there was one foul stain 
 upon the land's fair fame which seemed to haunt him in its hideous- 
 ness — the Cowgate, the old town of Edinburgh. "A filthier, 
 wickeder and more besotted place it would be difficult to find 
 in any Christian country," and this in the fairest, wealthiest, 
 and most pious city in that land of pious people. "How is this 
 that Presbyterianism in Scotland annually gives millions to 
 missions and prosecutes its work with great success, and here 
 has been a stronghold of Satan in its chief city for successive 
 generations, which it will not or cannot break down?" 
 
 His parting from Scotland is with the prayer: "God bless 
 these ea,rnest Scotch Christians, and speedily enable them to 
 disenthrall and Christianize the old Cowgate." 
 
 One feels that Mr. Bausman was led to visit Ireland primarily 
 to see "Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain," the "De- 
 serted Village" of Goldsmith, for the ideal of the country parson 
 therein set forth was his, and from no poem did he quote so much 
 and so often as from this. He was of course shocked and dis- 
 gusted with the squalor and social depravity of the Irish peas- 
 antry and discerned its cause in land monopoly. Whitsunday 
 was spent at Dublin. He saw Dr. John Henry Newman in the 
 Church of the University of Ireland, of which the distinguished 
 prelate was then rector. 
 
 After returning to England, a Sunday was passed in Birming- 
 ham, where he heard the preaching of George Dawson, Esq., a 
 liberal free lance, whom he classed theologically with Theodore 
 
EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND 113 
 
 Parker and detested with the same hearty aversion. He visited 
 the birthplace of Shakespeare and tarried a few days at Oxford 
 where he saw Dr. Pusey, "the flag staff" of the Tractarian 
 Party. 
 
 The week in London was filled with sight seeing. As he went 
 by Buckingham palace he caught a glimpse of the queen — "Some- 
 thing of an event for a republican." He heard the famous Dr. 
 Gumming, "the audacious Millenarian prophet," and Spurgeon, 
 by whose simplicity and power he was charmed. He never wearied 
 in after years of telling about the collier who stood near him on 
 the lofty gallery and whose grimy face was soon furrowed by the 
 tears which started at the sympathetic appeal of the great 
 preacher. 
 
 He set foot on the Continent at Ostend, May 29th. "Four 
 days in Amsterdam where father spent four weeks on his way to 
 America." He would not tarry long in the Netherlands, with 
 all their interest, for he was in haste to see his relatives. By 
 steamer he went up the Rhine, "the most interesting river in 
 the world" — to him at least, for it was associated with his father 
 who had told him many a tale about it and had made him eager 
 for the visit. When he arrived at the ancestral home he wrote 
 to his brother: "All the way from Amsterdam I thought of 
 father, who passed down this great river fifty-four years ago, as 
 a young man bound for the new world." 
 
 The most dramatic scene of the entire visit abroad was en- 
 acted at Freilaubersheim, when he met his father's brother An- 
 drew and family. He did not at once make known who he was. 
 His cousin Yost did not trust him and treated him very coolly. 
 His father's letter and photograph and gift of $200 dissipated all 
 doubts. The aged Andrew was overjoyed at meeting the son of 
 his brother from whom he had not heard for twenty-one years. 
 The whole family were much distressed at their rude treatment, 
 which was altogether excusable because they were often de- 
 ceived by impostors claiming to be relatives from America. 
 His visit awakened the interest of the entire village and the 
 church service on the following Sunday was never so well at- 
 tended in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, owing to the 
 
114 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 rumor that the Rev. Benjamin Bausman from America would 
 preach. 
 
 About six months of the tour abroad was spent in Germany 
 and Switzerland and over half of the book "Wayside Gleanings" 
 is given to a description and discussion of what he saw 
 and thought in those countries. He studied the customs, church 
 life and spirit with far greater thoroughness amongst the Ger- 
 mans than amongst any other people he visited and thus equipped 
 himself for leadership in the practical church activities of his 
 own denomination. No minister of the Reformed Church in 
 the United States understood the religious spirit of the Germans 
 better than Dr. Bausman. As one studies his career and sees 
 his great foresight, keen insight and wonderful understanding 
 of the genius of his own people, he is impressed with the immense 
 profit which accrued from the half year spent in the Fatherland. 
 The problems of the church in America were in many aspects 
 the same as in Germany, and he looked on the life and results 
 there as a testing school for our own profit. 
 
 In those days the leaders of his denomination in the United 
 States were trying to find out what doctrines and practices were 
 genuinely Reformed. Some emphasized this, others that ac- 
 cording as they found in the past of their church what accorded 
 with their predilections. Benjamin Bausman believed in what 
 Prof. Euchen has so notably enunciated of late years, "that 
 conceptions are determined by life, not life by conceptions." 
 Therefore, he went to the sources and tried to catch the spirit 
 and genius of his Church in its home. 
 
 Superficial pietists then as now were disposed to sneer at Ger- 
 man theology and religion, but he was always ready to answer 
 them with knowledge. There were elements in German religious 
 life to deplore, and he found the reasons for them; however, in 
 its basic essential qualities of piety, sanity, reverence and fervor, 
 he found it worthy of admiration and imitation. 
 
 He visited many cities, all places of any important connec- 
 tion with the Reformation; but of particular interest were those 
 on the Reformed side like Heidelberg, Basel, Geneva and Zurich. 
 He mingled with the people at their fairs and firesides, tarried 
 
EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND 115 
 
 at their universities and met and conversed with a surprising 
 number of distinguished religious leaders, so many indeed that 
 he wrote to Dr. Schaff, that he "grew weary of lion hunting." 
 
 He attended many religious conferences. He was specially 
 impressed with the "network of holy activities" surrounding 
 Basel where he was present at the anniversary of the Mission 
 House. The conference of Swiss ministers at Schaffhausen was 
 most congenial and delightful. He was accompanied at the 
 Luebeck Evangelical Church Diet in representing the home 
 Church by Dr. B. S. Schneck and G. W. Griffith, Esq. Dr. 
 Schneck, as senior delegate, made the address before the as- 
 sembly. Mr. Bausman addressed the Palatinate convention of 
 the Gustavus Adolphus Verein and at the national meeting of 
 the same society in Bremen was prepared with an address but 
 did not give it. 
 
 This society, named after the great Swedish champion of 
 Protestantism, was made up out of the Reformed, Lutheran and 
 United Churches of Germany and was set for the spread and 
 defense of Protestant Christianity. Harbaugh, Schaff and Rust 
 were in high hopes of getting assistance from this Verein for 
 missionary work among the German immigrants in Amer- 
 ica. "Uncle Sam is rich enough to provide for his own; but the 
 immigrants fall partly, at least, on the care of the brethren in 
 Europe and this they ought to be made to feel, " wrote Dr. Schaff. 
 The favorable impression made by Bausman's address in the 
 Palatinate meeting of the Society greatly pleased the Board of 
 Domestic Missions and the following resolution was passed and 
 forwarded to him: "That we fully approve of what has been 
 done by Rev. B. Bausman, and that he be requested to present 
 the matter before the general meeting of the "Verein." 
 
 Prominent leaders of the "Verein" were greatly disappointed 
 that he did not speak, but he refrained for two reasons. The 
 composition of the Society as he saw it at Bremen did not please 
 him. There were among them "many good men and many 
 theologically bad ones." The Board's plan which it was urged 
 on him to propose was that it should "act as their agents in the 
 husbanding and distribution of their funds." "Suppose some 
 
116 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 St. Louis or Cincinnati rationalist congregation had asked at 
 any time for support, and our Board according to promise would 
 have been compelled to act as the servant and agent of Rational- 
 ism. This could easily have happened with some of those 
 mongrel herds. It might have involved us in a most unfor- 
 tunate committal." 
 
 He would have been glad to speak and apply for aid if he 
 could have "proposed one or more destitute congregations in 
 the West for their support, " but he was too cautious and inimical 
 to Rationalism to risk a plan which would in any way implicate 
 the Board or the Church with Rationalists. "I thought it safer 
 to drop the matter altogether for the present," he wrote to Dr. 
 Schaff, who was eagerly expectant of a promising outcome. 
 Thus ended this attempt to secure help from abroad for the 
 American Church. 
 
 We have seen in the earlier chapters how the spell of the power 
 and unity of the Roman Church was upon Mr. Bausman, how he 
 was grieved at dismembered Protestantism. We are not to take 
 those utterances too seriously, for they were made when he was 
 depressed and pained by the sect spirit and the shortcomings of 
 the Protestant Churches. After the trip abroad we see never a 
 word to indicate that the Roman Church had any charm for 
 him. The condition of the Irish peasants disillusioned him, and 
 observations on the Continent, particularly in Rome, made the 
 cure complete. Harbaugh twitted him: "I see by your letters 
 that you are not particularly attracted by the 'man of sin,' "Tis 
 distance,' etc., nuf sed!" 
 
 Schaff wrote: 
 
 You are right to dismiss Romanizing tendencies. Let the 
 dead past bury its dead. We belong to the living generation 
 and believe in a living Christ and in a steady progress of His 
 Kingdom. As to your further projects, I would say, go to Rome 
 by all means, but do not stay there. See the wonders of the 
 Eternal City and then shake the dust from off your feet and go 
 to Jerusalem, but do not remain there neither, for Christ has 
 risen and left the empty tomb there. The Greek Church is at 
 best a corpse of Christianity in a praying posture. 
 
EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND 117 
 
 Answering this letter Bausman said: 
 
 "Right to dismiss Romanizing tendencies." Eh! bien. Est-il 
 possible. You perceive I am getting to be very learned and 
 learning, you know, can seldom avoid Romanizing. But I will 
 see what the Papa says. Can I tell the Messenger and the Church 
 whether I like him or not? 
 
 What he thought of the great Church of whose supposedly 
 strong points he had heard so much he wrote after having seen 
 Rome: 
 
 I do not wish to pander to the tastes of those who can relish 
 no spiritual food but the execration and hatred of anti-papal 
 froth ; but hitherto I have failed to find in Romanism the Church 
 of Mohler and Bishop England. Everywhere I find a striking 
 discrepancy between the theology and the religion of the Papacy. 
 The moral turpitude of the priesthood is acknowledged here 
 even by faithful Catholics. There is enough corrupt fruit to 
 convince one who hath a "single eye," that the tree is corrupt. 
 
 The moral test was final for him. 
 
 Church union is a beautiful ideal and Bausman favored it 
 when it did not sacrifice the judgments and principles of the in- 
 dividual. In the unions of various churches in Germany he saw 
 so much of chafing and clashing that he wrote to Schaff: "How 
 comfortable and gemiithlich to be in a little church like ours 
 where we can manage our own affairs and need not be despised 
 and hated by those with whom we are fated to work and walk 
 hand in hand." 
 
 The union of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches in 
 Germany into the United Evangelical Church did not please 
 those who were staunchly loyal to Reformed principles, for they 
 were in danger of being swallowed up by the more numerous 
 element. The bad effect on the American church was keenly 
 felt. Herman Rust, born in Germany and understanding the 
 situation there, was in a position to know, as he worked among 
 the German immigrants of Cincinnati. He wrote to Bausman: 
 
 By all means try to bring some Ref. devotional works, such 
 as prayer- and hymn-books, from which translations may be 
 made for the use of our people. There is nothing more plain 
 
118 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 to me than that we must supply our Church with Reformed books 
 and other reading matter, in order to secure the attachment 
 of our members to our doctrines, etc. If this be not done, we 
 will never be able to escape the danger of being swallowed up 
 by others. The sad experience of our Mother Church in Germany 
 will surely be repeated in this country, if denominational indif- 
 ferentism, or rather denominational unconsciousness, is permitted 
 to reign much longer. I see and feel the ruinous effect of this 
 state of things perhaps more than any one else of our brethren, 
 because thousands of persons coming from the old country, 
 though born and raised of Ref. parents, have been so operated 
 upon by the spirit of unionism that they will rather enter into 
 connection with a rationalistic independent church than come 
 to us. And is the same disposition not already apparent in 
 hundreds of our own members, who will as soon join any other 
 denomination as our own? Now if our Church is worthy to 
 exist, then it is not more than right that her children should love 
 her, and live, labor and die for her; of course all in the Lord 
 and for Christ's sake. 
 
 This observation and study in Germany impressed Mr. Bausman 
 with the conviction that the German Reformed Church in the 
 United States had a mission to perform, a distinct work among 
 its people which it alone could do, and that the great task of her 
 leaders was to develop a definite denominational consciousness. 
 No minister in the Reformed Church did more than he to bring 
 this about. 
 
 The last two months in Germany were spent at Berlin. He 
 had the privilege of the Royal Library through the kindly offices 
 of the American Minister at the German capital and spent much 
 time in study daily. An hour a day was given to the study of 
 French. Quite regularly he strolled through the Thier Garten 
 and Unter den Linden. Not a few hours were spent in the homes 
 of an ever increasing number of friends, many of them distin- 
 guished in their professions. 
 
 He had missions from his American friends, some of which, 
 at least, he was privileged to perform. For Harbaugh, he looked 
 up the record of Stahlschmidt, one of the fathers of the Re- 
 formed Church in the United States, and was asked to send the 
 literature for a contemplated work on "Schwarmerei." Schaff 
 wanted hymn-books to help in work which then engaged him. 
 Rust wanted theological and devotional books. 
 
EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND 119 
 
 He had not been long abroad before he learned how well his 
 published letters were received. Schaff said: "Your letters as 
 they appear almost weekly in our church papers are generally 
 read with great interest. They contain the first fresh and lively 
 impressions and if collected would make quite a readable volume. 
 Please continue to give us regular information of what you saw 
 and heard." To this came the reply: "Your flattering allusion 
 to my letters gave me much encouragement. After deducting 
 the glow of your undisguised German friendship, there is still 
 enough left to bid me take courage." 
 
 Harbaugh, who wrote many and very long letters, full of regrets, 
 too, that he was not with him, was continuous and unstinted in 
 his praise. The letters were often quoted by other papers and 
 the Guardian subscription list was increasing as never before. 
 "We must pay you in love if we have nothing more and you 
 shall be a life member when you get home," wrote Harbaugh 
 in reference to Bausman's writing for the Guardian. 
 
 After his return to America he said in a letter to Rust: 
 
 It was often a sweet thought to me, that although my cor- 
 respondence was of small interest in itself, many warm, praying 
 hearts perused it with friendly joy, and followed my wild wander- 
 ings wdth sympathetic care. I felt moved the other day, to hear 
 an old, gray-headed father say, that the children, God's dear, 
 merry, happy children, always had a merry time when one of 
 my letters came. A sense of this pleasant interest in me cheered 
 many lonely hours by night and by day, when I was cut off from 
 home communications for three and four months at a time. O, 
 there is a heavenly solace in knowing that one is thought of with 
 tender concern by warm and genial hearts, when far absent from 
 them. 
 
 Harbaugh also more than any other kept him informed as to 
 the news of the home Church, and the doings at Lewisburg: "The 
 people there talk about you constantly as though you were 
 their little subordinate deity and they do it in the sincerest way. 
 Prayers are ever going up for you." 
 
 When Mr. Bausman left America it does not appear that he 
 had planned definitely to visit the Holy Land. He came to 
 this decision when he arrived at Berlin and much of his study 
 
120 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 there was directed to making that tour most profitable. In 
 August he wrote to his brother: 
 
 I have a burning desire to visit the land where our Saviour 
 lived and died. Long have I thought and prayed over it. Most 
 likely I will never get so near to it again. At the south of Italy 
 I will get within six or eight days from it. I would always re- 
 gret it if I would not go. I think I can serve the Church by going 
 and benefit myself. I have not written to any person about 
 this yet. I would rather you would not say anything for the 
 present to any person. I will know more definitely in a few 
 weeks and then will make it known through the Messenger. I 
 expect to write out my tour through the Holy Land; perhaps 
 I may clear my expenses by it. 
 
 This is the first hint we have of his intention to issue a volume. 
 No doubt the enthusiastic reception of the published letters led 
 him to form this purpose. 
 
 Mr. Bausman left Berlin on the 14th of November, 1856, 
 tarried but a short time at Dresden and spent several days, in- 
 cluding Sunday, among the Moravians at Herrnhut. "It is so 
 pleasant and genial among these people that I would fain dwell 
 with them," he wrote in his Journal; but he must not tarry long 
 anywhere now, for he is bound for Rome. A few days each 
 for Prague, Vienna, Trieste and he was in Venice at the beginning 
 of December. There he saw and worshipped in the same church 
 with the Emperor and Empress of Austria. Milan, Genoa and 
 Florence with their historic associations and artistic claims 
 could not be slighted by the traveler. He took up quarters in 
 the Eternal City December 15th and remained there five weeks — 
 all too short a time to study it thoroughly, but long enough to 
 learn much of Rome — pagan, early Christian and modern. 
 
 A characteristic incident showing his scrupulous honesty hap- 
 pened on Christmas Eve, when he attended grand mass held by 
 the Pope in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. It was required 
 that all men in attendance should wear dress coats, and the 
 only coat he had with him was a frock, well-worn at that. His 
 friends told him of the strictness of the rules regarding dress and 
 tried to persuade him to practice a little deception. ''Tuck the 
 front corners of your coat skirts under, the guard will take it 
 
EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND 121 
 
 for a dress coat then." "No, sirs, honestly or not at all," he 
 replied. He was of course turned back by the Swiss guards at 
 the door. Presently he approached one, explained that he was 
 a tourist from America, dear to all the sons of Tell, that this 
 would be his only opportunity to attend a similar service, that 
 his unbecoming coat was purely a matter of accident and not a 
 want of reverence for the occasion. He won admittance after 
 a little more patience and heard the best vocal and instrumental 
 music Italy could offer. It was "perfectly overpowering." 
 
 On the day before leaving Europe, Mr. Bausman wrote his 
 brother: 
 
 I left Rome with regret on the 21st of January. With all 
 her faults and reputed vices, she has some qualities that im- 
 prove on acquaintance. And then the friends I made, and 
 which were daily increasing, increased my enjoyments and the 
 ties to keep me longer there. The evening before some friends 
 called on me to take final leave, Washington Erben of Lancaster, 
 the Pole who has been my traveling companion since I crossed 
 the Appenines, and the Finlander and the Saxon, generous, warm- 
 hearted young artists, prosecuting their studies in Rome. As 
 it is more pleasant to travel by land in Italy, a party of six of us 
 hired a carriage to take us to Naples. When we reached the top 
 of a hill at the end of the city, I looked back for the last time 
 upon the Coliseum, and then our fiery black steeds champing their 
 bits, hurried us away from one of the most enchanting places 
 that I have ever visited. 
 
 The Three Taverns, Appii Forum, Puteoli, already he was on 
 holy ground (Acts 28: 13-15). A few days in and about Naples 
 including the ascent of Vesuvius — "blasting into the air melted 
 fiery masses of rock and lava, next to Niagara the grandest 
 sight I ever saw," — and on February 6, 1857, he embarked on 
 the Orontes for Malta and the Holy Land. 
 
 The eight days on the island where St. Paul was shipwrecked 
 and wintered for three months included the hohday held in the 
 great Apostle's honor, and then four days of seasick misery on 
 the "villainous Valetta, rolling like a coffee roaster in the hands 
 of a diligent woman," afforded him a "precious time to meditate 
 upon Paul's stormy voyage to Malta." 
 
 After landing at Alexandria, about two weeks were spent in 
 
122 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Egypt, mostly in Cairo and its vicinity. He could not call 
 pyramid climbing easy as many had done: "If there is a more 
 joint-straining, knee-skinning, shudder-inspiring stairway on the 
 face of the earth, I have never heard of it. The cruel heathen 
 dragged me to the top in eight minutes!" A few days after he 
 wrote in the Journal: "My legs and thighs are stiff from climbing 
 the great pyramid. Never so done up in my legs before. " 
 
 The pilgrimage proper through the Wilderness and the Land of 
 Promise was begun on March 4, 1857. The Rev. Joseph R. 
 Mann of New York City and Mr. Bausman joined in a contract 
 with the dragoman Ahmed Saide for $1,500, to be taken from 
 Cairo by way of Mt. Sinai, Ezion Geber, Petra, Jerusalem and 
 Damascus to Beirut. Mr. Mann proved to be a most genial, 
 sympathetic and helpful companion for the trying trip. There 
 were fifteen men in the caravan, which for greater safety for the 
 journey through Edom was increased by the addition of another 
 party at Akaba. Would that we had a picture of Mr. Bausman 
 in his desert apparel — "turbaned gray felt hat, pantaloons over- 
 laid with gazelle leather, soft, uncolored shoes, red flannel shirt, 
 a black, coarse burnouse, like a cloak with a cowl or cap to it." 
 
 We read in the Journal of the first day: "As we entered on the 
 desert m}'" bosom throbbed with joy. The air seemed exhilarat- 
 ing, the camels moved lightly and the prospect of getting out on 
 the open, free world to sleep, eat, pray and live under God's 
 pure open heaven, this was a thought which gave me unspeak- 
 able joy. And now while I write I feel so thankful and happy." 
 
 And well he might, for the deep yearning of years was to be 
 satisfied, as he followed in the track of God's chosen people and 
 trod the paths and saw the scenes made forever sacred by as- 
 sociation with the blessed Christ. 
 
 The visit, residence and study in Germany gave him an under- 
 standing of the roots, genius and temper of his denomination 
 and made him the wise counselor and prudent leader in the af- 
 fairs of the Church; the prayerful pilgrimage through Palestine 
 gave him better understanding of things and people oriental and 
 therefore deeper insight into the truth and spirit of the Holy 
 Scriptures and thus served to make more fresh, real and vital 
 
EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND 123 
 
 his preaching and writing for more than fifty years. ''Sinai 
 and Zion" was the outcome of this part of his travels and it was 
 his first and most widely circulated book. 
 
 The caravan arrived at Jerusalem April 9th, the day before 
 Good Friday, and two days afterward Mr. Bausman penned a 
 letter to his brother Philip: 
 
 I am sure you will all thank God with me, that I have arrived 
 in this most celebrated of all the cities in the world. We were 
 thirty-seven days in the desert. I have had camel riding enough 
 to last me a lifetime, and with all its fatigues am thankful even 
 for that. 
 
 The country and mode of traveling is so entirely different 
 from anything elsewhere, that I regard my experience there of 
 great importance to me. We had to make all sorts of shifts. 
 The first work when we got into our tents in the evening was 
 to mend our clothes, and sometimes be without them while we 
 did it. I bought a pair of heavy shoes but they soon 
 tore. Twice I had old pieces of leather, or dry, hard skins tied 
 on, but they were soon gone and the reason why I am not stroll- 
 ing after sacred places on this pleasant morning, but write to 
 you, is because I have no shoes to put on. The soles hung and 
 stripped in pieces from my feet and not being able to buy new 
 ones, I must keep my room until the cobbler mends them. The 
 hot sun so burned my pants that they fell apart like rotten. 
 You would scarcely have known me in my desert "riggins" on 
 a camel, with a bearded face that has felt no razor for 
 three months. I saw my face only twice on the whole route, 
 once in a basin of water and once through the mouth of a well, 
 way down in the water. When I first looked in the glass here 
 I almost felt like starting back at the sight of myself. 
 
 The ten rich days in Jerusalem and vicinity were concluded 
 with a final visit to Gethsemane before breakfast on the day of 
 leaving. The Journal reads: "I went into the Garden, knelt 
 down under a trellised vine and prayed, then recited the creed 
 and prayed the Lord's Prayer and read the Saviour's sufferings 
 here in the four gospels. Felt refreshed and comforted by this 
 retired service ere leaving Jerusalem." 
 
 The journey from Jerusalem to Beirut was made on horse- 
 back and covered eighteen days. It was none too safe because 
 of threatening warfare among the Arab tribes. Indeed the 
 
124 THE LIFE OP BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 entire Palestine journey was full of peril because of Bedouin 
 plunderers, and exposure in the enervating climate. At Petra 
 the caravan had been confronted with robbers, who had to be 
 l)ought off. "I had passed through the haunted regions of Italy, 
 and looked on many a robber's face, but never have I seen such 
 a cut-throat looking set of brigands as these." In the same 
 vicinity he had suffered severely from a sickening dizziness after 
 having slept on the damp ground under the open sky. 
 
 He was in serious peril at Shunem. His dragoman would not 
 accompany him. He insisted on seeing the village and turned 
 aside a few miles unaccompanied. He was met by suspicious 
 Arabs. His unloaded revolver, however, was in evidence and 
 they feared it, so he escaped. He wrote that evening of the in- 
 cident: "I felt that the Lord would protect me, as my motives 
 were to learn something about the place, that I might serve 
 Him with it." This simple life in the open agreed with him well. 
 "When we reached Beirut, I weighed one hundred and ninety 
 pounds, twenty-five more than I had ever reached before." 
 
 He took the steamer Samois by way of Jaffa, Alexandria and 
 Malta for Marseilles, which was reached on May 24th, to his 
 great relief, for "no sea ever treated me as did this Mediterran- 
 ean," Among the congenial friends from whom he parted at 
 Marseilles were the Rev. and Mrs. Wm. Arthur, "the most 
 exemplary Christians I have met in my travels." Mr. Arthur 
 was a Wesleyan and the author of a notable book, "The Tongue 
 of Fire." 
 
 From Paris he wrote to his brother: 
 
 I had intended to return from the East over Smyrna, Athens, 
 and Switzerland and visit our old uncle at Freilaubersheim; but 
 that would have taken too much time. I feel that I need to 
 spend some weeks in rest and quiet at home. I have passed 
 through a trying and toilsome journey, and I know no place in 
 the world now which I would rather see than home. Paris is 
 a great city, but I have seen many better sights than all its won- 
 ders put together. When one has traveled and seen so much he 
 is hard to please. 
 
 He was not now in a mood to appreciate the beautiful city 
 nor was its fame of a character to appeal to him. A few days 
 
REV. BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 AT 33 
 
EUROPE AND THE HOLT LAND 125 
 
 there sufficed and by the beginning of June he was in London. 
 A week more was given to sight seeing in the world's metropohs, 
 during which he heard Cardinal Wiseman and Baptist Noel. 
 He had his "likeness taken" in London. An insert of the 
 same appears herewith. 
 
 The voyage from Southampton to New York was slow and 
 tedious, covering seventeen days, owing to storms, fogs and the 
 repeated breaking down of the engine. Mr. Bausman suffered 
 the usual effects. A bright day for him was the second Sunday on 
 board when he was well enough to preach. His text was John 
 3: 7. "I knew I had Unitarians and Universalists for hearers. I 
 treated them courteously but wdth candor," he wrote. His ser- 
 mon was well received and a number of persons who did not 
 agree with him spoke appreciatively of his utterances, among 
 them Howard, the actor. 
 
 He arrived at New York on Sunday the 28th of June and on 
 that evening heard Beecher in Plymouth Church. The next 
 day he tarried in Philadelphia to call on friends and relatives of 
 missionaries in Damascus who had showed him great kindness 
 while there. 
 
 The last entry in the Journal of Foreign Travels reads as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 June 30. Left for Lancaster at 7 A. M. With strange feelings 
 I approached Lancaster. Joy, joy, joy inexpressible! Harbaugh 
 had just been home an hour from the West. We embraced each 
 other on meeting. Dined at Wm. Hoffmeier's who took me 
 home. Harbaugh went along, remains with me all night. Fa- 
 ther's family knew not that I was here. How glad they all 
 seem. My joy in getting home to meet our family all alive yet, 
 I cannot describe. may I never prove ungrateful to my 
 Heavenly Father, who has brought me through so many trials 
 and joys, safely home again. "Here I raise my Ebenezer." 
 Amen. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Lewisburg — 1857-1859 
 
 MR. BAUSMAN tarried at Lancaster for three weeks after 
 his return from Europe, but he hardly got the quiet 
 rest which he desired and needed. On the first Sunday of Julj'' 
 he preached twice in the Reformed Church at Millersville; on 
 the second Sunday, he preached in the First Reformed Church, 
 Lancaster, for Dr. Harbaugh and a few days thereafter gave a 
 lengthy lecture at the same place on "Egypt and Palestine" — 
 "nearly all the ministers in town being present." Multitudes 
 of friends flocked to see him, to his great delight. 
 
 "Brother Harbaugh has been much with me since my arrival, 
 to my great comfort and joy." He was talking almost con- 
 tinuously during waking hours. This was exhausting. He took 
 a severe cold and kept on talking; this aggravated his trouble. 
 The Lewisburg physician pronounced it whooping-cough and he 
 was in distress for several months. "My general health was 
 very good while abroad and the object of my travels has been 
 more than attained," he could say; yet he came back to be be- 
 set by physical annoyances which hindered him for a long time. 
 A few weeks after arriving in Lewisburg he wrote in his diary: 
 "Preaching seems hard labor to me just now. The reaction of 
 my travels is coming on me, affecting body and spirit." 
 
 He overworked himself and often complained of fatigue. He 
 was so very glad to be at his post again; the people were so eager 
 to hear him, that his responsive nature carried him beyond his 
 strength. When he celebrated the Holy Communion with his 
 flock the first time after his return, he noted in his diary: "Feel 
 so happy. Often during my foreign rovings my heart longed 
 for such a happy day once again." 
 
 It is difiicult for us, now after a half century, to reahze the 
 excitement and wonder occasioned by his return from an exten- 
 
 126 
 
LEWISBURG 127 
 
 sive tour. Globe trotting is now so common. "Quite a stir at 
 my arrival" — he humbly remarked, after coming to Lewisburg. 
 People stood about his house and stared at his windows. Men, 
 who were boys then in Lancaster County, and had never seen 
 or met him before, recall vividly today the curiosity which his 
 homecoming excited. This puzzled, surprised and humbled 
 him, as we infer from what Harbaugh says about it in a letter 
 to him: 
 
 "You were perhaps sometimes almost tempted to regard them 
 as fulsome and childish; but think back, my dear Benjamin, 
 when you were on the farm, unspoiled by learning and the knowl- 
 edge of the "wide, wide world," how would you then have gazed 
 at such a wonder as you yourself now present to these people. 
 But why do I so say to you, do you not know this well — yes, 
 you do. You and I shall never grow out of the sympathies of 
 the lowly, — may God forbid it." 
 
 His own church services were crowded. "The people are all 
 on tip-toe to hear something about my wanderings, and of course 
 my congregation too." He very soon began lectures on Bible 
 Lands and the whole town was interested. He wrote of them to 
 Herman Rust at the end of the year: 
 
 Am still holding my lectures. Last time the vestibules and 
 aisles and pulpit were full, even the sofa on the pulpit, and sev- 
 eral hundred went away who could not get in. I was requested 
 to hold them in a larger building. Next time will lecture in the 
 Presbyterian Church, after that in the Methodist, where we can 
 seat 1000 persons. Don't know why these silly people come, 
 often an hour before the time to get a seat. Nothing but a 
 plain talk on familiar subjects and scenes. Well, so our Father 
 works, "choosing the weak things of this world" to do good. 
 Sometimes for a little while the last become first. But really 
 this is an unaccountable panic, if I may so call it. I had expected 
 that three or four lectures would suffice to wear off the novelty, 
 and then the audience would dwindle down to ordinary size. 
 Aber so isch es ebe. Hee jah. Expect to continue till Spring 
 before I shall get through. 
 
 He was called on to deliver these lectures in towns nearby 
 and responded frequently. Out of them and the articles 
 from Palestine in the Guardian and the Messenger grew his 
 
128 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 book, "Sinai and Zion." He had in mind writing such a volume 
 before going to the East, as we have seen, yet it is doubtful 
 whether he would ever have done so, had it not been for the 
 persistent urging of Dr. Harbaugh, by word and letter to 
 undertake it. 
 
 This was, moreover, in the Reformed Church a time of immense 
 literary activity which has hardly been since surpassed. Har- 
 baugh himself was busy on the "Fathers of the Reformed 
 Church." The "Life of Schlatter" had just been published 
 and "The True Glory of Woman" was to appear in 1858. Dr. 
 E. V. Gerhart edited Ranch's "Inner Life of the Christian" in 
 1856, and his "Philosophy and Logic" came two years later. 
 Prof. T. C. Porter had issued his translation of "The Life of 
 Zwingli" and Dr. Schaff was publishing his Church Histories 
 and projecting and writing other books. Dr. J. H. A. Bom- 
 berger was translating Herzog's Encyclopaedia. Dr. Nevin 
 was writing his "tremendous" articles for the Mercershurg 
 Review. "The Provisional Liturgy" was about to appear. 
 The writing and publishing of books was in the air when Ben- 
 jamin Bausman returned to his home land and Church. It 
 were strange if he did not feel the contagion when he had a great 
 message on his heart, and when the Church was led to look for 
 a book from him. The editor prefaced Mr. Bausman's last 
 article in the Guardian written while abroad with the hope, 
 "that the treasures of his Journal may yet be given to the 
 public in the form of a volume." 
 
 He evidently began writing his book the early months of 1858, 
 but was so busy visiting here and there, taking vacations and 
 solving perplexing problems, that not much was done on it until 
 the end of the year. By December and during the remaining 
 months of his stay at Lewisburg all his spare time was put on 
 "writing at my Journal." "I begin to enjoy it — am going 
 round about Zion," reads the diary. 
 
 The character of the volume, moreover, is in keeping with 
 Dr. Harbaugh's ideas as to what it should be: 
 
 As to your tour, I say print it, put away your modesty. You 
 have a prophecy, let it be heard. Sit down and give us a volume, 
 
LEWISBURG 129 
 
 beginning where you began, going where you went, and stopping 
 where you stopped. You could make it a good book of reference 
 for ministers and of instruction to the people. Scripture studies 
 on the spot — Bible studies in Bible lands — some such ideas might 
 make the soul of the book. Make it a good sized dollar book, 
 giving your impressions fairly and honestly, standing in your 
 own shoes and taking the responsibility to speak just like your- 
 self without fear or favor. The manner in which your letters 
 were received, read, copied, spoken of and stolen for great books 
 is proof enough of their merits. When you come to the stolen 
 parts, say boldly in a note that these or like passages appeared, 
 etc., but that they are yours as reference to the paper and date 
 will prove or some such like. 
 
 Writing a book is laborious business and "Sinai and Zion" 
 was not published until he had been at Chambersburg nearly 
 two years. Apparently he faltered in his purpose from time to 
 time. He wrote in the summer of 1860: "I feel it after all, my 
 duty to give it to the public." The manuscripts were sent to 
 Philadelphia in November, and the book appeared in January, 
 1861. He said of it: "'Sinai and Zion' arrived. Fine, neat, 
 large volume of 543 pages. Quite a running for them. Gloria 
 Dei." 
 
 The book was enthusiastically received by the common 
 people. Ministers as well found it most profitable, and it is 
 still so. Nor will it soon become obsolete. There is a perennial 
 freshness about it. Mr. Bausman put his soul into it. Dr. 
 Conrad Clever tells this incident which occurred when he was 
 pastor in Baltimore: 
 
 I found a Methodist minister sitting on his front porch reading 
 a book on Palestine. He said, "I read nearly everything I can 
 get on the Holy Land. By the way, I read a book by one of your 
 pastors, entitled 'Sinai and Zion.' It is the most spiritual and 
 edifying I ever read on the subject. I never felt that I had found 
 the heart of the author in his book so much as in that one." He 
 then began giving me a description of what he thought the char- 
 acter of the author must be — whom by the way, he had never 
 seen. The description was better than could have been given 
 by one to the manner born. I have always thought, that was a 
 great compliment to the author of that book. 
 9 
 
130 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Agents succeeded well in the selling of this book and pastors 
 put it into their congregations by the hundreds. An apprecia- 
 tive critic of "Dr. Bausman's Literary Work" says in the Mes- 
 senger of December 30, 1897: "The volume was cordially wel- 
 comed outside of the Reformed Church; and in some parts of 
 Lancaster County which the writer has recently visited, it may 
 be found in almost every house." 
 
 With evident satisfaction Mr. Bausman made record in his 
 diary of April, 1862, that the book presented by a minister to 
 his cousin in Fannettsburg, "has since been read by twenty-one 
 famihes." Undoubtedly the two most popular and widely cir- 
 culated books ever written by Reformed ministers were "The 
 Golden Censer" by Dr. Harbaugh and "Sinai and Zion" by Dr. 
 Bausman. They were published about the same time and it 
 is interesting to note that the first advertisement of each appeared 
 in the December issues of the Messenger of 1860. 
 
 The literary fruitfulness of the decade in the mids of which 
 "Sinai and Zion" appeared may well be called the classical 
 period in the history of the Reformed Church, and Benjamin 
 Bausman helped to make it so. It was the fresh flowering of 
 bright, promising minds which had been stirred to budding life 
 by the energetic personalities and ideas of the Mercersburg 
 teachers. 
 
 Stereotype plates were made and Lindsay and Blakiston were 
 the original publishers of "Sinai and Zion." They were suc- 
 ceeded by the Reformed Church Publication Board. Daniel 
 Miller of Reading became the publisher in 1886. The book was 
 translated into German by the Rev. Charles Bank, of New 
 Brunswick, N. J., and published by Daniel Miller in 1875. Over 
 4000 copies of the German edition were sold. 
 
 During this second period of the Lewisburg pastorate, Mr. 
 Bausman was very much among his friends. His long absence 
 from them made him eager for their companionship and when 
 physically indisposed he sought recreation in their company 
 with frequent outings — fishing, driving, riding and visiting. 
 
 A few weeks after his return to Lewisburg when his cough was 
 very annoying he bantered Harbaugh to join him in a vacation 
 trip to which the cordial Harbaugh replied: 
 
REV. HENRY HARBAUGH REV. CHAS. H. LEINBACH 
 
 REV. BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
LEWISBURG 131 
 
 I would do anything in the world to cheer you. Although I 
 have no particular need of recreation, yet it would not hurt me. 
 How would a trip to Bro. C. H. Leinbach's, in Perry County do, 
 for a week ? Fine. We could go whortle-berrying, and talk about 
 ali things. 
 
 And so they did. A few years after Harbaugh's death, Dr. 
 Bausman wrote a eulogy of him and described the boyish pranks 
 of the trio in the woods and mountains on this trip. The fol- 
 lowing incident interests us: 
 
 Passing a photograph shanty in Landisburg, it was proposed 
 that we three friends should have our pictures taken. He and 
 our stout, hospitable brother took the leaner friend between 
 them — thus we three abreast were to be put on the plate. The 
 artist, Bressler, was a stern man who could not relish a joke just 
 then. Having adjusted his instrument, he held up his fore- 
 finger and ordered: Now keep quiet! This just then and there 
 was too much for any ordinary mortal to bear, gravely. Again 
 and again the poor man's order was met with a roar of irrepres- 
 sible laughter; the very effort not to do it, most of all our genial 
 friend's droll endeavors not to laugh perfectly demoralized the 
 party. The more the artist raged at our silly conduct, the fun- 
 nier the scene became. If any of our readers wish to see the 
 picture of those three grinning friends, vainly trying to obey the 
 word of the photographer, they will please call at the home of 
 the editor of the Guardian. The dear brother helped me more 
 than all the physicians had hitherto done for me. 
 
 The reader is privileged to see the picture above referred to 
 on the adjoining page. The photographer seems after all to 
 have caught the laughing trio in a sober moment. 
 
 Health considerations made Mr. Bausman take a long va- 
 cation during the summer of 1858. When fishing one day he 
 fainted and spat blood. While at his father's home he made 
 this record: "Pleasant day with good old Dr. Nevin." After 
 this, at a Synod, Dr. Nevin preached a sermon which he pro- 
 nounced "superb, thrilling." 
 
 The following letter to the Rev. Charles H. Leinbach shows 
 him in a facetious mood: 
 
132 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Lewisburg, Dec. 5th, 1858. 
 Dear Charlie, 
 
 Bist bos? Well, meint wege. Magst wieder gut werre.* 
 What has gotten over you? Don't write or speak to a man. 
 You treated me meanly at Lancaster, but I am above small petty 
 insults, especially since last meeting of Synod. Yes, you were 
 anxious to see me before Commencement, so that we could be 
 together at my father's during that happy season. But then 
 you were too lazy to walk that short distance. Faule Kerl! 
 Never mind, I'll forgive you all, and a great deal more if you will 
 just now do what I ask you, viz., come and assist me on the com- 
 ing Christmas. Confirmation on Christmas, Lord's Supper the 
 day following. I won't make you preach any more than you 
 wish to. Will preach half if you desire it, only so that you can 
 be with me, or I with you rather (pardon the mistake) . Natural 
 for a man of my importance to talk big, whew! 
 
 Now, Charlie, I am in earnest. If you help me this time I 
 will promise to help you for certain, when you desire me. Come 
 with the cars, we'll foot the bill, yes sirree. 
 
 Now Mrs. Leinbach (I am talking to your wife now, if you 
 please) send your fat, laughing, little big man up here, and he 
 will be out of mischief. You have always been my friend; (of 
 course, when I say "always" I don't mean to go back any farther 
 than our first acquaintance). I know you wish me well, and you 
 have such a pleasant way of showing it. That is, by sparing 
 Charlie a few days for me. You have done it more than once, 
 please do it again; and he will be all the better when he returns. 
 Should he be unwilling to come, just use a little of your gentle 
 authority and say, GO. Or by the way, Mrs. L., you just come 
 along (abominable ignorance of these poor, crusty bachelors, 
 who even forgot the courtesies of gallantry. I really was so 
 stupid as to forget this). Just the very thing. You have long 
 since promised us a visit. Some of Mr. L.'s relations live here, 
 and I feel confident he will at once bring you up, if you are willing. 
 Come, you are at home so much, and see where we live. 
 
 Horst, Charhe, schon g'schwetz'd? Now kum a mol raus aus 
 dem krumbuck'liche Perry'che.f Really, I feel anxious that 
 you should come. I won't overwork you, just enough to make 
 us both happy. Please reply immediately, or as soon as possible . 
 My love to Mrs. L. Yours in X, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 Come as near the middle of the week as you can. 
 
 *Are you cross? Well, I don't care, you may get good again. 
 fDo you hear, Charlie? nice talk? Now come once out of your crooked 
 .backed little Perry [county]. 
 
LEWISBURG 133 
 
 Busy with many things, he found time to write only a few 
 articles for the Guardian and Messenger during this period. 
 "Where are the Boys and Girls?" is a sympathetic plea for the 
 rational and natural training of children and a protest against 
 forcing them prematurely into manhood and womanhood by 
 talk and social functions suitable only for adults. This appeared 
 in the Guardian, as did one other article on "The Mount of As- 
 cension." There are three articles to his credit in the Mes- 
 senger. The first, signed "West Susquehanna," gives an ac- 
 count of the installation of the Rev. J. C. Bucher at MifHin- 
 burg, and then branches out on the pressing need of more 
 ministers. 
 
 He claimed that in part, at least, "the dearth of ministers 
 was due to making the full classical course a sina qua non" and 
 urged the imitation of the Basler Mission House, giving a short, 
 practical course of study for the ministry to those desiring it. 
 He did not in the least discount the value of a collegiate course, 
 but encouraged those who could, to take it. Another article 
 signed "Nathan" is on "A Word about our Wrongs," in the 
 tenor of "Sweeping Before Our Own Door" noted in a former 
 chapter. The carelessness of ministers in giving statistics of 
 charges caused more misrepresentation of our Church than the 
 criticisms of other denominations. He was perhaps the earliest 
 reviewer of Harbaugh's "True Glory of Woman," and his words 
 were in the highest appreciation of the book and its author. 
 "It is worth a whole cartload of Thackeray's and Dickens' 
 Tales," was his judgment. He understood his dear friend's 
 genius and put it well. Harbaugh's success as an author is due 
 to "the prominence of the heart over the head in his books. His 
 vigorous mind performs the office of sails, while his believing, 
 hoping heart is pilot and steersman." 
 
 It will be seen by a careful perusal of these articles that the 
 leaven of foreign observation was at work. He was a broader, 
 v/iser, saner man for the tour abroad and, as we would expect, 
 we see the impressions of his travels cropping out frequently. 
 He commented thus in his diary on the addresses of the Lewis- 
 burg University Commencement, 1857: "Substance of the ad- 
 
134 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 dresses, Stupidity and Blindness of the Past, Wisdom of the 
 Present, especially of this great country. What folly!" 
 
 Bausman's afflictions led him to the expression of these views 
 in a letter to Rust: 
 
 Do not I need to be chided and chastened as well as others? 
 And why should I not be able to endure affliction with peace 
 and joy? Alas! We preachers are poor sinners like the rest of 
 mortals, and stand greatly in need of being put in mind of it once 
 in a while. Our religion is so very liable to begin and end in mak- 
 ing and preaching sermons, and passing through a certain routine 
 of duties, so long as we are well and strong. We forget so much 
 to wrestle and grapple with our own sins. Our minds are fixed on 
 the faults and experiences of others, while our own poor souls 
 must be satisfied with a certain formal attention which we give 
 ourselves, because it is, of course, a minister's duty to perform 
 certain devotions. I felt this while abroad. I feel it more 
 now. It seems to me we do not go into our own hearts often 
 enough to see how matters look there, whether we have oil in 
 our lamps. And when we are slightly or severely afflicted, we 
 are startled to find ourselves so ill prepared for it. In this re- 
 spect I was greatly refreshed by my intercourse with the brethren 
 in Wiirttemberg and Switzerland. There each one is waging 
 war with his own bad heart, and grapples with his own sins, 
 while he tells others to do the same. And in proportion as he 
 feels this, he can sympathize with his people. Then they have 
 those private searchings and wrestlings, hidden interviews with 
 God. Then when they meet in conferences, they mutually tell 
 their trials and triumphs, their weaknesses and waverings, which 
 begets sympathy, and enables them to strengthen each other's 
 hands. What heart-confessions I heard there! Then they 
 prayed and wept over their sins, and the load seemed to become 
 lighter. At the Basler Missionsfest, Dr. Josenhaus, of the Mis- 
 sions Haus, exclaimed in a most solemn manner before a vast 
 multitude, "Mein bisheriges Christentum reicht nicht aus."* 
 It sent an arrow into many a heart. I felt it most keenly. It 
 was taken up and repeated by every Church conference I after- 
 wards attended. I still feel so. We do not analyze our own 
 inward man often enough. We lack the self-forgetting element. 
 This is another fault I feel. I have caught myself serving God 
 selfishly. Why cannot we lose sight of ourselves, preach, re- 
 pent, labor and endure all for Him, and for Him alone? So 
 many of those good brethren made stirring and telling missionary 
 
 *My past Christianity does not suffice. 
 
LEWISBURG 135 
 
 addresses just by reciting their Bekenntnisse.* In this respect 
 our classical, synodical and missionary meetings are sadly de- 
 fective. They lack genial fellowship and communion of spirit, 
 das herzliche. Statistical, learned or indifferent speeches to be 
 admired or feared by the smaller, or lazy fry. We have little 
 of that pouring out of hearts, to show one another what our 
 learning, or theology if you choose, has done or undone in our 
 hearts, for a warning or encouragement to all. But I am un- 
 intentionally giving you a homily. You know what I mean. 
 
 Mr. Bausman's ministry was becoming more heart searching 
 and effective than ever. His success humbled him and led him 
 to deeper fellowship with God. The pastorate with its oppor- 
 tunities of helping souls was dear to him; but his unique abilities 
 must have a wider field and twenty months after his return from 
 Europe, he was in the editor's chair at Chambersburg. He had 
 no ambitions whatever for this post. He shrank from it; but 
 his fitness was at once recognized by all who knew him and he 
 could not resist the importunity of friends and the unanimous 
 call of the Church. 
 
 As early as February, 1858, came the invitation to become 
 associate editor of the Messenger from Dr. S. P. Fisher, the editor. 
 Harbaugh and Rust urged immediately that he accept it. Said 
 the former: "Do not cast it away, it is a great opening. You 
 would give satisfaction to the Church." The latter in the ex- 
 uberance of his love and admiration -s\Tote: 
 
 They wish you to become editor of the Messenger, our most 
 important church organ. Precisely the very thing I have been 
 wishing for these three years past, and had suggested it to sev- 
 eral brethren in the East long before your return from the old 
 country, as Bro. Harbaugh, for instance, can tell you. Hence, 
 you may imagine my gratification with the above information. 
 Yes, indeed, had I ten thousand voices at my command, they 
 should all be united in one harmonious shout for your promo- 
 tion to the editoral chair at Chambersburg, and could I lay my 
 fat hands on your bony back I should push you along to that 
 establishment as fast as my short legs would carry me. This 
 may seem to you somewhat enthusiastic, but I can't help it, my 
 feeling for the general interest of our Reformed Church prompt 
 me to speak thus. I feel confident there is no man in our Church 
 
 * Testimonies. 
 
136 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 SO well calculated to give satisfaction to all concerned as the 
 Rev. B. Bausman of Lewisburg. Your strong and honest at- 
 tachment to the Church of your choice can not be doubted by 
 anyone, and of your extensive information, theoretical and 
 practical, all must be fully convinced; as regards your writing 
 ability, in substance and style, it cannot be surpassed in our 
 Church; and, what is more important still, every one must also 
 feel that you are not slavishly bound to mere human opinion 
 and certain dogmatic views. Hence, I consider it your solemn 
 duty to accept of the unsought offer, and in the name of the 
 Lord go and occupy that most influential position in the Church. 
 
 This is what we stand in need of at present, to bring a large 
 portion of our brethren into a more churchly and active posi- 
 tion, and to guard another portion, already begun to wrap them- 
 selves up in the shining and more easy cloak of newly cut forms, 
 from swinging into the other extreme of lifeless formalism. Al- 
 though we have, as a Church, made progress during the past few 
 years, yet how slow is our progress in comparison with the in- 
 crease of population, and the rapid extension of some other de- 
 nominations? All this tardiness is, in my humble opinion, at- 
 tributable to the great want of a proper understanding of our 
 Reformed churchly and soundly biblical position. How very 
 unsettled are our ministers, and even our professors, in re- 
 gard to this point? Some hold Zwinglianism, others prefer Cal- 
 vinism, others still try to labor along according to the unchurchly 
 views of modern Sectism, whilst those, who have become dis- 
 satisfied with Protestant Sectarianism, are laboring hard to con- 
 struct an entirely new platform, not of material found in the 
 history and life of our own Church particularly, but rather of 
 fragments discovered in the primitive Church, some of which 
 have been used with considerable success by the Old Lutheran 
 faction, and against the introduction of which the fathers of our 
 Church fought so manfully. With this variety of views and 
 tendencies, how much depends upon our papers to harmonize 
 and encourage the Church, and to urge her forward in the proper 
 direction. But the efficacy of the papers and periodicals again 
 depends almost exclusively upon the soundness and strength of 
 the editors. Hence, I am so anxious to see you at Chambersburg, 
 because I feel persuaded that there is not a man in our whole 
 Church so well qualified for that post as yourself. 
 
 The post is not an easy one, I know. It requires a pretty 
 strong man both in intellect and piety. One perfectly acquainted 
 with the evangelical Reformed way that leads to Christ and to 
 heaven; being able to handle "crockery ware" as well as bar 
 iron, strong in forbearance and firm in determination. But I 
 
LEWISBURG 137 
 
 know of none in our whole Church better quahfied than my Bro. 
 Benjamin Bausman, and for this reason urge your going to 
 Chambersburg. 
 
 Mr. Bausman paid a visit to Dr. Fisher in Chambersburg in 
 March, 1858, and talked over the matter but declined to accept. 
 The request was immediately renewed and when Mr. Bausman 
 was attending the meeting of the Board of Domestic Missions 
 at Carlisle in April, Dr. Fisher came to see him there and they 
 talked things over again, but to no avail. At the meeting of 
 West Susquehanna Classis in May, Dr. Fisher presented an 
 overture for the same purpose, on which a special committee re- 
 ported that they realized Dr. Fisher's need of assistance and 
 Brother Bausman's fitness for the place, "but, inasmuch as this 
 classis is of the opinion that Brother Bausman is highly useful 
 in his present charge and his labors are of very great importance 
 for its prosperity, they could not in view of all the circumstances 
 of the case, consent to aid in the separation." 
 
 The Synod met at Frederick, Md., in October. After re-elect- 
 ing Mr. Bausman to the Board of Domestic Missions, electing 
 him recording secretary, alternate fraternal delegate to the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (New School) 
 and the representative of his Classis on the Committee to con- 
 sider the removal of the Seminary "to some more central loca- 
 tion," they unanimously chose him for the newly created office. 
 Associate Editor of the Messenger. Declination was now im- 
 possible. Dr. Fisher, who was clerk of Synod as well as Editor 
 of the Messenger, said in the note accompanying the call: "I hope 
 you will feel constrained to accept of it. Neither your congrega- 
 tion nor the Classis should for one moment think of interposing 
 any obstacles to your acceding to the wishes of Synod. The 
 call comes from such a source and in such a way that it cannot 
 be slightly regarded." 
 
 In due time came the letter of acceptance: 
 
 Lewisburg, Dec. 13, 1858. 
 Rev. S. R. Fisher, D. D., Stated Clerk of Synod of German 
 
 Reformed Church in the U. S. 
 Rev. and Dear Sir: 
 
 After much deliberation and prayer I at length feel prepared 
 to reply to yours of October 30th, informing me of my election 
 
138 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 as Associate Editor of the German Reformed Messenger. An 
 insuperable sense of my own unfitness has led me repeatedly to 
 shrink from the critical duties of so responsible an office. Still 
 with my views of the Church and looking at all the circumstances, 
 I cannot resist the conclusion that the vote of Synod is the voice 
 of God. With this conviction, I hereby in the fear of God and 
 in reliance upon His Divine aid accept the office, with the hope 
 by Divine permission to enter upon my duties on the first of 
 February, 1859. Invoking the prayers, support and sympathies 
 of the Church, 
 
 I am, yours truly, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 A few extracts from letters which passed between Mr. Baus- 
 man and Dr. Schaff will interest us: 
 
 My Dear Doctor: 
 
 You have heard by this time that I have said "yes" to the 
 vote of Synod. But I can assure you I achieved this "yes" 
 through much tribulation. Leaving the active duties of the 
 ministry, after I have been ordained to and fallen in love with 
 the office; my partial success in its labors while the other would 
 be an experiment; the warm-hearted attachment of my people 
 without a single exception; all these plead strongly with me to 
 decline. On the other hand, ordination implies a promise that 
 you will serve the Church wherever she may place you. Now, 
 was the vote of the Synod the voice of the Church? the voice of 
 God? I could not help but think so, and hence, my decision. 
 If it was not the voice of God then pray how shall one discern 
 His voice in our Ecclesiastical Councils? I prayed over it long 
 and often, with the most perfect willingness to serve the Master 
 either here or there. I endeavored to make my will a "tabula 
 rasa" on which His will alone should be inscribed and now it 
 is there. The consequences both here and in the spirit and use- 
 fulness of the Messenger I shall leave to God. My part will be 
 to give what is in me, and if that won't suffice, the way will 
 soon be opened for some one to give more. 
 
 Nun, Lieber Doctor, was denken Sie von dieser Geschichte? 
 schon Geschwatz? Bin au in Deutschland gewest; uf der Uni- 
 versitat, wie der lieb Claudius sagt, und yetzt noch Editor werde! 
 Tausich in alle Welt nei ! Solt mer doch mena das es moghch 
 war? Ja, Ja, so giebts Leut, dene die Weisheit von den Fingern 
 ab tropset.* 
 
 * Now, dear Doctor, what do you think of this business? Nice talk? Have 
 also been in Germany; at the university as dear Claudius says, and now to 
 become an editor yet. It beats the whole world. Would one think it possible ? 
 Yes, yes, there are people whose wisdom drops oflF their very fingers. 
 
LEWISBURG 139 
 
 I feel cheerful since my mind has been made up and why should 
 I not? With Schneck at the Kirchenzeitung, and myself as an 
 offside horse at the Messenger, the team must go. Certainly 
 if we measure noses and legs, the symbols of speed and taste, 
 we shall have few equals. Just think what two pairs of such 
 legs can accomplish when started on the right track and what 
 stinking-carrion-heresy can escape demolition, once such pene- 
 trating beaks of criticism are thrust into the tomes of author- 
 ship? 
 
 Withal I feel most pitifully helpless and humble, almost like 
 Harbaugh's Schwenkf elder preacher — "like nobody, jumping 
 off from no place, going nowhere." Jesting aside, I cannot 
 surmount my sense of unfitness, which has haunted me from the 
 start. Der Herr wird schon helfen.* 
 
 P. S. I believe I ought to ask permission to remain here till 
 the first of April. Just now a young Jew, who has been attend- 
 ing my class, was here; is very much in distress about his soul. 
 There is an interest among the young, which I fear our church 
 will lose, in part, if I must leave so soon. I don't deem it right 
 to sacrifice the interests of a congregation any more than the 
 general interests of the Church render indispensably necessary. 
 
 my old instructor, perhaps you have never fully enjoyed the 
 luxury of doing good in the pastoral office. But I can assure 
 you, there can be no sweeter joy this side of Heaven than that 
 
 1 felt this evening when this poor son of Abraham stood before 
 me weeping, sobbing his distressed yearnings (Sehnsucht) after 
 the Messiah. 
 
 Mercersburg, Dec. 22, 1858. 
 My Dear Brother: 
 
 I received your favor tonight and hasten to congratulate you 
 upon the acceptance of the editorship, which I was pleased to 
 learn from the last Messenger. If Synod has confidence in your 
 fitness for the important post you are about to assume, you ought 
 to give her a chance at least to find out her judgment was cor- 
 rect and that her voice is the vox Dei. The objections you had 
 to surmount are of the most honorable character and I, myself, 
 sympathize with the congregation; but a congregation must 
 yield to the Church at large, the individual to the general, the 
 part to the whole. 
 
 When you come to Chambersburg you must not fail to pay 
 me a visit on old Seminary Hill. Hoch lebe die Mercersb. Theol- 
 ogie.f 
 
 Yours truly in affection and truly in haste, 
 
 Phil. Schaff. 
 *The Lord will no doubt help, 
 t Hurrah for the Mercersburg Theology. 
 
140 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Lewisburg, Jan. 11, 1859. 
 My Dear Friend: 
 
 I can scarcely tell you how glad I was to receive your recent 
 letter. I feel most devoutly thankful to our Father for the un- 
 clouded contentment I experience in my decision as well as for 
 the confidence and good wishes received from those above me. 
 "With different talents formed we variously excel." Nature de- 
 signs all to excel in something. I can neither excel as poet or 
 preacher. My little success in the ministry is owing more to 
 my little pastoral talent than to that of speaking. Whether my 
 prospective post will offer a more natural and congenial theatre, 
 time alone can show. I confess to a weakness if such it may be 
 called — I desire to serve the Church in the sphere for which I am 
 best adapted, so as to render the greatest possible amount of 
 labor in the short life allotted to me. 
 
 Our Classis dismissed me to Mercersburg Classis, at the same 
 time requesting me to remain one month after the expiration 
 of my year with the permission of the Pubhcation Board. 
 
 He afterward wrote to Rev. Chas. H. Leinbach and referred 
 to the situation he was then in: "Not a man would have voted 
 to accept my resignation had I not assured them that I could 
 not be forced into measures contrary to my clear convictions 
 of duty. Resigning a charge is a mere sham, if the congregations 
 have a right to vote a man back, noleris volens." 
 
 We see his determined attitude as expressed in his letter of 
 resignation: 
 
 My sympathies and my inclinations are with my present 
 charge. Seemingly I might still be useful here. How long I, 
 of course, cannot know. Still I felt myself in duty bound to 
 give a proper hearing to the wishes of the Church whose claims 
 upon our services you will allow me to say are paramount to those 
 of any congregation. I have endeavored to look the whole 
 matter fairly in the face, and after due reflection upon all the 
 circumstances — the limited circulation of the Messenger, the im- 
 mense good a rightly conducted church paper can accomplish 
 in a denomination, our past difficulty to reconcile the claims of 
 conflicting parties, and the cordial unanimity with which these 
 united in my election — all these being taken fairly into the ac- 
 count have convinced me that duty most decidedly predominates 
 in favor of the Messenger. 
 
 Brethren, you know me. I believe it is the voice of God, and 
 woe unto me if I don't obey it. Having such a conviction, I 
 
LEWISBURG 141 
 
 feel assured that you could have Httle respect for my conscience 
 or motives, if I should still refuse to go. 
 
 The second part of the Lewisburg pastorate was unusually 
 successful. Mr. Bausman confirmed sixty-four persons during 
 his last year there — twenty-four in the Lewisburg congregation, 
 seventeen at Dreisbach's, twenty-three at the Union Church. 
 
 When he "finally concluded to go to Chambersburg there was 
 much lamentation" among his people, and "bitter complaint 
 of the ungenerous treatment which the congregation has been 
 receiving at the hands of the Church." 
 
 When the Consistory acted on his resignation, "Father Brown 
 became excited and left." It was evidently of this man that 
 Dr. Bausman often took delight in telling the story which is given 
 as follows in his ordination "Jubilee Address:" 
 
 When I accepted a call to another field, the patriarch of the 
 congregation took me severely to task. He naturally had a 
 strong mind and rugged, rustic, common sense. One day he 
 accosted me in this wise: "One thing I cannot understand. 
 You ministers speak much about the providence of God. When 
 you accept a call to another field, you always say, the Lord calls 
 me there. But the call is always from a smaller to a larger place, 
 from a smaller to a larger salary. We have been training young 
 pastors for other people. When Mr. Harbaugh came to us 
 preaching went hard with him. We bore patiently with him. 
 As soon as he had become a strong man in the pulpit, the Lord 
 called him to Lancaster. It was to a larger and wealthier con- 
 gregation. With Mr. Heisler we exercised like patience. After 
 he had improved and could preach with acceptance and blessing, 
 the Lord called him to another place. When you began your 
 ministry with us, you — well, I don't want to hurt your feelings, 
 but — you know — with you too, we had patience, and now, when 
 you get along well, again the Lord calls our pastor to a larger 
 place, with a larger salary. I, too, believe in the providence of 
 God; but that He should always call a man from a smaller to a 
 larger place, I cannot understand. If he would call you from 
 Lewisburg to Block House [a weak charge, among the out of 
 the way mountains of Tioga County] I could understand it bet- 
 ter." 
 
 I felt touched by the earnest reasoning of this untaught man of 
 God. Not long before this he had taken me to Block House to 
 do some church work. I suppose to have become pastor there 
 would have meant the extinction of the charge, if not of myself. 
 
142 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Benjamin Bausman came to the end of his first pastorate 
 amid a flourish of "turkey roasts." He preached his vale- 
 dictory the last Sunday of February, 1859, and made this note 
 in his diary: "Almost choked with emotion sometimes. Much 
 weeping. Full house. This finishes my work among this dear 
 people. 0, how kind the Lord has been to me and them! Holy 
 Father, keep them and bless them unto everlasting life." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Editor of the Messenger — 1859-1866 
 
 BENJAMIN BAUSMAN was at his desk in the Messenger 
 office, Chambersburg, on March 1, 1859, and the diary 
 record of the day is given in one brief line, "Read exchanges 
 and wrote some." 
 
 His first editorial appeared in the issue of March 9th, follow- 
 ing an announcement by Dr. Fisher of "Our New Arrangements" 
 — "Our columns will hereafter be, in a great measure, under the 
 direction of our associate, a circumstance which our readers will 
 have no occasion to regret." 
 
 He said in this "Introductory." 
 
 The Church has already been apprised of my election in dif" 
 ferent ways, and to my regret, in one instance at least, in lang- 
 uage more flattering than wise. Much praise for a talent which 
 a man has never had a chance to test or cultivate, is of doubtful 
 benefit to himself and others. 
 
 This is no time to indulge in lachrymal lamentations over a 
 sense of unfitness and over the severe necessity which compels 
 one to abandon, for a season, the genial labors of the pastoral 
 office. My present business is to go manfully to work. 
 
 "More editorial force" we need, says the publishing firm, the 
 Synod and the Classes. An expressive word is force, but in 
 this case, at least, it is a compound and not a simple power. 
 Not only editorial, but also contributing force we need. Like 
 fire, force in this case needs fuel or the heat will die. Short ar- 
 ticles, incidents and scraps pf news, culled from the experience 
 of pastors and congregations, will infuse a racy, sprightly vigor 
 into the paper. In watering, it ought to be watered. In mould- 
 ing and stimulating the faith and piety of the Church, it ought 
 to be moulded in return. A good, religious paper is like a lake 
 which receives its waters from rills and streams that spring in 
 retired, mountain heights, and pays them back in vapors, form- 
 ing clouds and raining the water into the streams again. It 
 ought to be a mirror reflecting the faith and life of the Church 
 
 143 
 
144 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 it represents. Perchance it must occasionally perform the office 
 of a sieve, in which the sound wheat of truth may be riddled out 
 of chaffy notions and tares. Let the rills and larger streams 
 pour into the lake; let the theology and practice of the Church, 
 in its germ and development, its youth, manhood and riper age, 
 look and labor into this mirror; let the un winnowed principles 
 of disputed positions be cast into the sieve and soundly dusted 
 and riddled. We need and claim the cooperation of the lay and 
 clerical members of the church. To infuse interest into the 
 Messenger, increase its circulation, and, in this way, serve the 
 cause of Christ and His Church, is a work to which many will 
 readily and cheerfully contribute their mite, so I believe, and 
 so I pray. 
 
 I feel that I am not before a strange or new audience, though 
 in a new relation — on a new stage, and hence I must needs 
 make my humble bow. An awkward bow it is ; for I am incapa- 
 ble of any other in posture or on paper. May the great Head of 
 the Church inspire us with the spirit of our station and make our 
 paper a Messenger of good tidings to His people, bless and pros- 
 per its mission to the spiritual benefit of its readers and the glory 
 of His name. 
 
 A few weeks after this he wrote to Rust: "I don't know how 
 I shall succeed. I begin to like it pretty well. By the help of 
 God, I shall spare no trouble to raise the paper and benefit the 
 Church." 
 
 That he labored strenuously at his new task we can be sure 
 and he succeeded in giving a " sprightliness and vivacity" to 
 the paper. The second page of the Messenger was crowded with 
 short, pithy, timely articles on a multitude of practical topics. 
 His work was appreciated and praised by many, but to him 
 it was burdensome. He did not receive the help in news and 
 contributed articles which he had a right to expect. Several 
 months after he was fully in the editorial harness, following a 
 visit to Lewisburg, he wrote to his successor, the Rev. Chas. H. 
 Leinbach : 
 
 Here I am sitting at my desk, pult, table or whatever name 
 you may see fit to apply to my nondescript editorial fabric. Hard 
 work to get rightly started again. I will try to bear my little 
 burden of toil patiently. Sometimes I feel very heavy, so many 
 vexations and annoyances. You have no idea what a thankless 
 task I am performing; almost without perceptible sympathy. 
 
EDITOR OF THE MESSENGER 145 
 
 with little cooperation and with hypocrites croaking here and 
 there. You can hardly believe how sweet it is to feel the sym- 
 pathy of Jesus, and to cherish a hope that He knows my little 
 difficulties, which for a season I am trying to endure for His 
 sake. It is almost ten. While you are thinking of retiring to 
 rest, I must try to work an hour or two yet, if I can keep off 
 drowsiness. 
 
 The diary is full of hints of the irksomeness of his task. 
 Exactly a year after he took up the editorial pen, stands the 
 record : 
 
 Hard pushed for copy; mind is obtuse and inactive — much 
 embarrassed. Labored with much effort and anxiety this week. 
 Get so little help and encouragement from the Church. Few 
 contribute or seem to care aught about the paper. Unless it 
 improves I shall ask the Lord to allow me to serve Him in a 
 charge. 
 
 The Liturgical Controversy was on and increasing in warmth, 
 and in his determination to keep the Messenger non-partisan 
 Mr. Bausman found himself between two fires of criticism and 
 abuse. His peaceful spirit was backed with a courageous hand 
 which held the rudder true, but he winced under the darts which 
 the carpers hurled upon him. He was unable to put aside even 
 unreasonable complaints without worriment. One catches the 
 
 note of annoyance in reading a record like this: "Bro. B. 
 
 is incensed because we pruned his obituary notice for the Mes- 
 senger and cut out certain indelicate expressions." 
 
 At the meeting of the Synod in Lebanon, October, 1860, he 
 resigned his post. 
 
 Synod at once tried to resolve not to accept; but I begged to 
 be relieved from its embarrassing duties. The matter was re- 
 ferred to a committee. After several interviews they reported 
 satisfactory improvements to myself. Will take it another year 
 in the name of the Lord! . . . Synod was fully persuaded that 
 if this resignation be allowed to take effect, the value of the 
 Messenger would be seriously affected and the material interest 
 of the Church in that paper be considerably damaged. 
 
 With the consent of Dr. Fisher, the Synod resolved: "That 
 Rev. B. Bausman be hereby requested to assume the chief edi- 
 torial management with authority to make such improvements 
 10 
 
146 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 as in his judgment may be deemed necessary." The ministers 
 
 and members of the Church were importuned to "use all proper 
 
 endeavors, to sustain the editors in the management of the 
 
 paper and to increase its subscription list." "An assistant 
 
 editorial committee" of six prominent ministers representing 
 
 the several sections of the Church was appointed. 
 
 Hitherto one reads in the headlines of the Messenger: 
 
 "S. R. Fisher, j^^.^^^^.„ 
 
 B. Bausman, j ' 
 
 hereafter, 
 
 "B. Bausman, )„ ,.^ „ 
 c -D -c>- 1, >Editors." 
 S. R. Fisher,j 
 
 Only for a year continued the arrangement, however, for the 
 annoyances of the office rather increased with the beginning of 
 the Civil War. Many of the readers were in the South and 
 partisan spirit ran high. 
 
 In a letter to Dr. Lewis H. Steiner shortly after his resignation 
 was accepted, October, 1861, he touched on this: 
 
 Most assuredly, "Loyalty is not synonymous with Republican 
 sentiments," but not a few, even in our own Church, think that 
 it is. of Baltimore, charged me, at Easton, with offend- 
 ing the readers of the Messenger by abusing my position in thrust- 
 ing upon them my own partisan views. Of course, I gave him 
 a piece of my mind on the subject, for I confess it wounded me 
 most keenly. He afterwards made an apology, so that I cherish 
 no unpleasant or unkind feelings towards him. 
 
 Dr. Steiner had written in a previous letter: 
 
 I am sorry to hear that you are to be disconnected from the 
 editorial chair of the Messenger. It was pleasant to think that 
 a friendly hand was holding the reins and one's pen worked with 
 greater rapidity under the inspiration of such a thought. 
 
 What has become of the famous board of collaborators, whose 
 initials were interpreted for the benefit of your readers, at the 
 head of the second page? Have they all collapsed? Some did 
 good service. They should have been retained. I presume all 
 have found out that it is no easy matter to write editorials. 
 
 The "board of collaborators" referred to were the assistant 
 editorial committee and in Bausman's reply to Dr. Steiner, he 
 
EDITOR OF THE MESSENGER 147 
 
 said it had "become defunct, by general consent. Only half 
 of the members served." In the same letter, he went on to 
 say: 
 
 I don't claim perfection for my humble editorial labors. 
 Doubtless many things might and ought to have been done 
 better. And when amid much that has been poorly done, breth- 
 ren speak kindly of the little that has been done tolerably well, 
 I esteem it as part of the reward of my well-intended efforts. 
 Whatever my defects have been, mine has been a "friendly hand" 
 while on the helm. My connection with the Messenger has been 
 pleasant, and but for the embarrassments which envelop it, I 
 might have consented to remain. I have now again taken a 
 congregation, and expect to devote all my strength to the care 
 of souls. Whether I shall write much for the Messenger, along 
 with this, will depend upon the arrangements Brother Fisher 
 will make. 
 
 Looking back on this period after forty years Dr. Bausman 
 said in his "Jubilee Address:" "I devoted three very busy years 
 to religious journalism. In many respects they were a great 
 benefit to me and I hope not without blessing to the cause of 
 Christ. Withal it left me unsatisfied. My heart yearned after 
 a closer personal contact with the souls I was to teach and 
 train." 
 
 It will be seen that with the lapse of years the vexations of the 
 editorial chair were not mentioned, perhaps they were forgotten; 
 their memories were surely mellowed, and the reason assigned 
 for return to the pastorate was the vital and true one. The 
 diaries confirm this, for there is the recurrent and persistent 
 note of heart yearning for the genialities and personal touch of 
 the pastoral relation. Two weeks after he was at Chambers- 
 burg we read: "Feel lonesome on the Sabbath, miss my flock." 
 Later: ''To Lewisburg, so glad to meet these dear people 
 again." "Pleasant day to my soul," after preaching three times 
 of a Sunday for a brother minister. 
 
 Mr. Bausman said "Adieu," as editor in the issue of Novem- 
 ber 27, 1861. He wrote in happy mood with the bright side of 
 the retrospect before him: 
 
 My editorial duties have generally been a source of pleasure 
 and rarely a task. They afforded an opportunity to prosecute 
 
148 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 favorite literary pursuits and to weave their fruits into gar- 
 lands for the entertainment of the readers, — may I not hope also 
 for the instruction and edification of many? 
 
 The most earnest cogitations and the thoughts of my holiest 
 hours for the last three years have found expression in the col- 
 umns of this journal. 
 
 Often when much and close earnest thinking produced mental 
 plethora, its columns afforded a gentle relief by furnishing a 
 useful outlet to repletion of thought. 
 
 To my contemporary brother editors, especially of religious 
 journals, many of whom have extended to me formal marks of 
 good will, I tender my heartfelt regards. 
 
 No man can conduct a paper for any length of time without 
 giving umbrage to somebody. If this has been my lot, I have the 
 satisfaction of knowing that the persons affected at least accord 
 me purity of intention and a laudable purpose. If at any time 
 I have erred (and who erreth not?) it has been an error of judg- 
 ment and not of the heart. If I have given any just cause of 
 offence, I hereby beg forgiveness. 
 
 Possibly I may continue to have a word to say occasionally 
 through the Messenger as a private contributor. 
 
 Dr. Fisher said: 
 
 We need not disguise the fact that we part with him with 
 deep regret — and the more so because we felt that our readers 
 would regret the absence in our columns of his editorial labors. 
 His inclinations in this direction have been repeatedly evinced 
 to us during the past two years. We could not consistently 
 resist them any longer. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was wont in his modesty to say that for about 
 three years he had editorial connection with the Messenger. 
 This is true as far as official relation is concerned, but the fact 
 is that for five years longer he continued to be a prolific writer 
 of editorials. Indeed, the acceptance of his resignation by the 
 Synod at Easton was with the expectation that part of his 
 services would continue to be given to the Messenger. 
 
 About 400 articles, many of them lengthy ones, came from 
 his pen for the Messenger during the two years pastorate at 
 Chambersburg and the first three years at Reading. 
 
 There is an interval of a few months following the ''Adieu," 
 during which we find no trace of his pen. In the last issues of 
 
EDITOR OF THE MESSENGER 149 
 
 February, 1862, begins a series of about a dozen articles signed 
 "Junius." They are less didactic, and more of a humorous 
 and literary flavor. At the same time begins his course of editor- 
 ials proper signed with the Roman cross (~|~) and they continue, 
 with interruptions only in occasional issues, until he became 
 editor of the Guardian and of the Hausfreund at the close of 
 1866. During this last year his signature is the Greek cross (+). 
 How widely it was known at the time that he was contribut- 
 ing editor, we are unable to ascertain. The leaders of the Church 
 knew of his continued editorial labors and which articles were 
 his, as we gather from such a note as follows to Mr. Bausman 
 from Dr. Schneck, written in 1865, from Chambersburg. This 
 was after the removal of the printing establishment to Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 If it were not for the -|— marks in the Messenger, which in- 
 dicate some life, we here in the frontiers might conclude that 
 you were "non inventus est." By the way, I have been grati- 
 fied with some of your ~|— articles — among them the one touch- 
 ing up (or down) a certain minister whose "self-denial" 
 is brought to Zero by ministering to German-English charges. 
 
 His services were appreciated and yet it is doubtless true as 
 stated in a "Tribute to Rev. Benjamin Bausman, D. D.," by the 
 editor in the last issue of the Messenger in the year 1897, that this 
 editorial "work on the Messenger has never received due public 
 acknowledgment. " 
 
 When Benjamin Bausman resigned the editorship to resume 
 the pastorate, he was confronted with another challenge which 
 would lead him into a theological professorship. This episode 
 will be given at length in another chapter. -..i 
 
 The editorials of Benjamin Bausman in spirit and range of 
 topics were, in the main, like those found generally in religious 
 journals. In sanity, penetrating insight and impassioned ex- 
 pression, in freshness and vigor of style they were unique. We 
 find an unusual number of heart-searching appeals for warm 
 fellowship with God and for the soul's earnest battle with evil. 
 This is in keeping with his fundamental passion for personal 
 holiness. And we see in them clear-cut discernment of the fine 
 points of conscience and of character, and a knack of discover- 
 
150 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 ing overlooked points of moral peril as well as neglected coigns 
 of vantage. Almost every conceivable phase of church life and 
 practice received the treatment of his strong and kindly pen from 
 the "Sexton" and the need of "Fresh Air" to "Clerical Recre- 
 ations" of which beyond dispute horseback riding was the best. 
 Church members were vigorously challenged to efficient Chris- 
 tian living and to playing fair with their pastors ; but the min- 
 ister holds the key to the situation and the young editor showed 
 himself a worthy professor of homiletics and practical theology. 
 Ministers must become effective in the winning and training of 
 souls and in this work preaching alone would not suffice. He 
 glorified the pastoral function. 
 
 He was not long in the editor's chair until he gave expression 
 to what was with him a great life purpose: 
 
 We do not wish to disguise it, our ambition is to give the Church 
 a paper which will help to denominationalize our people. We 
 need a general diffusion of our distinctive principles, and our aim 
 shall be to give the Messenger a character which will enable it 
 to inspire every family it enters with the spirit of our Church, so 
 that children even may catch its glowing life. What we need, 
 in addition to our excellent system of catechization, is to throw 
 a living atmosphere around our people, pour these weekly chan- 
 nels of truth upon them, simple, practical truth fresh with bud- 
 ding facts and incipient history, which old and young can inhale 
 and relish. Our success will depend upon the co-operation of 
 the ministers. 
 
 Therefore articles, facts, increase of circulation, etc., were 
 needed. 
 
 While the theologians were trying to solve the problems in- 
 volved in the Church Question, he was intent on getting the 
 people to practice and live out the principles. 
 
 "Our Church is fast becoming conscious of her mission," he 
 said later, and he helped mightily to that end. As we have 
 seen in former chapters, he hated sectarianism. He was at the 
 furthest remove from the intolerant, narrow, denominational 
 spirit; but he did believe that the Reformed Church was 
 best for the Reformed people, that the denomination had a 
 distinctive God — given work to do amongst the people provi- 
 
EDITOR OF THE MESSENGER 151 
 
 dentially committed to it. Mr. Bausman was by temperament, 
 taste and training conservative and therefore he looked to the 
 Heidelberg Catechism and the customs of the Church for the 
 norm in precept and practice. Accordingly his editorial columns 
 reechoed with calls to "Begin Early" in the Christian training 
 of children, to exercise the "Power of the Keys" in a discipline 
 that was first explained and then firmly enforced, to observe the 
 Christian year in the festivals commemorating the great facts 
 of the Saviour's life. Imbued with the Mercersburg Theology, 
 his was a churchly gospel which emphasized the maternal func- 
 tion of the Church in Christian nurture together with reverence, 
 order, beauty and dignity in Christian worship. He argued 
 strongly for the prayer-meeting in the life of a congregation. 
 It was not inconsistent with the churchly position. He wanted 
 a piety that was rich in sentiment, but free from sentimentality. 
 In the vital character of Christian experience he found warrant 
 for what some would call a pietistic emphasis and this he claimed 
 was sanctioned by the best Christian life of the Reformed Church 
 in the Fatherland. 
 
 His first-hand knowledge of affairs in church and state abroad, 
 sustained his interest therein and "Foreign Intelligence" was 
 prominent in the columns with illuminating comment thereon, 
 particularly touching the Germans. 
 
 Whatever course other denominations may pursue, it will be 
 a ruinous policy for the German Reformed Church to sever the 
 ties that bind her to her European mother. To be true to our- 
 selves and our mission, we must grow and assimilate from the 
 past, from the roots upward and not from the top downwards. 
 In our developments in theology and cultus, we must advance 
 with becoming reference to the history of the Church, or we will 
 develop ourselves loose from the vitalizing trunk from which we 
 have sprung. Vanity and irreverence for the past are besetting 
 sins of American Theology. 
 
 Our great need just now is firmness and fixedness of purpose 
 and principle. A Church, like an individual, can only perform 
 her mission by being true to herself. When she swerves and 
 swings from the principles which give her a vital individuality, 
 she must be content to live on the shadow of an inherited name. 
 
 Words still rich in wisdom after fifty years! 
 
152 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Anyone acquainted with Mr. Bausman knows that indecision 
 on any important problem was unusual for him. It is interest- 
 ing to note that on the question then under discussion of drop- 
 ping the word ''German" from the denomination's name, he 
 was undecided. He was in a strait betwixt two. Practical con- 
 siderations said, Drop it. Reverence and precious associations 
 said, Retain it. 
 
 In those days the Reformed Church was making its first ex- 
 cursion into the Foreign Mission field through its missionary, 
 Dr. Schneider, in Aintab, Turkey. Of course, Mr. Bausman's 
 heart and hand was with the cause, but with the distinct under- 
 standing that first and foremost effort must be spent here at 
 home and especially in the much needed building up of our own 
 people. Withal, the poor in purse and piety were upon his 
 heart, and each church was often reminded to do its duty by 
 them in a spirit that makes one feel how close and true Mr. Baus- 
 man was to the great compassion of his Master. 
 
 In the first year of his ministry, Mr. Bausman had expressed 
 to Herman Rust his viev/s of how the Messenger should be con- 
 ducted : 
 
 Whoever will have control of its columns, I do hope it will 
 cease to serve as an apologist of the views of any one man, or 
 number of men, though they be the dearest friends I have on 
 earth. Dr. Nevin can take care of himself, so can Dr. Schaff. 
 The Messenger should, and, to be successful, must be the organ 
 of the German Reformed Church, and not the organ of one or 
 two men. If there are any precious truths to be proclaimed, 
 let them be proclaimed as the truths of our venerable Catechism, 
 and not as the offspring of any man's system. 
 
 When it fell to his lot to "control its columns" he soon dis- 
 covered how hard it was to conduct the paper according to his 
 liking. A flood of articles on the Liturgical Controversy was 
 pouring into the editor's ofiice. He reahzed that "the subject 
 of worship involved in this question, is of paramount and 
 most practical importance. At the same time," runs this one 
 of his early editorials, on "Too Much of a Good Thing," "we 
 are willing to admit that no subject however important, should 
 monopolize so large a part of our columns." He wrote of the 
 
EDITOR OF THE MESSENGER 153 
 
 matter to Rust: "If I can only get the brethren to avoid 
 personalities, and discuss their differences in the spirit of charity. 
 I would like if we could give a dignified, solid tone to the 
 Messenger, free from the petty, bitter strifes that so often 
 characterize our religious papers." 
 
 He very soon felt the consequences of these restraining efforts 
 as we see from his note to the Rev. Chas. H. Leinbach: "The 
 bullets are whizzing about my head for drawing the reins on the 
 Liturgical race. Let them fly. If I am to drive a team I must 
 have something to say about the loading." 
 
 The needs of the plain people were always before Mr. Bausman 
 and in later editorials appeared the following: 
 
 We must bear in mind, that the great bulk of our readers are 
 lay members of the Church, who may be willing to read a few 
 columns of matter on the subject, but cannot take the same 
 patient interest as the ministers in reading much more. 
 
 It is of the greatest importance not to allow the discussion to 
 spread over so large a territory, that the points at issue will 
 either dissolve into "airy nothings," where no one can see what 
 the earnest contenders are firing at, or else the writers will take 
 each other by the throat instead of their principles. 
 
 Our business is to write for the instruction and edification of 
 our readers. What right have we to weary them with scathing 
 personalities, by filling their ears with things that concern no- 
 body but ourselves? 
 
 It is this feature — the prevalence of polemical acrimony — that 
 is most to be deplored in the religious journaUsm of our day. 
 
 A religious paper, to say the least, ought to be a gentleman, 
 and no gentleman could be caught in such unbecoming ebulli- 
 tions as some controversialists perpetrate. 
 
