SERMON COMMEMORATIVE OF BISHOP AUER, PREACHED BY THE RT. REV. G. T. BE DE EL . D.D., IN CALVARY CHURCH, NEW YORK, OCT. 15, 1874. St. Mark ix. 23.— All things are possible to him that believeth. NEW YORK: Foreign Committee, Board op Missions, 23 Bible House, 1874. SEE LAST PAGE OF COVER. SERMON COMMEMORATIVE OF BISHOP AUER. .Preached by the Rt. Rev, G. T. Bedell, I).D., in Calvary Church, New York, Oct. 15, 1874. St. Mark ix. aj. —All things are possible to him that believeth. Such believers are rare. But the grace of God has given some to the Church in every age ; and in this age a Gottlieb Auer. I am to tell you the brief story of his life ; the life of a man to whom nothing seemed impossi¬ ble for Christ's sake. I desire to magnify the grace of God toward him ; for the Holy Spirit so exhibited in him faith in Christ and self-devotion to Christ, that he rightfully takes a place among the noble army of Missionary martyrs whose memory the Church delights to cherish. A master of words has said that “ The world of ordinary phenomena and the world of miracles are lying on two parallel planes. On the higher plane miracles are as natural as on the lower—they are extraordinary. Faith raises a believer from the lower to the higher, and makes his life—which other men call miraculous—an ordinary and natural existence." Accordingly, I remember, once the disciples were out on the Sea ol Galilee by night. One of the sharp gusts from the mountain came sweep¬ ing down on their fishing boat, and they had hard labor to stand by their oars. In the darkness and turmoil the Master approached, walking on the sea. It was as natural for Him to walk there as it was for Peter to sink to the lower level. Yet when, at Jesus’ call, Peter stepped on the rough water, his faith enabled him to walk on the same plane with Christ for a moment. I think Auer could have gone all the way to Jesus. On another occasion, when the night wind from Cedron became entangled in the olives, but amidst the silence of nature, a storm of grief and fear was 2 working wreck in the disciples’ hearts, Peter, thinking that he was standing- on the same plane with his Master, cried out: “Lord ! I will follow Thee to prison and to death ! ” But the waves of a spirit tossed by any divided love are more boisterous than Gennesareth in its wildest mood; and Peter sank in them. I shall give you evidence of Auer’s self-devotion to Christ. Perhaps you will decide that he walked so steadily along that higher plane, where conscious self-consecration to the Saviour finds nothing impossible for His dear sake, that he is worthy to have a name among the mighty men who have gone with Christ through miracles of endurance, and have died for Him. In November of 1854, seventy candidates for Missionary life from various parts of Switzerland and Germany were pressing their claims to be admitted to the school at Basle at the same moment. Think of it ! we who prate of our Church’s zeal in Missions. Seventy candidates for Missions at Basle coming in together on one day ! Auer was among them. The authorities at Basle test every applicant at the outset, try the spirit that is in them, and the stuff they are made of, waste no money in experiments, and use no deli¬ cacy in expressing their judgments. . Out of that seventy only eighteen were accepted, and Auer was among the chosen few ; and so was Duerr of our German Mission in Cleveland, whose loving recollections of his friend Gott¬ lieb furnish many particulars of this sketch. John Gottlieb Auer was then twenty-two years old, having been born in Neubulach, in Wurtemberg, on November 18, 1832. His parents were respected citizens of that village in the Black Forest. His mother’s name ■was Maria Margarita The piety of the mother lived again in the son; and her name, therefore, so dear to him, he has perpetuated in the name of his only daughter—one of the Church’s orphans—surviving him in Germany. His good mother laid strong foundations for that character, on which, in after years, God’s grace built up that Christian whom we knew. *• “In the village school,” says his friend Duerr, “ he was distinguished for his clear intellect, quick perception, and good memory, so that his father 3 chose Tor him, at the end of his school term, the profession of teacher. 'When he had fulfilled his term of preparation for this office at college, he immediately received an appointment. He became a teacher at Geysburg, near Stuttgart, where his mental ability and personal amiability soon won Tor him the affection of the whole town.” Those early associations never lost their power. When he was obliged to retire for a time from Africa in 1872, he found a home among these haunts of his boyhood ; and near Stutt¬ gart is now the chosen rest, where he has left his widow and three children awaiting whatever expression of sympathy his Church shall send to cheer their loneliness and poverty. When he entered Geysburg as a teacher, he was not a devotedly relig¬ ious man. The seeds of early training had taken root; and the silently sure process, under the Holy Spirit was making itself seen in contests of na¬ ture with this grace. His strong mind and stronger will yielded reluct¬ antly to the sovereign love of Christ. But the Great Master purposed to -make of this successful village teacher, a teacher of men in the higher -school of His Church, and so, as in a more noted instance, Gottlieb found at hard to “ kick against the pricks.” “A faithful Clergyman in the neigh¬ borhood was made the instrument of drawing this young man’s affections to the Saviour.” His conversion was characteristic. He yielded reluctantly, as did St. Paul ; but when he resolved to serve Christ, like St. Paul, he held nothing in reserve. Every gift and acquisition heretofore devoted to the ambitions of life, were now as decidedly consecrated to the Lord’s ser¬ vice. He became unmistakably a Gott-lieb, a lover of God. Immediately he applied for instruction and commission as a Missionary. On the road to Basle, at Baden-Baden, Auer and Duerr first met. An affection sprang up between the two young students which was life-long. How singularly God often interweaves men’s histories ; sometimes, as by an irresistible affinity, drawing them into unity from apparently utter separation. I give a moment to this thought, for it belongs to the web we are unravel¬ ling. These two friends were members of the Evangelical Church of 4 Germany. They were sent as Missionaries of that Church to distant fields*: one to Africa, the other to America. In Africa, Auer was led to give him¬ self to our Church. On his first visit to America he searched for his old friend, led him to our Church, and induced him to join the Mission in Africa. They met again after an interval of ten years at a Mission house, which Auer meanwhile had established at Gambier, in Ohio, formed on the model of the Mission house at Basle. Thence Duerr went out to Africa^ But he was soon compelled to return, for his work lay among his German countrymen, settling in America. Duerr originated what we know as “the German movement ” toward our Church—still progressing. This movement gave an impetus to the choice of Auer to the Episcopate. And then once again the friends met; for the earliest official act of Bishop Auer was to