MASTER NEGA TIVE NO. 92-80455 MICROFILMED 1991 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK (4 as part of the Foundations of Western Civilization Preservation Project 5> Funded by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITffiS Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Library '>>-^i^>„*^^#^'«'*- ■>> '^'^-^ ■; ■:r^i* *'*^^H'w^7^=-''i COPYRIGHT STATEMENT The copyright law of the United States - Title 17, United States Code - concerns the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material... Columbia University Library reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. AUTHOR: HARWOOD, WILLIAM SUMNER TITLE: LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG PLACE: NEW YORK DATE: [C1908] COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT DIDLIOCRAPHICMTrROFORMTARnFT Master Negative # % Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record n r II II I . : — : ——^^^mmm ^-^^m^^m^i^mm^^^mmmimm^l^mmmfmmt^m^ 92 Harwood, William Sumner, 1857-1908. Life and letters of Austin Craig, by W. S. Harwood ... introduction, and reminiscences of Antiocli college, by Edward Everett Hale. New York, Chicago [etc.] F. H. Revel 1 company f 1908] 3 p. 1., 5-394 p. front., plates, ports., fold, facsims. 21J"". $2.00 Biblioi^raphy p. 389-391. 1. Craig, Austin, 1824-1881. i. Hale, Edward Everett, 1822- I "^ O^ Library of Congress ^-- » ' (Copyright 1908 A 225987) 9-91 Restrictions on Use: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: 2_._^_i , REDUCTION RATIO- ■ ■' V IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA IIA IB IIB ^^''^'^ KAllO. ^_X^ 2f7,?^ ^'^^MED:__^1___,_:_____.__ INITIALS fVx ■ ,M . RLMEDBY: RESEARCH PI I RLICATIONS IMP WOOnnRrnnpJ^T ' 1 r Association for Information and Image Management 1100 Wayne Avenue. Suite 1100 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 Centimeter 12 3 4 iiii WUiLiMiM Inches Ml 8 1.0 I.I 1.25 10 n IiiiiIiinIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiIiiiiImiiIiiiiI imiIiiiiIiiiiIiii M I Ml I I I I I I ITI I ( I f'l'T |50 1^ lU u. 1 2.8 ■ 4.0 ■■■ 1.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 12 lUUl 13 14 15 mm |iuijjimlimlimlmil TTTTTTJTTTH 5 MfiNUFfiCTURED TO fillM STflNOfiRDS BY fiPPLIED IMAGE, INC. O ^^ \ \j S. '% AS" N UBRARY GIVEN BY "^^a^-yV vv^ c ■i '.f f > LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG <»l*l^ C 5^^.^/. ^ ?L ^ C^ / 1 Life and Letters Of Austin Craig By W. S. HARWOOD Author of " New Creations in Plant Life^ ''The New Earth'' etc. Introduction, and Reminiscences of Antioch College By EDWARD EVERETT HALE New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 1908, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY / I ^z^ery life has a lesson— not so much m tts external events as changes. It would be useful to kno-w zn some cases, what agen- cies have conspired to produce tltc particular development of character before us; -what books have given a turn to the thoughts,— what influences have wrought for good or for ell -Extract from an address by Austin Craig. New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. London: ai Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street PREFACE THIS volume affords a typical illustration of the truth which now and then through the centur- ies comes to light, that the real greatness of some men is obscured during their lives by the very amplitude of their own daily deeds ; it is not until Death draws the curtain aside that the real figure is disclotd In the span of his all t«o short life whose chief activi- ties covered the years from 1840 to 1881, Austin Cr2 came into contact with and enthusia^tica ly entered S many stirring events, and he drew and held to hTmse^f the friendship of many distinguished men. Prominent amoug these was Hor.ce Mann, the corresponderS whom 18 given in this volume and it is believed win be methods. Whether as college professor or college nresi- dent instructor in a theological school or founder atd uTTl'y!. '"' '''''' ''^ ""° '^^t -^-- not theobgy own ^LT'- T ''''^''^' ^ ^'"^"^^^ »r lecturer, in Ws own family circle or the centre of a brilliant coterie of Isf l2rL"°'""^ l'^ ''^ ^'^^ ^''' nnlettereSt the evTnt Dr r™ ■ "71''^'*^"" '^' *"'°*^t »' whatever the Xdi?;e^"i; "^°" " ''^ ^P- Of his own He wa« an advocate of industrial and scientific train- n? latorat r. 7'"^" '^ "" ' ^'^^^ ^ -t-<^-- ing laDoratory and seminar methods for thp «fi.H^ 4^ P^chology and sociology and as far JlL wafthe fi«t to have his students inspect penal and chlStlbie Z 6 PREFACE stitutions and devise ways for their iiuprovement. He was one of tlie early advocates of equal privileges for women with men educationally and in church govern- ment and ecclesiastical allairs. It is the purpose of this volume not only to show some- thing of the brilliant and picturesque events contemporary with him, as the ^lillerite excitement, one of the strangest episodes in the history of any nation, but to show how his life fastened itself lovingly upon other lives and would not leave them until he had helped them. While the book treats of many events having a bearing on religion, and is in fact a contemporary narrative of the great dev^elopment of religious liberty during these yeiu\s, it is by no means a volume for the chuich library alone, but, it is earnestly hoped, contains interest for any man or woman who loves to read the story of a life of steadfiist devotion to others. A copious amount of material was drawn upon in the preparation of this volume, and every new letter read, every time- worn pamphlet studied, every delightful literary find, every document considered, whether ecclesi- astical or civil— all brought forward their evidence. In whatever direction one looked there appeared some un- selfish deed, some service to another, some act of self-re- nunciation. Preeminently this life was one of service to others ever rendered more conspicuous by a supreme devotion to the Master of men. The life of Austin Craig illuminates itself. Looked at from any point of view, it glows with a superb unselfish- ness as unconscious as it is rare. W. S. H. CONTENTS I. II. ill IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. Introduction . His Early Life College Life The End of the World His Early Preaching The First Charge. The Conference Address At Blooming Grove Progress at Bloomixg Grove Antioch and Horace Mann The Struggle The Capitulation . Antioch Under Consideration Antioch Under Dr. Craig A Letter from a Man's Heart Meadville and New Bedford The Christian Biblical Institute The Culmination of a Life-Work The Man L\ THE Sight of Others His Scholarship • • • Writings of Austin Craig, D. D. Index II 21 33 54 68 86 112 125 153 169 189 214 242 272 288 304 321 337 356 374 389 393 i ILLUSTRATIONS 1 Austin Craig Moses Craig, Father of Austin Craig, with His First VjRANDCHILD . Rachel Carhart Craig, Mother of Austin Craig The Early Home of Austin Craig, Peapack, New Jerse/ Austin Craig when a Student at Lafayette College Pen and Ink Sketch of Lafayette College in 1843 The Blooming Grove Church Horace Greeley Letter Reproduced