 As an exchange has it, we ought not "write paragraphs like 
 the decrees of the council of Trent — everyone ending with ana- 
 thema, maranatha, " or "instead of pouring the oil of healing 
 upon their victim, drench him with the oil of vitriol." 
 
 These were "belligerent times," and the pleadings of an 
 irenic spirit were of no avail. Another course was open to him 
 and he took it with firmness and fine courage. As editor of the 
 Messenger he felt that he was "held responsible for the tone 
 and spirit of its general contents." His action in the matter 
 was expressed in this brief editorial of May 22, 1861 : 
 
154 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The discussion on the Liturgy from present appearances, 
 promises to assume huge proportions, if allowed to go forward 
 unrestrained. It has also, much to our regret, run out into per- 
 sonalities. In view of these facts, we feel constrained to close 
 our columns against its further continuance, after the copy now 
 in hand is exhausted, which will be with the next issue. 
 
 Mr. Bausman's last word on the subject came a month later 
 in reply to a person who made the double complaint: on the 
 one hand against "allowing a discussion marked by discourtesy 
 and personalities from beginning to end, " and on the other against 
 his shutting off the discussion in the Messenger altogether: 
 
 It is painful to find the advisor among the first to transgress 
 his own counsels. 
 
 More important than preaching is worship. But when the 
 subject of devotion is profaned by personalities, and our zeal 
 for devotion becomes undevout, we insist that silence is better 
 than discussion. 
 
 When discussions take this turn, it is useless to attempt to 
 dip the bitter water out of the stream. The only feasible plan is 
 to stop the fountain. 
 
 In the seventy-fifth anniversary number of the 
 January 14, 1904, he wrote regarding this 
 
 battle within our own denominational lines, fought by men 
 of equal sincerity and force. I have reason to know how dif- 
 ficult and often unpleasant it was to be the Mordecai at the 
 gates. To discriminate against one's best friends, who, with 
 impetuous determination, demanded a hearing, required a high 
 degree of courage, combined with editorial courtesy. Indeed, 
 one sometimes felt a sort of premonition that e'er long he would 
 have to exchange the editorial tripod for the gibbet. At this 
 late day it gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the uniform 
 courtesy and kindness of contributors from whom I sometimes 
 had to differ. 
 
 In a similar situation was Mr. Bausman as editor in another 
 and greater controversy. Regarding this he wrote in the same 
 anniversary issue: "During the Civil War the paper had to 
 represent the Reformed Church, North and South. Within 
 fifteen miles from the border, it was frank and outspoken for the 
 Union without bitterness toward those whom we charitably con- 
 
EDITOR OF THE MESSENGER 155 
 
 sidered our erring brethren of the South. Its utterances never 
 winked at disloyalty." 
 
 Exceedingly cautious editing and utterance was required, as 
 we see from his correspondence with a friend, who resided in the 
 South: 
 
 My Dear Bausman: 
 
 Let me ask your attention to the occasional complimentary 
 notices contained in your clippings of the Rev. Henry Ward 
 Beecher, a man whose blasphemy is only equalled by his theo- 
 logical charlatanry and clownish buffoonery. 
 
 I am not a Southern fire-eater, nor a secessionist, but I dis- 
 like to see the name of the scoffing Beecher appear in the col- 
 umns of a paper destined to enter the families of our Church. 
 He has become a sort of synonym for all that is offensive, not 
 only to good Christians, but to everybody living south of Mason 
 and Dixon's line. We ask not that you publish slavery ha- 
 rangues — they have no place in a religious paper; but we insist 
 upon it that our eyes shall not be offended with implied com- 
 plimentary notices of those whose names are redolent with of- 
 fence to Christianity. 
 
 Now, my dear B., you will avoid giving offence, if you will 
 carefully avoid publishing anything at all about this theologas- 
 ter — this mountebank auctioneer of church pews and super- 
 intendent of a Congregational tenpin alley in Brooklyn. 
 
 To this came the reply: 
 
 I admit the correctness and propriety of everything you say 
 in your note of yesterday. Whenever I have selected anything 
 of this kind, I did it for the truth it contained, apart from the 
 political or theological status of the author. I am trying to 
 keep all such stuff out of the Messenger, and whilst subjecting 
 the contributions of others to the most rigid scrutiny, inadver- 
 tently fall into the same error myself. Forgive me and I will 
 try and do better. 
 
 Now, my dear , won't you give me an evidence of your 
 
 forgiveness by sending me a scrap for our columns? I can as- 
 sure you that would very much gratify 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 Bausman. 
 
 As one reads Mr. Bausman's editorials of that trying time 
 he must be impressed with the tact and wisdom which he showed. 
 His poise, his courage, tempered with moderation, make one liken 
 
156 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 him to the great man then President of the nation whom in some 
 points of personal appearance as well he resembled not a little. 
 He, of course, joined heartily in the spirit of the "Fast Day" 
 appointed by President Buchanan at the beginning of 1861. 
 
 Reckless polticians rave wildly while earnest Christians betake 
 themselves in devout supplication to the God of nations. Here 
 will be our only remedy. Shall this beautiful fabric of govern- 
 ment, so prosperous and successful hitherto, not even reach the 
 end of a century? Little can be expected from the violent crim- 
 inating speeches in Congress, but the Power that turns the hearts 
 of the children of men as the rivers are turned can do all things. 
 
 He recommended the omission of sermons on the Fast Day 
 "United fervent prayer to God can do more than the best ser- 
 mons just now. Such special sermons too often degenerate into 
 mere political harangues. It is God whom we need for a helper. 
 Man has been tried long enough." 
 
 When hostilities broke out he saw that they were inevitable 
 and that good would be the outcome: 
 
 Anyone who has earnestly watched the progress of political 
 affairs for the last ten years, must see that we need a severe 
 corrective — a thorough national convulsion which will obliterate 
 party lines and purge the country of its political corruptions in 
 the fiery furnace of trial. 
 
 Patriotism has degenerated into peculation. 
 
 Politicians ought to be taught that patriotism means more 
 than a race for place and plunder. 
 
 Practically, the virtue of sacrifice for a higher principle — for 
 an object outside of ourselves, for country or Christ has become 
 extinct. The events of the last few weeks have rekindled it. 
 
 Our prayer and plea still is for peace. But if that be no longer 
 possible, then under the circumstances, we regard war as an 
 alternative not unmixed with good. 
 
 What fine, loyal words are these, his editorial of May 22, 
 1861: 
 
 Irrespective of the causes which led to it, when it becomes a 
 question of government or no government, no one should charge 
 us with partisan bias for raising our voice in its defence. 
 
 The government is above all parties and Presidents and indi- 
 vidual men. 
 
EDITOR OF THE MESSENGER 157 
 
 Shall we applaud the act that aims to palsy its strong arm? 
 Motives of gratitude forbid it. Under God we owe our all per- 
 sonally to its beneficent providence. 
 
 It gave shelter to our persecuted ancestors. 
 
 Its flag has greeted and protected us on four continents. 
 
 In Naples where hundreds of liberty-loving prisoners were led 
 through the streets chained together, and the rage of the indig- 
 nant populace had to be suppressed with bayonets, the frigate 
 Constitution was kept in the harbor to rescue American travel- 
 ers in the event of a popular irruption. In the villages of Arabia 
 where Turks thirst for the blood of Christians, the sight of the 
 flag unfurled above the hut of some vice-consul made us feel 
 contented and safe. In Damascus, when rife with revolution, 
 the sight of our flag was the signal of protection and safety, for 
 it symbolized the glory and power of 30,000,000 of freemen and 
 threw around us an emblematic shield as powerful practically 
 as an army of 50,000 men. Its voiceless majesty filled tyrants 
 with envy and the great and good with admiration. Beneath 
 that flag an American citizen is safe in every land and every 
 clime. Shall we in return bless the hand that assails it, or see 
 it dishonored with indifference? 
 
 We appreciate the difficult situation of our Reformed brethren 
 in the seceded States. Some may tell us they have no longer 
 any choice between the government and its antagonists. We 
 heartily deplore the action which has deprived them of an alterna- 
 tive. We have one, and God will hold us accountable for our 
 course in the matter. 
 
 Our position is unequivocally on the side of the government, 
 no matter what man a constitutional majority may place at the 
 helm. 
 
 He wrote to Dr. L. H. Steiner of Frederick, Md., in September, 
 1861 : 
 
 I am happy to hear that you are employed in serving the 
 country. 
 
 I must confess, with some quasi-opponents of the govern- 
 ment, my patience has been well-nigh exhausted. I am bottling 
 up my indignation tightly, but I tell you, sir, don't shake the 
 thing too much, for if the cork pops out or the bottle bursts, the 
 storm will have vent somewhither. Rather than whitewash the 
 rotten maggot factories of secessionism, I will dig trenches and 
 use these long, bony arms to mount guns and crack away at the 
 enemy. I often feel as if I could gladly stand up and be shot 
 down — or shoot somebody else down — if that would help the 
 
158 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 matter. I shall try and hold my peace in the Messenger, for 
 ferocity, even when exercised from patriotic motives, conduces 
 little to edification. But if the little I did say in favor of our 
 bleeding country aroused the ulcerated hearts of semi-traitors, 
 and if their wishes are to be gratified by the Church, I am willing 
 to lay down my pen at five minutes' notice, and be thankful be- 
 sides for the relief. 
 
 The war was all engrossing, A few weeks before the first 
 Bull Run he wrote: 
 
 We have fallen upon strange times — I mean, we editors. No 
 matter what subject we begin with just now — fate, foreknowledge 
 or faith — in spite of all efforts to the contrary, we must hitch it 
 to the war. 
 
 The plot thickens. The actors are crowding upon the stage. 
 The curtain is about to be raised. God defend the right. 
 
 Mr. Bausman was quick to see the perils to Christians at this 
 particular time: "There is danger in allowing our thoughts' to 
 to become too much absorbed in a temporal government, at the 
 sacrifice of our concern for the glory and prosperity of the King- 
 dom of Jesus Christ. Guard against this passion for excited 
 discussion." 
 
 Political prayers were a peril to pastors. He had "listened to 
 an excellent discourse prefaced with a prayer full of powder and 
 bullets. The worthy divine seemed to agonize for expressions 
 horribly sulphuric. We too claim to be loyal and pray to avert 
 anarchy, but ask to be excused from whipping the Rebels over 
 the back of the Being to whom the prayer purports to be ad- 
 dressed." 
 
 Soldiers were admonished not to forget their religious duties 
 in the turmoil of army life and he plead again and again for pious 
 chaplains in place of the many godless adventurers who so often 
 profaned the holy ofiice in the regiments. In the fall of 1862 
 the War Department issued an order that only "a regularly 
 ordained minister of good standing" could be appointed chap- 
 lain. Mr. Bausman certainly helped to create the public opinion 
 demanding this and steadied the minds of multitudes in that 
 troublesome period. 
 
EDITOR OF THE MESSENGER 159 
 
 Benjamin Bausman was a true prophet and some of his edi- 
 torials would be good tracts for our times in this twentieth cen- 
 tury. Some of his articles on systematic giving read like pam- 
 phlets of the Laymen's Missionary Movement. Does not the 
 following, written over fifty years ago, sound like a present pro- 
 test against the ravages of corporate greed? We see that "Gov- 
 ernment supervision" is not a new phrase. 
 
 Our Legislatures are productive of laws to facilitate commerce 
 and produce and acquire wealth, whilst nothing is done to pro- 
 tect human life against the deceit and knavery which a lust for 
 gain inspires. Steamboat and railway companies as well as the 
 owners of manufactories, hold so many human lives in their 
 hands, that they should not only be held accountable for their 
 safety, but the government ought to have a strict supervision 
 over all works of this kind and forbid the using of any unless 
 pronounced perfectly safe by competent judges. 
 
 Even in this free America a man has no right to do as 
 he pleases unless he pleases to do right, whatever our laws may 
 say or not say to the contrary. 
 
 A genial humor was ever welling up through his editorials- 
 It seasoned them with salt but did not rob them of their dignity- 
 The use of tobacco received occasionally this happy treatment- 
 After a "Sermon on 'The Weed'," he received a note from Dr- 
 Steiner containing this sentence: "Having filled my pipe (in de- 
 fiance of the opinion and counterblast of the editor of the Mes- 
 senger) and taken the pen, I propose having a little talk with 
 you." 
 
 To this Mr. Bausman repHed: 
 
 As to the "pipe" which kept you such pleasant company dur- 
 ing the writing of your note, the allusion to it almost made my 
 mouth water — not a very chaste expression but a significant one. 
 The fact is, every man's theory is above his practice. On the 
 leading questions of the day — as for example the use of tobacco 
 and marriage — I am orthodox. But unfortunately, I have not 
 yet succeeded to get my practice up to theoretical accuracy. 
 As to the "weed," I use it with extreme moderation — some- 
 times once a month, sometimes half a dozen times, according 
 to the company I fall into. 
 
 We will take space to view him as a punster. He was exhort- 
 
160 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 ing his constituency to "read patiently" the reports of the Classes, 
 "somewhat prolix and tedious — so many names, committees, 
 whereases and resolveds," he granted. He went on : 
 
 But names, too, have a deep meaning. Look, for example, at 
 that East Susquehanna Classis, and observe how richly sugges- 
 tive some of their names are. Steinmetz at once reminds one of 
 a blaster of rocks, breaking the fallow ground and fitting it for 
 the seed. And Duenger follows to enrich and fertilize the soil. 
 A fruitful harvest requires vats and vessels to store it away and 
 so we must needs have a Kieffer (cooper). Sweet is the music 
 of church-going bells in those charming Susquehanna valleys. 
 As the pastor is not the gospel bell itself, but simply the hammer 
 which evokes its celestial sounds, they must of necessity have 
 a Schellhammer. Growth in Imowledge makes us Wiser and 
 the highest and most enduring worth possesses he who is rich 
 in goodness {Goodrich). What more cheering in the trying 
 vicissitudes of ministerial life than to have a hope-man {Hoff- 
 man). In all ages of the world, the wolf has had a terrifying 
 reputation, whose howl has produced a DoZe-orous wail where- 
 ever his wild prowlings have led him. Yet the harmless inno- 
 cence of these East Susquehanna Wolves is prophetic of that 
 Golden age of the world, "when the wolf shall dwell with the 
 lamb." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Chambersburg — 1859-1863 
 
 THE personal and social relations of Mr. Bausman in Cham- 
 bersburg were very pleasant. Mr. M. A. Foltz worked 
 by his side in the printing establishment and is well qualified to 
 witness : 
 
 I had delightful intercourse with him while in the 
 office. The warm attachment existing between the editors of the 
 Messenger was delightful to see in the editorial and business office, 
 as well as in the social circles in which they moved. Everything 
 about Dr. Bausman bespoke the man of magnanimity enlivened 
 upon occasion by chaste and gentle humor. He charmed all by 
 his amiability and good nature. 
 
 Fifty years ago horseback riding was the popular thing. By 
 none was it more greatly enjoyed than the editors of the Messenger, 
 and kindred spirits, all of whom were clever mounts. Of these 
 diversions, their participants and the hospitalities shown him in 
 Dr. Fisher's home, Dr. Bausman himself charmingly relates. 
 
 The account following is from the Guardian of 1881, shortly 
 after Dr. Fisher's death: 
 
 During my association with Dr. Fisher in Chambersburg, we 
 were in the habit of taking rides a horseback together of an after- 
 noon, for recreation. Dr. Fisher had a bay horse of which he was 
 just a little proud. As was his habit, with man or beast, once he 
 took one into his confidence, he stuck to him at all hazards and 
 treated his faults charitably. He could not brook the slightest 
 insinuation that "Bill" had any defects. Now I knew better, 
 although I scarcely ventured to hint my views on this subject. 
 Riding down a steep hill one day, Bill's fore legs, which were 
 somewhat sprung, suddenly gave way; down went the horse, 
 pitching his rider head foremost over his head, with a violence 
 that filled me with terror. How relieved I felt when he arose, 
 picked up his hat, wiped off the earth from his clothing, and mut- 
 tered something about the horse having tramped on a loose stone. 
 He mounted again and after silently riding along at a walk, I at 
 11 161 
 
162 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 length feebly suggested that Bill's knee-sprung joints had given 
 way. With characteristic emphasis, his thoughts outran his 
 capacity of articulation peculiar to him when under excitement, 
 he denied the charge and did his utmost to clear the faithful 
 horse from all blame or defect. 
 
 These rides familiarized me with all the shaded lanes and by- 
 ways around Chambersburg. He always had a seat for me in 
 his carriage, along with his family. After our return, I would 
 have a welcome place at his hospitable board. Those cozy 
 groups are green spots in my Chambersburg experience. Hon. 
 Judge F. M. Kimmel, Dr. James Kennedy and family. Dr. B. S. 
 Schneck and wife, and others, are still set with unfaded freshness 
 in the picture of those little social gatherings I fondly remember. 
 When around his own fireside, the hard-working brother forgot 
 his burdens and mingled with innocent glee in the chat and cheer 
 of social intercourse. 
 
 These horseback rides sometimes led us beyond the bounds of 
 moderation, at least so far as speed was concerned. Four of us 
 constituted ourselves informally into a sort of a riding club. Dr. 
 Fisher, G. R. Messersmith, cashier of the Chambersburg Bank, 
 myself and sometimes Dr. Schneck would be together; each had his 
 own horse. The cashier was a capital rider, and had the best 
 horse ; still each of us thought we were equal to him in the former 
 respect. His was a natural pacer, and quite fleet-footed at that. 
 For miles our horses walked nimbly along, whilst their riders 
 discussed matters grave and gay. Coming to a level piece of road 
 we would spur them on a little; whilst the banker's bay would 
 amble faster and faster in a sort of bantering way, ours would 
 lope. Who could resist such a challenge? It was not long until 
 the three horses were put to their utmost speed, each of the riders 
 with hand and voice urging his animal onward, whilst the women 
 and children of many houses along the road rushed to their front 
 doors, some who knew us expressing their astonishment at so 
 unusual a sight. What a thorough shaking up of every joint, 
 muscle and fibre of the body those harmless rival feats in horse- 
 manship used to give us. Few remedies are so recuperating 
 after six or eight hours hard mental work, as one or two hours 
 ride on a trotting or even galloping horse. Alas! three of the 
 four riders now lie buried under the cypress shades of Chambers- 
 burg cemeteries. The last letter I received from the cashier 
 contained a very pressing invitation to pay him a visit; and re- 
 membering my weakness, he said that his horse, "one of the best 
 and handsomest animals in the coimty, full of action and life," 
 should be at my disposal. 
 
CHAMBERSBURG 163 
 
 A few years before the above was written and after Dr. 
 Schneck's death he wrote to Mrs. Schneek: 
 
 I have often gratefully called to mind the many pleasant hours 
 which I spent in your cozy home. How I would often freely drop 
 in as occasion might offer, not even going through the formality 
 of ringing the door-bell, but entering by the side way, helping 
 to form a little group of the Doctor, yourself and Kate, around 
 the dining-room window, which faces the alley. Discussing some 
 book or somebody's trouble, chatting about all our hearts had 
 felt and our eyes seen at home and abroad. I, all the while, un- 
 bending as heartily as if I had been sitting with my natural par- 
 ents. Feeling in my inmost soul that here I was with friends, 
 who not only felt an interest in me, but to whom I could freely 
 lay open all the cares and concealments of my heart. Often we 
 would be grouped around the table, partaking of a cheerful meal. 
 And many a ride I took with good Dr. Schneek on horseback, 
 when our voices would ring with innocent mirth as we displayed 
 our skill in horsemanship. All this forms a pleasant picture to 
 me, at which fond memory loves to look. To my mind, and I 
 suppose to yours, too, those pleasures were childlike and cheering. 
 God gave them to us with little of the alloy of sin. 
 
 And I sometimes think that such scenes as we there enjoyed, 
 are parables of the heavenly home; where all the purer social and 
 spiritual wants of our souls shall be most genially and eternally 
 met. For I think that just as a human mother knows how to 
 meet every peculiar want of her child, so the Jerusalem which is 
 above, the mother of us all, will fit up the furniture and family of 
 our Father's house, so as to make every member of it superlatively 
 happy. 
 
 The exacting duties of the editorial chair did not engross all 
 his energies. He was busy too with his voice and had more op- 
 portunities than he cared or had strength to use. "His talks 
 on the Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, given at mid-week and other 
 services in town and country, made him a prime favorite with 
 churchmen and others of the community," says Mr. Foltz, and 
 men who were then boys recall the thrills of excitement he stirred 
 in them by his dramatic recital of his odd and perilous adventures. 
 The greater number of his Sundays were occupied by officiating 
 in charges nearby as a rule, but often quite distant. Not only 
 did this preaching bring him joy and a comforting change of 
 activity, but his direct contact with the various charges and 
 
164 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 their needs was of benefit to the paper and to the Church in help- 
 ing to keep fresh and pertinent his writings. His favorite text 
 in these days was characteristic, "Thy will be done." 
 
 He paid several visits to his beloved former flock. Two let- 
 ters regarding such a visit to his genial successor, Leinbach, will 
 interest us: 
 
 January 2, 1860. 
 My dear Charlie, 
 
 1860! How strange it seems to write this! I will try to come 
 on Friday. I beg you leave the thing out of the Chronicle this 
 time. I have no objection to the turkeys at the right time and 
 place, but keep them out of my sight if I am to preach. I will 
 have nothing to do with them at such times. 'S liegt mer alle 
 well ener uf em Mage und darum so bald, 
 
 Dein Ergebenster,* 
 
 Bausman. 
 
 January 13, 1860. 
 
 Had a tolerably pleasant time returning, with all manner of 
 thoughts, in which your rotund majesty figured not a little. 
 Such a visit I have not made for a long time — almost equal to one 
 of Henry Ward Beecher's lectures — with eighty dollars in my 
 pocket. Had to think of the many hearty laughs we had to- 
 gether. I sometimes feel like thanking the Giver of all good for 
 the faculty to laugh. It is not only a healthy exercise for the 
 body, but good for the spirit. The man that can't laugh — well, 
 I pity him — 'fit for treason, strategem' und so weiter? But 
 immoderate laughter! Die Thrane sind mer die Backe nunner 
 g'loffe.f 
 
 Well, my visit was a rich treat to me principally on account of 
 those religious services and your genial society. I feel anxious 
 to know how your meeting is progressing. I have sometimes 
 thought we could accomplish more at such times, if we would 
 keep more serious and prayerful during the day. Feasting and 
 frivolity are poorly calculated to prepare one for an efficient 
 ministry. 
 
 After speaking of his editorial "vexations and annoyances" 
 he went on — 
 
 But then I often feel as though I were one of the happiest beings 
 alive, all the happier because I so poorly deserve my peace of 
 
 * There's one lying on my stomach just now, and therefore now your most 
 humble. 
 
 t The tears ran down my cheeks. 
 
CHAMBERSBURG 165 
 
 body and mind. I am sure there are few of my ministerial 
 brethren happier than I am. When I review my history I see an 
 uninterrupted chain of divine mercies bestowed upon me. Our 
 imhappiness often springs from our vain ungrateful hearts. No 
 sorrow or trial can befall us which can in the least compare with 
 the sorrow Jesus bore for us. This thought is often precious 
 and soothing to me. 
 
 A month or two after the above was written he began con- 
 ducting catechetical classes at two small country congregations 
 to the west of Chambersburg, Strasburg and Kieffer's. He con- 
 firmed those classes in the fall. Satisfying work it was. After 
 returning from such instruction one day he wrote in his diary: 
 "Had delightful feelings this evening; felt the nearness and 
 goodness of God and could not think of a being whom I did not 
 love." 
 
 When the several Classes were in session he visited many of 
 them, and in the spring of 1860 spent several weeks in Ohio and 
 attended the Western Synod at Akron. This was in response 
 to an urgent request of Rust, Prugh and Mease to come and 
 have an "interview with them on church matters." Harbaugh 
 and Higbee too, were there. "O, how pleasant to meet them" 
 he made record. He had not seen Rust for nine years. 
 
 His movements over the Church afforded him many oppor- 
 tunities to run to Lancaster and he took them. "Sweet to meet 
 good old father. He is failing. Eighty years old now; looks 
 for the sunset." The month he took up his pen in Chambers- 
 burg he wrote to Rust: 
 
 My dear father is getting old. I remember when he was an 
 active, nimble man. Now he walks with a tottering step, speaks 
 and sings of heaven with the simplicity of a child. Thinks his 
 evening at hand, when he will go home to rest. Thank God for 
 such a father, and for a mother in heaven. O the emptiness 
 and vanity of earth when contrasted with the simple godliness 
 of childlike faith. My father has no theological trouble. He 
 leans on Jesus like a child in its mother's arms. Every evening 
 he sings: "Soil diese Nacht die letzte sein," as if he looked for 
 the coming of the Bridegroom every night. Well, he will go 
 home some of these days. The Lord cheer his evening of life, 
 and lead him safely over the Jordan. You see I am getting on 
 an old subject. My heart is full of it just now. I feel happiest 
 
166 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 when I leave some of it out. I have an earnest and holy desire 
 to do all I can for the Lord, no matter where or what it will 
 bring me to. 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 His father died November 20, 1861, and the event called out 
 several very tender letters to his brother Philip: "I thought how 
 lonesome you would feel these long cold winter evenings as you 
 missed the dear old man, who heretofore always formed a prom- 
 inent figure in your circles and how only a few lines from me 
 might help to cheer your dreariness." 
 
 Later this: 
 
 Elder Leonard was here last week and told me that he had 
 seen some of you not long ago. I am very glad that A. gave 
 him a subscription and J. too gave him a good subscription. 
 
 After all, we as a family ought to do more than we have, if 
 we want to imitate the good examples of our dear parents. They 
 gave so liberally and cheerfully to the Lord's cause. Of course, 
 there is reason in everything; but our reasons need to be liber- 
 ahzed and enlightened by the Holy Ghost. He was hard at me, 
 but my conscience tells me that I have done my share. This 
 coming spring I want to pay off $500, that I subscribed to the 
 Seminary some years ago. Besides this I gave $50 to the Ter- 
 centenary subscription. 
 
 In the following April he made the record: "In a little over 
 seven months, seven of our nearest relatives died." Among 
 them the wife of a brother, after whose funeral he wrote in his 
 diary: "Mr. Buchanan was present — stood several minutes at 
 the coffin, with uncovered head, breathing tremblingly as he 
 scanned her features — to me a moving sight — a hoary ex-presi- 
 dent, after enjoying the highest honors of the nation, moved in 
 meditation over the common lot of mortals." 
 
 The reasons for Mr. Bausman's resigning the chief editorship 
 of the Messenger were stated in the previous chapter. The 
 way was happily and promptly opened for his reentering the 
 pastorate. The Reformed Church of Chambersburg became 
 vacant in April, 1861, by the resignation of the Rev. Samuel 
 Phillips. A call extended soon thereafter to another minister 
 was declined. The congregation knowing Mr. Bausman so well 
 and so favorably and being aware of his inclinations to accept 
 
ZION'S REFORMED CHURCH. CHAMBERSBURG 
 
CHAMBERSBURG 167 
 
 a charge, turned strongly toward him. His consent was secured 
 to supply the vacancy and "as may well be imagined," says Mr. 
 Foltz, "his own election to the regular pastorate became the 
 inevitable." Immediately after Synod's acceptance of Mr. 
 Bausman's resignation as editor, the congregation nominated 
 him for the pastorate and on October 16, 1861, he was duly 
 elected. The venerable secretary of the consistory, Wm. Heyser, 
 in reporting the result to Mr. Bausman observed: "Your call to 
 this congregation has been the only one, since my recollection, 
 that has been without a dissenting vote." On the Sunday be- 
 fore Christmas he was installed by Dr. Schaff, and the Revs. T. 
 G. Apple and John Ault. His introductory sermon was preached 
 on the last Sunday of the year, from Acts 10: 29 and 33, and it 
 is a rriasterpiece on the mutual duties of pastor and people, 
 throbbing with an ardent love for souls and marked with a fine 
 appreciation of the dignity of the pastoral office. 
 
 Mr. Bausman's reentrance upon the pastorate gave him a 
 joy and satisfaction as of one who came again to his native ele- 
 ment, and he strove and prayed to be equipped for the highest 
 possible usefulness. The night before his introductory sermon 
 he wrote: 
 
 Finished Alexander's "Thoughts on Preaching." Have felt sur- 
 prised how many difficulties and weaknesses I have in common 
 with him. The book has done me much good and refixed my 
 attention upon the great aim of my life — the glory of God and 
 the salvation of souls. By the help of God, I will henceforth 
 give more time and labor to the study of the Bible than hereto- 
 fore. 
 
 He made notes on his work like these: 
 
 Beautiful spring day. Never enjoyed preaching so much as 
 since I commenced here. It is a real pleasure. God be praised! 
 
 I get along pretty well in my congregation. Never preached 
 to such large congregations before. 
 
 The temper of his mind shows itself in a few extracts from his 
 letter to Leinbach: 
 
 January 2, 1863. 
 My dear Charlie, 
 
 Yes, 1863 we must now write. Will seem awkward for a 
 
168 THE LIFE OP BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 while, and it ought to. These years do fly away with incredible 
 rapidity. 
 
 Every year I feel more earnest in the ministry; feel more con- 
 cerned for poor souls. Sometimes I feel as if I ought to stop 
 people on the street and entreat them to make their peace with 
 God. Feel more than ever that I must give all my strength to 
 Him who bought me with His blood. Have now been ten years 
 in the ministry — nearly two of these have been lost in wandering 
 over the earth. Perhaps not lost either, I have tried to work 
 faithfully, and yet can not see much fruit of my labors, in the 
 way of additions to the Church. Perhaps it is pride that de- 
 sires a growth of numbers. Sometimes perhaps our flocks grow 
 most substantially when they do not increase in numbers. With 
 all its trials, I enjoy the ministry, and feel every day of my life 
 like thanking God, that he has led me into this holy office. 
 Many of its duties seem more like pleasant pastimes than tasks. 
 And when I feel weak and forsaken, God always comes so sweetly 
 to my help. I can say without a figure, that the best friend I 
 have ever had, the most constant and ready helper, is my Heaven- 
 ly Father. 
 
 This talk may smack of Methodism, but I feel in my heart of 
 hearts what I say and I am not ashamed to acknowledge it. I 
 am trying to enter upon this year with redoubled vigor. I 
 shall strive to pray more, to repent more fervently, to work 
 more faithfully. 
 
 The views of the congregation touching Mr. Bausman and his 
 work are expressed by Mr. Foltz: 
 
 The people were overjoyed, and his pastorate placed the con- 
 gregation, notwithstanding the exciting days of the war, in 
 the enjoyment of one of the most hopeful eras of its existence. 
 The Lord's day and mid-week services were alike largely at- 
 tended. The first duty of the pew committee was to provide 
 additional sittings. It was not an unusual thing to see the audi- 
 torium and galleries filled with worshippers. The Sunday-school 
 grew in interest and numbers. The repetition of the Apostles' 
 Creed and Lord's Prayer was introduced. The class of young 
 people attending the lectures of the pastor was large. 
 
 After quoting "laudatory notes" made at the time by Elder 
 Heyser in his diary on the beloved pastor's good influence and 
 the "great confidence felt both in and out of the congregation in 
 his piety and fidelity," Mr. Foltz proceeds: 
 
CHAMBERSBURG 169 
 
 In short, . Dr. Bausman proved himself the ideal pastor and 
 Christian gentleman. His whole nature, full of kindliness, 
 found expression in his attitude toward everybody. His entire 
 career in Chambersburg was marked by generous acts and 
 priestly devotion to duty. He charmed all by his amiability 
 and gentlemanly bearing. 
 
 Another member of Zion's Reformed Church, Chambersburg, 
 after reciting her "kindliest and most appreciative recollections 
 of him," exclaims: "Blessed is the memory of such a man, the 
 like of whom we do not often see!" 
 
 Dr. John C. Bowman, president of the faculty of the Theo- 
 logical Seminary at Lancaster, was a boy in the Chambersburg 
 congregation when Mr. Bausman was pastor and says in a 
 "Reminiscence:" "It was a brief pastorate, but its hallowed 
 impression lasts to this day, and will last forever." 
 
 The Rev. Wm. I. Stewart of Chicago has an interesting 
 memory : 
 
 I was a small boy when Dr. Bausman was my pastor. I was 
 devoted to him because he took an interest in boys. One in- 
 stance has not been effaced by the lapse of years. I was sick 
 with rheumatism and he visited me. The tall man kneeled 
 down by the bedside and prayed for my recovery. When he 
 arose he put his hand on my head and said, "My boy, you must 
 pray to your Heavenly Father also." I got well and gave his 
 prayer great credit. In after years, I visited Reading and called 
 to see him. He would introduce me to his friends as one of his 
 boys. 
 
 Mr. John Wanamaker's mother was a member and he says 
 that occasionally he "was a visitor to the church and Sunday- 
 school when Dr. Bausman was pastor. Dr. Bausman, I knew 
 as a most lovable and interesting man. I always felt better for 
 even a handshake from him, and from all I heard from others 
 about him I formed the opinion that he was a fine preacher and 
 an excellent pastor." 
 
 The Church's recognition of Benjamin Bausman's pastoral 
 efiiciency was shown in the request of Dr. Harbaugh, Chairman 
 of the Tercentenary Committee, that he prepare an article on 
 "The History of Catechization and its best Methods" for the 
 
170 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 300th anniversary celebration of the Heidelberg Catechism. 
 Turning to his diary of the period one is struck, on reading, a 
 few months before the request, how he discounted his own ability 
 in that direction; yet it is not so surprising after all as we have 
 come to know his almost impossibly high ideals and his humble 
 estimate of his own powers. 
 
 "Catechized. Feel a painful inefficiency in this important 
 exercise. Feel sometimes distressed lest souls might be lost by 
 my meager incapacity to catechize." And again: "Terribly 
 oppressed before catechetical class met for the last time, feared 
 I had not done my duty to them." 
 
 His address entitled "Catechetics and Catechetical Instruc- 
 tion" was read on the last evening of that "sublime festival 
 service to God" in Philadelphia, and stands as a monument to 
 his masterful grasp of a much neglected subject. His was the 
 practical climax of the eighteen notable addresses then delivered 
 and it was his further privilege to interpret for the Church in the 
 columns of the Messenger the practical meaning of the great 
 historic occasion. The editorial is found in the issue of Feb- 
 ruary 11, 1863, and is a literary gem. "Taking the Bearing" 
 jS the title and its object is to help the Church 
 
 to advance in the right direction. As a Church we should not 
 be content by simply ascertaining our relation, historical and 
 theological, to other Churches, but the whole Tercentenary move- 
 ment should be combined into a mighty impulse to advance on 
 our heavenly voyage. Simply to ring changes on our historical 
 standard, excellent as it is, will render our Tercentenary Move- 
 ment soulless and insipid. Wiser will it be for us to instruct 
 our people more diligently in its doctrines, to stir them up to 
 give practical aid in propelling the ship. 
 
 Returning to Chambersburg, he wrote to Steiner: "As I an- 
 ticipated, the reaction has come upon me with stunning effect." 
 He had prepared his essay amid the pressure of many duties 
 and interruptions just before the convention. Dr. E. R. Esch- 
 bach, who was entertained with him in Philadelphia at the home 
 of Dr. Wm. Mayburry, said he was overwrought, nervous and 
 irritable. His thirty-ninth birthday anniversary meditation 
 showed the somber side: "How fast my life rolls on! Soon will 
 
CHAMBERSBURG 171 
 
 reach life's decline." He was one of the youngest on the Ter- 
 centenary program and in spite of fears outlived all the others. 
 
 "Catechetics and Catechetical Instruction" was published 
 with the other addresses of the convention in the Tercentenary 
 Monument. Thirteen of the papers were by American writers 
 and Dr. Bausman's is one of the few to receive the unqualified 
 commendation of Dr. James I. Good, who says it "was prac- 
 tical and excellent, especially in his description of its methods," 
 "but the others aimed to glorify Mercersburg Theology." It was 
 a tribute to the high scholarly merit of Dr. Bausman's essay 
 that it was translated into German and published in the 
 Studien und Kritiken. 
 
 In the "Jubilee Address" in 1903, Dr. Bausman spoke of what 
 led him to come to Reading and referred to the 
 
 two years' pastorate in Chambersburg : a delightful field to 
 serve; not without its difficulties especially during the Civil 
 War; with an eldership proverbial in the town for their exalted 
 personal excellence and official fidelity. I labored with comfort, 
 acceptance and the blessing of God. Why not be contented 
 there? I was until God began to stir me up in my nest. With- 
 in less than five months, I received three calls, one to become 
 pastor of the First Reformed Church, Tiffin, Ohio; a second call 
 was to the Presidency of Heidelberg College, now Heidelberg 
 University, Tiffin, Ohio; the third was a call to the First Re- 
 formed Church of this city. I had refused the first two calls 
 before the third one came; and for me this would have seemed 
 the least inviting. With my impaired health, every dictate of 
 common sense and reason advised against it. Why then did I 
 come? I cannot explain my motives. A certain inward impulse 
 and undefinable sense of duty, a grooving trend of conscience 
 that would not be silenced; at last indeed an irrepressible desire 
 led me to come to Reading, not knowing what awaited me. 
 
 What was equivalent to a fourth call during the five months 
 above referred to came from the Consistory of the First Reformed 
 Church of Dayton, Ohio, in June. 
 
 You are the only man knowTi at present upon whom both 
 Consistory and congregation can unite and we will give you not 
 only a unanimous, but a most hearty call if you will give us any 
 encouragement. 
 
 All eyes and hearts are turned longingly toward you. We 
 
172 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 earnestly pray God that He may turn your heart toward the 
 great West. 
 
 He had visited Dayton three years before and soon thereafter 
 had been elected and called by the congregation which now made 
 another attempt to get him. 
 
 His point of view at this period appears in a letter to Rust: 
 
 Chambersburg, March 30, 1863. 
 My Dear Herman: 
 
 I received your letter, and read it repeatedly. Also Dr. Kief- 
 fer's; also the call from the Tiffin congregation. I have to thank 
 you and brother Kieffer for having the perplexing case of duty 
 thrust upon me. No question of the kind can be lightly set 
 aside. I have thought and prayed over it much. I know how 
 well you mean it with myself and our dear Reformed Zion. Your 
 warm heart has been bent for ten years past to get me out West. 
 Had I followed your entreaties and gone to Cincinnati some 
 years ago, we would not be together after all now. Should I 
 follow your wishes now, five years hence one or the other of us 
 might be called to another field or to heaven. I never wrote to 
 you or to brother Kieffer before the call came, because I felt 
 awkward in doing so. After all, it might not come, would not 
 be likely to come. Would the congregation be so foolish as to 
 call a man whom they had never seen, nor heard preach? I did 
 feel like writing and begging you both to withdraw my name, to 
 prevent a probable disappointment. I don't know a single 
 member of that church, nor they me. "Unanimously elected!" 
 That may mean that twenty persons out of 150 attended the 
 election and voted. The others may be for or against. Four 
 elders have signed the call, and two deacons. Only two deacons 
 in the Church? But all these are small matters if everything 
 else were right. 
 
 I suppose I might get away from here. Yet they tell me that 
 every man, woman and child cleave to me, and talk much of my 
 increasing usefulness, and the shock which a congregation re- 
 ceives by changing pastors, just as one gets properly into the 
 harness. I objected to taking this congregation, because there 
 would be no need for my German here. We have many Enghsh 
 brethren who are kept out of useful charges, some without fields 
 altogether, because they cannot speak German. We are beginning 
 to have trouble in supplying charges requiring English and Ger- 
 man, and have scarcely enough exclusively English charges to 
 furnish our English speaking brethren with fields of labor. For 
 this reason I think the German speaking brethren ought to labor 
 
CHAMBERSBURG 173 
 
 where there is German required. Our mixed charges are rapidly 
 increasing, especially in the eastern part of the state. We 
 must supply them well, or the Church will suffer serious damage. 
 For this reason I still feel it my duty, if I change again, to go 
 where there is some German needed. 
 
 You use very strong language. Can't you get along without 
 me? I question whether the existence of the Western Church 
 depends upon such a frail mortal. You speak of a certain con- 
 templated relation to the Seminary. But you had just proved 
 that no such mixed relation of pastor and professor is practicable. 
 I regret that I feel it my duty to argue the case with you in this 
 style. I fear you will get excited, or perhaps even ruffled at me. 
 But — "Friends, Romans, countrymen, hear me for my cause, 
 etc." You know the rest. 
 
 Herman, you cannot desire our being brought nearer together 
 more than I do. But when the desire conflicts with a sense of 
 duty, we must deny ourselves the pleasure. I have not formally 
 declined the call; may keep it under consideration a week or so 
 longer, for I desire to decide as I thinlc the Lord wishes me to do. 
 But my feelings now are that I shall have to decline it. 
 
 You dear fellow, I know, want to do good. And how kind in 
 offering me a home in your dear family. All that would doubt- 
 less make me more comfortable than I can be here or elsewhere. 
 Brother Kieffer hinted about a $500 gift for your German pro- 
 fessorship. I am trying this week to pay off a $500 subscription to 
 our Seminary. I need not tell you that another $500 just now 
 is more than I can command. Greet Mrs. R., John Benjamin, 
 and the other cherubs of your hearth, for me. Be calm, be sober, 
 believe me that I, at least, try to do right. God help me! 
 
 Your Brother, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 The election to the presidency of Heidelberg College was at 
 the annual meeting of its Board of Trustees in June, 1863. 
 
 "It was unanimous, not alone on the part of those entitled to 
 vote as Trustees, but also on the part of the ministry and laity 
 of the Church so far as I have heard. The West wishes you 
 this year to make a Tercentenary offering of yourself to the Col- 
 lege." Thus wrote Dr. Jeremiah H. Good, Secretary of the Board 
 of Trustees. The reasons offered by Mr. Bausman for declining 
 the college presidency are evident from the arguments used to 
 meet them. 
 
 Dr. Good averred: 
 
174 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Our judgment that you were the most suitable man within 
 the circle of our vision was based on the following considerations : 
 your regular education and scholarship; your ten years' experi- 
 ence in the ministry; your disposition, fitting you to be the ami- 
 able head of an institution; your varied experience and culture 
 resulting therefrom as pastor, traveller and editor; your age, 
 being young and plastic enough to accommodate yourself to new 
 labors, circumstances, etc., etc. 
 
 There is no class of men in our Church, who are specially fitted 
 out, by the Church or by themselves for the ofiice of a professor. 
 
 The qualifications that make up a successful pastor are pre- 
 cisely those needed for a president of a college. 
 
 After the declination Rust wrote: 
 
 This is an unexpected and sad occurrence to me, to all the 
 board, and to the Western Church in general. I regret it. I re- 
 gret it deeply. I shall regret it all my lifetime. 
 
 You say that you have no taste for teaching, and intimate 
 also that you lack the requisite qualifications for this post. I 
 felt so too, and feel so still, but, nevertheless, you and many 
 others urged me by all means not to decline, but to come, and 
 in the name of the Lord do what I can. The very fact that 
 you know what is required goes fa.r to prove your fitness for the 
 post; and as regards your qualifications, it was the unanimous 
 conviction that there is not a better qualified man in all the 
 Church. If you are not qualified, then I do not know who is. 
 As regards the governing part, I, and all the rest of the Pro- 
 fessors, feel confident that your upright Christian character and 
 daily walk and conversation would have done more in the govern- 
 ing of the students than all our disciplinarian rules; more real 
 benefit than all talk and chastisement. If you are not fit, please 
 tell me where there is a man in all our Church, East and West, 
 that would suit this station. 
 
 Rust's feelings on these repeated declinations appear from a 
 letter more than six months later: 
 
 I may just as well confess openly and frankly that I felt dis- 
 appointed at your refusal to come West, and was consequently 
 somewhat displeased with your action, which caused me to feel 
 sore for a long time. My heart had been longing for you so 
 long and so ardently that I was sure you would follow the di- 
 rection of Providence this way. Hence, when this last hope of 
 our living and laboring together was frustrated by your decline, 
 I went into my study and wept bitterly, and I have to weep even 
 now at the thought. 
 
CHAMBERSBURG 175 
 
 In the above letters to and from Rust, it has been gathered 
 that he left the pastorate in Cincinnati and was teaching at 
 Tiffin, Ohio. He had been elected by Ohio Synod to the pro- 
 fessorship of Church History and the History of Christian Doc- 
 trine in the Seminary. He began what proved to be his life 
 work in Tiffin in the autumn of 1862. In connection with his 
 chair in the Seminary, he held also for some years in the College 
 the professorship of German Language and Literature. In 
 June, 1862, Rust had "asked the advice" of Bausman regarding 
 his going to Tiffin, and promptly came a letter in reply which 
 strongly influenced him. Extracts from it follow: 
 
 I fear the Lord has a hand in the trouble which your Synod 
 has made you. I have suspected it would come to this yet. 
 And with all your misgivings about your fitness (which are com- 
 mendable) you have too good a judgment not to see a great 
 deal of ground for the choice of Synod. 
 
 Hitherto, your line of study has been chiefly in the pastoral 
 direction; but even this will be of incalculable benefit to you. 
 For I believe that a certain amount of pastoral experience is in- 
 dispensable to make a good theological professor. The Alex- 
 anders, father and sons, who were among the most successful 
 theological professors our country has produced, passed through 
 a preparatory course of pastoral labor. If you accept the office, 
 you will at once direct your studies into a new channel, having 
 a more immediate bearing upon your professorial duties. These' 
 studies will soon give you confidence in yourself, and, I have not 
 the remotest doubt, an adequate fitness for your post. When 
 I first took hold of the Messenger, I felt as incompetent as any 
 man well could, but a close application to studies which had a 
 direct reference to my new duties soon enabled me to feel at 
 home. 
 
 It is high time that the Tiffin Professorship should be filled. 
 The long delay of this matter has well nigh crippled the institu- 
 tion. It is useless, chimerical to look beyond the sea for a man. 
 Few men would suit, and those that would, would require years 
 to become acclimated to our American ecclesiastical latitude. 
 And I am sincere when I say that of the different persons in this 
 country who have been named in connection with that post, 
 none would in all respects suit as well as you. We have had able 
 men at Mercersburg, especially Nevin and Schaff, and yet I now 
 feel, I have always felt, that they lived so exclusively in the 
 sphere of the intellect as to have too little influence upon the 
 
176 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 hearts and piety of their students. We need more of the fire of 
 evangelical zeal in our Seminaries and Colleges — more atten- 
 tion to practical piety — such as they have at Basel and elsewhere. 
 We must have ten or a dozen unemployed men here in the East, 
 who stand idle just because they can not get places to suit their 
 fancy. Our young men shrink from the trifling trials of home 
 missionary labor, and our Seminaries have never raised a single 
 hero for the foreign field. There is an evident lack of self-sacrific- 
 ing devotion to the Cross of Christ among our Seminary gradu- 
 ates. Instead of feeding their zeal and filling them with a godly 
 enthusiasm during the course of study, they often lose what 
 they bring there from their homes. Now Herman, for ten or 
 twelve years you have studied the theology of the human heart 
 in Cincinnati. Your field was more instructive to you than 
 any university course could have been. You have battled the 
 devil in many an earnest conflict. God has been with you, and 
 your very trials have brought His Spirit upon you in large meas- 
 ures. And for this reason you have an unction from the Holy 
 One which I question whether all our professors have, at least 
 not in the same measure. Therefore, Herman, I say in the name 
 of the Great God, and of his Son, your Saviour and mine, go to 
 Tiffin. Throw your whole soul into that institution, and help 
 to train up a valiant band of men for our Zion in the Mississippi 
 Valley. Try and infuse into them the life of a healthy German 
 piety, alike free from fanaticism and Reformed Episcopalianism. 
 
 I have given you my frank opinion. If I am in error, my heart 
 means it well. You and I can not always live and labor here. 
 Let us do the most we can while our short life lasts. And though 
 hard work and anxiety for souls bring us to an early grave, such 
 a death would receive a martyr crown, such an end would be 
 dying with Christ and if we die with Him, we shall also rise with 
 Him. In heaven is rest. Here states and mountains part us. 
 In heaven we will live in the same city, belong to the same con- 
 gregation, sit around the same table, sing one eternal hymn of 
 praise — meet where there is no parting. Tears stream down 
 my cheeks as these beatific thoughts drop from my pen. 
 
 Greet Mrs. Rust, Johannes and Caroline for me. May God 
 direct you, my dear Herman, in the way He desires you to walk, 
 and fit you for eminent usefulness in life, and for joy eternal in 
 heaven. 
 
 Yours in Christ, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 On his way to Atlantic City, Mr. Bausman went to Reading 
 and preached in the First Church, the first Sunday of August, 
 
CHAMBERSBURG 177 
 
 1863. On the 10th of August, he was elected pastor and the call 
 was extended. On his return from his vacation he was bombarded 
 with letters from leaders of the Church, prevailing on him to 
 accept. 
 
 Dr. E. V. Gerhart, then President of Franklin and Marshall 
 College, through whose suggestion Mr. Bausman's name was 
 first brought before the Reading people, said regarding that 
 place : 
 
 I know of no city in Pennsylvania where the prospect of rapid 
 growth is so cheering. In Reading the German Reformed Church 
 may become more influential relatively than in any town or city 
 of which I have any knowledge. 
 
 After much prayerful reflection, I believe that in point of age, 
 experience, judgment and language, you are one of comparatively 
 few men who are adapted to the demands at Reading. 
 
 There was dissension in the Reading congregation at that 
 time and Dr. J. H. A. Bomberger wrote: "Happily and with 
 unexpected unanimity, you have been chosen to the place. 
 Should you decline and thus throw the whole question open 
 again, I feel persuaded that the congregation would have troubles 
 which years might not allay." 
 
 A committee of five came to Chambersburg with the call and 
 interviewed Mr. Bausman. On September 2nd, he presented 
 his resignation to the Consistory of the Chambersburg congrega- 
 tion against their unamimous protest. "Consented to postpone 
 action for a short time. Daily the members are entreating me 
 not to go." 
 
 Other diary entries are: 
 
 September 9 — Prayer-meeting. Prayed that God would show 
 me and my people our duty and give us grace to perform it, 
 which seems to have grieved some. 
 
 September 11 — Great lamentation about my leaving. A re- 
 monstrance with 200 signers was presented to me. Poor souls 
 weep and I weep with them and yet duty says, "Go" — How dare 
 I refuse? 
 
 September 12 — Pressed my resignation before the Consistory. 
 They refused to receive it. 
 
 October 1 — Special meeting of Mercersburg Classis, to dissolve 
 my connection here as pastor. Large attendance. Two ses- 
 12 
 
178 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAIJSMAN 
 
 sions, morning and afternoon. Rev. C. F. McCauley and Elder 
 Boas represented Reading and Elders Wolff and Heyser this con- 
 gregation. Many warm speeches were made. When it came 
 towards the close, members of the church present wept. 
 Though I feel it my duty to go, had to weep when my request 
 was granted. Tried to make a parting speech to Classis but 
 was too full. 
 
 It is almost pathetic to see how the various interests of the 
 Church looked to Mr. Bausman, begging for his leadership. 
 The appreciation shown him would seem fulsome, did one not 
 know of the utter sincerity of it and the repeated evidence of the 
 complete confidence reposed in him by all tendencies and sec- 
 tions of the Church. Fifty years later younger ministers were 
 sometimes puzzled to account for the reverential regard imme- 
 diately elicited by the simple mentioning of Dr. Bausman's 
 name. We already see a partial explanation of this in the events 
 which have just been narrated. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Civil War Experiences 
 
 NEXT in educative importance to his observations and ex- 
 periences abroad were those that came unsought to Mr. 
 Bausman through the Civil War. It is beautiful and touching 
 to note how he bore the country's burdens on his heart. Look- 
 ing back upon them after four decades he said in his "Jubilee 
 Address:" 
 
 I learned much from the hard and heroic side of war while at 
 Chambersburg. The place was all along a great military camp; 
 a thoroughfare over which our northern and western soldiers 
 passed southward. The guns of the two great battles of Antietam 
 and Gettysburg were distinctly heard in our streets. Our public 
 buildings were crowded with the wounded and the dying. To 
 such I often ministered ; into my heart they poured the sad stories 
 of their homes, of mothers, wives and children, for whom they 
 dictated letters to me. Many a little funeral procession I at- 
 tended to the cemetery, whither we bore the mangled remains of 
 the fallen heroes, where my burial service was emphasized by the 
 salutes fired over sleeping comrades, by the soldiers who with 
 tattered flag and muffled drum led the procession. A touching, 
 impressive scene it was to us all — a lesson of our own mortality and 
 of patriotic devotion; for thus, 
 
 " Our hearts, tho' stout and brave, 
 
 Still, like muffled drums, are beating 
 Funeral marches to the grave." 
 
 The national distress at that time reached out for the minis- 
 trations of Christianity. Amid the alternations of defeats and 
 victories the government appointed special days — now for humi- 
 liation and prayer, then for thanksgiving. Crushing defeats and 
 disasters brought the nation to its knees; victories filled our 
 churches with hymns of joyful praise. At every service there 
 were anxious, bleeding hearts, whose dear ones were pining away 
 in southern prisons or hospitals or buried in unknown graves. 
 
 179 
 
180 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The sorrows of my country sighed through my own soul and found 
 vent through my voice. In every sermon there was an undertone 
 of sadness, every prayer breathed a sigh for broken hearts. All 
 this was a discipline of patriotism and piety and made the dear 
 old flag infinitely precious to me. I thank God that thus the 
 bleeding anguish of my dear country brought me a blessing and a 
 better equipment for His service. 
 
 Much of what Mr. Bausman saw and thought and felt found 
 its way at once through his pen into the Messenger. After a 
 decade, the story was amplified, adorned with personal incidents, 
 mellowed with a gracious humor, and formed the interesting 
 series of articles of which Mr. Foltz speaks: 
 
 A noted author once remarked that a dozen lines from a writer's 
 works familiar to the people after twenty years, constituted liter- 
 ary immortality. The eight or ten chapters of Dr. Bausman's 
 "Reminiscences of the War" that ran through the Guardian in 
 1874, were in a like sense regarded by many of our older citizens 
 and descendants. They were from month to month reproduced 
 in Public Opinion, of which the writer was founder and editor, 
 and nothing ever appeared in its columns that created greater 
 local interest and general demand or more favorable comment. 
 The chapters were illumined by the good Doctor's peculiar choice 
 and felicity of original expression. While he availed himself of 
 all the picturesque and animating movements of that exciting 
 period, he was not seduced from historical accuracy in the events 
 he described. In large part these "Reminiscences" are an 
 epitome of his priestly offices whilst the beloved pastor of our 
 church in Chambersburg. 
 
 They begin with telling of John Brown and his sojourn in 
 Chambersburg previous to his raid on Harper's Ferry in October, 
 1859, "who harmlessly walked our streets, and on the Lord's day 
 devoutly sat among the flock to whom I (afterwards) ministered. 
 No one knew who he was, whence he came, or whither he was 
 going." 
 
 During the winter and spring of 1860-61, the country showed 
 symptoms of war, and in a short time Chambersburg was filled 
 with the Boys in Blue, 15,000 to 20,000, and the town was trans- 
 formed into a busy, bustling garrison. Many of them flocked to 
 our places of worship on Sunday and engaged in them with de- 
 vout reverence. On a certain Lord's day, Dr. Kennedy — a 
 blind clergyman — preached in our church, at the time without a 
 pastor, and it fell to the lot of Dr. Bausman to assist in the serv- 
 ices, who relates this incident: 
 
CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCES 181 
 
 While leading the congregation in prayer, I heard a singular 
 noise. I could not tell whence it came, not even tell for certain 
 whether it was a human voice. Naturally, I felt greatly em- 
 barrassed, and many in the congregation not a little frightened. 
 As I tried to proceed with the duty assigned me, the mysterious 
 sounds again startled the congregation. This time, however, 
 more articulate and clearly expressed. "Attention" — "dress, 
 men" — "attention" — sounded from the rear of the church, as 
 I miserably strove to pray. For a moment I was left to go on, 
 when the commanding voice of the officer again shouted — "At- 
 tention!" and I concluded the prayer, perhaps with irreverent 
 haste, for it was utterly impossible to get along further. 
 
 Meanwhile, one of the deacons, going to the pew of the officer, 
 awakened him from his sleep and dreams by a vigorous shake of 
 the arm. Then the horrid truth flashed on the poor man's mind. 
 In his sleep he continued his drill formula of the previous day. 
 The poor officer felt deeply chagrined at his involuntary breach 
 of order, and declared that he would never again enter a church 
 in Chambersburg. 
 
 Mr. Bausman often visited the near-by camps; his clerical duties 
 sometimes required his securing a pass to get to the point he 
 would serve and his diary is a running commentary on the local 
 and general movements of the war. For example we read for 
 July 3, 1862: "Awful news from Richmond. That McClellan is 
 driven back and partly cut up by the superior numbers of the 
 Rebel army." 
 
 And four days later: "Considerable talk about my sermon 
 yesterday morning. Favorable so far as I can hear. Have 
 been informally requested by some persons to give it for publica- 
 tion. Will not do it." The text was Ps. 2: 11, "Serve the Lord 
 with fear and rejoice with trembling." 
 
 A few days before Antietam, successive notes are: "In- 
 tense excitement;" "excitement increasing;" "wild with pan- 
 ic;" "wild rumors about Rebels coming — feel calm." 
 
 It was then he wrote to his brother: 
 
 Chambersburg, Friday evening, September 12, 1862. 
 Dear Philip: 
 
 As the reported approach of the Rebel army to our place may 
 
 have alarmed you about my safety, I will hastily drop a few lines 
 
 to quiet your fears. The last news says the nearest Rebel pickets 
 
 are about sixteen miles from here. They have taken possession 
 
 f Hagerstown, which is twenty miles from here. 
 
182 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 I suppose one-third of the families have fled, some on the cars, 
 some in carriages, some in wagons. Terrible stories have been 
 circulated, how the Rebels would plunder the town and maltreat 
 the women. Some of the roads in the country are lined for 
 miles Avith wagons. Many don't know where they are going. 
 If the Rebels had been but 100 yards off the crowds of women 
 and children could not have been more excited, as they rushed 
 into the trains that left to-day. 
 
 All the stores and business places are closed, and the men are 
 marching the streets with bayonets to defend their homes. The 
 doors and pavements are crowded with anxious women talking 
 excitedly about the last news. Brave men send their wives and 
 children off while they remain to meet the worst. To see the 
 weeping of women and children as they thus part from fathers 
 and husbands is enough to melt the hardest heart. The poor, 
 the sick, and many who have no men to help them must remain. 
 I am doing all I can to comfort the people. I suppose half of 
 my congregation have fled. I try to quiet and pacify those that 
 remain. My post of duty is here just now. By the grace of 
 God I will say a few earnest words to my few people that remain, 
 next Sunday. Such a scene of terror and excitement as the last 
 few days furnished, I have never witnessed in America. Did my 
 pastoral duties allow it, I would this evening stand on guard 
 with a musket on my shoulder or gallop the streets on my "Jack" 
 in defence of our homes. There is only one thing that will drive 
 me out of town if the Rebels come. It is reported that they press 
 Union men into their army. '"Tis sweet to die for one's native 
 land," and if the blood of Christ can get me ready, I would rather 
 die than fight in the Rebel ranks. That I will not do so long as 
 God gives me power to refuse. To lift my hand against our dear 
 flag, I will not do. Here I am. Make yourselves easy about me. 
 Don't allow yourselves to be frightened so easily. Pennsylvania 
 is in a panic of fright. 
 
 These are earnest, solemn times, in which we need prayer and 
 faith. In God is our strength. If any of us should fall in the con- 
 flict, it is no more than thousands of others as good as we have 
 done. Only let us watch and pray that we be found at our posts. 
 A friend sent my horse in his two-horse carriage and with his 
 family across the mountain this morning toward Huntingdon, 
 where the Rebels can't get him. My valuable papers I have given 
 to Mrs. Schneck, who will leave with others, in a carriage for a 
 safer place. 
 
 The Messenger, for the first time in its history, has been stopped 
 — the hands are marching with bayonets for their country. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have invited me to a seat in their car- 
 
CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCES 183 
 
 riage for Bedford, in case there is absolute danger of imprison- 
 ment at Richmond, or being pressed into their army. The way- 
 things look now, I don't think we will be likely to leave soon. 
 Thus, dear Philip, matters stand. So strange does it seem that 
 I can hardly believe my senses. Let us be men, brave men. 
 You brothers have wives and children. Act in such a way that 
 your children need not be ashamed of the name they bear when 
 they grow up. If your country needs your life and you can give 
 it, do it. 
 
 Let us show to the South, and to the world that our strength, 
 our lives and our sacred honor are cheerfully laid on the altar of 
 our dear, dear native land. O God, save our dear country and 
 give us the victory over our enemies. 
 
 I pray God for grace not to desert my post in the hour of 
 peril. 
 
 Accompanied by Dr. Schneck, he was for several hours an 
 eye-witness of the Antietam battle from a commanding emi- 
 nence. He strolled down the hill toward evening and away 
 from his friend. 
 
 Soon trains of ambulances, packed with the wounded and dy- 
 ing, began to bring their sorrowful burdens to two farm houses. 
 Where should they lay them? Who would help to carry them to 
 some place of safety, if not of comfort? The most of the am- 
 bulances had no one to help the driver in his painful task. 
 
 As Mr. Foltz puts it, "with heroic greatness of soul and a 
 quick sense of the wants of the suffering, to see duty was to do 
 it" and as Mr. Bausman himself relates: 
 
 Somehow, half-unconsciously, before I knew what I was about, 
 I found myself at the head of an army hospital. First, I helped 
 the drivers of the ambulances to carry the wounded into the barns 
 and barn-yards. Being short of help, I called others to my aid. 
 An officer passing along, watching me for a moment, said: ''Will 
 you please, sir, and for the present, take charge of this hospital? 
 You see how these men are suffering. Call others to your aid, 
 and do for the poor fellows what you can." 
 
 The famihes had fled from the houses. Their stock of living 
 was exhausted. No one to give a candle, lamp or lantern. At 
 length, one was found, the work of relief commenced, and the cup 
 of water was given. Soon a kettle full of rice soup was prepared. 
 One man carries the kettle, and two of us, each with a tablespoon, 
 deal out the food. Never have I seen men more thankful for a 
 
184 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 trifling kindness. The kettle soon was emptied. As the kind 
 lady is about preparing a second supply, the cruel surgeon for- 
 bade the comforting act. Alas, but one surgeon among so 
 manj^, and he (in addition) unwilling even to afford his trifling 
 services. During the twenty-four hours that I was here, I did 
 not see him dress a wound. Meanwhile, the tallow candle burns 
 into the socket. When this is consumed our ministry for the 
 night must cease. The groans of the dying appeal to us for 
 spiritual consolation. Here and there, I crouch down aside of 
 an expiring soldier: I whisper a few verses of truth, and a few 
 words of advice, a short prayer into the ear of the dying and his 
 Saviour's name; tell him of the blood shed to take away our sin. 
 The tallow candle has expired. In a neighboring house I tried 
 vainly to get a few hours rest on a carpeted floor. What thoughts 
 crowded into those few, sleepless hours. Over 100,000 warriors 
 lay scattered over these surrounding hills. Ten thousand of 
 them bruised and mangled. Is it a wonder that sleep deserts 
 one's pillow? 
 
 An errand of mercy led Mr. Bausman to visit the battle-field 
 very soon again. He brought home a relic which caused him 
 no little annoyance. As he dramatically related the story there- 
 after from time to time to friends, "they were convulsed with 
 uncontrollable laughter." It shows moreover, his supersen- 
 sitive concern lest he might be instrumental in injuring another. 
 He thus relates it: 
 
 As in all great battles, the field of the Antietam engagement 
 was left strewn with shot and shell, and with the arms and 
 valuables of the defeated and the dead. IMuskets, rifles, the 
 costly swords of oflficers, tempted the infirmities of the relic-hunt- 
 ing visitors. Indeed, it was hard to resist the desire of picking 
 up some article or other, and preserving it as a memento of this 
 historic battle. Among the numerous large shells lying about 
 I selected one. It had not exploded, and therefore was a per- 
 fect article. To my unmilitary mind it seemed very harmless. 
 True, it was heavy, weighing ten or fifteen pounds, but its weight 
 was no hindrance to its transportation. It would be interesting 
 to show to one's friends long after this cruel war would be over. 
 I took it along home. Of course then the most of us were in- 
 nocently ignorant of the contents and properties of a shell. 
 Surely, it could hurt no one, unless when hurled from the mouth 
 of a cannon. I laid it in my sleeping chamber; indeed, to get it 
 out of the way, laid it under my bed. For a week or longer 
 
CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCES 185 
 
 I slept as soundly as usual over the murderous weapon. By 
 that time the papers brought] us the most startling reports of 
 the unaccountable freaks of these shells in the several counties 
 south of us, and indeed in our own neighborhood. A farmer was 
 ploughing; some hidden power touched by his plowshare blew 
 him and his horses to pieces. Many other accidents of a similar 
 nature followed. A horse or wagon butted against the touchy 
 end of the shell, and that put an end to the horse and wagon, 
 and usually, to the driver too. Two little boys, near Funkstown, 
 Franklin County, felt curious about the contents of a shell. In 
 trying to open it the poor fellows were battered to death. The 
 Bedouin definition of a revolver is: an instrument which, once 
 the trigger is touched, will crack away and kill as long as there 
 is a mortal within reach. Thus, the shells of both armies kept 
 on killing people after the soldiers ceased fighting. It was said 
 that it required a stroke on the end of the shell to make it explode, 
 but there were explosions without any known cause. 
 
 One morning as I awoke, the thought flashed on my mind 
 that I had for a week past been sleeping over one of these ter- 
 rific weapons, corked full of slaughter, worse than a keg of pow- 
 der. Of course, I slept little after that. What if some night, 
 it should take a freak and lift one out of bed into eternity! Some- 
 how my mind, not easily frightened, refused any longer calml}^ 
 to consent to the harboring of such an eccentric instrument of 
 death at that place. I need scarcely say that that day the shell 
 was, with tender caution, carried to another place; the horrible 
 monster, like the wooden horse that destroyed Troy, its deadly 
 weapons in its bowels! I have somewhere read a story of two 
 boys who were out hunting. They came upon a wild boar. 
 Terribly frightened, one ran off and climbed up a tree. The 
 other in his fright was overtaken by the boar, which ran between 
 his legs. The boy caught the ferocious animal by both ears, and 
 held it for a while with a firm grip. At length he cried to his 
 brother on the tree, — 
 
 ''John, come here." 
 
 "What do you want?" cried John. 
 
 "Why, I want you to help me let this hog go!" 
 
 Thus, I had caught this shell, and knew not how to let it go. 
 I laid it away in the garret of the parsonage. Surely, there it 
 could hurt no one. Could it not? Everybody knows that 
 there are seasons when even that remote part of a house can not 
 escape the diligent hand of the house-cleaner. What if the 
 touch of a brush or a foot should cause an explosion and some one 
 be killed! I had no more rest with it overhead than under it. 
 I will stow it away under the earth, I thought, that will settle 
 
186 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 the matter. With a grim and somewhat grotesque sense of my 
 predicament, I bore it back into the parsonage lot. Had I 
 stumbled or fallen down stairs with it, what then! The plague 
 on this shell! How softly I stepped as I bore it out of the house. 
 Behind some currant bushes in the garden I dug a deep hole with 
 a spade, and gently laid it therein and with equal gentleness 
 covered it with earth. Surely, now I am rid of it. In a day or 
 two, it occurred to me that some day it might become necessary 
 to dig a post-hole there or a well and touch the fatal end of the 
 shell with the spade or pick. Such a thing would not be im- 
 possible; though it should happen after my death, I would be 
 morally responsible for the destruction of human life. In spite 
 of strenuous efforts to throw aside these troublesome thoughts, 
 they refused to give me rest. At length a fortunate idea, as I 
 thought, struck me. I would sink it beneath the waters of the 
 Conococheague, flowing along the edge of Chambersburg. One 
 evening, about dusk, I started out on this singular mission. 
 Through a certain back street, across several town lots, down 
 a steep hillside, to the banks of the stream I bore it, meanwhile 
 musing over this singular dilemma into which my fondness for 
 relics had brought me. The reader may smile at it, but it was 
 to me a strangely serious errand. I still remember how I oc- 
 casionally paused on the way, holding the heavy thing in my 
 tired hands and listened to the throbbing of my heart and to the 
 hush of evening, as here and there an insect began its occasional 
 chirruping. With a long stick, I sounded for a place sufficiently 
 deep, then waded into the stream, thrust my arms under the 
 water, and carefully laid my burden down. In going away, I 
 noted some objects nearby, wherewith to mark the spot, so that 
 in case of another demand of conscience, I would know where to 
 find it. Leisurely I strolled homeward, moralizing over the 
 future probabilities in the conduct of this shell. Surely, there it 
 can harm no one, I tried to think; indeed for a day or two I felt 
 pretty well convinced of it. Alas for my treacherous peace! 
 For do not the cattle and horses pass through here to water, from 
 the neighboring field and roads? One touch from the hoof of a 
 horse may explode the shell and kill him and his rider. In 
 summer, people fish in this stream with stirring nets. The man 
 that stirs with a pole, or he that holds the net may kick the 
 shell into deadly action. Such a turn of affairs is possible. 
 Even to be the indirect occasion of a fellow-being's death would 
 grieve one to the end of his life, if not longer. 
 
 Again, I proceeded to the river bank at nightfall. Somehow, 
 troubled as I was, I felt that other persons, my friends even, had 
 cause to laugh at me. I preferred not to be watched by people 
 
CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCES 187 
 
 who could not sympathize with my situation. Perhaps, some of 
 these would have run the risk and let the shelfrest or ruin some- 
 body. I could not. The spot and the shell, a few feet under 
 water, were readily found. It seemed a very heavy burden, 
 somehow heavier than before, as I bore it homeward. What now? 
 Before I temporarily laid it in a corner, I held it before me, seated 
 on a chair. To my mind the coarse piece of metal got to possess 
 a mysterious and unconquerable power. But for the power of 
 attraction, I would have sought to hurl it on some unpeopled 
 planet. Is there no possibility to annihilate it without risking 
 any one's life? 
 
 In the same square with the parsonage lived an humble gun- 
 smith. Alas! I have forgotten his name, as we so easily forget 
 the names of our greatest benefactors. With Httle hope of re- 
 lief, I consulted him. Could he not tell me what to do with this 
 shell? How to make it absolutely harmless? 
 
 "Take out the contents," was his reply. "Show me the 
 shell. I can empty it — know all about it." 
 
 "Suppose it will kill you! How do you know it won't?" 
 
 "Let me see to that; I know all about it." 
 
 The next time I called, he showed me a lot of powder, balls, 
 pieces of iron, etc., which he had extracted. Now it was per- 
 fectly empty and perfectly safe. This story may seem to the 
 reader like much ado about nothing. So be it. I felt thankful 
 to a kind Providence, who through this gunsmith took a heavy 
 and very annoying burden off my hands and heart. And though 
 hereafter cruel war should rain shells around our doors, which 
 may God in mercy prevent, I shall never bear another loaded 
 shell from a battle-field. For its deadly freaks there, let those 
 be responsible who are the agents in creating wars. 
 
 In less than a month after Antietam, Gen. Stuart with 2,800 
 cavalry made a daring raid around the Union army and held 
 Chambersburg "Fourteen Hours in the Southern Confederacy." 
 His "Jack" this time had a narrow escape. 
 
 In a drenching rain squads of cavalry dashed through the 
 town in search of horses. Every alley soon resounded with the 
 clattering hoofs of Rebel steeds. Stables were searched and 
 emptied without ceremony. Ingenious expedients were resorted 
 to by the owners to save their property. Some in their excited 
 attempts to hurry them away to places of safety, blundered into 
 the hands of the enemy. "My kingdom for a horse!" cried the 
 unhorsed Richard. The scene was reenacted in Chambersburg 
 that night. In a few hours the prevailing form of salutation on 
 
188 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 the streets was: "Is your horse safe?" "Quickly bring your 
 horse out of the stable," said a friend. "Proctor, (his colored 
 servant, who had formerly been a slave in the South,) will in a 
 moment bring my two past the parsonage. We must hurry them 
 off and hide them somewhere in the country. He will take yours 
 along." 
 
 The quickest time I ever made in Chambersburg, with my 
 unaided powers of locomotion, I made that night, from the 
 Public Square to the stable, a distance of about three squares. 
 Poor Jack, as I hurried him out into the street, little knew of his 
 perilous position. As I handed to Proctor the reins, the clatter- 
 ing of hoofs of Rebel cavalry were heard two squares off, coming 
 our way at full speed. "Hist, Proctor, they are coming. The 
 Philistines be after you," I softly whispered to the faithful col- 
 ored man. "Ride for your life, or you'll be a slave to the day of 
 your death." If ever mortal man vigorously used his spurs to 
 preserve his liberty, it was my colored friend. The three horses 
 gave him a world of trouble, as it was difficult to lead them on 
 at a fast run. "Alas, for poor Proctor and Jack!" I muttered, 
 as his pursuers dashed past me. 
 
 Thanks to the darkness, the horse and his rider escaped. A 
 few miles out of town, a friend hid Jack in a barn cellar. The 
 horse-hunters searched all the stables, but did not find their way 
 into his hiding-place. 
 
 His letter to his brother gives further incident: 
 
 Chambersburg, October 13, 1862. 
 Dear Philip: 
 
 I hasten to drop you a few lines of information of my safety. 
 The Rebels had possession of our town from Friday evening till 
 Saturday morning at 9 o'clock. No persons were killed and very 
 little private property was destroyed. I felt easy all the time 
 until they blew up one of our warehouses containing powder and 
 shells on Saturday morning. I did all I could while shells were 
 bursting to get the women and children to places of safety, and 
 worked where the fire and smoke almost took my breath from 
 me. For about one hour I worked with fifty others at an engine. 
 Some of the shells in the burning warehouse burst not more than 
 twenty yards from me and their pieces rained round us Uke hail. 
 God in mercy sent us a rain the day before to wet the houses, 
 and a west wind just as the fire blazed up. 
 
 Yesterday, with a full heart and flowing tears my congrega- 
 tion returned thanks for their deliverance. I never preached 
 such a thanksgiving sermon. Job 35: 10 — "Songs in the Night." 
 
REV. THOS. G. APPLE REV. FRED. A. RUPLEY 
 REV. BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 AT ABOUT 38 
 
CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCES 189 
 
 Four days after the departure of Stuart's troopers, Synod was 
 scheduled to meet in the Chambersburg Church. To quiet the 
 fears of delegates, Mr. Bausman issued a circular on Monday 
 assuring them that they could "come to the meeting with per- 
 fect safety." Soon after the circular was mailed the report 
 came that Stuart was returning, a false report happily, yet it 
 was this that led Dr. J. H. Dubbs to make further inquiry for 
 himself and fellow delegates, to which Dr. Harbaugh, the retir- 
 ing president of Synod, who was already on the ground, tele- 
 graphed the reply: "Come. Rebels all gone; chickens all safe." 
 
 It was the middle of June and Mr. Bausman was in Lancaster 
 when the first report came of Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania and 
 he repaired at once to Chambersburg, which he succeeded in 
 reaching only after the fourth day, walking unmolested the last 
 five miles on the railroad. "Gen. Jenkins and his forces had 
 left and I determined, if possible, to be found at home on his 
 next visit." 
 
 In a few days the Confederates came again. The town coun- 
 cil had nearly all left. The clergy were unofficially appointed 
 the council of the town and Dr. Bausman humorously tells of 
 the demand made upon them by the invaders, among other 
 things for twenty-five barrels of sauerkraut. 
 
 When Lee himself rode through he paused in the Square 
 debating with his aids whether the army should go toward Har- 
 risburg or Gettysburg. 
 
 I stood about twenty paces from him. Somehow, in spite of 
 his rebelhous mission, I feel kindly toward this man and cannot 
 suppress a sense of admiration for his military genius. There 
 he sits unarmed, his face bronzed and care-worn wath a striking 
 expression; one that would attract your special notice among 
 ten thousand others. It is a novel scene that would furnish a 
 fine subject for a painter. 
 
 Excerpts from the next letter home follow: 
 
 Chambersburg, July 10, 1863. 
 Dear Brother Philip: 
 
 I need scarcely tell you at this late date that I am safe. You 
 have read the papers. Only a few days after I returned the Reb- 
 els came — 50,000 of them with 3,000 or 4,000 wagons. For five 
 
190 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 days they passed through the town. Got an immense stock of 
 horses, cattle, flour, merchandise. 
 
 Many are like the Baltimore thugs, bloodthirsty blackguards. 
 Not a few are praying men. Have their prayer-meetings and 
 read their Bibles. 
 
 There are 10,000 men at Gettysburg, cut up and in agony for 
 keeping the Rebel army away from you. I was there, I know how 
 destitute they are. 
 
 I think we, whom they have defended, should be willing to 
 live on bread and water and lie on the hard floor if need be, so 
 that we could make them comfortable. Go around among your 
 neighbors and beg them for God's sake and the sake of these 
 crippled, dying patriots to assist in making them comfortable. 
 
 My horse is safe. I had intended to send him with Mr. Fish- 
 er's to you ; but the man that keeps him begged me to let him have 
 him. Don't feed Mr. Fisher's horse strong. He gets too fat 
 and foohsh. 
 
 We have some fifty wounded Rebels here, some of them pious 
 men. 
 
 In a letter to his brother written August 27th and referring to 
 the call to Reading, he went on: 
 
 I have just received another call. To-day the draft was held 
 in this place and lo! my name was pulled out. Now show your 
 brotherly generosity and go as my substitute. They say the 
 examining surgeon is very particular. Perhaps he will reject 
 me, on the ground that I am not sound enough. The way I 
 have been the last three months, I surely could not stand private 
 soldiering long. But I shall not coax for exemption. 
 
 The Provost Marshal's summons was accompanied by the 
 order to "report on the eighth of October, 1863, at the place of 
 rendezvous, in Chambersburg, or be deemed a deserter, and be 
 subject to the penalty prescribed therefor by the rules and ar- 
 ticles of war." 
 
 In the "Reminiscences" we read: 
 
 I had heard much of the rude treatment which some of the 
 drafted men received at the hands of the surgeons. Very differ- 
 ent was my fate in this case. With a warm grasp of the hand, 
 he invited me to a seat and kindly told me that he had made my 
 acquaintance through a certain book. After a cheerful conver- 
 sation of this kind he inquired about my health and the 
 
CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCES 191 
 
 symptoms of my affliction and at last remarked that my bodily 
 condition at that time unfitted me for service. 
 
 "Unfit for military duty by reason of Chronic Bronchitis" 
 reads the "Certificate of Exemption." 
 
 He was in Vermont on his vacation with Dr. E. E. Higbee, 
 whom he regarded "a capital pilot through Yankee land," on 
 the first of August, 1864, when he "read with horror in the Boston 
 Journal that Chambersburg was burned by the Rebels." He 
 hastened to Reading at once and then to the scene of the disaster 
 to minister again to his former flock. He tarried there for a week, 
 comforting and helping in many ways. His church at Reading 
 contributed largely to the needy and suffering at Chambersburg. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Reading, First Church — 1863-1872 
 
 BENJAMIN BAUSMAN entered upon the great work of his 
 hfe when he came to Reading; and what he did while there 
 is the abiding monument of his spiritual leadership, as we see it 
 in the First and St. Paul's Churches, in the other well located 
 and aggressive Reformed churches of that industrial city, and in 
 the awakening of the religious life of his denomination due in no 
 small measure to his writings and manifold activities. 
 
 He understood the Pennsylvania Germans in their faults and 
 virtues. They were his own people. He loved them and his 
 life was set to their religious uplift and nurture. The pastorate 
 of the old First Church in Reading was strategic for all Eastern 
 Pennsylvania and he knew it. The task was gigantic as dis- 
 cerned in the possibilities of the situation; but the very im- 
 mensity of the opportunity gave the position its fascination, for 
 Mr. Bausman was a man of vision. 
 
 "What do you want with this sick man in Reading?" inquired 
 many who saw and heard the wan-visaged preacher. It seemed 
 a stroke of folly to call an invalid to a pastorate so important 
 and taxing. Mr. Bausman's best friends questioned the wisdom 
 of risking the work at Reading, though they realized his peculiar 
 fitness for it. After preaching in Reading on August 2, 1863, 
 he knew the congregation's feeling toward him and that they 
 would call him. He told his friends afterwards that on the fol- 
 lowing day as he left on the train for a two weeks' vacation in 
 Atlantic City, he felt so weak and discouraged about his health 
 that he never expected to see Reading again. He was suffering 
 occasionally from ominous hemorrhages. We have seen how he 
 was declared unfit for military service. Before accepting the 
 call he consulted a Reading physician, whose reply showed his 
 misgivings — "Yes, come, the work is difficult, but it is worth 
 
 192 
 
FIRST REFORMED CHURCH. READING. IN WHICH DR. BAUSMAN PREACHED 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 193 
 
 the life of a good man." Dr. Harbaugh, who knew so well his 
 bosom friend's handicap from ill health, had questioned very 
 strongly the wisdom of his coming. He preached one of the 
 sermons at Mr. Bausman's installation, Sunday the first day of 
 November, and the text he chose indicates his recognition of Mr. 
 Bausman's abandonment to duty irrespective of all consequences 
 — Acts 20: 24, "I hold not my life of any account as dear unto 
 myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry 
 which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the 
 grace of God." To such as declared that Mr. Bausman was 
 coming to Reading to die, good Dr. McCauley, pastor of the Sec- 
 ond Reformed Church, made reply with solemn humor: "What 
 of it? Reading is just as near heaven as Chambersburg and 
 we will give him decent burial." 
 
 Moreover, these forebodings were perilously near being real- 
 ized, for, before the end of the year 1863, he was brought very 
 close to death's door and for six weeks was out of his pulpit. He 
 had plunged too energetically into his work. He was so eager 
 to become acquainted with his large congregation, that he visited 
 twenty-five, twenty-eight and forty-six families on successive 
 days and with many tasks overdid himself. He suffered a vio- 
 lent attack of pleurisy and himself noted when he was conval- 
 escing, ''My illness was critical, the Dr. says dangerous." We 
 read in his diary January 1, 1864: "Another year gone and 
 what a year! Mercy crowned it at its close. The Lord is my 
 refuge and my trust." And four weeks later: "My fortieth birth- 
 day. What has God not done for me, especially this last year? 
 At least half of my life is gone and more. How long I shall live, 
 God knows. Let Him do as seemeth right in His sight. All my 
 powers I will try to give Him." 
 
 During the first few years in Reading there are notes in the 
 diary quite often, indicating that he did not expect to live long — 
 particularly at the turn of the year and on birthdays: "Past 
 middle life, on the downward side of the hill — " "I am verging 
 toward the sunset of life — " "How fast my life is passing, and 
 how httle I am doing." 
 
 His long life happily disproved his own forebodings and he 
 outlived nearly all his associates who predicted his early demise. 
 13 
 
194 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 When he was passed forty, new health and vigor apparently came 
 to him and he seemed to revel undismayed in the new tasks and 
 burdens imposed upon him. Moreover, the melancholy expec- 
 tation of an early death seemed to summon him to redoubled 
 efforts, for he "must work while it is day." 
 
 Multitudes attended his services. Benches and chairs were 
 often carried into the aisles. There was inspiration in this and 
 he rejoiced in it for the good he could do. "Full churches; very 
 attentive. Blessed day to my heart." "Crowds! — How can I be 
 thankful enough for such enjoyments?" 
 
 There was such freshness and reality about his messages that 
 men recall them vividly to-day and say they had never before 
 heard such preaching. His first-hand knowledge of Bible lands 
 illuminated his texts and gave peculiar force of conviction to 
 his discourses. 
 
 He had immense catechetical classes from the start and con- 
 firmed on Good Friday, the first year 70 and the years fol- 
 lowing successively 68, 106, 124, 98 and 136. By certificate 
 and renewal of faith, he received members by the scores. 
 
 During the winters of 1865 and 1866, he delivered a course of 
 lectures to young men on such topics: "The Art of Making and 
 Using Money;" "Selecting a Calling;" "Manliness" — and, dur- 
 ing the following winter, on his travels in the British Isles and 
 on the Continent. These lectures were very popular, put him in 
 touch with young people who otherwise would not have come to 
 his church and thus helped to increase the accessions to the 
 membership. 
 