com- firm a class of Germans whom Duerr had instructed, and to ordain a Ger¬ man Deacon whom Duerr presented. At the Mission house in Basle young Auer devoted himself to study and prayer. “ He distinguished himself in every department of learning, but especially by an original and practical method of preaching/’ which became characteristic. None who heard him will forget that peculiarity. His unex¬ pected, pointed thrusts of Scripture texts, applied with a directness which none could escape, made his preaching as lively as a battle ; kept every one busy in self-investigation or self-defence. During his third year at Basle, the Lord brought him to death’s door by a painful and lingering disease. To him it was only part of the schooling in patience and submission, and he graduated in that department with a first degree. To the Mission house it was a time of anxiety, and a trial of faith. They watched over him as over a son or a brother, and Duerr among them, most devotedly, and they prayed for him as for a partner in their own life. He was restored; and in 1858 was declared, by the Faculty, thoroughly equipped as a Missionary. The influence of the Basle Mission house on his character was direct and positive. It gave practical direction to his natural qualities, and com¬ pleted his thorough engrossment in his calling. That system of instruction. 5 is directed especially to three points, namely, mastery of Scripture, spiritual self-control, and a knowledge of the way of doing things in every day life. Often have I heard him thank God for the instruction which gave him a new possession in the Scripture. He read with ease and pleasure in the originals, both Old and New Testaments. He had investigated and had a clear theory concerning not only the scope, but the detailed thought in each sacred writing. He had all the Epistles by heart. He could seize any pas¬ sage in any one of them, and tell you—in his own favorite phrase —“ all that went before, and all that came behind it." And this possession of Scripture gave him unwonted power as a Missionary teacher. Self-discipline and spiritual control were wrought in him principally by means of a peculiar method of meditative prayer, encouraged at Basle ; very like the better side of the old monastic discipline. Auer had so often spoken of it—and indeed of all his indebtedness to Basle—that, being in Switzerland in 1866, I made a pilgrimage to the Mission house to become acquainted with this wonderful system, and to see the prayer rooms. Pass¬ ing out of an ancient gate of the picturesque old town, and turning to the left, around the walls, after a short drive within the suburbs, we came to an unpretending, scholarly-looking hall, without elegance or ornament, stand¬ ing in a quiet enclosure among shrubbery and trees. Close behind it was a practical vegetable garden, and on one side a range of outhouses con¬ taining various shops. Unfortunately much of the expected interest in the visit was lost because it was vacation time ; but we passed through the school-rooms (at which our American collegians would shrug their shoul¬ ders), and the dormitories (at which our theological students would demur, as being somewhat short of the modern ideas of separation and refinement). Every arrangement pointed to hard work, with only moderate comfort; yet there was nothing that might not properly be seen in any school which pur¬ poses to turn students into men. The chapel was plain and small, but had a big organ in it. Not here, however, these spiritual men grew strong. When we reached the attic, close under the eaves, we saw those sacred places 6 where spiritual victories were won and nerves were strung for spiritual self- mastery. Shall we call them cells ? They were solitary places for private prayer, for communion with God and with each one’s own soul. Here, discreetly and with clear perception of the soul’s need, every preparation indicated separation and solitary communings. Perhaps our religion in this* Western world has lost something of individual strength by its perpetual sociability. A soul that is growing in God’s likeness needs often to be alone with God, where passing objects may not deflect the rays of His gracious countenance, and whispers of the world may not disturb the communications of His will. So these prayer rooms at Basle were entirely individualized. Each student had his own room, or at least appointed hours in the use of it. There was no furniture except a little stool. The Pastor showed us the room whither Auer used to bring his Bible, and the stool on which he used to sit. There, spending an hour every morning, as the custom was, he grew strong through prayer. So deeply was he impressed by the value of this spiritual discipline, that the very first thought expressed in his arrangements for the little Mission house at Gambier was to prepare a set of these little rooms for private prayer. The third distinguishing impression made on his habits at Basle was this—it is right, and a necessity, and respectable for a Missionary to know how to do useful things in daily life, how to help himself and others, how to turn his hand to anything. The students at Basle are taught carpentering, blacksmithing, bootmaking, gardening—these systematically ; and a little of many other trades, so that they can teach natives in their Mission fields the arts of civilized life, and on occasion supply their own wants. Bishop Auer’s experience satisfied him that this early lesson was wise. His facility in handicrafts added to his influence over the natives in Africa, and made him a desirable member of a Mission. He gained many converts to their views in America; not one too many: for, without doubt, the arts of civili¬ zation are true handmaidens of Christianity. The last time I met the. Bishop, he was searching, not after a preacher, but for a Christian carpenter.. 7 Thus furnished by habits formed in the Mission house at Basle, he went > - r * out in 1858 to Akrapong, among theAkrapim Mountains, a German Mission station in the rear of the gold coast, south and east of Cape Palmas, and became a teacher in their seminary. About the same time there was crossing the Atlantic from America, to> our Mission in Africa, on her second voyage, a Christian woman, whose influence was destined to be critical over the history of Brother Auer. Miss Mary Ball of Philadelphia was singularly fitted for a Missionary, both by natural disposition and by grace. Solidly educated, cheerful, sprightly, a self-possessed and hopeful Christian, she inspired every one with her own confidence. She very quickly became a centre of influence in Africa. On. this second voyage out, God’s Providence tested her presence of mind and her quickness of resource ; tested her vigorous resolution. She had embarked in a small brigantine. Square rigged on the foremast, this vessel carried a schooner’s sail on the mainmast; and the boom swept over the quarter deck, so low as just to clear the head of the companion way. One evening, in mid ocean, with a brisk wind and a rough sea, the vessel going rapidly, every sail drawing steadily, the man at the helm the only seaman on the quarter deck, Miss Ball stepped up the companion way to enjoy a breath of air before retiring. Just as she reached the