in Facsimile . The Blooming Grove Parsonage ... Adelaide Churchill Craig, Wife of Austin Craig' [ Horace Mann X. ^ t-DWARD Everett Hale Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio [ [ North Christian Church, New Bedford, Mass. Interior of North Christian Church . . * ' President's Home Christian Biblical Institute Christian Biblical Institute, Stanfordville, N. Y Student's Home ... Mar«uoe CERr,F,CATE Reproduced' m fIcs.mile .' Dr. Sarah McCarn Craig . . , * * Dr. Warren Hathaway Greek Letter Written by Dr. Craip amh D. ' IN Facsimile . ' ''''^ Reproduced Facing page Title 16 16 18 20 112 120 126 140 190 242 254 300 300 312 322 322 326 344 356 358 Professor Edward L. Youmans 386 388 ^ INTRODUCTION AUSTIN CRAIG consecrated his life to the great ministry of education. As teacher, preacher and writer his was preeminently a useful life A tiuourite saying of his wiis that of Swedenborg,— " The Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses." This idea of usefulness was the key-note of his life,— to him service to God meant service to his fellow men. He says " To become good by being useful, that is what we live' for " He impressed me iUj a man who exemplified in his life and w-ork and in his devotion to the truth very much of the blaster whom he served. He did all unselfishly, with gladness, with no hope of reward save in seeing his abour reach the maximum of good to others. Such a life IS an inspiration. I rejoice that the life story of this man has been written and pray that it may continue to teach the great lesson of usefulness. 11 HIS EARLY LIFE A CURIOUS sense of personal nearness to one never seen in the flesh haunts one in going over the mass of material pertaining to the life and work of the man who is the subject of this volume It is much a^ though one had known him peraonally, had come under his influence, had been impressed by his learning and touched by his tenderness and made broader and more charitable and better fitted for service by the con- !!' / iTh '" "^r? '"'""'^"'^ ^*^'" ^^^P^^ *"d strength- ened by him when he was in the flesh For the life of Austin Craig was preeminently one of r;Zd J,'^°-J,''«-"^'^ --d a storyof gold cunnTngly ama^, of ambitions unscrupulously gratified, of greed satisfied or lands ravished, or states stolen, o^ peoplS despoiled, must needs fare further. Those who would read the story of a masterly unselfishness, of abslrrl nrto oThei^:;:' ^f ^'^'" "''^•^^°'''^' °^ ^^^^-^^^ ^f^- ness to others, the story of a broad and lasting impress IZslT^^ 'f """^"' '"^^P-- ^- and'find tl" pages tair to look upon quesnoD, one to the answering of which he U LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTLX CUAIG gave his life, How uiiiy 1 best, aud most, serve otliers t Aud there be few figures whicli rise coloSvSiil out of the mists, or even the clear-air times, which have not given their lives to answering some fashion of the Siime ques- tion. To lead others into broader and fuier fields, to fit their eyes to the nobler landscapes, to lend an arm over the stony i)laces, to strengthen, uplift, broaden, — this was his life aim. Born in a period when a bitter strife of sect was reach- ing its culmination in a revolt against a commanding and foiinidable orthodoxy, he w^as early possessed of the si>irit of religious freedom ; and yet, so tenacious of the truth, he would yiekl no inch of adherence to the vital integrity of the Word. ITe steered directly into a dual current, so to speak, one l)earing him towards a cruel (iod and one towards a vapid CJod, but he overcame them both in his steady course to the true God. He not only drew men by the inexorable logic of his arguments, based upon faith and a wider and deeper knowledge of the original texts of the Old and New Testaments than that possessi'd by perhai)s any other American of his time, but he attracted and held them by the charm of his personality and the rare winsomeness of his lite. The one faculty commanded their understand- ing, the other won their hearts. The one gave the finished plans and furnished the materials, the other built with a splendid thoroughness. He held men with the grip that outlasts life. Again and again in the cor- respondence are found comparisons between him and some one of the first disciples of the Christ. Some of these letters were written years ago, faded and tar- nished with time ; others are in ink fresh from the trembling pen of some old man who knew him in his prime. Curiously enough, nearly all such letters are from men, men of robust intellectual life, practical men, HIS EARLY LIFE 15 not sentimentalists nor mawkish, men who recognized in ?evilSn ^'^''"^"^^^^^ ^^ ^^'^ ^^^ ^^^ supremest human His college life, too, was spent amidst tremendous relie- ions excitement of quite another type. We of a calmer day may look back with a placid complaisance or even with a iine touch of scorn upon such scenes as those which ac- companied the great Millerite excitement which swept up over America involving not only the densely ignorant but the critically intelligent, and we may mildly wonder how people could be such fools ; though perhaps we may not need to look far afield tx> find other and even more exasperatingly illogical and stupid religious fads. But there must have been a tremendous fascination in this Millen te business, this end of Satan^s sway about to come, the inrush of the thous^md years of the mighty time of the Christ, and all proven by the saered text it self with due fidelity to day and hour. While there is nothing to show that the young man was other than Zirl( IT""'"'' '" ''' excitement, there can be no doubt that to an impressionable mind, the wide-spread belief, widely heralded and preached, that the time of the tempo^^^ reign of the Christ was at hand, with more than fifty thousand people believing it, many of them selling or giving away their possessions and getting ready t^ th^hts '"^ ''^'"'^ ''''''''^ '' ^^^ ^^^^^' h^f1^!^f^ '^°'' ^^ '^'^"^ '^^^^- His lineage ran back o he Scots who, under King James I, and loyal to him, left Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland aZ Tf ^r'r'^'J^ "^^"^ P^^"^^^^ fi^^^^« «f ^he early days of the New World. Moses Craig, his father, wi b rn at Pe k, New Jei^y, m 1796, dying in theU^ nlrt« 1 "T ^ "'^^'^ ^'^'' ^^ "^^- H^ ^^ a ^an of parts, a leader among Ms people, a standard by which to 1 16 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG measure other meu. He was a teacher as a young man aud afterwards a merchant and an extensive farmer. He was twice chosen state senator of New Jersey and was prominently mentioned at one time for the governership. On his death his son wrote of him : '* In his seventeenth year he began to be a school-teacher, and for several years continued in the work for which he seemed specially qualified by his clear and methodical mind, his apt- ness to teach, his love for children, and his influence over them. His lifelong temperance and self-control gave him working-health almost uninterrupted for sixty years. He was notably active, industrious, persevering, and successful