 He began immediately to develop the benevolent activity of 
 the church, and his stirring appeals brought a hearty response, 
 usually far above what he asked for. A benevolent society was 
 organized, the city was districted and collectors were appointed 
 to gather funds regularly. Hitherto there had been no such or- 
 ganized effort. At the meeting of Eastern Synod held in Lancas- 
 ter in October, 1864, at which he was president, he pledged his 
 own congregation to the amount of S500.00 for Home Missions 
 alone. 
 
 Immediately after the inspiring Easter festival in the spring 
 of 1864, he appealed to the congregation to pay off the floating 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 195 
 
 debt of about $3,000 which had accumulated during several 
 years and it was soon wiped out. 
 
 The church prospered in every way during his pastorate and 
 appreciation was shown him by twice increasing his salary, by 
 granting vacations which had never before been given the pastor 
 and by many tokens of affection and esteem. 
 
 Mr. Bausman had clear views and definite plans for city church 
 extension before he came to Reading. He had first hand ob- 
 servation of Ragged-schools in England; he had studied and 
 written about them, and one feels that one of the chief attrac- 
 tions in the call to Reading was the opportunity to carry out these 
 plans. Because of his serious illness he was able to do very little 
 in the congregation before January, 1864. He did not wait even 
 until he had mastered the situation in the First Church nor for 
 the more favorable conditions of spring, for it was on Sunday, 
 the sixth of March, but four months after he came to Reading, 
 that St. John's Sunday-school was organized; this was followed 
 in a few months by the starting of Emanuel's, which afterward 
 became St. Stephen's Sunday-school and church. Later, other 
 schools were organized in outlying sections of the city and most 
 of them ultimately developed into congregations. They were 
 begun in schoolhouses and then after a while the pastor, with 
 the assistance of his church, erected a suitable building. He 
 was favored with an independent income and was willing to use 
 it for the cause of Christ. This enabled him to lead off in these 
 enterprises which otherwise would have suffered fatal delay. A 
 typical transaction was the first one, November 23, 1864. The 
 diary for that day reads: 
 
 Closed the purchase of two lots for a mission Sunday-school 
 building for $950. Paid half. Have contracted for the build- 
 ing on my own responsibility. The congregation will not let 
 me stick. 
 
 He challenged men and women of ability and promise to be- 
 come oSicers and teachers in these schools, which became fine 
 places of training for them. Many of the strong lay workers of 
 Reading owe their usefulness and eflficiency to Dr. Bausman's 
 summoning them to Christian service in the mission Sunday- 
 schools. 
 
196 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 It was his custom every Sunday, if possible, in addition to fre- 
 quent baptisms and funerals, to visit one or two of these schools 
 and from time to time participate in their special festivities and 
 anniversaries. Their success was due largely to his devotion, 
 interest and oversight, and particularly to the counsel and en- 
 couragement which he gave their leaders. Withal, he heartily 
 enjoyed these activities, which he knew counted mightily for the 
 kingdom, and especially to be among the budding children and 
 youth. After a day of such visits he wrote in exclamation: 
 "Beautiful is the world of children! Had to weep as I sat among 
 them." 
 
 A man, who thoroughly understands the situation as it was 
 when Bausman came, says: ''The Reformed Church in Reading 
 would have gone to pieces if a strong man had not come. " There 
 would have been, at least, serious defections from the old First 
 Church, which was then beset with internal troubles. The com- 
 ing of Mr. Bausman inspired new life and hope, not only into the 
 congregation of which he became pastor, but into the denomina- 
 tion in the town and vicinity. 
 
 His efforts for the general good of the Reformed Church in 
 the city were heartily seconded by Dr. McCauley, his warm 
 friend, who had done so much to bring him to Reading. They 
 and their churches worked together in harmony and a strong 
 denominational consciousness and unity was developed by 
 united services and undertakings. Notable was the concluding 
 celebration of the 300th anniversary of the publication of the 
 Heidelberg Catechism, held in the spring of 1864 in the First 
 Church. 
 
 It was the custom then for all the Reformed Sunday-schools 
 to picnic together on the 4th of July in Deininger's woods, where 
 the Schuylkill Seminary is now located. Thither the young 
 Christian soldiers marched with happy faces and flying banners. 
 
 A year after the arrival of Mr. Bausman, the officers and 
 teachers of all the Reformed Sunday-schools were organized into 
 an association which helped greatly to further the common in- 
 terest. Dr. C. Z. Weiser preached their anniversary sermon in 
 1869, and wrote of the association in the Messenger: 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 197 
 
 The Reformed Church at Reading numbers seven Sunday- 
 schools. Five of them are mission schools. The friends of the 
 cause, with Rev. B. Bausman in the lead, organize from time to 
 time in this or that quarter of the city, build a chapel, and plant 
 the interest, as we plant a tree. And let it be said, too, all of 
 them grow, thrive and bear fruit. The Sunday-school teachers 
 numbering from 150 to 200, have formed themselves into an 
 association. They meet monthly, and do just what sensible 
 and live teachers will do at their gatherings. 
 
 When Mr. Bausman came to Reading, it was understood, in a 
 general way at least, that a new congregation should colonize 
 from the old one which was growing so rapidly and, because of 
 its large numbers, was becoming more and more unwieldy and 
 hence was wanting in efficiency. The task proved to be an im- 
 mense one, full of difficulties and bitter annoyances. Over nine 
 years passed before St. Paul's was finally organized. No finer 
 tribute to his courage, wisdom and practical idealism can one 
 find than in his unflinching persistence to accomplish this end. 
 Weaker men would have given up the struggle and been content 
 with the throngs, the large confirmation classes and the pecuni- 
 ary advantages incident thereto. Nay, how often have we seen 
 ministers of large churches cling to every member who would go 
 elsewhere to work and stoutly oppose colonization. How often 
 have new congregations been started by schism from the old, the 
 new interest going out under the protest, not the encourage- 
 ment of the pastor. Moreover, as Hon. Geo. F. Baer puts it in 
 a fine tribute to Dr. Bausman: 
 
 Instead of remaining with the old and strong mother church, he 
 went with the smaller number, who were to take upon themselves 
 the harder work of organizing a new English congregation and 
 of building a new church. 
 
 His mind had been made up in the matter before coming to 
 Reading and the experience of a few years only made his con- 
 viction the more decided. It was just before Easter, 1866, in the 
 midst of his most busy season, that he v/rote on the subject for 
 the Messenger, an editorial which shows by its tenor that it came 
 out of the author's experience. It is entitled, "A Sigh beneath 
 a Burden." 
 
198 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 A certain man of God of whom we think more highly than of 
 some other people, once asked a friend how strong the congrega- 
 tion was to which he belonged. He replied, "One thousand 
 strong." "One thousand strong!" replied the earnest man, "you 
 had better say, one thousand weak. No congregation can develop 
 its proportionate strength with such a mass of material." 
 
 The article goes on to speak of the advantages and attractive 
 power of large congregations, but they, "like all large bodies are 
 hard to move." 
 
 The pastor may be able to preach to them all, but he cannot 
 possibly perform his pastoral duties faithfully. A shepherd 
 ought to "know his sheep," but he cannot know one-half of his 
 personally. 
 
 In large congregations you cannot so well develop the habit of 
 individual piety and strength. They beget rubbish, stragglers. 
 
 You cannot develop the benevolence of such. 
 
 Large congregations usually suffer most at the hands of sancti- 
 monious pirates — the proselyting of rival sects. 
 
 Wherever a congregation numbers more than 400, they ought 
 to colonize. First, for their own sake, to enable the pastor to 
 drill them in practical Christian work. Secondly, for the sake of 
 doing good. Send out a colony in another part of the town and 
 it will soon gather the material in the neighborhood, which the 
 old church could never have reached. The two hands of the 
 divided congregation will do five times as much for the cause of 
 Christ as the original one did. 
 
 David did more with his pebbles than the giant with his sword, 
 though the strong arm of Goliath wielded it. 
 
 A week later, he touched the same subject in an editorial 
 under the heading "Assistant Pastors," of whom he disapproved 
 in the Protestant Church, because "personal unburdenings " must 
 come to the pastor's ear if he is to preach effectively. This is 
 gotten through pastoral work. The Roman priest gets it through 
 the confessional. "In our opinion the preacher ought to be the 
 pastor and the pastor the preacher." 
 
 Not only because of the size of the First Church was division 
 necessary, but also because of the language question. During 
 his pastorate, half the services were in German and there was a 
 growing need, especially among the younger portion, for more 
 English services. The establishment of the mission Sunday- 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 199 
 
 schools was a practical demonstration of his policy of church 
 work, but they afforded little relief from congestion at the First 
 Church. Meanwhile, the old church continued to grow, the 
 debt was removed, the missionary spirit was inculcated by many 
 sermons and in December, 1865, the first official steps were 
 taken toward the new project. 
 
 Adjoining the old church was the graveyard. In view of the 
 rapid growth of the city, it was very evident that the cemetery 
 would not be tolerated for long in that location. Then too, the 
 ground was very valuable and it was proposed to sell it and use 
 the proceeds for the new church. Authority to do this had to be 
 secured by special act of Legislature, for the graveyard was 
 originally a special grant from the Penns. 
 
 The proposition to sell the graveyard ground for this purpose 
 was voted down in a congregational meeting, January, 1866. 
 After the successful and inspiring services of the following Easter, 
 a new tack was taken. The Consistory authorized the prepara- 
 tion of plans for the new church and a congregational meeting 
 in August voted to erect a new church for the German portion 
 of the congregation. It was soon realized that it would be wiser 
 to have the German portion, who were for the most part, the 
 older members, remain in the old church, and accordingly in 
 December, it was decided that the new church should be for 
 the English portion, and at the same time, the congregation 
 voted to sell the graveyard for that purpose. 
 
 The sermons of the pastor favoring the new church were stir- 
 ring and powerful and excited among many, bitter opposition. 
 His conviction and passion in the matter were intense. He 
 preached on Isaiah 54: 2, 3, "Enlarge the place of thy 
 tent, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes. For thou 
 shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left." In the 
 record of the day he prepared it we read: "Wept during the 
 writing of it. May God help me to preach it." It is needless 
 to say that its effect was great. 
 
 He stated in this sermon that there were 1,500 confirmed 
 souls under his care and 1,200 unconfirmed — counting the schol- 
 ars of all the mission schools — and there were sittings in the 
 church for about 1,000. Many members wanted to pay for 
 
200 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 sittings but could not get them. The crowds at communions 
 were so great that not a few went away without coming to the 
 Lord's Table. 
 
 You blockade the port of heaven to allow none but the favored 
 few to enter its blessed enjoyments, and yet you say, "Plenty 
 of room!" 
 
 You are glad to see large numbers confirmed, but refuse to 
 provide for new members. By want of church room and by 
 making it impossible for the pastor to care for them properly, you 
 hand them over to the evil. This church is contributing to the 
 vices of this city, by not faithfully cultivating the large field 
 which our Saviour has given to her charge. I cannot be a party 
 in the ruin of souls. 
 
 The facts and details of this vexing undertaking are given in 
 particular in Daniel Miller's "History of the Reformed Church 
 in Reading." They need not be detailed here. It is for us to 
 record Mr. Bausman's part, attitude and feelings in it. 
 
 For one reason and another there were delays; actions and 
 counteractions were taken, various sites were considered, there 
 was litigation; the act of Legislature above referred to was not 
 passed until February, 1869. Tremendous and violent opposi- 
 tion was occasioned by the removal of the dead, and Bausman 
 suffered shameful abuse. This was to be expected in a move- 
 ment so aggressive, but the delays discouraged him and sub- 
 scriptions for the new church came in slowly. In May, 1868, 
 he wrote in his diary: "I am greatly disheartened about the new 
 church enterprise. Secretly think of resigning unless people 
 take better hold of it." 
 
 He continued to work judiciously for the new church, how- 
 ever, preaching on it often. His feeling in the matter appears 
 from the diary record at the end of 1869: "God has mercifully 
 brought me through a laborious year. Feel sad. The unsettled 
 and uncertain state of my congregation worries me more and more." 
 A year later, we read: "Feel discouraged with my congregation. 
 God is my helper." 
 
 In the winter and spring of 1871, matters came to a climax, 
 for Mr. Bausman forced the issue. Plans for the new church 
 had been adopted more than a year before and some subscrip- 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 201 
 
 tions were secured, yet the work went not forward. He decided 
 on heroic action and on March 6, 1871, told the Consistory 
 emphatically that he "would resign in one month unless the 
 congregation would by that time begin the building of the new 
 church." A week later, a congregational meeting was held to 
 act on the matter. He then reaffirmed his determination to 
 resign if they did not move in the new church project at once. 
 They immediately went on gathering funds, other congregational 
 meetings were held and by the beginning of April, he could say, 
 "$6,000.00 raised in addition to the $9,000.00 before: much joy 
 at prospects of success." The drawback had been that "the 
 rich hesitate," while "the poorer members do their utmost." 
 The congregation would not consider the prospect of his resigna- 
 tion for a moment; they were therefore forced to go on raising 
 money. This decision put new life into the congregation and 
 brought joy to the pastor. The Easter communion was "the 
 largest we ever had" and he could say of the festival, "One of 
 the happiest days I ever had in Reading." The building of St. 
 Paul's was now taken up in earnest and went on steadily to a 
 successful completion. 
 
 If Mr. Bausman had left Reading at this time, he would doubt- 
 less have become the pastor of St. Paul's Reformed Church, Lan- 
 caster, which was then without a pastor. He had preached 
 there in March. 
 
 In connection with the corner-stone laying of St. Paul's Church 
 in the summer of 1871, there was an incident which Dr. Bausman 
 always took delight in narrating. Dr. John W. Nevin was mak- 
 ing the address when unexpectedly from apparently a clear sky 
 there was a terrific clap of thunder and for a short time a heavy 
 rainfall. Instantly there was a rush to get under cover and as 
 the audience vanished. Dr. Nevin turned to Dr. Bausman and 
 remarked, " That was the m-most m-m-moving speech of my life. " 
 
 These were strenuous years for Benjamin Bausman and he had 
 little time for extended correspondence with his friends. The 
 few letters that are left us reveal his old time humor and geniality. 
 
 A few months after the close of the war he responded on a 
 scrap of note paper to the Rev. C. H. Leinbach's suggestion 
 that they exchange pulpits by declining because of his frequent 
 
202 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 enforced absences, and then went on: "Paper is dear, and money- 
 is scarce, and work is pressing, and the people are fools, and 
 tempus fugit, and my words must be few, and my love to your 
 wife and glad your boil is healing, etc., etc." 
 
 We are pleased to see another letter to his old friend Rust: 
 
 Reading, January 31, 1870. 
 My dear Herman : 
 
 Here's my hand, and the right one, too. As soon as your letter 
 was handed me, before I opened it, and saw the handwriting, I 
 said to myself: ''Why that is from Herman Rust. It is a long 
 time since I got a letter from him." 
 
 I am heartily glad to hear a good report from my namesake 
 [now Dr. John Benjamin Rust, of Tiffin, O.]. Pleasant, too, is 
 it to hear that he has an active, inquiring mind and a good heart, 
 although I would hardly be allowed to claim any credit for these 
 qualities, namesake though he be. Greet the dear fellow for me. 
 
 I need hardly tell you that I am busy and happy. Have led my 
 large congregation through a terrific storm, the last three years, 
 endeavoring to get it divided, and shape the mass of material 
 into working organizations. The end is not yet. I hope and 
 pray the Lord will enable us to consummate our projects soon. 
 Besides my pastoral work and preaching, I am editor of the 
 Guardian, editor and publisher of Hausjreund, president of Or- 
 phans' Home Board, and of Home Missions, etc., etc. Blessed 
 is the man to whom God gives something to do, and strength and 
 will to do it. I have taken no part in fighting the heretics, and 
 it is well for the scamps that I have not. I think the best system 
 to fight them is to challenge them to join you in acts of well- 
 doing. And I hereby throw down the glove to you and your 
 whole Knightly Order. Come on, sir, in the name of the Lord, 
 come on, my brother Herman. Life is too short to spend it in 
 pulling one another's hair. We will get bald soon enough with- 
 out that. Let us put such theology as we have into harness. 
 Get it to work in acts of beneficence, in extending Christ's King- 
 dom. This will help us to clear the system of the Church of 
 the virus with which the "fury of theologians" has poisoned it. 
 We must learn to confide in and love one another, though differ- 
 ing theologically. Help to agitate the Church for this end. I 
 am truly glad, after so long a silence to have heard from you. 
 Amid the push and din of my multifarious duties, I have often 
 thought of you. Greet your wife and children (how many might 
 you have by this time?) for me, and believe me, as of old, so now, 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 203 
 
 These were the years of the bitterest controversy in the Re- 
 formed Church on the Liturgical Question, particularly after the 
 Myerstown Convention held in the fall of 1867, which issued in 
 the opening of Ursinus College in 1870. In the columns of the 
 Messenger a fierce cannonade was going on between the big guns 
 of both sides. Not a published word do we find of Mr. Baus- 
 man's position on the question. The reason why, as well as the 
 direction of his sympathies in the issue are given in the above 
 letter to Rust. 
 
 In addition to the above-named outside labors on Church 
 Boards and as editor he was then a member also of the following: 
 The Board of Visitors of the Theological Seminary, The Board of 
 Trustees of Franklin and Marshall College, The Board of For- 
 eign Missions, The Sunday School Board, and Vice President of 
 the Society of Relief. These exacting and beneficent labors in 
 behalf of the denomination will be treated in other chapters. 
 
 As a trusted and honored leader in the Church, he was beset 
 with a multitude of invitations to preach at corner-stone layings, 
 church dedications and the like. Some of them were accepted, 
 but many more declined. 
 
 His strong sermon on "The Church as a Family " at the open- 
 ing of the Synod of Lewisburg, in October, 1865, was by special 
 request of Synod published in the Messenger. 
 
 Mr. Bausman was chairman of the committee on the State of 
 the Church at the General Synod of Dayton, in December, 1866. 
 His report was given the unusual distinction, by resolution of 
 the General Synod, "That all the pastors be requested to read the 
 report to their people from the pulpit." Its seven pages in the 
 minutes are a rapid and racy presentation and interpretation of 
 the salient facts of the triennium, mixed with warm-hearted ap- 
 preciation and challenge to pastors and people to greater de- 
 votion and liberality, concluding with a stirring "appeal to the 
 young men and to their parents to recruit the ranks of the min- 
 istry" — "to come up to the help of the Lord, the help of the 
 Lord against the mighty." 
 
 When he was returning from this General Synod of Dayton, 
 one of the Church Boards of which he was a member held a 
 meeting on the train, "somewhere between Altoona and Harris- 
 
204 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 burg." He said of it: " Never before had we a hand in transact- 
 ing business at the rate of twenty miles an hour. " 
 
 Mr. Bausman's valuable editorial services to the Messenger 
 were continued during the first three years of his residence in 
 Reading, as we have seen. He was privileged to render the 
 publication interest another great service by gathering funds to 
 meet the losses incurred in the destruction of the printing es- 
 tablishment \\ath the burning of Chambersburg, July 30, 1864. 
 
 In the first issue following the fire he said: 
 
 For once the Messenger has been whipped; but it will not re- 
 main whipped. For one month its guns have been silenced by 
 the foe. We have "changed our base," but not our principles. 
 The latter have been in "the fiery furnace." They have come 
 out with their coats unchanged, "nor has the smell of fire passed 
 on them." We feel hopeful in the presence of these dreary 
 ruins. We have faith in God, and in his Church. As for the 
 destiny of this journal, we believe that these so-called misfor- 
 tunes will turn out to its advantage. Where it shall hereafter 
 be permanently located, will be a question for the approaching 
 Synod of Lancaster to decide. 
 
 The Synod which met in Lancaster the following month de- 
 cided that the printing establishment should be located in Phila- 
 delphia and that the Church should raise $60,000 for its use, but 
 secured no one to look after the matter specially. A year passed 
 but very little money came in and at the Synod of Lewisburg, 
 October, 1865, it was decided that a general agent should be 
 elected to look after the raising of this money. The committee 
 appointed to nominate a man, chose Benjamin Bausman, who 
 consented to the election on condition that his Consistory would 
 acquiesce in it, which they did. 
 
 The following letter throws light on the situation and shows 
 how he addressed himself to his task: 
 
 Reading, November 3, 1865. 
 My dear Steiner, 
 
 You know the trick Synod played on me. By the help of God 
 and my brethren I will play one on her. I vainly tried to get 
 rid of the grasp of the sorrowing and sinking "establishment," 
 which has the peculiarity of some drowning men — it catches at a 
 straw in its drowning state, and an uncommonly poor straw at 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 
 
 205 
 
 that. There is a crisis upon us. A debt of S20,000, after our 
 property has been destroyed, threatens to ruin us. The Board 
 of Managers say, something must soon be done or the thing will 
 be put "under the hammer." 
 
 The letter goes on pleading that Dr. Steiner should attempt to 
 raise $1,000 or $2,000 ui the Frederick congregation and con- 
 cludes : 
 
 I know of no man that can do it, but yourself; neither do you. 
 If you do, name him. 
 
 Yesterday evening and this morning I procured $2,750. The 
 Philadelphia brethren have doubled their subs, to $1,000. Now, 
 will you allow me to send you a commission for your congrega- 
 tion? Then I shall be as heretofore, only a little more so. 
 Yours, with true grit and grasp, 
 
 Bausman. 
 
 The next few months he energetically pushed the work and 
 raised in cash and subscriptions $18,000. 
 
 It was at the close of the year 1867, that the career of Dr. 
 Harbaugh came to its untimely end. Mr. Bausman received a 
 telegram announcing his death as he was retiring and we read in 
 his diary this exclamation, "Wept in bed! what a loss!" 
 He participated in the services at his friend's funeral, preached 
 a tender sermon on his life and work, wrote two articles "In 
 Memoriam" and edited and published the Pennsylvania German 
 poems of this "sincere and fast friend, who seemed like an 'elder 
 brother' and whose heart with watchful tenderness, followed us 
 from the moment when we 'first became acquaint.'" 
 
 The suggestion to publish these poems came first from Dr. 
 W. A. Passavant of the Lutheran church, Pittsburg, who wrote 
 to Dr. Schaff in warmest appreciation of them, and urged him to 
 bring out the work. Dr. Schaff immediately laid this "tender- 
 spirited letter with its pious request" on Mr. Bausman's heart, 
 insisting, "You are the man to edit the volume." This sugges- 
 tion was made in the summer of 1868 and was soon widely re- 
 enforced by leading men not only in America but in Europe as 
 well, and Mr. Bausman was turned to as the man to do the work. 
 
 "Gen. Spinner of the Treasury Department at Washington, 
 Judge Woodward and others of like note, press the matter," 
 
206 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 wrote Mr. Bausman to Dr. J. H. Dubbs to whom he called, 
 "Hilf, Bruder, hilf. "* The several men who variously assisted 
 in the work are recognized in the "Vorrede"t and Dr. Schaff's 
 advice on various points was sought. He had agreed to write 
 the introduction but was "taxed to the utmost of his working 
 power" and that part was done by Mr. Bausman himself. In 
 answer to the inquiry as to where the book should be issued, Dr. 
 Schaff replied: 
 
 It ought to be published in Philadelphia rather than New York. 
 It is a book for the Pennsylvania Germans, who differ very much 
 from the European Germans here. The book would get the 
 "Heemweh"! here, as Harbaugh himself did on a brief visit in 
 1860. 
 
 The book was under way by the beginning of 1869 and ap- 
 peared the following year — published very properly and beau- 
 tifully by the Reformed Church Publication Board. We read 
 in his diary, June 20, 1870: "Received first copy of 'Harbaugh's 
 Harfe.' Singular feelings in looking at one's own book for the 
 first time. Looks and reads superblJ^" 
 
 This judgment of the editor was in accord with the feeling of 
 the public, for within four weeks, the second edition was pub- 
 lished and the editor of the Messenger said of it: 
 
 No publication has yet been issued from our office which has 
 met with a more favorable reception. It is largely sought after 
 from every quarter. The notices also which have been taken of 
 it are of the most flattering kind. 
 
 An order for this work was received from the great London 
 book publisher, Triibner, accompanied with the expression of a 
 favorable opinion and of his purpose to endeavor to circulate it 
 as widely as possible through the Continent. 
 
 The book was hailed as 
 
 making a new epoch in Pennsylvania German literature and was 
 most favorably received by the entire literary public. Though 
 many fugitive pieces have been during a long series of years, 
 written and published in this language, yet no umformity has 
 
 *Help, brother, help. 
 
 t Preface. 
 
 j Homesickness. 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 207 
 
 heretofore been observed on the score of orthography. The editor, 
 aided by several persons competent to the task, as a result of 
 repeated mutual conferences, reduced the orthography of the 
 language to a system and prepared a glossary, which is published 
 at the end of the book. 
 
 Of the many attempts to produce something of independent 
 Hterary excellence in this dialect only the poems of the late Dr. 
 Harbaugh, of the German Reformed Church can claim positive 
 merit, 
 
 said the Penn Monthly. 
 
 The New York Nation remarked: 
 
 As compared to the other productions in the same dialect, of 
 which several have recently been mentioned in the Nation and 
 afterward attracted attention both abroad and at home, "Har- 
 baugh's Harfe" is a world ahead. 
 
 The New York Standard said : 
 
 Mr. Bausman in his zeal for Dr. Harbaugh's family and his love 
 for the memory of his dead friend, as well as in his reverence for 
 the language that was taught him in childhood, has done the 
 world a good service by preserving the most beautiful and tender 
 things ever uttered in that tongue. It is a dialect now practically 
 banished from the school, and soon it will disappear from the 
 fireside. Then this volume will be a record no less valuable 
 than Longfellow's poem of " Miles Standish, " and no less touching 
 than Whittier's ballads of New England. 
 
 All who are in any way interested in the dialect will thank Mr. 
 Bausman for this collection and in it they will discern the evi- 
 dences of his own scholarship as well as the quaint beauties of 
 the Pennsylvania poet. 
 
 Aside from the mere curiosities presented by the volume, there 
 are certain philological points made that commend themselves 
 to the attention of experts. The work is altogether one that will 
 command deserved regard. 
 
 During the commencement season, June, 1871, Franklin and 
 Marshall College conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of 
 Divinity upon the Rev. Mr. Bausman. The degree of A. M. had 
 previously been conferred. He was at first averse to having his 
 friends address him by the title. Dr. Nevin wrote him: 
 
 Your new honor will soon sit so naturally on you that you will 
 hardly feel it at all; and Dr. Bausman instead of simple Mr. B. 
 will sound to yourself, as well as to others, very much as if it had 
 
208 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 belonged to you all your life. We are creatures of habit, and can 
 get used to almost anything. 
 
 Dr. Bausman continued as pastor of the First Church until 
 the end of the year 1872. As the work of erecting St. Paul's went 
 on he was filled with much joy and peace at seeing finally ac- 
 complished this realization of his hopes, prayers and efforts. 
 Making the usual register of his feelings at the turn of the year, 
 he wrote this in the diary of January 1, 1872: "Feel cheerful and 
 thankful for God's many mercies — much more encouraged than 
 a year ago." 
 
 The corner-stone of the new St. Paul's Church had been laid 
 in August, 1871, and a year later the chapel was dedicated with 
 impressive and inspiring services, after which Dr. Bausman 
 preached regularly in St. Paul's, while Prof. John S. Stahr, who 
 was ordained and installed his assistant, officiated in the old 
 church. As he entered upon this new arrangement, he ex- 
 claimed: " Feel so thankful ! " And on Christmas Day : "Feel 
 exceedingly peaceful, — unusually so." December 9: "Handed 
 in my resignation as pastor of the First Church; accepted. 
 Nine years I labored here. Through all trials, God mercifully 
 helped me." 
 
 Prof. Stahr 's ministries in the old church were most acceptable. 
 Dr. Bausman wanted him for his successor and he would with- 
 out doubt have been elected. The following letter explains the 
 situation and shows how near a great career was to being side- 
 tracked. It is a pleasure to record the tribute of one college 
 president to a successor no less beloved. 
 
 Lancaster, December 20, 1872. 
 Rev. Dr. Bausman. 
 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 I am sorry to throw cold water on your idea of stealing Prof. 
 Stahr, but it won't do. The object you have in view is of great 
 public concern, no doubt, but the greatest of all objects now for 
 our Church is the speedy bona fide upbuilding of Franklin and 
 Marshall College. Without that, the sooner we shut up shop, 
 the better. Even the Theological Seminary is of less vital ac- 
 count. After years of miserable dawdling, the Church has got 
 into something like right position at last for doing here what 
 should have been done ten years ago. But the work is not yet 
 
READING, FIRST CHURCH 209 
 
 done. We are still floundering in a sea of what is mostly yet un- 
 profitable promise and talk. It has been like making bricks with- 
 out straw, only to keep the College going with any sort of efficient, 
 respectable organization. I have worked Stahr into place 
 through years past in spite of difficulties thrown in my way by 
 the Board itself, and now assuredly he is for us, the right man in 
 the right place, and I must solemnly protest against any attempt 
 to get him into any other place. He fills satisfactorily two posts 
 that it has always been a bore to get rightly occupied, viz.: Ger- 
 man and Natural Science. We can't go out and pick up such 
 service any day. It would sicken me of my work completely, 
 only to think of being bothered over again as we have been, even 
 with the German difficulty alone. Do let us in this matter then, 
 as General Grant says, have peace! 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 J. W. Nevin. 
 
 While pastor of the First Church, Dr. Bausman baptized 769 
 persons, confirmed 834, received into the membership by cer- 
 tificate and renewal of profession 365, and officiated at 538 
 funerals and at 246 weddings — certainly an impressive array of 
 statistics for nine years' labor, from whose burdens he was com- 
 forted at being relieved. 
 
 With the close of the First Church pastorate, he summed up 
 for the readers of his Hausfreund the facts and figures of his 
 "Twenty Years in the Ministry." He had baptized 874, con- 
 firmed 928, received by certificate and renewal of profession, 
 407. During this score of years he had conducted 3,122 public 
 religious services and he estimated that what he had written for 
 the press would make at least ten volumes of 500 pages each. 
 
 14 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 St. Paul's Church— 1873-1900 
 
 THE formal organization of St. Paul's Church was effected 
 on December 26, 1872, when church officers were duly- 
 elected. There were 204 charter members. Dr. Bausman was 
 elected pastor on January 6, 1873. 46 were confirmed on the 
 following Good Friday and 400 communed on Easter. By the 
 end of the year, there were 410 members. The organization of 
 St. Paul's Sunday-school came six months after that of the 
 congregation and by the beginning of the year 1874, there was 
 an enrollment of 383. Within a few months after the organiza- 
 tion of the church, four societies — missionary, social and bene- 
 ficial — ^were started to enlist in definite Christian work, the 
 various elements in the church's membership. During this first 
 year of St. Paul's history the services were held in the Sunday- 
 school chapel, while the church proper was building. The com- 
 pleted edifice, costing about $90,000.00, was consecrated in Feb- 
 ruary, 1874, amid a week of notable and inspiring services in 
 which distinguished ministers of the denomination took part. 
 Thus was auspiciously begun one of the truly great pastorates 
 of modern days in the organization of this church, which Dr. 
 Calvin S. Gerhard twenty-five years later pronounced 
 
 a congregation whose superior the writer has never known: 
 thoroughly organized, rich in good works, ready to distribute, 
 devoted to the cause of the widow and the orphan, giving liberally 
 to Home and Foreign Missions, to our literary and theological 
 institutions and to all the other benevolent operations of the 
 Church. 
 
 When Dr. Bausman was installed as pastor of St. Paul's, he 
 
 had just turned forty-nine — a period of fife when, in the case of 
 
 many ministers, the dead line is spoken of. Never the slightest 
 
 trace of that dread mark fell across his path — not during the 
 
 210 
 
ST. PAUL'S MEMORIAL REFORMED CHURCH 
 
ST. Paul's church 211 
 
 twenty-seven and a half years during which he preached with 
 increasing efficiency, bearing the pastoral burden alone, nor yet 
 during the nine succeeding years of the associate pastorate until, 
 finally warm and active, he fell with his harness on. 
 
 As one scans the diaries of those days he discerns the note 
 of quietness and peace in Dr. Bausman's life, so welcome after 
 the bitter battles in the former charge. 
 
 On his installation we read: "Services solemn and very com- 
 forting to me;" at the church dedication: "Beautiful day, 
 great joy!" 
 
 The supreme blessing of his life came in his marriage, when he 
 could say: "Feel sweetly at home. Praise God." He was 
 married to Miss Amelia Bingaman on April 6, 1875. The cere- 
 mony was performed in St. Paul's Church, Drs. C. F. McCauley 
 and Henry Mosser officiating. 
 
 The building and training of St. Paul's congregation was Dr. 
 Bausman's greatest achievement. Just because he made its 
 life so rich and deep and true, there are the fewer things to be 
 said about it. The real record of Christian fruitage can be 
 written alone in the Lamb's book of life. 
 
 The church's growth was steady and substantial. After ten 
 years the membership was 600; in five years more, 690; after 
 twenty years there were 700 and after twenty-five years, 750 
 communicant members of the church, and in the Sunday-school 
 567 enrolled, of whom 75 were officers and teachers. 
 
 Said Dr. Bausman at the quarter centennial of the church: 
 
 During these twenty-five years, I conducted over 4,000 ser- 
 vices, including funeral services. I baptized 779 persons and 
 confirmed 1,348. I buried 334 confirmed and unconfirmed 
 members, and dismissed to other churches 263, and among these, 
 144 were dismissed to Reading churches. 
 
 When St. Paul's Church was planned originally, it was estim- 
 ated to cost about S50,000.00, but the sum on its completion in 
 1874 had swelled to nearly twice that amount. Mr. Daniel 
 Miller in his History says: 
 
 The work was performed during high times, which accounted 
 for the great cost. Besides this, the financial panic of 1873 came 
 
212 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 when the church was about completed. Many people lost their 
 employment or had their wages reduced, and business men gener- 
 ally found their incomes greatly curtailed. Under these circum- 
 stances the debt became a heavy burden. But the people held 
 firmly together and made many sacrifices for the cause, and no 
 one made greater sacrifices than pastor Bausman, whose salary 
 during a number of years was at his own request fixed at a low 
 figure, and who at the same time contributed liberally toward the 
 payment of the debt. 
 
 This debt was gradually reduced but not liquidated by 1893, 
 when an addition was built to the church for Sunday-school 
 purposes at a cost of $15,000.00, which amount was promptly 
 paid. In connection with the 25th anniversary the $11,500.00 
 remaining on the original debt was finally subscribed and paid. 
 By that date, the congregation had contributed nearly .$300,000 
 to all purposes, of which $82,800.00 was "for benevolent gifts, 
 missions, Orphan's Home, church extension, colleges and sem- 
 inaries." 
 
 The pressing local financial demands in St. Paul's Church were 
 never allowed to interfere with the calls of the denomination 
 and the needy world. Apportionments were always fully met 
 and were considered only the minimum of benevolent giving. 
 Dr. Bausman's teaching on this point was backed up by his 
 example in giving. At a recent missionary meeting, Mr. Jacob 
 B. Fricker affirmed that the heavy yoke St. Paul's bore in her 
 youth proved her greatest blessing. Mr. Daniel Miller says in 
 his book: "Heroic sacrifices were required and by making these 
 the people cultivated the beautiful grace of giving which became 
 permanent. " 
 
 Near the close of the century when St. Paul's debts were all 
 paid, Dr. Bausman referred to her trying times: 
 
 It was no light matter promptly to meet all expenses. Fac- 
 tional strife and a lack of financial support among the members 
 might have resulted in dishonor and disaster. In this too, I can 
 trace God's controUing hand and that He brought us through 
 those years of trial, and that to-day St. Paul's has an unblemished 
 financial record. 
 
 During the dark days of financial depression, he was not al- 
 
ST. Paul's church 213 
 
 ways able to avoid worrying about the debt; but his strong men 
 stood by and comforted him — "Don't worry, we'll pay it." 
 
 While the success and tone of this church will be attributed 
 most largely to the spirit of its great pastor it must be said too 
 that the make-up of the membership and the circumstances of 
 the church's founding were also exceptional. The 198 of the 
 charter members who came from the old First Church and the 
 hundred or more who soon followed from the same congregation 
 were a picked group. They were young in years, for the most 
 part, as well as young in spirit, a homogeneous company full of 
 enthusiasm, faith and courage. Indeed, something of the heroic 
 was required to cast in one's lot with the new project in which a 
 heavy financial burden had to be assumed. They were loyally 
 devoted to Dr. Bausman and ready to follow wherever he would 
 lead. He could ask great things of them and did, but he never 
 abused their confidence in him by demanding more than they 
 were ready or able to do. He was too wise a leader to make that 
 mistake. Thus, in the founding of St. Paul's, Dr. Bausman had 
 a docile and responsive membership with a high standard of 
 Christian life and work and they set the pace for the future, and 
 became a tonic example to the denomination and to the other 
 churches in the community. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was always on the alert for effective methods in 
 church work. He was no stickler for pet plans. When new 
 occasions taught new duties and called for new methods he was 
 ready to make trial of them. 
 
 The beneficial societies above referred to as begun with the 
 founding of St. Paul's were a Brotherhood and a Sisterhood. 
 Monthly dues were paid and sick and death benefits disbursed. 
 He held that beneficial societies could be conducted most eco- 
 nomically in connection with the church, and when made up 
 only of church members. They would serve, moreover, as an 
 additional bond in church fellowship. These societies have con- 
 tinued in the congregation to the present. 
 
 The mid-week prayer-meeting always received emphasis in 
 the church life. On their wedding trip. Dr. and Mrs. Bausman 
 had visited the Fulton Street noonday prayer-meeting in New 
 York City and were much impressed by it. On their return a 
 
214 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 meeting for prayer before the Sunday evening service was started. 
 Ten years later in 1885, a Young Men's Association was organ- 
 ized and its members conducted the Sunday evening prayer- 
 meeting. This was the decade when the young people's move- 
 ment was asserting itself in the churches and Dr. Bausman 
 showed himself responsive to it. He was a friend of young men, 
 and they were drawn to him. He preached special sermons for 
 them. A special feature in the church's life every winter was 
 the anniversary of the Y. M. A., when a visiting minister would 
 preach. 
 
 Years afterward when a convention of the Brotherhood of 
 Andrew and Philip was held in Reading, an enthusiastic propa- 
 gandist approached him in the hope of starting a chapter in St. 
 Paul's. "Why, my dear brother," he said, "we have such a 
 society in my church; it is older than your society; it is doing good 
 work, why should we change?" 
 
 When Calvary and St. Andrew's Churches were founded, they 
 organized Young Men's Associations also, modeled after that of 
 St. Paul's. During the associate pastorate the Association at 
 St. Paul's was merged into a Christian Endeavor Society. 
 
 During the days of the mission Sunday-schools, it was his 
 custom first to open St. Paul's school and then hasten to one or 
 more of the mission schools. After St. Paul's building was en- 
 larged in 1893, and the mission schools had developed into 
 churches. Dr. Bausman was importuned by the adults of the 
 church to become the teacher of a Bible Class in the new room 
 available for such purpose. With some reluctance he consented, 
 found great joy in it and continued its teacher to the end of his 
 life. After the teaching of the Sunday-school lesson, he as a 
 rule gave a brief address on some phase of the day's study. These 
 talks were pithy and practical, happily spoken and much enjoyed. 
 "They are as good as sermons," the people would say. 
 
 When pastor of the First Church, that he might the better 
 keep in touch with the throngs of young people who became 
 members, he held annual catechumen's reunions before the Easter 
 seasons. He did the same in St. Paul's, having the meeting as 
 a rule on Tuesday evening of Holy Week. Many other pastors 
 followed Dr. Bausman's example and have inaugurated the 
 
ST. Paul's church 215 
 
 same custom. In these reunions he called attention especially 
 to those who had missed no communions through the years and 
 thus challenged his converts to faithfulness. He kept a careful 
 record of various facts concerning his catechumens as he would 
 sum them up at these gatherings from year to year. 
 
 Next in importance to Dr. Bausman's work as pastor of St. 
 Paul's was his far-sighted leadership in the locating and organiz- 
 ing of Sunday-schools and churches throughout the city of 
 Reading. So wisely distributed are these churches, that there 
 is a sanctuary of the Reformed denomination within six or seven 
 squares of every home in the city. Regarding these church ex- 
 tension activities, the following strong words are written by Hon. 
 Geo. F. Baer, a member of the Second Reformed Church of 
 Reading: 
 
 This week, St. Paul's celebrates her twenty-fifth anniversary, 
 with her mighty leader in vigorous old age still ministering unto 
 them in holy things. When Dr. Bausman came to Reading, 
 there were two Reformed congregations; now there are fourteen. 
 He is the last man on earth to claim this development as sub- 
 stantially due to himself. It is nevertheless true, that by com- 
 mon consent, he is accorded the first place, the leadership. Others 
 have worked earnestly and heroically. Their labors have borne 
 fruitful results; but the gentle, prudent, far-seeing, self-sacrificing 
 man to whom all have gone, and who unconsciously controlled 
 and directed, was Dr. Bausman. I know no man who has ac- 
 complished more for the good of his Church and his fellowmen. 
 
 On the same occasion, reviewing the history of St. Paul's, Dr. 
 Bausman said: 
 
 This congregation was started to demonstrate the principles 
 and feasibility of missionary colonization. To the four Reformed 
 churches which have been built in the city by your efforts, we 
 have given many of the best of our people, and between $25,000 
 and $30,000 of your money. 
 
 To-day it is exactly twenty-five years since our church was 
 organized. The document that was put in the corner-stone, when 
 it was laid, presented four principles, which were adopted when 
 read at the laying: 
 
 The first was that the pure, living gospel, as it is conceived by 
 us, should be taught to others and the knowledge of Him should 
 be spread abroad. The second was that the church is the centre 
 
216 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 of good love and fellowship. This we should try to carry out in 
 congregational life. Another principle was that it invoked the 
 Angel of the Everlasting Covenant to watch over the people. 
 Again, we should try to advance the kingdom of God. 
 
 I tried to do that by organizing this church and other churches 
 in the city. 
 
 We have seen how, when he was pastor of the First Church, 
 several mission schools were started, St. John's Church was 
 established and a Sunday-school association, including the 
 officers and teachers of all the schools of the denomination in the 
 city, was conducted for the advancement of the Reformed 
 churches and the mutual profit of all interested. Enthusiastic 
 anniversaries were held, and until 1879 this association exercised 
 supervision over the mission schools. Thereafter each of the 
 three strong central churches assumed a definite section of the 
 city for missionary oversight. In accordance with this arrange- 
 ment, St. Mark's and Olivet were founded by the First Church, 
 and Faith and St. James came under the fostering care of the 
 Second Church. Zion's, St. Stephen's, Calvary and St. Andrew's 
 are the four churches above referred to by Dr. Bausman as hav- 
 ing been built by St. Paul's; although each and all of the younger 
 churches in the city profited definitely and directly by the in- 
 spiration, counsel and open-handed generosity of Dr. Bausman. 
 
 Zion's Church, founded in the interest of the Germans, and 
 St. Stephen's Church, the outgrowth of a Sunday-school, started 
 in 1864, were organized in the early eighties. St. Andrew's 
 Sunday-school was begun in 1885. 
 
 When Dr. Bausman proposed the building of Calvary Church, 
 he was strongly opposed by persons who claimed that the move- 
 ment was premature. There was as yet no Sunday-school 
 there and that section of the city was then not very populous, 
 but he saw that it would soon be built up, for the drift of popula- 
 tion was in that direction. The future fully justified his wisdom 
 in the matter. 
 
 We read in the diary for June, 1888: 
 
 Our committee on the Centre Avenue Church staked off the 
 ground for the building. I drove in. four stakes, one at each 
 corner, with devout and joyful gratitude to God. J. B. Fricker, 
 
ST. Paul's church 217 
 
 G. A, Leinbach, W. H. Dechant and James Rick are the build- 
 ing committee. I make myself financially responsible for the 
 whole matter, until it can be handed over to a congregation. 
 O Lord, help us to do it all for Thy great glory. Amen. 
 
 After the dedication of the church, the following summer, and 
 the organization of the Sunday-school, Dr. Bausman appointed 
 a superintendent in the person of C. M. Dechant. Dr. Bausman 
 held the church property in his own name until the new pastor, 
 Dr. Jas. I. Good, came, and the congregation assumed the debt. 
 The building committee, meantime, made themselves responsible 
 for the pastor's salary until the congregation was formally 
 organized. 
 
 Simultaneously, with the erection of Calvary Church, the 
 building of St. Andrew's was undertaken and in similar fashion 
 Dr. Bausman and the splendid lajTnen who served on the building 
 committee with him, financed the whole undertaking, called the 
 pastor, the Rev. Stanley L. Krebs, and kept the movement in 
 hand until the congregation was organized and on its feet. 
 
 We read in the diary for Trinity Sunday, 1889: 
 
 Joseph A. Leinbach called on me proposing that he and his 
 brother George would give $1,500 for buying ground to build 
 another Reformed church on Spruce Street, near Perkiomen 
 Avenue. Gott lob! Now, we can go forward with this blessed 
 enterprise. Have prayed for and worked at this matter for 
 nearly a year past. Will give $1,500 to it ($1,000 for myself 
 and $500 from the Hausfreund fund). 
 
 In the location of this church. Dr. Bausman likewise showed 
 his good judgment. There were those who argued for the erec- 
 tion of the church on Cotton Street, where St. Andrew's Sunday- 
 school was started, or at least, closer to Neversink Mountain. 
 There have been others who claimed that the church should have 
 been located closer to Mount Penn. In either case, the church 
 would have appealed more exclusively to one class of people, 
 which is never wise, for above all of the church should it be 
 said in the words of Scripture: "The rich and the poor meet 
 together. The Lord is the maker of them all." 
 
 Dr. Bausman gave personally in establishing Calvary Church 
 over $1,100.00 and to St. Andrew's $2,000.00. 
 
218 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The method of carrying on this church extension work was 
 unique. Neither St, Paul's congregation nor Consistory were 
 ever asked to assume financial responsibility. It was all done 
 by the free challenge and giving of individuals. By common 
 consent, to Dr. Bausman was accorded authority akin to that of 
 a Bishop. He moved promptly and took time by the forelock, 
 where a deliberative body would have debated and delayed and 
 missed its chance. Of course, he could not have done this work 
 so well without his financial resources. He gave his money 
 without stint and thereby was able to challenge his laymen, who 
 fortunately were men of the true missionary spirit. 
 
 The years immediately preceeding and following 1890 saw six 
 or seven of Reading's churches in their beginnings and the good 
 report thereof was spread abroad. The Rev. A. R. Bartholomew, 
 who preached at the ordination of the Rev. Mr. Krebs, January 
 25, 1891, at St. Andrew's, wrote of the work: 
 
 Let pastors and people who fret and worry about the present 
 progress and future prospects of our dear Zion, visit Reading, 
 the Mecca of the Reformed Church, and they will find a speedy 
 remedy and a permanent cure for their groundless misapprehen- 
 sions. 
 
 Strange to say, St. Andrew's, like Calvary, has been built, 
 without a congregation to worship in it. These magnificent 
 structures are the product of that faith which worketh by love. 
 They are the fruit of the piety and fidelity of our beloved brother, 
 Dr. Bausman, and a circle of warm hearts, wise heads and willing 
 hands. 
 
 One of the remarkable features of church work in Reading is 
 the spirit of self-help and help-others, which the pastor and 
 people display. No appeals are issued outside of the city for 
 help in building churches, or in supporting their pastors, while at 
 the same time, the cause of Home and Foreign Missions finds 
 liberal supporters there. 
 
 St. Thomas' Church, in process of building, fell into alarming 
 financial straits. About this time Dr. Bausman took the situa- 
 tion very much to heart, though he was not the prime mover 
 in this church's organization. "The affair has hung over me 
 like a heavy cloud," he wrote, and again: 
 
 This matter at times has weighed very heavily upon me, by 
 day and by night. Now and then, I wrestled with God on my 
 
ST. Paul's church 219 
 
 knees in some secret place — even in the dead of night. Cannot 
 permit that any person should lose aught by it. Feel mentally 
 and physically more comfortable to-day about the matter. 
 
 Borrowed $1,000 of which I will pay $500 to-morrow to relieve 
 the treasury. 
 
 Several days later: 
 
 I called on Dr. A. S. Leinbach with a blank book, suggested a 
 suitable heading for subscriptions for St. Thomas Church. He 
 subscribed $2,000; his son. Rev. J. H. Leinbach, $2,000, and I, 
 $2,000. I bless God that we have this much to start the new 
 subscription. 
 
 During this church building era in Reading, St. Paul's did not 
 increase much numerically, as we see by the figures in the early 
 part of this chapter, for scores of the best and most prominent 
 members were dismissed to unite with the new organizations, in 
 which many of them became leaders. Nevertheless, the con- 
 gregation grew in loyalty and efficiency. They gave much away 
 and hence became rich toward God. 
 
 As these sanctuaries rise and congregations form under Dr. 
 Bausman's directive hand, he thrills with exhilaration at the suc- 
 cess of the ventures and he works with ease and power — withal 
 is filled with great gladness and gratitude. 
 
 After the dedication of one of the churches, this: 
 
 My thankful heart cannot express all its joy and gratitude. 
 O Lord, thou knowest. 
 
 On a birthday: 
 
 Feel oppressed with a sense of God's goodness in the past and 
 now. So many years of my life — so many in the ministry — 37! 
 So much joy in God's service! So vigorous for my years ! Praise 
 God from whom all blessings flow. 
 
 During the early months of 1889, a Law and Order League 
 was organized in Reading and Dr. Bausman was its leading spirit 
 and first chairman. Open saloons on Sunday were the crying 
 offense and by the prosecutions of the League more than a dozen 
 offenders were speedily lodged in the Berks County jail. The 
 family of one of the offenders was alhed with his church and 
 implored him to be lenient, but he was, of course, unflinching. 
 
220 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 His convictions of civic righteousness were intense and as has 
 been well said, he was "a terror to evil doers." Nevertheless, 
 work of this character was exceedingly distasteful and by July 
 he wrote in his Journal: "Executive Committee elected. Feel 
 thankful to God for helping us in this matter and am greatly 
 relieved that my part as presiding officer is ended. It gave me 
 no little concern and anxiety." 
 
 The society did telling work. 
 
 In the spring of 1900, after several years of abeyance in its 
 activities, a reorganization was effected and he "was requested 
 as the president of the old League of ten years ago to explain 
 the nature and workings of it." This was done at a later meet- 
 ing when his address was "by resolution adopted as a definition 
 of the society's spirit and object." 
 
 His address follows: 
 
 Ten years ago a Law and Order Society was organized in this 
 city. Its work brought to light an amount of preventable vice 
 and crime, which was an appalling revelation to many people. 
 To say the least, Reading is no better to-day than it was then. 
 Whoever may be to blame for it, in certain directions, the law is 
 not enforced. 
 
 It is a matter of public notoriety that much evil, prohibited 
 by the civil law, is practiced, to the detriment and destruction 
 of young and old people. In order to restrain, if not wholly to 
 remedy this evil, this society is being organized. 
 
 The spirit and object of this society is benevolent. It will be 
 animated by kindness, not by cruelty. It will be a friend of the 
 people, to shield and protect the hearts and homes of our city. 
 In politics it will be non-partisan, in religion non-denominational. 
 It will join hands with all order-loving, right-thinking people, to 
 heal some of the ulcerating sores that grow out of and are ag- 
 gravated by certain evils strictly prohibited by the civil law. 
 
 It does not aim to cover the ground of certain moral reform 
 associations, however important some of these may be. Its spe- 
 cific mission will be to enforce the civil law, for the prevention 
 and suppression of immorality and vice. Nothing less, nothing 
 more. With charity for all, it will aim to do its work. 
 
 There is no disposition imnecessarily to multiply cases of prose- 
 cution; indeed, it is hoped that many persons concerned will 
 hear this kindly warning, and conform to the requirements of 
 the laws without any further action on the part of the society. 
 
ST. Paul's church 221 
 
 A high authority says, "The law is not made for a righteous man, 
 but for the lawless and disobedient." 
 
 Once the law takes charge of the case, it will be enforced with 
 a hand of steel, uninfluenced by morbid sentiment or sympathy. 
 Our object is not to persecute, but to prosecute the law-breaker. 
 We shall strike at the offence, whilst we pity the offender. 
 
 The executive committee, which does the principal part of the 
 work, will consist of representative citizens of Reading. They 
 are all busy men, to whom every hour is precious. We commend 
 them and their labors to the kindly support of our fellowcitizens, 
 and invoke upon them and their cause the blessing of Almighty 
 God, in whose name and for whose glory we enter upon this work. 
 
 He never lost interest in the Society. In meetings of the city 
 ministerium as well as in his pulpit his voice was often and em- 
 phatically raised for the moral betterment of his city. 
 
 In the spring of 1895, the Hope Rescue Mission was organized 
 in St. Paul's Chapel with Dr. Bausman in the chair. He served 
 as President of the Board of Trustees during the first two years 
 of its history — under protest, however, for in these latter years 
 he was very averse to assuming these outside burdens which 
 were continually being thrust upon him. 
 
 Any occasion or movement touching the public welfare of 
 Reading, however, did not seem complete without the presence 
 and endorsement of Dr. Bausman, and he spoke and prayed at 
 not a few such gatherings; but he refused more invitations than 
 he accepted. 
 
 He entered heartily into the celebration of national, state and 
 city anniversaries and centennials, and was never more happy 
 than when interpreting these events from the point of view of 
 the Kingdom of God. At the sesqui-centennial of the founding 
 of Reading in 1898, he concluded his sermon thus: 
 
 We hear much of a greater Reading. I plead for a purer 
 Reading, whose citizens will strive to be citizens of the Kingdom 
 that cannot be moved; whose liberty-loving people will all ex- 
 perience the liberty wherewith only Christ can make us free; 
 whose homes will be homes of the Son of God; whose fathers will 
 be co-workers with our Heavenly Father; and whose mothers will 
 be nursing mothers of sons and daughters of God. 
 
 The highest honor the Reformed Church can bestow on any 
 man is to elect him to the presidency of its General Synod. This 
 
222 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 honor came to Dr. Bausman in 1884, when this highest judica- 
 tory of the Church convened in its triennial sessions in Baltimore. 
 He was unanimously elected, for the Synod saw in him the em- 
 bodiment of the irenic spirit which was coming more largely into 
 the Church after the happy consummation of the Peace Move- 
 ment. Six years before, he had been nominated for the same 
 office in a contested election, and received a tie vote on the first 
 ballot, was defeated by one vote in the second, and then became 
 the vice-president. 
 
 The opening sermon of the Baltimore Synod was preached by 
 Dr. Bausman, a circumstance which is explained by the follow- 
 ing extract from a letter of Dr. Jeremiah H. Good: 
 
 Tiffin, Ohio, April 8, 1884. 
 Dear Brother Bausman: 
 
 Like Diogenes in the tub, I am in search of a man, an honest 
 man. I am in a tub, i. e., President of the last General Synod, 
 with no certainty that I shall be able to be at Baltimore. I 
 ought to go, want to go, have made all arrangements to go, etc., 
 but my health is so shaky, that at the last moment I may not 
 be able to go, or going, may not be able to preach. Neither of 
 the Vice-Presidents will be there. Hence, I am searching for a 
 man, a good and honest man. 
 
 I know of no one more suitable than yourself and as you are a 
 delegate, and will doubtless be present, will you not agree to 
 preach the opening sermon at my special request? 
 
 He "reluctantly consented" and one of the reasons for this 
 hesitancy we can see from Dr. Good's reply to his acceptance: 
 "I, too, to an enormous extent have a dread of facing a strange 
 audience, especially a General Synod." Dr. Good urged the 
 special fitness of Dr. Bausman's preaching the sermon at that 
 juncture of the Church's history, rather than other strong men 
 who would be naturally thought of to meet such an emergency. 
 
 The theme of the sermon was "The Necessity of Aggressive 
 Work in the Reformed Church" and the text, Heb. 6:1, "There- 
 fore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on 
 unto perfection." 
 
 The Messenger report said: 
 
 The sermon was very practical and was listened to with great 
 interest. After a brief review of the past history of the Church, 
 
ST. Paul's church 223 
 
 especially of the last forty years, during which time he thought a 
 record for ability and zeal had been made to which the future 
 would point with justifiable pride, he spoke of the aggressive work 
 that is now demanded of us. He urged increased consecration 
 on the part of ministers, elders, Sunday-school teachers and 
 church members, in order that the talents and material resources 
 of the Church may be developed and utilized. 
 
 "Never received so many thanks — from ministers and elders — 
 for a sermon I preached as for the one last night," was the diary 
 comment. We do know that the Baltimore General Synod 
 convened at the time of transition in the Church's history from 
 a period distinguished by theological controversy to one marked 
 more decidedly by missionary and practical effort. 
 
 A further diary note reads: 
 
 Brethren say this was the best General Synod we ever had, a 
 new start in the Church's practical work has been taken. Some 
 say my sermon gave the key-note to the after proceedings. Can- 
 not say that, but do bless God for helping me and blessing and 
 quieting the Synod. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was a delegate to nearly all the sessions of Gen- 
 eral Synod and was given many important tasks. He represented 
 his Church quite often as fraternal delegate to the highest ju- 
 dicatories of other denominations in correspondence with his 
 own. He was a delegate to the Alliance of Reformed Churches 
 holding the Presbyterian System at Belfast, and Church Boards 
 continued to claim his attention and energy. 
 
 The Peace Movement with the joy it brought him and the 
 conspicuous part he had in it are discussed in another chapter. 
 An outcome of this Movement was a plan to prepare a new hymn- 
 book for the Church and Dr. Bausman was made chairman of 
 the committee elected to do it. Very soon after its creation 
 the committee was at work, and for a year had a number of 
 meetings and much correspondence. 
 
 A few excerpts from letters to an old friend on the committee 
 will interest us: 
 
 My dear Steiner: 
 
 You are doubtless aware that you, along with five others, have 
 been appointed by the General Synod to provide a new hymn- 
 book. 
 
224 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Some of the brethren requested me to call the committee 
 together because I happened to have the largest number of votes — 
 a questionable reason for issuing this call, I admit, but the matter 
 must be started by someone. 
 
 As you, my dear fellow, have, during years of most commend- 
 able labor, gone over the rich field of hymnology, I must needs 
 sit at your feet a little while, and learn as a docile disciple, before 
 I am entitled or presume to give an opinion on so grave a matter. 
 
 The committee did not produce a hymn-book, however, for 
 the reason that both the Eastern and Ohio Synods but a few 
 years before had put hymn-books into circulation, and the in- 
 terests of these publications would have been trenched on by the 
 issuing of a new hymnal. The time was not yet ripe. It came 
 a decade later and was the work of another committee, whose 
 hymnal satisfied the Church for many years. 
 
 The hymn-book problem had been perplexing the Church for 
 a long time, and when Dr. Bausman became pastor of St. 
 Paul's he was on committees of the General Synod and of the 
 Eastern S5niod to deal with it. It was touching the work of 
 the latter that he wrote to another old friend in his old, familiar 
 style : 
 
 Dear Brother Leinbach: 
 
 S. Miller, Dr. Nevin and I are a committee to get out a trans- 
 lation of the Liturgy along with a selection of suitable hymns. 
 The Liturgy is being prepared by Rev. Bank, the hymns still 
 remain to be selected. Miller is sick, declining toward his long 
 home. Dr. Nevin feels himself unfit, and so do I in part. Have 
 too little time for it, to select the hymns. I insist on it that you 
 select them. 
 
 You can have the loan of my "Knapp's Lieder Schatz," which 
 has over 3,000 hymns in it. Besides, take as many out of Schaff's 
 and the old Schneck hymn-books as are good. Now, will you 
 do this? Yes, as an obedient servant of the Church, a good- 
 natured brother, you will of course do it. Gelt? 
 
 The subject of Church Union interested Dr. Bausman greatly. 
 He heartily approved of the plan of federal union between the 
 Reformed Church in the United States and the Reformed Church 
 in America, and was elected a delegate to the Federal Synod in 
 1891 for a term of four years. 
 
ST. Paul's church 225 
 
 About a decade later, Dr. Bausman wrote to the editor of the 
 New York Independent in response to an inquiry regarding the 
 feasibility of union between the Reformed and Congregational 
 Churches. In these days when union with the Presbyterian 
 Church is under advisement, Dr. Bausman's letter will be of 
 interest : 
 
 The Rev. William Hayes Ward, D. D. 
 
 My dear sir: 
 
 Your letter afforded me much pleasure. It is well that the 
 growing spirit of affiliation among God's people should be turned 
 to practical and permanent account. I therefore feel highly 
 gratified to learn that the great heart of the Congregational 
 Churches is turning towards the Reformed Church in the United 
 States, with fraternal interest. I am sure that, by many of the 
 foremost people in our Church, this feeling is cordially recipro- 
 cated. It is true, our "failure" of the hopeful plan of union with 
 the Dutch Reformed Church was a sore disappointment and 
 greatly "dampened the ardor" of some of our people in the direc- 
 tion of future federative efforts. By reason of this some of our 
 men are extremely cautious of taking part in such a movement. 
 Much as I would favor the cultivation of more formal improve- 
 ment of such a spirit of union, unless we have satisfactory and 
 decisive evidence that the mind of both parties would generally 
 favor the matter, I too, would have serious misgivings. For the 
 failure of every such attempt will make subsequent success more 
 difficult. The mind of our Church is decidedly favorable to 
 federation. That is to say, to federation between bodies which 
 are in genuine agreement on the few great fundamental truths of 
 our Christian faith, and whose genius is sufficiently friendly and 
 fraternal, to form an evangelical basis in which the united bodies 
 could with cordial harmony work together. I too, can see much 
 "affinity" between your ecclesiastical body and ours. If the 
 effort at federation would start with our points of agreement, 
 and work on these, instead of emphasizing our points of difference 
 and disputing about them, the wisdom and feasibility of such a 
 project might possibly be demonstrated to our people. I mean 
 the members of both bodies. Our people, like yours, are pray- 
 ing for the oneness of God's people, and I trust they mean what 
 they pray. I am sorry that I cannot give a more definite and 
 detailed reply to your kind letter. Let me assure you that I 
 highly appreciate the confidence which your kind letter implies. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 15 
 
226 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The literary work of Dr. Bausman, as editor of the Guardian 
 and of the Hausfreund and as author of books while pastor of 
 St. Paul's, is treated in other chapters. Two contributions to 
 the devotional literature of the Church we notice here. 
 
 It was in the early autumn of 1882, when he was unusually 
 perplexed by the difficulties in his church, that he made this 
 entry in his diary: "Daniel Miller asks me to prepare a small 
 book of short devotions or prayers in the German language." 
 He was at first averse to taking up a new task, but very soon 
 thereafter he wrote again: "Have been working some at prayer- 
 book. It grows in importance and necessity as I work at it. 
 Think of preparing one somewhat after the model of the Golden 
 Censer, only shorter and more simple." 
 
 In November we find this record: "Completed writing Ger- 
 man prayer-book, at which I have been employed some six 
 weeks." 
 
 It is a book of 132 pages and is entitled "Gebete." The 
 prayers are for "Children, adults, sick and dying." Some 
 forty of them were composed by Dr. Bausman. Scripture se- 
 lections and hymns are interspersed. The little book is charac- 
 terized by simplicity and peculiar fitness for the class of people 
 for whom it was prepared. It was well received and met a need. 
 Over 1,500 copies have been sold — a goodly number considering 
 the limited field of the book's appeal. A confirmation certificate 
 was included and it was in special demand as a gift book to those 
 confirmed. 
 
 Regarding his other contribution to devotional helps we find 
 this memorandum in 1889: 
 
 In February, March and April, I helped Daniel Miller to pre- 
 pare an appendix to the Heidelberg Catechism, which he published. 
 
 I wrote a sketch of the Reformed Church, a sketch of the 
 Catechism, wrote and compiled prayers and selected hymns for 
 it and corrected or revised a brief Catechism on the Bible. 
 
 It was bound up as "The Catechumen's Hand Book" with 
 the Palatinate Catechism and helped to make this one of the 
 most acceptable of the many editions of the revered confes- 
 sional symbol of the Reformed Church. 
 
ST, Paul's church 227 
 
 Throughout Dr. Bausman's pastorate of St. Paul's, the people's 
 appreciation of the past was cultivated by frequent anniver- 
 saries and these became the more notable and touching as the 
 years went on. On these occasions the story of his coming to 
 Reading and of his work there was recited again and again. 
 
 In 1888 came the 25th anniversary of his arrival in Reading. 
 
 Twenty-five years of praying and preaching, of reading and 
 wrestling, of searching the Scriptures and roaming through varied 
 fields of human learning, gathering honey from many a sweet and 
 bitter flower; years of baptizing and breaking of sacramental 
 bread, of counseling souls, comforting the sick and bereaved and 
 burying the dead; years of working and waiting, of sowing and 
 reaping, of hoping and fearing; years of weaving from one's own 
 brain, and from the brains of others, and from the Book of infinite 
 wisdom, sermons for Sabbath days and for week days: twenty- 
 five years of such work would be of trifling account, were it not 
 for the invincible power of God — the Gospel and the Cross of 
 Christ. 
 
 Verging toward the evening of life, one's ambition, but not his 
 ardor for souls wanes. Soon you and I shall follow those who 
 have gone before us to the great inheritance. I pray for help that 
 Christ may become my passion more and more. With the soft- 
 ened and subdued feelings of life's mellow tinted autumn, I con- 
 fess to one supreme ambition of my soul, and that is, that I may 
 hear through His own ineffably sweet voice: "Well done, good 
 and faithful servant." 
 
 In December, 1890, came the 35th anniversary of Dr. Mc- 
 Cauley's pastorate when Dr. Bausman is said to have woven 
 
 a chaplet of personal [gratitude and esteem for his friend, fra- 
 grant with the most tender recollections and of surpassing beauty. 
 It was a symphony in prose and recounted the experiences of the 
 early days of his ministry in this city, which were intimately asso- 
 ciated with his friend, interspersed with humor and pathos. He 
 looked to the Dr. as his chief counselor. The nature of this 
 intimacy was strikingly portrayed in these words: "Twice Dr. 
 McCauley has knelt at my bedside in prayer when I was supposed 
 to be dying. Twice I passed through a similar ordeal at his bed- 
 side." 
 
 In 1893 his thirty years in Reading were celebrated in a day 
 of great rejoicing at St. Paul's. Elder Daniel MiUer read a 
 historical address, detailing Dr. Bausman's life and work during 
 
228 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 the period and concluding: "I feel certain that I voice the senti- 
 ment of every heart when I say we wish Dr. Bausman Godspeed 
 on this festive day." 
 
 Dr. Bausman said in his addresses: 
 
 I have prayerfully tried to be a man of God, and by diligent 
 toil, to be well furnished for my duties. I have tried to live the 
 gospel in this city; to become a living epistle of what I preach. 
 
 My heart bounds with gratitude to God for giving me a field 
 of labor in this stirring community, where I have received so 
 much kindly recognition and cooperation. I bless His name for 
 using me as an instrument to honor Christ and lead souls to Him. 
 For every soul won to Him, for every life made holier and happier, 
 I bless God. The truest and strongest spiritual life lies deep 
 down. Much, perhaps most, of the best results of this thirty 
 years' pastorate we cannot now estimate or trace. God knows 
 it and that is enough. 
 
 If you have any loving regard for me, as many of you have, 
 heed my calling: Be true to our Savior. Keep your heart in 
 loving touch with Him. Continue steadfast in the faith. Away 
 from Him, life is not worth living; in Him it is an unspeakable 
 blessing to live and to die. 
 
 Numerous letters of congratulation came in connection with 
 this anniversary. We give extracts from a few. 
 
 Dr. Thomas G. Apple, then Professor in the Seminary at Lan- 
 caster: 
 
 I remember when I did my humble part as a member of Mer" 
 cersburg Classis to release you from your pastoral relations at 
 Chambersburg — hard as it was for that devoted and affectionate 
 people to part with you and you with them, to enable you to go 
 to Reading. What a prosperous, happy pastorate God has 
 given you. How easy it is to die after such a life-work for the 
 Master! But you are not going to die for a while yet. 
 
 It was a hard strain, as I remember, for you to start the work of 
 church extension in Reading, but when it did begin to move, how 
 rapidly it has gone forward! Thirteen or fourteen churches 
 where only two existed — and how well moulded, all united and 
 harmonious! That is the best of it, that it has been a work that 
 did not need to be done over. 
 
 Give my kind regards to Mrs. Bausman, who has had a goodly 
 share in making you so successful and happy a pastor all these 
 years ! 
 
ST. Paul's church 229 
 
 Dr. Herman Rust of the Seminary at Tiffin, Ohio: 
 
 It seems to me your feeling must have been Hke that of a suc- 
 cessful general, when he returns home with his victorious army 
 and is received by a rejoicing multitude of sympathizing friends 
 in nis native home. 
 
 This celebration is calculated to do good to pastors and people 
 throughout the Church, proving to ministers what a well-quali- 
 fied and faithful servant of the Lord can accomplish, and to charges 
 the happy experience resulting from their sincere cooperation. 
 The frequent changes of some ministers are certainly injurious 
 to themselves and to their charges and hinder the growth of the 
 whole Church. 
 
 Dr. L. Kryder Evans of Pottstown, Pa.: 
 
 I have always admired the spirit and zeal of our Reading 
 brethren, — their hearty cooperation in every undertaking looking 
 to the extension and growth of our Church in your city; and the 
 first impulse to this commendable work was given by yourself and 
 people in the organization of St. Paul's. What was then con- 
 sidered a bold and venturesome undertaking has since proven to 
 have been a wise and judicious step. It has given our Reformed 
 hosts in Reading courage and stimulated them to do liberal things 
 for the Master's kingdom. 
 
 Dr. William A. Hale of Dayton, Ohio: 
 
 Your unparalleled success in Reading stands among American 
 pastorates without a rival. Chief among your coequals, you have 
 shed a lustre over your colaborers in the Reformed Church, and 
 they point to your triumphs with gratitude and copy your con- 
 duct with profit. 
 
 Dr. Thomas M. Balliet, formerly Superintendent of Schools in 
 Reading and a member of St. Paul's, then Superintendent of 
 Schools in Springfield, Mass., now Dean of the School of 
 Pedagogy, University of New York: 
 
 Much of your life's work is concentrated in this one congregation; 
 it must be peculiarly satisfying to see one's work — or rather the 
 results of it — so concentrated as to make it a monument of one's 
 best efforts. 
 
 The quarter centennial of St. Paul's was observed in a five 
 day's celebration during the closing week of 1897. Through the 
 
230 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 enterprise of the church paper the whole denomination was 
 privileged to have part in the occasion, as we see by the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 A copy of this week's Messenger was sent to us by special de- 
 livery. To my great surprise, it contains almost five pages about 
 my humble self by eight different writers, and pictures of myself 
 and my dear wife. I do not deserve all the good things they say 
 of me. Chiefly and above all the glory belongs to God, for the 
 good I may have accomplished. These kind words are exceed- 
 ingly pleasant to me, for which I praise God and thank these dear 
 friends. 
 
 In May, 1898, was celebrated the 25th anniversary of Dr. 
 Henry Mosser's pastorate in the old First Church. Dr. Bausman 
 preached the sermon and wrote at the close of the day: "Felt 
 grateful, tender and loving to this old flock. A memorable day 
 for me. Almost thirty-five years in Reading. God's mercy to 
 me is overpowering." 
 
 During these twenty-seven years that Dr. Bausman bore the 
 pastoral burden of St. Paul's alone, he lost very little time be- 
 cause of illness. He was quite often indisposed, sometimes 
 nervously and mentally depressed, but comparatively few were 
 the appointments he was physically unable to fill. 
 
 In October, 1876, while gathering autumn leaves on Never- 
 sink Mountain with friends, he was suddenly overcome, was 
 taken home and remained unconscious for about two hours. He 
 was reported dead and there was "great excitement." In a few 
 weeks he was at work again. A sermon grew out of the ex- 
 perience, "Lessons Learned on a Supposed Death-bed." 
 
 Two years after this he had very annoying trouble with his 
 ears which his doctor corrected and twenty years afterward came 
 a trouble with his eye which was remedied by the use of spec- 
 tacles. He was not obliged to miss officiating at the Holy Com- 
 munion until 1890, twenty -six years after he came to Reading. 
 
 His dehcate constitution required that he bestow the utmost 
 care continuously on his health and he hesitated at no regimen 
 or denial calculated to keep himself in working trim. His long 
 life and continued usefulness, however, are to be attributed most 
 
ST. Paul's church 231 
 
 of all to the unceasing devotion of Mrs. Bausman, who went 
 with him on all journeys and was rarely out of his presence for 
 an hour. His diaries are full of his tender realization of her 
 love and kindness. The wedding anniversary was never for- 
 gotten. An example is the following: 
 
 This is the twenty-second anniversary of our wedding. Our 
 marriage has been very happy. God has been unspeakably kind 
 in giving me such a devoted helpmeet. Much of my usefulness 
 is the result of her activity in ministering to me and in her many- 
 sided ministries in the congregation. Blessed be God for our home 
 and our combined ministries! 
 
 During the seventies, Dr. Bausman took vacations only oc- 
 casionally, outside of visits to relatives in Lancaster. There- 
 after, several weeks or more every year were given to definite 
 recuperation. The trips to the Continent in 1884 and to the 
 Pacific coast in 1886, will claim our attention in the next chapter. 
 Ocean Grove was frequently visited. During the eighties, they 
 went in different summers to Niagara, the Catskills, Saratoga 
 and Lake George, and Naomi Pines. During the early nineties, 
 Eagles Mere and during the later nineties, Lake Mohonk were 
 favorites. They went to Atlantic City occasionally and a year 
 before the beginning of the associate pastorate they discovered 
 Preston's Sunnyside at Wernersville, which for them proved 
 "one of the most enjoyable mountain retreats" and never lost 
 its charm. 
 
 As Dr. Bausman was passing on through the years, during the 
 eighties and the nineties, one notes a subtle change steahng over 
 his spirit. He lived more in the past, though his face was ever 
 toward the future with its tasks. He became, however, more 
 reminiscent. He often leafed over the old diaries. The 6th of 
 May, when he went to College in 1846, his birthday, the beginning 
 of the year, various anniversaries set his memory going and the 
 past came before him full of blessings and radiant with the glory 
 of divine mercies which made him unspeakably thankful. Then 
 too, the old friends were dying and he thought much of the com- 
 panionships of youth. 
 
 At the end of 1896, his brother Philip, "the dear, good soul," 
 died suddenly. 
 
232 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 He was a gentle, meek, conscientious child of God. Although 
 two years and eight months older than I, in our childhood we 
 were together as if of one age — slept together as boys for years 
 and went to school together. How rapidly our family is entering 
 into rest. Abram, Samuel and Philip died within five or six 
 years; only Henry, Elizabeth and I are left. 
 
 He scrutinized himself, recognized the oncoming marks of 
 decrepitude, gauged his powers of one year over against another, 
 maintained the cheerful and quiet spirit and prayed for greater 
 purity of heart. 
 
 At the close of 1885 was recorded this observation: 
 
 Feeling is growing upon me that I am an old man, although my 
 feelings seem to be young. This has been a year of many mercies 
 and alas, of many imperfections and some sins, which I bitterly 
 repent of. O for greater spiritual ripeness. 
 
 On his 69th birthday: 
 
 My birthdays are partly saddened with the calm shadows of 
 life's evening. Every year they become more serious to me, and 
 awaken a deeper gratitude, too — for countless mercies thus far, 
 and for vigor still to work and for a cheerful, peaceful spirit. O 
 for more holiness and more unreserved consecration to our dear 
 Savior! 
 
 When he had the difficulty with his eyes in 1896, he prayed: 
 "Lord, help me to accept with a cheerful, grateful heart, the 
 waning of my powers that may come with growing years." 
 
 Two years later he suffered slight facial paralysis, due to cold 
 in a nerve and had an attack of vertigo. Of the former he re- 
 marked : 
 
 Feel uneasy about it, yet why should I, after God's abounding 
 mercy so many years in giving me health; 
 
 of the latter: 
 
 The attack may possibly be a forewarning of what may sooner 
 or later await me. I am in our Father's care. Lord, keep me in 
 cheerful, hopeful readiness for Thy coming. 
 
 At the close of 1898, after enumerating the mercies of the 
 year: 
 
ST. Paul's church 233 
 
 Lord abide with me, for it is toward evening and the day is 
 far spent. Amen. 
 
 Several months later : 
 
 Lord, help me with a peaceful, contented heart, to accept Thy 
 will. 
 
 In the last year of the century: 
 
 I have been thinking much of late about my advanced life and 
 my comfortable work. In my seventy-sixth year, when the most 
 of my fellow students in college have died, I am still in full service, 
 with a large, united, harmonious congregation, fresh and vigorous 
 with activity. Daily the merciful providence of God becomes 
 more marked and I am a wonder to myself. I bless God for pre- 
 serving my life and bodily vigor, for giving me something to do, 
 permitting me still to minister to my dear St. Paul's people. 
 
 On another birthday, after enumerating "the mercies of God 
 in a thousand forms," he prayed: 
 
 Lord, pardon what I have been, sanctify what I am, and order 
 what I shall be; then Thine may be the glory and mine the salva- 
 tion, for Jesus' sake. Amen. 
 
 Again: 
 
 The Lord can see how thankful I am trying to be for 
 His goodness to me, enabling me to minister to my people with 
 comfort and with many expressions of favor and gratitude on 
 their part. 
 
 Five or six years before the close of the century. Dr. Bausman 
 decided to resign the pastorate of St. Paul's because of his ad- 
 vanced age. He took the elders of his church into his confidence 
 in the matter and they met with him for consultation from time 
 to time. Through them he learned that the congregation were 
 unitedly opposed to his resignation. In spite of marks of ap- 
 proaching decline he could say: 
 
 Rarely have I enjoyed my work so much, with such uniform 
 comfort of body, mind and spirit. 
 
 In 1899, he said: 
 
 1 have received more kind words about the blessings of my 
 sermons to the people, the past year, than ever before. 
 
 At this period, one who was very close to him wrote to a friend: 
 "He works with a great degree of pleasure and preaches power- 
 
234 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 ful sermons. Some persons wanted him to have the sermons 
 of last Sunday printed, but he is too modest." 
 
 Like all sensitive men, he could do his best work only in the 
 warm atmosphere of keen appreciation. A consciousness of this 
 made him the more effective. Nevertheless, at his time of life 
 he was wise enough to know that it was physically impossible 
 for him to bear the heavy pastoral burden alone much longer. 
 Suggestions of resignation again and again were stoutly opposed 
 by his Spiritual Council, hence the only alternative was the se- 
 curing of the associate pastor, who came in the person of the Rev. 
 Charles E. Creitz, in the autumn of 1900. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 Europe and California — 1884, 1886 
 
 HEALTH considerations as well as a desire for mental en- 
 richment, combined -w-ith calls to duty led Dr. Bausman 
 to take extended tours during the summers of 1884 and 1886. 
 He had profited greatly by the trip abroad in 1856 and 1857 and 
 repeatedly expressed the wish to revisit many of the places he 
 had then seen. In the early part of 1884, we can see his plans 
 crystallizing as we read: 
 
 Consulted with brother Jacob about going to Europe together 
 next summer. Am not definitely clear in my own mind, whether 
 I ought to go. Am willing to go or remain home as the Lord 
 may direct. In some respects would prefer not to go. 
 
 He was appointed by the officers of General Synod a delegate 
 to the Alliance of Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian 
 System, to meet in Belfast in June, at which he was assigned the 
 reading of a paper. This appointment evidently was the decisive 
 argument. We read in March: "I am a good deal exercised and 
 perplexed as to our contemplated visit to Europe. Am seeking 
 and praying for light, would gladly not go if the Lord so willed." 
 
 The Whitsunday Communion was the last service held with 
 the congregation before the departure and it was by far the 
 largest St. Paul's had ever had at that season. He preached 
 from Phil. 1 : 27 — "An Absent Pastor's Care for his Flock, " which 
 brought forth much manifestation of tenderness from the con- 
 gregation. 
 
 We have been visited, greeted and blessed with marks of kind- 
 ness to an extent that I never experienced before — by many 
 people in and outside of our congregation. Dear Father bless 
 and keep them all. 
 
 235 
 
236 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The following note came from his colleague, the pastor of the 
 Second Church: 
 
 Reading, Pa., June 3, 1884. 
 Dear Dr. Bausman: 
 
 What wonderful changes have transpired since April 6, 
 1875, when I bade you and Mrs. Bausman farewell for a short 
 season! Again, I say, God be with you and your dear wife. 
 The experience of years of prosperity and adversity constrains 
 me to say with the apostle, I have no ministerial brother so dear 
 unto me. All seem busied about their own — you have shown 
 a constant care for me and my work. The Lord reward your 
 labor of love. The Lord calm the waves and guard you safely 
 through, make you a blessing to the convention, cause all your 
 journey to be a source of pleasure, and in due time, bring you 
 both home again greatly strengthened for your important work. 
 
 With high regard, your greatly obliged and profoundly grate- 
 ful friend, C. F. McCauley. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Bausman sailed from New York on the afternoon 
 of June 4th on the Cunarder, "Aurania," Capt. W. H. P. Hains. 
 The voyage was very pleasant, barring Dr. Bausman's inevitable 
 seasickness for a few days, until the evening of June 11th, when 
 they were within about sixty miles of Queenstown. Let the 
 vivid words from Mrs. Bausman's diary describe what happened: 
 
 Seven o'clock. Whilst sitting on deck with B. and others, 
 all at once the screw stopped, when there was some commotion 
 on deck. We rushed forward toward the bow, when they seemed 
 ready to drop the anchor. The mist thickens! Oh, fearful! 
 All at once they blow off steam; the people cry breakers; next we 
 see something, cannot tell what, when oh! Horrors! All of a 
 sudden the mist rises like a curtain and here we are, an immense 
 rock looming up before us and the vessel strikes it! What shall 
 we do? Where shall we go? Everybody was quiet. We looked 
 at one another terror-struck. All at once the command was 
 given to go back to the stern. All went back quietly but 
 quickly, when the engine was suddenly reversed and we slid off 
 the rock. Then the command, "To the boats." The bronzed 
 seamen rushed to the life boats, with faces ashen pale, unchaining 
 and getting them ready for use at any moment. Parents rushing 
 to and fro looking for their little ones, some getting their life pre- 
 servers, others quietly but prayerfully looking on. All the ma- 
 chinery is stopped. Now the command comes, "Close the hatch- 
 
MRS. BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
EUROPE AND CALIFOBNIA 237 
 
 ways," and the vessel is examined to ascertain whether she has 
 sprung a leak. We are all so thankful to be assured that she 
 has sustained no injury beside the jamming of the machinery 
 caused by the sudden reversion. Two rockets were sent up as a 
 signal of distress. About midnight, we saw a vessel approaching 
 with lights burning. Some cheered, others prayed. We lay 
 quiet about three hours, whilst one of the piston rods was re- 
 moved, new packing put in, etc., and then the "Aurania" moved 
 off as finely as ever. This was about half past twelve — a bright 
 moonlight night and not a bit of mist. The good Lord answered 
 the prayers of us passengers. 
 
 Dr. Bausman says in his diary of the event: 
 
 The suspense was indescribable. A few ladies fainted, the 
 most of the women were wonderfully calm for the hour. A 
 little Jewish mother sat quietly and calmly on deck with three 
 children, two boys and a girl close around her, sadly and peace- 
 fully smiling upon them. We had gotten away from our 
 group, saw some of them at a distance. Beckoned them 
 to come to us that we should be together should the worst come. 
 After that Apple, Hensel, Good and we stayed together. Handed 
 Amelia over to some of them, went to state room for life pre- 
 servers at ceihng. Fearing to produce a panic among the rest 
 by bringing them, I closed the door. Knelt down and prayed fer- 
 vently to our Great Father for help and left the life preservers. 
 
 Our group sitting together, I asked Amelia to start "Jesus 
 Lover of my Soul." We sang it twice, then "Nearer my God to 
 Thee." By that time quite a lot of people gathered around us 
 helping to sing. Then "Rock of Ages." Then Rev. Smyth led 
 in prayer. Then we sang "Praise God, etc." which sounded 
 gjrandly from many grateful hearts and strong voices. By that 
 time the fog had strangely disappeared and the large moon shone 
 kindly down upon us. 
 