highest step, the vessel lurched, the boom swung over, and instantly she was swept out¬ side the low bulwarks. So sudden was it, that the man at the wheel saw only something white passing over the side, which he hardly distinguished from the flapping sail ; and was startled by hearing a familiar voice, appar¬ ently from the ocean, crying for help. In the moment of passing over the bulwarks her hand touched a small rope fastened on the boom, and grasped it. It held ; she clung to it, her feet almost touching the sea, and as she swung at every rise of the vessel, she was thrown against its side. Yet there she held, until help came at last to the brave-hearted woman. It was her influence that subsequently led Gottlieb Auer into our Mis¬ sion, taught him to love our Church, and gave to us the best portions of his Missionary life. 8 r In 1862 he dissolved his connection with the Missionary Society at Basle. Having been acquainted with our ecclesiastical system during a visit to Cape Palmas, admiring its coherence and practical efficiency, encouraged too by his Lutheran view of Episcopacy, he offered himself as a candidate for our Ministry, and was ordained by Bishop Payne, in the Church of the Epiphany, Cavalla. He threw himself instantly into our Missionary work, with his wonted undivided energy. It soon became wearing ; for the climate of our Missionary coast is less salubrious than that of the Mountains of Akrapim. Soon he was subjected to trials also, and at last to bereavement. In February, 1863, his wife died ; and shortly after, he sailed for America, sadly broken by labor and sorrow. This visit was a first acquaintance with the country of his adopted Church. He brought with him his infant son. This Willie—a bright active spirit, cheerful as his mother, energetic as his father —developed an intense love in Auers soul, which thenceforth became a characteristic. His letters are full of it. Whether in grave or playful moods, Willie is on his heart, and his name slips from his pen. Giving a sketch of a Missionary meeting, or describing a Fair, or commemorating the precious graves in Africa—beside which now his wearied body rests—a parenthesis, surcharged with love for Willie, startles you as you read, by a flash of intensest affection, showing of what the man was capable. This boy is now verging on years for College training. He is left (and two other children) to the compassionate care of his mother the Church. What do you mean to do with them, and for them, my brethren ? The Church has no home for the orphans of its Missionaries ; no restful refuge for the widows and the fatherless, whose natural protector has worn himself out in our service. What do you mean to do for this boy in whom the Mis¬ sionary Auer’s soul was wrapped up ? It is a very practical question. It should have some practical solution to-night ; for it is pertinent to this commemo¬ ration, and to the generous decisions of you who hear and feel. On arriving in America, rest was a first necessity. But that necessity was a burden on his restless activity. The moment he felt the effects of the 9 natural resiliency of his constitution, and encouraged by our temperate air, and the affectionate sympathy of his new-found home, he sprang to work. In every direction he awakened a new, strange interest in Africa, by a style of address perfectly original. He had a novel way of putting things. He had a confidence in the future of Africa, which was charming. There was a merry twinkle sometimes, between indignant flashes of his eye ; and amusing bits of African nature, and African wit, were let in amongst his gravest pictures of that degraded heathenism, which were positively captivating. Smiling through their tears, his audiences caught a new, true view of realities in Missionary experience, and of possibili¬ ties for the Gospel in Africa. His statements carried conviction. His earnestness was contagious. Consciences which were idle or listless, could not repose when Auer was speaking; and there was an unmistakable revival of Missionary spirit during the three years of his labors in our country. As a specimen of labor, not unusual, he writes: “Last Sunday I preached in German in the morning, in the afternoon spoke a little in the Sunday-school, and then preached a very long Missionary sermon, and in the evening preached in English.” Again : “I have had a splendid time here at Georgetown with Mr. Atkins, and at Richmond ; also a pleasant evening at Bishop Payne’s residence. Shall speak at Emmanuel Church, Philadelphia, on Wednesday evening. Sunday in Baltimore, Monday at Annapolis, Tuesday at Easton. Then a week in Philadelphia, then to New York. '’ “I have preached nine times this week, and talked incessantly. My naps I take in the train.” His constant correspondence during these busy days, surprised his friends, but the explanation equally distressed them, “I sel¬ dom shut my eyes before twelve.” Nervous exhaustion follows such a mode of working with the pertinacity of an avenger of blood. Auer was much engaged, during these years, in laying foundations here for a Mission house similar to that at Basle, feeling that our Missions, both Foreign and Domestic, lacked something, because of insufficient specific training. He 10 held that specific fields, and specific sorts of Missionary labor, required in¬ struction specially adapted to them. Sympathizing with him, I was privi- leged to enter into his plan, and in this association became somewhat inti¬ mately acquainted with his principles of conducting Missions, and especially with his great, frank, manly, confiding heart. Bishop Mcllvaine, and my associates at Gambier, entered wholly into his scheme, and the Mission house soon began to have success. Encouraged by the number of students coming in, and by donations from individuals (such as a noble gift for building by the late Admiral Dupont), we had even laid the cornerstone for the house at Gambier. My regret is now unavailing, that, in sub¬ mission to his hopes of entering on a larger sphere, the location of the school was changed. But although his particular scheme perished soon after his return to his foreign post, the influence of his eloquent zeal on the American Church long survived his departure, and still survives his death. After another brief season of domestic joy, followed by another bereave¬ ment—joy and sorrow which linked him to our homes in Gambier, and gave us a grave that bears his name—he entered again upon his work in Africa* A renewed and better hope accompanied this return to Cape Palmas, for Bishop Payne’s cherished schemes at last had assumed their rightful position, and Mr. Auer’s settled convictions also had obtained the weight which they deserved. The “West coast” is not a Paradise, but neither is it a desolate Sahara, The sun is not unmitigated, and pestilence and misery are not the nearest companions, or the most trying antagonists of the brave men and women, who carry the Gospel there. Auer had taught us better; and from one of his first letters after touching the shore again, I give you a charming glimpse of the scenery of his chosen home. It was at the Orphan Asylum on Cape Palmas. It stands on the extremity of that point, on a bluff seventy-four feet above the sea, where the coast turns