in various undertakings. He thought of life as a trust. The Master's charge, 'Occupy, till 1 come,' was often on his lips. He had a deep sense of the value of time, and was never be- hindhand. Idleness and waste, his soul hated. His word was good everywhere, and his hand had help in it. He loved to meet men who could do something useful, or who knew something worth knowing. He was gifted in social conversa- tion, but could hold his tongue as well as any. Religious topics interested him most, and his memory of the ideas and words of the Bible was unusually full and exact." Rachel Carhart Craig, mother of Austin Craig, a woman of strong mentality, much beloved for her sweet manners, her beauty, and her sprightly wit, was born in Perryville, New Jersey, of English ancestry, in 180L Through her mother she was directly descended from Edward Fuller, one of the little Mayflower's famous list of passengers. She, too, came of strong stock. Her very great-grandftither, Major William Phillips, who had been major commandant of the military forces in the prov- ince of Maine, had a grant of land from the Indian Mogg Megone. Reference is made to him in the poem on Mogg Megone by Whittier, together with an explanatory foot- ' •! 3'^ X H X \n 5^ ry . u HIS EARLY LIFE n note giviug Major Phillips place among the leading men of he colouy a« a magistrate and a gentleman. One writing 01 Austin Craig's mother s^i^ s : waltoe 'Ih'i't!/"'' "^r^'ry "^'^t. ^vhether in sitting or walking, bhe had much ability, unusually good iudement £ hou^ ^sH- ' '"'"°"^- '"^ '^'^ ^""P"''4 neat'abou; ner house, nibisting upon extreme cleanliness, and neat to stp'iatv '^She"h"r, "" ''"" ^'^ almost' Quake" sh n of hir hJ; a ^"^ ^^*" """^"^'"y "■ell educated for a girl of her day and was especially anxious that her children should she' TfLe' th"''°'"' ^'^^"'^^^- ^''y S"^"« and rLervet had made un ht' ™'r'''°" "'^^ ''^'^y >''^'^'"g' ^u' when she naa made up her mind on questions of principle, or where her children were concerned, she did not waste time or strength iu TZ'. h! 1"""^ ""'' '"l"^ '"'' ''''' "^-g^' - "-y '^ould w^thou fu , ""r^"""^^ ^T^ 'he right thing quickly and without fuss She was quietly religious and it was a familiar sight to see her with the Bible on her knee." Quaintly interesting is the fact that the eldest daughter of Austin Craig now wears a ring, a slender gold band which IS a part of the wedding-ring worn by his era. d moUier-s grcat-grandmother, during the historirsS^g 'of ^ZL /" '\' .'""" "^ '"« fe-reat-grandmother the ring B un.wick, New Jersey, and made over into three rings, fht M ^"^^ '^ bumptious fellow and was determined tits hrdi f "^^ ^'""^'' ""' ^'^^ '•««f«*'°«d from t .8, he did manage to engrave his own initials on the oS cirdr ' "' ''' ""^'^ ""^'^ • O" the inner part of each circlet were engraved the initials of the three daugh- iow, wiTro?"", ?.' ""^' "*''*' ^^"^°- 'r*'« "°g bas come dovv ,1 through the generations in this curious fashion. P Jk'irV"*'' '"''": ^"'"" ^'•'•'S ^a^ born in Pea- paek, New Jersey, ,n the year 1824, was not only one of 18 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG reaiiemt'iit and culture but one to which came many broadeiiiii;^ and deepening intlueuces from the outside world. It was then in the days when there were few rail- roads and the home of Moses Craig became the tarrying- phice of many famous ministers of the day, en route east and west. Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, were welcomed alike as bearers of the message of Christ and entertained in this hospitable home, finding a fine and generous welcome and mental and spiritual stimula- tion. There was no church in the vicinity, so that often the home Wius converted into a meeting-house. People living near would be notified of the coming services. Frequently they would thus have an opportunity of hear- ing some man of wide inttuence and great eloquence. Moses Craig professed religion at the age of thirteen, and becanu' a communicant of the Presbyterian Church, which was the church of his ancestors. Wliihi a devout man, he was in no sense a fanatical one. He was deeply religious but he was just as dee^ily liberal in the nobler sense. He held to his own views tenaciously, but he was broadly charitable and tolerant of the views of others, and ever ready to accei)t a new, and better, setting of an old truth. One day it happened that a sermon was preached in his house by a minister of the Christian de- nomination—Elder William Lane, who came from Ohio on a visit to his kindred in Peapack. *'Soon after," writes Austin Craig of the incident, "Elder Simon Clough came ; and a little later, Mrs. Abigail Roberts. These seemed faithful ministers of the Gospel to him whose house was opened to their message ; but an ecclesiastical tribunal pronounced them ' heretical teachers holding Arian and Socinian doctrines.' And when Elders Clough and Lane were brought to give testimony that they did /lo^ hold ' Arian and Socinian doctrines,' the tribunal would not permit them to testify, — but * suspended from the communion of the church ' HIS EARLY LIFE 19 the friend in whose house they had preached. This fact is not mentioned here to call in question the motives of any ; but on°y to record experiences of the past-or passing-generation"" ^ The fact that so many men of such diverse gifts were coustaut visitors gave the young lad unusual opportuni- ties for broadening-it was, in those days, quite like hav- iiig travelled himself to be thrown in with so many who came from such far quarters of the land. It all tended to develop, even if unconsciously to him, along the lines in wliich he afterwards became so conspicuously successful He was a slight, slender lad, not strong, inclined to books rather than to sports, fitted by nature, by the tmin- l.vL f '.f *^^J' '""""^ ^y ^^^ atmosphere in which he lived for the life of a scholar. It is not shown that he I^r^ ^ ?^' f "y '^"'■'^ i"«""«d to be religious than the average lad who had not so many and such striking re- hgious influences thrown around him. In fact, it was not until he was a student in college that he mad^ any open confes.s,on of religion or that he manifested other ttan a very superficial interest in such matters. In pite of all coniessed, were a bore to him did^'a gretfdeaM '? '"'' "^^"^^ '"' ^^^^'^'"^ ^^ ^oubt tiou hif L?to"e:rA i: ^°''f T' "' '""^ •^•^"• existed betwe^ fetw'. h P^*^""f' ^ «'»«« relationship ■iminary cuTtTvatSn in Tr, """■ ■ '' "^ '''' '^^'^f"' P^^" the bov's^rdln ? P'*^'""" formative period of tne Doi s life, coupled with the companionshin and ,„H lua te personal relationship with a man of^r^ m^M thll ' An" i S'f Ti '^" '''' *^^ ^-^- »f« to -m" *''* bear u;r ht' t'Sln' 'TT''^ *^^''^ •'™«^''* ^ toM that he must notgoinS a tZ^ t^ ^la^^^ 20 LIFE AND LETTEES OF AUSTIN CRAIG the house, but when he saw the ducks swimming sedately iu the summer suushiue aloug the coui-se of the shallow brook, he could not resist wadiug in after them. Glee- fully following on down the stream he was suddenly thrown forward on his face in the water by a i)ush from