 A notorious gambler, a man of fine appearance, had edged up 
 to the group and joined with his rich voice in the singing, and 
 remarked to one near, "Under the circumstances, this is after all, 
 certainly the right thing to do." 
 
 Soon thereafter, the steward announced that Dr. Morgan Dix 
 of New York would conduct a thanksgiving service in the dining 
 room, and Dr. Bausman was urged to assist, which he did, read- 
 ing John 6: 15-22. 
 
 It was found next day that the ship suffered more injury than 
 was at first supposed, as could be seen by the low hanging prow. 
 
238 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 She sailed comfortably to Liverpool harbor but was unable to 
 get to dock. It was Bull Rock on which the ship ran and the 
 passengers were told afterward by Capt. Hains that five or six 
 vessels came near being wrecked on it owing to strong sea currents 
 before unheard of setting in toward it. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Bausman did not tarry in Liverpool but went 
 on shortly into the lake country, then in its spring glory — Win- 
 dermere, Ambleside, Keswick — leisurely visiting the homes of 
 Thomas Arnold, Harriet Martineau, Hartley Coleridge, Words- 
 worth and others. 
 
 June 16, 113/2 A. M. — Kirkstone Pass Inn — the highest in- 
 habited dwelling in England, on our way to Ullswater, on the 
 top of the stage-coach, with the driver! Grand beyond de- 
 scription ! 
 
 Several days were spent in Edinburgh and vicinity, taking in 
 Stirling and the Lakes. Dr. Bausman met with the committee 
 who attempted, though in vain, to frame a Consensus Creed for 
 the Reformed Churches, and attended the dinner at the Regents 
 hotel to the Consensus committee, by "pressing invitation" of 
 Dr. Cairns, the "large Scotchman with a great head and a great 
 heart." They visited many places of interest and did not for- 
 get the mission Sunday-schools wdth their "boys dirty and rag- 
 ged." They heard Dr. McGregor and Dr. Alexander Whyte 
 preach on Sunday: the former, "said to be the most popular 
 preacher in Edinburgh — eccentric, pointed, apt and happy in his 
 illustrations, intensely earnest;" the latter, "a middle-aged, 
 plain looking man, animated, full of feeling, abounding in apt, 
 homely illustrations, very earnest and impressive. Felt moved 
 to tears and thanked God for it." 
 
 By way of Glasgow they came to Greenock and thence by 
 steamer to Belfast, which they reached on the morning of June 24, 
 the day the Alliance opened. The vessel was overcrowded and Dr. 
 Bausman was one of six in a room eight feet square, among them 
 Dr. Schaff . Dr. Schaff was disturbed by another's snoring, then 
 quoting one of Harbaugh's sayings, "with hearty laughter said, 
 'Awer guck, mer derf nix sage, mer sin ewe Nochbere,* etc.'" 
 
 * But you see, one daren't say anything, since we're neighbors. 
 
EUROPE AND CALIFORNIA 239 
 
 Ten days were passed in Belfast during the sessions of the Al- 
 liance, and nearly all this time they were the guests of Mr. and 
 Mrs. John McCausland at their charming villa. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's address before the Council was on "The Work 
 01 the German Church in the United States." He observed: 
 
 Dr. Matthews and Dr. Cairns complimented and thanked me 
 very heartily for my essay ; said that they had hitherto been wish- 
 ing for, but unable to get, what it contained. 
 
 The paper discusses the origin, development, difficulties, etc., 
 of the German Churches in America and the distribution of the 
 Germans throughout the States. His diagnosis of the German 
 character in its attitude to religion and morals is of abiding in- 
 terest and value. 
 
 This people are an accession of wealth or weakness. They 
 bring their vices with them, no less than their virtues. Their 
 brawn and brain, muscle and mind, add a potent element to the 
 nation. A large proportion of them are victims of the sceptical 
 and socialistic sj^stems of Europe. They are not only prejudiced 
 against Christianity, but hate it bitterly and intensely loathe its 
 services. Their social habits are an emphatic protest against 
 religion, a profanation of our most sacred usages. In Europe, 
 the arm of strong government kept them under restraint. With 
 the enlarged liberty of our institutions, they denounce and defy 
 our laws, and chafe under alleged tyranny. "License they mean, 
 when they cry liberty." They multiply drinking saloons and 
 other places of convivial resort, where hosts of American youths 
 are entrapped and ruined. They revile the ministry as the tools 
 of tyrants, the paid apostles of priestcraft and the enemies of 
 their liberties. With a parade painful to God's people, they turn 
 the Lord's day into a day of sinful pleasure. 
 
 Among this pleasure-loving throng, one finds a large proportion 
 of intelligent people; bright boys and girls whose appearance and 
 deportment point to homes of culture and refinement; quick- 
 witted, well-read men and women, and not a few of a thorough 
 scientific training. They have their own literature. In their 
 hands and homes are found the best and latest works, often bril- 
 liant in style, teaching the worst t3rpes of scepticism in the most 
 fascinating forms. 
 
 Their papers are edited with literary ability and popular tact. 
 They have acquired an immense circulation and a national in- 
 fluence. They are a felt influential element in the commercial, 
 
240 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 political and social life of the nation. Seekers of pelf and place 
 dare not ignore them. Municipal councils and even state and 
 national legislatures have an eye to the social habits of their 
 Teutonic constituents. The fear of the Germans often defeats 
 the most necessary and reasonable reformatory measures in 
 favor of temperance and a better observance of the Lord's day. 
 Lukewarm and cowardly Christians and seekers of place and pro- 
 fit help to swell this turbid stream of anti-christian elements that 
 deluges our country. Its material vapors poison the social life 
 and thinking of the land. In the United States, Strauss and Heine, 
 though dead, yet speak. Through works of Theology and Philo- 
 sophy, of Poetry and Fiction, through the songs of this music- 
 loving people, their soul-destroying systems are distilled and 
 distributed among the masses. Thus, the pernicious forces of 
 error are perpetuated and the curse of systems largely vanquished 
 has gone to seed in the hearts of millions in the new world. In 
 this power, the German Church in the United States finds a 
 formidable foe. Among this unevangelical German element, there 
 are different degrees of opposition to the Gospel. With many, it 
 is only in a negative form. A spirit of indifference, rather than 
 one of positive hostility to Christ, has taken possession of their 
 minds. As the result of certain ecclesiastical training in Europe, 
 they retain a traditional reverence for the sacraments and other 
 ordinances of the Church. Whilst totally unconcerned about the 
 ordinary services of the sanctuary they, nevertheless, desire to 
 have their children baptized, instructed in the catechism and 
 confirmed by an ordained minister of the gospel. Laying great 
 stress upon good, religious instruction, however little they them- 
 selves may practically care for it, they send their children to the 
 Sunday-school. In their view, the services of a true minister of 
 Christ at a baptism, a confirmation and a burial are, if not a 
 needed means of religious blessing, at least a necessary part of 
 social propriety. By this means, the evangelical ministry gains a 
 gracious access to the hearts and homes of many children and 
 parents. 
 
 The German people of a positive faith are a tower of strength. 
 Their piety usually has a peculiar permanence and personal force. 
 It is a piety like that of Timothy, dating from childhood and 
 youth. Taught by parents, teachers and pastors, their minds 
 have been stored with the clear and crisp forms of gospel truth as 
 found in evangelical catechisms and hymn-books. This good 
 seed nurtured into vigorous gro\vth by prayer, faith and parental 
 training, has become spirit and life in their characters. They 
 have a distinct perception, a discerning sense of the divine ele- 
 ments in the gospel. This imparts a characteristic devoutness 
 
EUROPE AND CALIFORNIA 241 
 
 to their piety, to which their well-worn Bibles, hymn-books and 
 prayer-books bear striking testimony. 
 
 The Germans are a song-loving folk, as their singing contests 
 and musical associations, from the days of the Minnesingers have 
 shown. Their grand hymns pulsating with the living Christ, 
 breathing the spirit of repentance, faith and hope, are an immense 
 power in the moulding and maturing of personal piety. Their 
 children commit them to memory and learn to sing them to their 
 soul-stirring melodies. On Sunday and on week-days, at work and 
 in worship, in sowing and in reaping, in joy and in sorrow, the 
 godly German sings the songs of Zion. Even among the deepest 
 solitudes of a strange land, he rarely hangs his harp on the willows. 
 The devout use of such hymns, so full of the marrow of the gospel, 
 is in itself a religious education. 
 
 The difficulties of the language question were duly discussed 
 and a statement made which ought to be borne in mind in pass- 
 ing judgment on the foreign missionary activity of the American 
 Churches of German origin: 
 
 Doubtless, the vast religious destitution and the pressing and 
 large demand for energetic gospel work in our land partly ac- 
 counts for the comparatively diminished missionary activity of 
 the German Church in heathen lands. 
 
 After noting "the stimulating example of his Enghsh brethren" 
 on "the slower German with his more contemplative, mystical 
 and reserved piety," he went on: 
 
 In like manner, the German Church may possibly be influencing 
 the other Churches, through the translations of German books, 
 etc. There are few of the better institutions of learning in our 
 land, some of whose professors have not studied in German 
 universities. There is a communion of sound scholarship, as 
 well as a communion of saints, which overleaps the boundaries 
 of oceans, of continents and of nations. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Bausman passed from Belfast to London and 
 tarried there over two Sundays and heard the noted preachers, 
 Spurgeon, Joseph Parker, Newman Hall and Canon Gregory. 
 Spurgeon charmed as before. We read this comment: 
 
 A strong, clear, musical voice under good control, a heart living 
 with love to God and souls, a matchless skill in clearly and in most 
 simple forms setting forth the truth, etc. To me a precious in- 
 16 
 
242 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 spiration, which may God help me to retain and utilize for His 
 glory. 
 
 Thence they proceeded by Dover and Ostend to Brussels, 
 Cologne and Bonn. Dr. Bausman's feeling in seeing the land of 
 his fathers again is thus expressed in the opening paragraph of 
 a letter to the Hausfreund: 
 
 We have come at last to the banks of the dear old Rhine. 1 
 love the noble people of all lands, and rejoice to find something 
 good in each ; and yet I must declare, that, as we came to the bor- 
 ders of Germany this afternoon, my German heart almost cried 
 aloud from very joy. 
 
 They did not tarry long in the Fatherland. It was the middle 
 of July and they desired to visit Italy before the hottest weeks. 
 Moreover, the cholera was spreading through the Latin coun- 
 tries and they must see Italy very soon or perhaps not at all. 
 Therefore they hastened from city to city. They sailed up the 
 Rhine "picturesque and grand" by Coblentz, Bingen to Mayence. 
 "Sweet Bingen! How memories of 1856 crowded my mind." 
 Quaint Nuremburg could not hold them long, nor the Pinakothek 
 of Munich. They spent two weeks in Italy and when at Lake 
 Como, Dr. Bausman wrote a long letter, a few paragraphs of 
 which will interest us: 
 
 My dear Messenger: 
 
 Many years ago, I used to write for your columns whilst on a 
 pilgrimage through Italy. I cannot leave this classic land with- 
 out sending at least one letter concerning my present visit. 
 
 We both are enjoying good health since we left England, mine 
 has decidedly improved. All access to Italy, from France and 
 Switzerland and Austria has been cut off on account of the cholera 
 in Southern France. Thus far, only a few cases have occurred in 
 Italy. We apprehend no danger. We just got into Italy in 
 time. 
 
 The Bremer Pass, on the extreme east, was the only railroad 
 entrance left us. At Innsbruck, in the Austrian Tyrol, we were 
 assured that this way was still open. After ten hours' travel 
 across the Alps — one of the grandest day's journeys I ever made — 
 we reached Verona, near midnight. A prominent official with 
 emphatic gesticulation, and to us unintelligent explanation, 
 hastened us into a large room at the depot. No sooner were all 
 the passengers in than all the doors were locked. A grun-looking 
 
EUROPE AND CALIFORNIA 243 
 
 policeman with heavy cocked hat, in full uniform and sabre, 
 guarded each door. A long row of open trunks were placed on a 
 counter. Ah, we thought, another custom-house examination. 
 But, no one examined. After a little, the room was filled with a 
 strange odor. The atmosphere seemed heavy and difficult to 
 breathe. Soon we discovered what it meant. They were 
 smoking (fumigating, as it is here called) the contents of our 
 trunks, our persons and our clothing, to purify, or disinfect us 
 from the possible causes of cholera. Carbolic acid may be a 
 good disinfectant, but its odors are anything but pleasant to in- 
 hale. We were smoked for fifteen or twenty minutes. Never 
 did God's sweet, free air seem more delightful to breathe, than 
 when on that rainy midnight, at Verona, we were turned out of 
 that horrid smoke-house like a herd of cattle bounding from 
 their barn enclosures into pastures green. 
 
 In spite of the discomfort, this disinfecting process had its 
 humorous side too. Some faces turned pale with fright, others 
 were livid with rage. Eyes flashed with fiery fury, and lips 
 unused to harsh epithets, poured forth their wrath in phrases of 
 unaccustomed vehemence. Said one, with a face that looked 
 as if it had never smiled: "I am going to get out of this; shall go 
 no further into this dirty country, but go back to Germany." 
 "How will you do it?" I asked, ''soar back on wings across the 
 high Alps to-night?" Another addressed me with a look of un- 
 utterable disgust: "This diabolical fumigation! Here we have 
 come from the healthy air and pure habits of the Rhine and the 
 Alps, and must be smoked by these dirty Italians! It is they 
 that stand in need of being fumigated, and not we!" 
 
 Two days later quarantine was established here, which required 
 all persons entering from the Tyrol to be locked up for five days, 
 in a gloomy place, among a crowd of people filthy and fair, and 
 bedrugged, smoked and otherwise treated by methods which to 
 sensitive nervous people, are more likely to cause than to cure the 
 cholera. 
 
 Venice, Rome, Milan with their artistic and historic riches had 
 received swift attention. The Como letter pays its respects to 
 a little denizen of that sleepy, sunny land which rarely receives 
 literary attention: 
 
 In an Italian midsummer all things hving, save the fleas, get 
 drowsy or fall to dreaming. At this writing (1 P. M.) one is fast 
 asleep, with head pillowed on the table where I pen these lines; 
 but the fleas are the most thoroughly wide-awake people in Italy. 
 Although a feeble folk, they ply their annoying trade at all hours 
 
244 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 of the day and night with an energy worthy of a better cause. 
 They are a crafty, cunning and cruel vermin. Robert Burns 
 once wrote a pretty little poem on a louse which he watched 
 crawling over a lady's bonnet, as he sat near her in church. Per- 
 haps had he himself felt the fangs of the vile intruder, he would 
 have reserved his rare gifts for a worthier subject. The moral 
 of his poem is good enough: 
 
 O wad some power the gif tie gie us, to see ourselves as ithers see us. 
 
 But there is just where the rub comes in with the fleas. You cannot 
 see them. It may have been an unkind feeling which prompted 
 the wish in me: could I only gather these wretched things in a 
 thimble, I would lay them on a blacksmith's anvil and with one 
 mighty stroke of his largest hammer, convert them into a spot of 
 grease. 
 
 The letter closes: 
 
 f The evening shades are now falling on the lake. In this 
 dreamy land of a great past, I devoutly think of my own dear 
 country. It has no past like this, but surely more of a future. 
 I turn away from these grand, gaudy and almost ghostly churches, 
 to the plain churches and stirring working congregations of my 
 own country, throbbing with a present, growing gospel life. 
 Thus musing by the lake of a quiet Sabbath evening, I reverently 
 said in my inmost soul: "Hail Columbia, happy land!" 
 
 Nearly three weeks were given to the cities, lakes and moun- 
 tains of Switzerland. Dr. Bausman was particularly gratified in 
 learning of a more evangelical spirit among ministers and 
 churches. The Easier Mission House was studied with as keen 
 an interest as on the former visit. 
 
 Nearly four weeks were bestowed on the section of Germany 
 between Stuttgart and Ems. Of special interest was Bad Boll, 
 a decidedly religious health resort, spoken of, by some, as the 
 "celebrated Blumhart prayer cure establishment, which father 
 and son have presided over for forty years." Pastor Blumhart 
 as Hausvater gave practical, warm-hearted religious addresses 
 daily to his guests and very much impressed Dr. and Mrs. Baus- 
 man. 
 
 At Bischweiler, the home of Dr. Bausman's mother's ancestors, 
 they sought and found persons of the Peters' name, but 
 
EUROPE AND CALIFORNIA 245 
 
 could not trace any connection between any of them and our 
 Peters' ancestors in America. Noticed a striking resemblance 
 in nose, eyes and face generally to Uncle Jacob Peters and Aunty 
 Breneman. 
 
 They tarried at Kreutznach, where Dr. Bausman secured 
 souvenir canes, one for each of his brothers, and at Bingen, 
 precious with memories, and spent a few days with the Bausman 
 relatives at Freilaubersheim. On the way to Berlin, they stopped 
 one day in Cassel. 
 
 "One of the most charming personal visits we made in Europe" 
 was the call at Potsdam on the three daughters of the celebrated 
 court preacher, Dr. F. W. Krummacher — "who in the September 
 of life welcomed and blessed us so tenderly in this month of 
 September." Dr. Bausman had met them on his former visit. 
 In the crowded Dom Kirche, they heard court preacher Adolf 
 Stocker preach a "plain, robust, fearless sermon for such an 
 audience. " 
 
 In a letter to one of his parishioners Dr. Bausman described 
 their visit to "the largest market in Berlin;" he added: 
 
 In all my married life I have never bought nor borne a basket of 
 marketing for and to our home. This visit to the Gens d' Armer 
 market seemed like a partial atonement for duties long neglected. 
 Among the most enjoyable sights in all the markets which we 
 have visited was the sight of Mrs. Bausman's pranks. She was 
 as happy as a little girl on her first visit to a to3^-shop. But jesting 
 aside, I have learned much in the market places of Europe. For 
 here one can study human nature in a manner not taught in 
 books. 
 
 Six days sufliced for the German metropolis. On the way to 
 Paris, they were fortunate in the day's stop at Cologne, for the 
 Emperor, his family and retinue were there on parade. The 
 present Kaiser was then the Crown Prince's son and Dr. Bausman 
 said of him: "He is slender; his face youthful and bronzed, not 
 distinguished looking, more English than German." 
 
 A week was given to Paris. On the Sunday spent there, Dr. 
 and Mrs. Bausman attended several church services and heard 
 a sermon in French of which they "understood nothing." We 
 note this comment on the day: 
 
246 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Heard good music. Spiritually a barren Sabbath, yet learned 
 useful lessons. The world of Paris, like that of Berlin, seems con- 
 tent with mere earthly happiness. Little concerned for eternal 
 things. 
 
 It was now October and they must turn homeward. They 
 tarried again in London several days and had the pleasure of 
 hearing Spurgeon once more. 
 
 They took the steamship ^'Bothnia" at Liverpool. After a 
 stormy voyage they reached New York — and arrived at Read- 
 ing, October 22nd. Friends and church officials met them at 
 the wharf and at several railroad stations and gave them a 
 hearty welcome home, in their house all decorated and set in or- 
 der. 
 
 The last entry in Dr. Bausman's diary of this European trip 
 reads : 
 
 O, the joy of getting home! The prettiest scene I beheld since 
 June 4th, last, I saw from the steamer deck this morning as the 
 sun rose above the forests of Long Island. The joy and grati- 
 tude to God in getting into one's own quiet home, after such an 
 absence are beyond utterance. One feels, as I often felt and 
 did during our journey, like praying and repeating all the doxolo- 
 gies he knows. 
 
 Lengthy and elaborate accounts of the things seen, heard and 
 felt on these travels were written in simple German for the Haus- 
 jreund and appeared in the several issues during July, August and 
 September. They often occupied nearly one-fourth of the 
 space of the entire issue. A feature of peculiar interest in these 
 articles arose from the fact that in England, Scotland, Germany 
 and Switzerland, wherever Dr. Bausman could converse with the 
 plain working people and with the women and children, he sought 
 to see them as they were and get their views of life. As he put 
 it to a Reading Herald reporter: 
 
 I made labor and the condition of the working people a study 
 wherever I went. I mixed with laborers and picked up conver- 
 sation with them whenever there was an opportunity. I asked 
 street scrapers and mechanics about their wages and work and 
 formed the impression that there is much dissatisfaction there 
 about wages. 
 
EUROPE AND CALIFORNIA 247 
 
 He said further to the reporter: 
 
 I went to Europe, not so much to travel as for rest ; but I found 
 that my mind was too active and I was not contented to remain 
 long in one place. I saw many things from which I profited and 
 from which Americans, generally, might profit in the forms of 
 government, the treatment of the soil, industrial pursuits, schools, 
 etc., but all in all America is beyond comparison with them. 
 
 Two days after the return followed the "Grand Welcome 
 Home" in St. Paul's Church, which was overcrowded with mem- 
 bers, Sunday-school scholars and friends. In the quiet of his 
 home after the reception, he wrote: "Never had such a hand- 
 shaking. Never dreamed that our dear people clung to us so 
 tenderly. I think it was the happiest occasion of my life." 
 
 Dr. Mosser, speaking for the Reformed clergy, in happy strain 
 said : 
 
 We have taken a great interest in your voyage. We followed 
 you to Belfast and were glad that your voice was heard in that 
 great Council. We followed you to London, but were rather 
 amazed to hear that you stopped at Ludgate Circus, though we 
 felt sure you were always an upright Christian man wherever 
 you went. 
 
 "Then came the speech of the evening in Dr. Bausman's re- 
 sponse," says the Herald: 
 
 I need hardly tell you that we are overwhelmed by this wealth 
 of welcome. I am not possessed of a very great degree of self- 
 confidence, and there is nothing that hazes my poor mind so much 
 as an occasion of this kind. Two months ago an evening group of 
 French and German ministers were chatting together in a village 
 in Wiirttemberg, when one of them, a very distinguished theolo- 
 gian, asked me about my flock. I told them that my Consistory 
 had given me a four-month's vaction, and as much more as I 
 desired, to rest myself. They were all astonished and several of 
 them remarked that such a thing was impossible in their country. 
 
 I feel grateful to you all for your kind remembrance of us. I 
 think more of humanity than ever before. I think the world is 
 not so bad as it is sometimes said to be. Reading, however, is 
 more precious and elevating to me than Brussels and Paris with 
 all their gaiety. It is said to be worth a visit to Europe to see the 
 Rhine. I think it is worth a visit to Europe to come home again. 
 
248 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The Western Tour 
 The diary of Monday, July 5, 1886, reads: 
 
 Left home at noon for Colorado and California, via Columbia 
 and Baltimore. As heretofore, I and wife go together — I chiefly 
 for the improvement of my health. Still have catarrh in the 
 upper part of my throat. Dr. Beaver urges me to go away for 
 awhile. 
 
 O Father, order all our journey for us; keep us from harm and 
 sin. Sanctify these mercies to the invigoration of our bodies and 
 spirits and for thy glory. Amen. 
 
 Dr. J. O. Miller of York, Pa., and Dr. E. R. Eschbach of Fred- 
 erick, Md., arranged the tour. They were both members of the 
 Board of Home Missions. It was the desire to study the home 
 missionary field of the Reformed Church as well as to see the 
 wonders of the great West that called them to these travels. The 
 invitation to join the party furnished the opportunity to Dr. 
 and Mrs. Bausman of taking in most pleasant fashion this journey 
 which they had often contemplated. 
 
 Prof. J. E. Kershner, of Franklin and Marshall College, and 
 several ladies made up the party of eight, which, as he said in 
 the Hausfreund 
 
 enjoys itself like a natural family of which Dr. J. O. Miller is 
 the solicitous father. He chooses the hotels, pays the bills, 
 arranges railroad matters, writes letters, telegraphs and goes here 
 and there through dust and heat for the welfare of his children. If 
 anyone has any sickness or complaint, he is always ready with his 
 fatherly advice. 
 
 So carefully planned to see most in the shortest time was this 
 "great Excursion Party," that Dr. Bausman insisted on calling 
 it because of their strenuous movements the "Great Exertion 
 Party." 
 
 They went by way of Washington directly to St. Louis. There, 
 at Kansas City, Topeka and at Denver they studied the mis- 
 sionary situation and on the several Sundays preached in the 
 Reformed Missions. 
 
 They visited Colorado Springs, attempted to climb Gray's 
 Peak and spent Sunday in Salt Lake City. Dr. and Mrs. Baus- 
 
EUROPE AND CALIFORNIA 249 
 
 man were present at a communion service of the Latter Day- 
 Saints in the Mormon Temple, but "left before it was through. 
 I felt relieved when I was out. Do not feel comfortable especi- 
 ally on the Lord's day in such a place." 
 
 At a frontier junction while the party were waiting for a train, 
 Dr. Bausman was sitting on the edge of the platform, pencil 
 and tablet in hand. Dr. Eschbach approached him and said, 
 "What are you doing?" He replied, "I am doing what you 
 should do, I am writing a letter to my Sunday-school." These 
 occasional letters from the absent pastor were, of course much 
 appreciated by the school. 
 
 They took in the wonders of the Yosemite and the big trees 
 of Mariposa, which called forth this exclamation: "I bless God 
 that he permitted me to see these trees. They are among the 
 few great wonders I have seen — greater than the pyramid of 
 Cheops or the Forum and Coliseum of Rome." 
 
 Dr. Bausman wrote in the 'Messenger: 
 
 The journey is made in six-horse stages. The four daj^s re- 
 quired to reach and return from this Yosemite Valley were filled 
 with some of the roughest and most toilsome travel of my life. 
 I am very glad to have been there, and very thankful to have 
 gotten out safely, and promise never to repeat the adventure. 
 
 As the driver careers down the steep mountain, with a firm grip 
 on the lines, his foot on the brake, and his keen wide-awake eyes 
 on the horses, one wonders how he can turn a certain short curve 
 ahead. The front horses gracefully wind around the perilous 
 edge, but the tongue of the stage points directly down over a 
 wall of 1,000 feet, and it looks very much as if it would take us 
 that way. You clench the end of the seat, bite your lips, and 
 watch how skillfully the wheels are kept three inches from a 
 plunge down the mountain. Often the hub of the wheel comes 
 within an inch or two of a rock or tree. Education is a great 
 comforter even in its lessons of mountain adventures. You soon 
 become hardened to blood-curdling sights. 
 
 Long shall I gratefully remember the services of Stephens, 
 Geo. Munroe, Tom Gordon and Tom Martin. Stepping off the 
 unroofed stage at the close of day, I would thank them personally 
 for bringing us without hurt of life or limb, over such break- 
 neck roads. Munroe is a black man with a clear, cool head and a 
 brave heart, about forty years of age and admitted to be the best 
 stage driver in California. He and another are the only old 
 
250 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 drivers under whom no passenger has ever been hurt. Chewing 
 his quid of tobacco with the regularity of a pendulum, without 
 crack of whip or jerk of lines, he gently spoke to his horses by 
 name, as if they were personal friends. After changing horses 
 no passenger dare take his seat until Munroe takes his seat, with 
 lines in hand. A remarkable man and a faithful servant of tour- 
 ists over one of the most perilous stage roads on the continent. 
 A blessing on him and his associates in service. - 
 
 They went as far south as Los Angeles, then a city of 42,000 
 inhabitants, 5,000 of whom were Chinese. Of them he wrote: 
 ' ' I have been repeatedly assured that with the present class of 
 unreliable white laborers, California could not possibly prosecute 
 its various industrial pursuits without Chinese help." 
 
 After making a perilous tour of the Chinese quarter in San 
 Francisco, Dr. Bausman formed his own opinion of this question, 
 which is now of special interest after a generation's further ex- 
 perience with Orientals on the Pacific coast: " I am now convinced 
 that our government should not allow the Chinese in the land. 
 Such pits of iniquity poison and devastate the life of this whole 
 state. The government must interfere with these beastly practices. ' ' 
 
 Another spell of the inevitable seasickness was in store for Dr. 
 Bausman — the last of his life and with what irony of fate, too — 
 on the Pacific! — between San Francisco and Astoria. The party 
 went further by boat to Portland and then up the Columbia to 
 Dalles, whence by train to Yellowstone Park. 
 
 The church problem was discussed with the Reformed mis- 
 sionaries in Portland and San Francisco and what he said then of 
 Los Angeles is all that can be said now regarding the Reformed 
 Church there, except that the constituency is larger: 
 
 There are a number of German families of the Reformed Church 
 in and around the place. The feasibility of placing a missionary 
 here with a view of founding a Reformed congregation has been 
 discussed by some of the Mission Boards of our Church, but thus 
 far without leading to any tangible results. 
 
 Dr. Bausman could not fail to be impressed by the strange 
 wonders of the great National Park and this ^^rayer is found in 
 the Journal: "Feel thankful to God fort he privilege^oTseemg 
 this park and entreat Him most fervently for grace that it may 
 make us holier, meeker and more devoted children of His." 
 
EUROPE AND CALIFORNIA 251 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Bausman stopped on a Saturday evening in 
 Bismarck, Dakota, to the surprise of the remainder of the party, 
 who went on to St. Paul for the night. "We resolved to rest 
 quietly here and travel no more on Sunday," as they had been 
 obliged to do twice before, though he was "very sorry for it." 
 They had the happy compensation of finding accidentally at 
 the station a former member of St. Paul's Church, who made the 
 two day's stay in the frontier capital very pleasant for them. 
 
 A few days were given to St. Paul and Minneapolis, a Sunday 
 to Chicago, and by the first week of September, they were quietly 
 at home again in Reading, after having "travelled through twenty- 
 one states and territories, about 9,000 miles in fifty-eight days." 
 
 The practical outcome to the Church of this tour was Dr. 
 Bausman's favorable impression of the Middle West as a mission 
 field for his denomination and his hearty endorsement and help 
 in founding Wichita College. Soon after his return he wrote 
 appeals for this Kansas College in the Hausfreund and the Mes- 
 senger. The citizens of Wichita would give forty acres of land 
 and raise a large amount of money. The Church at large was 
 asked to give one-third as much. 
 
 This will be the most liberal offer made to the Reformed Church 
 west of the Allegheny Mountains. 
 
 This movement is a golden opportunity calling for a prompt 
 response on the part of the Church. 
 
 Such an institution is needed to educate yoimg men in the West 
 for the ministry and other pursuits in life. The West cannot 
 educate its ministers in the East. The experience of other 
 Churches proves this. 
 
 Such an institution would challenge denominational recogni- 
 tion of the Reformed Church west of the Mississippi. We have 
 not yet made a recognized impression on the religious life of the 
 far West. It is exceedingly humiliating to be confronted con- 
 tinually with the question, "Who are you" (ecclesiastically)? 
 This has a depressing, indeed a demoralizing effect upon our 
 Reformed people of the West. Plant a first-class college in Kan- 
 sas, animated by the vigorous thought of the East and pulsating 
 with the best life of the West, and the people will soon learn to 
 know and respect the Reformed Church. 
 
 Is the Reformed Church to share in the glorious work of evan- 
 gelizing the great West? Or is she to content herself with her 
 acquisitions and work in the East? God forbid. The founding 
 
252 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 of this college in Wichita would have a grand moral effect upon 
 our people in the East. Our denominational, as well as personal, 
 sympathies need enlargement. They must be made as broad 
 and far-reaching as the continent, not only in theory, but in 
 actual practice. 
 
 The amount needed is $15,000. Please send your gifts or 
 subscriptions from $100 to $1,000 and upwards, without delay 
 to Rev. D. B. Shuey, Emporia, Kansas, or to B. Bausman. 
 
 After reading my appeal in to-day's Messenger, I knelt down 
 at my table and wept to God about it. Lord, send help. 
 
 Shortly after this we read again in the diary: "I wept for joy 
 to-day when I received a letter from brother Jacob, offering to 
 subscribe $1,000 to Wichita College." Dr. Bausman himself 
 gave several thousand dollars to the institution, which ceased 
 to exist in 1895. 
 
 The Rev. D. B. Shuey says in a recent letter: 
 
 It was largely due to the interest Dr. Bausman and others took, 
 that the institution at Wichita was able to run as long as it did. 
 If it had not been for the panic and, therefore, the inability of 
 the Church in the West to give aid, the institution would to-day 
 be flourishing and doing good work for the Western Church. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Editor of the Guardian — 1867-1881 
 
 IT was three years after coming to Reading and when he was 
 crowded with general church work and was entering on 
 the most trying period of his pastorate in the old First Church, 
 that the Rev. Mr. Bausman assumed the double editorial task 
 of the Guardian and the newly-established Hausfreund. For 
 fifteen years he drove abreast these two literary coursers and then 
 laid aside the reins of the former. 
 
 Mr. Bausman was chosen editor of the Guardian by Dr. Har- 
 baugh, its founder, who for seventeen years had edited the little 
 magazine. The Mercershurg Review after being discontinued for 
 five years was published again in 1867 and Dr. Harbaugh, pro- 
 fessor of Theology in the Seminary, became its editor. In the 
 first issue of the Guardian for the year 1867, Dr. Harbaugh said: 
 
 This, as anyone will readily see, requires that the editing of 
 the Guardian should be devolved upon another. 
 
 The name of our new editor appears on the title page — one 
 into whose hands this work falls at our own suggestion, and one 
 whose name and experience may well give assurance to all, that 
 the magazine will be conducted with energy and success. 
 
 Nor is the work of an editor new to him, having labored some 
 years very successfully in this peculiar department and what is 
 more than all, he loves the young, and has himself a heart that 
 will never grow old. 
 
 In his ''Introductory" the new editor said: 
 
 We have learned from experience that it is not an easy task to 
 succeed Dr. H. Harbaugh. His writings, like himself, are unique. 
 His mode of thinking, writing and speaking, are peculiar to 
 himself. They are inherited qualities, but cannot be acquired. 
 
 We preached our first sermon in Dr. Harbaugh's church. 
 His kindly sympathy with us in our timid maiden effort, we 
 shall ever gratefully remember. Now his hand leads us on 
 
 253 
 
254 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 another pulpit; he bids us speak in his stead. Into the Guar- 
 dian he breathed the dewy freshness of his May-day Hfe. Who 
 can follow him without embarrassment? Our misgivings in 
 assuming the editorial management can easily be accounted for. 
 The spirit and aims of the Guardian shall be as heretofore. No 
 efforts shall be spared to make it instructive. Such as we have 
 we give. In his language used fifteen years ago, we devoutly 
 pray that "the spirit of purity may preside over its pages, and 
 keep us from publishing a line, 
 
 "Which dying, we could wish to blot." 
 
 The high standard of the magazine was well maintained 
 under Dr. Bausman. He put upon it a tremendous amount of 
 labor. He wrote for every issue. Some numbers were filled 
 almost entirely by his pen. 
 
 He said in his second "New Year's Greeting:" 
 
 The most of our readers are to us personally unknown. There 
 are but few with whom we have mingled in social intercourse. 
 They are "unknown to us and yet well known." One year's 
 labor has endeared them to us with singular tenderness. Writ- 
 ing for them has daily kept their wants and well-being before 
 our mind. Our readers have become to us a sort of second 
 pastorate. In our holiest hours, in the heart's deepest unburden- 
 ings before the mercy-seat, we pour their wants into the ears of 
 the all-merciful Father as though they were the sheep of our 
 fold. 
 
 The Guardian was the forerunner of the Heidelberg Teacher 
 and the distinctive Sunday-school literature in the Reformed 
 Church. It was during Dr. Bausman's editorship that the Sun- 
 day-school department was opened. It began in February, 
 1872. How it originated, we see from a diary note: "Awoke 
 at five — meditated — got an idea to open a department in the 
 Guardian on Bible Class talk." 
 
 In doing this, he was simply responding to a demand in the 
 Church which was increasing, and three years later the Sunday- 
 school department was extended to ten or twelve pages and 
 the several lessons of every month were given full treatment, by 
 a lesson committee who relieved Dr. Bausman of that end of 
 the work. 
 
 It was not easy to get persons to write much and often for this 
 
EDITOR OF THE GUARDIAN 255 
 
 periodical, for on the part of editor and contributors it was al- 
 together a labor of love without monetary compensation. A 
 letter to Dr. Steiner when the Sunday-school lesson department 
 was being planned is, no doubt, typical of many personal pleas 
 the editor made; even as in the open columns of the magazine 
 he often implored those who were able to send in fitting con- 
 tributions : 
 
 Please help me with the Guardian. Any matter for the Sun- 
 day-school or the other department will be thankfully received. 
 Let us try and make the Guardian a first-class Sunday-school 
 teacher's monthly, in full sympathy with the doctrines and usages 
 of our Church. Please tell Brother Eschbach for me to write 
 for it whenever he can. 
 
 A response to a similar appeal from one of the most gifted of 
 writers and beloved of teachers will be of interest: 
 
 Lancaster, Dec. 20, 1866. 
 Rev. Benjamin Bausman. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Your too complimentary letter, as I must call it, has been duly 
 received, and I am pleased to learn that the Guardian has fallen 
 into such good hands. My engagements will not permit me to 
 send a communication for the January number; but I promise 
 you that I will be an occasional contributor, and I shall en- 
 deavor also to persuade others to write. Wishing you all success 
 in this undertaking, as also a Merry Christmas and a Happy 
 New Year, 
 
 I remain as ever, 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Wm. M. Nevin. 
 
 Thirty-two pages had to be filled with acceptable reading 
 matter every month, and when contributors did not help, the 
 task was the editor's alone. He always met it, even through 
 summer and sickness, but it was strenuous business from which 
 he more than once sought relief. A diary entry in November, 
 1874, gives a hint of his attitude: ''Board of Publication in 
 Philadelphia till midnight — had to consent to continue editor of 
 the Guardian." 
 
 In his "Parting Greeting," December, 1881, Dr. Bausman 
 said: 
 
256 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Through all these years the Guardian gave me much pleasure. 
 I wove into its texture my heart's warmest sympathies, my mind's 
 purest thoughts, and often in writing for it, have I felt the touches 
 of the warm throbbings and fresh glow of the young, in whose 
 behalf I labored. I love the young now no less than fifteen years 
 ago. I am as much in sympathy with them now as then. My 
 health is vigorous, God be praised. Still, advancing years ad- 
 monish me to lighten my burdens, and, as it is easier to find an 
 editor for the Guardian than for the Hausfreund, I withdraw 
 from the former. 
 
 Although no longer an editorial contributor, I hope now and 
 then to furnish something for its pages. It affords me pleasure 
 to report that it now has a larger subscription list than at any 
 previous period of its history. 
 
 I part editorially from the Guardian with feelings of sadness, 
 not unlike those of personal bereavement, as though one very 
 near to my heart were about to be taken out of my sight. Yet 
 this feeling is materially mollified by the assurance that my suc- 
 cessor in office is one of its faithful and long tried friends. I 
 take great pleasure in introducing to the readers and patrons of 
 this magazine, Dr. J. H. Dubbs, whose busy and able pen has 
 often enriched its pages. His appointment by the Board of 
 Publication is a guarantee that the Guardian, as from its first 
 number, published thirty-two years ago, shall continue to breathe 
 the spirit of Life, Light, Love. 
 
 After retiring from the editorship, Dr. Bausman contributed 
 occasionally to its pages. Dr. Dubbs continued editor for four 
 years and was succeeded by Dr. Henry M. Kieffer. In 1891, 
 the Guardian as such was discontinued and the Missionary Guar- 
 dian, as the organ of the Home and Foreign Mission Boards of 
 the Church, took its place, with the Rev. A. C. Whitmer as edi- 
 tor. 
 
 The discontinuance of the Guardian occasioned great regret 
 on the part of many. It was "Christian first and literary after- 
 ward, a quickener of minds, an awakener of souls." It thus 
 rendered the highest and most valuable service in the realm of 
 religious education, for which bustling church activities cannot 
 compensate. However, the magazine could not resist the pres- 
 sure of the more practical spirit of the Church. The Rev. A. 
 C. Whitmer says that in the end, "the introduction of comments 
 on the Sunday-school lessons won less friends than it lost." 
 
EDITOR OF THE GUARDIAN 257 
 
 Dr. Dubbs averred a few months before his death, that it was a 
 great mistake to discontinue the magazine; nothing takes its 
 place and there was no occasion to do so, because it was still a 
 paying proposition. The competition of the many large, cheap, 
 illustrated papers and magazines was increasingly difficult to 
 meet and the real surprise is that a magazine of such a character, 
 winning its way by its solid merit alone, should continue so long. 
 To have lived for forty-one years is a high tribute to its several 
 editors, and to the devoted little group of contributors who 
 "wrote not for pay, but out of love for the truth and interest 
 they felt in the young readers of the Guardian." 
 In closing the twentieth volume. Dr. Bausman said: 
 
 For a religious journal, this is a good long life. For in this 
 country religious monthlies have been singularly unfortunate. 
 A large number have had but a short existence. The Guardian 
 is one of the very few that has lived to be twenty years old. 
 
 The Guardian breathed the spirit of the Reformed Church, 
 although it had many readers outside of the denomination. It 
 developed denominational consciousness and made intelligent 
 Christians. It enriched and broadened the lives of its readers. 
 It won souls to the Christian life, made staunch church mem- 
 bers and led not a few into the Christian ministry. It nurtured 
 a sane piety and a genuine Christian culture, and gave a tone of 
 high devotion and broad sympathy and a distinctive religious 
 flavor to those who imbibed its spirit. It was beloved by its 
 readers, who were bereaved as of a friend when it was suffered to 
 die. 
 
 Dr. J. Spangler Kieffer says of it: 
 
 In these days of multitudinous magazines of the most bril- 
 liant and interesting character, it would be hard to understand 
 the significance and interest which this slender and modest 
 periodical possessed for its readers. In many a home of the 
 Reformed Church, it was the solitary representative of the 
 world of current literature. It was read by many a boy and 
 girl with that eager, absorbed, oblivious sort of reading, which is 
 the kind that tells. 
 
 The fragrance of the country was upon its pages. Its con- 
 stituency were living or for the most part had been reared in 
 17 
 
258 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 rural surroundings. Dr. Harbaugh founded it because of his 
 conviction that the city magazines, good as they were in many 
 ways, were " not such as rightly meet this want. Their spirit is 
 not the spirit of the country, and the region of romance in 
 which they move is far removed from the real wants of real life." 
 
 The atmosphere of the magazine was wholesome. Its homely 
 wisdom could well be pondered in the twentieth century. It 
 rejoiced in the beauty and glory of the simple, common life. 
 The educative value of the godly home and of the Church was 
 exalted. It hated humbug. 
 
 The editors in their search for contributions sought out liter- 
 ary talent of promise and young men were trained to write. We 
 have seen how Dr. Harbaugh prevailed on Mr. Bausman to do 
 literary work and Dr. Dubbs was urged in like fashion, even 
 in his student days by the founder of the Guardian. 
 
 Dr. Kieffer says in his beautiful tribute to Dr. Bausman, in 
 the Messenger: 
 
 He not only wrote, himself; he stimulated others to write. 
 He was on the lookout for new and young writers for the peri- 
 odicals of the Church. I remember when a young man, just 
 leaving the Theological Seminary, being asked by him, for con- 
 tributions for the Guardian, of which he was then the editor. He 
 was quick and generous in his appreciation and encouragement 
 of other writers. I have a grateful recollection of a kindly and 
 warm-hearted letter once written by him to me, when some- 
 thing which appeared in the columns of this paper seemed to 
 touch him in a special manner. 
 
 When we look for the leading characteristic of Dr. Bausman's 
 magazine writing, we find it in the biographical note. He wrote 
 a multitude of articles on the lives of interesting and useful people. 
 He had the journalist's knack of heading his articles with strik- 
 ing and suggestive titles. Bunyan and J. J. Astor were pre- 
 sented as "The Bedford Tinker," and "The Rothschild of Am- 
 erica." The warm human touch was in all his writing and he 
 himself followed the kindly advice he gave the Rev. A. C. Whit- 
 mer: "Make your articles juicy, spicy, attractive and the people 
 will read them with interest. Let the personal element enter 
 into them somewhat." 
 
EDITOR OF THE GUARDIAN 259 
 
 He never departed from his serious purpose, but he was wary 
 of using the serious manner. This was manifestly his meaning 
 when he wrote: 
 
 We have made it a point not to preach in the Guardian. From 
 the start, we guarded against it, and warned our contributors: 
 Whatever you do, don't fall to preaching. To preach here is 
 the veriest cant. We might as well send each of our young 
 readers a dose of opium, as a dose of preaching matter — either 
 would put them to sleep with equal success. 
 
 Of course, there were exceptions to this rule and he admitted 
 it. The hortatory tone is little in evidence, however, and for 
 this very reason his writing was the best kind of preaching. 
 
 His humor bubbled over on every occasion with the sudden- 
 ness and surprise of a spouting geyser. For example, he gave 
 this sage advice to the younger readers: 
 
 How to fall on the ice: 
 
 1. Try to do your falling where nobody will see you. 
 
 2. Once you have fallen, do not look around whether any- 
 body sees you. Above all, do not get angry nor swear audibly 
 nor mentally. 
 
 3. If any one invites you to "Come here, and I will pick you 
 up," don't do it. Pick yourself up. 
 
 4. Try and slip on the softest part of the ice, and let yourself 
 down as gently as possible. 
 
 5. After all, a fall on the ice, even if you do break a limb, 
 might be worse. 
 
 This humorous faculty helped him out with his printer, to 
 whom he had to pay his respects occasionally when mistakes 
 crept in. A paragraph on this subject will interest us: 
 
 Besides this sundering (now don't make it thundering) quarrel 
 in the Addams family, he makes me call parson Stoy's horse "a 
 hunting steed," when I said "a panting steed." I say this not 
 to chide the printer, but to get rid of the mortification of mak- 
 ing a fool of myself in polite company. Without doubt, he has 
 a sorry time of it, to decipher the hieroglyphics of some manu- 
 scripts and makes many a correction for which he never receives 
 credit. My dear fellow, most tenderly do I sjrmpathize with 
 thee, trying to disentangle the confused interlined stuff dumped 
 into your "copy." A blessing on the printer. Besides his 
 actual service, he is a convenient scapegoat. Many a bungling 
 
260 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 writer puts all his defects on the printer. The easiest way to 
 get rid of one's literary stupidities is to call them typographical 
 errors. Half written words he must guess out. Errors of spell- 
 ing he corrects and often mends a bad sentence, yet he never 
 receives credit for either. Not only poets but 
 
 Printers lose haK the praise they should have got, 
 Could it be known what they discreetly blot. 
 
 When he closed his editorial career on the Guardian he said: 
 "I thankfully think of the patient and perplexed printers, to 
 whom my erasures and interlinings must often have given a 
 world of trouble." 
 
 On this sentence the church paper commented: 
 
 This is the place where the deep gratitude should come in. 
 Dear reader, did you ever see a sheet of Dr. Bausman's manu- 
 script? If you did, it must have reminded you of a map of 
 Boston. We would like to see a page of it enlarged to the size 
 of modern Athens and get some foot-weary man to tread the 
 labyrinth, following the lines as the words were to be arranged 
 by a compositor. He would have to go out into by-ways, and 
 turn corners, move all around the plot, and come back to the 
 point of departure very unexpectedly, but only to make the 
 journey over and over again. He would realize how far a man 
 may walk without going out of a very small area, and believe 
 that the serpentine paths of a gentleman's grounds might, if 
 stretched out in a straight line, be measured by the mile. A 
 genial, old typo to our left has a pair of eyes that twinkled be- 
 neath his glasses when the Doctor's manuscript came. He had 
 become used to it and says it didn't trouble him half as much 
 as that of some of those illiterate fellows. 
 
 Dr. Bausman did not shrink from the unpleasant and delicate 
 duty of rejecting unsuitable articles. He had a very definite 
 and specific purpose in the paper and he held himself to it. He 
 said: "We must husband our space as much as we can, if pos- 
 sible insert nothing which aims above, below or aside of the 
 mark. " Thus he maintained the magazine's standing and quality. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's editorship of the Guardian was in the bitter- 
 est period of the controversy in the Reformed Church on the 
 Liturgical Question; but not even an echo of the strife was heard 
 in this little forum. However, when the Peace Movement was 
 launched in the General Synod of 1878, his magazine spoke 
 
EDITOR OF THE GUARDIAN 261 
 
 heartily in favor of it and called on all the readers to "pray for 
 the peace of Jerusalem." 
 
 The varied experiences of his early life were a rich field for 
 numerous articles and therein are preserved for posterity many 
 of the quaint old customs of the fathers. 
 
 The recurring seasons of the natural year and of the church 
 year, especially in his writings for the Guardian, were given proper 
 recognition and interpretation. Every journey he might take 
 was sure to furnish grist for his mill. 
 
 We have seen how the nucleus of "Sinai and Zion" was ar- 
 ticles in the Guardian and the Messenger. "Wayside Gleanings" 
 appeared in 1875. During the several years prior to its publishing, 
 some thirty articles on his travels in Europe were presented from 
 month to month and then entered into the book. 
 
 Several of the years of his editorship he featured by courses 
 of articles in successive issues. In 1870, he presented "Sundays 
 Abroad." In 1872, he wrote up the "Founders and Deceased 
 Friends of the Guardian." He was always on the lookout to 
 honor thus men who did things for the Church. In 1874, the 
 fascinating and thrilling "Reminiscences of the Civil War "were 
 issued, during the Centennial year, articles bearing on the 
 Revolutionary history of the country, in 1877, "Washington- 
 iana," and in the last year of his editorship, "German Hymn 
 Writers. " 
 
 The Guardian rendered a valuable service to the Church in 
 that out of it grew some of the best books for the people. Dr. 
 Harbaugh's beautiful book on "The Birds of the Bible" was 
 originally a course of articles in the early years of the Guardian. 
 Of Dr. Dubbs' "Home Ballads and Metrical Versions," "the 
 greater number were written for the Guardian." His "Historical 
 Manual of the Reformed Church" and other histories grew out of 
 studies originally begun in behalf of this periodical. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's four English books had this source. "Way- 
 side Gleanings" was ** affectionately dedicated to the members 
 of St. Paul's Memorial Reformed Church." Several thousand 
 copies were sold. Though it records facts and impressions more 
 than a half century in the past, it is still a valuable handbook of 
 travel. Views of church and state there given have in many 
 
262 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 cases, by subsequent events, been proven correct. A sentence 
 in the preface of the book referring to the worth of the volume 
 may be reconstructed to read thus: ''The wine is of good quahty 
 and has improved with age." 
 
 "Bible Characters" appeared in 1893. Its twenty-four chap- 
 ters were edited and in some cases renamed from Guardian ar- 
 ticles. Dr. T. G. Apple reviewed it with the warmest words of 
 appreciation as coming "from the hand of a master workman. 
 There is no cant or claptrap in the book, no artij&cial appliances 
 to please vitiated tastes, yet it is original and fresh from 
 beginning to end." 
 
 As one scans the pages of the Guardian, he wishes that "Bible 
 Characters" might have been followed by another book treat- 
 ing of characters outside of the Bible. Dr. Bausman was always 
 masterful and interesting in presenting the lives and activities 
 of men. Biography was his favorite method of studying history. 
 
 The little volume "Precept and Practice" came in 1901. The 
 twenty-three chapters taken from the Guardian were likewise 
 edited. We know of no better book for young people and 
 church members. 
 
 Dr. George W. Richards wrote the Introduction to this book 
 and says of these essays what may be applied to many more ar- 
 ticles from the pen of Dr. Bausman: 
 
 They were written for a past generation, with no thought of 
 a future collection in book form. They were clear, direct and 
 popular then. After having read the manuscript and revived 
 the impressions made upon me as a boy, I am convinced that age 
 has not diminished their vigor. Their "natural force has not 
 abated." They read as if they came red-hot from the author's 
 brain, and were spoken to the generation directly before him. 
 It is another proof that philosophies may change, theologies may 
 wax old, but the practical principles of Christianity and morality 
 are the same yesterday, to-day and forever. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Editor of the Hausfreund — 1867-1903 
 
 THE most unique of all the many beneficent undertakings 
 of Dr. Bausman was his founding, editing and publishing 
 of ^^ Der Reformirte Hausfreund." A good many important 
 things in the religious life of the Church would never have hap- 
 pened had there been no Dr. Bausman. Certain churches 
 would never have been built. St. Paul's, Reading, in all like- 
 Uhood would never even have been born. Bethany Orphans' 
 Home would have been a very different institution had he not 
 been for so many years at the helm. Yet orphans would have 
 been cared for and the members in St. Paul's and other churches 
 he founded would, in part at least, have been shepherded some- 
 where; but we may confidently assert, that had Dr. Bausman 
 not undertaken the publication of this little German paper for 
 the Reformed Church of Eastern Pennsylvania, this important 
 work would never have been done at all. 
 
 The Pennsylvania Germans have often been spoken of as 
 "the sleeping giant." Their stable quahties, religious bent, 
 mental and moral capacity and wealth were resources unde- 
 veloped a half century ago. Dr. Bausman's soul burned with- 
 in him to attempt the gigantic task of awakening this giant. 
 Here was a great, fallow field which became responsive to the 
 judicious cultivation effected by his paper. The circulation of 
 the periodical, save during the last few years of its entire ex- 
 istence of thirty-seven years, ranged between 2,000 and 3,000 
 subscribers, which means that it was read on an average by 
 over 10,000 people, very few of whom would have read any other 
 religious paper. The immense good done by this enterprise can 
 easily be reahzed and it showed itself at once after the paper was 
 started by an increased inflow of benevolent moneys into the 
 treasuries of the Church, which has continued enlarging through 
 
 263 
 
264 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 these years. "The sleeping giant" is not yet fully awake in 
 all his members, but the immense progress of the Reformed 
 Church during the past quarter of a century, particularly along 
 the line of benevolent giving, which is a good index of religious 
 vitality, are due in no small measure to Dr. Bausman's Haus- 
 freund. And the beauty and glory of his work upon the paper 
 was that it was purely and simply a labor of love. 
 
 We are fortunate in having two really wonderful letters in 
 which Mr. Bausman poured out the passion of his soul touching 
 this project in behalf of his own people. The Rev. Eli Keller 
 was then pastor in Northern Ohio. A few years later he came 
 to Eastern Pennsylvania, following the suggestion of Dr. Baus- 
 man, and was a loyal contributor to the Hausfreund throughout 
 its entire career. 
 
 These letters give the inside history of this movement for a 
 German paper and Bausman's part in it. We get a glimpse of 
 his heart here and are reminded of the press of duties upon him 
 when he shouldered this additional burden. We must recall, 
 too, that he became editor of the Guardian at the same time. 
 
 Reading, October 26, 1866. 
 Dear Brother Keller: 
 
 Is EH also among the poets? Do you know that you have 
 written a magnificent poem? It has all the tenderness and unique 
 touches of nature of the Pennsylvania German character. Go 
 on, dear brother, and prophesy whenever the spirit moves you. 
 Yours is a genuine muse. 
 
 In the name of the Lord, we, that is I, intend to start a paper 
 for the Pennsylvania Germans of this country, with the permis- 
 sion of Synod. I am not fit for it, but that does not matter. 
 By the grace of God, I will do it anyhow. If I do not, I fear the 
 brethren and Classes, and Synod will starve the thousands of our 
 simple-hearted, but docile, unsuspecting people for five or ten 
 years longer, with sapless sympathy and resolutions that mean 
 nothing. The paper is not to interfere with or be a rival to the 
 Kirchenzeitung or the Evangelist. You know, as well as I do, that 
 these excellent papers cannot reach and be read by a large part 
 of our Pennsylvania Germans. The former has not 500 sub- 
 scribers in all Eastern Pennsylvania. If these papers are made to 
 suit these, they will not be adapted for the large class of foreign 
 German readers. We owe it to this large element in our Church 
 to give them a paper that they will read. They ought to have 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 265 
 
 had one fifty years ago. This paper is to be issued twice a month. 
 If the circulation warrants it, every two weeks, at $1.00 a year — 
 always in advance. It shall be a Christian gentleman, being 
 reviled, it shall not revile in turn, and absolutely keep out of all 
 controversies and quarrels. It shall contain departments: De- 
 votional, On Missions, Aus den Gemeinden,* Sketches of Classical 
 and Synodical Proceedings, Sketches of the Lives of the Pioneer 
 and Deceased Ministers of our Church, Historical Sketches of 
 the Older Congregations, Church News, etc., etc. I have a pro- 
 spect of circulating it pretty extensively among the independent 
 congregations of this and other counties. Don't you believe that 
 such a paper is needed? You may well suppose that I feel its 
 necessity or I would not undertake such an enterprise. My heart 
 is stirred within me, when I think of the 30,000 or 40,000 of 
 Pennsylvania Germans in this State, many having preaching 
 once in four weeks, some with hireling pastors. What could not 
 such a people accomplish if properly informed and trained! 
 What am I, that I should undertake such a project! From all 
 quarters brethren hail me with a Godspeed. Harbaugh says, 
 "It is the most solemn and important enterprise, that has been 
 started in our Church for many years." Do you believe it? I 
 have a very large congregation, as you know. I have neither time 
 nor ability to keep this thing going alone. A number of brethren 
 offer as much as I want for it; but I want contributors from the 
 West, too. I want you. In the name of the Lord, I ask you to 
 help me in this sacred work. By birth and education, you are 
 qualified to write for this paper as few are. You are a good, earn- 
 est, hard-working brother, and know me, and sympathize with 
 my efforts and intention. I have faith in God, in you, and in 
 this good cause — so strong a faith, that I feel clearly certain, be- 
 fore you reply to this letter, that you are going to help me. What 
 do I want? Short articles aus dem kirchlichen Leben des West- 
 ens.f Weave as many incidents, Thatsachen, in the articles as 
 possible. 
 
 My name will not appear as editor of the paper. I am not such 
 in reality, yet I undertake the whole thing, and am responsible 
 financially and editorially, but others help me to furnish the matter. 
 Of course, so far as it has an editor, I am he, but would rather be 
 called by another name. The first number will be issued about a 
 week before Christmas — dating from January 1, 1867. 
 
 Yours, etc., 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 P. S. — Could you not furnish me with the names of the pastors 
 
 *From Congregations'. 
 
 t About the church life of the West. 
 
266 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 in the West, who have any considerable number of Pennsylvania 
 German members? For the foreign Germans, the other papers 
 are better suited. 
 
 Reading, November 10, 1866. 
 Dear Brother Keller: 
 
 I received your kind letter to-day, and read it with moist eyes. 
 Although I have not found a helpmeet as you have — whether 
 from my own fault, or providential decree, I will not say — I have 
 a good deal of the woman in my composition. I am easily touched 
 and can weep like a woman, if some kind soul takes me by the 
 hand in my serious efforts to do good. "Six children!" — blessed 
 is the man that hath his quiver full of them. God gives "to 
 each his necessary share. " I love children with an ardor amount- 
 ing almost to a passion. I find no sweeter recreation than to 
 roll about on the grass or floor with them, have them climb up 
 my tall back, explaining to them pictures, being asked for a kiss 
 in the Sunday-school or street, stealing the sound of their evening 
 prayers through some partition, watching their innocent, loving 
 mirthfulness, when they don't know I am looking at them — and 
 yet I have none! 
 
 But this is not what I had intended to write about. I agree 
 with you, respecting the Kirchenzeitung and the Evangelist, knew 
 that you wrote for the latter, but did not know your signature. 
 
 Three years ago I received a call from my present congrega- 
 tion. I then had a pleasant charge in Chambersburg. The 
 whole congregation in a paper of all the members and others 
 of influence remonstrated against my going. The Classis was 
 called together, where ministers and laymen plead their cause, 
 while many sat by weeping, and I wept with them. During the 
 previous year, my health had been seriously failing, and it was 
 publicly said — "He will die in a short time if he goes, with such a 
 congregation." But I thought of the vast field in East Pennsyl- 
 vania — material unequaled by any Church in this country — 
 neglected, ridiculed, slandered. I told the Classis, with choked 
 utterance, I must go, and if I felt certain it would kill me in a 
 short time. They said. Go, and God be with you. I went and a 
 few months brought me, humanly speaking, to the verge of the 
 grave, — the Dr. gave me this to understand. 
 
 O how I wished like Hezekiah, for a few years more to glorify 
 God, with a more zealous service. I resolved if he would spare 
 me, I would give myself more wholly to Him than I ever had 
 before. He spared me and has blessed me with vigor of body 
 and mind, such as I have not enjoyed since I entered the ministry, 
 and this in spite of considerable labor. You have your hands full. 
 Mine are not full, I confess. I have over 1,000 communicant 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFBEUND 267 
 
 members — over 2,000 souls in all including unconfirmed members. 
 A Sunday-school of 600 children — and three mission Sunday- 
 schools numbering in all about 400 children — one of them 250. 
 Of course, these are manned by my members, but under my eye, 
 I have organized a missionary society in my congregation within 
 the year, on the systematic plan, which raises over S1,000 a year. 
 I have been general agent for the printing establishment, engi- 
 neering the thing, with assistants, raising during the year about 
 $15,000. Am President of Board of Managers of Orphans' 
 Home, which requires me to run to the city often. Have been 
 an editorial contributor of Messenger, member of College Board, 
 Board of Visitors, President of Trustees of Synod, and yet I feel 
 that I might do a good deal more. Study, work, preaching, 
 visiting the sick — all my duties are a source of indescribable 
 pleasure to me, for which I thank God every day. 
 
 I have felt the want of this German paper for several years — 
 advocated it before our Classis, the East Pennsylvania Classis and 
 at the Synod of Lewisburg. The foreign brethren tried to 
 laugh us out of countenance, charged us indirectly with foment- 
 ing sectional prejudices between foreign and American Germans. 
 At the Synod of Lewisburg, at my suggestion the enterprise was 
 committed into the hands of Lebanon, East Pennsylvania and 
 Goshenhoppen Classes, in connection with a Committee of Synod. 
 These Classes bandied the thing about till they threatened to 
 kill it. Then I proposed to take charge of it myself, to which 
 Synod's Committee at once assented, the latter being authorized 
 by the Synod of York to go forward as they saw proper. 
 
 Now it may seem madness in me to undertake such an ad- 
 ditional amount of work. But "I am not mad, most noble 
 Festus." My whole soul is wrapped up in it. Certainly the 
 project is not more important than the ministry; but in the pub- 
 lication line equal to any, superior in importance to three-fourths 
 of our other projects. 
 
 As to what the paper is to be, I fully agree with you. I can- 
 not tell you how much some of us had to work to keep it out of 
 Philadelphia. It was insisted that it should be published there. 
 I saw very well that this would put a foreign German at the 
 gate and that would inevitably kill it. One comfort I feel in 
 having my hand on the helm, is the thought that I can keep it 
 free from all the heavy ballast of a foreign Gelehrsamkeit.* A 
 number of the brethren have promised to write, but with the 
 expressed understanding that I am absolutely to be the judge 
 what is to go in. Yes — it shall be a Pennsylvania German Christ- 
 ian gentleman, by the grace of God. It shall teach our people 
 
 * Scholarship. 
 
268 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 the grace of charity, prayer and Christian activity, not by hold- 
 ing up to them Yankee or British specimens, but by telHng them 
 what people of their own tribe and tongue have done and are 
 doing, I want it to dip its life out of the hearts and homes of 
 our people. They have a piety, poetry, customs, habits, language 
 and life peculiarly their own. Just so far as these will inspire 
 the paper, will it find Anklang. 
 
 I think I have some idea what it ought to be, but "Who is 
 sufficient for these things!" I will write sketches, Reise Erzah- 
 lungen aus dem Volksleben Deutschlands,* especially of Re- 
 formed countries. As a rule, the articles ought to be short, if 
 possible not over a half column in length, short articles, short 
 sentences, short words. Poems on the subjects you speak of 
 will be capital. I showed the editor of the Adler yours in the 
 Guardian. He was delighted with it and will publish it. An 
 occasional article on the religious condition and wants of Penn- 
 sylvania Germans in the West will help to cultivate missionary 
 sympathy and zeal. Most of them have relatives in the East. 
 The paper may become a sort of an organ of religious intelligence 
 between our Germans, East and West. As a rule, I try to per- 
 suade brethren to remain West, but men of your stamp could be 
 of immense usefulness in East Pennsylvania, while your places 
 West could be filled just as well by others. But few of our 
 brethren understand our strength here, if husbanded. In some 
 counties, almost half the population is ours — mostly men of 
 wealth, many of whose sons will become the Astors of fifty years 
 hence in New York and Philadelphia. If you can conscientiously 
 come East I can get you a place in a short time. 
 
 Send me a poem for the first number if possible by the 22nd of 
 this month. 
 
 God bless you. 
 
 Yours, etc. 
 
 Bausman. 
 
 The following to the Rev. Joseph Henry Dubbs is doubtless one 
 of many similar letters sent out to challenge competent helpers 
 to the task: 
 
 Reading, Nov. 2, 1866. 
 Dear Brother Dubbs: 
 
 The Synod has authorized its committee to go forward in 
 publishing a suitable paper for the Pennsylvania Germans. 
 They ask me to "run" the affair. I fear, unless I will do it, the 
 poor thing will not see daylight for years to come. At least, so 
 
 * Travel narratives about the folk-life of Germany. 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 269 
 
 it seems now. I intend to risk it. Will issue the first number 
 a week before Christmas, which is to date from January 1. After 
 that it will be issued every two weeks. Of course, the enterprise 
 will have to fail, unless a number of brethren, who feel the want 
 of it and have the ability to write for it, will assist me. 
 
 There are few in our Church that are so well qualified to fur- 
 nish material for this paper as you. Your birth, education and 
 training have imbued you with the spirit that ought to pervade 
 its columns. You have valuable material on hand, admirably 
 adapted for the readers of this paper. You are able to weave it 
 together in a form and style that will be just the thing we need. 
 Now, my dear Brother, will you not do me and our dear Reformed 
 Church the .favor of writing for this paper. Anything aus dem 
 Leben of our Pennsylvania German members will be acceptable. 
 I don't want to beat the air. The paper shall breathe the breath 
 of this Leben, or none at all. Harbaugh promises to write for 
 it. If possible send me some copy by the 20th of this month. 
 If you cannot that soon, by the 5th of December. Come, let 
 us try and get up something educating and pleasing for our 
 sturdy, warm-hearted Pennsylvania Germans. 
 
 Yours, etc. 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 The Committee appointed at the Synod of Lewisburg in 1865 
 and who reported to the Synod of York, October, 1866, were 
 the Revs. W. A. Helfrich, C. H. Leinbach and P. S. Fisher, re- 
 presenting the East Pennsylvania, Lebanon and Goshenhoppen 
 Classes. In their report, Bausman's name was not mentioned. 
 They put it thus: 
 
 We have received a reliable proposition from a competent 
 person who is willing to undertake the publication and editing 
 of the paper at his own risk on condition that the paper be lo- 
 cated in Reading. 
 
 Contrary to the wish expressed in the letter to Keller, Baus- 
 man's name appears as editor and publisher on the first and every 
 other issue. The Committee said further in their report: 
 
 Our Pennsylvania Germans are not heartless, neither are they 
 ignorant of the principles of Christianity; but they are greatly 
 ignorant as to everything that transpires in the Church beyond 
 their own congregations. From this ignorance of the Church 
 arises the mistrust and inactivity of our members. They con- 
 tribute unwillingly because they do not know for what they con- 
 
270 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 tribute. Let this people be enlightened by a paper adapted to 
 their wants, not by one furnishing mere literary articles, by one 
 which has a specific object in view, and not by one filled out 
 ■with indiscriminate reading matter, merely for the sake of being 
 full, and their influence will soon be felt in the affairs of 
 the Church, 
 
 It is not because, as some brethren altogether misapprehend 
 our enterprise, "we, here, in East Pennsylvania, desire only a 
 small and cheap paper." No! but because those papers, as is 
 plainly evinced by the facts already indicated, do not know what 
 kind of aliment this portion of the Church needs or do not re- 
 gard it worth the effort properly to provide for it. 
 
 The little sheet was immediately well received. Harbaugh 
 wrote editorially of the first issue in the Messenger: 
 
 The style and substance of the articles are both of a character 
 to suit precisely the purposes which the publication has in view; 
 and one cannot read its contents without thanking God, that- 
 such a power as this paper is certain to exert, is about to enter 
 upon its great mission in this part of our Church. The writers 
 know the German heart and speak to the point. This paper 
 will do incalculable good, as one year's experience will certainly 
 show. 
 
 After four or five numbers of the paper had been published 
 Bausman wrote to Keller: 
 
 Only don't forsake me. Helfrich writes, "Wer in der Welt 
 ist der 'Freund unter den Buckeyes'?"* Subjects like those in 
 your last are apt, only don't let us beat the air. Let us dip our 
 themes out of the people for whom we write: their faults, vir- 
 tues, customs, peculiar trials and sorrows and scores of other 
 subjects will afford a chance den Nagel auf den Kopf zu treffen.f 
 You would be surprised to know how universally the readers are 
 pleased with the paper. All the subscribers, even those coming 
 in now, want it from number L I don't remember how many 
 have told me that their people read it through. And some say 
 they read it two and three times. This must be because it 
 breathes their own life and spirit. It finds Anklang. If we can 
 make it what it ought to be, it will do an immense work among 
 our people, and by God's blessing awaken new life and interest 
 Nicht wahr?J 
 
 * " Who in the world is the 'Friend among the Buckeyes '? " 
 t To hit the nail on the head. 
 J Not so? 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 271 
 
 A few months later he told Keller there were 2,000 subscribers 
 and when the Committee reported to the next Synod there were 
 2,400. It said further: 
 
 The paper, in the first year of its publication has covered ex- 
 penses. It is true, the editor in this matter makes an offering 
 to the Church which is generously reckoned at SI, 000. He is, 
 however, God be praised, able and willing to make the offering. 
 He took charge of the paper after much persuasion, notwith- 
 standing his many other labors for the Church. He also signifies 
 his willingness to edit the paper in the future. Without being 
 subjected to any outlay, the Reverend Synod has herewith se- 
 cured an organ through which many thousands of the members 
 of the Church are reached, who could not have been reached 
 without it. 
 
 The Hausfreund is yet to be brought fully into existence. 
 The whole of the plan laid out for it has not yet been taken up. 
 It lays claim to only one thing, namely, its purpose to promote the 
 welfare of the Pennsylvania German portion of our Church. It, 
 therefore, very politely declines all criticism which does not bear 
 on this point. 
 
 By the end of the second year the subscription list had slightly 
 shrunk. "The receipts are not sufficient fully to cover ex- 
 penses, so that the existence of the paper depends, in part at 
 least, upon its active and worthy editor." 
 
 The Committee arranged for an assistant editor and made 
 an effort to relieve Mr. Bausman. By the close of the third 
 year, they reported "the subscription list increased to about 
 3,000." And the good effect of the paper on the practical ac- 
 tivity of the Church was already manifest, as "the several 
 Boards of the Church have had opportunity to observe, if they 
 compared their present receipts from this part of the Church 
 with those of former years." 
 
 By the end of the fourth year the experimental stage was 
 past and the Committee could report: 
 
 We said last year, that its continuance was tolerably certain. 
 This has now become a fixed fact, so far as relates to its finances. 
 The liabilities from previous years have been cancelled, and all 
 current expenses are paid to date. We can assure the Synod, 
 that there will be next year a small excess of income, in case 
 existing circumstances continue. 
 
272 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 These first four years of the Hausfreund were most trying ones 
 to Mr. Bausman. When the enterprise was projected in 1866, 
 he had just begun the definite agitation for the founding of St. 
 Paul's Church and did not know what a storm he would have 
 to pass through. The failure of the paper to meet expenses its 
 second year annoyed and discouraged him. 
 
 He wrote Dr. W. A. Helfrich, chairman of Synod's Hausfreund 
 Committee, one of the leading spirits in the movement and a 
 great helper, in May, 1868: 
 
 I shall positively not consent to bear the burdens of the paper 
 longer than the end of the year, unless the congregations will 
 take it in hand more than they have. You can see from my re- 
 ceipts that my prospects to get means for the payment of my 
 bills are anything but encouraging. 
 
 A month later he complained: 
 
 The whole thing rests on me. I have not nearly enough money 
 to pay the bill for May and the June bill will soon be due. I 
 know you are building a house and therefore you cannot come; 
 but that excuse does not relieve me. I reminded you some weeks 
 ago about the unpaid subscriptions in your and Brother Fogel's 
 charge. Can you not relieve me by urging your people from the 
 pulpit, to pay their paper. 
 
 Do please send me money soon. 
 
 Response came shortly and Bausman replied to Helfrich: 
 "Gross Dank! Warm's numma en wenig mehr war."* 
 
 Another annoyance was the impression which got abroad that 
 the paper was a "private enterprise in the interest of those by 
 whom it is published," an error of which Synod had to urge 
 pastors to disabuse the minds of the people. As Bausman put 
 it in a letter to Helfrich: "Some treat it as if it were a money- 
 making scheme of my o\\ai and therefore, they are not a going to 
 be such stupid fellows as to fill my pockets." 
 
 Another phase of the financial bother he spoke of thus in a 
 note to Helfrich: 
 
 I felt discouraged to hear after you left here on your late visit 
 that Brother demands $300 for packing the Hausfreund — 
 
 * Many thanks! If only it were a little more. 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 273 
 
 almost $100 more than we paid before. He now gets 50 cents 
 for each new subscription, but in the present state of our finances, 
 I really think it is unkind to burden me with such additional 
 expenses. Is it then expected that I not only do my work for 
 nothing and bear the financial risk, but that other brethren will 
 demand more for their work than strangers will do it for? Is 
 it a wonder that I become disheartened when a brother tries to 
 make money out of the paper — and I, poor fool! pay it out of 
 
 my own pocket. Bro. earns these $200 during his leisure 
 
 time, when otherwise he would not earn a cent. I don't want 
 you to say that I complain about it, but I wish to have a distinct 
 understanding about the matter so that there be no difficulty 
 afterwards. 
 
 Mr. Bausman did not receive, in conducting the paper, the 
 assistance he anticipated and felt he had a right to expect, hence 
 the following extracts from letters to Dr. Helfrich, chairman of 
 the Synodical Committee, the closing months of 1870: 
 
 I dislike to worry you brethren again, but really cannot help 
 it. I must again positively insist on being relieved of the Haus- 
 freund. I cannot bear its burdens along with my other duties. 
 If I could resign my congregation I could do it; but that is out of 
 the question just now. The paper now easily pays expenses 
 and something over, so that I feel the more easy in withdrawing 
 from it. I hardly know what plan had best be pursued. If 
 Weiser would undertake it, he might have it printed by the 
 Pennshurg Bauernfreund. I would like in one sense, if Miller 
 could keep on printing it. He is a good fellow and does all for 
 it he can. Either you can get Weiser for it, or let Miller print 
 it as heretofore and select and prepare the church news with a 
 Committee of three or more, as an editorial corps, or hand it over 
 to Fisher and Co. to be blended with the K. zeitung, or published 
 in its present form. Perhaps the Committee can think of a more 
 feasible plan. I am sorry I am forced to withdraw. The paper 
 seems like a sweet child of mine from whom it gives me great 
 pain to part. But this time the step must be taken. Hoping 
 that the Lord will give us a plan by which the paper may con- 
 tinue to be useful, I am, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 Reading, Dec. 19, 1870. 
 Dear Brother Helfrich: 
 
 The way things stand now I see plainly that I will have the 
 same labor and care with the Committee as before. You and 
 18 
 
274 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Weiser will evidently be the only ones who will write regularly — 
 the rest now and then. Miller still insists on having my name 
 remain as editor. That cannot be if I withdraw as editor. I 
 find too that the legal transfer is not as easy as one might sup- 
 pose. If the ownership is vested in Synod's Committee, will that 
 Committee foot the bills if the paper will not pay expenses? 
 That Committee is the creature of the Eastern Synod. Might 
 not Synod some day appoint such a Committee, that would deem 
 it their duty to cut the paper's throat or take it to 54 N. 6th 
 Street, Philadelphia and pin it to the apron of the K. zeitung. 
 Versteh,* Michel? Am I correct in my surmisings? 
 
 If there is no other way, I am willing to carry the thing for the 
 present — say a year more at least, on the following conditions: 
 Each correspondent, who is regular will get his paper gratis, 
 and two leading exchanges, costing not more than $6. I get 
 $50 for past services, and if the money is here, $200 annually 
 for the future. If it is not here — dann ex nihilo, etc.f Either 
 this or the Committee. "Entweder oder. " Nix fiir Ungut. Gott 
 befohlen.l 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 The question of uniting the Hausfreund and the Kirchenzeit- 
 ung arose very shortly after the founding of the former. The 
 circulation of the latter was somewhat diminished by the inroads 
 of the former in Eastern Pennsylvania. The shortage in re- 
 ceipts, the second year of the enterprise, led even Mr. Bausman 
 to raise the question, as we see in a letter to Helfrich in May, 
 1868: 
 
 Would it not be well to sound your Classis, at its coming meet- 
 ing, about the future of the Hausfreund, whether the brethren 
 feel disposed to unite it with the Kirchenzeitung, or continue it 
 on its present plan. Of course, I don't think it would be wise 
 to unite it with the Kirchenzeitung. It would lose the very 
 quality which adapts it for usefulness among our people. But 
 a few of us can not carry its whole burden. Nor can we keep 
 it going with the limited support it has thus far received. If 
 the brethren think that our Pennsylvania Germans do not need 
 such a paper, or that it is not of the right kind, let them say so. 
 
 * Understand? 
 
 t Then out of nothing, etc. 
 
 j" Either or." No offense. Adieu. 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 275 
 
 To all such doubts as might arise in Bausman's mind, Hel- 
 frich would reply: "Certainly the Hausfreund is satisfactory, 
 not a single copy remains in the Post Office. People all hunger 
 for it. We are hitting the nail on the head." 
 
 Many individuals and certain Classes thought it a great waste 
 to have three German papers when one should do and plead for 
 "one grand, cheap, large German paper." The Rev. Eli Keller 
 urged it in a strong article which appeared in the Hausfreund 
 August, 1871, to which Bausman rephed: 
 
 Whilst I started the Hausfreund as a private enterprise, and 
 have thus far made myself editorially and pecuniarily responsible 
 for the paper, it is a child of the people, who write for and read 
 it. I, too, believe that one German paper instead of three would 
 in many ways be an advantage. It would save money and men, 
 whilst it could be made a better paper than any one of the three. 
 But could such a union be organically and legitimately formed? 
 Whether the Evangelist or Kirchenzeitung, or a paper combining 
 the good qualities of both, would be better adapted for the readers 
 of the Hausfreund than itself, I can not say; one thing is certain, 
 that it would not retain one half of the readers of the latter one 
 year. The Hausfreund has not created the tastes of its readers, 
 but it is trying to feed them with food convenient for them. To 
 me personally, it would be a great favor to be relieved of its 
 editorial and other duties. I have repeatedly determined to 
 get rid of it. But even if I should withdraw from it, the breth- 
 ren of the three Classes of Eastern Pennsylvania and not myself 
 must decide what is to become of it. It would be a pity to take 
 a step which might leave a large part of its readers without a re- 
 ligious paper. As for the Kirchenzeitung and Evangelist, I can 
 see no reason why they should not be united, if their friends can 
 agree as to the editor, location and general spirit of the new 
 paper. But if the two types of thinking, which they represent, 
 are to be set a fermenting and fighting in one and the same sheet, 
 they had better be kept apart. If the three papers were now 
 one, think what a bitter fight the late article in the Evangelist 
 would call forth! Such a fight as I would not allow to poison 
 the columns of the Hausfreund. 
 
 I should certainly be very sorry if you should cease writing 
 for the Hausfreund. It is far easier to find apt writers for the 
 Evangelist than for the Hausfreund, as you know. Please help 
 the poor Hausfreund. You know how many of your personal 
 
276 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 friends, East and West, read and enjoy your articles therein. 
 Please don't forsake me — so en armer Schlucker.* 
 Gott befohlen, 
 
 Bausman. 
 
 Such a union of the German papers was out of the question 
 after the early critical years of the Hausfreund were past, but the 
 proposition kept rising in the meetings of Synod for several 
 years thereafter. 
 
 The turning point in the history of the Hausfreund came when 
 Mr. Daniel Miller took charge of the business end of it. He was 
 then publishing the Repuhlikaner von Berks. He took charge 
 of the books, September, 1869, and in February, 1870, he re- 
 ceived the contract to publish the Hausfreund, underbidding 
 other competitors by $400. When he became connected with 
 the paper the subscription list as reported was as large as it ever 
 became; but the paper was costing too much. With $400 less 
 of outlay, the debts were soon paid and toward the close of the 
 following year Bausman could write to Helfrich: 
 
 When will the Hausfreund Committee meet? We will have 
 from $400 to $500 profits, besides $200 for my salary. I think 
 I ought to have the privilege to designate for what benevolent 
 objects this money is to be used. The St. John's Mission Chapel 
 of Reading is burdened with over $1,600 debt. This mission 
 congregation although not three months old has 125 members. 
 I promised to give the congregation the building free of debt. 
 Part of it I raise in my congregation. I should like to use the 
 Hausfreund profits for it. It will be credited publicly for church 
 extension. In this way the Hausfreund, published by and for 
 the Pennsylvania German Reformed people, would help to build 
 up a congregation in one of the centres of this population. What 
 will the Committee say to it? The money should be appropriated 
 some time this month, so as to include this feature in your re- 
 port to Synod, showing thereby, that whilst other papers are a 
 source of annual losses, ours supports itself and puts $500 in 
 one year into the Lord's treasury. This no paper in our Church 
 has ever done. Hurra-a-h for the Hausfreund. Was denkst 
 vom Keller seiner Proposition die Zeitungen zu vereinigen?t 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Bausman. 
 
 * Such a poor, miserable fellow. 
 
 fWhat do you think of KeUer's proposition to unite the papers? 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 277 
 
 P. S. Enclosed I send you an article from the Adler. Don't 
 know who wrote it. Suppose you write a reply on this and 
 
 's. 
 
 The Hausfreund throughout was a four-page sheet. The 
 first year it was unpretentious, the pages thirteen by nineteen 
 inches with four columns to a page. The next two years it was 
 larger with five columns to a page. When Daniel Miller took 
 charge of the printing, it was again enlarged with six columns 
 to the page. In 1879, it was once more increased to the size it 
 retained to the end — eighteen by twenty-four inches with seven 
 columns to the page — altogether a rather formidable space to 
 confront a pastor busy with many local and general church 
 duties! These columns had to be filled every two weeks with 
 fresh readable matter and nearly every issue, save in the last 
 few years of the paper's history, was contributed to largely by 
 his pen. Next in importance to his own work on the periodical 
 was his success in securing the assistance of others, due in large 
 measure to his own self-sacrificing devotion to the enterprise. 
 
 In gathering materials for this biography, we were favored in 
 securing two letters Avritten by Dr. Bausman to the late and 
 lamented Dr. J. H. Dubbs. These our beloved teacher tran- 
 scribed for us with his own hand a few months before his death, 
 when he was weak and ill. The first letter appears in the earlier 
 part of this chapter. "That," says Dr. Dubbs in a personal 
 note, "shows how earnestly Dr. Bausman worked to secure 
 contributors for the Hausfreund; the second, how he stirred them 
 up when they began to neglect their work." 
 
 It is as follows: 
 
 Reading, Jan. 13, 1869. 
 Dear Brother Dubbs: 
 
 "Why in the world does not Mr. J. H. Dubbs write more for 
 the Hausfreund? He is capital at it. Get him to write you a 
 Pennsylvania German poem occasionally." So said Beck of 
 the Adler yesterday. And so say I now. Why don't you write 
 any more? Come on, my good fellow. Send me a poem now 
 and then — send me articles such as you used to send. This will 
 never do for you to back down in this way. You complain of 
 work. Do you think I have less? 
 
 Yours at work, 
 
 Bausman. 
 
278 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Hints of his persistent activity in getting help come out in 
 former letters quoted, and here are a few more with touches of 
 interesting self-revelation in extracts from letters to the Rev 
 Eli Keller: 
 
 I suspect you are not satisfied with the Hausfreund. After 
 all, not what is needed? Another failure? Well, I should like 
 to see it better. It is not an easy task to get up such a paper. 
 But, after all, is it not the most successful effort that has been 
 anywhere made? We have 2,000 subscribers. The great mass 
 of these are dehghted with it. But now if you and others whom 
 I need will grow weary in well doing, it will be up-hill work. I 
 have as good a reason as the rest of you and even better, to drop 
 it and content myself with my numerous other duties. But I 
 pitied our people and do yet; and feel as if I could do almost 
 anything in my power for them. Now, why your silence? You 
 are among the few who understand what is needed and can lend 
 a helping hand. Why won't you do it? Hilf Bruder! I believe 
 I have owed you this letter long ago. You wrote kindly the 
 last time about my weariness under my burdens and it cheered 
 me afresh. I have so much to bear. Most of the time I can 
 bear all with a cheerful, thankful heart. But sometimes a man 
 will get weak spells. 
 