sharply to the east. “This coun¬ try,” he says, “feels quite comfortable; rather warm when out walking or working. The weather is hot when one is exposed to the sun, but very 11 pleasant in the house with windows open ; never so sultry as your summer days in America, without a breath of air. Here in my study (the one which Mr. Hoffman built), the sea breeze comes in one window and goes out an¬ other. I have the sea on three sides, and the dashing of the waves against the rocks sounds in my ears all day. When I look up I see the ‘rolling" sea, and beyond it the beach; and back of it extensive palm fields. When I look behind me, I see through the feathery branches of two cocoa-nut trees, a small island as green as a gem, and the endless ocean beyond.” Here Auer devoted himself to two definite objects ; ist, a higher educa¬ tion for the African Church ; 2d, systematic preparation for giving to the African heathen the Gospel in their own tongue. His favorite scheme of a Mission-house education at home was merely preparatory to a completed education of the Minister on the Missionary field itself. He therefore en¬ tered heartily into Bishop Payne’s design, that he should become the head of the High School at Cavalla, and develop it into a school for the highest education. The other question presents more difficulties. This is not the time, nor this the place for discussing it. On either side it has tasked the wisdom, and tested the experience of able Missionaries of all the Churches in all parts of heathendom. For the question is the same under all suns. That question is, “ In what language shall heathen natives receive the Gospel ? ” In their own imperfect language, unfit and incapable vehicles for Christian ideas, and various as are the infinitesimal varieties of tribes ; or shall they be taught to use modern European tongues, to which Christianity has now be¬ come native, and which are the languages of civilization and of the highest human development ? Auer took the view most natural to him. Leaving that branch of the question which looks to ultimate Christian development, he felt that the shortest road that could be found by which Christ’s love could reach a hea¬ then’s conscience and affection was the road for the Missionary in Africa to travel. To the Grebo he therefore became as a Grebo. And on the path. 12 which that language opened to a Grebo’s soul, he went, with a resolution, and at a pace, that soon took away his breath. He thus illustrates one phase of this question : “ Clark was buried to-day,” he writes. “It was an interesting scene. The wooden church (St. James’) was full. The Christian men were dressed in black, with white scarfs and white hat bands. A great number of heathen people were present. The native Deacon read the Service. I had prevailed on him to have it in Grebo ; for I am tired of the farce of reading our beauti¬ ful Service in an unknown tongue. Only three weeks ago, I was at a native funeral on the same spot. A native woman was buried. All were natives except me; and the great majority did not understand ten words of En¬ glish ; and yet the whole Service was in English except the concluding hymn, * There is a Happy Land,’ which the boys sang in Grebo, whilst the grave was being filled. The excuse this native Deacon gave was, that he did not read Grebo very well, and that the Service was not good Grebo 1 ” “Then we must make it better,” writes the practical Missionary ; and at once set himself to the task. From the moment of his return to Africa in October, 1867, to the com¬ mencement of his brief Episcopate on the coast, he gave his whole intensity of spirit to this double work of teaching, and of translating or composing books in the Krou language and the Grebo. The first results were a Grebo Primer, and a Dictionary, and a revisal of the translation of our Prayer Book, which could be effected at that time under better lights of a larger experience. He also devised a method of writing the Grebo with vocal marks, so saving the use of multiplied vowels. A sketch of a day’s labor given with the usual freedom of a home letter, will let you into a secret of Missionary toil. There are no sinecures in such a life. And it will give you glimpses of the hope that cheers a Missionary’s soul. “At 7 a. m. I conduct Morning Prayer with my twelve students. At 9 recitations begin till 2, with a recess at 12. At 6 Evening Prayer, then sup¬ per ; then again prayers in the Bishop’s family, where I am acting organist. 13 The intervals of time from 6 in the morning, till, io or n at night are filled out with, 1. Preparation for Recitations. 2. Studying Grebo. 3. Translations into that language. 4. Correspondence. 5. Directing the school people how to work. 6. Practising my trade as Carpenter. 7. Preaching to Christians and heathen. “ Teaching is my chief work, you know, and I like it; though the road is full of difficulties. Some people think that Missionary work in Africa is a plain and simple proceeding, and that Missionaries move on like a victorious army. No ! Our work is not romantic or smooth. It is a daily application of all our powers to bring about the regeneration of this people. And in- indeed it costs all our life to do it. My twelve youths have considerable preparation; but it is no quick or easy matter to lift them to such a height that they can be the agents in lifting up their people. There is habit, super¬ stition, habitual badness, original sin, stupidity, laziness, and a great deal of humbug, to be fought down and driven out. With God’s help it can be done.” There speaks the man of faith. “And every week brings progress.” And here speaks the man whose hopeful spirit could not be quenched; in whom also a sense of the ludicrous relieved not a few sad thoughts. “ My school is young yet/' he writes, “but my boys already stand one inch higher—I was go¬ ing to say—in their shoes; but they have no such luxury. I always try to make teaching lively and interesting to my audience, whether young men or heathen people, school-boys or naked boys in town. But there is no lack of laughing and disorder, sometimes a little fighting. And although admonition or a change of exercises may restore peace for awhile, a box on the ear or some¬ thing sponger still is often necessary in order that we may get along with the business in hand.” “ Lively and interesting 1 ” “Teaching the alphabet to a sst of wild, reckless children, who cannot sit quiet two minutes, is 14 troublesome work and small work; but it opens the mind for a new light, and to a new world, and is the forerunner of better things. Little texts and short talks about the Saviour and God’s heroes, and a little singing to make it spicy ! ” There is the far-seeing man of faith ; the man who looks Beyond the troublesome incidents into the grand results ; the man who fol¬ lows the Omnipotent thought, which out of atoms made a world, but first out of chaos formed atoms. Such labors, and intensity of labor, could not long continue unbroken. Meanwhile, Bishop Payne resigned his Jurisdiction. Thirty years of patient wrestling with difficulties; faithful toil in founding a Church, where the problem still waited a solution, how to combine three antagonistic elements ; these had reduced that good Bishop’s strength to its