behind. He did not know what it was that caused him to fall dounderiugly into the stream, though he did recog- nize the tirm hand drawing him out after the father's well -planned object lesson. School days passed rai)idly by and at an early age he was fitted for college. He chose Lafayette College, at Eastou, Pennsylvania, a well-known institution then, as well as now. It was a tall, thin fellow with a serious yet kindly face, a face that could show quickly the workings of the fine strong mind back of the high white forehead, that one day in the autumn of the year 1840, at the age of sixteen years entered the college where he was, even iis a boy, to exert so strong an influence upon those with whom he came in contact; where he was swiftly to show the splendid stuff of which he was made, and where much was to happen to lead him towards the position he was to occupy as one of the foremost teachers and preachers in America. I AUSTIN crak; when a student at LAFAYETTE COLLEGE II COLLEGE LIFE COLLEGE life in America in 1840 did not differ in certain minor ways from the college life of to- day, but in many other ways it differed radically. Even a cursory glauce at the thin little catalogue of Lafayette for the year in which he entered,— the whole catalogue not being as extensive as the space devoted in these days to a single department of one of our larger in- stitutions, -shows the marked difference between the col- lege curricula of the two periods. The leaning was to the chtssics. Little, relatively, of science, as we know the term to-day, was included in the course. To be sure there was not so much science to teach in that day but' uotwithstaudiug this, the classics predominated. Greek and Latin, classical literature, logic, intellectual philos- ophy, moral science, philosophy of rhetoric, political economy, the constitution of the United States, -these were imperative. Mathematics were by no means neg- lected, and the course was liberal in this respect, but chemistry does not appear until the first term of the junior year. Lectures were given, " at intervals," in the last term of the junior year and the first term of the senior, on mineralogy and geology, and on anatomy and physiology the last term of the senior year Commencement, cnriously enough, did not take place until the second Wednesday in September. After com- mencement there was a vacation of six weeks. The col- lege year then began, consisting of only two terms. They were both of twenty weeks, the first one followed by an- 21 22 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG other vacation of six weeks in the spring. The second term ran through the smumer to commencement in Sep- tember. The college life itself was no less different from that of to-day. The college day began at 4:30 o'clock when a trumpet was loudly blown throughout the halls. At five it blew again, giving an hour's time for study before the six o'clock breakfiist. The routine of the day was less elastic than that of modern days. Discii)line was more strict and pains and penalties awaited the student for such acts as would to-day be overlooked if, indeed, they would be even noticed, by those in authority. In a let- ter written in his seventeenth year,— before he had be- come converted to a religious life, as one reference will show,— he wrote as follows to his parents as to the daily routine : " You want to know what I am doing on the first day of the week. Why not on the third, or fourth day? I esteem all days alike. But, nevertheless, 1 will tell you. 1 get up in the morning, dress myself, wash, comb my head, make my bed, etc. Next read until seven ; then attend prayers in the Col- lege Hall ; eat breakfast ; read an hour and so on until ten ; go to the Presbyterian church ; get back about twelve ; eat dinner at half past and at two attend church under the powerful preachmg of Cx J . Get back at four; attend Bible class at four-thirty, where the Greek scholars give the original meanings of the Scriptural texts for an hour ; next supper, then prayers and finally, to make a long story short, go to bed. . . . The room is fifteen by sixteen feet square, con- tains three beds, two desks, a table, three chairs, a stool, a swill-pail, a chest, two trunks, a small cupboard, three shelves containing about 145 books, a wagon-load of newspapers and pamphlets under the bed, a parcel of old shoes and a number of small et ceUras. Eating, drinking, and sleeping, I spend about ten hours, oftener less than more, going to bed at ten, eleven, twelve, and once at a quarter past two. After lessons I read Political Economy, Mnemonics, Heathen Mythology, books of travel, histories and the al Koran." COLLEGE LIFE 23 The outspoken character of the man-to-be was mirrored in the youth, as his comment on the preacher at the Dutch Keformed service indicates ; '* Now I'll tell ye what I think of G J , D. D He IS a small-bodied man but in mind wonderfully diminutive. ** ' A hundred thousand such might lie Wedged in a cambric needle's eye.' " Then quoting evidently from the same preacher he says, together with some boyish nonsense : *' 'Study at all times to know your duty respecting your superiors Now, the study is not very irksome because about every half hour our next door neighbour in the third story plays on the fiddle, • tickling the dried guts of a mewing cat » ' 1 have lately read some in astronomy. You might probably be surprised at the immense, and diminutive, things therein de- scribed. Doctor Caustic of Terrible Tractoration memory, And ** 'Discovered world's within the pale Or tip end of a tadpole's tail.' << ( Great fleas have little fleas. Who have less fleas to bite 'em; Hiese fleas have lesser fleas, And so ad infinitum ! ' And," the youthful critic adds, "it is supposed they eet each oa.er to scratch their backs with the jag'g'ed end o7a louse Following this, sharply drawn in black ink with a pen upon the dark yellow paper of the letter, without any intnnluctory words, is a picture of the buildings of Lafay- Hh a of the buildings as they then stood. On the follow- ing page he has drawn plans of the main floor of the college, all no doubt of great interest to his family who 24 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG wished to know the full details of his life. He does not conclude his letter until he takes another fling at the preacher : " Oil last Sunday his sermon was on the woman whose son was caught up into heaven and who fled into the wilderness from the c ragon who poured out of his mouth a flood. The doctor explained the woman to be.the Church, the flood of the dragon all the means that were used to corrupt a church such as a party sjoinmg with a sect of infidels-such as Fanny U right and Robert Dale Owen and their party, for political purposes This ,s the flood, as the doctor says. 'Hot and stinking from the Devil's throat, which a wretched faction use as the means of political advancement.' 