 This was written in the paper's first year and the following 
 in its fifth: 
 
 Yes, I have repeatedly regretted your neglect of the Haus- 
 freund; but took it for granted that some insuperable hindrance 
 was the cause of it. Please resume your labors in its behalf 
 soon, no matter under what title or signature. I am sorry too, 
 to hear that you are troubled with spells of despondency. Doubt- 
 less, this is chiefly occasioned by physical troubles. You have 
 borne heavy burdens, which are liable to wear upon the body. 
 Still, even in such a frame of mind, it is the wisest plan to give 
 the mind plenty to do — especially in easy composition, such as 
 the usual class of newspaper articles afford. God favors me 
 generally with a contented, cheerful spirit — even amid burdens 
 and annoyances unusually depressing. I believe, besides God's 
 grace, my much writing and constant press of congenial work 
 help to produce this. 
 
 Schick mir bald wieder ein Brief ftir den Hausfreund* 
 
 *Send me a letter soon again for the Hausfreund. 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 279 
 
 The note of warm appreciation we see very conspicuous in 
 Dr. Bausman's relations with his associates. Dr. Keller stood 
 by him through the entire history of the paper and gave special 
 help in 1884, when he was in Europe, and in 1886, when he visited 
 the Pacific coast, and on other occasions. The following note is 
 typical of many written to Keller and certainly likewise to his 
 other assistants: 
 
 Reading, Dec. 2, 1886. 
 Dear Brother K.: 
 
 Permit me to thank you for the invaluable services which you 
 have heretofore and during the year now drawing to a close, 
 bestowed upon the Hausfreund. I am so glad that you have 
 not grown weary in this form of well doing. I need not assure 
 you that your articles have always been read with interest and 
 profit. Your series on secret societies was timely. They ab- 
 sorb an immense amount of force which belongs and ought to 
 be given to the Church. 
 
 Yours gratefully, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 They had the usual difficulties and chagrin experienced by 
 those who write for the newspaper press, as indicated by the 
 following : 
 
 Dear Brother Keller: 
 
 Eine verhudelte Geschichte,* or, as Dr. Schaff says: "Fee 
 vorld is all confuss." I read the third proof of the Hausfreund. 
 That error about the Pennsylvanier, I corrected. But the 
 printer did not. I know from experience how terribly provoking 
 it is to have one's articles made ungrammatical and spoil their 
 sense, when it is too late to correct them. Will try to be more 
 careful. 
 
 The scope, purpose and character of the paper as indicated 
 in the early pages of this chapter were strictly adhered to through- 
 out. Dr. Bausman knew his constituency and knew also how to 
 touch, nourish and inspire them. It is beautiful to see the tact 
 and humor with which he deals with this people. He was con- 
 siderate of many of their shortcomings for which they were not 
 wholly to blame, he minced no words in denouncing their sins, 
 but he stoutly resented any ridicule heaped upon them by those 
 
 ■ A mixed up business. 
 
280 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 who did not understand and hence had no sympathy with them. 
 He was proud of the soHd, homely virtues and native piety 
 which lay concealed sometimes beneath a rough exterior, and the 
 columns of his paper echoed with the good deeds done by Penn- 
 sylvania Germans past and present. The style of writing was 
 simple, but the purity of the language was preserved. Its range 
 of ideas was limited, for it must touch the actual lives of the 
 people whose horizon of experience was not wide. 
 
 Toward the close of Dr. Bausman's career, a writer com- 
 menting on his life and work said: "From a literary point of 
 view, the editorship of such a paper may not have been very 
 attractive." We do not believe he was influenced at all by lit- 
 erary ambition, and the question as to a task's being pleasant or 
 unpleasant was altogether submerged beneath the conviction 
 that it ought to be done. When after 1881, one or the other of 
 two editorships had to be dropped, the fact that it was easier 
 to secure an editor for the Guardian was sufficient reason for his 
 remaining at the head of the Hausfreund. He did not preach 
 German in St. Paul's Church, but he had great facility in 
 its use. He was doubtless comforted in having his paper as a 
 channel in which to use it. 
 
 In addition to his regular and copious editorial comments, he 
 wrote many other articles. His travels abroad were rewritten 
 in short and simple articles. His pleasure, vacation and business 
 trips from time to time were almost sure to be dished up into 
 little feasts for his Hausfreund readers. His rich and varied ex- 
 periences provided a fund of acceptable material and the religious 
 and moral purpose was always in evidence. 
 
 Most notable were his several courses of "Fireside Tales." 
 During the first year of his paper these "Tales" were very char- 
 acteristically narratives of Germany, Switzerland and Holland; 
 the succeeding four or five years, they were "Out of the East," 
 tales of his travels in Palestine and signed with the Roman 
 cross ~j~ his signature when formerly contributing editor of the 
 Messenger. They helped greatly to popularize the paper. In 
 April, 1875, his "Sinai and Zion" was published in German. 
 Prior to its publication some of the translated sections were 
 published in the paper. 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 281 
 
 As soon as he discontinued the editorship of the Guardian 
 another course of "Fireside Tales" was begun in the Hausfreund, 
 about forty in number. They continued thus from 1882 on to 
 the spring of 1884, when he and Mrs. Bausman went abroad. 
 They covered a variety of unrelated topics from "Blue Mon- 
 day" and "The Jews" to "Conestoga Wagons" and "Old Davy 
 Johnson," the colored janitor of old Marshall College. The 
 trips to Europe in 1884 and to the West in 1886 furnished, as we 
 have seen, material for many columns. In fact, after the burden 
 of the Guardian was laid down many subjects ministering to a 
 broader culture, which would naturally have been prepared for 
 that magazine, were dressed up in the German garb and graced the 
 pages of the Hausfreund. 
 
 The first decade of the Hausfreund^ s life was the period of the 
 most intense and bitter strife in the Liturgical Controversy in 
 the Reformed Church. It was not easy for Dr. Bausman to 
 maintain the avowed neutral position of his paper. It was a 
 situation similar to that in the early months of the Civil War 
 when he was editor of the Messenger. Here, as there, he made 
 enemies and was misunderstood by his best friends and had 
 troubles with his own associates. Some of his difficulties in this 
 connection are referred to in letters to Dr. Helfrich: 
 
 is angry with me for stopping the controversy between 
 
 him and Schneck. Stopped his paper. This is my reward. 
 
 Again : 
 
 I don't know what you refer to in your article charging the 
 Hausfreund with being one-sided. On the other side of the question 
 
 Brother charges it with leaning too much toward your side 
 
 and has not forgiven it to this day for refusing to insert a strong 
 article of his a year or two ago. 
 
 Weiser charges it with having the "Auszehrung."* After you 
 and he and others through your influence stand aloof, and let 
 me with all my burdens flounder and struggle in my own poor 
 way, and then in the end, you and he send me articles which, 
 after all I have tried to do, hold me up before all its readers, to 
 say the least, in a most unfavorable and unfair light. And I am to 
 put both these articles in the paper with their slaps at myself. 
 
 * Consumption. 
 
282 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Would you have done it? I am not angry, but a man has feel- 
 ings, which you have reason to know from experience, as well 
 as I. Taking it ail in all, do you think you could have edited 
 the Hausfreund for seven years and kept it more free from one- 
 sided bitter controversy and the heated theological battle than 
 I have done? 
 
 Your brother in Christ, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 However unbiassed he himself might be, it was yet impossible 
 to maintain absolutely untainted neutrality amongst the con- 
 tributors, as he wrote to Keller: 
 
 If I would become disgusted and disheartened every time 
 things are not done according to my conscientious views, I would 
 have a sad time of it. Shall I reject every article that may 
 contain much good, edifying reading and among all, a hint or 
 squint toward some extreme view? I can't allow myself to go 
 into detail on this feature of editorial perplexity, lest I might 
 write myself into a more gloomy feeling than it is advisable for 
 me to risk just now. If it were not for the unbounded grace of 
 God, what would become of a man! God bless you, my dear 
 brother. Mer hen ebe all unser Biindli zu trage, aber ebmpls 
 driickt's ehm barter wie annere Zeite.* 
 
 Yours fraternally, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 Not only did the Hausfreund maintain the non-committal 
 attitude on the questions under discussion in which good men 
 differed, but it was a positive herald for peace between the con- 
 tending parties. The questions under discussion were weighty 
 and important, but the animus of the debate was damaging to 
 the Church. In his very first editorial this note of peace was 
 sounded. The paper would engage in no strife. Sin in its every 
 form was the one thing which it would fight. Long before the 
 Peace Movement of 1878, Dr. Bausman called earnestly for an 
 *' Armistice." 
 
 "Pepper or Oil" was a strong article appearing in February, 
 1873, and on the Church Question debate he urged the use of the 
 latter, not the former. In June and July, 1874, appeared other 
 
 * Each one has his own little burden to bear, but sometimes it presses one 
 harder than at other times. 
 
EDITOR or THE HAUSFREUND 283 
 
 •strong editorials and then already he observed signs that 
 the leaven of peace was beginning to work. His friend, Dr. 
 Bomberger, however, differed from him. In his view, the 
 question had but one side and peace must be won by fight- 
 ing. Dr. Bausman said we need to remember that no mortal 
 man can fully comprehend the truth, that every such ques- 
 tion has two sides and each side has its measure of truth. 
 Let the battle cease that the contestants may cool off and be more 
 composed. Let opponents shake hands like brothers and try to 
 see the good one in the other. In nine out of ten points they 
 ^re in agreement. Let the point of difference be minimized. 
 If the diverging view must be debated, let the discussion be 
 kindly, respectful and manly. 
 
 Undoubtedly Dr. Bausman's influence through the Haus- 
 freund did much to allay the strife and to lead the Church into 
 the larger, practical activity which has become her distinguishing 
 mark in the last few decades. 
 
 At the head of every issue of the Hausfreund was the state- 
 ment, "Published under the direction of a Committee of the 
 German Reformed Synod." This Committee was very active 
 during the earlier years and reported regularly to Synod. In 
 the early eighties the reports became very meager, and after 1884 
 we find no reports whatever. Dr. W. A. Helfrich was chairman 
 during the first eight years, the Rev. E. W. Reinecke followed 
 for six years, and he was succeeded by the Rev. J. W. Steinmetz, 
 pastor of St. John's Reformed Church, Reading. During the 
 latter half of the paper's history, the Church heard little or 
 nothing of the paper in an official way, but the periodical always 
 remained most loyal to every interest of the denomination. 
 
 We have seen how the paper found itself and got on a stable 
 basis after Daniel Miller took charge of the business and me- 
 chanical part of it. With untiring energy and resourcefulness, 
 he rendered the enterprise great service and at the same time 
 reahzed a legitimate profit for his work and investment. With- 
 out such assistance. Dr. Bausman would not have been able to 
 publish the paper for so many years. From the beginning of 
 his connection with the paper, Mr. Miller relieved Dr. Bausman 
 ■of the church news department and did whatever editing was 
 
284 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 therein required. The enlarging of the paper was Mr. Miller's 
 venture; but he was able to do it with advantage, because many- 
 articles in the Republikaner of special interest to the farmers 
 were also inserted in the Hausfreund. The constituency of both 
 papers was almost entirely rural. Toward the end of the paper's 
 history, Mr. Miller did more of the editorial writing and the 
 last five years assumed the whole editorial burden. Dr. Bausman 
 writing only occasionally. He wished to spare himself at his 
 advanced age, though he retained full financial and editorial 
 responsibility to the close of the enterprise. 
 
 We have noted how the periodical in its fifth year began to 
 yield a surplus which was devoted to benevolent objects. These 
 profits continued to accrue for nearly twenty-five years and 
 yielded an aggregate of fully $4,500 which was devoted to Mis- 
 sions and the Orphans. St. John's Reformed Church, Reading, 
 was the first and probably the largest single beneficiary. The 
 $500 given to St. Andrew's, Reading, in 1889, must have been 
 amongst the last large gifts from this source. 
 
 The salary of $200 stipulated for the editor in 1870 was not 
 paid for long, even as was hinted then in one of Bausman's let- 
 ters to Helfrich. The paper could not afford it and still have 
 anything left for benevolence worth speaking of. At any rate 
 the editor's salary was purely nominal and whatever money was 
 paid to Dr. Bausman for that purpose was simply taking another 
 course to the same benevolent end, for every year he paid out 
 to the various causes of the Church far more than any salary 
 ever fixed for him by the Hausfreund Committee. 
 
 During the last ten years the income from the paper paid no 
 more than the cost of printing it. The subscription list was 
 shrinking — inevitably so. The rising generation in East Penn- 
 sylvania read English, very few of them could read the German 
 at all. The foreign Germans were well provided for by the 
 Kirchenzeitung. No new subscribers could be secured, and the 
 discontinuances were nearly all occasioned by death. Dr. Baus- 
 man was wont to say to Mr. Miller: "As soon as the income 
 will no longer cover the printing, let us quit." They managed 
 to keep the paper going three years in the present century. 
 
 It was great cause of regret to many readers that the refresh- 
 
EDITOR OF THE HAUSFREUND 285 
 
 ing visits of the Hausfreund had to be discontinued. Not a few- 
 had read it continuously from the very first issue. 
 
 An arrangement was entered into with the Cleveland Publish- 
 ing House to unite it with the Kirchenzeitung, the organ of the 
 three German Synods. Dr. Eli Keller, who wrote so acceptably 
 and faithfully for the Hausfreund from the first, became the 
 eastern or contributing editor of the Kirchenzeitung. 
 
 The Hausfreund did its work in this transition period from the 
 German to the English language in East Pennsylvania. Mr. 
 Bausman said editorially in the Messenger in 1866, that three- 
 fourths of the churches in this section then had exclusively Ger- 
 man services. Now nearly all have introduced English and in 
 very many no German whatever is used. The service rendered 
 by the Hausfreund was a delicate and difficult one to perform 
 but of inestimable value, and the Church is very different because 
 of it. A reviewer of Dr. Bausman's life and w^ork spoke of this 
 as "a great success, and the effect of its continued influence no 
 man can estimate." It is doubtful whether any one of Dr. 
 Bausman's many lines of work for the Church was so great and 
 far-reaching in its blessed results. Interest in missions was aroused 
 amongst members over the heads of certain pastors who opposed 
 the cause. Mr. Miller tells interesting stories of men who came 
 to him with money for this object, because pastors did not afford 
 them the opportunity of giving. Large gifts of money are di- 
 rectly traceable to the paper's influence. The spirit of loyalty to 
 the Church and her various enterprises was thereby wonderfully 
 enhanced; confidence in those who administered the Church's 
 general interests was more widely established and the spirit of 
 independence so rife in certain sections a generation ago has 
 almost entirely disappeared. 
 
 The publication of the Hausfreund was a great work of God, 
 an "effective, fervent" utterance of that prayer which was its 
 motto : 
 
 "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 Bethany Orphans' Home — 1865-1909 
 
 NEXT to St. Paul's congregation, among the many interests 
 in the Church to which Dr. Bausman gave himself, none 
 was so close to his heart as Bethany Orphans' Home. 
 
 He was elected to the Board of Managers in January, 1865, 
 was chosen President of the Board at Bridesburg, on the 9th of 
 March following, and continued in that position of great influence 
 to his death — for a period of over forty-four years. With no 
 other Church enterprise was he so long comiected and we can 
 be sure that in no other service did he find more unalloyed pleas- 
 ure. 
 
 It was in the day of small things, when he was called to have 
 part in the management of the institution. It had been opened 
 by the reception of the first orphan child only sixteen months 
 before, on September 21, 1863, but he had already shown his 
 keen interest and given substantial help. 
 
 The Home was started in the family of the Rev. Emanuel 
 Boehringer, in Southwark, 702 Morris St., Philadelphia, but 
 could not long remain there. In the summer of 1864, it was re- 
 moved to the newly purchased property at Bridesburg, a suburb 
 of Philadelphia. In an effort to raise $5,000 to pay for this 
 property, it was proposed that one hundred persons subscribe 
 $50 each. Mr. Bausman was one of a score or more who fur- 
 thered this plan by the payment of $50. 
 
 The Synod had been discussing the feasibility of starting 
 Orphans' Homes as early as 1860 and at the Synod of Carlisle 
 in October, 1863, "a committee of three was appointed to pre- 
 pare a report on the subject of Orphans' Homes to be submitted 
 to the General Synod," which met the first time the following 
 month in Pittsburg. Mr. Bausman was on this committee, 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 287 
 
 though he was not privileged to attend the General Synod. The 
 report was made by its chairman, the Rev. Geo. B. Russell. 
 
 The founder of the Home, the Rev. Mr. Boehringer, was a 
 German pastor and it was in the Church of Germany that models 
 were found for this noble charity. Mr. Bausman had visited 
 such homes when traveling on the Continent in 1856 and had 
 been greatly impressed and wrote about them. In the suburbs 
 of Berlin was "a large establishment, very appropriately called 
 Bethany," under the care of deaconesses, as we read in his "Way- 
 side Gleanings." For the first ten years of its history, the in- 
 stitution founded in Philadelphia was called "The Orphans^ 
 Home of the Shepherd of the Lambs." The shorter name by 
 which it has come to be known at Womelsdorf doubtless was 
 chosen, not only because of the touching Biblical associations, 
 but also because of the asylum at the German capital of which 
 Dr. Bausman said: "A holy atmosphere seemed to hover around 
 the place." He himself observed in his Christmas Letter, 1906: 
 "I named the baby. At one of the Board meetings long ago 
 I asked the Managers to give the Home the name of Bethany 
 instead of the one it had before." 
 
 It was soon realized that a more desirable location must be 
 secured for the Home than Bridesburg and Mr. Bausman entered 
 most heartily into the plan of bringing it somewhere in the vi- 
 cinity of Reading. He himself, accompanied often by a member 
 of the Board or by Dr. McCauley, visited about a dozen places 
 until what was felt to be the proper location was found. He also 
 asked the assistance of his revered teacher, who was chairman 
 of the Board of Directors of Orphans' Homes for the Church, 
 created at the first meeting of General Synod. The frank and 
 interesting answer follows: 
 
 Lancaster, August 6, 1866. 
 Rev. B. Bausman. 
 
 My dear Sir: 
 
 It will not suit me to visit Reading this week as you propose, 
 other requisitions coming in the way. I am well satisfied, at the 
 same time, that my presence with you could be of no material 
 account for the object you have in hand. My farming experience 
 is just enough to convince me that my judgment of farming in- 
 terests is worth very little. You can find far better counsel for 
 
288 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 your purpose from any honest farmer in the neighborhood; and 
 I have no fears of your being able, with the assistance of the 
 friends you will have with you, to judge wisely of the suitable- 
 ness generally of the property you have in view for the location 
 of our Orphans' Home. Your own practical judgment in par- 
 ticular I am willing to trust in the case, as altogether safer than 
 my owTi. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 J. W. Nevin. 
 
 On June 21, 1867, Mr. Bausman made this entry in his diary: 
 
 Went with Mr. Leiss and Mr. McHose to see Manderbach's 
 Springs for an Orphans' Home. Capital place for us and can be 
 had. Have called a meeting of the Board there. Offers it to us 
 for $30,000, including furniture. 
 
 A few days later was recorded this entry: 
 
 Mr. Manderbach sent word that he cannot give his Springs 
 for less than $40,000! A letter froin Mr. Heisler urging his 
 resignation. A dreary day for me. 
 
 On Thursday, the 27th of June, 1867, the Board met at the 
 Manderbach Springs: 
 
 All there (twelve) save Mr. Gross. Bought it for $33,000, 
 without the furniture. All seemed rejoiced. 
 
 Another diary note on the following day reads: 
 
 Wrote six or eight letters to men of wealth in our Church for 
 $1,000 subscriptions. We must have $12,000 by October 15. 
 Mr. Heisler here last night. Is pleased and contented again. 
 
 The Board of Managers themselves set a fine example of heroic 
 liberality to the wealthy members of the Church to whom they 
 were appealing. Seven of their number, Dr. Bausman among 
 them, gave $1,000 each and "the rest a smaller yet, relatively, 
 a liberal sum." 
 
 The following report presented by Mr. Bausman to the Synod 
 which convened October 16, 1867, shows the Orphans' Home 
 situation as viewed by the Board of Managers and its President 
 and his own tender feelings regarding thcoC dependent wards of 
 the Church: 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 289 
 
 To THE Synod of the German Reformed Church Convened 
 
 IN Baltimore, Md., 
 
 Fathers and Brethren: 
 
 The Board of Managers of "The Orphans' Home of the Shep- 
 herd of the Lambs" deem it due to you, and to the congregations 
 which you represent, to submit a statement of the institution 
 under their care. It has been felt for some time past, that the 
 Home ought to be removed to a more suitable place. Bridesburg 
 is not sufficiently easy of access. It is not in the heart of the 
 Church. Besides, the buildings are not adaptable for the wants 
 of an Orphans' Home. After endeavoring, for more than a year 
 past, to secure a more suitable property, the Board at length 
 purchased the "South Mountain Spring" property near Womels- 
 dorf. Pa., for the sum of S33,000. It is located at the foot of 
 the South Mountain, within a short distance of the Lebanon 
 Valley Railroad. Its health-giving water and mountain air have 
 acquired a national reputation. The buildings are large, con- 
 taining some fifty rooms. The property is located in one of the 
 most populous Reformed districts in Pennsylvania — among a 
 people who have already shown the liveliest sympathy for this 
 Home and its inmates. 
 
 About $10,000 has been secured since the purchase of the new 
 Home, with which the first payment has been liquidated. If we 
 can succeed in disposing of our property at Bridesburg to advan- 
 tage, we will be able to reduce our liabilities to about $15,000. 
 We now have one hundred orphans in the Home, and ten persons 
 to attend to them. In a few months the number of orphans will 
 be increased to one hundred and twenty one. With heavy cur- 
 rent expenses, and a large debt, the liabilities of the Home may 
 seem threatening. Yet, we take pleasure in stating, that the 
 Board breathes easily under its burden. Whilst none of its mem- 
 bers have any taste for debts, per se, they derive unmingled 
 pleasure from the willing hearts and liberal hands which so cheer- 
 fully help to bear and pay theirs. We have bought this property, 
 not for ourselves, but for the Church. It is to furnish a home 
 for the fatherless. Our Saviour is their Father. In His name we 
 "take them in." In His name we appeal to all Christian people 
 for help. The Church is the mother of us all — the mother of 
 these orphans. Her heart is moved with tender pity for them. 
 Here, in this beautiful mountain Home, she affords them her 
 nursing ministrations, presses their parentless hearts to her 
 warm bosom, and rocks them to their nightly rest by chanting 
 the lullabies of a blessed immortality. "Can a woman forget 
 her sucking child?" Can the Church forget her orphans? Can 
 19 
 
290 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Christ's people turn Him away empty from their doors, in the 
 persons of these "httle ones?" 
 
 We commend our Home — your Home — to your charitable 
 sympathy and prayers. Come and taste the sweetness of loving 
 and living for those, who are, in a preeminent sense, children 
 in Christ's stead. Their presence is redolent with the fragrance 
 of Eden. "I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always 
 behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." Their 
 prayers are a perpetual benediction upon those who love them. 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 B. Bausman, 
 President of the Board of Managers. 
 
 For considerations of health and economy of administration, 
 it was wise to remove the Home, but it was also a great stra- 
 tegic move. Through its location in the midst of the constitu- 
 ency to which it must look for support, its needs could the more 
 readily be brought to the attention of the people and thus their 
 hearts would be opened and warmed toward the orphans. Thus, 
 the people would give more largely and obtain the larger blessing. 
 It would serve thus even a further purpose. We have noted 
 Dr. Bausman's passionate desire to awaken the interest of the 
 Church in Eastern Permsylvania in the general benevolent ac- 
 tivities of the denomination. The Hausfreund instructed the 
 minds of the people regarding the Church's needs, the Home 
 opened their hands. If the little German paper told them what 
 to do, the Home at Womelsdorf was close at hand to challenge 
 their help and was of such a character as to appeal to the home- 
 loving Pennsylvania German more quickly and more strongly 
 than any other benevolent object of the Church. Its location 
 was such, moreover, that it could be visited. Any one who 
 saw the actual workings of the Home was bound to be pleased 
 and become its lasting friend, and every loyal member of the 
 Church in Eastern Pennsylvania considers it as much his duty 
 to visit Bethany Orphans' Home as the devout Mohammedan 
 his Mecca. When people once became interested in the Home 
 and a beginning in benevolent giving was made, it would be 
 easy to get them to support other Church enterprises. Thus 
 it has worked in the history of the Church as Dr. Bausman un- 
 doubtedly saw that it would. 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 291 
 
 The orphans were brought from Bridesburg to Womelsdorf 
 on the first day of October, 1867, and they had in Mr. Baus- 
 man's words "a dehghtful time." The latter part of that month 
 the new Home was dedicated, the president of FrankUn and 
 Marshall College performing the act of consecration. His note 
 accepting Mr. Bausman's invitation to render this service fol- 
 lows: 
 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 Though it will interfere some with my College work, coming 
 so close on my return from Synod, I feel that I have no right to 
 decline your invitation in behalf of the Orphans' Home, which 
 in itself, also I consider it a privilege to accept. God willing, 
 then, I hope to be with you, and to perform the service you re- 
 quest, on the 29th of the month. I am just about leaving home 
 for Baltimore. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 J. W. Nevin. 
 
 During the first three years of Bausman's connection with 
 the institution, it claimed a great deal of his time and attention. 
 In all that was done then as through the four decades to follow 
 he was the presiding genius. As we strive to understand the 
 man and see what he did, we need to bear in mind that these 
 early years on the Board of Managers were the remarkably busy 
 ones when he undertook so many great things and there seemed 
 to be almost no limit to what he could do. The Spirit of God 
 then moved mightily upon him and he seemed like one of the 
 judges of Israel raised up at a special time to do a special work 
 in a crisis of his people's history. It was then he led off in the 
 trying movement to divide the old First Church in Reading 
 of which he was pastor. It was then, he founded the Haus- 
 freund and became editor of the Guardian. It was then he 
 collected the $18,000 to save the Church's printing establish- 
 ment and soon thereafter that he edited "Harbaugh's Harfe," be- 
 sides being on nearly all the Boards of the Church. Younger 
 men of the Church have sometimes wondered at the regard and 
 honor accorded Dr. Bausman. As we follow him through these 
 years we can understand why those who knew what he was and 
 did, should mention his name with a reverence almost akin to 
 worship. 
 
292 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 He came to the help of the institution in its small discouraging 
 beginnings, he lived to see it one of the largest and best managed 
 Orphans' Homes and the most loyally supported of all the in- 
 stitutions in his Church. When the property was bought at 
 Womelsdorf the Board of Managers had nothing but faith in 
 God and in the sympathy and liberality of the people — for the 
 Bridesburg property yielded only enough to cover its debts. Dr. 
 Bausman lived to see properties and values centering at Womels- 
 dorf of over $125,000, and the Home rooted in the people's affec- 
 tions and habits of giving in such a way as to guarantee its main- 
 tenance through the years. But few of the parentless children 
 could be cared for in the beginning. He was privileged to see 
 its capacity steadily enlarging, and by the time of his death 
 nearly one thousand orphans had been cared for and given a 
 genuinely Christian training. 
 
 It is generally recognized that the success of this institution 
 has been due most largely to his wise leadership and oversight. 
 Mr. Charles Santee of Philadelphia, in corresponding with Dr. 
 Bausman regarding his gift for Santee Hall in 1891, said: 
 
 It is well understood and appreciated throughout the Church, 
 that under God, your personal influence has been the mainstay 
 of the Orphans' Home. Of course, I mean that the confidence 
 placed in you has brought to the Home the kind of assistance 
 so much needed in carrying forward its affairs so successfully. 
 
 The great work of the Home has been done by the united 
 efforts of many hands and hearts, but Dr. Bausman's spirit per- 
 vaded it all. He was very fortunate in getting about him in 
 the Board of Managers a group of kindred souls and their choice 
 of Superintendents and helpers in the Home was unusually happy. 
 
 The Board of Managers, in its functions and in its relations 
 to the Church, is imique. It is made up always of members 
 of the Reformed Church, but they are elected by no Church 
 judicatory. The Board is self-constitutive and fills its own 
 vacancies and elects to the position such as they are best able to 
 know are fitted for it. It has thus had a unity and a continuity 
 of purpose and of action which has been altogether advantageous. 
 When Mr. Bausman became connected with the Board, factional 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 293 
 
 spirit was rife in the denomination and it was very difficult to 
 keep church politics out of any Board elected by any Synod. Dr. 
 Bausman heartily approved of this method. If any one suggested 
 a change he would beg that they be let alone in their good work. 
 No one ever questioned the Home's loyalty to the Church in 
 every way. It was absolutely non-partisan and he on one oc- 
 casion spoke with no little satisfaction of its being "the only in- 
 stitution of the Church which unites every ecclesiastical ten- 
 dency in its support." 
 
 The Board constituted thus would prove the more efficient 
 in every way, and Dr. Bausman's attitude in this, as we have 
 seen, was similar to that in other enterprises in which he was in 
 a position to exercise the controlling influence. The Hausjreund 
 was altogether in his hand and was what he made it. The com- 
 mittee of Synod was largely a nominal and subordinate affair. 
 Thus in Hausjreund, as on the Orphans' Home Board, he had 
 around him a group of persons who were one with him in what 
 he attempted to accomplish. So too, in founding Sunday-schools 
 and churches in Reading, he did not wait to have his Consistory 
 or Classis decide first to do these things. With a few sympathetic 
 persons around him, he established a Sunday-school, built a 
 church, called a pastor, organized a congregation and then there 
 could be none to object and falter, when the good deed was done. 
 
 A member of the present Board of Managers of the Home 
 speaks of Dr. Bausman as being like a great general, prudent, 
 far-sighted and of sound judgment, yet never leading arbitrarily, 
 but commanding by kindly suggestion, sympathy and wisdom. 
 He never showed the slightest hint of domineering; he made all 
 feel that his purpose was so pure and true that the Board were 
 invariably a unit with him in what they did. He said in the 
 Messenger, August, 1900: "The Board of Managers and the 
 Ladies' Committee are in touch with the warm heart of 
 the Church. It is said, 'Corporations have no souls,' Bethany 
 has a living, loving soul." The Board reports annually to the 
 Synod and triennially to the General Synod. 
 
 It is not our function here to give the history of Bethany 
 Orphans' Home. That has been well done in detail in the books 
 written by Superintendents Yundt and More, but throughout 
 
294 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 from the second year of the history, Dr. Bausman's name is 
 identified with every forward movement of the institution. Mr 
 More's book appeared two years before his death and he says 
 in this volume that Dr. Bausman "all this time had the best 
 interests of the Home and its inmates at heart, and in this ca 
 pacity did much blessed service for the Master." 
 
 Dr. Bausman carried the sorrows and trials of the institution 
 on his heart and its successes brought him great joy. 
 
 In the earlier years he would sometimes take a special day's 
 outing with friends to the Home. 
 
 In the summer of 1871 the indebtedness on the Home's pur- 
 chase was hquidated and there was a "Jubilee Anniversary/ 
 and "an immense crowd." Two years thereafter more land was 
 purchased and it was not until 1881, that another Jubilee 
 celebration could be held for being free from debt. This obliga- 
 tion had to be borne during the hard times of the late seventies 
 and gave Dr. Bausman not a little anxiety. In September, 
 1880, we see this recorded in his diary: 
 
 Received a letter with check for $500, from Joseph Young of 
 Allentown, to make up what we still need to pay our debt of 
 $4,000 on the Orphans' Home. The blessed surprise set me to 
 weeping for some time. I went alone in a room and with sob- 
 bing, on my knees, thanked God for His great mercy. 
 
 An unwarranted attack on the Home made him "feel intensely 
 sad and depressed." 
 
 On the 11th of November, 1881, he received a telegram from 
 Superintendent D. B. Albright: "Our home burned down soon 
 after midnight. Children all safe. Bring up Executive Com- 
 mittee." He wrote in the evening: "Great excitement. Great 
 shock to me at first. A gush of tears relieved me. The Lord 
 is our help." 
 
 He proceeded at once to Womelsdorf and was joined there in 
 the afternoon by several of the Board of Managers to make tem- 
 porary provision for the orphans. He wrote for the next issue 
 of the Messenger, to be published in a few days, that he did not 
 wish to anticipate the action of the Board of Managers, but, he 
 went on: 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 295 
 
 I take the liberty to say that we will begin the erection of the 
 new building as soon as expedient. For this purpose, we shall 
 need from $8,000 to $10,000 more than the insurance will amount 
 to. The ordinary collections in congregations are needed to 
 meet current expenses. The bulk of the building fund will have 
 to be raised in sums of from $100 to $1,000. As in the first pur- 
 chase of this property so now again, we go forward, prayerfully 
 trusting for the necessary help in God and in the good people in 
 whose name and behalf we act. "We are perplexed, but not in 
 despair; cast down, but not destroyed." 
 
 The full Board soon met, and a week later he wrote again 
 in the Messenger: 
 
 I could heartily wish that all these dear friends could have my 
 place for the last ten days, if for no other reason than to taste 
 the sweetness of kindly, practical sympathy in passing through 
 such an ordeal. Telegrams and letters came pouring sympathy 
 into my heart and that of the Superintendent of the Home. 
 
 How this misfortune was turned into a fortunate providence, 
 we will let him tell us on another page. 
 
 The large, new building erected in 1882 was inadequate for 
 the Home's growing needs and a decade later Santee Hall was 
 opened for the girls. In the early months of 1891, Dr. Bausman 
 had correspondence with Mr. Charles Santee of Philadelphia, 
 in memory of whose son Joseph the Hall was named, and was 
 privileged to surprise the Board at their second quarterly meet- 
 ing with the generous offer. The check came in the latter part 
 of February and regarding the matter he wrote: 
 
 Have for some time been corresponding with Charles Santee 
 about our proposed new Orphans' Home Building. To-day I 
 received his note for $5,000 toward its erection, which with 
 • $2,000 he gave us a year ago makes $7,000 for this object. Upon 
 reading his kind letter, I knelt down at my table and prayed, 
 weeping for joy. His letter breathed a spirit of gratitude to 
 God. He even thanked me for calling attention to the matter. 
 He thanks God for keeping and guiding him all his life, since 
 1814, prospering him in business and giving him the disposition 
 and means to contribute to the Lord's cause. 
 
 A few years later, Dr. Bausman could say at the dedication 
 of another building: 
 
296 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Hitherto, our care for orphans began at six years of age. But 
 who cares for those under six years? For the new-born infant, 
 with no inheritance but the prayer of a dying mother? The 
 want of this left a gap in our organization, a period in the child 
 life unprovided for. God be praised, to-day we can open the 
 doors of Bethany Orphans' Home to the babes of the Church. 
 
 This new building was the Frick Cottage, the gift of Mr. and 
 Mrs. H. M. Housekeeper in memory of Mrs. Housekeeper's parents. 
 Dr. Bausman's eyes were permitted to see yet two more large 
 buildings erected on the Home grounds — the School House and 
 the Leinbach Cottage. 
 
 The strong hold of the Home on the hearts of the people is in 
 no way so strikingly evidenced as by the immense gatherings at 
 the Anniversaries. These have become larger and larger through 
 the years. They were very small in the early days. At Brides- 
 burg "the attendance never reached 300." Dr. Bausman rarely 
 missed these Anniversaries. The last one he attended was that 
 in August, 1908, and how it impressed him he expressed in these 
 words: "Nowhere else have I ever seen such a multitude of 
 happy, good-natured people massed together. There must have 
 been 15,000 or more. God bless the dear people." 
 
 After the Anniversary in August, 1904, he published in the 
 Reformed Church Record two delightful articles on the event 
 and on the many things touching the history and life of the in- 
 stitution. The man's heart stands here revealed in relation to 
 the Home in these 
 
 Reveries of a Veteran. 
 
 God be praised, they are all safely in their own homes again. 
 These thousands of Israel that covered the sheltered and shaded 
 acres of Bethany Orphans' Home. This vast entanglement of 
 man and beast, parents and children, of hundreds of family and 
 social groups, the vast army of vehicles tightly wedged together 
 over the wooded mountainside — to separate all these in an or- 
 derly way and send them home on their respective roads with- 
 out a single accident or personal injury looks very much like a 
 providential mercy. 
 
 Sometimes one feels alone in a great crowd. Seated at an 
 elevated corner, I quietly surveyed the incoming stream for 
 hours as they passed by. Family groups with their lunch bas- 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 297 
 
 kets, and with chatty, cheery children, all taking in the strange 
 sights with wondering surprise; the cordial greetings of friends 
 who usually meet but once a year on their visit to these grounds; 
 professors, pastors, missionaries from the home and foreign fields 
 — all these I thoughtfully watched from my quiet corner. I 
 knew what some of them had endured and done for our Savior 
 and for souls, and devoutly rejoiced that they seemed to have a 
 happy time here. 
 
 The limpid water of the great spring keeps boiling up through 
 the white sand, as it has most likelj^ been doing for a thousand 
 years past. Around it the crowd is all the while surging, filling 
 their cups from numerous jetting little fountains, to the great 
 enjoyment of all. And all this under the large limbs of great 
 overhanging trees making a picture delightful to behold. 
 Around and beyond this moving mass are lawns, fields and or- 
 chards that minister to the large family. 
 
 Do any of these people ever think what it cost to make and 
 keep this place what it is? Yonder walks a thoughtful-looking 
 lady, tastefully dressed. Forty-one years ago she was one of 
 the small group of little children that wept around the open 
 graves of their parents. Rev. E. Boehringer and his wife. Al- 
 though personally known to a very few people in this great crowd, 
 she doubtless feels thankful that out of the small beginning in 
 her father's house many years ago this Home, which to-day re- 
 ceives this great crowd into its shelter and shade, has grown. 
 She was a playmate of the first two orphans received into the 
 Boehringer family in the long ago. 
 
 There comes Rev. Henry Hilbish with a little lunch box in his 
 hand. For years he has rarely missed an Anniversary. His 
 gray hair and somewhat bent form show marks of increasing age. 
 Little did I think then that the following night his busy, useful 
 life would end in the home of his daughter in Jonestown, Pa. 
 A saintly English writer says that the grave is a wayside inn on 
 our pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Our departed Brother Hilbish 
 enjoyed the last restful pause in his busy life at this Home of the 
 fatherless, and then entered the home above. 
 
 My reveries run back to the people, living and dead, who did 
 much to make this day possible. Drs. J. Gantenbein and J. 
 Kiilling, two of the founders and members of the first Board of 
 Managers, are still living. The former was its second Superin- 
 tendent. Rev. D. B. Albright, who with his great bodily strength 
 wrought wonders in clearing the untilled fields of rocks and the 
 stumps of giant trees. He and Dr. D. Y. Heisler constructed a 
 network of underground dykes for drainage and cleared the 
 fields of briers and underbrush. Much of their hard work was 
 
298 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 preparatory to that of Brother Yundt. What he and his wife 
 have accompHshed has been reported elsewhere. 
 
 Few of these thousands have any idea how much unsalaried 
 work is done here to-day by happy men and women, in the 
 kitchen, dining-rooms, at the different counters and in the ba- 
 zaar. Neither do they know that a large part of the beautiful 
 goods sold was made by the deft hands of the larger orphan girls. 
 They know not how much prayerful teaching and training was 
 needed to transform the sad, homeless tots brought to us years 
 ago into bright, well-behaved lads and lassies; how that many of 
 them can cite more Bible passages accurately from memory than 
 any visitor on these grounds to-day, not excepting the clergymen; 
 how that all the older orphans, without any urging, at their own 
 request, have been confirmed — some of them shedding tears of 
 gratitude during the confirmation services. Of these and of 
 many other things the unnoticed veteran thinks in his little 
 corner on the porch. 
 
 His next corner is on a backless board-bench on the packed 
 platform in the grove. These reveries show a singular mental 
 mood. The sight of the uncounted thousands of faces before 
 me awakens memories of other days. All eyes rest on the bright, 
 happy and tidy-looking orphans on their elevated seats. Few 
 of them can fully comprehend how much these owe to the gifts, 
 prayers and work of the visiting guests of the Home. 
 
 Twelve larger girls sang the "Star Spangled Banner," with 
 postures. Folded in the colors of the flag, they rendered it with 
 grace and beautiful expression, while the company of "Home 
 Guards, " in martial uniform and armed to the teeth with wooden 
 guns, gallantly stood guard back of them under the command 
 of their efficient captain. Again the girls come before us, with 
 stately step, and perform the Japanese fan drill. Robed in 
 Japanese style, each bore a large fan in her hand. Their grace 
 of posture and movement in the difficult parts of the drill seemed 
 greatly to please an educated Japanese brother on the seat in 
 front of me. His face, naturally thoughtful and sad, now and 
 then beamed with a smile of joyful approval as he witnessed this 
 recognition of his bleeding country. 
 
 These ladies giving pleasure to the vast multitude are the 
 fruit of our work in the Home, Years ago they were brought to 
 us as homeless little children, their sad hearts reaching out for 
 someone to love them. Their natural parents dead, or worse 
 than dead, they found those who more than took their places. 
 As the years rolled by they grew in wisdom and stature and in 
 favor with God and man. Through the atmosphere, pure water, 
 healthy food, instruction and training, and, above all, through the 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 299 
 
 providence of God, from those dependent little beings grew these 
 Christian young women whom you this day see before you. It 
 required years of work and patient waiting. If it is true that one 
 redeemed soul with a Christful character is of more value than 
 millions of silver and gold, tell me — what is the value of these 
 twelve young ladies? Does it pay, this work of Bethany Or- 
 phans' Home? Beautiful are our fields, mountain forests and 
 our flowing fountains, above all beautiful because they help us 
 to train and transform dependent, homeless children into 
 Christian men and women, and fit them for lives of beauty and 
 for crowns of glory. 
 
 A change of administration usually is unsettling. It disturbs 
 the existing order of things. Bethany Home seems to form an 
 exception, thanks to the beautiful spirit of the small groups 
 which are the principal actors in the transition. This, too, sets 
 a veteran into a musing mood, as his eye follows the movements 
 of the two brethren most concerned. To each this Anniversary 
 is a peculiarly serious matter. To the retiring Superintendent 
 and his wife it means more than this crowd can comprehend. 
 Their lives have taken root in the lives of the orphans, for whom 
 they lovingly labored and lived. Their hearts are mutually en- 
 twined, their affections are vitally interwoven. Whilst duty 
 calls them to another sphere of labor, they fondly linger amid the 
 scenes and souls endeared to them by many precious memories. 
 With kindly sympathy I watch their thoughtful faces. The 
 struggle through which they have reached their present peace of 
 mind is known only to them and the all-knowing Father. They 
 came to us a happy, childless couple. They leave us with three 
 children, a home circle of their own. Four there were. One is 
 in heaven; a sweet boy baby the Lord took to His ideal home. 
 This was their first great sorrow. Great as was their grief, God 
 doubtless meant it kindly. "That lady needs but one thing 
 more to perfect her singing," said a great composer, as he listened 
 to a noted singer. "What is that?" asked a friend. "She needs 
 a great sorrow to give mellowness and a deeper soul-pathos to 
 her voice." I have sometimes thought that perhaps the death 
 of their child, under God, gave a certain quality to their hearts, 
 which helped them to take the place of parents to our fatherless 
 family; a long-suffering tenderness that natural parents rarely 
 show save toward their own children. 
 
 The new Superintendent and his wife, seen from my quiet seat, 
 are an equally interesting study. It is no light matter to ex- 
 change a beautiful home, where with their little family group 
 they enjoyed the undisturbed privacy of their fireside, for this 
 larger flock with its more public and perplexing responsibilities. 
 
300 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Not with a half-willing sense of duty, but with hopeful gratitude 
 they enter upon their new calling. Already they have won the 
 trustful affection of the large family. 
 
 Again the veteran takes his corner on the second story of the 
 school building. The large room is packed with former irmiates 
 of the Home. It is a reunion of the clan, as some would call it. 
 I asked a plump, nicely dressed boy near me, who had a Home 
 souvenir button on his coat lapel: "Are you one of our 
 orphans?" "No, but my father was. Over there he sits." 
 There he sat, a middle-aged man. I see quite a number of 
 family groups before me, whose parents came to us as sad, home- 
 less children, and were here trained into good men and women. 
 
 Here are young people who were in that fugitive midnight 
 procession of 23 years ago. It was on November 11, 1881. A 
 few toots of Mr. Albright's whistle brought all into an orderly 
 procession in the smoke-filled passage way. Thence the terrified 
 orphans were hastened across the fields to the old mill and the 
 farm house for shelter. Was there ever a more pathetic scene 
 than that frightened flock of orphans fleeing from their burning 
 Home! Not without pauses in their flight as they watched the 
 lurid flames that rose like a pillar of fire against the dimly-seen 
 background of the mountains. In a short time the building was 
 in ashes: their play rooms, school and dining rooms, their cozy 
 beds just left — all a heap of smoking ruins. On their improvised 
 beds they vainly sought sleep until the dawn of day. 
 
 In a very real sense what was considered a calamity became a 
 blessing — "a pillar of fire by night," leading the Home into a 
 more commodious and substantial building. It startled and 
 stirred the Church in the East to its heart's core. It is said that 
 during the fiercest part of a battle in the Crimean War a shell 
 struck a black, barren mountain side. By tearing a hole in the 
 earth it uncovered a subterranean spring. Thereafter a foun- 
 tain of fresh water flowed down the mountain side, refreshing 
 man and beast, and giving fertility to fields where no crops had 
 previously grown. Out of the ashes of our building arose a far 
 better structure. It gave the institution a new start, and raised 
 it to a higher plane of prosperity. The essential life of an or- 
 phans' home consists not in its fine and well equipped buildings, 
 but in the fife and genius of the people that bear it on their hearts. 
 
 Dr. Schick, of Washington, D. C., very fittingly presided over 
 this meeting, for before any orphans' home was thought of, he 
 was a member of Rev. E. Boehringer's mission Sunday-school 
 in Richmond, Va. By him he was confirmed as the only cate- 
 chumen of the mission. Although not an orphan, he received 
 his religious instruction from the now sainted founder of our 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 301 
 
 Home. His reminiscences were a page of the prehistoric life 
 of the Home. When the Civil War began, he with his pastor and 
 his parents fled to the North. A letter was read from one of 
 the former boys, now a wealthy ranchman in Cuba, brim full of 
 kind and grateful memories. A well known lawyer, with a lu- 
 crative practice, with his boy at his side, told us what he owed to 
 this Home, and that he wished it known that he was not ashamed 
 to have laid the foundation of his habits and character as an 
 inmate of Bethany Orphans' Home. A Philadelphia lady, who 
 left us years ago, sang a solo. The pastor of a large city congre- 
 gation, a former teacher, paid a beautiful tribute to the benefit 
 he received from the influence of the Home. Here he had learned 
 to study and understand his English Bible as he had never learned 
 it in any college or seminary; that he doubted whether there 
 were any pastors of our Church who could locate and recite from 
 memory so large a part of the Bible as some of the orphans did 
 in his day. Another former teacher, now a professor in one of 
 our colleges, related similar benefits he received from the Bible 
 instruction of the retiring Superintendent. Such as these were 
 the grateful tributes paid to the retiring Superintendent and his 
 wife. 
 
 I knew these bright-looking parents when they themselves 
 were little children, destitute of parental care. It may have 
 been a meagre substitute for natural parents which we could 
 furnish. Under God we gave them the best we had. Now, as 
 they themselves come to us as parents, as types of godly heads 
 of families, is it a wonder that the sight stirs the heart of a vet- 
 eran to reminiscent reveries? The highest mission of an or- 
 phans' home is to train its inmates to habits of purity and love; 
 to train them to become founders of such homes as were denied 
 them in their childhood. 
 
 "You train scholars here?" said a visitor to the head master 
 of the Rugby Boys' School in England. "No, sir, we train 
 MEN here," was the reply. 
 
 Would that the many kind people who have helped to make 
 Bethany Orphans' Home what it is could have witnessed this 
 reunion. We would like them to see the fruit of their sowing in 
 these men and women who once belonged to our large family. 
 Not all become people of conspicuous usefulness, but we are striv- 
 ing chiefly and first of all to make good men and good women, 
 fitted for whatever sphere Providence may assign them. May the 
 Father of the fatherless direct and prosper our work in the fu- 
 ture. 
 
 The concern Dr. Bausman had for smallest details and the 
 fine appreciation he felt for all who in any way contributed to the 
 
302 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 work at Bethany is shown in the succeeding letters which fol- 
 lowed anniversary occasions: 
 
 The Preston Resort on the Mountain. 
 
 Wernersville, Pa., (8 A M.) August 22, 1902. 
 
 My Dear Brother Y. : 
 
 Have just tried to call you upon the 'phone. May do it later 
 in the day, would like to learn a few particulars. Can ascertain 
 hereafter. A few things are on my heart this morning. 
 
 First: We both have been thinking and praying our praises 
 to God for yesterday — for the weather, the large attendance, the 
 good order, for protection against accidents, for the privilege of 
 giving our school building to God, and the great uses to be made 
 of it; and for many other things we cannot sufficiently thank 
 God. 
 
 Second: Our hearts are still full of joyful praise to God and to 
 you and your dear, hard-working people who prepared and ren- 
 dered the excellent program. Of course, we all know that you 
 and Mrs. Yundt have designed and matured the whole. Do not 
 forget, my dear brother, that the multitudinous friends of the 
 Home present and absent have a grateful and appreciative sense 
 of what is due to you and your dear wife. I regard yesterday's 
 program and the way it was rendered among the best we have 
 ever had. I have a request to make. Please state to all the 
 inmates of the Home in the chapel services, for me personally 
 and for the two Boards, that we thank all that have worked so 
 hard and well to make yesterday such a delightful success. If 
 I could do this myself, I would, of course, put you and Mrs. 
 Yundt at the head of the list, then Miss Dechant, the teachers, 
 the farmer, the people in the kitchen, and the children. Do not 
 forget them, the dear souls must have worked hard to render 
 such charming results. From the little tots to the physical 
 culture exercises — everything was to most people a delightful 
 revelation. The two Boards want the children and all who 
 with loving hearts toil for their good, to know that we appreciate 
 their noble endeavors. 
 
 In sending reports to different persons, please do not forget 
 Mr. Evans of Niagara. 
 
 Perhaps in your article for the paper you might say that eleven 
 of the thirteen Board members were present. 
 
 Ought not our Superintendent send a few lines of thanks to 
 Mr. George Wagner, in the name of the Board? We ought to 
 perform this little courtesy to our annual speakers, but rarely, 
 perhaps never have done it. 
 
 9 A. M. Have just chatted with you over the 'phone. Yes- 
 
THE OFFICERS OF BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 
 
 CHRISTIAN G. GROSS 
 
 DR. BAUSMAN 
 
 AT 75 
 
 REV. THOS. M. YUNDT 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 303 
 
 terday, like some other things connected with the Home, seems 
 almost like a miracle. The clearing of the heavens, the at- 
 tendance, receipts, etc., etc., are wonderful. We are both re- 
 lieved to hear that Mrs. Yundt is comfortable and happy. 
 
 We both slept off our fatigue of yesterday — seven hours in one 
 stretch. Some ten or twelve of our hotel guests were at the 
 Home yesterday. 
 
 Many feel a personal concern for its success. Dear Rhoda 
 Smith, who gave us the $10 last year and this year, says she 
 often had prayerful thoughts during the day that it might not 
 rain. But enough. 
 
 Yours happily, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 Wernersville, September 4, 1905. 
 My Dear Brother More: 
 
 I sincerely congratulate you and Mrs. More in the successful 
 handling of our late Anniversary. Few people who enjoyed the 
 feast have any idea what a long ordeal of planning and patient 
 toil it cost to prepare it. And I fear few have expressed to you 
 both, their cordial appreciation of your excellent services. Please 
 tell Mr. Miller for myself and for the Board that we highly appre- 
 ciate his all-around services in the vast preparation and handling 
 of the Anniversary. We cannot sufficiently thank God for the 
 pleasant weather, and for His protecting care over the vast multi- 
 tude of people who came from near and afar, without a single 
 accident. I have often had my fears, that amid our jcyful 
 gratification over great results, we have given too little glory 
 to God and indulged too much in denominational, boastful 
 self-glorification. To God be all the glory. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 With the destruction of the Home by fire in 1881, the minutes 
 and records thereof were destroyed. A few months thereafter 
 Dr. Bausman busied himself for days running through files of 
 the Messenger helping to recover facts and data. The Rev. T. 
 M. Yundt became Superintendent in 1886 and a few years there- 
 after prepared the little volume on the "History of the Home." 
 Dr. Bausman was in a position to be of great help to him. So 
 likewise, he assisted Superintendent More in the preparation of 
 the last edition of the "History" which was published about 
 two years before his death. He was very eager to have the ac- 
 count brought down to date. When the matter was discussed 
 
304 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 in the early months of 1906, Mr. More suggested the fitness of 
 having it pubUshed in connection with the 50th anniversary. 
 With manifest regret he rephed, "I'll not live then to see it." 
 
 The following excerpts from letters to Mr. More give hints 
 of his help, the spirit in which it was given and what pleasure 
 the tastefully printed volume afforded him: 
 
 Try and find a copy of the picture of Christ blessing Uttle 
 children as a frontispiece in the new book. 
 
 I am still of the opinion that steel engraved pictures of the 
 Superintendents ought to be put into the new history. 
 
 Whilst I do not wish to have my recollections of the Home, 
 from its beginning, to be accepted as authentic history, if any 
 of the incidents I related to you can be of any service in revising 
 the old edition, and bringing it down to the present, you are at 
 liberty to dispose of my talk as you see proper without men- 
 tioning my name. Only do not regard this explanation in the 
 sense that I am dictating to you and the Board. Sometimes 
 my zeal gets the better of my discretion. 
 
 Many thanks for a copy of your History, It looks well, reads 
 well, is accurate and full in its narrative, clear and lucid in style 
 — a credit to its author and I am sure will be highly pleasing to 
 the Board. You have rendered a valuable service to the Board 
 and one which will be greatly appreciated by its many friends. 
 You are fortunate to have it ready for distribution on Annivers- 
 ary day. 
 
 In the preface to the fortieth annual report of the Home Dr. 
 Bausman said: 
 
 It is a blessed privilege to be in touch with the current life of 
 such an orphanage; to bear it upon one's heart, to help it with 
 one's prayers, and to breathe its breezy, bracing atmosphere. 
 It helps to keep one young and spiritually vigorous. 
 
 In his beautiful Christmas Letter, 1906, which constitutes a 
 Chapter in Superintendent More's "History" he said: "For 
 forty years I have lived much of my life into it. This I deem 
 one of the greatest blessings of my life, I think it made me a 
 better man. It gave me more than it ever got from me." 
 
 Christmas letters were sent quite often to the children and here 
 is one accompanying a letter to the Superintendent: 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 305 
 
 Reading, December 24, 1903. 
 My Dear Brother Yundt: 
 
 That cold, shabby postal card I wrote to you yesterday, 
 troubled and chided me last night in bed. For a Christmas 
 greeting, it makes me feel ashamed of myself. 
 
 Enclosed find a greeting, which please read at your chapel 
 services to-morrow. 
 
 In addition to that, let me assure you and Mrs. Yundt of the 
 high appreciation we personally and both sections of our Board 
 have for your beautiful and valuable service to the Home. You 
 cannot fully know what a rich service you both are rendering to 
 the cause of Christ, in this branch of Christian beneficence. 
 The unstinted kindness which you lavish upon the homeless is 
 felt and reciprocated by multitudes throughout the Church. 
 
 I am glad to speak these words of good cheer, amid the music 
 around the homeless babe in Bethlehem. Let us kindly tell 
 each other the deserved words of "Well done," before the loving 
 Father will take us to His everlasting home in heaven. 
 Your loving brother in Christ, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 Reading, December 24, 1903. 
 My Dear Brother Yundt: 
 
 Personally, and in the name of the Board of Managers of our 
 dear Home, I herewith wish the whole Bethany family a Merrie 
 Christmas. May our ever-living, ever-present Father richly 
 bless every one of the orphans with our Saviour's Spirit of peace, 
 purity and ever-enduring happiness; may He bless all that serve 
 and help to care for the large family with the reward promised to 
 those who in His Spirit and name minister to His children. May 
 He abundantly bless with His choicest gifts Mr. and Mrs. Yundt, 
 to whom God has assigned the difficult office of a natural father 
 and mother to so many young people and who with tender af- 
 fection, bear upon their hearts the molding and training of so 
 many lives. 
 
 Our prayer is that we, and all that we gather in our 
 dear Mountain Home, may at last be gathered into the home 
 in our Father's house on high. 
 
 Your loving, grateful friend, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 Mrs. Yundt writes of Dr. Bausman's relation to the Home: 
 
 He was always ready to help by word and action and showed 
 more than a friendly interest; it was more like a fatherly interest 
 and we gave to him the affection a child has for his father. His 
 20 
 
306 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 aim seemed to be to make Bethany less like an institution and 
 more like a true home to fatherless children; and he listened 
 with deepest attention and warmest sympathy to the life histories 
 of our Bethany children and the every-day happenings at the 
 same. Amusing incidents brought forth hearty laughter and 
 pathetic occurrences brought tears to his eyes. 
 
 He spoke to the orphans often in their chapel meetings. His 
 addresses were very happy and much enjoyed by the children. 
 He often spoke to boys and girls personally and laid his hand on 
 their heads. These little attentions to them were remembered 
 and treasured as paternal blessings. 
 
 Members of the Board of Managers speak of the atmosphere 
 of deep religious seriousness which pervaded their meetings and 
 deliberations because of Dr. Bausman's presence. This by no 
 means forbade, but was altogether in harmony with the free ut- 
 terance of pleasantries. However, there was nothing of patron- 
 izing humanitarianism in this care of the fatherless, but a clear 
 recognition that rendering a service unto these, Christ's least, 
 they were rendering it unto Him. The Home has never been 
 able to care for all orphans applying for admission. Its inabihty 
 to receive some who were most worthy and whose needs were 
 great often brought tears to his eyes. 
 
 Dr. Bausman gave constantly of his means to the Home. In 
 pressing crises he gave large amounts and bequeathed to it in 
 his will $1,000. He trained his own congregation to give gen- 
 erously to this object. There are casual notes of this in his diary. 
 As early as 1865 stands the record of three children giving 
 25 cents a month for the orphans and a few years later an offer- 
 ing of the catechumens confirmed on Good Friday amomited to 
 $150. St. Paul's Christmas offering for the orphans is always 
 several hundred dollars. 
 
 As early as 1873, in pleading for the Home, he averred that 
 
 There is no benevolent enterprise in the Church where every 
 penny is made to tell so effectively for good as here. There is 
 nothing wasted. Every stone and stump, stick and shred are 
 turned to some practical end. 
 
 The steady, free-will support of the Church is due in no small 
 measure to this economy and wisdom in management. No ap- 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 307 
 
 portionments are laid for it, nor has it been the policy of the 
 institution to buttress itself in a great endowment. The Home 
 lives by its direct and constant support from the people which 
 falls like daily manna for its needs. Nay, to quote more from 
 the wonderful Christmas letter of 1906: 
 
 God is the Father of the fatherless. Bethany belongs to 
 Him. He is providing for it, every day and hour. He tells 
 many people to send boxes filled with nice things at Christmas, 
 and to put the needed money in our treasury. And we always 
 have enough of it. 
 
 Regarding the gathering of "a large surplus fund" Dr. Baus- 
 man wrote to Mr. More in 1906: 
 
 I still beheve that from a Home like ours the Church gets 
 more than it gives. It appeals to the heart of its people as 
 none of its other agencies of benevolence does. This appeal 
 ought not be diminished by heaping up a vast pecuniary treas- 
 ure. 
 
 The following beautiful letters to Mr. Yundt in his last illness, 
 to Mrs. Yundt after his death, to Mr. More in response to a 
 birthday greeting and again on the twenty-fifth wedding an- 
 niversary of the Superintendent and his wife, show his warm 
 and tender friendship for the leaders at Bethany: 
 
 Reading, March 22, 1907. 
 My Dear Brother Yundt: 
 
 I am sorry that you are sick. Indeed, it was a great surprise 
 to hear of it. I have no doubt it is the result of overwork. The 
 most robust health has its limitations. Perhaps it is well that 
 this is the case. Otherwise worse evils might happen to us. 
 Kipling's "Lest we forget, lest we forget," expresses an important 
 truth. Such enforced pauses in our busy life have their bless- 
 ings. Some years ago Dr. Bromley, then pastor of the First 
 Baptist Church of this city, broke a leg in a trolley accident. 
 He said it was a fortunate thing for him. His imprudence in 
 overtaxing his strength by overwork had brought him to the 
 verge of a serious, perhaps a fatal collapse. A temporary ces- 
 sation of work enabled him to prevent this. I suppose you have 
 been working harder than you knew. Sometimes, perhaps 
 under unhealthy conditions. Try to accept the situation with a 
 thankful heart, notably because "v/hom the Lord loveth He 
 chasteneth." I hope you will not consider me one of "Job's 
 
308 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN ' 
 
 comforters. " Possibly your affliction may help to relieve your 
 system of some ailments of long standing, and give you a more 
 sound and normal health. 
 
 There, you have not a hard-hearted lecture, but the well-in- 
 tended advice of one who never planted a thorn into your pillow. 
 
 I pray that the Lord may soon restore you to perfect health. 
 Meanwhile — well, the rest you know. 
 
 Will this prevent you from enjoying the Passion week and 
 Easter season with some of your friends? I hope not. 
 
 We only were apprized of your illness at Wernersville a few 
 days ago; and then did not know at which Sanitarium you were 
 being treated. This accounts for my not writing to you sooner. 
 
 Mrs. Bausman has gone to visit Mrs. Dr. L. K. Derr. It is 
 remarkable to see the uncomplaining patience with which this 
 stricken household bears their bereavement. 
 
 Do not be in a hurry to get back to your work. As you know, 
 a relapse, whether bodily or spiritual, is as a rule worse than the 
 trouble before it was partly relieved. Half a cure may be worse 
 than the disease in its more malignant form. 
 
 As you see, I am trying to spin out my rambhng letter as 
 much as I can, so as to beguile the lonely tedium of your soli- 
 tude. 
 
 See what a long letter I have written to you. Is not that an 
 evidence of my interest in you, like that which led to your im- 
 portation as a beardless youth with your blushing bride by your 
 side from the fields of the far West? 
 
 I have just returned from a walk of over half a mile. When 
 possible, I imitate the peripatetic philosopher of old, in order to 
 keep my joints and my digestion in order. 
 
 I will have to stop. The wheel could whir longer, but I am 
 out of yarn. God bless you, my dear brother. May He soon 
 restore you to bodily soundness, and spare you long for your 
 family and the Church, and add many more years to your valu- 
 able life, so rich in good work in the past. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 B. Bausman 
 
 Reading, May 10, 1907. 
 My Dear Mrs. Yundt: 
 
 Our attempted special meeting of Bethany Orphans' Home 
 Board yesterday was a failure. Only four members were pre- 
 sent. The usual Ascension day excursion from Allentown was 
 smaller than usual, on account of the inclement weather. Mr. 
 John Lawfer was present. 
 
 How much we missed Mr. Yundt and you. Footprints of his 
 labor, and soul-prints of his love are traceable on every hand. 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 309 
 
 At the Home as elsewhere though dead he yet speaketh. He 
 and yourself understood the needs and life of the Home better 
 than we could. To hundreds he was the best father they ever 
 knew. 
 
 "None knew him but to love him, 
 None named him but to praise." 
 
 Personally, I count myself among his closest friends. We 
 were in vital heart touch; mutually endeared with tenderest 
 ties. A year and a quarter ago he knelt at my sick-bed, which 
 some thought might be my death-bed. Less than two months 
 ago I kneeled at his death-bed. Even so, Father, for so it seemeth 
 good in Thy sight. At such times words seem cold. I need not 
 assure you how much I sympathize with you. Often I pray for 
 you and the children. I know how he bore you all on his heart — 
 how his home was to him the dearest spot on earth. 
 
 God only can fill the vacant place. Jesus still feels drawn to 
 hearts and homes of sorrow, as of old. He was drawTi to that of 
 Bethany and that of Jairus. Think of His real tender sympathy 
 for you and yours. I am glad you are bearing up bravely. In 
 the silence of your soul the gentle hand of God's Spirit is assuag- 
 ing your grief. I believe that before they get to heaven God 
 already wipes away the tears of His children. That in all our 
 afflictions He is afflicted. May God bless you, my dear Mrs. 
 Yundt. 
 
 In loving sympathy, 
 
 Your friend and Christian brother, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 Reading, January 31, 1908. 
 My Dear Brother More: 
 
 I thank you for your kindly greetings and w^ords of cheer. 
 God has been good to me, lo! these many years past, and still 
 is, beyond what my poor words can express. My face is towards 
 the sunset of life. I am free from aches and pains, relish my food 
 and sleep well, and as a rule enjoy a wonderfully peaceful and 
 serene frame of mind. All these mercies derive added sweet- 
 ness from such loving words as you and other friends address to 
 me. Even tho' one at times feels undeserving of what is said 
 about him, the good-will that prompts it is extremely gratifying. 
 I do not know how the Christmas offerings thus far compare 
 with those of last year, but I have no concern about the final 
 amount. Should it be insufficient, we need but tell it to our 
 friends, and they will gladly furnish what will be needed. 
 
 We are sorry that you have considerable sickness in the Home, 
 
310 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 and glad that it is no worse. As you know, some communities 
 have been seriously grippe ridden this winter. 
 
 We often speak of you and Mrs. More, and of your beautiful 
 work, and I often mention you both by name to God in my 
 prayers. 
 
 May God bless you all. 
 
 Your brother in the bonds of our loving Savior, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 July 10, 1908. 
 My Dear Brother More: 
 
 At the late meeting of our Board you made a passing allu- 
 sion to the 25th Anniversary of your marriage. The hurry and 
 pressure of our business prevented the Board from taking any 
 formal or official notice of it. As its presiding officer I take 
 great pleasure in voicing what I am sure is the sentiment of 
 every member of the Board. 
 
 Years ago you and your good wife were called to the headship 
 of our dear Home. Few of us had any personal acquaintance 
 with either of you. If it is true that marriages are made in 
 heaven, it is true in a higher sense, that you and Mrs. More 
 were mated in heaven, and what is more, that you both were 
 mated with Bethany Orphans' Home, as ordained by the 
 heavenly powers. 
 
 God gave you both to us in answer to our prayers. Your 
 work has shown that He endowed both of you, by nature and by 
 divine grace, with endowments which especially qualify you for 
 the position you have so successfully filled. 
 
 Not only the Board of Managers, but the large number of 
 friends whose liberal support has amply provided for its needs, 
 unite with us in tendering you our warm congratulations. My 
 heart tenderly goes out to you and your daughters. In addition 
 to the latter, God has given you many children, whom you have 
 loved, cared for and trained with a parental tenderness which 
 has been beautiful to witness. You have borne them on your 
 hearts and blessed them with your ardent affection. God knows 
 all this better than your friends. You have lived some of your 
 best life into the life of other people's children, who will rise up 
 and call you blessed in this world, and in that which is to come. 
 May the Father of the fatherless bestow upon you and yours 
 His bountiful blessing, attend you on the contemplated journey 
 of your approaching vacation, bring you back invigorated in 
 body and in spirit, and spare you to us and to our dear Orphans' 
 Home for many years to come. 
 
 Your friend and brother in Christ, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
BETHA.NY ORPHANS' HOME 311 
 
 There is an accurate record of the attendance of the Managers 
 at the Board meetings since 1886. Dr. Bausman missed but 
 nine quarterly meetings during that period and then always 
 because of sickness or unavoidable engagement. He begged to 
 be permitted to resign in 1905 because of his advanced years and 
 the inevitable infirmities of age. The Board would not con- 
 sider this suggestion for a moment. He attended his last quar- 
 terly meeting a month before his death and was in the best of 
 spirits. 
 
 The great "friend of Bethany Home" went to his heavenly 
 home, but his spirit abides in those who carry on the work. The 
 best compliment to Dr. Bausman in what he did at Womelsdorf, 
 is that the work goes on, ever enlarging in its blessed ministry 
 as before. Each year sees a new building erected or some im- 
 provement made. It is now planned very appropriately that, 
 in 1913, the fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the Home 
 shall be signalized by the erection of a chapel to Dr. Bausman's 
 memory. 
 
 On October 6, 1910, in connection with the dedication of the 
 Yundt Memorial Gateway, the portrait of Dr. Bausman, painted 
 by Gideon P. Kostenbader, and the gift of his nephew, J. W. 
 B. Bausman, Esq., of Lancaster, Pa., was unveiled in the chapel 
 at the Home. 
 
 This chapter is fittingly closed with the beautiful address 
 delivered at Dr. Bausman's funeral by the Rev. Wilson F. More, 
 Superintendent of the Home: 
 
 Bethany Address at Dr. Bausman's Funeral, May 12, 1909 
 
 A great and wise and good man has passed away. This man 
 was a devoted friend of Bethany and Bethany keenly feels her 
 loss. It is with sorrow most sincere that she mingles her tears 
 with those of many others who enjoyed the inestimable privilege 
 of calling Dr. Bausman' friend. 
 
 There is probably no more expressive and convincing eloquence 
 than that of silent tears. They tell of a heart too full for utter- 
 ance, yet too good to be self-contained. If Bethany were selfish 
 she might be well content to weep in silence at the bier of this 
 good man. But Bethany is not selfish. More than forty years 
 of Dr. Bausman's unselfish life has been lived into her, and her 
 
312 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 richest heritage to-day is the possession of a generous measure of 
 the hberal spirit of her now sainted friend. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was Bethany's friend. Yea, he was more than 
 friend. Of George Washington it was beautifully said that 
 Providence had left him childless that his country might call him 
 father. So we may say of the departed: Providence had left 
 him childless so that Bethany and her children might call him 
 father. Dr. Bausman was in very truth a father to Bethany. 
 Though he did not bring her into being, he became greatly at- 
 tached to her in her helpless infancy, and he it was who gave 
 the child its name; that name so beautiful and so full of sugges- 
 tive inspiration to Christlike service. With fondest devotion 
 he planned for Bethany, watched over her, labored in her, and 
 the furtherance of her interests was the burden of his prayers. 
 Some of his most beautiful addresses were spoken to Bethany 
 audiences or had Bethany for their theme. It is undoubtedly 
 true that a mind so liberal and a heart so great could not limit its 
 devotion to any one cause. Dr. Bausman loved in all sincerity 
 the wife of his bosom who watched over him with a thoughtful, 
 tender care that was beautiful to behold. But nothing human 
 was foreign to him. We find him interested and zealous in the 
 support of every worthy cause in church and state. His heart 
 went out to these other larger public objects that rightly claimed 
 his help, but it always seemed to us as though that loyal heart 
 found its sweetest home, its highest joy, its most congenial ser- 
 vice and its most satisfying rest in his beloved Bethany; and 
 Bethany received without solicitation and without stint the rip- 
 ened, mellowed fruitage of his richest spiritual life. 
 
 When I was called into the service of the Orphans' Home, Dr. 
 Bausman had been President of the Board of Managers for almost 
 forty years and had already passed considerably beyond the 
 allotted period of three score years and ten. Yet he came to the 
 quarterly board meetings, always youthful in spirit and remarkably 
 well preserved in body. More than once he insisted on walking 
 from the station to the home buildings, though a carriage had 
 been provided for his convenience and comfort. We always looked 
 forward with eager expectation to his coming and missed him 
 greatly when he failed to appear. His presence was a benedic- 
 tion; his brief addresses to the Bethany family and visitors at the 
 opening of our Board meetings were like a message from heaven ; 
 and his prayers on these occasions were the outpouring of a heart 
 full of intelligent interest in the employees and children and full 
 of trust in God, the Father of the fatherless, from whom must 
 come wisdom and strength to bring up the orphan children to the 
 honor of His name. These prayers bore evidence that he who 
 
BETHANY ORPHANS' HOME 313 
 
 uttered them was accustomed to plead for Bethany at the throne 
 of heavenly grace. 
 
 In all the relations of life, Dr. Bausman bore himself with un- 
 failing dignity. Such was his bearing also as the President of 
 the Board of Managers and in his dealing with me as Superin- 
 tendent of the Home. From the beginning I feared him and I 
 feared him until the end. But the nature of this fear changed 
 altogether as time went on and brought about a close acquaint- 
 ance. In the beginning it was the fear of awe and dread; it 
 developed into the fear of reverence and love. And now as I 
 look upon his noble face for the last time on earth, I count it as 
 one of the greatest blessings of my life that I was permitted to 
 know him; to come under his influence by being associated with 
 him in the most Christlike work. It was an inspiration to be and 
 to do my very best. It made me feel that once and always the 
 Christ is present in this Home where the Marys and Marthas are 
 busy in the service of the Lord. It helped to make the Home at 
 Bethany to our hearts and minds what it is in reality — a veritable 
 house of God. It helped to open our eyes so that we could see 
 visions which made trials bearable, which made difficulties sur- 
 mountable, which made pleasures enjoyable and which glorified 
 the commonplace until it shone like the face of an angel in the 
 light of the better world. 
 
 When we come to inquire how it was that Dr. Bausman could 
 wield such a commanding influence in the Board and could exer- 
 cise such an irresistible power in molding the policy and directing 
 the course of Bethany, we find a partial explanation in the fact 
 that he stood preeminentlj' for the soul life, the spiritual side of 
 the institution, insisting that she always seek first the kingdom of 
 God and His righteousness with the assurance that all other things 
 would be added unto her. Being thus in accord with the purpose 
 and plan of the Almighty, he could speak with authority, for all 
 felt that he spoke out of a deep experience on matters of the high- 
 est importance, and when he thus spoke, there was none to say 
 him nay. As to the more outward, the business side of the Home, 
 he willingly and cheerfully deferred to others whom he recognized 
 as better qualified to deal with matters of that kind. But whether 
 leading or following, there was always a sweet reasonableness 
 about our friend which took away all desire to oppose him in any 
 of his cherished plans. 
 
 And now he is gone. His voice will no more be heard in the 
 council chamber of the Home. No more will he express concern 
 for our welfare and caution as against overwork or anxious care. 
 We will miss him greatly. But we are reconciled to the fact of his 
 departure by the thought that his spirit will abide with us and 
 
314 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 that the influence of his example will always remain. Moreover, 
 we feel that so many years of labor have earned for him the 
 right to rest in the presence of the Lord, where there is fulness of 
 joy and at his right hand, where there are pleasures forevermore. 
 
 Having fully filled the measure 
 Of his God-appointed years, 
 
 He has yielded up the treasure 
 Of his life devoid of fears. 
 
 Is there need that we should sorrow- 
 In the bitterness of tears? 
 
 Seeing that the hands that labored 
 
 Now are folded on his breast, 
 Knowing that the feeble body 
 
 Worn with service is at rest, 
 While the spirit has its guerdon 
 
 In the regions of the blest. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Church Boards 
 
 FEW ministers of the denomination were called upon to give 
 so much time to the general work of the Church on her 
 several Boards as Dr. Bausman. His far-sightedness, good 
 judgment and aggressiveness, his fairness and non-partisan 
 spirit commended him. Great confidence was lodged in him and 
 his influence in behalf of any interest counted for much. Again 
 and again he was elected for such service against his will and on 
 most of the Boards he would have been continued much longer 
 had he not positively declined to serve longer. 
 
 Within a year after his ordination, he was chosen for this 
 general work, and save for a year on the occasion of his first 
 visit abroad, and for a short time after the beginning of his ed- 
 itorial work on the Messenger, he served the Church continuously 
 to the end of his life on one or more of her Boards. 
 
 During the years 1866-1867, in the midst of which the Guar- 
 dian and Hausfreund were launched and parish problems were 
 many and perplexing, he was simultaneously on all the eight 
 Boards. At no other period of his life had he at one time so 
 many irons in the fire and yet he saw to it that most of them 
 were kept hot. 
 
 Bethany Orphans' Home, with its call of needy children, was 
 nearest to his heart and into it more than into any other general 
 interest of the Church he put his life, as we have seen in the pre- 
 vious chapter. In other chapters we have noted as we have 
 followed his career, how from time to time, he served his de- 
 nomination on important committees, as president of Synod and 
 General Synod, as delegate to other denominations and to Alliance 
 Meetings abroad. We look at him in this chapter laboring 
 with other leaders of the Church, gratuitously, but often in 
 
 315 
 
316 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 situations of great perplexity, on the various Boards of the 
 Church. 
 
 Board of Visitors of The Theological Seminary — 1860-1870. 
 
 Benjamin Bausman was in the editorial chair at Chambers- 
 burg, when the Synod of Lebanon in October, 1860, elected him 
 to the Board of Visitors of the Seminary at Mercersburg. He 
 served the Church in this capacity continuously for ten years. 
 
 It was a trying time for the Seminary. The depressing effect 
 of the Civil War was felt on all church interests, spiritual, in- 
 tellectual and practical, and the institution's location near the 
 arena of hostilities made it all the worse. In the latter half of 
 the decade the Reformed Church entered upon the bitterest 
 stage of her internal strife in the Liturgical Controversy. The 
 College was at Lancaster and throughout this period there was 
 a feeling of regret at the separation of these two institutions. 
 The Seminary, too, needed to be in the heart of the Church, as 
 its friends all keenly felt. 
 
 Dr. Schaff left the Seminary in 1863. The isolation of the in- 
 stitution was in some measure the cause of his leaving, as one 
 would infer from words like these to Harbaugh: 
 
 Sometimes I can hardly endure longer the dreary separation 
 from the springs of life and exile from congenial intercourse. 
 What folly to put the institutions of the Church away from the 
 centre of population to an inaccessible outpost. 
 
 In similar strain. Prof. Higbee wrote to Bausman in 1865 and 
 1866, shortly after he came to the Seminary at Mercersburg: 
 
 I am convinced that we are not in the heart of the Church 
 here, and that to prosper as we ought, we must move where we 
 can be more present to the active life of the Church. 
 
 Write me! Write!! Write!!! I feel as if we were here out- 
 side of all Church communication. Give me your mind. I am 
 one of those beings that feels a sense of withering when I cannot 
 commune with the thought and feeling of my friends. 
 
 Sentiment gradually crystallized to change the location of the 
 school of the prophets. In 1868, Mr. Bausman was on the 
 Committee of Synod which recommended "That the Theological 
 
CHURCH BOARDS 317 
 
 Seminary be removed to Lancaster, Pa.," and two years later, 
 at the close of his service on the Board of Visitors, Synod finally 
 decided to effect the removal. 
 
 Here is a glimpse of the situation at Mercersburg, as it con- 
 cerned prospective preachers — in a letter of Prof. Higbee to 
 Bausman, March, 1865: "The students have felt a httle dis- 
 couraged during the long winter, having no shed to keep their 
 wood from the snows and in having cold rooms." 
 
 Another glimpse follows, of concern to all who went to and 
 from Mercersburg, in a letter of Mr. Bausman to his brother: 
 "March 30, 1863. This afternoon I and brother Fisher must 
 go to Mercersburg to attend the meeting of the Board of Vis- 
 itors. Just think, ten miles through the mud on horseback. 
 That is good for the stomach." 
 
 In 1862 the Board of Visitors definitely fixed the term of study 
 in the Seminary at two and a half years; in 1864, they recom- 
 mended to Synod, which approved, that there should be but one 
 Seminary session from September to May — "this would enable 
 indigent students better opportunity to secure emploj^ment dur- 
 ing vacation, to assist themselves in pursuing their studies" — 
 and the course of study was fixed at three years. Hitherto, the 
 Seminary year closed in July and there was a vacation in March, 
 at the end of the first term. The Board of Visitors met in March 
 and July, and just before Mr. Bausman became a member de- 
 cided "to have a sermon preached before the students and others 
 on some subject connected with the importance and solemnity 
 of their position." This custom continued only for a few years. 
 Bausman's turn came at the March meeting in 1862, when he 
 was appointed to preach against his will. We read this note in 
 the diary: "Had determined not to do it but was obhged because 
 congregation was present. The Lord enabled me to speak with 
 freedom." His text was Hebrew 11:7 — "The Faith of Noah." 
 
 Had Benjamin Bausman been ambitious to become a distin- 
 guished theologian and professor, he would have accepted the 
 offer which came to him a year after he became a member of the 
 Board of Visitors. For several years previous there was under 
 way the establishment of a theological tutorship. The project 
 was occasioned by 
 
318 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 the generous offer of Dr. Von Bethmann Hollweg, president of 
 the German Evangelical Church Diet, to establish a fund of two 
 thousand Prussian dollars, the interest of which shall aid in 
 sustaining a pious young divine of the German Church in Amer- 
 ica, as a student at the Universities of Germany with a view to 
 qualify him more fully for the position of theological teacher in 
 our Seminary * * * and to serve at the same time as a 
 perpetual and living bond of union between our Church and 
 the mother Churches of Germany. 
 
 The tutorship contemplates the employment and support of 
 a regular succession of two young men, graduates of our literary 
 and theological institutions, and distinguished for diligence, 
 scholarship and Christian character, who shall be simultaneously 
 engaged, the one in completing his theological and general liter- 
 ary education in Europe, the other in teaching, as assistant pro- 
 fessor in our Seminary. 
 
 To carry this scheme into effect, it was proposed, too, to create 
 a fund of $10,000 or more, and an effort was made to get twenty 
 men in the Synod to give toward it, $500 each. Mr. Bausman 
 gave his bond of $500 as one of the twenty. 
 
 By 1861 the way seemed open to carry the scheme into effect, 
 and we read in the minutes of the Board of Visitors at their an- 
 nual meeting that the faculty, Drs. Schaff and Wolff, presented 
 
 as candidates for the teaching tutorship Rev. Benjamin Baus- 
 man and Lie. Wm. M. Reily. The choice will necessarily be 
 confined to these two brethren, inasmuch as they alone, of all 
 the graduates of our Seminary, have been two years in Europe 
 to finish their education as expressly required by the tutorship 
 scheme. 
 
 As to the candidate for the traveling tutorship, you have first 
 to decide the question whether it would not be better to send for 
 the first time an older graduate of the Seminary and an ordained 
 minister of established character to Europe, so as to give^^more 
 dignity and efficiency to the enterprise. 
 
 After such words from the faculty, we are not surprised that 
 the Board of Visitors nominated for election by Synod, Wm. M. 
 Reily for teaching tutor and Benjamin Bausman for traveling 
 tutor. The feeling of the latter toward this action is recorded 
 in his diary for July 17, 1861: "Board of Visitors recommended 
 me to the foreign tutorship against my remonstrances. " 
 
CHURCH BOARDS 319 
 
 The Synod of Easton elected him to the travehng tutorship. 
 He declined to accept and thus escaped the kindly conspiracy of 
 his friends to make a theological professor out of him. At the 
 same time, it will be recalled, he resigned the editorship of the 
 Messenger. He had made up his mind that henceforth the 
 pastorate should be his primary work. 
 
 The tutorship scheme developed into the third professorship 
 in the Seminary, of which the beloved Dr. Gast became the first 
 incumbent, in 1873. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was a generous friend of the Seminary. His 
 name stands engraved on the tablet in the vestibule of the Li- 
 brary building as one of the eighteen contributors to its erection. 
 
 Three-fourths of the books in his library, about 1,500 volumes, 
 went by bequest to the Seminary. 
 
 His portrait hangs in the Seminary Reading Room and is the 
 gift of J. W. B. Bausman, Esq., his nephew. 
 
 Board of Trustees of Franklin and Marshall College — 1864-1870 
 
 John Bausman, the father of Dr. Bausman, was a trustee of 
 Franklin College from 1828 to 1851, and of Franklin and Marshall 
 from 1852 to his death in 1861. Jacob Bausman, his oldest 
 brother, was on the Board from 1853 to his death in 1894, and 
 from 1866 on was the treasurer. His son, J. W. B. Bausman, suc- 
 ceeded him both as trustee and as treasurer of the College and has 
 continued in that important office to the present. Dr. Baus- 
 man's uncle, Abraham Peters, was also trustee from 1853 to 
 1867. 
 