minimum. At last not a white Missionary was left on the coast except Auer. Then his strength gave way. He turned his steps to Germany, and to the old village near Stuttgart, where he was first apprehended of Christ Jesus. There, after the briefest pause, we find him at work again ; translating, composing, and correcting for the press. Here, on November 18 1872—on his forty-first birthday—the summons met him from the House of Bishops. He was called to gird himself for the highest responsibilities of his ministry. Without hesitation he accepted it as the Lord’s call to duty. He allowed himself just three short months’ interval, during which he was to receive his commission to the Bishopric, to help the movement of his brethren according to the flesh who were then in¬ quiring concerning our Church polity, and to consult with Bishop Payne and the Foreign Committee. The interval was reluctantly taken. With peculiar reluctance he touched the German movement, for fear that some complica¬ tion might impede his return to Africa. A month later he writes from Stutt¬ gart, “ Nothing should have kept me from Africa.” “ By a knowledge of the language, and a few other things, I have come to feel more at home sphere than ever.” “ I cannot come to America yet, because I must finish two books at least, one in the press and the other ready for it. These are 15 v my tools for future work. About Easter I want to be in the United States, and to do all I can in pleading for Africa.” “ If I can do anything for the Germans, I shall be glad ; but no earthly power shall keep me again away from Africa for side purposes. If I am to be something, I want to be that -thoroughly ! ” There spoke the man ! An undivided consecration to his work in Africa ; that was his being ; that was what the Bishopric meant to him. “ I am a Missionary in Africa. No side issues shall keep me away from it.” “ If I am something , I want to be that thoroughly l ” He arrived in New York on Good Friday of last year. In Easter week (April 17, 1873) he was ordained a Bishop; the second for Cape Palmas; the one hundred and first in the succession of our National Church, and in • direct line from Polycarp and St. John. Thebeloved Armitage preached on •that occasion, in St. John’s Church, Georgetown ; the preacher so soon to be taken to his rest, so soon to be followed by the brother whom he wel- •comed ! The venerable Bishop Payne laid his hands on the head of his •^successor, and transferred to him the weighty cares of an Episcopate in Africa. Before the end of July, Bishop Auer was back in Germany, hur- ?rying his books through the press, and urging his departure. By November 7, he writes from Stuttgart, “My work here is now finished.” He had pre¬ pared and printed an elementary book in the Krou language, a Bible history in the same language, a translation of the Psalms, and a book of hymns in metre in the Grebo, a revised edition of the Prayer Book, also a tune- book in that universal language which utters emotions in all hearts alike. He added to the tunes a book of chants, not omitting the old 'Gregorian tones, without which it seems impossible truly to interpret the melodies of David’s thoughts to Christian souls, cultured or barbarian. He had already completed the transfer of parts of the Scriptures and our Ser¬ vices into Grebo, a work which Bishop Payne had well commenced, and mow he writes, “We shall translate the whole of the New Testament.” Alas 1 more truly than he knew, his “work was finished ! ” • j 16 On the 20th of November he separated from his family, going almost alone on his last voyage. On that day he wrote to me, “Rheumatism leaves me very weak, with a pain in my chest. I expect relief as soon as I get warm again.” “ I am weaker than ever, but as duty calls, I leave.” “ To¬ day I leave with two German lay helpers and three African boys, two of whom have learned trades here, and go back now to practise them.” He was consistent to the last! “Rev. Mr. Davis, my Deacon, went out last month to the Hoffman Institute, our seminary of future teachers and Minis¬ ters. With this one Minister the Church sends me back to Africa ! ” It is ringing in my ears to-night—the reproachful cry, yet shrinking from despair, hoping yet at the verge of hopelessness ; the farewell of an almost broken¬ hearted Bishop ! On December 29, last year, the Soudan anchored off Cape Palmas. But the moment the Bishop’s feet touched the shore, it became evident to others, not to himself, that his course was nearly run. He immediately issued appointments. He intended to leave Cape Palmas in February for a thor¬ ough visitation of Monrovia and other parts of Liberia. He was able to advance the Rev. Edward Davis to the Priesthood on the Feast of the Epiph¬ any, January 6, in the Church of the Epiphany, Cavalla, thus holding his first Episcopal act in Africa in the church where he was ordained a Deacon. He also confirmed twelve persons on the nth, in St. Mark’s Church, Cape Palmas. Before the day appointed for his general Visitation, he was prostrated. His life hung trembling whilst the Church prayed. He revived a little, yet not so as to leave his room. Then again he issued appointments. On February n of this year—I name the dates, for it is a. marvellous record of a dying man’s labor !—Wednesday, the nth, he con¬ firmed a class of twenty-five persons in Cavalla. He could not go through, the short Service for Confirmation without help, nor could he walk with¬ out support. Assisted by his faithful Presbyters, he passed around the kneeling group, and laid his trembling hands upon their heads. On Friday, 13th, he came up to the Cape (*.*., west along the coast itr twelve miles), in a hammock, and arranged for examining the candidates for Orders. On Saturday afternoon, the 14th, the Examining Chaplains met in his bedroom. He lay panting for breath, occasionally asking a question, but exhausted by every effort. On Sunday, the 15th, Quinquagesima, he was carried to St. Mark's Church in a hammock. He lay in the Hon. Mr. Gibson's parlor, a few yards from the church, listening to and sharing in the devotions of Morning Prayer ; then, with assistance, was robed in the Vestry, moved slowly into Church and took his Episcopal seat. After an effort, finding himself unable to exhort the two candidates, the Rev. Mr. Ferguson* took that duty. The dying Bishop then, with a struggle for breath, between “very short respirations,’' gave the two young colonists authority to exercise a Deacon’s office, and with trembling hands and broken utterances.adminis¬ tered the elements at the Lord’s Supper, and pronounced the Benediction. At 4 o'clock the same afternoon he caused the candidates for Confirmation from St. James’ Church to be taken to the Orphan Asylum, where he held his last office. With a strong will resisting exhaustion, he laid his hands on fifteen, and then, at last, retired ; rejoicing that the Lord had spared him to begin the work for which he had been consecrated. On the next day, before the same hour of the afternoon, he was dead. Thus died—sinking in the very steps of his Episcopal duty—a believer to whom nothing was impossible for Christ's sake. A man of indomitable energy ; whom a nervous temperament constantly stimulated to activity; overtasked by choice, miserable unless at work. A patiently impatient man—patient in respect of God's will—impatient with the slowness of the instruments of it; impatient of his own exertions ; never satisfied with what was done, because so much remained unaccomplished. His was a strong, healthy body originally; but overcome by disease not inci¬ dent to or peculiar to Africa. His was a firm, steady, slow-working, positive mind. He was blessed with common sense, and much of it; with sharp— •The Rev Mr. herguson was happily in attendance, and read the Service ou the occa* eidtt of this memorial termon. 