'Pull Doctor, pull Devil, thought I. He further stated that he rejoices that that party was minus power through the high-minded intelligence of an enlightened community. ^ " 1 will take notes of the doctor's next sermon and send you 1 understand an article is now in type in the office of the ^^as/o^i Democrat to expose the Rev. Doctor. He certainly deserves it, for it was as complete a blackguard speech as ever disgraced the Hdls of Pandemonium. I shall join the l^ranklin Society next Friday evening. They have the most meinbers and the finest hall. They also have a number of valuable books which the others have not. The president in expectant has returned an answer to a letter written him, ac- cepting the call to preside over the institution. It is plain Cy.l'^x A '\ ""^"J^ P"" ^^^^" the college, and the Tk T.u 1 ' ■'"'^^""^ /'^"' ^'^ l^«^'^^^^^ sermon last Sunday. I think this line is applicable to him : ^ '* ' That thus a worm of dust should mock Eternity.' " The letter, which was written on Saturday evening, January 30, 1841, ends with this postscript : YtZT^^^J^A 'Tv,''"' ^""^^ ^'"" ^"^ "P ^"^ ^'^ "°^ in ple!ise '' newspapers you were speaking of, if you In a letter written in December of the same year, he begins with a long and most charmingly written essay ^t-^? •••> aS -5 1-^ c k 'S OJ Cis fc/: , ^= U ^ •V, ■—1 > ■^— •s. (U .■3 >s ,^ ri 'o ^ *». > ,•>. *-^ *• V. •-.-1 '-^ O ;5 J= ^ ■4-< ^ .!£. ^ ■Si ^ ^ \r c ^ XI <2 c :? OS K ^ s* (-• v^ s ^ a^ COLLEGE LIFE 25 on the Aborigines of America, the outcome of large read- iug on his part, thus giving the family at home a far larger and clearer idea of the subject than they could have had without access to the books he had studied. The paper is illuminated in places by cleverly drawn reproductions of hieroglyphics accompanied by interpre- tations of their real meaning, and contains much inter- esting description of the writings of primitive peoples. In the midst of it he suddenly breaks off with ; "I have bought a book called * Historia Grecae.' I paid five shillings for it. I shall begin to read (Greek) in a few days as I am about half through the grammar. I am now in a class of five formed last year. Mathematics will soon come. I am well. We live as good as may be. Breakfast, — fish, coffee, 'taters, etc. ; dinner, — meat, water, molasses, butter, potatoes, etc. ; supper, — mush and milk, or rice, etc. I ex- pect about half a dozen chaps will be expelled, as they are cited to appear before the faculty to answer for going to dancing school where one of them got drunk, and sick. G J says he will vote for expulsion. Should any of the faculty second the motion they must go and joy go with them ! " In another letter he writes : "Since my last letter to you the honourable faculty of Lafayette College convened and after mature deliberation agreed unanimously to expel W , H , O , M G- , and G , because they engaged in playing cards. Ihese six gentlemen were thus treated simply and solely because they engaged in playing cards. The faculty agreed to meet agam this week when it is expected others will receive the same honour. As we will read Caesar this week I have found it necessary to buy a large Latin dictionary. I bought It of W , one of the gentlemen expelled, and, as he had no further use for it, he sold it to me for $2. A new one, I suppose, would cost $4 or $5 at the least calculation. Fur- ther, I got an excellent wash-stand, bowl and pitcher, for four- 26 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG teen shillings, new, costing last fall, $3.50. The wash-stand I should not have bought but for its being a very good one. If I stay here I shall want one next spring. " 1 don't know what to write. There is no news, foreign or domestic, except that it is rumoured, and confidently believed, that the Niagara Falls were washed away during the last freshet ! The truth of this is rather doubted." The habit of the student had early been fixed in the boy by the training he had had under his father. It became natural for him to work and work hard in a college period when students were not so numerous that they could not have immediate personal supervision, and when laziness was tantamount to exclusion. *^ I was in to Dr. Yeo- mans' this mornine good days for Lafayette ; though it would make us— who are now fifty years old, — feel the more lonesome, perhaps, to see a single class-room containing more than Aaron's^ trumpet soundetl, when college classes, Model school, and the Coloured Theological class (of one person), all came together, either to sup in the middle basement, or to attend prayers before day- break, in the old chapel under the Society Halls. Congratula- tions to the President and Professors, and to the younger brethren, who see and enjoy these better, brighter days ! The blessing of God be still with 'Lafayette,' and His grace with those who go forth from her to-day, and who, to-day, after many years of absence, return to her." For three years he continued at Lafayette. Then, with the desire to preach the Gospel burning within him, he left the institution without taking liis degree. In 1844 he returned again and resumed his labours, taking up regular and post graduate work, and received his degree of Master of xVrts. On my desk as I write these lines lies a faded, mil- dewed letter, stained and worn with time, broken in its creases, which may be unfolded only with great care. In it is the crux of a young man\s life. It tells of that point, reached some time or another in the life of every man and woman, when they stand, as one might say without irreverence, in the presence of the Most High, vaguely catching glimpses of the Intinite. It is a place of the parting of the ways, where men stand face to face with their own souls. It needs no aigument to prove snch moments come : on the decision which road to follow has depended through all the centuries since the Christ the fate of men, indeed the fate of nations and the Church. For one of these roads leads into a life consecrated to the cause of God and man ; the other leads to the elevation ' Reference is here made to one Aaron H. Hoff, of Easton, who blew a tmmpet at 4:30 o'olock every morning to arouse the students. CX)LLEGE LIFE 31 of self with all its attendant train of pains and pen- alties. "^ The letter was written on a Thursday night, in the sohtude of a college boy's room, just before the coming of Chnstmiis m the year 1842. In it the boy and the man meet, grope, see each other, and pass on ; the boy dies and the man is enthroned. The letter was the outcome of strng- gle. It tells of victory. Beared as the boy had been in the midst of constant religious activity, he had yet reached CO lege age without any interest in religious matte,^ much less with any intention of devoting his life to the cau.se of religion. In the letter which islidressed t^ hi^ parents and sister, written in the beautiful copperplate ^and which distinguished him, boy and man^'^^^d t stilted form of correspondence of the day, he tells of a meetn,,. ,e l.vs had with a converted sailor who ha. g^ven up the sea become identified with the Church, fitted for college and is now in the midst of his college coZ ft H cunously interesting the way in which thl boHhoS igio s trS h? '"'r ^"^^ *^^"^ applicatL';:'^ s^tilor friend wj;tead!t„r^'/'^™"°'^'"«^ "^««<« this .