 It was on the eve of a great crisis in the history of the College 
 when Mr. Bausman became a member of the Board in 1864. 
 Important changes were soon to be effected and it was his lot to 
 have an active hand in them. Dr. Dubbs says of this period, 
 in his history of the College: 
 
 After the tercentenary celebration there were several years of 
 profound depression. As often happens after a special effort, 
 there were few gifts, and the friends of the institution were dis- 
 couraged. It seemed impossible to recover from the depression 
 induced by the war, and the number of students actually de- 
 creased, so that in 1866 there were but six graduates. The lat- 
 
320 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMaN 
 
 ter fact especially attracted much attention, and the Alumni 
 Association requested the Board to consider the state of the in- 
 stitution. 
 
 All were apparently agreed that something must be done; but 
 what it was to be no one seemed to know. It is surprising that 
 the College was not broken up by the troubles of this eventful 
 year. 
 
 On commencement day, July, 1865, at the annual Board meet- 
 ing a committee of five was appointed "to investigate the gen- 
 eral condition of the College .... and ascertain if possible, 
 the cause or causes for the decrease of the number of students." 
 
 Mr. Bausman was on this committee which reported to the 
 Board in January, 1866. The Board met several more times 
 during that year. There was not a little excitement among the 
 friends of the College, as will be gathered from the following 
 excerpts of letters which Prof. Higbee wrote to Bausman dur- 
 ing that winter: 
 
 I hear you are on the reconstruction committee. You have a 
 responsible position, I assure you, and I pray God you may be 
 wisely directed what to do. 
 
 Then follow suggestions, some of which were adopted. The 
 letter proceeds: 
 
 What are they thinking about at Lancaster? We hear noth- 
 ing here of this most important interest. We feel how much is 
 at stake and long to have light— but everything is so still. Is it 
 a calm before some great storm? I have confidence, of course, 
 in the Board of Trustees, but would prefer to know something 
 about their aims and methods of action. The paper has spoken 
 nothing; the committee has given us nothing; the Board of Trus- 
 tees has made no announcement; the Church knows nothing of 
 what has been done even. Have we no right to hear anything 
 save what we can get by private correspondence? Is the matter 
 too delicate for the public? Perhaps the point has not been 
 reached yet to make your action known; but this little by little, 
 leaking out and adding to rumor, hundred-tongued already, is 
 far worse than a fair, full statement of the proceedings. 
 
 Various suggestions were made by the investigation com- 
 mittee. There was not between professors and students "the 
 opportunity for mutual intercourse which formed a leading 
 
CHURCH BOARDS 321 
 
 feature of Marshall College." It was proposed that a large 
 building be erected, "so that faculty and students might live 
 under one roof." There should be taken "immediate steps to 
 establish a Preparatory School," such as was at old Marshall. 
 "The course in mathematics might be reduced in quantity, while 
 that in English literature and practical science could be en- 
 larged." "The faculty as a whole should be reorganized." 
 They should "revise the charter and reduce the number of 
 trustees," and thus make the Board more efficient. 
 
 Mr. Bausman, with Hon. John W. Killinger and Dr. Wm. 
 Mayburry were appointed a committee "to revise the course of 
 study with a view to improve it and also to reorganize the fac- 
 ulty." They reported to a meeting of the Board in May and 
 among other things suggested that "political philosophy, em- 
 bracing the law of nations," should be taught; that there be es- 
 tablished "at an early day a thorough scientific course of instruc- 
 tion similar to that provided in other colleges" issuing in the 
 degree of Ph. B.; "that the present organization of the faculty 
 be at an end, August 31st, and that the Board proceed to elect a 
 new faculty." 
 
 The carrying out of this last suggestion caused "much excited 
 discussion," as Bausman observed in his diary. A committee of 
 five was appointed to nominate the new faculty at another meet- 
 ing and Bausman was on this committee too. 
 
 Not a few of the suggestions made were "impracticable," as 
 Dr. Dubbs claims, and some were premature; but the outcome 
 of this careful study of the college situation was beneficial. The 
 interest of the Church was awakened in the College, which was 
 brought into closer relations with the Synod. Much needed 
 moneys were secured and the attendance of students increased. 
 The proposed changes in the curriculum pointed the way to 
 modifications in the course of study which came a score and 
 more of years later. 
 
 Just what definite part Mr. Bausman had in the activities of 
 the Board during 1865-1866, it is impossible to ascertain. Know- 
 ing the man as we do, we are quite sure some of the suggestions of 
 the investigation and revision committees did not originate with 
 21 
 
322 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAIJSMAN 
 
 him. We can be equally certain too, that he heartily approved 
 of bringing professors and students into closer touch, and that he 
 favored modernizing and making more practical the course of 
 study. 
 
 The Synod of York in October, 1866, elected the entire Board 
 of thirty trustees anew and Bausman was chosen for the term of 
 four years, at the expiration of which he positively refused to 
 consent to his reelection. During the last four years of his in- 
 cumbency, he served on the Committees of Instruction, and of 
 Discipline and Degrees. 
 
 The Advisory Council of the Alumni of Franklin and Marshall 
 College was constituted in 1902. At the first election, Dr. Baus- 
 man was chosen a member of the Council by a mail vote of the 
 Alumni. He remained a member of the Council until 1905. 
 Through his will, the College received $1,000 for the use of the 
 Library. 
 
 Board of Trustees of The Synod— 1 863-1867 
 
 The Trustees of Synod are the custodians of its material in- 
 terests. They serve for a period of five years and are not re- 
 elected. Mr. Bausman was pastor at Chambersburg and the 
 Synod met in his church when in 1862, amid the alarms of war, 
 he was chosen to membership in its Board of Trustees. The 
 term of ofiice began in January, 1863. He was the Board's 
 President during the five years of his membership on it. 
 
 Board of Trustees of The Society for Relief of Ministers and their 
 Widows— 1861-1876 
 
 The Society for Relief is the oldest charitable organization of 
 the Reformed Church in the United States. It was founded 
 before the separation from the Church in Holland, and was 
 known in the earlier years as The Widow's Fund. Its member- 
 ship is made up of ministers who are either annual or contribut- 
 ing members, or life members. The latter are made such by the 
 contribution of $65. The officers of the Society are elected by 
 the members thereof and not by the Synod. 
 
CHURCH BOARDS 323 
 
 The Rev. S. S. Miller, treasurer and solicitor of the Society, 
 gives the following facts: 
 
 Rev. B. Bausman became a member of the Society in 1859, 
 then known as "The Contributors to the Fund for the Relief of 
 disabled ministers and the widows of deceased ministers of the 
 German Reformed Church in the United States." In 1861, he 
 became a member of the Board of Trustees of the same. In 
 1863, he became the vice-president and continued as such until 
 1876. He was a life member from 1865. He was also the larg- 
 est one of the contributors by his congregation and personally, 
 to the funds of the Society. He took a deep interest in its work 
 by regularly taking offerings for the same, and by will bequeathed 
 $1,000, which was added to the invested funds and bears an 
 interest of $60 per year for all time to come. Personally, I can 
 say there was no warmer friend of the Society than Dr. Baus- 
 man in the Church. 
 
 When Mr. Bausman became a member of the Board, the in- 
 vested funds were only a few thousands of dollars; now they are 
 over $80,000. An important change in the charter was made 
 when he was an official. It is thus expressed in a recent report: 
 
 From the organization of this Society until 1865, limited by 
 the terms of the charter, relief was given only to the widows and 
 families of deceased ministers in straitened circumstances. By 
 an act of the Pennsylvania Legislature the powers of the Society 
 were so increased and extended as to enable it to give relief to: 
 
 (a) Disabled and superannuated ministers who are members 
 of the Society. 
 
 (b) Widows and families of deceased ministers, though not 
 members of the Society. 
 
 Sunday School Board— 1863-1872 
 
 At the first meeting of the General Synod in Pittsburg in 1863, 
 it was decided "to constitute the Board of Sunday School Asso- 
 ciation. " Eight persons were chosen to serve on it and Bausman 
 was one. He was reelected at the two subsequent triennial 
 meetings of the General Synod. At the General Synod of 1875, 
 the Sunday School Board was discontinued for the following 
 reasons as then presented: 
 
 In the present condition of affairs in the Church, it was found 
 that nothing practically could be undertaken with any reason- 
 
324 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 able hope of success. Whatever we may be able to do in the 
 Sunday-school work, for the present, can perhaps be accomplished 
 by the local operations already engaged in this interest of the 
 Church. 
 
 When in 1872 Dr. Bausman retired from this Board, through 
 which it was then impossible to do anything for the Church, he 
 quietly opened in his little Guardian a Sunday School Drawer, 
 which gave fresh hints and illustrative helps for the Sunday- 
 school every month. The regular Sunday School Department, 
 with lesson comments, was introduced a few years later. The 
 present Sunday School Board of the Reformed Church was or- 
 ganized in 1887. 
 
 It was the Liturgical Controversy which made it impossible 
 for the first Sunday School Board to accomplish anything. Mr. 
 Bausman was present at a number of the Board meetings. One 
 of the several matters committed to the Board's supervision by 
 the General Synod in its original instructions was the publish- 
 ing of Sunday-school hymn- and service-books, a matter which 
 touched at once the very core of the Controversy. The Board 
 had on it men with radically different views on this subject, 
 hence agreement was impossible. 
 
 The following extracts from a letter written by Dr. Bom- 
 berger a few days after a meeting of the Board in September, 
 1866, give a glimpse of the situation: 
 
 Rev. B. Bausman. 
 
 My dear Brother: 
 
 Although this is Saturday morning and various interruptions 
 through the week have left special duties for to-morrow unpro- 
 vided for, I believe it will be one of the best means of preparing 
 my mind and heart for work to devote a half hour to answering 
 your very kind and fraternal letter received yesterday. 
 
 Let me begin by saying that I have not one hard thought in 
 regard to anything you said or did during the meeting of our 
 Board. For the unpleasant proposition made Wednesday morn- 
 ing, I did not think you responsible. If my perception of the 
 matter was not erroneous, you had in an offhand way simply 
 
 suggested the matter to Rev. and it was his anxiety to 
 
 turn the suggestion to account in favor of his own previously 
 fixed views which led him to draw it out of you before the Board. 
 Your reluctance to make it formally, stood in very obvious con- 
 
CHURCH BOARDS 325 
 
 trast with his desire to have it brought forward. He desired 
 that the collection of hymns, etc., which was before the Board 
 should be set aside and that Dr. Harbaugh's book should be pre- 
 sented to the General Synod with an implied recommendation, 
 that with the advantage of such recommendation it might be 
 more readily adopted. This statement is made so explicitly 
 to let you see not only that I was not pained by your participa- 
 tion in the matter, but that, furthermore, I saw no reason for 
 finding fault with what you did. 
 
 But now, my dear Brother Bausman, let me speak frankly in 
 regard to the more general subject connected with our recent 
 deliberations as a Sunday School Board. 
 
 Everything that was said by Rev. unfavorably to our 
 
 going forward with the work sprang directly out of sympathy with 
 the new theology and cultus, and from vigilant desire to protect and 
 subserve the interests of both. The interests of the ritualistic 
 
 scheme were inseparably involved in the case. Rev. 's 
 
 course was dictated by his zeal for the ultraritualistic move- 
 ment, and his anxiety to have nothing done which might be in 
 the least degree prejudicial to it — not even the favoring of a 
 collection of Sunday-school hymns which he confessed to be 
 much better for its purpose than Dr. Harbaugh's. 
 
 It was the discovery of this spirit which pained by chafing me. 
 Must, I thought, every agency, effort, movement of the Church 
 be forced into subserviency to these ultraritualistic innovations? 
 Is everything, no matter how true to the historical character and 
 traditions of the German Reformed Church, to be ostracized, 
 utterly cast out, so that these attempts at revolutionizing our 
 character and subverting our institutions may triumph? They 
 have had the Theological Seminary, the College, the Liturgical 
 Committee in their power — and they are wielding that power 
 their own way. Shall our Sunday School Board become an 
 engine in their hands for the same end? 
 
 Dr. Bausman was far from agreeing with all that Dr. Bom- 
 berger said and did ; but he cultivated the friendship of all persons 
 of whatever party in the Church. He would have gladly made 
 concessions in unessentials in order to unite in practical work. 
 The time was, however, not yet ripe for this. 
 
 The Board of Home Missions— 1853-1856; 1857-1859; 1866-1872 
 
 At the meeting of the first Synod after Mr. Bausman's ordina- 
 tion, he was elected to what was then called the Board of Do- 
 mestic Missions. This Board was then constituted by the elec 
 
326 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 tion of two ministers from each Classis, and several ministers 
 and elders "from the Church in general." He was chosen to 
 represent the old Susquehanna Classis, the three successive years 
 before he went to Europe. After his return, he was chosen by 
 the Synods of 1857 and 1858 to represent the newly constituted 
 West Susquehanna Classis of which Lewisburg was a part. These 
 were the days of small things. The annual missionary income 
 of the old Synod for home purposes never went beyond a few 
 thousand dollars. It was the cause which was considered "the 
 great interest of the German Reformed Church" at that time, 
 and there was a "growing consciousness of her mission in this 
 direction." Mr. Bausman's election to this important Church 
 Board at the very beginning of his ministry was a tribute to his 
 recognized enthusiasm for the cause, which never abated through- 
 out his long service in the Church. 
 
 When the General Synod convened in 1863, it was planned 
 that the Home Missionary Boards of both Synods should be 
 dissolved and that the missionary interests of the whole Church 
 should be under the care of General Synod's Board. The dis- 
 solution of the district Synodical Boards was in due time effected 
 and in November, 1865, their missions and assets were trans- 
 ferred to the General Board, to which Mr. Bausman was elected 
 in 1866. He served for six years. 
 
 The effect of the consolidation was beneficial. The broader 
 outlook and larger vision inspired the Church and the income 
 in money and the number of missions, for the year 1866, were 
 twice as large as those of both Synods three years previous. Had 
 not the storm of bitter Controversy broken over the denomina- 
 tion just then, we have reason to think that the missionary prog- 
 ress of the Church would have been much greater the next score 
 of years. Mr. Bausman became President of the Board in De- 
 cember, 1869. His amicable attitude in the Controversy led the 
 Church to look to him as a wise leader of a great interest which 
 should command the confidence and support of contending fac- 
 tions. It was a delicate and difficult situation, and the work was 
 not of his choosing; but he loved his Church and he had a sharp 
 sense of responsibility. 
 
 Immediately after becoming President of the Board he made 
 
CHURCH BOARDS / 327 
 
 a statement of the Board's indebtedness, the nature and condi- 
 tion of the field, and the plans by which the work could be ef- 
 ficiently done. It exhibits a masterful, grasp of the situation 
 and fine judgment as to the methods which would accomplish 
 the task. 
 
 Some of the things he said will interest us: 
 
 This Board is the servant and missionary organ of a baptized 
 membership of at least 250,000 souls. These are scattered over 
 twenty-one States, and are rapidly spreading into other States 
 of the Union. Among so large a population, scattered over so 
 large a territory, the missionary work can not possibly be prose- 
 cuted with the least degree of success, without a thorough and 
 well-systematized organization. First, we have this Board of the 
 General Synod, the highest home missionary organization of 
 the Reformed Church in the United States. This in itself will 
 be comparatively powerless, unless the organization can be made 
 to run through our church life down to the lowest judicatory. 
 
 To secure this we recommend the following plan: Let each 
 district Synod organize a missionary society auxiliary to the 
 General Board, through which it may prosecute this work within 
 its bounds. In like manner, let every Classis in the Church, at 
 as early a date as possible, organize a Classical Missionary So- 
 ciety, to cultivate missionary fields and develop missionary sym- 
 pathy and zeal within its own bounds. Let every Classis be 
 formed into two or more missionary districts, of which a com- 
 mittee of at least three members shall have charge. Let each 
 district committee of the Classis be requested to aid the pastors 
 within its jurisdiction to organize missionary societies in their 
 congregations, or instead thereof, introduce the apostolic plan 
 of benevolence, and give all their Sunday collections as sacred 
 offerings to the cause of Christ. Thus the General Board will 
 be able to reach and control the whole membership of the 
 Church, down through the District Synods, Classes, Classical 
 Missionary Committees, Consistories, to the members of the con- 
 gregations. 
 
 Every organization of the lower bodies must be subordinate to 
 the one next above it, and all to the General Board; the congre- 
 gation to the Classis, the Classis to the District Synod, and this 
 again to the General Synod through its General Board of Mis- 
 sions. Without this, the latter body cannot possibly be master 
 of its situation; cannot oversee and control the field assigned it. 
 
 Other plans and policies outlined in the article are alluded to 
 
328 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 in the following extracts from letters which passed between Rust 
 and Bausman. 
 
 Tiffin, January 24, 1870. 
 Dear Benjamin: 
 
 Give me your right hand, and let us have a good, hearty shak- 
 ing as of old. 
 
 Let me congratulate you on your new position in the Mis- 
 sion Board. It is a great and responsible as well as most difficult 
 position. May the Lord bless you with wisdom and power, and 
 thus enable you to realize the expectations of the Church. I was 
 pleased with your first address in the Messenger. Hope you will 
 carry out the rules there laid down, because I know from ob- 
 servation that much money has been spent in vain. It is worse 
 than useless to support men that have no talent for missionary 
 labor, and of such there are not a few, and it is just as useless to 
 spend money in unpromising fields. An efficient Superintendent, 
 with plenary power, to station and to remove missionaries, would 
 be a good thing. We have a number of young men here who 
 would make excellent missionaries, but most of them have already 
 invitations and calls to regular charges. 
 
 Reading, January 31, 1870. 
 Thank you for your kind wishes in my missionary relations. 
 I was pushed in against my earnest remonstrance. I have too 
 much other work to do justice to this. Will try my best along 
 with the other brethren in the Board to get matters into a better 
 and more prosperous shape. If the Church will rally, by God's 
 help it can be done. If she will not, I shall ere long withdraw 
 from the position. We have held two meetings, and are busily 
 engaged in sifting our missionary fields, reducing urmecessarily 
 large appropriations, stopping those of fields which will never 
 come to much, and meanwhile seek out a small number of prom- 
 ising central missions where permanent and large results can be 
 expected. We have appointed Dr. Stern Missionary Super- 
 intendent for the North West Synod, and F. K. Levan for the 
 Pittsburg Synod. The Superintendents for the other Sjoiods 
 have not yet been appointed. These can personally visit sta- 
 tions in their respective districts, at a comparatively small ex- 
 pense. 
 
 Dr. Bausman specially emphasized, in his missionary policy, 
 work among the Germans and church extension in the West. 
 He said: "It is wrong that a church of German origin and 
 cultus should allow Enghsh churches to outrun it in missionary 
 
CHURCH BOARDS 329 
 
 work among the vast German population of our country." 
 He agreed with the sentiment of the Western Missionary Super- 
 intendent, Dr. Max Stern: "If we do not wake up, we must give 
 up the West." 
 
 Dr. Bausman found it impossible to carry out his plans satis- 
 factorily. Circumstances forbade it. In his report to General 
 Synod closing his presidency of the Board in December, 1872, 
 he said: 
 
 The unsettled state of the Church, the exciting and irritating 
 controversies agitating her, have seriously interfered with this 
 part of our church work. Although striving to be just and 
 impartial to all interests and parties concerned, we regret to re- 
 port that we have not received the confidence of the en- 
 tire Church. From the start, some of the Synods in a measure 
 refused to cooperate with the General Board, claiming the priv- 
 ilege to disburse their own funds and manage their own mis- 
 sions, regardless of its authority. 
 
 His own friend. Dr. Jeremiah H. Good, wrote frequently in 
 complaint of the Board's actions as in the following: 
 
 While the Church believes that you, individually, are above 
 it, yet evidence accumulates that there are others in the Mis- 
 sion Board and outside, who are endeavoring to use it for party 
 purposes. I hope you will use your influence to prevent this, 
 else it will certainly lead to ulterior measures. What I say here 
 is not based merely on rumors, but on documentary evidence 
 from first hands. 
 
 Writing to a friend regarding other strictures from the West, 
 Dr. Bausman said: 
 
 I most firmly hold that article to speak what is not true. 
 
 So far as possible, we have studiously kept the suspicions and 
 dissatisfaction of eastern members of the Board out of the 
 papers. Now the Board is assailed from the other side. With 
 what I have tried to do and with my intentions, I confess that 
 such an attack wounds me to the quick, and I shall certainly not 
 remain in a position where it can be often repeated longer than 
 is necessary. 
 
 It will be seen that Dr. Bausman discontinued serving on all 
 three of the General Boards with the General Synod of 1872. 
 
330 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Manifestly for one and the same reason. His soul detested the 
 very atmosphere of strife. 
 
 Missionary work went on in spite of internal contentions, but 
 a new era was in store for the cause after the beginning of the 
 Peace Movement. Dr. Charles E. Schaeffer, our present Mis- 
 sionary Superintendent, said recently: "The Church is just now 
 beginning to see and do what Dr. Bausman saw and tried to do 
 forty years ago." 
 
 Dr. Bausman's will favored the Home Board to the extent 
 of $7,000. 
 
 The Board of Foreign Missions— 1863-1872; 1878-1893 
 
 It was at the meeting of the Synod of Carlisle, in October, 
 1863, on the eve of Mr. Bausman's coming to Reading, that he 
 was elected to the Board of Foreign Missions, of which he became 
 the corresponding secretary. In November, 1863, the first 
 meeting of General Synod was held and this action was taken: 
 
 That the Board of Foreign Missions, as recently constituted 
 by the Synod at Carlisle, be and is hereby constituted the Board 
 of this General Synod. 
 
 That this Board be enlarged by three ministers and two elders 
 from the Western Synod. 
 
 He was elected to the same position at the two subsequent 
 triennial meetings of the General Synod, thus serving until 1872. 
 
 The Board of Foreign Missions was originally organized by the 
 old "Synod of the German Reformed Church in the United 
 States," in 1838. Its contributions to the cause went to the 
 American or Congregationalist Board and its beneficiary was 
 Dr. Benjamin Schneider, who labored in the Turkish Empire. 
 This arrangement continued until 1865, and during this period 
 of about a quarter of a century $28,000 was contributed to the 
 cause. 
 
 Dr. Clement Z. Weiser, President of the Foreign Board in 
 1890, says there was a "decline of missionary zeal from 1865 to 
 1878, caused by our withdrawing from the American Board, by 
 the want of a missionary of our own, by the increase of duties 
 in the home field, and by an unfortunate Church Controversy." 
 
CHURCH BOARDS 331 
 
 The purpose of the Church's withdrawal of aid from the Amer- 
 ican Board was, as Dr. Thomas G. Apple reported in 1866, "only 
 that it might institute and carry on its foreign missionary opera- 
 tions under its own management and under its own responsi- 
 bility." 
 
 Meantime, there was great difference of opinion as to where 
 in the non-Christian world the Reformed Church should locate 
 her mission. At the General Synod of 1869, there came an 
 overture from the Foreign Board of the Reformed Church in 
 America "to cooperate with them in their foreign mission work." 
 Mr. Bausman was chairman of a special committee to prepare 
 action on this overture, and in his report, we see manifest his 
 conviction of the distinct mission of his own Church among the 
 denominations. Synod approved the report, that it "has with 
 pleasure heard the invitation, but that we are not prepared to 
 accept it, that the Board of Foreign Missions of this Synod be 
 instructed to select and take charge of a suitable field for foreign 
 missionary work at as early a day as possible. " 
 
 Another triennium passed and no field was determined upon. 
 Dr. Bausman's last activity in this first period of service on the 
 Foreign Board was to carry out the Board's instructions "to 
 press upon the General Synod, meeting in Cincinnati, Novem- 
 ber 27, 1872, the importance and necessity of now doing some- 
 thing definitely in the foreign mission field." 
 
 In 1873, Japan was determined on as the field for the Reformed 
 Church; but no missionary was secured and commissioned until 
 five years thereafter. Meanwhile, contributions were sent by 
 the Board through the German Evangelical Missionary Society 
 to the Revs. Oscar Lohr and Jacob Hauser laboring in India and 
 to the Board of the Dutch Reformed Church. Work was also 
 begun among the Winnebago Indians. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was again elected to the Foreign Board in 1878, 
 at the General Synod made notable by the Peace Movement, 
 and he served until 1893. 
 
 It was Dr. Bausman's privilege to have part in the election of 
 the Reformed Church's first missionary to Japan, the Rev. A. 
 D. Gring, in September, 1878, and to participate officially in the 
 incorporation of the Board, 
 
332 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 During the fifteen years of this second period of service on the 
 Foreign Board nine missionaries were chosen and sent, and he 
 saw the Church's contributions to the cause rise to over $25,000 
 a year. The early years of this enterprise were full of perplex- 
 ing problems and there were features of unusual annoyance; 
 but Dr. Bausman wrought with men who builded well in the 
 foundation work of the really great missionary institutions at 
 Sendai, Japan. 
 
 Dr. D. B. Schneder, the president of North Japan College, who 
 with his wife was commissioned to the foreign field in 1887, 
 writes of Dr. Bausman: 
 
 I think it was he that turned the scale in favor of my appoint- 
 ment as a missionary. The Board was not sure whether any 
 one could be sent at that time. When Mrs. Schneder and I 
 were about to start for Japan the second time a farewell meet- 
 ing was held in the Sunday-school room of St. Paul's. We were 
 on the platform, and at the conclusion he prayed for us a prayer 
 we have not forgotten, and then he lifted his hands over us and 
 gave us his benediction. That hallowing scene abides with us 
 and we are thankful. 
 
 Dr. Bausman and his church were always most liberal sup- 
 porters of the foreign missionary cause. St. Paul's gave a son 
 to the foreign field, the Rev. Henry K. Miller. In Dr. Bausman's 
 will $5,000 was designated for the Foreign Board. 
 
 The high test of a pastor's work is the spirit which remains 
 with his people after he is gone. No finer tribute can be paid to 
 the thoroughness with which Dr. Bausman indoctrinated and im- 
 bued his people with essential Christianity and the missionary 
 purpose than the splendid response of St. Paul's Church to the 
 call of the Laymen's Missionary Movement. How glad it would 
 have made his heart had he lived to see it. St. Paul's congregation 
 is now contributing to foreign missions alone, $100 every month. 
 The annual contributions of the congregation to benevolence 
 as a rule exceed those to ordinary congregational purposes. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 ^'"r\R. BAUSMAN was a gentleman, every inch a man; yes, he 
 ^^ was a good man. " In these words Father Borneman, the 
 distinguished Monsignor of the Roman Catholic Church in 
 Reading, characterizes him. Father Borneman came to Read- 
 ing in 1867 and has done a great work for his Church. Catholic 
 and Protestant differ radically on many things, but these two 
 great leaders had the highest regard each for the other. The 
 above judgment on Dr. Bausman is expressed by many another 
 in words quite similar. The gentleness, kindliness and human 
 sympathy of the man are the qualities which have immediately 
 impressed the people who came to know him. However, no one 
 gauged him at all rightly if he did not recognize the virile force- 
 fulness of his character. This was fundamental. He was first 
 of all a man of ideals and convictions which were finely embodied 
 in his full-orbed personality. 
 
 When we look more closely into Dr. Bausman's personal con- 
 stitution, we find his most striking characteristic in an exquisite 
 sensitiveness. As Dr. Charles E. Creitz puts it: "The outside 
 world had easy access to his soul. The trees spoke to him. The 
 rivers sang to him. A beautiful sunset flooded his soul. A kind- 
 ness touched him profoundly. A thrust hurt him to the quick." 
 Even as Dr. Bausman himself on one occasion wrote, "Body 
 and spirit crushed by an unkind remark." 
 
 This delicate impressibility was fortunately coupled with a 
 strong will with which to realize his passion for righteousness 
 and holiness, otherwise he would have slunk into seclusion and 
 become an inefficient solitary. God's beautiful world was of 
 interest to him at every point and everything human appealed 
 to him. It was easy for him to sympathize with all classes and 
 
334 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 conditions of men. This made him liable to keen pain at the sins 
 and sufferings of people, but was the verj'- quality which enabled 
 him to help them. He recognized and honored truth and vir- 
 tue wherever he saw them. It was, therefore, impossible for 
 him to be a partisan. Dr. Bausman was "a comprehensive 
 character," who as Bushnell says, "is the only really great char- 
 acter possible among men." 
 
 Reared in the country, his delight in it never left him. Al- 
 ready in his student days he exclaimed on a visit to Baltimore: 
 "I cannot bear these crowded cities where a person has hardly 
 room to breathe." Spring and summer, fall and winter always 
 had a message for him which found expression in articles and 
 sermons. He knew the birds and trees. He was passionately 
 fond of flowers ; but was readily sickened by too rich a fragrance 
 when bouquets were confined in home or church. He had a 
 favorite flower. He wrote of it for the Guardian in one of his 
 earliest articles: 
 
 It is commonly called mignonette, which being interpreted, 
 means "a little darling." I prefer the English name, since it is 
 useful and pleasant to speak in a known tongue. No word in 
 the language could so well express my warm affection for this 
 plant, as that of "a little darling." It is like a sacred vase, the 
 depository of sweet-scented memories of the past. It is very 
 modest and unpretending, but I am partial to modesty. 
 
 I have no ill feelings toward any of its rivals. Not that I love 
 them less, but this more. And my present zeal has been prompted 
 by a most benevolent motive — a desire to secure a suitable re- 
 ward for humble worth. 
 
 Like Phillips Brooks, Dr. Bausman was acutely affected by the 
 weather. A bright day exhilarated him and he could work with 
 facility and power; a dark day beclouded his spirit and clogged 
 the wheels of thought. Notes like these we find in the diary: 
 "Heavily clouded, dreary day which depressed me." Of a Sun- 
 day: "Felt poorly prepared. Cloudy, rainy weather, nearly 
 the whole of last week unfitted me for clear-headed study. 
 The Lord helped me." Mrs. Yundt tells how she came into 
 his study one gloomy day when he was laboring at his desk, 
 and he exclaimed with eager gladness on seeing her: "You're 
 a sunbeam to me this morning." 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 335 
 
 We can easily understand how a nature so delicately wrought 
 would be readily annoyed by the discords of life. If he sat in the 
 pew, a failure to get the text clearly from the preacher would 
 disturb him and seriously mar the sermon. An unaccustomed 
 height or arrangement of a pulpit was likewise a disturbing cir- 
 cumstance. His aversion to appearing in strange pulpits and 
 before congregations other than his own grew upon him with 
 the years. He "tried to be excused from speaking but had to 
 yield," at the funeral of his warm old friend, Dr. Higbee, in 
 1889. All who heard him will probably very well remember 
 the effectiveness with which he spoke. He commented on the 
 event, "I pray God I may not sin by shrinking from duties of 
 this kind." 
 
 An atmosphere of sympathy and confidence opened the foun- 
 tains of his speech. The presence of unbelievers or unsympa- 
 thetic critics in his audience were an immediate check to his 
 eloquence. He was never more at home than in a small gather- 
 ing of congenial spirits. In a large social company in which were 
 people whom he did not know, he was shy, unresponsive and 
 awkward. 
 
 Dr. Stahr tells of a plan in Reading to organize a society for 
 the discussion of general themes of human interest, analogous 
 to the Cliosophic Society of Lancaster. Dr. Bausman was 
 naturally looked to for leadership in such a project. He would 
 have no part in it, however, nor would he join such a society, 
 because he was quite sure there would be expressions of opinion 
 which would jar his sensitive. Christian spirit and make him 
 very uncomfortable. This attitude had in it nothing of narrow- 
 mindedness. He was not a bigot. He was glad to acknowledge 
 the good in persons of any or of no behef . For his own peace of 
 mind, however, he must simply avoid being sponsor for or sanc- 
 tioning in any way an organization in which ideas at variance 
 with such as he regarded vital were sure to be expressed. 
 
 While Dr. Bausman's feelings would be readily injured through 
 things said and done by others, he suffered far more keenly when 
 he himself, even inadvertently, might hurt the feelings of another. 
 His exceptional tact guarded him wonderfully from giving of- 
 fense, but it was impossible for an aggressive preacher and leader 
 
336 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 always to avoid it. One Sunday morning something happened 
 and he wrote the following the same evening in his diary: 
 
 In great mental distress this P. M., because told that I had hurt 
 the feelings of a lady; although innocent, yet in agony. Repeat- 
 edly wrestled with God on my knees. After services this even- 
 ing, her husband told me it was all right. Felt so thankful. 
 
 On one occasion he exchanged the names of two young men in 
 baptizing them and rectified the mistake soon thereafter by re- 
 baptizing them. His feelings in the interval are thus expressed : 
 
 One of the catechumens troubled because I gave him the wrong 
 name in baptism. I suffered exceedingly in bodily and mental 
 depression between Sunday-school and P. M. church. O what 
 anguish! It drove me very close to God, so that He gave me 
 great liberty in the evening sermon and after that more comfort 
 in body and mind. 
 
 He once admonished a disorderly class before the Sunday- 
 school, and said: "It gave me such a nervous shock, that I was 
 in great mental agony for a few hours. " Painful as such a 
 duty might be he nevertheless would not refrain from doing it. 
 
 It is the custom in Reading to publish in the newspapers the 
 names of those confirmed from time to time in the various 
 churches. No doubt, the primary reason for this practice is the 
 enterprise of the newspapers. The ministers generally feel, how- 
 ever, that there is moral value for the converts in having it 
 widely known when they vow their allegiance to Christ and the 
 Church in confirmation. Dr. Bausman always stoutly refused 
 to give the names of his catechumens to the reporters, even 
 though they would sometimes circumvent him and secure the 
 names from another source. His motive and judgment mani- 
 festly were that in that most solemn transaction when a soul 
 confesses Christ and gives itself to God, there is too much sacred- 
 ness to have the fact bandied about in the secular papers. So 
 too, some of the parties concerned might shrink from such pub- 
 licity. Moreover, in publishing these names there might be 
 manifest a strain of pride and selfishness on the part of the 
 minister in making public his own successes. This was loathing 
 to his soul. He realized the importance of having the facts of 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 337 
 
 congregational life published in the church papers, for the in- 
 terest and inspiration of the denomination. We recall how he 
 urged this when editor of the Messenger, and when editor of the 
 Hausfreund. Yet, he would sometimes hint at the indelicacy 
 of publishing certain congregational news in the church paper 
 because one might be "blowing his own horn." 
 
 Those familiar with Dr. Bausman's writing and speaking 
 know very well that his strength in both came from a certain 
 vividness of observation and keenness of experience, whence 
 followed his perennial freshness of expression. Yet, as one looks 
 more carefully into his writings throughout his life, he is impressed 
 with the author's eagerness to keep himself in the back ground. 
 We will recall the various pen-names under which he wrote in 
 his earlier years and how he tried to conceal his identity on the 
 editorial page. Even in the Guardian, where all articles were 
 signed, assumed names were given to characters which were 
 none other than himself. Thus, his native modesty and the 
 grace of humility showed themselves. When he was eighty 
 years old, he preached a sermon on "A Page from the Life of a 
 Patriarch" and wrote of it: 
 
 I tried to draw some lessons from the life of Jacob, without 
 saying much about myself. In the latter, I failed to my dis- 
 comfort. This feeling of an unwise reference to myself produced 
 a distressing reaction upon my nerves during the afternoon. 
 This evening I again felt calm and comfortable. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's feelings were so sharp that it was impossible 
 for him to disguise them. Through and through, he was as 
 transparent and true as a limpid pool. When pleased he was 
 radiant as the morning sim. His efforts at veiling his displeasure 
 were poorly successful. He would be grieved to think that 
 another would be made uncomfortable through his distress, but 
 this could not always be avoided. He confessed freely to have 
 been a very "uncompanionable man," when seasick on the 
 Mediterranean on his way to the Holy Land. We hope it gave 
 hm no compunction. He said: "I did not learn to know the 
 young merchant from Hamburg in the stateroom with myself 
 until we had reached Cairo." 
 22 
 
338 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 When there were moral grounds for his displeasure, it was 
 a phase of his power and influence that he was emphatically 
 true to his feelings. During his early years in Reading he at- 
 tended an organ dedication at a country church, preaching in 
 the morning and intending to remain also for the services of the 
 afternoon. There was assembled "a. great crowd, yet the 
 church was not full. The mass outside with the hucksters. 
 Felt much annoyed at it. Worse this P. M.; left immediately." 
 
 Dr. Bausman had in his nature a quality which we may call 
 openness. Of this Dr. Creitz says: 
 
 He had nothing to conceal. In fact, he was always frank. 
 His inner life was reflected in his outward manner. He could be 
 seen and read of all men. Of many people, we are not sure. They 
 look all right, and yet we don't quite trust them. This was 
 never true of Dr. Bausman. 
 
 This same ingenuousness is shown in his disposition to tears, 
 as we see so often in his life story. The core of Dr. Bausman's 
 nature was his tender heart. Every perception and experience 
 were at once suffused in its genial warmth. The reaction, whether 
 of keen pleasure or sorrow, or of holy memory would come in 
 tears. He realized the promise of the Psalmist, "They that sow 
 in tears shall reap in joy." How often do we find expressions 
 like these: "Tears were the only relief;" "could weep, then felt 
 better." In this he was like a child. 
 
 His fondness for children has been noted. Nothing pleased 
 him more than when a little child would stop him on the street 
 and take hold of his "big, bony hand." He indeed became more 
 childlike with passing years. He had a mother's tenderness, 
 and a precision of instinct which is the more characteristic of 
 women. 
 
 "The more numerous and repugnant the extremes of character 
 excepting those which are sinful, you are able to unite in one 
 comprehensive and harmonious whole, the more finished and com- 
 plete your character will be." These words of Horace Bushnell 
 are strikingly illustrated in various, apparently contradictory 
 phases of Dr. Bausman's character. 
 
 There was a native shyness and timidity in him and yet a fine 
 fearlessness and noble courage when duty called. This was 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 339 
 
 manifest in both the physical and the moral realms. He had 
 real adventures in his travels, particularly in Palestine, when 
 he climbed to dangerous heights on Sinai and when he was in 
 imminent "perils of robbers." He was quick to discern danger. 
 He was averse to riding in an automobile and could be prevailed 
 on to do so but once. It was not easy for him to antagonize 
 people and incur their enmity or even to go against the wishes 
 of friends. Yet he knew how to say "no" and never hesitated 
 when he felt he should. We will recall his experiences while edi- 
 tor of the Messenger, when in the Liturgical Controversy he had 
 to close the columns even to his best friends because they would 
 not refrain from personalities. Some people never forgave him 
 for certain things which he was obliged to do in connection with 
 the old graveyard when he was pastor of the First Church in 
 Reading. His fearless preaching won the admiration of those 
 who honor a brave man. He was not a fanatical temperance 
 man. He would not hesitate to take liquors for medicinal uses; 
 but his temperance sermons were powerful. The standard 
 among church members regarding the use of liquors, and regard- 
 ing the Hquor traffic is none too high in Eastern Pennsylvania. 
 A minister who takes high positive ground will be made to feel it. 
 To do this now is much easier than forty years ago; but Dr. 
 Bausman did not hesitate and, of course, he suffered the conse- 
 quences. In the spring of 1889 he had "a sermon on Prohibi- 
 tion to be voted on, June 18th. Tried to be courteous and kind 
 yet decided, " he wrote in his diary. 
 
 In the Hausfreund particularly, he assailed in language not to 
 be mistaken the social immoralities amongst the young people 
 of its constituency. An evil-minded man would hardly persist 
 in reciting foul or questionable stories in Dr. Bausman's presence, 
 for he would be sure to feel his auditor's disapproval. Such a 
 rebuke, in the mind of one minister of the Reformed Church, is 
 associated with his seeing Dr. Bausman for the first time at a 
 General Synod meeting over forty years ago. This minister was 
 then a young man and Dr. Bausman in company with a group 
 of delegates was pointed out to him. As he drew near to the 
 group one of their number told an off-color joke which Dr. Baus- 
 man with emphatic disgust immediately declared was "a naughty 
 story." 
 
340 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Some people will still recall what was considered an unusually 
 courageous utterance in his sermon on the death of Lincoln. 
 FeeUng ran high with indignation against any slightest criticism 
 on word or deed of the martyred President. After a glowing 
 tribute to the statesman who solved the "gigantic problems 
 thrust upon him, sufhcient to baffle the greatest genius that his- 
 tory furnishes," and a fine appreciation of Lincoln's character, 
 Dr. Bausman said : 
 
 He was a plain outspoken man. Truth and fairness demand of 
 me, as a religious teacher, to be the same. I deeply regret one 
 feature of this assassination. If heaven must permit the murder, 
 I had rather it would not have happened in the theatre, and least 
 of all in the theatre on that solemn night, when the whole Christian 
 world commemorated the bitter passion of the world's Redeemer. 
 This gives the keener edge to our sorrow. May God prevent this 
 circumstance from inflicting a damage upon the morals of the 
 nation. 
 
 Dr. Bausman could say and do things which many persons 
 would not even dare to attempt, because people believed his 
 motives were always pure. Few men knew him so well as Mr. 
 Daniel Miller, who was in almost daily association with him for 
 about forty years. Mr. Miller says: 
 
 Dr. Bausman was a sincere man. This was the universal 
 impression of the community. Everybody regarded him as a 
 true man of God. No matter how people may have differed from 
 him, no one ever questioned his honesty of purpose. It is safe to 
 say that no man in our city ever enjoyed this distinction to a 
 greater degree than he. There is no doubt that it was this 
 characteristic which gave him such a firm hold upon the people. 
 
 Another leading member of Dr. Bausman's church for many 
 years says, "He was the sincerest man I ever knew." 
 
 An incident showing his integrity in a trying situation in one 
 of his pastorates is alluded to in the following diary note: 
 
 Had a special meeting of the Consistory after church this P. M. 
 The most members wish to let our bonds in the Savings Bank be 
 sold at auction, possibly to the loss of depositors. I protested 
 against it. Felt so much wounded that it threw me into a kind 
 of tremor. Withdrew before the adjournment. Oh my God, save 
 us from doing this wrong! 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 341 
 
 He said to one of his members regarding the same matter, "I'll 
 be pastor of no fifty cent church. Dollar for dollar. I'll rather 
 pay the entire $5,000 myself." 
 
 A few years before Dr. Bausman's death the Ministerial As- 
 sociation of Reading made itself responsible for the money need- 
 ful in order that the Law and Order Society might prosecute 
 certain persistent lawbreakers in the city. The Society pro- 
 ceeded with prosecutions which entailed a greater expenditure 
 of money than was anticipated. There remained a debt which 
 was reduced from time to time by the contributions of some of 
 the churches ; but for several years a few hundred dollars stood 
 in obligations against the Association. St. Paul's had more than 
 done its part. Dr. Bausman was not even a prime mover in 
 the action which made the Ministerial Association financially re- 
 sponsible for the Law and Order Society's undertaking. This 
 situation, however, worried him. He would say at nearly every 
 meeting: 
 
 Brethren, how about this debt from the Law and Order League? 
 Come, let us pay it off. It looks bad to have it standing so long. 
 Some of our churches have already given toward it; but let us all 
 give again and wipe it out. 
 
 His persistent prodding brought the desired result in due time. 
 How finely keen was his sense of individual responsibility in this 
 corporate obligation! His consciousness of duty was not satis- 
 fied even though his church had paid more than its pro rata share. 
 How needful is a spirit like this in the interwoven, complicated 
 relationships of modern business and Ufe. 
 
 We do not believe any pure-motived man ever intimated that 
 any action with which Dr. Bausman had to do was in the slight- 
 est way "shady." His conscience was too remorseless to per- 
 mit even the appearance of evil. He had such penetratmg 
 knowledge of human nature and such far-seeing moral discern- 
 ment that he was not liable to become entangled in any com- 
 promising situation. His faith in tried men was well-nigh ab- 
 solute and was a secret of his leadership. He was in no sense of 
 a suspicious nature, yet he was quick to discern a lurking trick 
 or the possibility of moral embarrassment. He had a decided 
 
342 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 attitude against irresponsible agents of far-away religious causes, 
 when they came without denominational connection or valid 
 credentials. He was not soon deceived by pious words or man- 
 ners. No doubt his wisdom was attained through experience. 
 He was unusually gifted with the grace of common sense. 
 
 Mr, Daniel Miller's long association with Dr. Bausman gives 
 the words which follow pecuhar weight: 
 
 He was a man of rare, good judgment which he showed on 
 many occasions. For this reason, people followed him readily. 
 Many had greater confidence in his judgment than in their own. 
 He could see farther than most men. It would be difficult to 
 point to a single instance and show that his judgment was other- 
 wise than stated above. People will follow a man in whom they 
 have confidence as a leader, and such our departed friend was. 
 
 Those who knew Dr. Bausman longest are the ones who ad- 
 mired him most and when one speaks with them he is almost 
 sure to hear superlatives like these: 
 
 Oh, he was the finest character in town. 
 
 I often said, if there is one Christian man in Reading, it's Dr. 
 Bausman, 
 
 He was the most perfect Christian I ever knew. I never found 
 a flaw in him. 
 
 Any one who has followed the story of Dr. Bausman's life and 
 work in the foregoing chapters is in no doubt as to the secret 
 of his character. We will let Dr. Creitz express it for us here: 
 
 Men believed in Dr. Bausman because they saw in him a man 
 who tried to live near to God, and succeeded better than most 
 men do. He was acquainted with God, He was God-conscious 
 to an unusual degree, God was to him a living reality in his 
 daily life. He was on familiar terms with God, though he held 
 Him in the highest reverence; familiarity and reverence — that 
 describes his attitude toward God. Who, that ever heard his 
 prayers can forget their simplicity, their childlike tone, their 
 familiar accent. But who also, that ever saw him conduct a pub- 
 lic or private service, or administer the holy sacrament can forget 
 the sense of awe and holy reverence which pervaded his every 
 act. One always felt on such occasions that he believed himself 
 to be standing on holy ground. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 343 
 
 Prayer was the very breath of Dr. Bausman's spiritual Hfe. 
 God was his constant companion. His sense of the mercy of 
 the Lord was sometimes overpowering. He was instant in cul- 
 tivating the divine friendship, and the tender goodness of his 
 heavenly Father was ever filling him with fresh and glad sur- 
 prise. He had a natural aptitude for spiritual things and a 
 heritage and nurture in youth of rare advantage, so that no 
 doubt to many it seemed easy for him to be good. His eminence 
 in holiness, however, was a gift from above by reason of his ar- 
 dent aspiration, vigilant self-scrutiny and rigorous self-discipline. 
 Like the Psalmist, he had set the Lord always before him and 
 therefore on all occasions the call of duty, ''Stern daughter of 
 the voice of God," must be followed, particularly touching his 
 own moral and spiritual integrity. He was always severer with 
 himself than with any other. He was constantly criticising 
 himself and was fearful lest he should be guilty of wrongly judg- 
 ing others. Any practice that might mar the soul or rob him of 
 poise or self-mastery he strove to overcome. 
 
 He used to smoke in the earlier years of his ministry. It was 
 an aid to good fellowship with his friends. He found a cigar 
 helpful in quieting his nerves for sleep after a strenuous Sun- 
 day's work. It was a harmless sedative. He used the weed 
 very moderately and could say with Spurgeon that he "smoked 
 for the glory of God." As a physical help and comfort to him 
 some of his friends say he should not have discontinued it. 
 But he did, and for this reason: 
 
 I found myself getting a gro^v^ng fondness for my Sunday 
 evening smoke. I was desiring to use more cigars than had been 
 my habit. I caught myself, even of a Sunday afternoon and dur- 
 ing the singing of hymns at the evening service, looking forward 
 with desire and impatience to the pleasure of smoking before 
 going to bed. I was afraid my cigar might get the upper hand of 
 me, and therefore I quit smoking altogether. 
 
 This decision, from which he never wavered, was made in 1885, 
 after having taken but a few out of a newly purchased box full 
 of cigars. 
 
 He was by no means an ascetic. He had the keen relish of 
 a healthy man for the good material things of life, believing that 
 
344 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 God "giveth us richly all things to enjoy." He was blessed 
 with a good appetite for food to the last and ate heartily of what- 
 ever was set before him. Within fifteen years of the end of his 
 life, he was in New Jersey several days representing his Church 
 before another denominational gathering. After returning 
 home, he wrote naively in his diary, "First good meal since I 
 left." He would facetiously remark that the reason why his 
 beard became gray before the hair of his head was because he 
 used his jaws more than his brains. 
 
 Dr. Bausman believed that pleasure and laughter were not 
 only natural to the normal man but absolutely essential to phys- 
 ical and mental health. Yet, as Dr. Richards says, he submitted 
 himself to ''an almost stoical discipline continuing through life." 
 He was regular in his habits of retiring and rising, of eating and 
 taking exercise. He never ceased studying himself and would 
 practice any regimen which would give him physical tone and 
 efficiency. When he was past sixty he found that a cold bath 
 every morning immediately after rising was good for him, and he 
 took it regularly to within a few years of the end of his life. He 
 read books on how to grow old. Without the minute care which 
 he bestowed upon himself, he certainly could not have lived 
 nearly so long nor done his immense amount of work. His con- 
 stitution was not naturally robust. He had his physical limita- 
 tions of which nature was quick to tell him, but he was unusually 
 successful in conserving and making the most of the vitality 
 which he had. A phase of his physical history which is very 
 marked and amazed even his physician was the quickness and 
 completeness with which he would succumb to disease and his 
 surprising resilience in recovery. A few days after being ap- 
 parently at death's door, he would be strong again and as hard 
 at work as ever. 
 
 He practiced his belief that honest toil is wholesome and that, 
 too,, was a secret of his long life. In the midst of Dr. Bausman's 
 most strenuous years, soon after becoming editor of the Guard- 
 ian, he afiirmed this article of his faith in a contribution on Michael 
 Angelo which he entitled "A Grand and Working Life." 
 
 It is probable that work kills some people. But oftener, it is 
 the want of it. Work is strengthening. It inures to hardship. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 345 
 
 It develops power. In most cases, hard work lengthens life. An 
 alleged fear of hurting ourselves is an easy, but not a wise method 
 to escape it. By far more people rust out than wear out. 
 
 Dr. Bausman had set himself to do a certain work with the 
 greatest possible efficiency. All his powers were concentrated 
 upon it. Anything that in any way would interefere with his 
 success must be eliminated. Many a pleasure was foregone 
 because it would have consumed valuable time, or would have 
 claimed energy which could be used to more profit. Yet rec- 
 reation was regularly and religiously taken, for he must keep 
 himself in prime working trim. To take proper care of the body 
 it has been said is one of the finest tests of will power and of self- 
 mastery. Few men stood this test better than Dr. Bausman. 
 
 Horseback riding as we have seen was his favorite recreation. 
 In his latter years, however, he preferred a milder form of ex- 
 ercise. As a faithful pastor, he always did a great deal of walk- 
 ing, but the charm of country and wood allured him to many a 
 pleasure stroll. Indeed, he attributed his good health while in 
 Reading, in no small measure to his walks on the hills and to the 
 wholesome mountain air. He was fond of fishing, but lacked the 
 necessary patience for a successful angler. It was our pleasure 
 to go fishing with him and his brother in the Conestoga near 
 Lancaster, on a warm summer day. The brother was persistent, 
 but the cool shade with a fresh copy of the "Christian World" 
 soon proved more inviting to Dr. Bausman than watching the 
 lazy cork. In his latter years on warm days he would often 
 take trolley rides over the Penn and Neversink mountains. Even 
 in winter he would go by trolley to the country "for ventila- 
 tion," and then after a short stroll return. When prevented by 
 bad weather or unable by infirmity to go out of doors, he would 
 walk about in his bed-room and study, counting his paces until 
 he had covered the requisite number of "squares." 
 
 Carriage riding was always a fascinating pastime and he was 
 free to "confess an infirm fondness for fine and fat horses" and 
 "for holding the reins." The horse was his favorite animal. 
 How tenderly he wrote of "the graceful dapple-gray" which car- 
 ried him from Jerusalem to Beirut: 
 
346 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Once I was greatly horrified at the farce of St. Antonio's Church, 
 in Rome, where a tittering priest blessed horses and mules and 
 sprinkled them with holy water. Despite the memory of that 
 sacred mockery, I cherish such a kindly feeling for that Arabian 
 horse, that if a prayer of my heart could secure to him the happi- 
 est life which his kind has the capacity to enjoy, I would be tempted 
 to offer it in his behalf. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was broad-minded in his views on amusements. 
 Realizing the need of relaxation for himself, he was made happy 
 when he saw others enjoying it. He would put the ban on 
 amusement at the line of moral peril and none saw the beginnings 
 of danger sooner than he. His feeling for those who lived for 
 pleasure only was nigh unto contempt. Yet he could have a 
 degree of sympathizing charity for the drudging toiler whose 
 "glass of beer was his only pleasure," much as he disapproved 
 of the drinking habit. He hated the Sunday newspaper and 
 was an almost Puritanical observer of the Sabbath. 
 
 His physician says, "He could talk baseball like a fan," 
 yet he probably never saw a professional game. He was a spec- 
 tator at but one football game, which was played by two bit- 
 terly rival teams. His feeling and judgment are manifest in his 
 diary notes: 
 
 Coaxed along to a football game. Thousands of people. 
 Many of the best people of the town were present. Many ladies. 
 An exciting, brutal affair. Some six or more boys were crushed 
 to unconsciousness. Two had to be lifted up and led from the 
 field. Left after first half was played. 
 
 He did not fail to record, however, that the winning side was 
 the one which manifestly had his sympathies. 
 
 The drama appealed strongly to Dr. Bausman and he saw the 
 educational as well as the recreational values of a chaste theatre. 
 It is hardly necessary to say that very few plays as ordinarily 
 presented were regarded by him as up to the standard. Indeed, 
 Dr. Bausman himself had a fine dramatic instinct and would 
 have made a great actor. He could hit off the tone, man- 
 ner and expression of another to perfection. His great human 
 sympathy was the basis of this faculty. He could readily put 
 himself in another's place. This trait added to his effectiveness 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 347 
 
 as a public speaker, but the proprieties of the pulpit held it in 
 check. Only in a small congenial group of friends would he 
 allow this bent to have its full sway and then his impersonation 
 was simply irresistible, as he would act out a comical situation. 
 This ability and disposition to unbend and give himself to 
 harmless hilarity was a fortunate characteristic and the neces- 
 sary complement to the solemn seriousness which was the founda- 
 tion of his character. As Dr. Richards says: 
 
 There was a fund of humor in his writings as well as in his 
 addresses. He could sparkle like the sun on the morning dew. 
 With his wit he could relieve the seriousness of many an occa- 
 sion; and yet his eyes often filled with tears and his trembling 
 voice showed the depth and the sincerity of his soul. 
 
 There was a melancholy strain in his temperament, a trait one 
 finds frequently in great men. It was the shade of a deeply 
 earnest manhood, but beneath it there coursed the warm feelings 
 of a genial soul. 
 
 This saving grace of humor never left him. He would see the 
 funny side of things even in his sickness or when greatly de- 
 pressed, and would crack a joke in spite of himself. It was a 
 fortunate gift for him and saved him from hypochondria and 
 pessimism. 
 
 The Reformed ministers of Reading will not soon forget an 
 incident, in point, when they visited him in a body with greet- 
 ings on his birthday, after his long sickness, a few years before 
 his death. When the formal tributes had been spoken and he 
 had given his brief response of gratitude, there was an awkward 
 silence. They all hesitated to begin conversation, somewhat 
 puzzled as to what talk would be congenial to him, and with no 
 slightest thought of anything humorous. The silence did not 
 last for long for Dr. Bausman broke it and in a way that was 
 startling. He said: "Come now, brethren, don't be so solemn. 
 Make yourselves at home and enjoy yourselves." He forth- 
 with broke the ice with a roaring good story. We had 
 seen little of him for over a year because of his illness, and found 
 him to our surprise, as ever, the life of the company. 
 
 We see strikingly in Dr. Bausman, the truth of what Dr. J. 
 H. Jowett says — and most people will agree with him: 
 
348 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The finest hilarity is always in league with the deepest gravity. 
 I have no respect for the piety that cannot laugh, and I have no 
 respect for laughter that is not rooted in the finest awe. 
 
 Dr. Bausman once remarked: "The laughter of a large body 
 of Christian people is to me the sweetest music in the world. " 
 
 He was very methodical in his habits. He had an orderly 
 routine for each day. He awoke Avith the dawn and rose early 
 — in the summer at about five o'clock and in winter at about six- 
 thirty. The day was begun with family prayer and scripture 
 reading with the singing of a few stanzas of a hymn Sun- 
 day mornings. Then came breakfast and thereafter an undis- 
 turbed hour in his study for his private devotional Bible reading 
 and prayer. Often the voice of earnest supplication would be 
 heard through the closed door of the study. His method in 
 these morning scripture meditations was to take up a particular 
 book of the Bible and continue upon it perhaps for weeks or 
 months until he had gotten for himself its spiritual message 
 with some degree of mastery. He composed and wrote out 
 prayers for his private devotions that he might say them again 
 and again. By eight o'clock or before nine he would be at his 
 sermon for the ensuing Sunday, which was usually completed be- 
 fore the noon hour. After the midday meal would follow a short 
 period of rest or a na pon his study couch, then pastoral calls in 
 the autumn or winter from about half past one to five o'clock; or, 
 at other seasons of the year, some outdoor duty or recreation. 
 Of course, pastoral claims would greatly vary this routine, but 
 there were fixed factors in it. The duties of his office which 
 would not be neglected were never permitted to trench upon the 
 care of his body and his soul. After the evening meal if there 
 were no church appointments, he would read or chat with callers, 
 meditate, or quietly browse in his study and make a diary entry 
 if anything of sufficient consequence called for record. After 
 evening family prayers, he would retire early, rarely later than 
 ten o'clock. 
 
 He was continually getting new books to the very end of his 
 life and he read them. He nearly always had a book in the pro- 
 cess of reading. The precious scraps of time were thus used in 
 feeding his mind. He took notes of his reading in books which 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 349 
 
 he kept for the purpose. He showed a fine deference to a printed 
 volume. He had a horror of mutilating a book. He would 
 never put a pencil mark on a page or turn down a corner. If he 
 saw a person tearing or in any way abusing a book it hurt him. 
 He kept the books he bought, knew them, and by sheer memory 
 could quite easily turn to what he wanted. He had in his lib- 
 rary at his death over 2,000 volumes. 
 
 Dr. Bausman had a gift for details. His practical bent showed 
 itself in that the smallest particulars would not be overlooked. 
 He kept his records carefully even to the amounts of his wedding- 
 fees. So, too, he kept account in his diary of his personal re- 
 ceipts and expenditures. He had a moral purpose in this. There 
 was a "Lord's portion" of his income, which must be set aside. 
 This through his life averaged far more than the tenth. Some 
 years it was several thousand dollars and more than half his 
 annual income. At the close of one year we read, "Still due for 
 benevolence, $34.89," which was yet needed to make the one- 
 tenth to be laid aside for God's work. We have seen how the 
 entire income in profits from the Hausfreund was given for be- 
 nevolence. The income from all his books and writings was set 
 aside for the same purpose. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was in no wise eccentric in his habits. His 
 wearing of boots in colder weather was purely a matter of com- 
 fort. He had, however, a curious mathematical idiosyncrasy. 
 With all his care in reports and records he was ever having dif- 
 ficulty with his numbers. It was not serious enough to be of 
 much consequence; but his figures would not always quite tally. 
 Mathematics were a bore to him in his student days, the weak 
 point in his college course. He was sometimes puzzled as to his 
 exact age — often to the amusement of his friends with whom in 
 all earnestness he would argue the point. He reasoned thus: 
 On his second birthday he was one year old. On his third birth- 
 day he was two years old, etc. This difference of one in the 
 numbers as thus used, confused him and when he came to de- 
 termine his actual age, he made himself a year younger than he 
 really was. 
 
 When the Messenger, the church paper, entered on its twenty- 
 ninth year he argued with Dr. Fisher, his associate in the editor- 
 
350 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 ship, that it was the 30th. He celebrated the close of the first 
 half of the 19th century on the last day of 1849. According to 
 the family record he was born on the 29th of January and on 
 that date he celebrated his birthday during his student days. 
 Thereafter, the 28th of January was commemorated as the date 
 of his birth. The reason for this change we do not know. He is 
 said to have been born shortly after midnight, however. It has 
 been the custom among the country folk in Lancaster County 
 for generations to have their clocks set about a half hour ahead 
 of "town time." This consideration leads us to conjecture 
 that Dr. Bausman may have thought he was actually born 
 before the midnight hour, and his desire for accuracy led him to 
 take for his birthday the day before that of the family register. 
 He did not have a mind for numbers. The details of a church 
 proposition would confuse him. He left this end of the church 
 work to his laymen and he was fortunate in having about him 
 able men who attended efficiently to it. The investment of his 
 own money was in the hands of a financial institution which re- 
 lieved him of the details of care regarding it. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 Preacher and Pastor 
 
 DR. BAUSMAN aimed to prepare himself thoroughly for 
 every pubhc address. He was strong in extempore speak- 
 ing. His great fund of knowledge and experience was at easy 
 command; but he would not rely on his facility in speech. He 
 did more or less writing for nearly every address. He wrote 
 out many sermons fully in every particular, but rarely read them 
 after the earlier years of his ministry. He would say, "Felt 
 less free because I read." Sometimes his preparation in a special 
 way was meager, when pressed with duties, and he would then 
 write only a bare outline or sparse notes. 
 
 His regular method was to organize his material under three 
 or four main points and then write out the argmnent in concise 
 and careful order on seven or eight large pages. Illustrations, 
 which he used copiously, would be simply indicated. In the 
 earlier years the specific preparation of sermons was often put 
 off to the very end of the week. In the later years he would 
 strive to have both sermons written by Thursday noon. He 
 thus had time for careful revision of his manuscript. The lines 
 on his sermon paper were far apart. This gave him plenty of 
 space for his interlineations. He was thus ever "brushing up" 
 his style, saving it from slovenliness and he kept his language 
 fresh. In his early ministry he had made a special study of 
 Addison and Goldsmith with a view to mastery of literary form. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's style whether in writing or speaking was all 
 his own. Ministers who heard him preach would speak of his 
 sermons as "unique." The stamp of his own personality was 
 upon them. He had the knack of putting things strikingly. 
 He used "alliteration's artful aid." This was particularly the 
 case with the subjects of his sermons and the various headings of 
 the discourse. He would never use this gift for sensational ad- 
 
 351 
 
352 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 vertisement which he shunned and hated. Dr. Bausman had a 
 picturesque mind and a vivid imagination. He could put truth 
 in forms that were arresting. As Dr. Richards says: "His 
 stjde was the acme of simphcity. He spoke in short sentences 
 and used Anglo-Saxon words with an absence of effort which is 
 an evidence of the highest art." 
 
 A few years after Dr. Bausman became editor of the Guard- 
 ian, a copy of the magazine fell into the hands of a friend of his 
 in Cincinnati. She did not then know that he was the editor and 
 she said to her children: "Why, this just seems as if Mr. Baus- 
 man were talking to us." To her surprise she soon learned that 
 he was the actual author of the article. 
 
 The author of this biography had a similar experience in pre- 
 paring Chapter VII of this book. We did not have external 
 evidence that Mr. Bausman was contributing editor of the Mes- 
 senger during the years from 1862 to 1866. The style and sub- 
 stance of the articles marked ~\~ alone convinced us that he was 
 the author of them, before we had seen the letter of Dr. Schneck 
 definitely stating the fact. Verily, in Dr. Bausman's case, 
 "The style was the man." 
 
 Dr. Bausman did not regard himself "ready for Sunday" 
 when his manuscript sermons lay before him complete on Thurs- 
 day evening. Friday and Saturday had in store a precious 
 process of brooding over the themes. With him, preparing 
 the sermon was in order to prepare himself to preach. He 
 absorbed the truths he proposed to present, prayed over them 
 and made the sermon a part of himself. An authority on homi- 
 letics says that "Many masterly sermons fail because they never 
 had the benefit of this process of meditation. They are clear, 
 interesting, eloquent but helpless." Even more characteristic 
 than the literary quality and directness of his sermons was their 
 unction. They came to the hearer freighted with life and spirit- 
 ual power. They were bathed in meditation and prayer and had 
 "an anointing from the Holy One." 
 
 A parishioner of Dr. Bausman's is impressed with the fact 
 that he preached on "live topics." There was an up-to-date- 
 ness about his preaching. Events and happenings would sug- 
 gest their spiritual analogues which were always treated with 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 353 
 
 the utmost seriousness. During the latter years he rarely- 
 preached from the gospel or epistle lessons in the order of the 
 church year. He had gone over them so often before. 
 
 For special reasons he would sometimes lay aside the pre- 
 pared sermon an hour or two before the service and present 
 the theme which for some cause suddenly gripped him. 
 
 After a long drought broken by Sunday showers he im- 
 mediately turned to Hebrew 6: 7 and preached upon it. Of a 
 Sunday evening a rainbow spanned the sky and it gave him at 
 once a sermon on "The Bow of Promise." 
 
 The needs of the people governed him in the selection 
 of themes. His sermons in the main would be classed as topical 
 and conspicuous in their deUvery was the hortatory note. 
 
 Sermonic material came to. Dr. Bausman from every quarter. 
 The Bible and the great volume of human nature were the chief 
 sources. He had and used the substantial commentaries which 
 unfolded the meaning of the text; but he made free use of spe- 
 cially prepared homiletical material which he assimilated and 
 then reproduced in his own form. The notes which he made in 
 reading books he had arranged in such fashion that he could 
 readily refer to what he wanted. He gathered clippings from 
 various papers and arranged them in large envelopes by topics. 
 These were what he would jokingly speak of to Mrs. Bausman as 
 his "patch bags." 
 
 On Tuesday he would select his texts and themes, analyze and 
 organize them and gather the material to furnish substance 
 for the writing, as we have seen, on the following days. Prior 
 to 1890, his sermons were written in large blank books which 
 were numbered so that he could easily refer to them. He would 
 sometimes restudy old texts and sermons, work them over, dress 
 them in fresh garments so that they were actually new. He 
 found it impossible to preach an old sermon with any satisfac- 
 tion without thoroughly studying it again and thus giving it a 
 new birth. 
 
 The habit of writing out his sermons was so strong upon him 
 that, if he failed to do it before the preaching, he would, if pos- 
 sible, do it a day or two thereafter. During the latter part of 
 the year 1889, when the Calvary and St. Andrew's Church pro- 
 23 
 
354 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 jects were on his hands, he was in a condition by no means un- 
 common for him, although then it was of unusual length. He 
 said of it: 
 
 For a month or two past, I have had to preach one sermon, 
 sometimes both, from simply a rough sketch. For certain rea- 
 sons I could not prepare written sermons in the usual way. Some- 
 times dull and in poor working mood. Often have written out 
 sermon after it was preached. 
 
 His conscientious devotion to duty was in no line stronger 
 than in that of adequately preparing himself for preaching. He 
 held himself rigidly and persistently to a high standard. We see 
 this in numerous hints throughout his life, like the following: 
 
 Nervous, dull, labored fruitlessly. Felt guilty before God for 
 sending this large audience away with so little to take with 
 them. 
 
 Preached with much labor, nervous, mortified. Disappointed 
 pride — which adds to the sin of neglected preparation. Oh, 
 who is sufiicient for these things! 
 
 Barren this A. M. Prayed much for help. Preached with 
 less comfort than usual. Felt much perturbed and guilty of 
 failure. 
 
 Felt guilty of not feeding congregation this day. 
 
 The sermon prepared with prayer in the study was carried in his 
 heart to the pulpit with earnest petitioning for the divine aid, 
 which never failed him. How often did he thankfully write: 
 "The Lord gave me precious power" — "The Lord gave me 
 light and tenderness." 
 
 By no means a solitary instance was the experience thus 
 described : 
 
 Felt greatly depressed before church this A. M., both bodily 
 and mentally. Empty and helpless. Wrestled with God and 
 wept in the library room, before going into the pulpit. The 
 Lord gave me marvelous help, so that I preached with great 
 comfort and I think with effect too. After the service wept 
 again in thankful praise in the ante-room. 
 
 He was certainly not guilty of self-confidence as a preacher. 
 His natural timidity, even in speaking to his own people, became 
 more and more a decided aversion to addressing strange audi- 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 355 
 
 ences. On such occasions before speaking he sometimes "passed 
 through a terrible ordeal of dread and apprehension." 
 
 Dr. Bausman made a brief outline of his sermon on a small 
 sheet of paper. This he took with him to the pulpit. He as 
 a rule glanced over it during the singing of the hymn before the 
 sermon. He never referred to it in preaching. He no doubt 
 found comfort in having his notes ready to hand in his pocket, 
 for he might flounder and wish to refer to them. Preaching 
 thus without notes, after trying various methods, he found to 
 be most satisfactory to himself and to his hearers. 
 
 He spoke fluently and forcefully, sometimes almost vehemently 
 in his earnestness. He was conversational and direct in manner 
 and made his hearers feel very close to him. He was terse, epi- 
 grammatic, even more in speaking than in writing. An apt 
 phrase would often illuminate a world of thought. He did not 
 attempt to commit the exact wording of the manuscript, though 
 much of the carefully chosen language of the written sermon came 
 freely to him as he spoke. He had cut the path of his thought 
 clearly for himself in his thorough preparation. His memory 
 served him well. He quoted scripture largely and stanzas of 
 hymns and choice poetry considerably. He rarely hesitated 
 and his hearers followed him with ease and pleasure. 
 
 He stood, in St. Paul's Church, by the side of the pulpit, as 
 close to his audience as possible. He gestured freely in a quick, 
 nervous, emphatic manner, and impressed every one who heard 
 him with his fine poise and dignity. Mrs. William E. Hoy says: 
 
 The picture I have in my mind of him is a beautiful one — as 
 he stood on the pulpit the first time I heard him preach — so 
 tall, so stately, so noble looking. The peace of God on his face. 
 His very presence made the place holy. You felt the Father 
 was there and worldly thoughts were impossible. 
 
 On one occasion, when he preached the funeral sermon of a 
 prominent elder in his Consistory, a friend of the elder and a 
 stranger to Dr. Bausman said upon leaving the church: "Never 
 have I seen a man whose face resembled so closely that of the 
 picture of Jesus Christ as the face of the preacher this morning. " 
 
 Dr. Bausman was undemonstrative as to his feelings both in 
 public and in private. The emotional element, however, en- 
 
356 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 tered very largely into his preaching. He was readily moved 
 as he dwelt upon the gracious truths of the Gospel and as he de- 
 picted the heroism and holiness of men. Those who heard him 
 often are very familiar with those tones of voice with the hint of 
 trembling, and then the tremor on his lips and the twitching 
 of his face as he mastered his feeling. The public rarely saw 
 him weep. Because his emotion was so well controlled, his 
 hearers were the more deeply stirred by it. Sometimes, how- 
 ever, we find a record like the following: "Could not restrain 
 my emotion this A. M. Preached on Isaiah 49: 15 — 'The Ma- 
 ternal Care and Tenderness of God.'" 
 
 In the latter years especially he made many references to the 
 scenes of his childhood. Allusions to his mother always moved 
 him. Indeed, his attitude toward womanhood was nigh unto 
 religious reverence. 
 
 He would refer again and again to the same experiences and 
 use the same illustrations, but always with fresh touches and a 
 different emphasis so that they were for the purpose in hand 
 new. He strove to avoid any word that would provoke 
 laughter; but his sense for the ludicrous was so keen that he 
 could not always successfully guard himself. He eschewed 
 levity in the pulpit and any hint of it was purely casual as when 
 in a temperance sermon he spoke of a man as "a walking beer 
 barrel." 
 
 Preaching with him was serious business and he drew men to 
 him by his moral earnestness. No doubt, there were many 
 people like the traveling man whom a Reading minister met 
 casually on a train and engaged in conversation. 
 
 I always try to arrange to spend Sunday in Reading when I 
 come in my rounds to that city, several times a year. I do so 
 in order that I may have the pleasure of hearing a certain min- 
 ister. Dr. Bausman is his name, 
 
 said the drummer in response to the definite inquiry. 
 Christian G. Gross writes as follows: 
 
 When my father died over twenty-five years ago, I made up 
 my mind to put my whole attention on our business, which was 
 large then, and not accept any office outside. Dr. Bausman 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 357 
 
 preached the English sermon at my father's funeral, and his 
 remarks changed my mind so that when I was elected a member 
 of the Orphans' Home Board and Treasurer, I accepted — also 
 several other offices in the Church to which I was elected in my 
 father's place. 
 
 Dr. Richards says of Dr. Bausman: 
 
 He had deep affection and broad sympathy for man — man as 
 he was, not merely as he ought to be. In the child, he saw the 
 image of the Creator, the slumbering potencies of the infinite. 
 The reprobate was to him the prodigal from the Father's house. 
 The fellow-believer was a brother who shared with him the 
 riches of grace in Christ. These qualities made him a prince 
 among preachers. Some were more scholarly, some more elo- 
 quent, but few in any church were more effective ministers of 
 the word of grace and truth. 
 
 It has been my privilege to hear men in Europe and America, 
 but I shall always treasure the sermons which I heard preached 
 by Dr. Bausman, and they were only too few, as among the 
 greatest that I ever listened to. 
 
 Dr. Creitz gives us a fine analysis of Dr. Bausman in the func- 
 tion that is before us: 
 
 He was a great preacher, not by reason of profound intellect, 
 though he studied many problems to their foundation; not by 
 reason of great scholarship, though he was familiar with the best 
 in history, literature, art and science; not by reason of great 
 eloquence, though he knew how to use the human voice effect- 
 ively, but by reason of character and life. Moral elevation was 
 perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of his life. Good- 
 ness was his passion, but he rooted character in the person of 
 Jesus Christ. In pure intellect, he was not great; but in the 
 discernment of moral principles and in power of exhortation, 
 he was preeminent. He dealt with life rather than mind, and 
 his utterances were often like streams of refreshing water that 
 touched and healed the people. 
 
 Dr. Creitz says further: 
 
 He was a man of much prayer. The wonder was sometimes 
 expressed that he could build up and hold such a large congre- 
 gation by employing so few of the arts and devices which are 
 regarded as essential to ministerial success. I think the secret 
 lay largely in his prayers. He called down more power into St. 
 Paul's Church by his prayers than the average minister secures 
 
358 THE LIFE OP BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 with all his machinery. After twelve years' connection with 
 St. Paul's Church, I find myself unable to account for his work 
 here except through the potency of his prayers. I never heard 
 anyone who could pray like Dr. Bausman. 
 
 Most persons, who heard him pray with any measure of fre- 
 quency, will agree with this judgment of Dr. Creitz. Dr. Baus- 
 man was at home at the throne of grace. When he led in prayer, 
 one felt that God was near. His language while simple was 
 rhythmic and dignified and never fell into the commonplace. 
 He was fluent and rarely faltered or got himself, in any way, 
 entangled. He had marvelous versatility in his prayers. He 
 touched phases and facts of life and alluded to subtle, soul ex- 
 periences such as the average person would not even think of 
 in his praying. His prayers were fresh and unique and, how- 
 ever often one heard him, never left the impression of sameness. 
 Dr. E. N. Kremer wrote, in the Messenger, of a prayer offered 
 by Dr. Bausman at Bethany Orphans' Home within a year of 
 his death: 
 
 A touching reference to deceased members; grateful recogni- 
 tion of God's goodness; helpful trust in Him — a prayer that 
 might have been the offering of his heart in the secret worship 
 of the closet, so personal it was and yet so suitable in every way 
 for a public assembly. 
 
 Of course, he acquired the high art of praying with edification 
 in public by diligent practice in private. He prepared himself 
 to lead the congregation in prayer as thoroughly as to preach to 
 them. He often wrote out parts or made notes of particular 
 things he wished to remember before the mercy-seat. When he 
 was called on to offer a prayer on some public occasion he would 
 sometimes write it out and read it. It goes without saying that 
 he had implicit confidence in the potency of prayer. His belief 
 in its efficacy is further attested by the following record which 
 we find in his diary in the early eighties: "Sent a request to 
 the Fulton Street Prayer-Meeting of New York City, asking 
 an interest in its prayers for my congregation." 
 
 The primary emphasis on prayer, for accomplishing God's 
 work in the world, which is so manifest in the New Testament 
 and to which the Laymen's Missionary Movement in our day 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 359 
 
 is calling the Church, was the simple practice and faith of Dr. 
 Bausman. There are instances of immediate, tangible results 
 that remind one of George Mliller and his work among the 
 orphans at Bristol, England. Apparently without any direct 
 solicitation came the result alluded to in the following: 
 
 Mrs. H. gives S800 to the church. I told her God had a hand 
 in this, that we wished to raise $5,000 and I felt perplexed to 
 know where the whole was to come from. For months past, 
 I have weekly laid certain burdens before God and he has sig- 
 nally and wonderfully come to our help. 
 
 His every movement in the sanctuary bespoke his reverence 
 and all parts of the service must have becoming dignity. He 
 simply could not view with toleration, not to say approval, 
 anything like the goings-on of crude revivalists. 
 
 He was fond of the warm and spirited evangelical hymns, but 
 he detested the sentimental in words and music and wrote as 
 well as spoke against it. He put high value on hearty congrega- 
 tional singing and himself contributed a rich baritone. He 
 practiced and advocated religious education as essentially the 
 fundamental method in church work, yet he realized how fruit- 
 less is mere instruction if men's hearts are not touched. How 
 often would he say to us ministers, ''If we can only somehow 
 impress people!" 
 
 Among the pious folk of Germany he saw and wrote of 
 
 a spirit of solemnity, reverence and intense 'devotion in the 
 religious worship, which I have never met with elsewhere. I 
 have sometimes been as much edified by this scene of devotion 
 as by the most forceful sermons. 
 
 The power of reverential worship to impress the soul he be- 
 lieved in, and all the elements of the church worship with the 
 sermon — the very attitudes of pastor and people — must combine 
 to this end. Any service conducted by Dr. Bausman was sure 
 to be informed by the reverential spirit. The deliberate and 
 impressive way in which he pronounced the benediction will 
 not soon be forgotten. 
 
 After the close of the service in the sanctuary he would not go 
 down into the aisles to greet the people. Some would come to 
 
360 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 the chancel to express appreciation, which made him glad. He 
 rarely approached groups of people who might be standing in 
 the church if he were passing through on his way home. He 
 seemed averse to engaging in familiar conversation then. The 
 salutary impression of sermon and worship might be dissipated. 
 When he heard that he helped people his joy was too deep for 
 words, as we see in the following: 
 
 The sermon which I preached with such travail of soul was 
 blessed of God. Miss P. told Mrs. B. that she was too full to 
 tell me, that no sermon had ever been such a blessing to her. 
 When wife told me this at the tea table, we both wept. 
 
 The first great duty of a pastor is to get a realizing sense of 
 the wants of the people under his care. Where and how do they 
 live? What are their surroundings at home? Over what roads 
 havet hey traveled thus far. What road are they traveling now? 
 What are their daily duties, trials and wants? 
 
 Thus wrote Dr. Bausman in the Guardian. Like the great 
 Good Shepherd, he knew his own and his own knew him. We 
 find a reason for his deep emotion in preaching — because he was 
 so intimately acquainted with the experiences of his flock. 
 
 Believe me, when I sometimes look over my congregation 
 from my seat in the pulpit, I must weep outright. In running 
 from pew to pew, my eye falls on individual members to whom 
 life is a daily burden or danger. The sight of their faces calls 
 up a great sorrow or trial. Some very poor, others in trouble 
 worse than poverty. They have brought their burdened hearts 
 along to church, and I ought to give each one a gospel of com- 
 fort, some "glad tidings," and how can I doit? My poor heart 
 feels for them, but "Who is sufficient for these things?" 
 
 Family visitation was faithfully performed by him and he 
 found it even for himself a means of grace, like Dr. Thomas 
 Arnold who said: "Prayer and kindly intercourse with the poor, 
 are the two great safeguards of spiritual life — it's more than food 
 and raiment." 
 
 Every autumn as soon after the warm weather as possible, he 
 proceeded to make the rounds to all the homes of his parish. 
 None were neglected. He did this even in his busiest years 
 when pastor of the overlarge First Church. His visits were 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 361 
 
 short. He came directly to the point. He was weak in small 
 talk. Some one says his visits were like this: "How do you do? 
 Are you well? Is John well? Does he go to school? Good- 
 bye." 
 
 This is not to be taken literally. It is an illustration. He 
 was engaging and not overserious in his calls ; yet he was quick to 
 discern distress or need without verbal inquiry, and the little 
 visit would often terminate with pastor and parishioner both on 
 their knees. It was his custom after returning from an after- 
 noon's calling to go into a room, close the door and plead audi- 
 bly before God by name for those whose needs had been borne 
 home to his heart. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was not a popular pastor and preacher as we 
 ordinarily understand that term. He would not do things just 
 for the sake of currying favor. He could not mingle promiscu- 
 ously and familiarly with all people. He was not a hail-fellow- 
 well-met. To most people he seemed reserved and somewhat 
 distant. The average minister to-day would not succeed very 
 well with so little "sociability" and all round hand-shaking. 
 Dr. Bausman drew people to him, not by any flattering attention 
 but by his personality and sterling worth, and those who came 
 to know him he held with hooks of steel. 
 
 In his strong introductory sermon at Chambersburg in 1861, 
 he said: 
 
 There is a class of Christians in almost every congregation 
 who would like their minister to be universally popular. They 
 wish all the good and bad in the community to admire and ap- 
 plaud him. Popularity is not to be despised. Blessed is the 
 man who enjoys a rich share of it, provided he acquire it without 
 the sacrifice of duty and principle. I, too, am fond of the good 
 opinion of others; but do not ask or expect me to pander to an 
 unsanctified public opinion; do not ask me to become a fawning, 
 truckling aspirant for popular admiration. If you expect me 
 to mince the truth for the sake of not giving offense, or tell it 
 in such soft, subhme phrases that no one can feel or understand 
 it, you expect what I do not intend to give you. If you ask me 
 to preach so as not to give umbrage to profane swearers, drunk- 
 ards, the Hcentious or the dishonest, you demand too much. 
 Duty first, then popularity. I claim the privilege of saying 
 what I have to say in plain Saxon and to call things by their 
 
362 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 riffht names, without any circumlocution of rhetoric or needless 
 ornateness of style. It shall be done respectfully and in love, 
 but the truth must be spoken. And if telling the simple truth 
 will provoke the anger of the Jews against Stephen, then I say, 
 let the stones fly thick and fast. His face will shine all the more 
 bright and angelic as he commits his spirit into the hands of the 
 Lord Jesus, in whose stead he has spoken. 
 
 We do not believe that any minister in Eastern Pennsylvania 
 exercised a finer and firmer discipline in his church than did Dr. 
 Bausman. He often complained of the laxity of morals among 
 many church members in his denomination and denounced it. 
 It was an inheritance from the Church in Germany as he had 
 seen for himself. He said: 
 
 They have no church discipline. There is such a predom- 
 inance of tares, such an absence of the spirit of discipline, that 
 the general membership has neither a consciousness of its ne- 
 cessity nor taste for its requirements. 
 
 His uncompromising sermons offended some people, who left 
 his church in consequence. He did not hold back from admonish- 
 ing the sinner privately when necessity demanded it. Sometimes 
 a member would have to be suspended from the Holy Communion 
 for lapse in morals. Dr. Bausman never shrank from such duty, 
 painful though it was to himself. He believed in the salutary 
 effect of the vigorous enforcement of the law in church as well as 
 in state. Of course, his principle was to encourage aptitudes 
 rather than to correct deficiencies; but moral damage was sure to 
 ensue if offenders went unpunished. He was severest of all 
 upon immorality amongst ministers, where it had least excuse. 
 
 In the early years of the twentieth century the ministers of 
 Reading in the City Association decided that they would not 
 ofiiciate at the marriage of a person who had been divorced 
 unless thoroughly convinced of the person's innocency. Dr. 
 Bausman, of course, concurred in this action and then quietly 
 remarked that for years he had been doing this very thing; only 
 that he declined to marry any divorced person whomsoever, 
 because it was practically impossible to determine conclusively 
 the question of innocency. To refuse all was for him the only 
 satisfactory course. 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 363 
 
 He dealt firmly with the sinner because of his sin while he 
 yearned after the erring like a father. Toward the penitent, 
 he was as tender as a mother with her son. He was speaking 
 for himself in his Chambersburg introductory sermon when he 
 said: 
 
 You can hardly realize how much a pastor is identified with 
 his people in sympathy. You can hardly believe how often he 
 makes their sorrows his own. No parent can sorrow more over 
 a wayward child, than a faithful pastor over a wayward church 
 member. Often have I felt myself personally disgraced, when 
 members of my flock were guilty of improper conduct. 
 