18 very sharp, mental observation; quick to comprehend character, he was a keen judge of motives; perhaps a little too quick and sometimes harsh in judgment, but so the better fitted for a position where to be easily deceived by men is a serious defect. His education was substantial and thorough, not broad, but eminently practical ; developing practical habits of thought and investigation which became characteristic. He was a prayerful, loving stu¬ dent of Scripture—very prayerful. On one occasion he wrkes: “I am to talk to the students at the New York Seminary to-night, so I had better sharpen my arrows first, before God’s throne.” The blessed instructions of Basle had formed these habits. The Bible was his armory, texts his weapons, prayer kept them furbished, and an intelligent conception of the character of the men with whom he was dealing taught him how to aim his arrows so that they hit. His thrusts of Scripture were like the javelins of Joab, in the front of a foe ; and if any man’s conscience fell into the rear, hoping to escape, he could find a word as fatal to it there, as the butt end of the spear was to Asahel. Not imaginative, yet having a keen sense of the ludicrous, and an oddity in association of ideas, which is a fertile source of humor, his gravity never became heaviness, and his speech was well seasoned with sprightly sallies. There is a little bit of humor in his criticism of the Evangelical Alliance. It may serve as a suggestive thought for some other Meetings. “I fear,” he writes, “that though the meetings were grand and comfortable”— comfortable, is the word—“nothing will come of all this talk¬ ing. Why don’t the men go to Africa, and next to China, and try their talking there ? Too much time and money is squandered for such meetings, while God’s work is not done.” He loved music. He induced many colonists to import melodeons. He taught the advanced pupils how to play on this instrument. He thoroughly believed in music as a means of quickening the sensibilities of the heathen, of opening their hearts to religious impressions and making a broad and easy avenue for the Gaspsl. There is something pathetic in the following expression of confidence in music, "The time has comp when African 19 tongues praise the Lord for His love and salvation. The rising generation are growing up under the new influence. We have quite a number oL baptized little folks who love the Saviour ; and oh ! how they sing 1 When I walk out, some half-a-dozen tiny boys run after me, and put their tiny black hands in mine, and ask, ‘Ana, shall we sing?’ ‘Yes 1 sing away 1 9 And then they go at it strong. We have gained a great deal when we have succeeded in teaching a heathen to sing a hymn, or repeat a text un- dirstandingly. It is like knocking a hole into the darkness of heathenism , and letting a ray of heavenly light rush into the blank, empty , desolate heart, A train of new thoughts and feelings is awakened; and it may become the beginning of a new life.” The creation of a Grebo Hymnal was commenced by the Rev. Leighton Wilson of the American Board, with gratifying success. Bishop Payne added many hymns, especially a very popular translation of our familiar, “There is a Happy Land.” Bishop Auer followed them with abundant contributions to their Hymnal. I do not know how much of the poetic fire burned within him. But in one of his letters he sends a Grebo hymn, to one, to whom since 1866 he always writes as to a sister; prefacing it thus : “This last month I have been a*ble to make three or four hymns in this African language ; some of them are becoming popular rapidly ; even heathen children know and sing them in several of the towns. Plere is a verse expressing a longing for heavenly life and rest; the tune is ‘ Home Sweet Home . 9 ” “ Te siyu ake ko foda he nee ? ” >. Not reading Grebo, it is not for me to say what inspiration may be lying within his translations of the Psalms, and his transfer of our hymns into that unknown tongue. But Tate and Brady fastened their interpretations of the sweet Psalmist of Israel on the Scottish heart. And without being able to read the Grebo—from cnly looking at it, I feel sure that Auer's translations are as musical as those. They will live in the native worship, and kindle 20 enthusiasm, and waken the fire in their souls, and feed their spiritual life; and Auer, who has framed the religious songs of a nation, will never die in the recollections of their generations. He sometimes tuned his reed to English measures. The harshness of our northern speech is not so favorable to melody, as the lazy flowing labials of the African coast ; yet I think you will recognize the essentials for a Psalmist in the following sweet strain. He dedicates an ode on her birth-day to his mother—not the one who formed his childhood's habits—but one to whom he had transferred that hallowed title ever since his entrance into our Church household. I quote one verse: “ Speak, Lord ! Thy servant heareth; I will—I will obey. ‘ Go ye ! ’ Thy servant heareth; But be with me ahvay ! I hold the Hand that suffered For me on Calvary; I hold the promise offered— I go—but go with me ! ” And yet one other verse, the last, tilled with the anticipations of a day which was ever the first of days in his longings : v “ O joy ! when from all places, They gather round Thy throne ! O joy ! when endless praises Proclaim what Thou hast done ! When they who went with weeping To sow the precious seed, Come at the time of reaping With gladness on their head! ” This is ihe man whose spirit the Holy Ghost sanctified and educated for Missionary work in Africa ; whom the Holy Ghost called to its Episcopate, and recalled at the very moment when he had set his foot upon that highest 21 t labor. Ilis characteristics as a saintly man engage us most; a man on whom the Holy Ghost had set his seal, that seal which on every side bears the likeness to Christ Jesus. The Spirit’s marks in hirn were, a faith to which nothing seemed impossible for Christ’s sake ; and a devolioii to hi3 chosen field which was literally absorbing, and absolutely undivided. And from these two characteristics the valuable lessons of his life are to be drawn. Confidence in a Master and Guide, and confidence in the duty assigned, are indispensable to a man who is to grasp all the possibilities of his life. If '.o this be added loving submission and absorbing consecration of will, such a man has every assurance of success acording to the power of his Mas¬ ter and the worth of the service. That is what the text means. “ All things are possible to him that believeth.” And this principle, applied in religion, to the mandates, and service, and sanctifying