-,s.eets^i:t;r^^^^^^ invites him to his room where tho 1-, ' ^"^^^ eaniestly for the con.^r^oZ t iienS ''''' '"""^ ^"^ nexfjunXSwi^rbif; Tf *^"^ '^''°°*- ^^ ^^- lie goes to ciurch for th « Tl^^'^'P^ "^ '^^ '^^ truth I'gious exercises held any interest for I '° T^*''^ »«- t-e," the boy in him quaintly Ss" sfnc'e' I 'J"* years of understanding, in which I en„,^ f , "^"^ ^* was perfectly happy." *'°"''^ ^'''^^ ^ay that I 32 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG In a second section of the letter he addresses bis sister personally. The spirit of the evangel came quickly upon him. *^ If you have not before this come to the Saviour/' he writes, *Met me entreat by everything you hold dear, by your present hope of happiness, and iis you value your soul's eternal welfare, to do so now. ... If you would have us all meet at the right hand of God at the great Day of Judgment, I entreat you to come to the Saviour ; He alone is able to take away your sins. . . . If you become, as I trust you will, an humble follower of Christ, you will see everything in a new light. Things which you may now look upon as trifling will then ap- pear far different ; the smalhst transgression will then ap- pear great inasmuch as it is a sin against God.'^ Such an exhortation under such circumstances within three days of the old life, coming from one still a boy in years, is not less remarkable than the announcement with which the letter closes,— how little the boy dreamed then how his hope would be fulfilled : *'It now appears to me to be a duty to preach the Gospel, and I intend, God helping me, to do so. I hope He may make me an instrument in His hand of doing much good to my fellow beings." A noble life consecrated to every noble aim, a steadily widening influence, reaching far out beyond the thousands who came in personal contact and ever broadening unto and beyond this present day, a large and splendid scholar- ship, an absolutely unselfish and devoted life, — all built upon three lines of a faded, time stained letter, so worn by nearly three-quarters of a century of life thtit it safely fohls back into the broken creases with the utmost diffi- culty ; — it is a letter to be cherished, the herald of a life without whose ministration the world must have suffered irreparable loss. Ill THE END OF THE WORLD IT was during the college course at Lafayette that an event of national interest reached its culmination - the world was to come to an end in 1843 At in tervuls through the centuries since Christ, men had arisen who, from the prophecies of the Old Testament, and fr^m porfons of the New, were able to select a dat^ whenT the.r judgment, the second coming of the Saviour wouW *'"d the present era. Various views were held Is o whether the final Day of Judgment would come at the end':;'rt'h?'""'r "'^""^ "'«" "p°" '"^^^^^^ --' tt uul of the thousand years of that reign ; and there were "any other points concerning which dis^ut* aro^ Z the strong central belief that Christ would co^ n per son never d.ed among men, however frequent ^hediiD po.nment because the Saviour did not appear. ^' by tht",.tro;\?? ''Vu''' °' "^^-^ - ^'gJ^t - -an .nni" , "''"" '^^'"'^'" spoke out, as others had arUi many thol;i ;:;;'""*t '''''' ^"'^^^' ^"^ menf oiwi n , "^^"^*^ ^^ a tremendous pitch of excite- "™.r ■ s .'i?:r,'ir™"" "- '"- »" "« tli.-.se other tl ' , """^ ^"""e possible, which -H^u lyr^ In,"? r"" "°* '"^^ ' '"°'"^°* -*-'-» to ,sav stran!.i ' ' '"'''*' P"^''"^' ^^at novel, not this un letwS;.^^^^^^^^ T'"' """^^ •^"^"•^ •• ^-^ -^ as down the land .^.r''' '" ''''"'''' "'^n went up and the land calling for a preparation to meet the Christ, 34 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG inti*rest steadily deepc^necl and widened, growing more piussionatt'ly intense as the year approached. Miller ap- pears to have Ixien a man of eandour and honesty, esteemed l)y his followers iis of more than ordinary powers, cool and sagacious, humble and devout, a man of great moral and social worth. He was uneducated save as he had helped liimself to an education. He was born in Pittsfield, Miussachusetts, in 1782, and was old enough, hence, to fill, as he did, the captaincy of a company of troops guarding the northern frontier in the War of 1812. The word goes that he had become a pronounced deist as he had read the works of Voltaire, Thomas Paine and Ethan Allen, but, however that nmy be, he became at last a member of the Baptist church at Low Hampton, New- York, to which place he had moved ; and thenceforth he took up the close study of such Bible concordances as he could command. In these and the i)rophecies of the Old Testament, particularly of the Book of Daniel, he found his arguments for the coming end of the world. In 1831 he Ix^gan in a small way to preach his new doctrine, often to mere handfuls of people. In 1833 he was form- ally licensed to preach by the Baptist denomination. The interest in what this serious-minded man had to say, had now so heightened that larger audiences awaited him. He was made welcome, too, in the churches of nearly all the denominations, so that he rapidly entered a still wider field of labour. As the members of different denomina- tions looked into the matter, they found that not only had men in far distant centuries held to this belief that at some time, near or far, the reign of a thousand years would come, but that even in CrorawelPs time the overthrow of the royal family in England was looked upon as an event leading directly up to the end, and the year IGGB was set upon as the time ; while Swedenborg, famous among those who came later, had designated 1836 as the year in which THE END OF THE WORLD 35 the millennium woidd begin. Others set the date forward to 186^, and still others to 1881. Jil ^'^^f^^f ^«P^^^^ P^blish;d in 1831, in Philadel- auS^ht' ,f "T''^'^^^ Americana,-the movement is quite liberally discussed contemporaneously. After re- -unting the powerful hold that belief in a millennium h d . d upon people of the middle ages and how it was adopted and promulgated in the first centuries after Christ not o,,^ by heretics but by the orthodox, the review cklj S I wal' to'"r^'e'lo the' l""i"": ^^'" '" ^'' "^^'^ *''=>' ^uman misery "h^\ltd\yL%T' :"„?"'' "^^ '"^"''f"' ^^ho had risen 7rom At ,haf b ss i oe'ri^":'"^"""''^ enjoy ineffable happines^ 10,000 Rra ns everv^r.in 7'' ^" ''i '"''""' ^^""'^ P^'duce wouldyfeM n;iinons onrlir T'"^' "^"""f' ^^^^^ vine nocence o Pa aSe wo„ld 1°"' °^'^'^'^ of wine; the in- sensual .Pleasure' the vk ory^f the rl'°r 7''' 'r"^^'"^' ^"^ would be complete, and thefced ^S^ !l"t'"^T Jerusalem which would desrenH fl^ i, " ""^ ''^^^enly dinary splendour amnr,ni„. °" ''^^'ven with extraor- icent habitation .^ "i''"' '° '^"'^^ *em into its magnif- Jfillor by constant study and Dersisf-Pnf n<«.^ * tl'rowull obiection« fi„..ii '^ f'^'^^^'tent efforts to over- ■sible lineof aa/uZf r ^ ""^''""^ '^ thoroughly plau- faets. Thie S " .