 So keenly did Dr. Bausman feel responsibility and the sense 
 of shame, when any of his members went wrong or did a scan- 
 dalous thing, that he shunned meeting acquaintances and would 
 take back alleys in his necessary movements about the city. 
 Any stain on the honor of his dear church not only grieved but 
 wounded him. 
 
 Dr. Bausman labored for souls and plead for them passionately 
 to come to the Master. The evening when he received the names 
 of his catechumens who would join the church was "always a 
 time of prayerful anxiety" for him. He tried to get every mem- 
 ber of his class, however young, for confirmation. Undecided 
 ones were urged personally with great earnestness that "Now is 
 the acceptable time." He was fearful of the perils of delay. 
 The Church regarded Dr. Bausman one of her very best cate- 
 chists; but he was often depressed with the sense of failure and 
 would pray, "May God forgive me if my defects were the cause 
 of it." He was loath to erase a name from the church register. 
 If it had to be done, he would still follow the person with his 
 pastoral interest. 
 
 He urged his people to be "frank, confiding and candid" 
 toward him and they were. Mr. Daniel Miller says: 
 
 He possessed, to a large degree, what the Germans call "Pas- 
 toral Klugheit" (pastoral judiciousness). He was no respecter 
 of persons. He felt that he was the spiritual shepherd of each 
 soul in his charge. Every soul could, with equal freedom, un- 
 burden itself to him and never did he betray a trust confided in 
 him. He was an apt reader of human nature and could discern 
 
364 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 what kind of treatment each patient needed. He did not gloss 
 over sin, but went right to the cause of people's troubles. 
 
 Those who study the life of Dr. Bausman are invariably im- 
 pressed with his likeness to Abraham Lincoln. This is evident 
 in their sanity, common sense and gift of humor, but above all 
 in that they both loved the common people, understood them 
 and labored wisely for their welfare. Insight into human nature 
 is a prerequisite for efficient leadership and in this Dr. Bausman 
 was strong. He comprehended the ability of a man and knew 
 how to draw it out. Of course, confidence in him made men 
 ready to follow where he led; but he had remarkable power in 
 getting people to do things. He would lay a task on a man who 
 might hesitate to do it; but Dr. Bausman could make the man 
 feel that it was God's will that he should do it and this was pro- 
 viding the highest possible motive. He knew the limits of 
 people and was wise enough not to ask of them more than they 
 could or would do. The strong and willing horse is always ex- 
 pected to pull most, and any general interest of the denomina- 
 tion invariably looked to Dr. Bausman's people to lead in offer- 
 ing help, and they did. He defended them, however, against 
 many an appeal or postponed it when he felt they were not quite 
 ready for it. His people gave so much to benevolence because 
 he was wise enough not to ask too much. His own generous 
 example, of course, was an inspiration to liberality. 
 
 Dr. Bausman knew how to pick leaders. When new members 
 of his Consistory were to be chosen by the congregation, his own 
 preference for certain men was very naturally respected. He 
 did not rely on his own first judgment of a man's fitness, how- 
 ever, but took time to ascertain the worthiness of such as were 
 under consideration for office-bearing in the church, and earnestly 
 sought divine guidance that wise choice might be made. When 
 men were once chosen for any office, he inspired faithfulness in 
 them by laying on them responsibility and by trusting them. 
 Thus, in his own church and in whatever enterprise he fostered, 
 he delegated to others important matters which they could at- 
 tend to better than he could. He was quick to see merit, generous 
 in appreciation and never lorded it over those who labored with 
 him. His associates never hint that he was in the leastwise 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 365 
 
 stubborn or unreasonable. In questions purely of policy, he 
 knew how to be politic; but whenever an issue of right or wrong 
 emerged he was at once stirred and was immovable in his convic- 
 tion. The remark was current among his associates, alluding 
 to his nervous emphatic gestures when aroused on any question: 
 "There's no use in saying anything further when Dr. Bausman's 
 cuffs begin to rattle." 
 
 Dr. Bausman's relation to his fellow ministers was most 
 beautiful. They admired him and showed him a fine reverence 
 and he showed toward them sympathy, interest and a fine con- 
 sideration. Amongst his ministerial brethren he regarded him- 
 self but one among equals, though they were always sure to put 
 him first. Of course, his feelings were specially warm toward 
 those of his own household of faith. 
 
 He was fond of the younger ministers, and enjoyed the stimu- 
 lation of discussing the questions which interested them most. 
 Like Dr. Thomas Arnold he often sought "suggestions from per- 
 sons very much younger than himself." Indeed, it was almost 
 pathetic sometimes to see him inquire earnestly from compara- 
 tively inexperienced pastors regarding effective plans and meth- 
 ods, as though he himself were the novice. In this he showed his 
 perennial youthfulness of spirit. His mind was open and he 
 never ceased to learn. 
 
 In a city where there are many churches of the same denomina- 
 tion, friction is sometimes liable to arise between aggressive 
 pastors. At the beginning of the Associate Pastorate, Dr. 
 Bausman read a paper on "Inter-parish Comity" before the Re- 
 formed Ministerium of Reading. In it we see his principles and 
 practice touching relations in which he showed himself a fine- 
 grained gentleman, keenly considerate of the rights of others. 
 
 In the best of pastors there is an irrepressible zeal to angle for 
 good people of other parishes near his church. An expert fisher- 
 man caimot resist the temptation to throw in his line when he 
 sees fine bass or trout frisking about in a stream. In this re- 
 spect, I am no better than you are, and I am somewhat doubt- 
 ful whether you are much better than I am. To the best of 
 pastors, the giving away of members is in the nature of a be- 
 reavement. It relates to one of the most sensitive sides of our 
 pastoral experience. We ought to give each other as Uttle pain 
 
366 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 as possible in the treatment and transferring of members. In 
 order to prosecute our work under existing conditions, with as 
 little discomfort to one another as possible, we might perhaps 
 come to an informal agreement on a few points: 
 
 1. What is my duty to members of churches in other parts of 
 the city who live near St. Paul's? In my eagerness to get new 
 members, I might try to influence them to connect with my 
 flock. If this were done all around, some pastors would have to 
 dismiss one-fourth of their people. This would certainly en- 
 gender bad blood and bring discredit upon the cause of Christ. 
 Let their own pastors do the visiting. And if on account of the 
 distance to their own churches of their own accord, unsolicited 
 by the nearer pastor, they, at length, prefer to unite with his 
 flock, we should consent to their transfer, however much we 
 may feel their loss. 
 
 2. We can help one another in reaching indifferent, non-church- 
 going members. The erasure of names from the roll is easily 
 done. What duties do we owe to people thus erased? We 
 send missionaries to the heathen. What are we doing for people 
 in our city whom we have thus sent adrift? If I cannot reach 
 them, I ought to invite some other pastor, who may have more 
 influence with them than I, in a prudent way, to try to save 
 them. 
 
 3. What shall we do with our estranged, offended people? I 
 cannot please every person nor compel people to like me. It 
 may not be my fault that some of my people prefer your ser- 
 mons to mine. Some persons may have cause to feel offended 
 at me. I may have lost the way to their hearts and can do them 
 no good. Shall I, with a sullen spirit, say to my brethren, Hands 
 off, and let them go to the bad if they will not accept of my minis- 
 trations? Or, shall I request a ministerial brother to try and 
 save them? I have often done this. Why should I hold on to a 
 person who will not accept of my ministrations, and not per- 
 mit another to save a soul from death, which I can no longer reach? 
 
 Hundreds of people in Reading have been lost to the Reformed 
 Church and many have lost their souls forever, because pastors, 
 who could no longer minister to them, will not permit those who 
 could have done so. 
 
 It need hardly be said that he exhibited the same comity to- 
 ward pastors and parishes of other denominations. He would 
 refuse to officiate at a baptism in a disaffected family of another 
 pastor and even if there was reason for his ministering in a family 
 of another flock, he would sometimes insist on the "written con- 
 sent" of the pastor concerned. 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 367 
 
 Dr. Bausman was preeminently a pastor's pastor. When a 
 minister and his family are in perplexity, sorrow, bereavement, 
 to whom shall they go? We doubt whether to any pastor in the 
 Reformed Church so many ministers and their families turned 
 so frequently as to him for counsel and comfort. The Rev. 
 Henry Y. Stoner of Reading says that, in consulting Dr. Baus- 
 man, touching perplexing, personal and pastoral problems, he 
 felt he was going to the highest available human authority. He 
 believed, moreover, that Dr. Bausman would receive him with a 
 fatherly sympathy. Any one coming to this modern seer could 
 be assured that confidences would be scrupulously kept. Dr. 
 Bausman was not, as he humorously said of certain pastors, 
 "leaky." 
 
 When he himself was ill, he craved the sympathy and the up- 
 lift of prayer which another pastor might bring, and he was very 
 thoughtful and quick to offer himself as comforter to his breth- 
 ren in distress. We have seen how in his youth and student days, 
 Benjamin Bausman took delight in waiting on sick people. A 
 few months before Dr. Eschbach died, he told us of the Western 
 tour, in 1886, and of how after coming down from Gray's Peak 
 near Pike's he was very ill and Dr. Bausman immediately took 
 full charge of him. Said Dr. Eschbach with manifest emotion 
 in memory of the event: "Yes, he was as tender as a child to 
 me." 
 
 Dr. Henry Mosser, shortly before his death, witnessed likewise 
 to Dr. Bausman's solicitude for his family in affliction — how 
 for a season daily prayers were offered at the family altar of the 
 pastor of St. Paul's for one who was seriously ill in the parsonage 
 of the First Church. Dr. Mosser said further of his fellow min- 
 ister: "No one preached a truer, higher gospel than Dr. Baus- 
 man and he lived up to it as perfectly as a human may. My 
 relations to him were always most cordial and never strained," 
 
 When Dr. C. Z. Weiser was in his last illness in 1896, he wrote 
 to Dr. Bausman, his life-long friend, pathetically: "Do come and 
 see me. I have to keep my bed. Do take time please and come 
 to see me." Of course. Dr. Bausman went. 
 
 We have several beautiful letters which Dr. Bausman wrote 
 to Mrs. Schneck after the death, in 1874, of her husband. Dr. B. 
 
368 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 F. Schneck, with whom Benjamin Bausman had been so closely- 
 associated at Chambersburg. A few extracts will show his 
 method in the delicate and difficult office of consolation: 
 
 How often I have thought of you since my return home ! Dur- 
 ing the labors of the day and the silent, restful hours of the night, 
 my mind and heart turn to you. All the while I feel that I ought 
 to do something for you to soothe and comfort you; and feel 
 worried that I can do nothing to lighten your heavy burden. 
 Thank God for the privilege of prayer. I believe that you have 
 in your time experienced more of its blessed efficacy than I have. 
 It is a comfort to me that with the simple faith of a little child, 
 I can kneel down and mention your name to God and plead with 
 him for your relief and support. 
 
 You and I have often tasted that the Lord is good, and felt 
 our hearts burning within us, as He talked with us by the way. 
 I have had a few dark trials in my ministry, when everything 
 seemed to turn against me. More than a thousand souls were 
 at stake, for whom I was accountable to God, and I felt that 
 men and devils blocked up the way for me. Felt a little like 
 Elijah and with him was mistaken. All the while many people 
 prayed for me. But, under this sense of forsakenness, I would 
 shut myself up alone with God, when I had an unspeakably 
 tender sense of His nearness. Could talk to Him as a child would 
 to a father or mother. Often, at such times, I wept for joy and 
 gratitude. O, that our merciful heavenly Father would enable 
 you to trust Him thus. "He can be touched with a feeling of 
 our infirmities. " "He knoweth our frame. " 
 
 I often think of you and speak to Mrs. Bausman about you 
 and your dear, sainted husband. Indeed, I have a comforting 
 way of keeping you in my heart and mind, by including your name 
 among a list of persons for whom I pray in my more private 
 devotions. Only an hour ago I mentioned your name to God on 
 bended knees. 
 
 Dr. Kuendig has been pastor of St. John's German Lutheran 
 Church, Reading, for over fifty years. The warm friendship of 
 the two pastors throughout is exhibited for us in a beautiful 
 picture of ministerial regard and fellow-feeling as recorded in Dr. 
 Bausman's diary of 1899: 
 
 Visited the Rev. Dr. J. Kuendig to offer my sympathy on the 
 death of his wife. Was exceedingly grateful for my visit and a 
 letter of condolence. Embraced me sobbing, pressed my face 
 between the palms of his hands, repeatedly rose to his feet in 
 
PREACHER AND PASTOR 369 
 
 great emotion and pressed my hand with both hands. Cor- 
 dially kissed each other before parting. He repeatedly de- 
 clared that I was truly a man of God, that he and his wife had 
 often said so, that she thought so much of me, and loved to hear 
 me preach. He begged that we would always be true friends to 
 each other. "Yes, you will never forsake me!" Let us not 
 permit our denominational differences to cool our mutual love. 
 We are essentially one in faith. We both wept together. An 
 unusual and stirring interview. Am so thankful that I called 
 to see the poor man. 
 
 Dr. Bausman regarded it a point of honor to attend the funeral 
 of a minister, especially of his own denomination, if it was at all 
 possible. He felt that in this particular, lodge members, poli- 
 ticians and members of other professions often put ministers to 
 shame. He preached the funeral sermons for scores of ministers 
 and very often for the members of minister's families. He was 
 at his best as a preacher when eulogizing the faithful deeds of a 
 humble pastor. 
 
 By his natural eminence as leader and spiritual adviser he be- 
 came among his coworkers in the ministry as it were, an un- 
 official bishop. 
 
 Dr. Bausman had the pastoral instinct and it was fundamental 
 in all that he did. As Dr. Richards said in his introduction to 
 "Precept and Practice" in 1902: 
 
 Whether he wrote his "Sinai and Zion, " his articles for the 
 Guardian and the Hausfreund, or whether he stands in his pulpit, 
 by the bedside of the sick, and in the homes of his members, or 
 whether his eye follows the progress of the city of Reading, that 
 the building of churches may keep pace with the erection of 
 homes; in all these positions and offices, he has the spirit of a 
 pastor, a shepherd and bishop of souls. 
 
 Dr. Richards said further of Dr. Bausman at the unveiling of 
 his bust in St. Paul's Sanctuary: 
 
 He was a historic character in the Reformed Church. We 
 speak of Ranch, Nevin, Schaff, Harbaugh, as a distinguished 
 group of ministers in the nineteenth century. With all but one 
 of these. Dr. Bausman was personally and intimately acquainted. 
 Each one represents a specific type of work. One was the philo- 
 sopher, another the theologian, a third the historian and a fourth 
 24 
 
370 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 the poet. I should add the name of Dr. Bausman to this galaxy 
 of historic persons in the Reformed Church as the preacher- 
 pastor. 
 
 Dr. William A. Hale of Dayton, Ohio, says of Dr. Bausman: 
 
 My admiration for his splendid character was all I was ca- 
 pable of feeling for one of the noblest men I have ever known. 
 
 In his home he was a prince of courtesy and refinement. In 
 his fellowship with men he was knightly, noble and philanthropic. 
 In his pastorate he was a good and true shepherd. In his pul- 
 pit, a flame of fire and an evangel of God. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Theology and the Church Question 
 
 DR. BAUSMAN did not consider himself a theologian. 
 Speculative questions did not deeply interest him. He 
 believed with Froebel that the fundamental things of life are 
 vital, not intellectual. It was not the abstract but the con- 
 crete and practical end of things which appealed to him and to 
 which he gave his thought and energy. He felt, regarding his 
 own denomination, somewhat as Dr. Thomas Arnold did of the 
 English Church. Arnold said: "It is in government and dis- 
 cipline, not in doctrine, that our Church wants mending most." 
 And yet, far more than this was the conviction of Dr. Bausman. 
 Religion is the life of God in the soul of man. To bring God to 
 men in some effective way, he felt was his mission; yea, it was his 
 passion. Clear, satisfying thought regarding divine things was 
 important and never to be undervalued, but still more funda- 
 mentally important was it to know God and obey Him. Dr. 
 Bausman was in agreement, moreover, with F. W. Robertson that 
 
 the condition of arriving at truth is not severe habits of in- 
 vestigation, but innocence of life and humbleness of heart. Truth 
 is felt, not reasoned out; and if there be any truths which are only 
 appreciable by the acute understanding, we may be sure at once, 
 that these do not constitute the soul's life, nor error in these 
 the soul's death. 
 
 No doubt, in his student days, some of the Church doctrines 
 were subjected to debate; but we have little evidence that the 
 theological system, as outlined for him by his teachers, was, in 
 any points, ever seriously questioned. His mind was satisfied 
 with the tenets of Mercersburg Theology. Even in the early 
 years of his ministry, he complained that, "We have so much 
 cold logic and speculation in the world" aiid plead for "speaking 
 out of the abundance of the heart." 
 
 371 
 
372 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 In his preaching there was little to appeal to mental curiosity, 
 and he was not easily drawn into theological discussion by his 
 fellow ministers. He knew how such discussions readily turn 
 into exhibitions of dialectic skill and he had no taste for such 
 gymnastics. A certain man of skeptical turn of mind, who admired 
 Dr. Bausman and attended his services, came to him claiming 
 a desire to be set straight on certain theological questions. He 
 received as a reply: "I am so busy with practical matters, that 
 I have no time and no bent for discussing doubts." 
 
 It will be a surprise to many to learn that he never wrote a 
 single article for The Reformed Church Review, The Mercershurg 
 Review as it was first called under the editorship of Dr. Nevin, 
 when it was founded in Bausman's student days. Any articles 
 he might have written for it would certainly have been well re- 
 ceived. The scholarly merit of his tercentenary address, as 
 we have seen, was immediately recognized by the great German 
 theological review, in which a translation of it was published. 
 That his brother ministers credited him with ability as a theolo- 
 gian is evidenced by the two attempts to put him into a sem- 
 inary professor's chair, the second of which will be referred to 
 later on in this chapter. 
 
 The products of his ever busy pen were wholly concentrated 
 upon the edification of the rank and file of the Church, and many 
 of us will be disposed to think with Dr. Richards as he wrote to 
 Dr. Bausman: 
 
 I have often wondered whether in your writings you have not 
 molded more Reformed people and done more permanent good 
 than has been acomplished by the theological giants in the 
 Review. We can republish your articles and they will continue 
 to edify a new generation; but many of the theological disserta- 
 tions of the past would be unnoticed to-day. 
 
 That Dr. Bausman chose to give his energy to proclaiming 
 the vital and practical principles of our religion must not lead 
 us to infer that he was indifferent to their logical formulation. 
 For the mental comfort of the believer, for the vindication of 
 the truth, doctrine is necessary and Dr. Bausman was very de- 
 cided in his mental conceptions of the great fundamentals. The 
 orthodox view of the character of Christ and of His atonement. 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 373 
 
 that people must accept Christ in this world to be saved at all, 
 these were basic beliefs with him. The life-giving and saving 
 power of Jesus Christ, to his mind, was inseparable from his 
 intellectual conceptions of the Master. What might seem to 
 be intolerance on Bausman's part must be explained by the 
 importance which he attached to the high view of the Saviour's 
 character and work. In the first year of his ministry, he refused 
 to affiliate with a "so-called Christian congregation who have 
 but a mere human Saviour." 
 
 In the latter years of his life his opposition to admitting a 
 Universalist into a ministerial association, of which he was a 
 member, is to be explained by his feeling that in so doing he 
 would be compromising himself on a vital doctrine and thus would 
 dishonor his Lord and lessen his own influence. Dr. Bausman was 
 not a liberal in theology and, as we have seen, hated Rationalism 
 with all its consequences. Clear cut doctrinal views were in the 
 background of his preaching. They were the thought vessels 
 holding for him the truth in energetic solution in the vital cur- 
 rents of his warm heart. We do not believe that his theological 
 conceptions were greatly modified throughout his long life. As 
 Dr. Creitz says: 
 
 His mind was open to the truth. He followed with interest 
 the thought movements of his age. But certain fundamentals, 
 as he regarded them, became the constants of his life. There 
 was a large realm of his intellect, however, where changes were 
 constantly taking place. 
 
 He realized that there is a valid progress in theology and he 
 was eager to see the teachers in the seminaries conversant with 
 the latest modern thought. He believed that the truth must 
 receive fresh statement in the thought forms of a new age. He 
 was not afraid of any new truth, but did not believe that specula- 
 tions and unproved hypotheses should be ventilated in the pulpit, 
 or even the church paper, to the possible unsettling of the be- 
 liefs of the faithful. 
 
 Mrs. T. M. Yundt contributes 
 
 an incident that made a strong impression on Mr. Yundt. He 
 and the Doctor had been talking about new theology in his 
 
374 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 study when suddenly Dr. Bausman rose to his feet and exclaimed, 
 "After all, God reigns, and I am glad he is going to keep on reign- 
 ing as long as this old earth stands." 
 
 Dr. Bausman was imbued with the great principle of organic 
 development as it obtains in all realms of life and history. This 
 had been strongly emphasized by the Mercersburg teachers. He 
 was, therefore, not frightened by evolutionary theories even 
 when applied to the Bible and theology. 
 
 He, of course, strongly deprecated destructive criticism and 
 speculation, while he acknowledged the necessity of the con- 
 structive and positive sort if religious thought would remain 
 fresh and vital. In the Reformed Ministerium of Reading, the 
 majority of the members, especially the younger ministers, are 
 in sympathy with the so-called "new theology" and Dr. Baus- 
 man felt himself obliged sometimes to dissent from some of the 
 views there so freely expressed. He told us a number of times, 
 however, that he was benefited and broadened by many of the 
 findings in this new thought movement and was not in the least 
 alarmed as to its outcome. 
 
 At the funeral of Dr. Calvin S. Gerhard, in 1902, the text of 
 Dr. Bausman's sermon was 1 John 3: 2, "Beloved, now are we 
 sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, etc." 
 As he began by dwelling on the text, he remarked that, "In the 
 light of modern knowledge, John might have said this very 
 differently." There were present, at the funeral, many brethren 
 of the Lutheran communion, nearly all of whom were surprised 
 and took exception to the statement, as being a radical and 
 dangerous utterance, setting aside the theory of inspiration as by 
 the sweep of the hand. 
 
 The above statement shows that Dr. Bausman was not a liter- 
 alist. He was manifestly influenced in his latter years by the 
 results and point of view of the literary criticism of the Holy 
 Scriptures. He never made much use of the revised version of 
 the Bible, however, either in his public ministrations, or private 
 meditations, though he acknowledged its merit of greater ac- 
 curacy. He, at one time, humorously remarked that a change 
 in a text spoiled one of the best sermons he ever had. His long 
 and famihar use of the authorized version made him feel for it, 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 375 
 
 as he said, "a certain kind of literary reverence," and it was 
 beyond doubt a powerful influence in the molding of his style. 
 
 He was a strong believer in special providences. Several 
 times in his life he was in great physical danger. He attributed 
 his escape to special divine intervention. He did not hesitate 
 to pray for a beautiful and propitious day for any event or in- 
 terest in behalf of the kingdom of God. And a fine day for any 
 such occasion, he would thankfully ascribe to special divine 
 favor. This, of course, was in keeping with his feeling of per- 
 sonal intimacy with God his Heavenly Father. 
 
 He held to the old view of the fall of man from grace in the 
 sin of the first parents, but believed that all men could be saved 
 if they would come to Christ and follow Him. That must be 
 done, however, in this life, before death, for after "the closing of 
 heaven's gates at the sunset of life, there will be no more ad- 
 mission. " 
 
 Dr. Bausman believed, with the Mercersburg teachers, that 
 there was great virtue in Holy Baptism. He did not hold that 
 there is baptismal regeneration in connection with the act of 
 baptism itself, but that there comes with the administration of 
 this Holy Sacrament a special baptismal grace. 
 
 Soon after Horace Bushnell's enlarged edition of "Christian 
 Nurture" came out in 1860, Dr. Harbaugh reviewed it in the 
 Messenger, and said: 
 
 We do not agree with Dr. Bushnell in regard ta the basis of 
 Christian nurture — "the child is to grow up a Christian and 
 never know himself as being otherwise. " His nurture starts from 
 nature — from the supposed capacity for such nurture in the 
 organic laws of natural generation under the power of gracious 
 helps. Nothing is necessary but to put baptismal grace in the 
 place of his basis and this becomes the most powerful discussion 
 on what is called educational religion, ever presented to the 
 Christian public. Ministers will easily discern what we? regard 
 as its vitiating principle, and thus find the book a joy to their 
 hearts. 
 
 Dr. Bausman was in accord with this view in the main and 
 never materially changed it. It is the view expressed in his 
 essay on " Catechetics " in the "Tercentenary Monument:" 
 
376 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 A baptized person is no longer a natural man in the sense of 
 one unbaptized. Baptism turns the heart to Christ at a re- 
 newing, saving angle, as the earth's surface in the spring of the 
 year is turned toward the sun at an angle which will increase 
 the life-giving heat of his rays. 
 
 A few years before his death, he was appointed to read a paper 
 before the Reformed Ministerium of Reading. He read parts 
 of the above essay from the "Tercentenary Monument" without 
 expressing any change in the opinions therein set forth. He 
 said, too, then that he hoped he would not be accused of plagia- 
 rism for reading a printed article which he himself had written 
 before most of us were born. 
 
 Dr. Bausman likewise held high views of the Holy Commun- 
 ion. It was to him more than simply a symbolical memorial 
 service. It was for him a real fellowship of the believer with 
 the glorified Christ, and a channel of heavenly grace. There 
 was a strong, mystical strain in his nature and he could easily 
 realize the "Mystical Presence" of Christ according to the views 
 of his great teacher. Dr. Nevin. 
 
 With him "The devil is an actual evil," not simply the per- 
 sonification of "impersonal evil." From his knowledge of his- 
 tory and his observations in the Eternal City, he was quite sure 
 that, "Since the days of Romulus and Remus the devil has been 
 a prominent citizen of Rome." 
 
 The frequent false fire-alarms which used to be sounded from 
 a near-by engine-house, at confirmation hours and during the 
 most solemn moments of his services in the old First Church, 
 Reading, were to him, he was wont to say, convincing proofs 
 of a personal devil. He felt that the foe of souls was particularly 
 aggressive against individuals and congregations at seasons of 
 spiritual elevation. 
 
 Dr. Bausman believed in the literal resurrection of the body 
 in the hereafter and declared that he would be exceedingly un- 
 comfortable in entertaining any other view. 
 
 The reality of heaven to Dr. Bausman was a sublime and in- 
 spiring belief. Of it he would take great delight in conversing 
 and corresponding with his friends. Hints as to what he thought 
 it was like, we gather from the following extract of a beautiful 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 377 
 
 letter of condolence to his old teacher, Dr. Schaff, on the death 
 of "dear little Philip:" 
 
 His active, busy mind just opening like an early bud beneath 
 a vernal sun; then suddenly to close for a future and more dur- 
 able reopening in the realms of an eternal spring. Still the 
 image of the lamblike, curly-headed boy, romping in the Sem- 
 inary campus, floats before my mind. In the land of the blest 
 he will continue to be himself. The qualities which were the 
 loveliest and most endearing to his parents, will remain. They 
 will meet, see, know and love their angel boy again. Your little 
 family in heaven is growing. Your departed ones are keeping 
 each other blessed company. 
 
 He was a firm behever in "Heavenly Recognition." 
 
 "I believe in the communion of saints." This article of the 
 creed had, for Dr. Bausman, meanings deeper and of more far- 
 reaching significance than it has for most minds. He recog- 
 nized a truth in telepathy, which if not a definite thought trans- 
 ference, was a very real "communion of human spirits" inde- 
 pendent of the normal operation of the sense organs. There 
 are hints in his letters that this meant more to him than simply 
 imagination and the fond memory of a friend. Some of us heard 
 him say more than once, when discussing the mysteries of the 
 soul, and with an accent, too, of one who had first-hand knowl- 
 edge of the power of unseen realities, "Ah, brethren," as Shakes- 
 peare says, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
 than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 
 
 His intimate and colleague, Dr. McCauley, and also Dr. Har- 
 baugh, were in accord with him in this belief. With reference 
 to the latter, he had a very singular experience. It was when 
 he was studying in Berlin in the autumn of 1856, in preparation 
 for extending his tour into the Holy Land. It occurred on a 
 Saturday, after he had attended preparatory services in the Dom 
 Kirche, when he was very much impressed and was very kindly 
 invited by the venerable patriarch of the Berlin Clergy, Dr. 
 Strauss, to participate in the Holy Communion on the morrow. 
 
 Bausman wrote of the incident in the Guardian: 
 
 Very naturally his sermon, his kind invitation, and the earnest 
 self-examination in which I spent the remainder of the day, 
 
378 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 helped to intensify the sad yearnings of my spirit. On the 
 third story of a large building, in the Leipsicher Strasse, I medi- 
 tated and prayed, till long into the night. Though alone, I 
 felt myself surrounded by a mysterious presence; a sense of 
 spiritual company elevated me to a height I had never attained 
 before or since. I thought of my friend Harbaugh, in Lancaster, 
 Pennsylvania. In spirit, sat with him in his study, and sought 
 to unburden myself to him; and derived great comfort from this 
 unburdening. Thus my spirit soared until he seemed to be 
 with me in my Berlin study. His warm heart touched mine. 
 His voiceless presence I felt as really as my own existence, indeed, 
 almost more so. My feelings seemed somewhat akin to those of 
 Paul in his vision: "Whether in the body, I cannot tell; 
 or whether out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth." This 
 happened on Saturday evening, October 4th. 
 
 In his next letter which reached me in Rome, occurs the fol- 
 lowing passage: 
 
 "I must tell you that, on Saturday night, October 4th, I had a 
 most vivid dream of you. You had returned, were fat and 
 healthy. There was a strange mystery about you. You did 
 not speak much and always with great reserve. You seemed 
 not to care about going out to your friends (my father and 
 brothers). Stayed two days at my house without saying any- 
 thing about going out. Said you had not received my letter, 
 which I had written to you at Berlin, etc. I could not forget 
 this dream. Spoke of it to my wife. It was on my mind for 
 days. I see from my letter from you, that it was four days be- 
 fore you wrote. You must have been thinking of me, or some- 
 thing of the kind, that so disturbed my spirit." 
 
 How mysterious and how real is the communion of saints. 
 Through Christ, their head, their spirits shake hands across the 
 wide ocean, meet and mingle in felt fellowship, whilst bodily 
 they live in remote countries. Above all is this gracious inter- 
 course enjoyed in the holy communion, where we realize that 
 "The saints on earth, and all the dead, but one communion make." 
 
 This mysterious meeting of our spirits followed me for a long 
 while like a pleasant dream. I informed Dr. Harbaugh of his 
 singular visit to me. In reply, he said: "I feel fully with you in 
 your remarks about the communion of saints. That is a subject 
 about which all has not yet been said that is felt by Christ's own 
 dear people. I know that, in reference to all who are dear to 
 me, thoughts come over me at times, which have relations to 
 thoughts and feelings of theirs. Oh, what mysteries are these, 
 in the midst of which we live, and through the limitations of 
 which our spirits often break, like light through a clouded can- 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 379 
 
 opy! The time will come when 'all that is in part shall be done 
 away;' when the deep, earnest prophecies of our spirits shall 
 come to a glorious fulfillment." 
 
 Akin to this experience was another, a note of which we find 
 on the margin of an odd sheet, on which are written texts and 
 subjects of various sermons preached: "I had a dream of Dr. 
 Harbaugh (September 10, 1898) in which I apologized to him 
 for having published the Harfe, his Pennsylvania German poems, 
 without asking for his consent." 
 
 During Benjamin Bausman's college and seminary years, the 
 Church Question was uppermost in the serious discussions of 
 professors and students. For a dozen years prior to his going 
 to Mercersburg, the Tractarian Movement was agitating England 
 and its influences were touching the American Churches. We 
 can be sure that it was of interest to young Bausman. The 
 Church Question with its great practical import confronted him 
 with strong appeal in the student period and during the first 
 three years of his ministry, prior to going abroad in 1856, as we 
 have seen. 
 
 How decidedly he was influenced by the atmosphere of thought, 
 in which he found himself in those days, we see further from a 
 letter to Rust, written in November, 1853, after his return from 
 the first Synod, which it was his privilege as a delegate to attend : 
 
 Another important item of business before Synod was the or- 
 dination of a minister by a special meeting of the Philadelphia 
 Classis. The meeting having but one elder present, was de- 
 clared irregular. Now the question arose, is an irregular body 
 competent to impart a valid ordination? The discussion was 
 able and instructive on both sides, and consumed the better 
 part of a day. It was a question between Episcopacy and Pres- 
 byterianism. Nay, it finally threatened the validity of our own 
 ordination. Does the Gospel require a plurality of ministers to 
 ordain, or can one man ordain, as did some of the apostles? 
 Zwingli was ordained by one man, the Bishop of Florence. If we 
 pronounce the ordination of this minister invalid, because there 
 was but one elder present, we unchurch ourselves. Here was a 
 dilemma, terrible though amusing in some respects. Some of 
 the brethren were on the point of being frightened, some even 
 doubted the validity of their own ordination, of which I had 
 some misgivings. Others, who perhaps had never thought of 
 
380 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 these difficulties, evinced faces beaming with the anguish of an 
 unwelcome as well as an unpopular discovery. But there it was. 
 Finally, Synod pronounced the meeting irregular in point of 
 order, but valid as to power; in other words, the ordination was 
 made vaHd. 
 
 Ach! I wish I could have a talk with you on these matters. 
 
 Any misgivings Mr. Bausman may have had regarding the 
 validity of his own ordination, however, we can be sure were 
 but a passing thought, for he was of a temper to feel the inner 
 authority of the divine call to the ministry, and knew he was in 
 the true succession of the apostles because he had their spirit. 
 
 Dr. Bausman always considered himself a churchman and 
 that meant to him more than simply allegiance to certain forms 
 of devotion, rather the ardent belief that the Church was the 
 very body of Christ, the channel through which the Master's 
 life flowed down through the centuries, the agent through which 
 Christ's work is done in the world. 
 
 He loved the old and approved forms of worship in which re- 
 ligious truth found such classic expression. When he was at 
 the home of Jesus in Palestine, he worshipped with English 
 friends and said: "The Litany impressed me with new and 
 solemn force. Here, in this frail tent at Nazareth, we prayed: 
 *By the mystery of Thy Holy Incarnation, Good Lord deliver 
 us.'" 
 
 When he was in Glasgow in 1856, he worshipped with a Church 
 of England congregation and said: 
 
 The devotional part of the services was exceedingly edifying 
 to me. It is much easier to worship with a devout frame of mind 
 where there is a Liturgy. Still, the English Liturgy must be- 
 come very monotonous. They repeated the Lord's prayer four 
 times during the service. 
 
 He always saw the perils of formalism in liturgical worship, 
 but he had this to say further: 
 
 The Scotch lay great stress on so-called simplicity in worship. 
 They have a righteous antipathy to forms of devotion, save their 
 version of the Psalms. In their extreme opposition to liturgical 
 forms, they have themselves become formalists. They have 
 become formally informal, ceremoniously unceremonious. Very 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 381 
 
 able their prayers are, but painfully lacking devotional unction. 
 Often they present in their prayers intrusive expositions of 
 precious truths, definitions of the attributes and decrees of God, 
 to which every person listens with laborious attention. Under 
 such prayers, the mind is feasted while the heart is famished. 
 The wrestlings and yearnings of burdened, contrite hearts find 
 no outlet through them. Unction in worship is an essential 
 part of religion. 
 
 He said further, and the words which follow, as well as the 
 paragraph preceding, are from "Wayside Gleanings," published 
 nearly twenty years after the visit abroad: 
 
 The German churches still retain much of the liturgical spirit 
 of the Reformation. Their liturgical services are generally free 
 from the recitative and the mechanical. These German brethren 
 have most excellent liturgical talents. The use of a good Liturgy 
 produces uniformity in worship, and prevents the haphazard 
 random habit of mind, which profanes our approach to God and 
 distracts the simple devotion of worshipers. Here the prayers 
 were not the subjective thinking of one man, but the general 
 vehicle for the praises and prayers of the whole congregation. 
 
 These sentiments, favorable to liturgical worship, may not 
 seem to be in accord with Pastor Bausman's actual practice. 
 The services in his own church would be regarded as free. The 
 Creed, the Gloria in Excelsis, the Gloria Patri and the Lord's 
 Prayer were regularly used, though the prayers were generally 
 free as offered by the minister. However, churchliness with 
 Dr. Bausman was not synonymous with reading prayers; it con- 
 sisted rather in the order, dignity, reverence and devoutness of 
 a religious service. It was a matter of spirit rather than of form. 
 Moreover, the errors in the office of prayer to which the non- 
 ritualistic ministers of Scotland were so prone, did not appear 
 in Pastor Bausman's ministrations which were characterized 
 by unction and devoutness. Gifted as he was in the power of 
 prayer, one cannot conceive of him as tying himself down ex- 
 clusively to the prayers of a Liturgy. He felt that there were 
 many things to pray for which were not noted in the Liturgy, 
 and that the spontaneity and aptness which were possible in 
 free prayer were invaluable elements of worship. Nevertheless, 
 he always had a copy of the Liturgy on the altar in his church, 
 
382 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 and on the great festival days of the church year, its matchless, 
 comprehensive prayers were often used. At the Holy Com- 
 munion services and those preparatory to the same, the desig- 
 nated worship of the Liturgy was followed. At the latter serv- 
 ices, the Litany was statedly used, though he expressed disap- 
 proval of the petition for deliverance "from sudden death," as 
 implying a lack of preparation for it, of which the true Christian 
 should not be guilty. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's concern was that people should worship in 
 spirit and in truth, and he detested barren formalism in what- 
 ever manner it might appear. However strong the aesthetic 
 appeal of the familiar Liturgy might be to him, a question of 
 greater concern was the feeling and desire of the people touching 
 the method of worship. They should be permitted to express 
 their hearts' devotion in ways that would be most comforting 
 and helpful to themselves. He felt it was wrong to force any 
 form of worship upon a people against their desires. No par- 
 ticular form or mode could be said inherently to be superior to 
 another. The purpose to be accomplished should determine the 
 methods to be employed. He never substituted means for ends. 
 He always kept his eyes on the people with sympathy and sanity 
 and adapted his methods so as to effect the largest measure of 
 edification. Of course, a congregation could be educated to feel 
 at home in and love new forms of worship, but the old customs 
 of the simple common people, especially in religion, die hard. 
 The country folk of Eastern Pennsylvania, in the Reformed 
 denomination, had high regard for the Church and her ordinances. 
 The pulpit was with them in the middle of the platform and the 
 altar in front of it and free prayers were offered by the ministers. 
 With people coming from the country into cities like Reading 
 by the thousands, it was of vital importance for their spiritual 
 welfare that they should become identified with city churches 
 as soon as possible, and Dr. Bausman was eager to make them 
 feel at home with familiar forms and methods. His great suc- 
 cess proved his wisdom in this. 
 
 He did not think it possible or desirable to have all the con- 
 gregations of his denomination worship in precisely the same 
 fashion. They differed too much in culture, training and tem- 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 383 
 
 per, and in the same way pastors would differ. Uniformity was 
 not necessary to unity. This liberty, however, was always to 
 be exercised within the bounds of the true, churchly, reverential 
 spirit. We have seen how, already in his student days, his 
 soul recoiled from the performances of boisterous revivalists. 
 In the Guardian and Messenger, we read of his protest against 
 an unchurchly spirit liable to assert itself in Sunday-schools, 
 particularly in connection with the music. He believed in 
 "Hymns as Educators." "Good hymns cannot be sung too 
 often, cannot spoil by use. Familiarity with them breeds rev- 
 erence and not contempt." He severely criticized "the prolific 
 Sunday-school Muse giving birth to a music-book every few 
 months, producing a mass of semi-pagan productions, contain- 
 ing scarcely enough sound, moral teaching to blind the minds of 
 the unsuspecting to their pernicious ingredients; pandering to 
 the natural passion for tales of fictitious piety and artificial sor- 
 row, so as to make their stuff more palatable to the unsancti- 
 fied heart. What then shall be done with the Sunday-school 
 Muse? First gag her. Although this is a free country, and the 
 Muse is an unshackled fowl, let her be silenced as soon as may be. " 
 
 He held that the Sunday-school should be a training school 
 in devotional spirit and in every way for church membership. 
 That the centrality of the church in the Christian's life might 
 be emphasized, he wanted the children to be baptized in the 
 sanctuary, and he made regular announcement for the baptism 
 of children on the first Sunday of every month. 
 
 Tolerant and generous regarding the various tendencies in 
 doctrine and cultus in his own denomination, he was kindly and 
 broad-minded toward other denominations, whether Methodist 
 on the one hand or Roman Catholic on the other, believing that 
 they severally were fitted for doing a peculiar work in the king- 
 dom of God. That this feehng was not simply an empty senti- 
 ment, he showed on one occasion, when the agent of the Ameri- 
 can and Foreign Christian Union preached in his church. He 
 wrote of it: "Terrible onslaught on the papacy for which I re- 
 proved him after his sermon. He then told the congregation 
 he was glad I corrected him and explained away some of his 
 harsh expressions. " 
 
384 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The Liturgical Controversy raged with vehement bitterness in 
 the Reformed Church during the twenty-five years after Ben- 
 jamin Bausman's entrance on the work of the ministry. "The 
 Provisional Liturgy" was published in 1857 and "The Order of 
 Worship," a revision of the former, appeared nine years later. 
 As a protest against the alleged "high church" positions and 
 tendencies finding expression in these books of worship, came 
 the "Myerstown Convention" in 1867 and the opening of Ur- 
 sinus College in September, 1870. The Peace Movement was 
 inaugurated at the General Synod of Lancaster in 1878 with a 
 view of reconciling the contending parties, and in 1884 a com- 
 promise book, "The Directory of Worship," was adopted by the 
 General Synod as the official Liturgy of the Church, which was 
 in due time approved by more than two-thirds of the Classes of 
 the denomination. 
 
 Benjamin Bausman was in the prime of his vigor during this 
 quarter of a century of ecclesiastical battle, but not a contro- 
 versial word do we find from his pen on the subject, nor any evi- 
 dence of his ever taking sides in its public discussion. He seems 
 to have had a silent resolve not to participate, but to hold him- 
 self to the path of practical activities which he had marked out, 
 and he never swerved from it. He realized how almost impos- 
 sible it is for anyone to engage actively in such a discussion 
 without becoming a partisan, and partisanship has its perils in 
 the limitations which it puts on a man even in his search for 
 truth. As a great English teacher has said: "I seem to find it 
 more and more hopeless to get men to think and inquire freely 
 and fairly, after they have once taken their side in life." 
 
 Dr. Bausman's non-committal attitude was not due to any 
 undervaluation of the importance of the questions under dis- 
 cussion. Again and again, he said there were great problems 
 which needed to be clarified by earnest debate and in spite of 
 bitterness and ugly personalities, he believed the ordeal had its 
 beneficent effects and its results were good. He had little taste 
 for fencing with another in argument; but if he chose, he could 
 show himself a formidable antagonist. It is true that between 
 the two sides, his sympathies were, in a measure, divided. He 
 did not believe that all the truth was on one side, yet, when in 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 385 
 
 any church judicatory he was called on as a delegate to vote 
 on a resolution involving the Church Question, he, as a rule, 
 stood by his old teachers. He did not believe that Mercersburg 
 Theology and Cultus were a perversion of old Reformed doctrine 
 or worship, but a legitimate and proper development in harmony 
 with the needs of the age. Some of the Mercersburg thinkers, 
 he granted, were extreme, they pushed phases of truth to un- 
 warranted conclusions, but such excesses were sure to arise in 
 any aggressive thought movement. The new, energetic ideas 
 from the momitain town in Franklin County, tossed into the 
 thought arena of a complacent Church, were sure to arouse an- 
 tagonism; but the great Controversy he regarded as inevitable 
 and on the whole, beneficent in the order of the Church's his- 
 toric progress. He saw the truth and the extremes of emphasis 
 on both sides, and neither had a monopoly in exhibiting the 
 Christian graces in the heat of the fight. He objected decidedly 
 to coercing either the ministers or the common people, touching 
 methods of worship wherein freedom is the Christian's inalien- 
 able right. In this, as in so many things, he showed himself 
 prophetic, a score of years ahead of his time, for the practical 
 outcome of the Peace Movement was, that every congregation 
 should be privileged to worship after whatever fashion it pleased, 
 and the fact is that the congregations of the denomination do 
 please to differ very much. If the outcome of a great contro- 
 versy was this diversity of practice, one may well ask — wherefore 
 all the powder and smoke? Well, it may be worth while to have 
 a long-drawn-out battle to find out that, after all, there are some 
 things which cannot be accomplished by contending. To feed 
 the souls of the people with simple, vital truth, to encourage the 
 processes of Christian nurture in the rank and file of the member- 
 ship, these were humble paths in which Dr. Bausman chose to 
 walk and labor and in so doing, he felt he was following after 
 the things that made for peace. He certainly agreed with Dr. 
 Arnold, who said: "Make the church a living and active so- 
 ciety, like that of the first Christians, and then differences of 
 opinion will either cease or will signify nothing. " 
 
 His broad-minded charity, touching method and manner of 
 church worship on the one hand, and his devotion to the prac- 
 25 
 
386 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 tical affairs of the Church and his great success therein on the 
 other, were a fine example to the Church of what she should be 
 and do, the very things which came to pass when the Church 
 came to herself in the happy issues of the Peace Movement. 
 
 This Movement brought great joy to Dr. Bausman's heart, 
 and his whole great influence was given to furthering all it stood 
 for. The Movement originated formally in the now famous 
 paper, presented to the General Synod of Lancaster in 1878, 
 by Dr. Clement Z. Weiser. The paper called for the creation, 
 by the several district Synods, of a Commission "proportionately 
 representing the true tendencies in the Church, who shall consider 
 and solemnly deliberate over all matters in controversy within 
 the Church, with a view of devising a plan of amicable adjust- 
 ment. " 
 
 Dr. Bausman was made a member of the committee whose 
 work it was "to arrange the details for the creation of the Com- 
 mission," and he presented to the same General Synod, the 
 resolutions urging "ministers and members," "editors and pro- 
 fessors" "to use their official and personal influence for the 
 cultivation of mutual confidence and peace;" and that "the 
 members of all ecclesiastical bodies, in their deliberations and 
 decisions, should have due and charitable regard for each other's 
 conscientious convictions." When, three years later, the re- 
 port of the Peace Commission was adopted at Tiffin, Ohio, "the 
 SjTiod, with mingled feelings of solemnity and joy, united in 
 singing the Doxology, 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow' 
 and joined in special prayer, led by Rev. Benjamin Bausman, 
 D. D." 
 
 He was chairman of the committee which drafted "the fur- 
 ther action as called for by the adoption of the report of the 
 Peace Commission," and two undertakings were the outcome. 
 The members of the Peace Commission continued as a committee 
 and prepared "The Directory of Worship;" and another com- 
 mittee was elected which proceeded "to provide a hymn-book 
 for the use of the whole English portion of the Church." Dr. 
 Bausman, as we have seen, was chairman of this hymn-book 
 committee. "The Directory of Worship" which was officially 
 declared to be the Liturgy of the Reformed Church by the General 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 387 
 
 Synod of 1887, was within the year following, introduced by 
 Dr. Bausman into St. Paul's Church. No doubt, he considered 
 the "Directory" inferior to the "Order" from the literary and 
 constructive point of view, nevertheless, as a loyal churchman, 
 he felt bound to stand by the decision of the whole Church, 
 whatever other congregations or ministers might do or fail to do. 
 A glimpse of how he yearned for the unity of his distracted 
 denomination, we see in the following extract from a letter to a 
 warm friend who was not in sympathy with what the institutions 
 at Lancaster stood for: 
 
 I am sorry that you have so little faith in the Peace Movement. 
 Whatever individuals may do or say, on either side, this thing is 
 from God. You must not hold it responsible for what one man 
 may do here or there. Let me assure you, our dear Reformed 
 Church has been apprehended by this blessed Spirit, and I most 
 devoutly bless God for it. Any man who puts himself in the 
 way of it, be he a Lancaster or an Ursinus man, will find himself 
 stranded ere long. In its development, I may have to give up 
 some of my individual preferences, and you may have to give up 
 some of yours. Should we not be willing to do this for Christ's 
 sake? I am trying to assume that all the brethren in sjonpathy 
 with the Peace Movement are sincere. I believe the brethren 
 at Lancaster feel so too, whatever they may have said or written 
 in the past. The controlling sentiment of the Church is a unit 
 on this subject, and those brethren will fall in with it. If they 
 do not, they will strand high and dry. You seem to suspect all 
 the while that there is a man behind the door. Mutual confi- 
 dence is a powerful healer of strife, as is clearly seen by this 
 Movement thus far. You have kindly confided in me; thus do 
 I in you, and hence I speak thus frankly. I cherish the kindest 
 feelings towards you, and do not dispute your sincerity. God 
 bless you and yours and lead us as individuals and as a Church 
 to do His will. 
 
 Dr. Bausman's best friends were sometimes displeased and 
 impatient with him because he refused to lend his powerful in- 
 fluence to partisan controversy. He was "a man of peace," 
 as Dr. J. Spangler Kieffer put it, who said further in a fine ar- 
 ticle of appreciation after his death: 
 
 Dr. Bausman did not shine in controversy; he was not in 
 his element there. He was at his best, not in times of strife, but 
 
388 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BATJSMAN 
 
 when peace reigned within the Church's borders; when its parts 
 and its members were *'knit together in love;" when the pro- 
 cesses going forward were those of natural and normal activity 
 and growth. His forte was not to contend against an opposing 
 party, but to watch over the growth of precious seed. Once, 
 within the period of his ministry, there were years of contro- 
 versy in the Reformed Church; controversy which was not with- 
 out its significance nor without its valuable results, but which 
 must have been a sore trial to the peace-loving soul of Dr. Baus- 
 man. He had little or no part in it. I happen to remember 
 certain words spoken by him in the midst of that strife. It was 
 at the General Synod of Cincinnati, in 1872. It was a somewhat 
 stormy meeting of that body. Much of the valuable time of 
 that Synod was occupied in the hearing of vexatious appeals and 
 complaints growing out of the distracted condition of the Church 
 and the contentions of opposite parties. When these had finally 
 been disposed of. Dr. Bausman, whose voice had not been heard 
 in the discussion of them, found opportunity to make an earnest 
 plea for the resumption by the Church, with increased energy, 
 of her missionary activities. It was in the course of this speech 
 that the words to which I have referred were spoken. Referring 
 to the business which the Synod had just been engaged in, he ex- 
 claimed: "I am weary of appeals and complaints." The words, 
 spoken with a sort of passionate earnestness, with a certain half- 
 mournful vehemence, made a deep impression on me. I seemed to 
 recognize in them the turning of the tide. They were, as far as 
 I remember, one of the earliest notes of protest and revolt; one 
 of the first prophecies of that period of peace and practical ac- 
 tivity which was then not far off, and many years of which he 
 was destined still to see. 
 
 Dr. Bausman hated strife because it was alien to the Chris- 
 tian spirit and because it hindered the progress of the kingdom. 
 The stirring up of bad blood in acrimonious discussion grieved 
 and depressed him, even though he was not immediately 
 concerned in the question involved. There are numerous diary 
 notes to this effect. 
 
 After the Synod of 1859, we read: 
 
 A stormy S3mod, passionate, lacked dignity. May the Lord 
 overrule it for good. Returned with a sad heart. 
 
 After a meeting of Classis : 
 
 Rude squalls; coarse personalities. Feel sad. We brethren 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 389 
 
 have tried to do something for our poor Reformed Church. God 
 in mercy bless our efforts. 
 
 When troubles were nearer home : 
 
 Intensely discouraged. Strife and discord in my flock. Feel 
 like running away across the sea. Perhaps wrong. O for grace 
 to bear the worst and contend manfully for the right. 
 
 Discord in a sister congregation called for the prayer: "Alas, 
 may the Lord soon heal it." 
 
 Nothing was more gratifying to him than to have a hand in 
 healing a breach between individuals. "The Lord enabled us to 
 reconcile the brothers and who have been at vari- 
 ance for some years. God be praised." 
 
 Dr. Bausman's mediating position and conciliatory spirit were 
 well known throughout the Church, and he was trusted by all 
 parties. After the inauguration of the Peace Movement in 1878, 
 Dr. J. H. A. Bomberger, president of Ursinus College, wrote a 
 letter in "fraternal cordiality" relative to "the auspicious turn 
 of affairs at Lancaster." He said that he and his friends had 
 desired, at the special meeting of Synod, held in Harrisburg 
 in March, 1868, to have Bausman elected to the chair of Dog- 
 matic and Practical Theology, made vacant by the death of Dr. 
 Harbaugh. Bausman was not present at this special meeting 
 of Synod, but his name seems to have been suggested for the 
 professorial vacancy. Certain friends of his claimed to have 
 been authorized by him to say that his name must not be used 
 at all. Alluding to this effort to nominate Dr. Bausman, Dr. 
 Bomberger went on to say in the letter : 
 
 It was done sincerely and in the hope that your election and 
 acceptance would change the unhappy theological, etc. current 
 then in full sweep, and prevent, under God, many evils which 
 I then saw threatening the Church, and which alas! have since 
 then befallen us. It was confidently hoped your election would 
 prevent great misfortune. One consequence, which I personally 
 desired to avoid was the founding of another institution. It had 
 been talked of for some time (three or four years) before; but I 
 always discouraged and withstood the proposal. And mainly 
 for two reasons: 1. To do so would formally draw and fix the 
 lines of division between what have been called the two tenden- 
 cies, (though I do not admit for my part having any tendency 
 
390 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 but to maintain the old Reformed Church) and so widen in fact, 
 if not formally, the breach. I foresaw clearly what such a move- 
 ment would necessarily involve and ardently wished to shun it. 
 2. It was evident in advance, that were a new institution started, 
 I would have to take hold of it, and I was intensely averse to re- 
 linquishing my pastoral work for any other position. 
 
 Dr. Bomberger intimates in this letter that his effort to put 
 Dr. Bausman into a professor's chair may have displeased the 
 latter and he offered his "frank apology for participation in it." 
 
 The long and interesting letter concludes: 
 
 Pardon this trespass on your time and patience. But to the 
 friend of my youth, the son of my grandparents and parents' 
 warmest friends, and my fellow brother in the grace of the gospel, 
 I felt constrained to open my heart. 
 
 There is no doubt but that Dr. Bausman was emphatically 
 opposed to the above proposal. He had definitely decided for 
 himself in 1861, that he would not go to the Seminary as a pro- 
 fessor, and that the pastorate should be the sphere of his life work. 
 Moreover, if he had been nominated, it by no means follows that 
 he would have been elected. 
 
 Would Dr. Bausman's going to a professor's chair have pre- 
 vented the founding of Ursinus College? Would it have been 
 better for all parties and interests concerned not to found another 
 college, rather than to allow a tendency to work itself out freely 
 in an institution of its own? These questions naturally arise 
 in one's mind as he considers the possibilities involved in Baus- 
 man's going to the Seminary in 1868. We are quite sure it 
 would have been a position less congenial than the pastorate 
 and perhaps in the end not more influential. He doubtless re- 
 membered very vividly the double fire of criticism which he en- 
 dured as editor of the Messenger in his effort to steer steadily 
 between extremes, and did not pine to be in such a situation 
 again. A new institution was founded embodying and express- 
 ing certain principles in the Reformed Church. There are those 
 who think that men of the amicable spirit of Dr. Bausman pre- 
 vented further breach and actual schism in the founding of a 
 new denomination. 
 
 In 1876, when Dr. Nevin resigned the presidency of Franklin 
 
THEOLOGY AND THE CHURCH QUESTION 391 
 
 and Marshall College, there was strong feeling on the part of 
 some who wanted Dr. Bausman to be his successor. Dr. C. Z. 
 Weiser wrote him: "We want you there wahrhaftig!* You 
 are my man and no other one. I have spoken to many and good 
 men about it. They all fall in sanguinely. Dr. Nevin wants 
 you. This I know." 
 
 Dr. Bausman commanded the confidence of all sections of the 
 Church in those controversial days, a consideration of no little 
 value for a college president. His ability in leadership and in 
 raising funds had been shown. He said to his friends, however: 
 "You are mistaken in your man if you think I would be a second 
 Cattell" — alluding to the man who was then President of 
 Lafayette College and was evincing executive ability of a high 
 order. He did not consider the proposition seriously. In 1863, 
 he had made his decision against a college presidency. 
 
 By voice and pen he had dedicated himself to the nurture and 
 uplift of the common people of the Church. His strength lay 
 along those lines and he knew it. He was a mighty builder in 
 the Church of Christ. He wrought his spirit into the people 
 with whom he labored and into the institutions which he fostered. 
 His works follow him. 
 
 Dr. Musser, the editor of the Messenger, said after Dr. Baus- 
 man's death: 
 
 He was a great preacher. He would have ranked among the 
 best preachers of any Church. In our own Church he has had no 
 superior and scarce an equal. He was a master of men, a far- 
 seeing churchman, "the grand old man" of the Reformed Church 
 in the United States. 
 
 Dr. A. R. Bartholomew, Secretary of the Foreign Mission 
 Board, says: 
 
 Dr. Bausman was the greatest influence for good in the Re- 
 formed Church during the nineteenth century. 
 
 * Positively. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 The Associate Pastorate — 1900-1909 
 
 DR. BAUSMAN was enabled to continue in the active pas- 
 torate to the close of his long life, because he secured the 
 services of a competent and congenial associate, who took from 
 his shoulders the more burdensome exactions of his large city- 
 parish. 
 
 On Sunday morning, the 22nd of July, 1900, Dr. Baus- 
 man preached a sermon on "Parallels in Ancient and Modern 
 Pastorates," from 2 Corinthians 8: 23, "Whether any inquire 
 about Titus my partner and fellow worker to you-ward." He 
 closed by reading a brief statement of his thirty-seven years' 
 work in Reading. He said among other things: 
 
 The congregation's burdens were turned into blessings. 
 
 By laying her offerings on other altars, she was enabled to 
 enlarge her building and pay all her debts. 
 
 In a certain sense it seems strange that I should be here to-day, 
 that the clerical invalid of thirty-seven years ago should, in the 
 year of our Lord 1900, be the hale and happy shepherd of a 
 large, united flock as dear to him as life itself. 
 
 I am not tired of you, and God be thanked, you do not seem 
 to be tired of me. To my mind, this is wonderful. You seem 
 to have overlooked my failings and to be blind to the infirmities 
 of my age. Sooner or later every pastorate must come to an 
 end. I have been looking toward the end of mine, not ^vithout 
 a pang. 
 
 To some congregations, the end of a pastorate is the begin- 
 ning of strife. In order to guard against this, five years ago I 
 convened an advisory council, composed of elders, and those 
 who were formerly in the active eldership. I asked their advice 
 as to how to resign without disturbing the harmony of the church. 
 Some fifteen men of ripe experience in church work since then 
 took part in our meetings, held about once a year. This body 
 could only give advice; only the Consistory had power to take 
 formal and official action in such a matter. From the first to 
 
 392 
 
DR. BAUSMAN IN HIS STUDY 
 
 AT 84 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 393 
 
 the last meeting, this council unanimously advised against my 
 resignation, and urged the appointment of an assistant pastor. 
 For weighty reasons, I deemed it unwise to take formal action 
 in the case at once. 
 
 Strange as it may seem, these five years of suspense belong to 
 the happiest years of my ministry. Never has the preaching 
 of the gospel been such a precious and inspiring privilege, and 
 pastoral work among the people so comforting to my soul. 
 The members seem to be a unit, in work and worship. The 
 young people stood by their pastor with filial tenderness and 
 characteristic zeal; even the little children seemed to vie with 
 each other in little acts of service. Thus, all helped to lighten 
 my burdens and keep my heart young. All this was made 
 possible by the helping God and the unabated loyalty of my 
 dear people. 
 
 At 8 late meeting of the Consistory, I presented my resigna- 
 tion. Its action on this subject will now be read by a represen- 
 tative of that body. 
 
 Elder Daniel Miller then read the preamble and resolutions 
 adopted by the Consistory, expressing appreciation of Dr. Baus- 
 man's great services in the past and their desire to retain them 
 in the future; therefore, they declined to accept his resignation 
 and authorized him "to secure for himself the services of a suit- 
 able minister of the Reformed Church to assist him in his pas- 
 toral work." 
 
 Mr. Miller also read Dr. Bausman's reply: 
 
 After prayerful consideration I have concluded to acquiesce in 
 your request to continue in my pastoral labors a while longer 
 and employ an assistant. 
 
 Accordingly, I have employed the Rev. Charles E. Creitz, who 
 has accepted the position and expects to enter upon his labors 
 on October 1, 1900. 
 
 We find a lengthy diary comment on these proceedings. 
 
 The congregation was ignorant of the advisory council's ac- 
 tions. They were in perceptible suspense during the reading of 
 the papers, fearing that it meant my resignation. At the close, 
 there was much satisfaction expressed at the new arrangement. 
 
 I used to look forward to my resignation when I would reach 
 seventy years. When that time came, I began to confer with an 
 advisory council of elders. From the beginning, our con- 
 ferences were kept from the knowledge of the people so as not to 
 unsettle the congregation. 
 
394 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 About a dozen of the younger and promising ministers of the 
 Church in these five years preached during my vacations or 
 helped me at communions. Neither they, nor the congregation, 
 only the council, knew my object in employing their services. 
 The elders would secretly gather the consensus of the people 
 respecting each one. 
 
 I thank God that this matter, which has perplexed me so long, 
 has at length been disposed of without creating strife. 
 
 It seems providential to me that, in my seventy-sixth year, I 
 should still enjoy ministerial work, and that my congregation 
 should entreat me to continue as their pastor. 
 
 It needs to be added that Mrs. Bausman was in the council of 
 advisers touching the prospective assistant. When any of these 
 brethren preached during vacations, she would come to Reading 
 over Sundays from Preston's to attend the services at which they 
 officiated, entertain them, and then return to report to Dr. Baus- 
 man, who was always very eager to hear. 
 
 The suggestion that IMr. Creitz was the man suitable to be- 
 come the assistant was first made by the venerable Dr. E. V. 
 Gerhart, whose suggestion and influence were largely instrumen- 
 tal in bringing Mr. Bausman to Reading in 1863. Mr. Creitz 
 preached in St. Paul's Church during the summer of 1899, but he 
 was not then available, because he had just become the Field 
 Secretary of the Home Mission Board. He preached again in 
 February, 1900, at a missionary anniversary — "an inspiring 
 sermon" — several times also at the services of the follomng 
 Holy Week, by which time Dr. Bausman was much cheered in 
 the prospect of securing him as his assistant. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Creitz preached his introductory sermon on the 
 first Sunday evening of October, 1900, and the associate pas- 
 torate was begun. His text was 2 Corinthians 2:16, "Who is 
 sufficient for these things?" Dr. Bausman commented as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 The sermon was preached without notes — clear, judicious, 
 with excellent points and very impressive — church crowded and 
 the people pleased. 
 
 After years of patient planning and waiting, the Lord has 
 solved our problem in St. Paul's pastorate. My heart is full of 
 thankful joy and praise. 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 395 
 
 The associate pastorate was very happy and fruitful. Pastor 
 and associate got on together in beautiful harmony. This is 
 more than can be said of such arrangements generally. Where 
 senior and junior pastors both preach and officiate for the same 
 congregation, exceptional grace and forbearance are required of 
 each, as well as tact and thoughtfulness on the part of the con- 
 gregation. Of course. Dr. Bausman's policies were continued, 
 but he always welcomed suggestions and new ideas from the 
 assistant. Mr. Creitz enjoyed large freedom and ample oppor- 
 tunities for initiative, and the elder rejoiced in the younger's 
 efficiency and success. Each vied in honor to prefer the other, 
 and it was beautiful to see, at the meetings of Classis and, in fact, 
 on many an occasion, the tender regard and consideration, one 
 for the other, as that of father and son. The morning congre- 
 gation at St. Paul's is, as a rule, the larger. Dr. Bausman de- 
 sired that Mr. Creitz should preach alternatively with him in 
 the morning. Mr. Creitz, however, from the start insisted on 
 taking the smaller evening congregation. Thus the senior pastor 
 could be relieved of his chief Sabbath task early in the day, an 
 arrangement which Mr. Creitz was sure would be more con- 
 genial. Dr. Bausman instructed the catechumens and confirmed 
 them until the time of his protracted illness, in 1906. He urged 
 Mr. Creitz to confirm prior to that time, but he stoutly refused 
 and thereafter did so only because Dr. Bausman insisted. They 
 had a happy arrangement of dividing all perquisites, but the last 
 three years of his life. Dr. Bausman insisted that Mr. Creitz 
 must officiate at all weddings. These are hints of the mutually 
 generous spirit in which pastor and associate worked together 
 throughout. One can be sure that the congregation was help- 
 fully impressed thereby. 
 
 Dr. Bausman notes in his diary again and again with manifest 
 pleasure the favorable impression produced by the younger 
 man. Dr. C. S. Gerhard, pastor of St. Stephen's Church, was 
 particularly interested in the success of the associate pastorate 
 and one day asked Dr. Bausman how it was working out. He 
 replied: *'Mr. Creitz has been here over a year and hasn't gotten 
 his foot in it yet." 
 
 Mr. Creitz strove to reheve Dr. Bausman of the taxing, prac- 
 
395 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 tical details of congregational work, though they were together, 
 as a rule, at all regular church services and funerals. 
 
 In September and October of 1901, Mr. Creitz had a severe 
 attack of typhoid fever, and during that time Dr. Bausman 
 attended to all the work. When Mr. Creitz came to St. Paul's 
 in the autumn of 1900, his relation to the congregation was not 
 official, he was simply Dr. Bausman's assistant. In October, 
 1902, he was officially called and installed assistant pastor of the 
 congregation. 
 
 Since St. Paul's congregation would not permit Dr. Bausman 
 to resign the pastorate, the one thing to which he set himself 
 was to do with the highest possible efficiency the preaching and 
 pastoral work, which he chose to undertake. We have seen how, 
 for a score of years before the close of the century, he avoided 
 tasks which might unduly tax his strength and narrowed him- 
 self to the several lines of work he had in hand. And so, with a 
 prudence which is rare and was made so effectual, no doubt, 
 by the unfaihng care of Mrs. Bausman, he continued to guard 
 his strength in the new century. He continued to be impor- 
 tuned to perform outside services. His feeling and point of 
 view are expressed in the following letter to the son of Dr. Herman 
 Rust, shortly after his old friend's death: 
 
 The Preston, Wernersville, Pa., August 24, 1905. 
 My dear Brother Rust: 
 
 Your kind letter afforded me much that is interesting in your 
 sainted father's closing life. It is very kind of you to ask me to 
 write a chapter for the memorial volume you propose to prepare. 
 Whilst for your sake, and for the sake of the memory of my de- 
 parted friend, I would like to comply with your request, circum- 
 stances compel me to decline. For some years past, I have de- 
 clined similar requests. I was urged by different persons to write 
 an introduction to the Life of Dr. Harbaugh; also to write a 
 chapter for the Life of Dr. C. S. Gerhard, and declined in both 
 cases. Lately, I wrote a short introduction to a volume — "The 
 History of the Reformed Church in Reading, Pa." For special 
 reasons I consented to do this. Outside of that I have written 
 nothing for book publication for years past. I am conscious 
 that in my advanced years, I cannot write as I used to do. I 
 still preach with great comfort, and, I hope, with some degree 
 of good to others; occasionally, I write on some subject of special 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 397 
 
 and immediate interest to me for the church papers. But I 
 must ask my friends to excuse me from writing for books. 
 Please do not think hard of me. My wife joins me in cordial, 
 condoling greetings to yourself and your sister. 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 He would take part in special services in connection with the 
 Reading Churches — installations, corner-stone layings, dedica- 
 tions, etc. He would go outside of the circle he had drawn for 
 himself only when a claim, which specially touched his life and 
 work, could be laid upon him. 
 
 In the summer of 1901, it was fifty years since his graduation 
 from college. Dr. Stahr, President of Franklin and Marshall 
 College, invited him to be present and speak at the alumni 
 dinner. He replied: 
 
 Whilst I dread the wearing excitement of such an occasion, a 
 feeling of gratitude if for no other reason inchnes me to be pres- 
 ent. I have not only a dread but a horror of attempting an after- 
 dinner speech. I will conditionally promise to be present; should 
 I fail to come there will be no serious harm done. 
 
 He began the address by alluding to Mercersburg with its 
 
 picturesque mountain scenery as an ideal place for a college. 
 
 Our seclusion helped to give cordiality, and a warmer esprit 
 de corps to our college family. We were a complete little world 
 in ourselves. 
 
 We lived in a breezy, bracing atmosphere, stimulating to the 
 most stupid intellect. I dare say, we sometimes pressed our 
 immature philosophical researches to grotesque extremes. 
 Every public performance had to be treated philosophically. 
 
 After narrating amusing incidents of college life and paying 
 the highest tribute to his great teachers, he concluded: 
 
 Mellowed with years, one has a peculiarly tender feeling to- 
 ward his Alma Mater. A feeling in the nature of grateful, filial 
 affection. For does not the term indicate a composite person- 
 ahty, in which the best thinking and doing of those, who lived 
 their lives into the institution, are personified? Here the best 
 of what teachers and students were and are lives on in vital, or- 
 ganized force. Their life passed into ours; let us make ours 
 worthy a similar assimilation by those coming after us. Thus 
 
398 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 those, drawing toward the close of life, salute those that follow; 
 not as the gladiators in the arena of the Coliseum, at Rome, 
 saluted Caesar, but as those who are soon to leave the active 
 field of life's battles, we salute our surviving leaders in the re- 
 public of letters. We bid a cordial Godspeed to the faculties 
 and students in their expanding realm of philosophical and 
 theological research. 
 
 On the evening of June 12, 1901, he wrote in his diary: 
 
 Went to the commencement of Franklin and Marshall College 
 this A. M., to attend the reunion of our class. We graduated 
 in September, 1851, from Marshall College, in Mercersburg, 
 the next to the last class that graduated there. Of the six mem- 
 bers in the class, I and Dan. J. Neff, Esq., of Altoona, are living. 
 On account of a professional engagement, he arrived at 3 P. M., 
 after the alumni dinner had closed. We had not met in fifty 
 years, since we parted on graduation day, in 1851. Sitting on a 
 settee under the shade trees of the campus, we chatted delight- 
 fully for about two hours. Neither would have recognized the 
 other on the street. Neff is a prominent lawyer with a large 
 practice, a manly fellow. 
 
 I was down for semi-centennial toast at 1 P. M. The Gym- 
 nasium building was packed. I felt under a nervous strain, 
 increased by the close, uncomfortable condition of the room, and 
 the songs and yells of the students at times. Toast-master 
 W. U. Hensel introduced me with cordial words. I spoke from 
 ten to twelve minutes with freedom and comfort. Many people 
 directly, and through others, spoke very kindly of my address. 
 Until Dr. Jacob Fry, of Mt. Airy Seminary, a member of our class 
 in its earher career, and Dr. Stahr reminded me, it did not occur to 
 me that this would be our semi-centennial. How long and 
 mercifully God has spared and blessed us! For more than a 
 week, the address gave me many anxious thoughts. Wrote 
 eight pages, then with a little paper containing the main points 
 I undertook it and God helped me as usual. Very hot day. 
 Was on the campus from 10 A. M. to 5 P. M. Returned home 
 with Mr. Yundt and Mr. Creitz. 
 
 In January, 1902, at the banquet of the Eastern Alumni As- 
 sociation of Franklin and Marshall held in Reading, he spoke on 
 "The College Fifty Years Ago." Those present very well yet 
 recall what a happy after-dinner speech it was. The newspaper 
 report says: 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 399 
 
 He followed story with story, and told of occurrences at the 
 College, which, while they may not have seemed particularly 
 amusing at the time, were very mirth-provoking as told by Dr. 
 Bausman fifty years after. He was the first speaker. And in 
 appreciation of the worth of this grand, old man, every banqueter 
 rose to his feet. The doctor is not used to making speeches at a 
 banquet board when the clock's hands are pointing perilously 
 near to midnight; but he talked as if he had been used to nothing 
 else from his youth up. He retired at the close of his speech 
 amid a volley of applause that would have fairly scared a man 
 less brave. 
 
 This is his own report of the experience: 
 
 To avoid the long and tedious banquet, I went there about 
 10 P. M. Then had to wait over an hour. Ate nothing. The 
 long delay very trying. Withdrew for about half an hour to 
 one of the parlors. Felt comfortable in speaking. Kept the 
 audience (nearly 100) in good humor and was liberally applauded. 
 Reached home near midnight. The rest kept it up until 2 A. M. 
 
 In May, 1902, he was a delegate to the General Synod, in Bal- 
 timore, and preached two sermons, which made tremendous im- 
 pression. The sermon preparatory to the Synod's Communion 
 was on Acts 4 : 13 — "The Attitude of the Christian to his Saviour. " 
 Several days thereafter he wrote of it: 
 
 God blessed my sermon on Saturday. Never was thanked 
 by so many people for a sermon, dozens of men and women, 
 most of them strangers to me. God helped me, for which I can- 
 not thank him enough. Repeatedly I prayed that I might lay 
 all the praise at His feet. 
 
 Of the other sermon from Acts 17: 26-28, Dr. Conrad Clever, 
 then pastor of the Third Reformed Church, says: "He preached 
 in my church on 'Practising the Presence of God.' It was to 
 me one of the few great sermons that I carry with me. And so 
 it was with the congregation. " 
 
 In November, 1902, he made a two days' visit to Chambers- 
 burg. The occasion was the reopening of the remodelled Zion's 
 Reformed Church, in the pastorate of Dr. Wm. C. Schaeffer. 
 He spoke at the services of Wednesday evening, met a multi- 
 tude of old friends in "delightful greetings," and drove to the 
 
400 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 old haunts near the town, which had charmed and refreshed him 
 forty years before. 
 
 In June, 1903, he attended the semi-centennial of Franklin 
 and Marshall College and spoke at the special services of Sun- 
 day on "The Place and Power of the Good Man." 
 
 In July, 1903, he preached the sermon at the dedication of the 
 Reformed Church at Lewisburg, Dr. R. L. Gerhart, pastor, and 
 thus was privileged to meet the old friends and visit the scenes 
 made dear to him by the associations of his first charge. 
 
 In February, 1904, he attended the semi-centennial of the 
 dedication of the First Reformed Church, Lancaster, Pa. The 
 fact that he had been reared in this church as a boy won his 
 presence and he spoke on "Historical Recollections from Hoff- 
 meier to Harbaugh." 
 
 We have seen how during the last decade of the old century 
 there were, at St. Paul's Church, numerous celebrations in which 
 Dr. Bausman was always the central figure of honor. So in the 
 new century, there were frequent anniversary occasions, some- 
 times planned as a surprise, to express appreciation and show 
 him reverence. The most significant and elaborate of all these 
 events was the Golden Jubilee of his ordination, celebrated in 
 St. Paul's Church from Wednesday, February 25th, to Sunday, 
 March 1, 1903, with inspiring addresses in the presence of im- 
 mense congregations. It was an occasion never to be forgotten. 
 
 On the first evening of the Jubilee, Dr. Richards, of the Sem- 
 inary, spoke on "The Congregation and the Seminary during the 
 Last Fifty Years," and Dr. Bausman characterized the address 
 as "very appropriate, eloquent, at times thrilling. The allu- 
 sions to myself in good taste. Audience visibly impressed." 
 And Dr. Bausman, too, was impressed. Ministers present, 
 speaking of the address with appreciation and as a work of art, 
 were overheard by Dr. Bausman, who said with manifest emo- 
 tion, "Yes, and more, a work of the heart." Alluding to the 
 Synod's choice of Mr. Bausman, in 1860, for the tutorship with 
 a view to his being prepared for a professorship. Dr. Richards 
 said that, had he accepted, there would have been "one great 
 professor more, one great pastor less. " 
 
 On Friday evening Dr. E. V. Gerhart, President of the Sem- 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 401 
 
 inary faculty, delivered the address on "The Reformed Church 
 in 1853," which abounded in references to interesting historical 
 events in which he, himself, had been a distinguished partici- 
 pant. 
 
 On Sunday morning Dr. Bausman preached the Jubilee ser- 
 mon from Leviticus 25: 11. In the afternoon there were appro- 
 priate services in the Sunday-school, and in the evening Dr. 
 James I. Good, who was confirmed by Dr. Bausman, preached 
 on "The Reformed Church in Reading since 1853." He re- 
 ferred to Dr. Bausman's activities in Reading as "the work of 
 one ecclesiastical Napoleon, to seize strategic positions, hold 
 them, and then use them to advance God's kingdom." 
 
 The climax of the great occasion came, however, when Dr. 
 Bausman spoke his "Jubilee Address" on Thursday evening the 
 26th, on the identical date and hour when fifty years before he 
 had been ordained to the holy ministry. The president of the 
 College, Dr. Stahr, who had been with Dr. Bausman as pastor 
 of the First Church at the time of the organization of St. Paul's, 
 paid a touching and impressive tribute. The several ministerial 
 associations of the city were present, and their representatives 
 spoke their feelings of appreciation and honor. Superintendent 
 Yundt of the Bethany Orphans' Home brought the tender greet- 
 ings of the orphans. 
 
 After this chorus of high praise, the venerable shepherd of 
 souls himself rose, was greeted by the Chautauqua salute and 
 responded most delightfully. He remarked in beginning that 
 as he sat listening to the kind words, he said to himself, "Is this 
 all about me, and is it true? One is accustomed to hear words 
 like these only at funerals." 
 
 He then recited, in vivid detail, the incidents attending the 
 visit to his first field of labor fifty years before ; he spoke of his 
 work in Lewisburg, Chambersburg, and Reading, all of which 
 we have incorporated in the proper places in his life story. He 
 continued : 
 
 I bless God for bringing me to this city. Half of my natural 
 life I have spent here. Reading has been a great blessing to 
 me, a stimulating field of usefulness, a battle-ground for the 
 
 26 
 
402 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 discipline and development of the best energies of my person- 
 ality. 
 
 I have found here a fertile field of usefulness. Reading has 
 been kind to me; in my humble way, I have tried to reciprocate 
 its kindness. Whether minister or layman, a genuine Christian 
 must antagonize wrong, whilst he loves the wrong-doer. 
 Whether agreeing, or disagreeing, I have only the kindest feel- 
 ings toward everybody. This evening I can think of no one in 
 this city, or anywhere else, whom I would not like to bless and 
 lead to my Saviour. 
 
 When a boy I used to pity certain old people that came to our 
 house. To my mind, they seemed so weary, worn, frail, soli- 
 tary and joyless. They had outlived their active usefulness. 
 Could any old person be happy? So I then questioned. Since 
 then, the boy himself has come to try the experiment. God 
 put me into the ministry, assigned and mapped out for me a 
 somewhat active career. While wholly intent upon my work 
 in hand, I took little note of the flight of passing years. As I 
 was busy here and there, lo! I discovered that fifty years of my 
 ministry had passed. And now, I believe, I, too, am classed 
 with the venerable people whom my boyish fancy commiserated. 
 Pray what does the boy think of the matter now? There is a 
 sense in which the children of God never grow old. They retain 
 the cheerful, contented, hopeful spirit of youth, despite the de- 
 cay of bodily powers. In the evening of life, the goodness and 
 love of God fringe the darkest clouds with a gilded lining, as 
 does the setting sun the clouds on the evening horizon. I bless 
 God, not only for youth and manhood, but for a contented, 
 happy, serene old age. 
 
 Perhaps I could do better if I had my life to live over again. 
 I am not so sure of that, however. With a penitent, thankful 
 heart, I hand over these busy, earnest years, such as they are, 
 into the hands of our merciful Father, into the hands of my lov- 
 ing Redeemer, to whom I vowed fidelity a half century ago. 
 
 I thank these dear friends for their words of kindly greeting, 
 and the people in whose behalf they have spoken. I thank all 
 of you for helping me to praise God for His goodness. All that 
 they so lavishly ascribe to me, I cannot claim. Love idealizes 
 its objects. Thus David depicted the qualities of Jonathan in 
 glowing colors; and Alfred Tennyson made his friend Arthur 
 Hallam an ideal being. They did it to friends departed. But 
 when it is done to one still in the flesh, publicly and in his pres- 
 ence, he sees how far he has come short of his ideals. The min- 
 ister of the gospel at best is but an instrument in the hands of 
 our divine Master. Not to the instrument, but to the Master 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 403 
 
 belongs the glory. I would fain hide myself behind the cross, 
 SO that only He, the only absolute Ideal, can be seen. 
 
 The kind sentiments of good-will and praise on this occasion, 
 uttered and unexpressed, and the devout thankfulness of my 
 own heart, I will weave into a coronet of eternal gratitude and 
 glory, and lay it at the feet of our adorable Saviour. 
 
 " Let every kindred, every tribe, 
 On this terrestrial ball 
 To Him all majesty ascribe, 
 And crown Him Lord of aU." 
 
 The impressiveness of the closing prayer by Dr. Bausman, 
 some of us who were present shall never forget, especially the 
 petition uttered with indescribable pathos — "0 Lord, forsake 
 not thy servant when he is old." 
 
 Dr. Bausman's feelings on this Jubilee evening are further 
 expressed as he scrutinized the experience, ere he retired for the 
 night : 
 
 Felt strangely awkward and humbled under their praise, in 
 the presence of so many people. Inwardly prayed for a meek 
 and humble spirit. Felt more calm and composed than I ex- 
 pected, especially during my address. Crowds pressed around 
 me at the close, extended hands and congratulations. Glory, 
 glory to God. 
 
 We take from the Reformed Church Messenger, a few weeks 
 later, the following extract from the home missionary letter 
 penned by the Superintendent, the Rev. A. C. Whitmer: 
 
 Near the close of this Jubilee, Dr. Bausman sent his check 
 for $500 to establish a memorial church building fund as a 
 thank-offering to God. When he did this he knew nothing 
 of what was going on in the Sunday-school in reference to 
 a similar thank-offering there. It was thought quite right 
 that the school should have the privilege of honoring God and 
 the pastor in a similar way, and on the Sunday of this joyful 
 festival the school laid on the altar of God $500 in twenty dollar 
 gold pieces, to the surprise and joy of their aged pastor. The 
 secret had been well kept. 
 
 In a letter to the Rev. Mr. Whitmer, Dr. Bausman said: 
 
 These two funds, with the same object in view, may fittingly 
 be placed in a holy alliance, side by side, in this double form, to 
 
404 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 proclaim the gospel of salvation through coming years. Thus 
 we can give a voice to our thanksgiving anthem that will sing 
 the Lord's song after our voices are hushed in death. 
 
 Scores of letters, expressing affection and congratulation, 
 were showered upon Dr. and Mrs. Bausman on this occasion. 
 Extracts from a few of them are here given. 
 
 Dr. N, C. Schaeffer, State Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
 tion, formerly principal of the Normal School at Kutztown: 
 
 Your ministry has been fruitful in a marvelous degree. Al- 
 though my activity has covered sixteen of these United States, 
 yet I can not point to any tangible or visible results anywhere 
 except at Kutztown. Your career deserves admiration because 
 you have concentrated your labors upon a section of the Church, 
 where your influence will be felt for generations to come. 
 
 Dr. John C. Bowman, of the Theological Seminary, at Lan- 
 caster : 
 
 As one of the great multitude of your friends, I join in extend- 
 ing to you my very cordial greetings on the occasion of your 
 pastoral Golden Jubilee. I do this out of the fulness of my heart's 
 affectionate regard for you personally, and with high apprecia- 
 tion of your incalculable services to the Church, her institutions, 
 and the various departments of Christian work. 
 
 Dr. Richard C. Schiedt, of Franklin and Marshall College: 
 
 I have always looked upon you as my ideal of a Christian 
 minister, and therefore rejoice with the whole Church in the 
 universal homage which has been so signally paid to you on 
 this festive occasion. I hope and pray that your example may 
 be the shining light which will ever point the way for many a 
 talented young man toward the holy ministry, as the highest 
 and noblest vocation in life; and may the good Lord bless you 
 and your faithful companion with abundant health and strength, 
 so that you both can be with us and cheer us by your counsel 
 for many years yet to come. 
 