love of a trusted Saviour, ren¬ ders every Christian duty possible. I do not see in Auer's life a moment’s hesitation in accepting duty, nor a moment's conception that any duty could be impossible. In the moat ordinary manner, in a matter of fact way, he approached every obligation—even the most critical—not as a thing to be attempted, but to be done. This peculiarity is prominent in the brief record of his life of action, indeed its highest and truest manifestation. But it was equally the tenor of his thoughts. Ilis letters are full of it. Listen to him : “ Circumstances and trials have influence enough on us all, I know, but we have so much hope and joy and life around us, and in us, and before us, that trials can but reach our neck—no further! God's purpose with us reaches far and wide and high, up, up into glory, into His own like¬ ness, into His glorious life-giving presence. So great salvation, so full sal¬ vation, so thorough a salvation, ought to outwe gh all—all that is apt to pull us down into shadows and fears. I know how the heartstrings ache, are often near bursting ; and when a man has wandered about much, and has been friendless and a stranger again and again, he is so glad that this earth is God’s footstool , and we an walking about His feci as little children. His hand is over us and around us and draws us gently, but mightily—heavenward." 22 Again, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun/ sounded grandly through the large house; and it came as a Hallelujah ! from the bottom of our heart. It leels so good to see God’s kindness practically displayed. It shows, that we can’t believe too much. We always find Him true to the smallest promise.” It is refreshing to meet with such a Christian. Listen again. “ As for myself, I can only say, ‘ I was foolish and ignorant; nevertheless I am contin¬ ually with Thee, O God ! Thou hast holden me by my right hand. God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.’ With this I mean to get ready for Africa. The more I think and live, the more I must g o back and soon. Where the work is hardest, where the battle rages hottest, there is my place ; and I have an ambition to labor, to endure, to suffer and to die for the name of my Saviour. It is often poor work ; but He is near by, and makes it look like something.” Again in 1865 : “One thing is sure, there is no greater force, and no sweeter comfort, than in the love of our God and Saviour. Our true happiness is with Him and from Him, every day.” And writing from Africa : “ God’s free grace is our stay, and daily reliance, for ourselves and the poor sinners around us. There is hope for Africa ! And light is coming 1 ” When returning to his field, in 1867, his faith, though hardly tried, en¬ dures. “ Missionary life begins again in earnest. I feel like a tree bereft of its branches, and rooted up—but ready to be transplanted.” “ This is nine o’clock—the last evening on American ground. So comes death, and that too is merely a going out of sight, a passing over the gulf into home. My path goes into battle and hard work ; but I feel ready and strong for it.” This was faith. I have quoted, not from public documents, but only the familiar utterances of domestic letters, wherein hearts show themselves with¬ out reserve. And you see how entirely the chords are responsive to that faith which breathed in all his public utterances. How could it be else ? for his life was of Faith. The other element of his power and success was a devotion absolutely 23 undivided and literally absorbing. “The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up,” might have been the legend on his seal, so true was it to his expe¬ rience. The fire of that love actually burned him to ashes. He died when there was no vital power left in him for his devotion to Africa to feed upon. Evidence has lost its function, if this be not evident in his toils, in his wrestling with disease, disappointment, with the ignorance that surrounded him in Africa, and the apathy that chilled him in America; if it be not evident in the concentration of every faculty and energy to the one end ; if it be not evident in the trembling hands that fell only whilst blessing Africa ; and in the fainting voice that fulfilled its last duty to Africa only between its dying respirations. Yet add to this evidence, these words. They give the very spirit of the man. They are the breathings of the devotion which absorbed him—intended to be heard only in the intimacies of home and by his God. “As long as I live I will plead for Africa. And for her will I toil, and labor, and suffer, and perhaps die, so th?.t our Saviour's name be glorified.” “Silence 1 heart. The Lord’s work is greater, and must be sweeter than family love and joys.” He underscores that “ must be sweeter,” as if the thought came with a pang ; and the heart was compelled to an unwil¬ ling silence. ‘ * Sometimes I envy people who have a home. But what is that to me ? I have no part nor inheritance with my brethren. ‘ Go out to the highways and hedges 1 * storm and tempest must be endured. At last I shall also be taken home to the marriage supper of the Lamb; and then see the Lord, Whose I am and Whom I serve.” His social pleasures were inspired by one thought. Describing a delightful evening with a party of friends, he says, “ we played and sang, and talked about poor dear Africa.” In the midst of his triumphant appeals for the one supreme object, he cries : “ Oh ! when shall I be able to get off to Africa again ! I am sick with this kind of life—bumping and pumping people; whereas a heavenly spirit, a spirit of glory ought to flow through every heart, and home, moving hosts 24 of evangelists, to get on high places, and cry loud and louder , until the world’s ears open, and the Lord can enter with the fulness of His life, and the refreshing sweetness of His love ! ” And once again: “ The trees are already bare and lifeless, and I think of Africa’s beauty. No ! I shall not keep much longer away from her. It will be hard to leave this land, and so many friends; but there will be pleasant remembrances, and, I believe, a communion of saints that knows no distance.” “This New England is in great part an untrodden field for my feet, and I should like to make a more thorough work this time. Bat these weeks are very short. And I must not keep much longer away from my special work, and my special people.” Such is the man, the latest among our Missionary Bishops, whom our Church has lost, and the Church in Paradise has welcomed. Our Mission in Africa is once more mourning, and we mourn with it. But what is to be done! If Auer were here he would answer as once he did at Gambier. Never will we forget it. Sitting in a side aisle of old Rosse Chapel, amongst his comrades from the Mission house, suddenly he began to sing, in his deep, rich German ; and then, after one verse, turning the hymn to English, his boys took up the strain with him— u The Son of God goes forth to war 1 A kingly crown to gain 1 Hii blootbred banners stream afar! Who follows in Ilis train ?” Who follows? Who takes up the staff that has fallen, and the step that has ceased ? The Church will not desert her brethren on the Western coast, but who shall go for us ? The Bishop should be a man of