^ "P°'>^'^PParently indisputable tainPd H,! """^ ''■'^"^^ ^ere the following con- tained the essence of his belief ^ y^u^e u- '""'"s con- considerable numhfir J ' '^''ef which aroused a ••'"<' ".ade a verv con.i?, ''n" 1° "'^ ""'''^ of fanaticism "neomfortaWe .^ «»°'^'derable other number feel decidedly Ctef:o;r:i^ti:ur,tr"r^?"^^«^-'^ " I -Ueve that the r;rJ;".LrStr^th 14 ' M *>/» LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG % THE END OF THE WORLD 37 ■I when He comes will be changed from mortal to immortal bodies and with them who are raised from the dead will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so be for- ever with the Lord. *' I believe that when Christ comes He will destroy the bodies of the living wicked by lire, as those of the old world were destroyed by water, and shut up their souls in the pit of woe, until their resurrection unto damnation. *^ I believe when the earth is cleansed by fire, that Christ and His saints will then take possession of the earth and dwell therein forever. Then the kingdom will be given to the saints. *'I believe the time is appointed of God when these things shall be a(*complished. *' I believe the wise, they who are to shine as the bright- uess of the firmament (Daniel 12 : 3), will understand the time. *a believe the time can be known by all who desire to understand and to be ready for His coming, and I am fully convinced that some time between I\Iarch 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844, according to the Jewish mode of computation of time, Christ will come and bring all His stunts with Him and that then He will reward every man as his works shall be/' As proof Miller cited Matthew 15 : 27 : " For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with HLs angels and then He shall reward every man according to his works." Kev. 22 : 12 : '' And behold I come quickly and my re- ward is with me to give every man according as his works shall be.'' Miller seems to have answered his critics temperately. The following is his response to some criticisms current at the time— one of them this comment of Prof. Moses Stuart ou learning that the end of the world was to be on April 3d : ''I would respectfully suggest that in some way or other, they have made a small mistake as to the exact day of the month when the grand catastrophe takes place, the 1st day of April being evidently much more appropriate to their arrangements than any other day in the year ! " — Miller says : '• My principles, in brief, are that Jesus Christ wil conie agani to this earth, cleanse, purify, and take possession of the same with all His saints, some time between March 21 1843, and March 21, 1844. I have never, for the space of more than twenty-three years, had any other time preached or published by me; I have never fixed on any month, day or hour, during that period; . . . I have made no pro' vision for any other time ; I am perfectly satisfied that the B.ble IS true and is the word of God, and I am confident that rely wholly on the b essed book for my faith in this matter. I am not a prophet. I am not sent to prophesy, but to read believe, and publish what God has inspired the ancieni prophets to administer to us, in the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. These have been, and now are, my prin ciples, and I hope I shall never be ashamed of them - As to worldly cares, I have had but very few for twelve years past. I have a wife and eight children ; I have great reas^^^^^ to believe they all are the children of God and belfevers n he same doctrine with myself. I own a small farm in I^w Hamp ton, N V. ; my family support themselves upon it, and I be- ..eve they are esteemed frugal, temperate, and Lustrous S from t'h?^ h ''" "^^'^"i ^^"^^'"^' ^"^ never tu^a pi : grim from the house, nor the needy from the door I ble« God hat my family are benevolent\nd kind to aH men who need their sympathy or aid ; I have no cares to managrexcen^ of'a ;\"i"f 7r''' ' '^^^ "° ^"^^^ ordebK7 pended '3 thnn ^ '.k"^ ""f /"^'^^"^ " ^"^ ^ have ex- t'welve yea^b des That ?^^^^^ '"""^ "' ^"^ P^^P^^^^ ^^ friends, in this cause.'' ' ^'^'" "^' '^'^^^^ '^' ^^^^ scale of mentality ; emotional, easily influenced bv the -pernatural, or any shadow of it, cr^edulous to a degree! I , • • • • ! 38 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG Some, of a stronger mental constitution, resisted his con- clusions but were staggered by his apparent facts. Some who did not believe were led to a sharp study of the Bible along the lines he laid down, following his texts in the Old and the New Testament in order to determine for themselves the truth or falsity of his position. Some were utterly incredulous and passed the whole matter by as unworthy of notice. It was among the class next to the last mentioned, those who did not believe and yet were ready to follow his ar- guments, that he made his strongest converts. For, if they would but study as he had studied and seek the light he found in the texts he gave them, — and this without other aid than the Bible itself and without a deep and critical knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew,— he knew they would logically laud in his camp. Nor does it seem at all improbable that when fully fifty thousand people had espoused the new cause, some with fanatical zeal, some with simple and devout taith that they were to see the face of the Saviour, some because of intellectual con- viction, — it does not seem strange, — such a movement deeply impressed itself upon the other thousands who could not but see what a great event would be at hand in case this man, following in the footsteps of greater men, had indeed hit upon the day and the hour of the coming of the Christ. It might fairly be said that, on the face of it, granting his premises to be sound, Miller had proved his case. Moses Craig, Austin's father, became deeply interested in the movement. He was far too shrewd and keen a man to be befogged by any speculative mists, but, once facts for a statement were adduced, he was eager to prove these facts, and, if sound, accept the conclusions they led to. The excitement which was nearing its height when Austin entered college had its influence upon his father ; THE END OF THE WORLD 39 it could not be otherwise. Xo doubt a subtler and deeper influence was exerted upon thousands who apparency paid no attention to the movement than even thev won J liuve been willing to admit. The lather had heard MilS preach, had looked up many of the Scriptural referf^^^^^^^ had studied much the general scheme But he SS JnVT^- "'^"' '"^'^ ^^^"^^ ^^ ^^^ «^^^e no profes- sion of religion at the time of entrance upon college wi i^iko his father, this truth must not be bound bv man made tenets nor circumscribed by man-placed limitatro"' /f isToVr""'!'