 Dr. J. Spangler Kieffer, of Hagerstown, Maryland: 
 
 To thousands of others, as to myself, your life and example 
 and teaching have been a blessing. I take this occasion to ex- 
 press my gratitude to you, and to hope that the evening of your 
 precious Ufe may be bright and peaceful and happy. Max 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 405 
 
 Miiller quotes a Hindu rule which says: "Man is meant to leam 
 in his youth, to act in his manhood, to counsel in his advancing 
 years, and to meditate in his extreme old age." You have not 
 reached the latter stage yet; you are rather in the beautiful 
 stage of giving counsel. Nay, you are in the age of action yet. 
 Nay, I am sure you are still in the first stage; I am sure you are 
 learning every day. 
 
 Dr. E. N. Kremer, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: 
 
 I congratulate you on the completion of your fiftieth year in 
 the ministry, covering, as the period does, such an eventful 
 time in the history of our Church in this land. By your labors 
 and writings, as well as the force of your personality, you have 
 done much to bring out of obscurity into prominence, the Church 
 we love, and have thus made a claim, which we are pleased to 
 recognize and acknowledge, upon the gratitude of your brethren 
 in the ministry, and fellow members in the Church. 
 
 Dr. William A. Hale, of Dayton, Ohio: 
 
 I have read in The Record your glorious sermon on your an- 
 niversary. A glorious life, gloriously spent. The westering 
 sun sinks into a sea of gold. My heart throbs in gratitude for 
 God's gift of such men. I love you. 
 
 Rev. Stanley L. Krebs, then of Greensburg, Pennsylvania: 
 
 My dear Father Bausman: 
 
 Needless to annoy you with a long letter, for the train of let- 
 ters moving you-wards these days will be a long one — a train 
 freighted with the best wishes, fraternal greetings, heartfelt con- 
 gratulations, and sincere love of your ministerial brethren. I 
 want my little missive, bearing my quota of the above freight, 
 to be among the rest. So here you are, with all my heart. Mrs. 
 Krebs joins me in love to Mrs. Bausman also, who rejoices with 
 you and we with both. 
 
 . Dr. J. P. Moore, of Tokyo, Japan: 
 
 I also congratulate Mrs. Bausman, as the wife of the one who 
 has just celebrated such an anniversary. It is an honor she 
 may well be proud of and all the more so, since her husband is 
 still such a boy, so vigorous in body and mind, so young in his 
 feelings. I am very sure that I am but expressing your senti- 
 ments when I say that to her may be attributed much of the 
 great success of your ministry, because of the true helpmeet we 
 all loiow her to have been. 
 
406 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 I am going to take new lessons in the art of how to keep young 
 and strong and useful to a good old age. Pray for me that I 
 may be successful in this. 
 
 Dr. J. S. Bromley, then pastor of the First Baptist Church, 
 Reading : 
 
 As one of your admirers, I wish to present my sincere con- 
 gratulations to you on the completion of half a century in the 
 ministry, and on your remarkable pastorate in Reading. In 
 the First Baptist Church, as in every other church in the city, I 
 believe, you are held in the highest esteem, for your worth and 
 your work's sake. Personally, I have often been encouraged 
 and helped in my ministry by your Christian courtesy in speech 
 and conduct. 
 
 In considering your long and successful pastorate in this city, 
 I cannot think of anything that is more appropriate than Phil- 
 lips Brooks' words in regard to the great pastorship of Dr. Vin- 
 ton: "A great pastorship is the noblest picture of human in- 
 fluence, and of the relationship of man to man which the world 
 has to show. It is the canonization of friendship. It is friend- 
 ship lifted above the regions of mere instinct and sentiment 
 and fondness, above all thought of policy or convenience and 
 exalted into the mutual helpfulness of the children of God. The 
 pastor is father and brother to those whose deepest lives he helps 
 in the deepest ways. His belonging to his people is like the 
 broad sky over the lives of men and women and httle children, 
 of good and bad, of weak and strong, on all of whom alike it 
 sheds its dew. Who, that has ever known such a pastorate, 
 can beheve that death which sets free all the best and purest 
 things into larger spiritual being, ends the relation of soul to 
 soul which a true pastorship involves?" 
 
 Pardon me for thus having intruded upon you. I felt that I 
 must in some way express my appreciation of your character 
 and work. 
 
 Hon. Gustav A. Endlich, Judge of the Berks County Court: 
 
 As one of many who realize the advantage our community 
 has enjoyed, for so long a series of years, in your presence and 
 example, I cannot forbear to offer you my cordial congratula- 
 tions upon the anniversary you celebrate this week. To you, 
 doubtless, it is the occasion of peculiar contentment; to your 
 congregation and indeed to all capable of appreciating the value 
 of a pure and virtuous and devoted life, one of profound interest 
 and satisfaction. 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 407 
 
 In the following year Dr. J. Spangler Kieffer wrote to Dr. 
 Bausman in response to an appreciative letter concerning Dr. 
 Kieffer's article in the Messenger on "The Deserted House:" 
 
 You find old age not barren and cheerless, but fruitful, serene, 
 happy. I confess I have been somewhat afraid of what old age, 
 now fast coming on, might possibly bring to me. I have dreaded 
 to fall a victim to evil dispositions. I have a strong desire to 
 preserve my cheerfulness, hope, trust, enthusiasm, belief in good- 
 ness. Your experience encourages me to believe that I need 
 not part with these as age comes on. I want to be like you and 
 in old age to take more pleasure, rather than less, in all innocent, 
 good and beautiful things pertaining to human life and in com- 
 munion with God. 
 
 The following beautiful tribute is from The Reading Herald of 
 January 30, 1904: 
 
 Four Score. 
 
 "Eternal sunshine settles on his head," sang the poet — a poet 
 who never knew Reading's Dr. Bausman. But were the poet to 
 come along this week, and find this venerable hero of the cloth 
 celebrating, with a serene and gracious dignity, his eightieth 
 birthday, the poet would be prone to repeat himself and to ap- 
 ply his glowing words to a new subject. 
 
 For this Reading pastor is, like the poet's, "a man to all the 
 country dear," and each year that he is spared to labor in and 
 be beloved of Reading, the townspeople will all the more de- 
 light to honor him. 
 
 They revered him at sixty. They loved him at seventy. 
 Now that he has safely turned the eightieth leaf in his story of 
 a beautiful life, they glory in him. And they hope, with all 
 fervency, that ten years hence he may be with them still, as 
 strong and erect, as true and sturdy, as helpful and as kind as he 
 is this very day. 
 
 Not the people of a single congregation only; not merely the 
 members of one religious body ; for Dr. Bausman belongs to many 
 outside of St. Paul's. His creed is far too catholic to be circum- 
 scribed by the limits of the Reformed faith. His friendships 
 reach far beyond the narrow limits of a mere parish. 
 
 It is not often that we have the privilege of praising a con- 
 spicuous citizen upon his eightieth birthday. And far, far rarer 
 is it that our tribute can be paid to one whose eightieth birthday 
 looks out upon such a far, dim perspective — reaching back to 
 his earliest youth — of noble deeds, of gentle words, and of kindly 
 thoughts. 
 
408 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 In May, 1905, a few weeks after Easter, Dr. Bausman wrote 
 to his colleague from Galen Hall, Atlantic City, in part as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Monday, 7 A. M. 
 
 You are still in bed. A charming sunny morning. I am 
 writing literally in a glass house, on the seventh story of our 
 hotel. 
 
 My old bodily abode has served me well for many years. A 
 kind Providence has given me a good tenement to live and labor 
 in; but it is at last showing signs of dilapidation. I keep a close 
 watch on it, if possible to keep it in repair. That brought me 
 here. I cannot thank God sufficiently for such an enduring 
 abode for my poor, personal self. But I cannot be unmindful 
 that I am but a tenant, at His will, until He shall give me a 
 "quit notice." Then I shall move out, and please God, migrate 
 into an abode where the body never grows infirm or old. For- 
 give me this loquacious soUloquy, for that is about what it is. 
 Meanwhile, I bless God that I can still have a little part in the 
 affairs of His kingdom. 
 
 We expect to return by the middle of next week. Mrs. Baus- 
 man joins me in loving greetings to Mrs. Creitz, her chubby 
 boy, and the pater familias. 
 
 The following winter, when Dr. Bausman passed into 
 his eighty-third year, he was in the throes of most serious ill- 
 ness, from which even his physicians despaired of his recover- 
 ing. His diary entries tell how it came upon him. 
 
 December 20, 1905. 
 
 Yesterday, about 6 A. M., before rising I was taken with an 
 attack of illness. Unconscious, I raised myself in bed with 
 violent groans, then sank back. Dr. Bertolet soon arrived, when 
 consciousness returned. The doctor was here five times to-day. 
 In bed all day. Weak from the violent strain. Many people 
 called to inquire. Still not as strong as usual; but slowly im- 
 proving. 
 
 December 23. 
 
 I have been slowly gaining the last few days. Took several 
 walks yesterday and to-day. Still feel somewhat weak. Many 
 eager inquiries. 
 
 Sunday, December 24. 
 
 Attended church this A. M. I took no part. Many greet- 
 ings of joy at my reappearance. Not strong as yet, but deeply 
 thankful. 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 409 
 
 Christmas Day. 
 Early service at 6 A. M. Church very full. Gave the pastoral 
 greeting. Delightful weather. 
 
 The diary remains blank imtil March 17, 1906, where we read: 
 "Walked out for the first time to-day since I was taken sick." 
 On March 25th, we find the next entry: 
 
 On December 27, 1905, I was taken sick with a nervous chill 
 which developed into catarrhal pneumonia, causing a serious 
 illness of three months' duration. To-day I attended worship 
 for the first time since I was taken sick. 
 
 The following note appeared in the church paper: 
 
 i^ A^iiYnh>^ 6U^~^ ^ro<^ JU/ty ^^ 
 
 It was a long time, however, until Dr. Bausman could again 
 take up his regular work of the morning sermon. On Palm 
 
410 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 Sunday, April 8th, he ''sat on the pulpit for the first time" 
 after his illness. Gradually he took more and more part in the 
 services, but did not preach again until the following autumn. 
 
 Dr. W. S. Bertolet was the attending physician during this 
 illness, though Dr. D. B. D. Beaver was in daily consultation 
 for a whole month, during the more serious stages. Dr. Baus- 
 man was a good patient in spite of his years and fought bravely 
 for recovery, beset as he was at times by mental depression. 
 When he began to convalesce, he took electrical treatments, 
 and religiously followed the physician's directions in taking ex- 
 ercise and getting fresh air. The unremitting solicitude of Mrs. 
 Bausman was supplemented by the services of a faithful nurse, 
 Miss Clara Schoenberger, whose irrepressible cheerfulness and 
 contagious buoyancy were for him, as his physician says, "the 
 best of medicine." As strength returned his physician advised 
 him to occupy himself in light mental activities. In June, he 
 was assisting Superintendent W. F. More in revising the "His- 
 tory of Bethany Orphans' Home" and he wrote several articles 
 for the Reading Herald on his Civil War reminiscences. On 
 June 14th, he attended the opening of the new wing of the Home 
 for Friendless Children and spoke a few minutes. The summer 
 of 1906 was spent at the Preston as usual and several times he 
 conducted religious services there for the guests. By the autumn, 
 he had recovered his health and strength again in a way that 
 was simply wonderful, considering how near to death's door he 
 had been. On the first Sunday morning of October, the sanc- 
 tuary of St. Paul's Church, which had been renovated at a cost 
 of about $12,000, was reopened, and Dr. Bausman made a short 
 address. 
 
 Two weeks later, he spoke briefly again at the communion 
 service and on the last Sunday of October, when Mr. Creitz was 
 attending the Synod, he preached his first sermon after his ill- 
 ness and "spoke with comfort." He preached again the last 
 Sunday in November, the first Sunday of January, twice in Feb- 
 ruary, and from March on, in 1907, took the Sunday morning 
 sermon quite regularly. 
 
 At the next annual meeting of Reading Classis, Dr. Bausman 
 said in his parochial report: 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 411 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to bear testimony to the uniform 
 kindness of my colleague, Rev. C. E. Creitz. His sympathetic 
 ministries during my illness were a great comfort to me; and the 
 untiring zeal with which he bore the entire burden of our joint 
 pastorate was a credit to his head and his heart. 
 
 The few years of life that yet remained to Dr. Bausman were 
 a period of extraordinary vigor and mental freshness for a man of 
 his years. He maintained to the end his erect poise and firm, 
 brisk step. Apparently "his eye was not dim nor his natural 
 force abated." 
 
 Yet the great illness through which he passed left its hidden 
 marks upon him. It could not be otherwise at his age. His 
 memory was less sure, though he was careful that the public 
 should not notice it. Indeed, it was always a point of honor 
 with him not to parade his weakness; and he was so prudent, 
 cautious, and well poised in conserving his strength, that he was 
 enabled to work on brilliantly and impressively to the very end. 
 
 On March 30, 1906, when he had become strong enough again 
 to see visitors, he called a few of his elders to his home "to con- 
 sult about his pastoral relation to St. Paul's." However, he 
 said: "They insisted that it would be seriously detrimental to 
 disturb the matter and at their urgent request I consented to 
 drop the affair." 
 
 In the latter part of June, he again tried to be relieved and pre- 
 sented his resignation to the Consistory, stating his case as he 
 saw it: 
 
 By reason of the infirmities of advanced years I do not ex- 
 pect to render much service hereafter. I feel constrained to pro- 
 pose the following: 
 
 1. I ask permission to assume the relation of pastor emeritus 
 of St. Paul's Reformed Church. 
 
 2. As Mr. Creitz performs all the work, I am no longer entitled 
 to further remuneration, nor do I ask for any. Hitherto your 
 kindness has not approved of such a proposal; but I feel that 
 under present conditions, the foregoing course of action would 
 be the wisest for all concerned and the most acceptable to myself. 
 
 The resignation was to take effect on July first, but the Con- 
 sistory stoutly refused to consider it. This course was certainly 
 the wisest for him. It buoyed him up, gave him confidence, 
 
412 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 kept him in touch with life, so that with the wholesome stimulus 
 of congenial tasks, he was enabled to remain fresh and young, 
 responsive and fruitful to the last week of his life. 
 
 In addition to the constantly scrupulous care of his health, 
 throughout the associate pastorate, extended summer vacations 
 were taken, all of which were spent at Preston's Sunnyside, 
 near Wernersville. This serene and comforting retreat he and 
 Mrs. Bausman discovered in the summer of 1899. They found 
 it "just the thing" for them and they never ceased to speak its 
 praises. Before his great sickness these vacations ranged from 
 five to seven weeks, thereafter they were extended to nearly 
 three months. 
 
 While thus resting and recuperating on the summer vacations, 
 he received regularly every week from Mr. Creitz a letter 
 which was as regularly and promptly answered. These letters 
 which Dr. Bausman wrote his assistant during the last two sum- 
 mers of his life are happily preserved. They give us a beautiful 
 insight into his life and thought in this, the final stage of his long 
 career. We give a few excerpts. 
 
 July 9, 1907. 
 
 You are a good boy to write such a newsy letter. "A good 
 time" on a hot July Sunday That is saying a good deal. 
 
 It is a sort of an aimless life we are leading here, breathing the 
 smokeless atmosphere; our noiseless environments are a great 
 relief. Much of the women's talk is commonplace, but even 
 that, like dull sermons, has its good side, to cultivate patient 
 courtesy. You say nothing of Mrs. Creitz and her brilliant 
 progeny. I take it for granted that both of them are bent to 
 measure up to their splendid possibilities. 
 
 I wish to bear my share of the expenses for the miss"onary 
 dinner and for all the other expenses of our Ministerium. 
 
 You say, in your letter, that you had enclosed the report of 
 the Sunday-school, which was the first fib you ever told me. 
 
 July 16, 1907. 
 The Montello Brick Company fizzle has given me some anx- 
 iety lest St. Paul's people might in some way figure in the scan- 
 dal. We all knew the nature of the bubble, but little expected 
 that it would be punctured so soon. Good J. B. Fricker seems 
 to be a hero in the drama. His speech in yesterday's Eagle is 
 good reading, a credit to his head and heart. 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 413 
 
 You do well in your proposed "hegira" to the country with 
 your family. Leave work and worry in Reading; burrow in 
 field and forest; ruminate and vegetate and come back thoroughly 
 rejuvenated. 
 
 The Preston is well filled and well kept. Its guests are mostly 
 intelligent Christian people, mostly women, a large sprinkling 
 of widows and single women, beyond the Rubicon of wedlock. 
 
 Gen. Rustling and wife, from Trenton, N. J., are still our most 
 interesting companions. He is a thoroughbred Methodist, with 
 broad sympathies for other creeds. He is an eminent lawyer, 
 for more than forty years a sufferer from malarial troubles con- 
 tracted in his army service. His military and literary informa- 
 tion make him a pleasing conversationalist and a good listener 
 too. 
 
 I find our parlor services on Sundays comforting to myself. 
 People of all creeds, from Hicksite Quakers to High Church 
 Episcopalians, join in singing revival gospel hymns, and receive 
 the informal talk on some Bible theme with tender and even 
 grateful attention. Gen. Rustling, at my request, leads the 
 song service on Sunday evening. 
 
 I am writing about a lot of uninteresting nothings in the 
 absence of anything better. 
 
 July 23, 1907. 
 
 I am glad to learn that you have had such a good time in Read- 
 ing: ideal Sundays, in point of weather, attendance at church 
 and Sunday-school, extra church music, and an unprecedented 
 picnic. I am glad that our St. Paul's people had such a happy 
 time, despite the midsummer heat. 
 
 On last Sunday A. M., I held services in the parlor and spoke 
 twenty minutes on "The Fatherhood of God," Psalms 103:13, 
 14. A rich, tender theme, which old and young could easily 
 grasp. A simple service, free from the labored dignity of a full 
 church ceremony, gives one an opportunity to give direct heart 
 talks which are helpful to the hearers. I suppose such ministra- 
 tions would not edify the people in a home service, and yet when 
 people often tell me, not that the sermon was able, or the prayers 
 elegant in diction, but that they had been blessed and helped, 
 thatt heir burdens had been lightened — all this has set me to 
 thinking, whether it is wise to make our church ministrations 
 formal rather than fervid, according to the most approved lit- 
 erary and homiletical taste, to the neglect of the simplicity of 
 the Sermon on the Mount. Alas, I have unwittingly fallen 
 into a preaching mood, instead of chatting about more familiar 
 things. At the close of my sermon on last Sunday a week. Gen. 
 Rustling arose and moved a vote of thanks to me, which was 
 
414 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 passed with a will. Have you ever received such a tribute 
 right in connection with a service? Is not that news from this 
 mountain seclusion? I know what you are thinking just now: 
 This man must be in his dotage! Veritas veritatis! 
 
 Mrs. Bausman joins me in loving greetings to thee and thine. 
 
 August 6, 1907. 
 Yesterday afternoon Dr. Schneder and wife spent three hours 
 with us, on invitation. As he is very busy getting ready to leave 
 next Thursday on his long journey homeward, he could spare 
 only a few hours for us. He seems to me one of the saintliest 
 men I have ever met, the St. John of the Reformed Church. 
 Mrs. Schneder looks care-worn and somewhat sad. Is it a won- 
 der? Her husband about leaving and she to leave in January, 
 to be separated from her children for years. It seems to me the 
 personality of dear Dr. Schneder would be a great power for good 
 in Japan, apart from his great work as an educator. May the 
 dear Lord guide and richly bless these people in their work. 
 
 August 12, 1907. 
 
 Yours of the ninth instant came to hand in due time. We are 
 still roaming at large in this secluded place. Browsing in old 
 and newer pastures. In a certain sense, vegetating without 
 growing verdant. Trying to feel interested in streams of shallow 
 repetitious nothings. Whiling away in idle talk our rustic 
 leisure. A family of some seventy to eighty intelligent people 
 all bent on unbending and discarding the chilly formalities of 
 their home life. Glad to be spoken to and free to keep quiet. 
 Pleasant people to preach to, who listen with devout attention, 
 as though they were on their good behavior in their showy home 
 churches. 
 
 Auto-mobs are beginning to storm this mountain castle. Glad 
 you and Mrs. Creitz are enjoying your visiting. Hope you will 
 be "fair, fat," if not "forty" by our return. See what a long, 
 disjointed letter I have written to you. 
 
 September 2, 1907. 
 I am not in a hurry to leave, chiefly because at home I have 
 little room to spend in the open air, save in our lot or in walking 
 the streets. We shall not be home in time for our harvest serv- 
 ices, but hope to be in time for the ''grand Rally," as the papers 
 sometimes call them, when in fact, they are neither "grand," 
 and in reality not even a "Rally." It seems to me some print- 
 er's ink and personal effort in visiting the derelicts would not be 
 amiss. 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 415 
 
 September 10, 1907. 
 
 Rev. , near Philadelphia, made a similar blunder in his 
 
 recent valedictory. How foolish to end one's pastoral farewell 
 with a growl. 
 
 September 16, 1907. 
 
 I think we might safely send a second set of envelopes to the 
 absentees, as a hint for their offerings for yesterday. Do this 
 for their own sake as well as for the sake of the cause. It is the 
 only offering of the year for Home Missions. If anybody takes 
 offense, send them to me. 
 
 That is right, work up Rally Day. "Rally round the flag, 
 boys," as we used to sing in war times. I will gladly give it all 
 the help I can. 
 
 I wish we could put more of our people to work. They need 
 the discipline apart from the possible benefit it might bring to 
 others. 
 
 My rambling letter reminds me of the gleanings after the 
 harvest has been housed: much straw, and little wheat; at your 
 end of the line you have more wheat, and less litter. 
 
 After all our people shall have returned, it might perhaps not 
 be amiss to announce from the pulpit that we owe it to them 
 and the cause, to give them an opportunity to hand in their 
 offerings for harvest services. I see that I am repeating my- 
 self, which shows that I must stop. We shall return to-morrow 
 a week, a day sooner than we intended. 
 
 July 7, 1908. 
 
 The people who come here are of all shades of belief; but all 
 are thankful for what the preacher deems to be the truth, and 
 tell him so. I told them that their singing was slow and drag- 
 ging, when I announced the last hymn, "My country 'tis of Thee, " 
 whereupon they sprang to their feet and sang the whole hymn 
 with a will, standing. 
 
 As I have nothing else to do, I may as well spin out my yarn 
 as long as possible, even if it spins thin. 
 
 They are making a great racket at our house on North Sixth 
 Street. On that account I am glad to be up here. 
 
 The proposed mission among the Poles will, at best, be diffi- 
 cult and of small results. Very few of them become permanent 
 residents of any one place. They drift from one locality to 
 another, wherever they can find work. Only in very large cities 
 do they establish congregations. The churches of Reading owe 
 them a duty; just in what form to discharge it is not clear to 
 my mind. Perhaps they might be helped to help themselves. 
 But I doubt whether it would be wise to put much money in 
 them. A Protestant, undenominational, Polish minister ought 
 not be employed without strong testimonials. 
 
416 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 The mission among the Poles was undertaken by several Read- 
 ing churches with Dr. Bausman's approval, but the outcome 
 was simply a vindication of his judgment. 
 
 July 9, 1908. 
 I feel as if I ought to say something to the dear people who 
 will assemble in our church this evening. I have written the 
 enclosed lines before breakfast, in order that they may reach you 
 in time. I am not sure that it is proper to do this. If not, 
 please withhold the paper and let me keep quiet. I leave it to 
 your judgment. 
 
 The occasion was the Reformed Rally in connection with the 
 State Christian Endeavor Convention, then in session in Read- 
 ing. The communication from Dr. Bausman which follows was 
 duly read and enthusiastically received. 
 
 My dear Christian Endeavorers: 
 
 I herewith write you my best wishes with those of my dear 
 fellow-worker. Rev. C. E. Creitz, for the Christian Endeavorers 
 of the Reformed Church, assembled in St. Paul's Church, Read- 
 ing, Pennsylvania, this evening. My heart goes out to you in 
 warmest love. Abraham Lincoln said he liked Gen. Grant 
 because he did things. I like the Christian Endeavorers be- 
 cause they do things; because they are doers of the word and not 
 hearers only. Absent in body I will be present with you in 
 spirit and expect to pray for you at your rally this evening. It 
 affords me joy that in the evening of my life, this army of the 
 Lord's host visit our city and bless our Church with the touch 
 of their inspiring life. May the blessing of our Heavenly Father 
 attend you in your homeward journey, and keep us all in the 
 fellowship of our common faith unto everlasting life. 
 
 Your fellow Endeavorer in Christ, 
 B. Bausman. 
 July 13, 1908. 
 
 The Christian Endeavor Convention at Reading must have 
 been quite a demonstration of torrid enthusiasm. Along with 
 a harmless blowing of trumpets, I trust impressions were made 
 upon our community which will result in permanent good. I 
 had a desire to come into closer touch with it, but for reasons 
 deemed it wise not to attend. Our home is so badly torn up 
 that I prefer not to look at it at present. 
 
 July 20, 1908. 
 
 A lot of you young sprigs are all the while gathering theologi- 
 cal honey from flowers pure and poisonous, whilst some of the 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 417 
 
 rest of us are trying to gather a few crumbs from such tables as 
 we can crawl under. All right, go it while you are young. No 
 doubt you will return from your western trip, furnished with a 
 rich supply of the best thought in the literary market. 
 
 222 North Sixth Street is said to be in appalling condition, 
 and the end is not yet. I infer from your remark about your 
 home in Walnut Street that you must be in a desperate frame 
 of mind. If you get much worse, I shall have to write to Mrs. 
 Creitz to return home. Please convey our best wishes to Mrs. 
 Creitz and keep a few chunks of them for yourself. I would 
 gladly write more but to tell the truth I am really run out of 
 material. 
 
 August 4, 1908. 
 
 You are fortunate in spending your seaside vacation amid 
 such a genial company of clerical brethren. I can imagine what 
 a wierd set of woebegone ducks they must be when they emerge 
 from a plunge in the briny deep. 
 
 Mrs. Bausman received an illustrated postal card from George, 
 written in good, terse English, which even his illustrious father 
 could scarcely excel. Please present my loving greetings to all 
 the brethren with you. 
 
 August 18, 1908. 
 
 Your chatty letter smells of the open fields and of a world of 
 untainted vegetation. You people ought to be thoroughly rural- 
 ized by the time you return. 
 
 This morning Mr. invited us to take a ride behind 
 
 his fine span of bays. For an hour and a half, we careered over 
 the picturesque roads with a kind, garrulous driver, dressed in 
 livery and a tall hat, who gave us a chapter of himself and some 
 others. Up to half a dozen years ago a drunkard. Then through 
 prayer and sorrow, under the pastoral help of Dr. Bromley, he 
 became a changed man and now attends his church every Sun- 
 day, even while here. Lesson: ought not we to do a little more 
 for such poor tempted souls? 
 
 September 1, 1908. 
 
 I enclose a few clippings. Possibly they may contain some 
 helpful hints. Perhaps it would be well to make use of special 
 efforts to produce an effective and abiding rally in our Sunday- 
 school and congregation. 
 
 A. By appointing, say half a dozen energetic, but prudent, 
 committees to canvass every ward of the city, to visit every 
 member and if possible to get their consent to attend church 
 twice a Sunday, and also our mid-week services. Begin the work 
 with the members of the Consistory. Get the promise of all 
 the teachers of our Sunday-school Bible Classes to influence 
 27 
 
418 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 their scholars by persuasion and prayer to attend all our serv- 
 ices and bring others with them. 
 
 B. Have a committee on advertising, whose duty it shall be 
 to announce all our services with special features, subjects of 
 sermons, etc., in the Saturday papers. Let this committee also 
 place a notice on a neat, large card in the Penn, Mansion House 
 and American hotels every Saturday. 
 
 C. Let us try to make our mid-week services more interesting, 
 more varied and hvely, of more hymns and short prayers, more 
 like a real prayer-meeting. We have perhaps ten or twelve 
 persons who can lead in a short prayer. Get the Christian 
 Endeavor people to labor and pray to revive greater spiritual 
 interest among our people. Do this for a month or two before 
 we start a class of catechumens. Dear brother, I am not dic- 
 tating, simply suggesting. Our people are in danger of self-com- 
 placent satisfaction with the present status of our strong con- 
 gregation. We must try to make our dear St. Paul's a blessing 
 for the whole city. 
 
 September 8, 1908. 
 
 My talks in the parlor have given me much comfort. Re- 
 peatedly, I have been thanked for being helpful to people. 
 Many of the guests seem to be hungry for the truth. Some- 
 times I can hardly refrain from weeping when I am thus spoken 
 to, for I always can trace the hand of God in it. 
 
 A Philadelphia lawyer told his father, that if they had such 
 preaching in their church, he too would attend the services, and 
 
 one of Dr. 's members made a similar remark. Gloria 
 
 Dei. I tell you this because you will not misunderstand my 
 motives. An occasional "Well done" does an earnest man good. 
 Not because one seeks for praise, but to learn that his labor is 
 not in vain. 
 
 Dr. Bausman maintained his personal and direct interest in 
 people, even to the smallest and most trifling concerns of their 
 lives. The same was true of affairs of state, as well as of church. 
 The sinful, Christless world outside of the Church weighed patheti- 
 cally on his mind and heart these last years, as those of us who 
 were near to him were reminded again and again by his frequent 
 reference to it. "What can we do to reach sinners more effec- 
 tively and bind them more securely to Christ and the Church?" 
 he would often say as we discussed our problems in the Reformed 
 Ministerium. He was alert and resourceful, ready with wise sug- 
 gestions and equally ready to take up any methods that promised 
 to produce substantial results. 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 419 
 
 St. Paul's Church all the while kept to the front in her generos- 
 ity toward the various Boards and institutions of the Church. 
 A typical instance was the assistance given Grace Church, 
 Washington, D. C, during the early part of the associate 
 pastorate. Dr. Schick, the pastor at Washington, says that 
 Dr. Bausman "announced the offering, led it and gave me the 
 largest sum I received from a single church." 
 
 In a letter to Elder J. B. Fricker, a few months after Dr. Baus- 
 man's death. Dr. Schick said: 
 
 I recall your generosity when we were struggling to get our 
 Memorial Church in this city. There is no one thing that en- 
 couraged the work so much as the invitation of dear Dr. Baus- 
 man to me to visit St. Paul's and bring our work to the atten- 
 tion of the people that loved him. I shall not soon forget the 
 hearty welcome you all accorded me, and the cheerful spirit 
 which attended your contributing. We had many gifts after- 
 ward, but yours came first and came at a time when our hearts 
 were in doubt and heavy with anxiety. 
 
 During these last nine years, his diary is full of meditations 
 revealing the spiritual richness of his inner life. We give but a 
 few. 
 
 January 1, 1904. 
 
 Amelia went to the meeting of the Sisterhood and to cate- 
 chetical services. I am alone at home with God. Have just, 
 on my knees in our dark bed-room, poured out my heart to God 
 by praying from memory. Psalms 23, 51, 71, 90, 91, 92, and 103, 
 in a heartfelt prayer concerning my past failings and God's 
 mercies on the past and His guiding care the balance of my life; 
 ended with the Lord's prayer. Amen and amen. 
 
 We both have been mercifully preserved during the year in 
 health, peace of mind, and -^ith much comfort and blessing from 
 God and men. 
 
 January 28, 1904. 
 
 I am eighty years old! Wonderful, words cannot express my 
 gratitude. God understands it all. Began the day by pouring 
 out my heart in prayer to God. Read the 23, 39, 40, and 103 
 Psalms. 
 
 I am constantly reminded of God's merciful help. For some 
 ten or fifteen years I have tried to cultivate more inwardly the 
 mind and spirit of Christ; to study myself in my vital relation 
 to Christ; to bring my personality in more perfect accord with 
 Him. I have committed to memory the bulk of thirty- 
 
420 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 six Psalms, some of which I devoutly recite to myself daily. 
 Sometimes, while the offerings are gathered, I return to the 
 pulpit room and kneel down in prayer for greater spiritual endow- 
 ment. Usually God helps me wonderfully. In this way He 
 enables my old body and brain still to preach to the edification 
 of the people. 
 
 He also committed many hymns. He said one day to a sym- 
 pathetic friend with whom he was in earnest conversation regard- 
 ing personal religion: "Christ is becoming more and more pre- 
 cious to me, so that I am beginning to know what Paul meant 
 when he said. Tor to me to live is Christ.' " 
 
 April 6, 1905. 
 
 To-day it is thirty years that we were married. Thought and 
 spoke much about it. Between nine and ten A. M., I knelt 
 by myself at the altar of the Church, about the hour when the 
 ceremony was performed, and poured out my thankful heart to 
 God for giving my dear wife, next to my mother, the dearest 
 and most helpful being the Lord ever gave me. I cannot thank 
 God enough for all she has been to me. 
 
 The reminiscent mood was much upon him these last years, 
 especially in connection with his own family and relationship. 
 
 September 30, 1901. 
 Have just received a telegram from Tiffin, Ohio, that Dr. J. 
 A. Peters, President of Heidelberg University, had died. Dear 
 John, my first cousin and loving friend, a fine scholar, a saintly 
 man, a genuine gentleman. He used to say that it was through 
 my influence that he entered the ministry. How relatives and 
 friends younger than I pass away all around and I am still hap- 
 pily at work in old age. O Lord, thy mercy is marvelous! 
 
 January 16, 1905. 
 To-day we were informed that my only sister, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Haverstick, died yesterday. She was the only sister among 
 eight brothers and reached the age of eighty-seven years, ten 
 months and four days. A gentle, genial, good Christian woman, 
 the mother of eight children. 
 
 In June, 1907, he spent two days near Lancaster visiting his 
 brother and family. It was his last time to look upon the haunts 
 and surroundings of his boyhood. 
 
 I and Hemy, the only two left of the nine children of our fam- 
 ily. Bless the Lord, my soul! Our trolley passed in sight of 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 421 
 
 the burial lot of our parents and brother Jacob in the Lancaster 
 Cemetery. 
 
 His brother Henry died the following February, at the age of 
 eighty-nine. 
 
 He continued his studies up to the last, with biography as his 
 favorite reading. In November, 1906, we find this comment: 
 
 Finished reading Dr. W. A. Helfrich's autobiography. 
 Sprightly, graphic style. Full of interest. A strong, positive 
 personality. An active colaborer on the Reformirte Hausfreund, 
 which helped to bring me into warm fellowship with him. I 
 helped to bury some of his family and preached the English ser- 
 mon at his funeral. A great power for good in his part of Lehigh 
 County. 
 
 His diary of March, 1909, records the following: 
 
 I am reading again the life of Dr. Schaff, by his son, with great 
 pleasure. Few biographies give such a vivid picture of their sub- 
 ject. It is largely autobiographical. Sprightly, picturesque, 
 photographing the great personages and the thinking of his time 
 in a remarkably vivid style. I admire and love the dear man 
 more than ever, although in heaven. 
 
 He read the "Life of Henry Drummond" three times. It 
 was published in 1898. He found great pleasure during his last 
 decade in looking over the old Guardians and rereading his 
 articles. He would sometimes say: "I couldn't write like that 
 now. " Mrs. Bausman read to him a great deal. 
 
 Honors and tokens of appreciation came pouring in on Dr. 
 Bausman the last few years of his life. While the Reformed 
 Church Building was being erected in Philadelphia during 1907, 
 he was urged to give his "consent to call it the Bausman 
 Building." He refused to do this, however, though he gave 
 generously toward it. 
 
 At the commencement of Franklin and Marshall College, in 
 1908, Theta Chapter, of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, was organ- 
 ized, and Dr. Bausman was elected a member, representing his 
 class of 1851. It was at this time, too, that the honorary degree 
 of Doctor of Laws was conferred — "in consideration of your 
 personal excellence, and your eminence as a scholar," as Dr. 
 Dubbs, secretary of the Board of Trustees, put it in a personal 
 
422 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 letter to him. Dr. Stahr wrote him in a personal note: 
 "I can assure you that so far as my personal knowledge ex- 
 tends, no degree was ever conferred with greater unanimity and 
 cordiality than this one." 
 
 The last three birthdays of his life, following as they did his 
 severe illness, were specially signalized by marks of high regard 
 from his many friends. The Reformed Ministerium paid its 
 tribute on each occasion. On his birthday, in 1907, he made 
 this record: 
 
 At 10:30 A. M., the Reformed Ministerium, of Reading, called 
 in a body, about fifteen. Brother Stoner, the spokesman, de- 
 livered a beautiful address of congratulation for the body. Dr. 
 Blackburn, of the First Presbyterian Church, spoke for the Read- 
 ing Ministerium, both in warmest terms of my life and labors 
 in Reading. 
 
 The following year the Rev. C. E. Schaeffer, in behalf of the 
 Ministerium, brought the greeting in a touching, eloquent letter, 
 concluding thus: 
 
 Our hope and prayer is that you may abide with us yet for 
 many years, and when finally the chariot of God swings low to 
 take His servant home, may a double portion of your spirit fall 
 upon many a younger Ehsha. 
 
 On Nov. 23, 1908, there was a gathering at his home which he 
 characterized as follows: 
 
 Clerical Dinner. 
 
 At noon, Amelia gave a turkey dinner to the pastors of Read- 
 ing Classis. Seventeen of the brethren and Mrs. Creitz were 
 present. We spent about two hours at the table with an abun- 
 dance of harmless hilarity and good fellowship. To myself it 
 was a highly enjoyable occasion. 
 
 On his last birthday, the greeting was brought by Dr. J. P. 
 Stein, who died a few days thereafter. He enumerated at length 
 the more conspicuous of Dr. Bausman's labors and gave the fol- 
 ] owing facts : 
 
 In looking over the record, we find that in your official work, 
 you baptized 1,541 infants, 64 adults, and added to the member- 
 ship 1,887 by confirmation. During the years of your active 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 423 
 
 ministry, the aggregate of moneys given for benevolence amounts 
 to $167,136, and for congregational purposes $216,202. 
 
 On this last birthday, the city Ministerial Association sent 
 their tribute of love and veneration neatly engrossed and framed. 
 
 Dr. Bausman kept writing occasional letters to his old friends 
 to the very last. Those following are to two distinguished leaders 
 of the Church, who with him have gone to their great reward. 
 
 Reading, December 11, 1906. 
 My DEAR Dr. Wagner: 
 
 I am sorry to learn that you are not very well. As you per- 
 haps know, I passed through a severe spell of sickness last winter. 
 I am very thankful that I am comparatively well again. We 
 spent three summer months on the Wernersville mountains, and 
 three months we have since spent in our quiet home. God some- 
 times teaches His children the art of feeling young, even in old 
 age. I am thankful that I am not tired of life. I feel an in- 
 terest in things natural and spiritual, and enjoy friends, food, 
 sleep, and am content with the blessings which God mercifully 
 gives me. I am not unmindful of my years, and sometimes 
 wonder that the burden is no heavier. 
 
 "At eventime it shall be light." 
 
 We belong to the small band of Mercersburg boys still re- 
 maining in the flesh. It would be interesting, if once in a while, 
 they could meet again, 
 
 " Shoulder their crutch and show how fields were won." 
 
 May God bless you, my dear brother, may ours be the end of 
 the faithful, and the home of the blessed. I do not ask for a 
 reply to this letter, as that might be a burden to you. 
 
 Dear Dr. Wagner, in looking over the other sheet of my letter, 
 I discover that unwittingly I have fallen into a selfish vein of 
 writing, speaking about myself, whilst I ignore yourself. Why, 
 my dear brother, I remember well what an abiding success you 
 made of your pastorate near Norristown, and your long service 
 in St. John's, Allentown, resulted in the estabhshing of one of 
 the most vigorous and active churches in our denomination. 
 You can well derive comfort in what you have accomplished in 
 your pastoral work, and as a member of various Boards of the 
 Church. You have in this way lived your life into the life of 
 the Church, in which you will live and labor on, long after you 
 shall have entered upon the reward of the faithful in the Church 
 triumphant. 
 
424 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 It will be noticed that the letter to Dr. Eschbach was penned 
 just two and a half weeks before Dr. Bausman's death: 
 
 Reading, April 21, 1909. 
 My DEAR Dr. Eschbach: 
 
 I am sorry to hear that j^ou are not well. I hope and pray- 
 that our dear Lord will, ere long, restore you to health again 
 and that you may be spared many years more to your flock and 
 to our dear Reformed Church, both of which you have served 
 with marked efficiency and success. I write these few lines to 
 assure you of my cordial sympathy and best wishes. I am en- 
 joying the serene Indian Summer of my life without any aches 
 or pains, God be praised; just enough to do to keep me com- 
 fortably employed. As a rule, I preach every Sunday morning 
 if I feel so inclined. All the other work Brother Creitz attends 
 to and he does it well. God bless you and yours. 
 Yours fraternally, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 The following, his last parochial report, was read at the 
 annual meeting of Reading Classis just eleven days before his 
 death : 
 
 Parochial Report of St. Paul's Reformed Church, Read- 
 ing, Pa. 
 Dear Brethren: 
 
 With devout gratitude to God, I herewith present the fifty- 
 sixth parochial report of my ministry. The past classical year 
 has been to me a period rich in providential mercies. I have 
 enjoyed uninterrupted health. With the exception of my mid- 
 summer vacation, I preached every Sunday morning. This 
 gave me work enough to keep me comfortably employed, with- 
 out becoming burdensome. 
 
 It may seem strange to the brethren that I should not stop 
 work altogether. I have a threefold reason for not doing so. 
 
 (a.) My irrepressible notion, whether right or wrong, that 
 despite his years, even a veteran in the service of our divine 
 Master might still occasionally have a message of blessing for 
 His people. 
 
 (6.) My second reason is the comfort which I derive from work 
 suited to my years. My work is a means of grace to me. The 
 serene, balmy Indian Summer of a man's life ought still be of 
 some good to others. 
 
 (c.) My third reason is that the good people of St. Paul's 
 Church seem to desire the continuance of such ministrations as 
 may be agreeable to me. 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 425 
 
 As heretofore, brother Creitz performed all the work outside 
 of the Sunday morning sermon, and he performed it well. Our 
 personal relations are mutually pleasant and cordial. I owe 
 much for his uniform and helpful kindness to myself, and his 
 untiring fidelity to duty. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 B. Bausman. 
 
 In the early days of his editorship of The Guardian in "An 
 Autumn Meditation, " Dr. Bausman wrote of the fitting time and 
 place for a minister to die, and said : 
 
 To die in the act of preaching our risen Saviour; in the act of 
 devoutly administering the Holy Sacrament; in the act of prayer 
 — yes, that would be a good place to die in. Expected or unex- 
 pected, to be found at one's post by the Master, to receive His 
 summons to depart on our knees in the closet, in the pulpit, 
 at the altar — that is a most fitting place to die, in whatever sea- 
 son it may be. 
 
 He was privileged to fulfil the spirit of that meditation. 
 
 On Sunday morning. May 2, 1909, he preached with fine vigor 
 and impressiveness in Calvary Reformed Church. This was in 
 response to the persistent urging of its pastor, the Rev. A. V. 
 Casselman, who in the prospect of enlarging and remodelling his 
 church, was eager for the encouragement of its venerable founder. 
 Dr. Bausman took great pleasure in rendering the service. It was 
 his last sermon. His text was Mark 14: 8, "She hath done 
 what she could." He closed the sermon with the last stanza of 
 Faber's beautiful hymn: 
 
 " If our love were but more simple 
 We should take Him at His word, 
 And our lives would be all sunshine 
 In the sweetness of our Lord." 
 
 The first two lines of this stanza with great fitness are engraved 
 on the pulpit, which Mrs. Bausman has given to Calvary Church 
 in her husband's memory. 
 
 In the evening, he participated in the services at St. Paul's, 
 offering the closing prayer and pronouncing the benediction. 
 
 Monday was a busy day. He attended the Reformed Minis- 
 terium in the morning, the monthly meeting of the City Minis- 
 terial Association in the afternoon and the Consistory meeting of 
 
426 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 St. Paul's Church in the evening. He took part earnestly in the 
 discussions of all these meetings and was in the best of spirits. 
 
 On Tuesday, he rested, gathered sermonic material and took 
 a walk. As he returned, when near home, he met Dr. Kuendig, 
 who was probably the last man to speak to him on the street. 
 These ministerial brethren chatted pleasantly, among other 
 things talked of heaven, Dr. Bausman concluding the conversa- 
 tion with words which very much impressed his friend: 
 
 There will be three surprises in heaven: we shall see people 
 there whom we did not expect to see, some we expected to see 
 will not be there and the greatest surprise of all will be that we 
 ourselves are there. 
 
 On Wednesday morning, he carefully wrote his sermon for the 
 following Lord's day, before the arrival of which he had begun 
 his eternal Sabbath. The sermon was completed before eleven 
 o'clock. He and Mrs. Bausman arranged for a drive in the after- 
 noon. He was apparently in his usual good health. He then went 
 on to prepare his address for the funeral of the Rev. Thos. C. Lein- 
 bach, of Womelsdorf, which was to be held on the following day. 
 He was writing brief notes on a scrap of paper, when he suffered 
 an alarming chill. He went down stairs to the parlor, where Mrs. 
 Bausman found him on the sofa a few minutes before she was about 
 to call him to dinner. He said to her in distress, ''I'm all in a 
 tremor. " She urged him to partake of the dinner which she had 
 planned to be specially inviting to him; but he could not eat 
 and went to his study, where he lay on his couch. Dr. W. S. 
 Bertolet was called and came in a few minutes and at once directed 
 that he be put to bed. The physician began heroic treatment to 
 break up a threatened attack of pneumonia. It speedily de- 
 veloped, however, into catarrhal pneumonia, and he breathed 
 heavily. When asked whether he was in great discomfort, he 
 rephed simply that "it might be worse." He evidently did not 
 realize the seriousness of his condition, for he persisted until late 
 Wednesday evening, in his expectation to attend and participate 
 in the funeral on the morrow. 
 
 He bore his sufferings and discomforts with patience and cheer- 
 fulness, having even a pleasantry for one who visited him. No 
 immediate danger was anticipated. On Friday morning, he said 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 427 
 
 to Mrs. Bausman: "Amelia, how about our devotions?" In the 
 evening, Mrs. Bausman repeated famihar passages of Scripture 
 and hymns, which he followed in a whisper. 
 
 About nine o'clock Friday evening, he said: "I wish I could 
 sleep." His physician replied: "You'll have a good night, 
 Doctor, I'm sure." He was resting with apparent comfort after 
 midnight when suddenly about two o'clock Saturday morning, 
 the eighth of May, he was taken with a sinking spell and in a few 
 minutes fell gently asleep in Jesus. 
 
 Out of respect to his memory, St. Paul's Church was closed all 
 day Sunday. On Tuesday evening, between the hours of five 
 and nine o'clock, the body lay in state in- front of the chancel 
 of the church, and "several thousand people of all classes took 
 a last look at the familiar features of a beloved pastor and friend. " 
 
 Services were held at the home the following Wednesday 
 morning at eleven o'clock. Dr. John C. Bowman, President of 
 the Theological Seminary, at Lancaster, read the twenty-third 
 Psalm and offered prayer. Dr. John S. Stahr, President of 
 Franklin and Marshall College, delivered a comforting and im- 
 pressive address on Psalm 37: 37, "Mark the perfect man, and 
 behold the upright, for the latter end of that man is peace." 
 
 Thousands thronged the streets and viewed the funeral cortege 
 as it passed from the house to the Church, where all available 
 space was occupied long before the hour appointed for the ser- 
 vice. More than 200 ministers were present to pay their silent 
 tribute, many of them from denominations other than the Re- 
 formed. Children and officials of Bethany Orphans' Home 
 occupied the gallery. 
 
 The Rev. John F. Moyer, pastor of the First Reformed Church, 
 led in the opening service and read the Scripture lesson from 1 Cor. 
 15. Dr. S. R. Bridenbaugh offered prayer. The sermon was 
 preached by Dr. George W. Richards, of the Seminary at Lancaster, 
 from John 1: 4, "In Him was life and the life was the light of 
 men, " a chaste and beautiful tribute to Dr. Bausman as prophet, 
 priest and king. 
 
 Dr. J. Spangler Kieffer, President of the General Synod, and 
 the Rev. W. F. More, Superintendent of Bethany Orphans' 
 Home, spoke addresses of eulogy and fine appreciation. Among 
 
428 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 the hymns sung by the choir was "Lead, Kindly Light," a 
 favorite of Dr. Bausman's. 
 
 The interment was at Charles Evans Cemetery, where the burial 
 service was read by Dr. J. Spangler Kieffer, and the benediction 
 pronounced by Dr. Henry Mosser. 
 
 Many tributes and resolutions v/ere offered in Dr. Bausman's 
 honor by various organizations and congregations whose life 
 he touched. 
 
 Dr. C. J. Musser said editorially in the Messenger: 
 
 On last Saturday, Dr. Bausman, as he is familiarly known all 
 over the Church, after a short illness, fell asleep. We can hardly 
 realize that he is with us no more. At Easter he was so bright, 
 so interested, so alive to every bit of good news, so ready to talk 
 on every topic of the hour; so eloquent was he in his Sunday 
 morning sermons, that the town talked of it. So youthful and 
 vigorous in spirit was he, that we forgot that he was eighty-five 
 years of age, and did not associate with him any thought of the 
 nearness of the end. He was an unusual, a very exceptional, 
 man. He was, first of all, a big-brained, large-hearted, finely- 
 cultured. Christian gentleman. There was something large, 
 generous, liberal, in him. There was a fine, stimulating atmos- 
 phere about him. It was healthy to associate with him. And 
 now that he is gone, not only those who had the pleasure of per- 
 sonal acquaintance with him, but the whole Church seems 
 poorer. We shall not soon look on the like of him again. 
 
 The Reformed Ministerial Association of Reading said : 
 
 This truly great man of God occupied a unique position among 
 the Reformed ministers of this city. As our senior member, he 
 was our presiding officer. We regarded him not simply as a 
 brother beloved, but as a father in Israel. As a leader in relig- 
 ious affairs, he had no superior. He towered above all others, 
 like some tall mountain peak towers above the lesser hills. His 
 long and useful life ran coterminous with the progress and de- 
 velopment of the Reformed Church in this country. To a re- 
 markable degree, he was the embodiment of the life and genius 
 of our Church. For years, he was the living link between the 
 past and present, the old and new in our Church's life and 
 history. There is no man who had the welfare of the whole 
 Church more closely at heart or rendered it a greater service. 
 
 The Consistory of St. Paul's said in behalf of the congregation: 
 
 The sense of our loss can not be put into words. Dr. Bausman 
 and the congregation belonged so essentially together, that his 
 
BUST AND TABLET IN ST. PAUL'S SANCTUARY 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 429 
 
 departure is like the severing of a limb from the body. He lived 
 the best that was in him into this church and that was much, 
 and now that he is gone, there is the feeling of impoverishment. We 
 thank God for having given him to us. Our lives are better for 
 his having been among us, and we now pledge anew the devo- 
 tion of our lives to the high and holy cause to which he dedicated 
 the rare talents with which God had endowed him. 
 
 Since Dr. Bausman's death, a new church has been built 
 in Wyomissing, one of the most beautiful suburbs of Reading, and 
 named in his honor The Bausman Memorial Reformed Church. 
 Mrs. Bausman and St. Paul's Church have given liberally toward 
 it. 
 
 A bronze bust of Dr. Bausman with tablet has been erected in 
 the sanctuary of St. Paul's Church. The bust is set in a recess of 
 imported white stone with onyx columns, and was executed by 
 R. Geissler, of New York. On the tablet beneath is the following: 
 
 REVEREND BENJAMIN 
 
 BAUSMAN, 
 
 D. 
 
 D., 
 
 LL.D. 
 
 
 FOUNDER OF 
 
 THIS CHURCH 
 
 
 
 
 AND ITS 
 
 PASTOR FOR 36 
 
 TEARS 
 
 UNTIL 
 
 HIS DEATH 1 
 
 DIED MAT 8, 
 
 1909, AGED 85 TEARS, 
 
 3 MONTHS 
 
 AND 
 
 10 DATS 
 
 " WISE 
 
 , MEEK, GENTLE, 
 
 KIND, 
 
 PURE, 
 
 DEVOUT 
 
 >> 
 
 This memorial was unveiled with impressive services in the 
 presence of an immense congregation, on Sunday evening, October 
 2, 1910. Dr. Richards, of the Lancaster Seminary, delivered the 
 address, from which we have quoted copiously in former chapters. 
 He said: "For the first time in a Reformed Church in this 
 country, has a life-sized bust of a pastor been erected and un- 
 veiled. The fitness of the act commends itself to all." After 
 presenting "the splendid virtues, which adorned the life of Dr. 
 Bausman," he concluded: 
 
 We cannot but reflect on the influence of such a life, yet who 
 can measure the work of a devout man of God? A pebble cast 
 into the air will start a train of causes which reverberate to the 
 farthest star. The life of a Christian man and a minister of God 
 reaches far beyond the bounds of time and finds its consumma- 
 
430 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 tion in eternity. His memorial may be cast in bronze, carved 
 in marble, or painted on canvas, but he has written his life on 
 the hearts of his people. 
 
 Dr. Bausman, directly and indirectly, touched the lives of 
 tens of thousands and lives on in those whom he influenced for 
 good. "He being dead, yet speaketh," Heb. 11: 4, was the text 
 on which he had begun to prepare the funeral address when the 
 call came to lay down his pen forever. How true the words are 
 of him! Witness-bearing for Jesus Christ was the supreme busi- 
 ness of his life. It was the subject of the last sermon he wrote, 
 which he was not permitted to deliver. Let, therefore, his final 
 message for his Master bring to a close this, the story of his life. 
 
 Luke 24: 48. "And ye are witnesses of these things." 
 Our Lord's great mission was about to end. On the eve of 
 His ascension, a few short words to his disciples and the sub- 
 limest of all careers in time will close. His last sayings were few 
 and brief. Only what was most important and to the point. 
 Seven sayings He uttered on the cross; seven words He uttered 
 in the text. 
 
 A Witness-Bearing Faith. 
 
 1. Thus far our Lord's atoning life and death were known to 
 but a small number of people. And a still smaller number be- 
 lieved in them. How should the great world for whom He lived 
 and died and rose again, be fully informed of what He had done 
 for its redemption? By making every believer a witness, a pro- 
 claimer of the news. First the eleven, then hundred of others 
 through word and deed made it known. And the number of 
 believers increased, the number of witnesses multiplied. And 
 this witness-bearing of the followers of Christ has been going on 
 through the centuries. 
 
 The Bible, the printed record of God's revealed will and word, 
 has been a powerful agency for the spread of the Gospel. But 
 the Book alone has not been sufficient. They who through the 
 Word and the Spirit have become partakers of the spiritual 
 anointing of Christ are the most powerful agency for the dis- 
 semination of the good news of salvation. The greatest power 
 the Apostles wielded was less through what they said, than 
 through what they were in their life. Their lives bore testi- 
 mony for Christ. Thus Stephen and James, Peter and John, 
 Paul and Barnabas witnessed for Christ, through Christlike lives. 
 
 2. How can we be witnesses of these things? 
 
THE ASSOCIATE PASTORATE 431 
 
 (a) By consistently professing our faith. "The faith once 
 dehvered to the saints" which the saints of all ages have con- 
 tended for. Not new systems and theories of religion, invented 
 by the wisdom of this world. The greatest witnesses of the 
 truth of all ages were the people of unwavering faith. From the 
 Apostles and martyrs of the first century to the thousands of 
 martyrs that were butchered in Turkey within the last two weeks, 
 faith in Christ was the constraining motive of their heroic firm- 
 ness. Doubtless such bravery would impress the minds of 
 thoughtful Turks who killed them. All professing Christians 
 with a corresponding Christlike life, are witnesses of Christ. 
 
 (b) By our Christlike example we witness for Christ. When 
 the early disciples spoke boldly of the death and resurrection of 
 Christ, the unbelieving noticed that they had been with Christ. 
 Precepts of the Gospel are good, but living examples bodied forth 
 in godly lives are better. Actions speak louder than words. 
 *'Ye are my friends if ye keep my commandments." 
 
 (c) By suffering for Him. The Christian religion is especially 
 a religion of self-denial, sacrifice and suffering. "Except a man 
 deny himself, take up his cross and follow me, he cannot be my 
 disciple." "For the Captain of our salvation was made perfect 
 through suffering." There is no merit in suffering; but if we 
 bravely choose to accept hardship, suffering and even death for 
 Christ and His cause, we bear incontestable testimony in favor 
 of Christ. The Greek word for martyr is the same as that for 
 a witness. Whilst the life of the early Christians was, as a rule, 
 one of inward happiness and peace, they followed Christ at the 
 loss of home, friends, property and life. As in the case of Stephen 
 the first martyr, where the blood of one saint was shed, dozens 
 and often scores were eager to take his place. "The blood of 
 the martyrs is the seed of the Church," has become a proverb. 
 The Boxer massacres in China were providentially overruled for 
 a great blessing. The lessons taught by those that fell, led 
 multitudes to Christ. So that thereafter a much larger number 
 of converts crowded the various mission stations than had fallen 
 in the massacres. 
 
 Our times are full of ease and comfort for Christians. We 
 are lovers of religious luxury. We are thereby in danger of 
 weakening in the more strenuous and heroic qualities of the more 
 ideal types of Christian piety. There are too few Christians 
 who practically and literally carry out the teachings of the first 
 lesson in our Catechism, that we are "not our own, but belong 
 to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ;" or that portion in the 
 prayer before the communion, in which we pledge to "consecrate 
 ourselves on the altar of the Gospel in soul and body, property 
 
432 THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN BAUSMAN 
 
 and life, to Thy most blessed service and praise." I trust we 
 are all prayerfully striving to do that; but who among us can 
 truthfully say that we have fully attained this degree of witness- 
 bearing for Christ? 
 
INDEX 
 
 Addison, 64, 351. 
 
 Advisory Council of the Alumni of 
 F. and M., 322. 
 
 Albright, Rev. D. B., 294, 297, 300. 
 
 Alexander, Dr., 167, 175. 
 
 Alliance of Reformed Churches hold- 
 ing the Presbyterian System, 
 235. 
 
 Angelo, Michael, 344. 
 
 Appel, Dr. Theodore, 67. 
 
 Apple, Dr. T. G., 167, 228, 237. 
 
 Arnold, Dr., 360, 365, 371, 385. 
 
 Arthur, Rev. Wm., 124. 
 
 Astor, J. J., 258. 
 
 Aughinbaugh, Dr., 50. 
 
 Ault, Rev. John, 167. 
 
 "Autobiographical Material, " 15 sq., 
 84. 
 
 Baer, G. F., 197, 215. 
 Baird, Prof. T. D., 67. 
 BaUiet, Dr. T. M., 229. 
 Balmes, 86. 
 
 Bank, Rev. Charles, 130, 224. 
 Bartholomew, Dr. A. R., 218, 391. 
 Bausman, Abram, 232. 
 Bausman, Andreas, 16 sq. 
 Bausman, Dr. Benjamin: (See 
 Table of Contents.) 
 
 his father, 15 sq., 60, 84, 110, 165, 
 319; 
 
 his mother, 18 sq., 56, 72 sq., 356; 
 
 his birth, 18; 
 
 his schooUng, 33 sq.; 
 
 confirmed, 37; 
 
 "Choice of a Profession," 40 sq.; 
 
 leaving home, 48, 57, 231; 
 
 visit to Washington, D. C, 64; 
 
 trip to Indiana, 68 sq.; 
 
 first sermon, 74 sq.; 
 
 begins writing for Church paper, 
 
 97; 
 as "Spectator," 97; 
 as "Nathan," 98 sq., 133; 
 as "Junius," 149; 
 and Tercentenary of Heidelberg 
 
 Catechism, 169 sq., 196; 
 as hospital superior, 183; 
 drafted for army, 190; 
 and printing establishment, 204 
 
 sq., 291; 
 his books, 128 sq., 205 sq., 226, 
 
 261 sq., 281; 
 and Law and Order Society, 219 
 
 sq., 341; 
 and Hope Rescue Mission, 221; 
 President of General Synod, 222 
 
 sq.; 
 and Peace Movement, 223, 260; 
 and Church Union, 224; 
 as catechist, 170, 194, 363; 
 as a preacher, 194, 199, 259, 372; 
 his style, 75, 262, 351 sq.; 
 his humor, 59, 159, 166, 259, 347; 
 his benevolence, 166, 173, 195, 
 
 212, 217, 219, 252, 272, 284, 
 
 286, 288, 306, 318, 322, 330, 
 
 332, 349, 403; 
 statistics of his work, 142, 199, 
 
 209 sq., 422; 
 
 433 
 
434 
 
 sketch of person, 110; 
 
 vacations, 231, 394; 
 
 degrees conferred, 207, 421 sq. 
 
 Bausman, Mrs. Benjamin, 8, 211, 
 213, 228, 230 sq., 236 sq., 245, 
 248 sq., 308, 394, 396, 404 sq., 
 410, 412 sq., 420 sq., 425 sq. 
 
 Bausman, Clarence G., 19. 
 
 Bausman, Henry, 232, 421 sq. 
 
 Bausman, Mrs. Henry, 8. 
 
 Bausman, Jacob, 235, 319. 
 
 Bausman, J. W. B., 311, 319. 
 
 Bausman Memorial Reformed 
 Church, 429. 
 
 Bausman, Philip, 37, 38, 66, 75, 166, 
 181 sq., 231. 
 
 Bausman, Samuel, 19. 
 
 Bausman, Wm., 16. 
 
 Beaver, Dr. D. B. D., 410. 
 
 Beecher, H. W., 125, 155, 164. 
 
 Belsnickel, 32. 
 
 Benton, Senator, 64. 
 
 Berg, Dr. J. F., 86. 
 
 Bertolet, Dr. W. S., 408, 410, 426. 
 
 Bethany Orphans' Home, 263, Chap- 
 ter XV, 315, 358, 401, 427. 
 
 "Bible Characters," 262. 
 
 Bingen, 15, 242, 245. 
 
 Bischweiler, 21, 244. 
 
 Blackburn, Dr. R. M., 422. 
 
 BUss, Dr., 93. 
 
 Blumhart, Pastor, 244. 
 
 Boas, Elder, 178. 
 
 Boehringer, Rev. Emanuel, 286 sq., 
 297, 300. 
 
 Bomberger, Dr. J. H. A., 37, 128, 
 177, 283, 324 sq., 389 sq. 
 
 Bombshell story, 184 sq. 
 
 Borneman, Monsignor, 333. 
 
 Bowman, Dr. J. C, 169, 404, 
 427. 
 
 Brainerd, David, 46. 
 
 Bridenbaugh, Dr. S. R., 427. 
 
 Bromley, Dr. J. H., 307, 406, 417. 
 
 Brooks, Phillips, 334, 406. 
 
 Brown, Father, 141. 
 
 Brown, John, 180. 
 Buchanan, James, 156, 166. 
 Bucher, Dr. J. C, 133. 
 BuckneU University, 93, 133. 
 Bunyan, John, 258. 
 Burns, Robert, 71, 112. 
 Bushnell, Horace, 334, 338, 375. 
 
 Cairns, Dr., 238 sq. 
 
 Calvary Reformed Church, Reading, 
 
 214, 216 sq., 353, 425. 
 Candhsh, Dr., 111. 
 Cass, Senator, 64. 
 Casselman, Rev. A. V., 425. 
 "Catechumen's Handbook," 226. 
 Cathohc Church, 69, 79 sq., 101 sq. 
 
 116 sq., 383. 
 Cattell, President, 391. 
 Chimney sweeps, 28. 
 Chinese immigrants, 250. 
 Christian Endeavor Society, 214, 
 
 416, 418. 
 
 Church Discipline, 362 sq. 
 Church Question, 79 sq., 100 sq., 
 
 116 sq., 176, 379 sq. 
 Church Union, 117, 224. 
 Civil War, 146, 154 sq., Chapter 
 
 IX, 316. 
 Clay, Henry, 64, 111. 
 Clever, Dr. Conrad, 129, 399. 
 Congregational Church, 225. 
 Creitz, Dr. C. E., 8, 234, 333, 338, 
 
 342, 357 sq., 373, 393 sq. 
 Creitz, Mrs. C. E., 408, 412, 414, 
 
 417, 422. 
 Cmnming, Dr. J., 113. 
 Curtin, Gov. A. G., 93. 
 
 Dawson, Geo., 112. 
 
 Dayton Reformed Church, 171 sq. 
 
 Dechant, C. M., 217. 
 
 Dechant, W. H., 217. 
 
 Derr, Mrs. L. K., 308. 
 
 Diagnothian Literary Society, SOsq., 
 
 61. 
 Diffenderffer, F. R., 52. 
 
435 
 
 "Directory of Worship," 384, 386 
 
 sq. 
 Divorce, 362. 
 Dix, Dr. Morgan, 237. 
 Drummond, Henry, 421. 
 Dubbs, Dr. J. H., 8, 189, 206, 256 
 
 sq., 261, 268, 277, 319, 321, 
 
 421. 
 Dutch Reformed Church, 86, 225, 
 331. 
 
 Endhch, Judge G. A., 406. 
 Ermentrout, Rev. John, 86. 
 Eschbach, Dr. E. R., 8, 170, 248 
 
 sq., 367, 424. 
 Euchen, Dr., 114. 
 Evangelist, The, 264, 266, 275. 
 Evans, Dr. L. K., 229. 
 Evans, Wm., 302. 
 
 Faith Reformed Chiu-ch, Reading, 
 
 216. 
 FaUing Stars, 28. 
 Filmore, Vice-president, 64. 
 First Reformed Church, Lancaster, 
 
 17, 37, 47, 400. 
 First Reformed Church, Reading, 
 
 171, 176 sq., 191, Chapter X, 
 
 214, 216, 253, 291, 339, 360, 
 
 367, 376, 401, 427. 
 Fisher, Rev. P. S., 269. 
 Fisher, Rev. R. A., 92. 
 Fisher, Dr. S. R., 85, 135, 137 sq., 
 
 143 sq., 161 sq., 182, 190, 317, 
 
 349. 
 Fleas, Itahan, 243. 
 Fogel, Rev., 272. 
 Foltz, M. A., 8, 161, 163, 167 sq., 
 
 180 sq. 
 Foote, Senator, 64. 
 Foreign Missions, 152, 176, 330 sq. 
 Franklin College, 46, 47, 319. 
 Frankhn and Marshall College, 32, 
 
 291, 319 sq., 391, 397, 400, 421. 
 Freilaubersheim, 15 sq., 113, 245. 
 
 Fricker, J. B., 212, 216, 412, 419. 
 
 Froebel, 371. 
 
 Fry, Dr. Jacob, 398. 
 
 Gans, Dr D., 86. 
 
 Gantenbein, Dr. J., 297. 
 
 Cast, Dr. F. A., 47, 319. 
 
 "Gebete," 226. 
 
 Gerhard, Dr. C. S., 210, 374, 395, 
 
 396. 
 Gerhart, Dr. E. V., 79, 98, 106, 128, 
 
 177, 394, 400. 
 Gerhart, Dr. R. L., 400. 
 German Rehgious Life, 114 sq., 151, 
 
 239 sq., 359, 362. 
 Gettysburg College, 64. 
 Glessner, Rev. Geo. W., 37, 47. 
 Goethean Literary Society, 50 sq., 
 
 57, 61. 
 "Golden Censer," 130, 226. 
 Goldsmith, 64, 112, 351. 
 Good, Dr. J. H., 173, 222, 329. 
 Good, Dr. James L, 171, 217, 237, 
 
 401. 
 Goodrich, Rev. Wm., 81, 160. 
 Grant, Gen., 416. 
 Green, Prof. Traill, 67. 
 Gregory, Canon, 241. 
 Griffith, G. W., 115. 
 Gring, Dr. A. D., 331. 
 Gring, Rev. David, 92. 
 Gross, Christian G., 356. 
 Gross, Wm. D., 288. 
 Guardian, The, 14, 21, 32, 40, 67, 
 
 97 sq., 110, 119, 127 sq., 149, 
 
 161, 180, 202, 226, Chapter 
 
 XIII, 264, 268, 280 sq., 291, 
 
 315, 324, 337, 344, 352, 360, 
 
 377 sq., 421, 425. 
 Gustavus Adolphus Verein, 115. 
 Guthrie, Dr., 111. 
 
 Hale, Senator, 64. 
 
 Hale, Dr. Wm. A., 229, 370, 405. 
 
 Hall, Dr. Newman, 241. 
 
436 
 
 Harbaugh, Dr. Henry, 7, 13, 65, 74, 
 
 76, 81, 92, 115, 126 sq., 165, 
 
 169, 189, 193, 205 sq., 238, 253, 
 
 258, 261, 265, 269, 325, 369, 
 
 377 sq., 389, 396, 400. 
 "Harbaugh's Harfe," 205 sq., 291, 
 
 379. 
 Hauser, Rev. Jacob, 331. 
 Hausfreund, The, 149, 202, 209, 226, 
 
 242, 246, 248, 251, 253, 256, 
 
 Chapter XIV, 290 sq., 315, 337, 
 
 339, 349, 377 sq., 383. 
 Haverstick, Mrs. Elizabeth, 8, 18, 
 
 232, 420. 
 Heidelberg University, 171 sq., 420. 
 Heiner, Dr., 85. 
 Heisler, Dr. D. Y., 88, 141, 284, 
 
 297. 
 Helffenstein, Dr. J., 86. 
 Helfrich, Dr. W. A., 269 sq., 281 
 
 sq., 421. 
 Hensel, George, 237. 
 Hensel, W. U., 398. 
 Heyser, Wm., 167, 178. 
 Higbee, Dr. E. E., 165, 191, 316 
 
 sq., 320, 335. 
 Hilbish, Rev. Henry, 297 
 Hoffeditz, Dr., 85. 
 Hoffmeier, Rev. Henry, 37, 400. 
 Hollweg, Dr. Von Belhmann, 318. 
 Home Missions, 176, 194, 248 sq., 
 
 265 sq., 285, 325 sq., 415. 
 Hope Rescue Mission, 221. 
 Horseback Riding, 150, 161 sq., 317, 
 
 345. 
 Housekeeper, Mr. and Mrs. H. M., 
 
 296. 
 Hoy, Mrs. Wm. E., 355. 
 Hymnology, 33, 223 sq., 383, 420, 
 
 428. 
 
 Jowett, Dr. J. H., 347. 
 
 "Jubilee Address," 141, 147, 171, 
 
 179, 401. 
 "Junius:" Rev. Benjamin Baus- 
 
 man, 149. 
 
 Kaiser Wilhelm, 245. 
 
 Katydids, 27. 
 
 Kaufman, Andreas, 38, 39. 
 
 KeUer, Dr. EU, 264 sq., 275, sq., 282, 
 
 285. 
 Kershner, Dr. J. E., 248. 
 Keyes, Rev. N. A., 65, 81. 
 Kieffer, Rev. Ephraim, 92, 160. 
 Kieffer, Dr. H. M., 256. 
 Kieffer, Dr. J. Spangler, 257 sq., 
 
 387, 404, 407, 427, 428. 
 Kieffer, Dr. Moses, 104, 172 sq. 
 KilUnger, Hon. J. W., 321. 
 Kirchenzeitunfi, The, 139, 264, 273 
 
 sq., 284 sq. 
 Kostenbader, G. P., 311. 
 lO-ebs, Dr. S. L., 217, 218, 405. 
 Kremer, Dr. E. N., 358, 405. 
 Krummacher, Dr. F. W., 245. 
 Kuendig, Dr. J., 368, 426. 
 Kiilling, Dr. J., 297. 
 
 Law and Order Society, 219 sq., 341. 
 
 Lavrfer, John N., 308. 
 
 Laymen's Missionary Movement, 
 
 159, 332, 358. 
 Lee, Gen., 189. 
 Leinbach, Dr. A. S., 219. 
 Leinbach, Dr. Chas. H., 100, 131 
 
 sq., 144, 164, 167, 201, 224, 269. 
 Leinbach, Geo. A., 217. 
 Leinbach, Rev. J. H., 219. 
 Leinbach, Jos. A., 217. 
 Leinbach, Rev. T. C., 426. 
 Leiss, Adam, 288. 
 Leonard, Elder, 166. 
 Levan, Dr. F. K., 328. 
 Lewisburg Chronicle, 110, 164. 
 Lewisburg Reformed Church, 88, 
 
 Chapters IV and VI, 400. 
 Lincoln, 156, 340, 364, 416. 
 Liturgical Question, 145, 152 sq. 
 
 203, 260, 281 sq., 316, 324 sq., 
 
 339, 380. 
 Lohr, Rev. Oscar, 331. 
 Lutheran Chui-ch, 70, 368, 374. 
 
437 
 
 Malcomb, Dr. Howard, 93. 
 
 Manning, Cardinal, 86. 
 
 Marshall College, 47 sq., Chapter 
 II, 281, 397 sq. 
 
 Matthews, Dr., 239. 
 
 Mausthurm, 15. 
 
 Mayburry, Dr. Wm., 170, 321. 
 
 McCauley, Dr. C. F., 87, 178, 193, 
 196, 211, 227, 236, 287, 377. 
 
 McCausland, John, 239. 
 
 McClellan, Gen., 181. 
 
 McGregor, Dr., 238. 
 
 McHose, Isaac, 8, 288. 
 
 Mease, Dr. Samuel, 64, 68, 165. 
 
 Mennonites, 40. 
 
 Mercer shurg Review, 79, 81, 96, 253, 
 372. 
 
 Mercersburg Theology, 78 sq., 107, 
 171, 371 sq. 
 
 Mesick, Dr. J. F., 85. 
 
 Messenger, The, 19, 45, 53, 97 sq., 
 103, 110, 117, 120, 127, 130 sq., 
 Chapter VII, 161, 166, 170, 180, 
 182, 196, 203 sq., 222, 242, 249, 
 251 sq., 258, 267, 270, 280 sq., 
 285, 293 sq., 303, 315, 319, 337, 
 339 349, 352, 358, 375, 383, 
 390 sq., 403, 407, 428. 
 
 Messersmith, G. K., 162. 
 
 Mignonette, 334. 
 
 MiUer, Daniel, 8, 130, 200, 212, 226, 
 227, 273 sq., 283 sq., 340, 342, 
 363, 393. 
 
 MiUer, Rev. H. K., 332. 
 
 Miller, Dr. J. O., 52, 248. 
 
 MiUer, Dr. S., 224. 
 
 MiUer, Rev. S. S., 323. 
 
 MillersviUe State Normal School, 21. 
 
 Mission House, 87. 
 
 Mission House at Basel, 133 sq., 
 176, 244. 
 
 Mohler, 86, 101, 117. 
 
 MonteUo Brick Co., 412. 
 
 Moore, Dr. J. P., 405. 
 
 Moravians, 120. 
 
 More, Rev. W. F., 293, 294, 299, 
 
 303 sq., 410. 
 More, Mrs. W. F., 310, 427. 
 Mormons, 249. 
 Mosser, Dr. Henry, 211, 230, 247, 
 
 367, 428. 
 Moyer, Dr. J. F., 427. 
 Muhlmeier, Dr., 87. 
 Miiller, George, 359. 
 MiiUer, Max, 405. 
 Musser, Dr. C. J., 391, 428. 
 Myerstown Convention, 203, 384. 
 
 "Nathan:" Rev. Benjamin Baus- 
 
 man, 98 sq., 133. 
 Neff, D. J., 50, 66, 398. 
 Nevin, Dr. J. W., 60 sq., 67, 72 sq., 
 
 103, 128, 131, 152, 175, 201, 
 
 207 sq. 224, 288, 291, 369, 372, 
 
 376, 390. 
 Nevin, Dr. Wm. M., 66, 67, 255. 
 Newman, Cardinal, 86, 112. 
 Noel, Baptist, 125. 
 
 "Order of Worship," 384, 387. 
 OUvet Reformed Church, Reading, 
 216. 
 
 Parker, Dr. Joseph, 241. 
 Parker, Dr. Theodore, 112. 
 Passavant, Dr. W. A. 205. 
 Peace Movement, 223, 260, 282 sq., 
 
 384 sq. 
 Pennsylvania Germans, 263 sq., 
 
 290. 
 Peters, Abram, 21, 319. 
 Peters, Jacob, 33. 
 Peters, Dr. J. A., 420. 
 Peters, J. G., 52. 
 Phi Beta Kappa Society, 421. 
 PhilUps, Rev. Samuel, 166. 
 "Pilgrim's Pouch," 110 sq. 
 Porter, Dr. T. C, 61, 128. 
 "Precept and Practice," 262. 
 Presbyterian Church, 137, 225. 
 
438 
 
 Preston's Sunnyside, 231, 394, 410, 
 
 412 sq. 
 Protestantism, 83, 85 sq., 101 sq., 
 
 116. 
 "Provisional Liturgy," 128, 384. 
 Prugh, Dr. P. C, 50, 64, 68, 165. 
 Public Opinion, 180. 
 Puns, 160. 
 Pusey, Dr., 113. 
 Pyramid Climbing, 122. 
 
 Ranck, Rev. C. H., 8. 
 
 Rauch, Dr. F. A., 369. 
 
 Rauch Literary Society, 51. 
 
 Reading Adler, 268, 277. 
 
 Reading Eagle, 412. 
 
 Reading Herald, 246, 407, 410. 
 
 Rebaugh, Rev. J., 87. 
 
 Reber, Rev. J. L., 81. 
 
 Reformed Church Record, 296. 
 
 Reily, Mrs. Lizzie A., 97. 
 
 Reily, Dr. Wm. M., 92, 318. 
 
 Richards, Dr. Geo. W., 262, 344, 
 
 347, 352, 357, 369, 372, 400, 
 
 427, 429. 
 Rick, James, 217. 
 Robertson, Rev. F. W., 59, 371. 
 Rupp, I. D., 16. 
 Russell, Dr. Geo. B., 52, 287. 
 Rust, Dr. Herman, 7, 52, 59, 63, 64, 
 
 68, 115 sq., 73 sq., 127 sq., 144 
 
 sq., 165, 172 sq., 202, 229, 328, 
 
 379, 396. 
 Rust, Dr. J. B., 7, 176, 202, 396. 
 Rustling, Gen., 413. 
 
 Santee, Charles, 292, 295. 
 
 Schaeffer, Dr. C. E., 330, 422. 
 
 Schaeffer, Dr. N. C. 404. 
 
 Schaeffer, Dr. Wm. C, 399. 
 
 Schaff, Dr. PhiUp, 47, 60, 61, 67, 72 
 sq., 103, 109 sq., 115 sq., 128, 
 138 sq., 152, 167, 175, 205, 238, 
 279, 316, 318, 369, 377, 421. 
 
 Schick, Dr. J. M., 300, 419. 
 
 Schiedt, Dr. R. C, 404. 
 
 Schiller Society, 51. 
 
 Schmaltz, Rev., 38. 
 
 Schneck, Dr. B. F., 110, 115, 139, 
 149, 162 sq., 183, 224, 281, 352. 
 367 sq. 
 
 Schneck, Mrs. B. F., 162, 367 sq. 
 
 Schneder, Dr. and Mrs. D. B., 332, 
 414. 
 
 Schneider, Dr. Benj., 152, 330. 
 
 Schoenberger, Miss Clara, 410. 
 
 Schrack, Daniel, 92. 
 
 Scotch, The, 111 sq. 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 111. 
 
 Second Reformed Church, Read- 
 ing, 104, 216. 
 
 Sectarianism, 100 sq. 
 
 Seward, Senator, 64. 
 
 Shuey, Rev. D. B., 252. 
 
 "Sinai and Zion," 110, 123, 128 sq., 
 161, 280. 
 
 "Sketches" by Rev. Benjamin 
 Bausman, 97 sq. 
 
 Slifer, Col. Eh, 93. 
 
 Smoking, 159, 343. 
 
 Society for the ReUef of Ministers 
 and their Widows, 322 sq. 
 
 "Spectator:" Rev. Benjamin Baus- 
 man, 97. 
 
 Spinner, Gen., 205. 
 
 Spurgeon, 113, 241. 
 
 Stahr, Dr. J. S., 208 sq., 335, 398, 
 401, 422, 427. 
 
 St. Andrew's Reformed Church, 
 Reading, 214, 216 sq., 284, 353. 
 
 St. James' Reformed Church, Read- 
 ing, 216. 
 
 St. John's Reformed Church, Al- 
 lentown, 423. 
 
 St. John's Reformed Church, Read- 
 ing, 195, 216, 283 sq. 
 
 St. Mark's Reformed Church, Read- 
 ing, 216. 
 
 St. Paul's Reformed Church, Lan- 
 caster, 65. 
 
439 
 
 St. Paul's Reformed Church, Read- 
 ing, 92, 192, 197, 201, 208 sq.. 
 Chapter XI, 263, 272, 286, 
 306, 323, 332, 355, 357 sq., 366 
 sq., 381 sq., 392 sq. 
 
 St. Stephen's Reformed Church, 
 Reading, 195, 216. 
 
 St. Thomas' Reformed Church, 
 Reading, 218 sq. 
 
 Stein, Dr. J. P., 422. 
 
 Steiner, Dr. L. H., 146, 157, 170, 
 204, 223, 255. 
 
 Steinmetz, Dr. J. H., 160, 283. 
 
 Stern, Dr. Max, 328. 
 
 Stewart, Rev. Wm. I., 169. 
 
 Stoner, Rev. H. Y., 367, 422. 
 
 Stuart, Gen., 187. 
 
 Stuart, Rev. Moses, 86. 
 
 Studien und Kritiken, 171, 273. 
 
 Sunday-school, 19, 54, 57, 195 sq., 
 210, 215 sq., 254 sq., 323 sq., 
 383, 414 sq. 
 
 Super, Dr. W. H., 52. 
 
 Sweigert, Rev. Peter, 46. 
 
 Tractarianism, 
 
 113, 379. 
 
 Universahsts, 125, 373. 
 Ursinus College, 384, 389 sq. 
 
 Wagner, Geo. W., 302. 
 Wagner, Dr. S. G., 423. 
 Wanamaker, John, 169. 
 Ward, Dr. Wm. H., 225. 
 "Wayside Gleanings," 110, 114, 161, 
 
 381. 
 Webster, Daniel, 64. 
 Weiser, Dr. C. Z., 87, 196, 273, 281, 
 
 331, 367, 386, 391. 
 Western Missionary, 103, 110. 
 Whitmer, Rev. A. C, 256, 258, 403. 
 Whyte, Dr. Alex., 238. 
 Wichita College, 251 sq. 
 WilUard, Dr. Geo. W., 81, 104. 
 Wiseman, Cardinal, 125. 
 Wolff, Elder, 13, 178. 
 Wolff, Dr. B. C, 98, 318. 
 Wolff, Dr. G. D., 86. 
 Woodward, Judge, 205. 
 
 Taylor, Gen., 56. 
 
 Telepathy, 377. 
 
 Temperance, 339, 346. 
 
 Tennyson, 402. 
 
 Tercentenary of Heidelberg Cate- 
 chism, 169 sq., 196, 372, 375 sq. 
 
 Theological Seminary at Mercers- 
 burg and Lancaster, Chapter 
 III, 32, 139, 316 sq., 390 sq.; at 
 Tiffin, 175. 
 
 Third Reformed Church, Baltimore, 
 399. 
 
 Tiffin Reformed Church, 171. 
 
 Yosemite Valley, 249. 
 
 Young, Joseph, 294. 
 
 Yundt, Rev. T. M., 293, 298 sq., 
 
 373, 401. 
 Yundt, Mrs. T. M., 299, 302 sq., 
 
 334, 373. 
 
 Zacharias, Dr. D., 87. 
 
 Zion's Reformed Church, Chambers- 
 burg, 166 sq., 399. 
 
 Zion's Reformed Church, Reading, 
 216. 
 
 Zwingli, 378. 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 
 This book is due on the date indicated below, or at the 
 expiration of a definite period after the date of borrowing, as 
 provided by the library rules or by special arrangement with 
 the Librarian in charge. 
 
 DATE BORROWED 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 DATE BORROWED 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C28(ll*9)lOOM 
 
 
 
 
938.^5 
 
 B329 
 
 933.26 
 Ranck 
 
 B329 
 
 The life of the Re-verend Benj- 
 
 aniin ibausman. 
 
 # 
 
 #'