cultivated powers, able to elevate that Church. lie should be patient, discreet, having zeal tempered by common sense, courage under control of faith, energy ruled by devotion. And he should know how to do things. He should have that skill which will en- 25 able him to get to the hearts of his people through their own language. And he should be able to sing, and love it. He need have no fear of the climate. There is no special danger to a man of ordinary health. Bishop Auer did not die of any disease incident to Africa, and Bishop Payne lived and labored there for mor'e than thirty years, and lives among us yet, God be praised ! to cheer the hearts of the Church and to plead for Africa. Be¬ sides, if Bishop Payne’s earnest entreaties be listened to, and Bishop Auer’s intentions be now carried out, the new Bishop will plant a Mission and fix a centre of work among the mountains north-east of Monrovia, and extend the everlasting Gospel among the native Mahommedans—a noble race—who occupy those hills. We shall see again the revenges of History. Moham¬ med overturned the Cross which St. Mark and St. Augustine reared in Africa. And now the Cross in the hands of our new Bishop, again going forth to war, shall place a converted crescent among the symbols of an African Church advancing her armies with banners. “ Who follows in His train ? n The House of Bishops will call, in the name of God and of His Church. May the Holy Spirit give zeal and nerve to him who shall be called, that he may follow with faith and devotion of the same heavenly temper as that which armed Gottlieb Auer. But we—what are we to do? You and I, brethren, who listen with sympathy and scarcely restrain our impatience to take part in this struggle for the regeneration of Africa. Believe—first ! Believe that Christ means it to be done. Pray—next! Pray “ Our Father.” You need not go any further until you have mastered that, until you have gotten these souls in Africa, for whom Christ died, into your hearts and alongside of your own filial thoughts, as you pray “our Father ! ” praying for them as Hoffman did and as Auer did. Then you can go on and pray “Thy Kingdom come,” as Hoffman prayed for it, and as Auer prayed, and as Boone prayed among his Chinamen, and as Patteson prayed for it among his islanders, and many another of the noble band who have given their lives in proof that 26 i they were praying in earnest. Then you will help this work, and the help will not be ephemeral nor impulsive, but a continuous, conscientious effort. You will not give only money, but you will be ingenious in devis¬ ing gifts. Auer wanted a library for his Missionaries, as well as a library for his scholars. Auer wanted maps, apparatus, pictures, means of illustrating and teaching physical sciences. Auer wanted tools and instruments in order to practise the arts, and to educate skill and industries. Auer wanted churches and civilized dwelling-houses, and one church especially, where colonists and natives might enjoy the amenities ofworship ; where they might be educated in the nobler class of influences of common prayer and praise. Not a man or woman is in this audience, practising whatever trade or art, whatever profession or business, who cannot contribute in his or her own line, what would have caused Auer's heart to sing for joy. I do not ask for cast-off things, and old books, and worn out tools, Christ does not accept trash as gifts to Him. Nor would you offer them. (In the first age they gath¬ ered such stuff together as was no longer of use to the Church and burned it.) But what costs you something, give ; not to-night, nor at any time give to Missions what costs you nothing. The angel writes down sacrifices —no¬ thing else. The gold and the silver, or their representatives, which drop into the plate, without thought, and without love, and without a sacrifice, are not seen in Heaven. For those who have it, it is easy to give money. But the larger number of the Church, whose hearts are warming to this charity, have little money to bestow, and must exercise some ingenuity in sacrifice. Carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, gardeners—we ask you to club to¬ gether and send out to our Mission in Africa the best specimens of the tools by which you earn a livelihood. Lawyers, physicians, scientists, litterateurs, Clergymen—send copies of the books which have proved themselves most val¬ uable to you. Every intellectual strife in which you are engaged is striven there, and needs the use of books like yours to ennoble it. Every profession which you practise has its imitators there, and needs the books which guide you 27 in order that the imitation shall be worthy. Instrument makers, booksellers—- give what will furnish their schools and colleges. Why should not every Christian artisan, and every Church publisher, set out one copy of each valu¬ able contribution to the market, to be given to the Lord’s Mission ? Archi¬ tects, send them plans for churches, and school-houses, and dwellings—such plans as may easily adapt themselves to the peculiarities of their climate. Men who deal in church furniture and organs and bells—let them see and hear your love for Christ in Font, and Communion Services, in the grand con¬ cert of the pipes, and the melody of chimes. Merchants and tradespeople—en¬ courage commerce with that coast; exchange your products for theirs ; stim¬ ulate their latent energies by your experience in traffic. It is a mighty, many-sided, broad-hearted, thousand-handed work—this work which we have undertaken—to convert a nation to the Gospel; to civilize it for the highest developments of Christianity ; to create a Church in Africa which shall be sister to ours. It is not to be done by sending out a Mis¬ sionary now and then, and a teacher now and then, and a Bishop to over¬ see his own labors. It will not be done by us whilst we sit here lazily praying, and hoping against hope. We must send the Missionaries indeed, and the Bishop, but we must send with them every appliance wherewith suc¬ cess is to be compelled, and we must render our sacrifices for their sakes equal to their sacrifices for Christ’s sake. Bishop Auer besought us for a church. He does not need it now, where “the spirits and souls of the righteous” are worshipping in the pres¬ ence of the Lord. But his Mission needs it, and the rather because Trinity Church in Monrovia has been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild it, as a worthy memorial of Bishop Auer. For this object your contributions in money are invited to-night. God be praised ! that by this offering of money each of us can do something to glorify the grace of God to our own souls. God be praised ! that He permits us such an opportunity to express our gratitude to Him, for the example and labors of Gottlieb Auer. ’ l . - * ■ ■ ■ . . ' f ■ - ' ■ ■ ■ .. ■ ■ H ]■ ■I' ’ i- . ’ i ' ’ ‘ ' - ' '' >■ * . . . . • - f ■ x • SPECIAL NOTICE. It is proposed to rebuild Trinity Church* Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa, as a Memorial of Bishop Auer. Con¬ tributions for this object are most earnestly solicited. RICH' B. DUANE, Secretary and General Age?it of the Foreign Committee 23 Bible House, New York, Nov. 2, 1874. * Destroyed by five on the 181h of March, 1873