^^' ^''^' '"^ ^^^^-^ - the strong Tov; 2^1^ 1 r^^^^^^^^ 'r' "'" ^^ opportunity in the excit^ o us he " ?: 'Tr ''^'"^" ^'^"^^ "Pon the son, ^^^^h!:.:'' '^""^'^ If the Christ is coming! th^S'and w^ 7T'' '^ ^'^ ^^-^ collegian on le-'** logical eraofin.w ' *^'^f/''\"g« f»r their warmer, but ""■fTlity oscitemonf IT *^^ ^^^ ^^^ex of a -^ "-ir^s:;xrL7oTr„" --' ^- afterwanis became known Tvhi^I't '"'"*'"'^^' ^^« science, in a letter wntt™ f ^'^,^"t^"g8 "Pon social 1842, d„ri„« n eir va a tl f ^"'^'^*^'P^'«- ^^ April, aa to the whole sub ecT".' ''^'"'^^^' '"**' ^^^ai will be of uter 'w '1 '"''""' ^'•<'" "'« l««er interest here, as showing how deeply and I , « i 11 * I it 40 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG powerfully the whole subject had taken hold upou think- ing men. In the letter he says: ** I have been studying Millerism a little and chronology a great deal this vacation. 1 have read no books on the subject but Josei)hus and the Bible and some little of the Septuagint. 1 will say something about the chronology first and then of the second advent in 1843. Of the age of Terah when he begat Abram (Genesis 11 : 26), the only parallel passage of similar construction I know is Genesis 5 : 32. Shem is first mentioned in this, Abram in that, and therefore if it can be proved Noah was 500 when he begat Shem, we conclude Terah was about seventy when he begat Abram. Now, Noah was 600 at the flood, two years after which Shem begat Arphaxad. Noah was 602 when Shem begat Arphaxad, but Shem, at that time, was 100 (Genesis 11 : 10). Noah was 600 — 100=1500 when he begat Shem. Therefore we conclude Terah was about seventy when he begat Abram. •• The other view of the case is 205 — 75=1130 as the age of Terah when he begat Abram. But this is not probable ; for why would Abram laugh when a son was promised him at ninety-nine if his father had begat him at 130 ? We conclude either Terah was not 205 when he died or Acts 7 : 4 must be a mistake. But Josephus and the Septuagint also say Terah died aged 205 ;— we conclude Acts 7 : 4 is a mistake. Probably an error had been made in transcribing the manuscript and the verse should read < when his father was dead.' This would seem very probable as Haran did die before his father, and Abram took Nahor's son Lot with him when he went into Canaan. "To go into details would take too long, so I would merely say : I make sixty years less than you on this part, three more than you in Samuel's time, eight less in Anarchy and Chursan, one less in Jehoram (perhaps), and no interregnum of eleven years, so that the difference between us would be — 60 -[-3 — 8 — I — 11—77 years ; so that, accordingly, the world's age would be 6002 — 77=15925 years in the year 1843. ** On Millerism in general I would say what I said at a de- bating society not long since on the question. Whether the Second Advent Doctrine as taught by Miller is in accordance with reason and Scripture, — I think that the arguments in its favour are not clearly tenable except the 2300 years. The THE END OF THE WORLD 41 others will do as accessory evidence when the other is estab- hshed, bu w,ll not do alone to support the doctrine Well nau rv'^niT' I'^'^^r^ The^irguments that L mat sanctuary wi 1 be cleansed 2300 years after 457 b. c are so strong that I have not as yet met with a single weighty and and vatd Whne^h" '"^ "^"'' '^ '' the san'.e time^'^^h J anc valid. Wh le the argument in its favour is very plausible and ,f the word translated 'determined' means Tn Hebrew (not Chaldee), cut off,-if so, the argument in its favour amounts almost to a mathematical demonstration " Meanwhile, let us be strong in the Lord and He will care for us. I have not yet studied the Mohammedan pr^ecies and am unable to render opinion." propnecies Pa.s8ing from such a letter as this from a dear friend, a scholarly young man, one in whom he had confidence one who was, plainly enough, preparing himself for the coming 01 the last day, to a letter written to him by his sixteen-year-old sister, or rather to excerpts from two letters we shall see how strong and varied'^^he influence s^^^^'^J^LR.r^J^' W^rSV'^ letter quaintly set and saw the rniu J ,i i [^^^'ied Princeton about sun- large buddings nfe rnllJ°^'n' ''""""'^' ^"^^ several other l>u.lling ,:ft; i3 i sh^d '^It s'S o7'i red/ ,T^ '''''^ oured stone in the Gothic stvle OuI?a ^^"^' ^'°'^" "^°'- 10 Newark to hear Mr \f n u ""'^^>' ™°>-n'ng «'e went He explained the sfxteetth h'"T °" 'he Second Advent, sueak.! nf .k1 i-'xteenth chapter of Revelation where it speaks of the seven angels with their viak of wr^m -rJ. c angel poured his vial upon the ear h R„ L .V ^^ '^''' "n( erstand (he k';n„,i„ V , 1 • % 'he earth we are to This via? begj, ^o be nour°//'",''''^V°^ ^"'"'^h government, •he year a. d , ° ''Vj;;' ° °" 'I' ^"""''^ ^^"''^ ^^out and others who exposed and - ^''^'J^'l^ "^ Luther, Calvin, church of Rome. ^^°'^^ '^e corruptions of the and i'tram: as^^ ll^ifTS ma?^'^' "T "^^ ^^^ ^i d. aeaa man and every hving soul i I 42 LIFE AND LETTEKS OF AUSTIN CRAIG died in the sea.' The sea, in prophetic language, is the centre of some great nation or society of men. The * living soul ' denotes those persons who have been born of the spirit and are in possession of that living faith in God and love for all men. The * blood of a dead man ' denotes a massacre in cold blood without any resistance upon the part of those murdered. This vial was then poured out m France, — the j^rincipal kingdom in the Roman ten horns, — in the year a. d. 1572, at the massacre of the Huguenots on St. Bartholomew's Eve when 50,000 were slain in one night and the streets ran blood, as Sully tells us, in some places ankle-deep. " ' And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of water and they became blood.' By rivers and fountains of water we are to understand the nations who lived around the central sea ; blood denotes destructive war. This vial was poured out about the year 1630. *' ' And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun and power was given him to scorch men with fire.' The sun in prophetic language is an emblem of the Gospel. To * scorch men with fire ' signifies to make men angry ; great heat means uncommonly angry. This vial was poured out in the past cen- tury. *' * And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the Beast and his Kingdom was full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues for |)ain and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores and repented not of their deeds.* The 'seat of the beast ' must mean those ten kingdoms on which the woman sitteth, which is Rome. * Full of darkness ' must mean full of wickedness, confusion, and every evil work. * Gnawed their tongues for pain ' showed shame, disgrace, and disappointment. This vial was poured out in the French Revolution about 1798. In this revolution among the Roman kingdoms under this vial, the Bastile was demolished, the Inquisition destroyed, the torture suppressed, and the power of the Papal clergy restrained. ** ' And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Eu[)hrates, and the water thereof was dried up that the way of the kings of Esau might be prepared.' The river Euphrates means in prophecy the people of the countries border- ing on that river and of course refers to the Turkish power. * Water thereof was dried up ' is an emblem of the power and strength of that kingdom being taken away. This vial was THE END OF THE WORLD 43 poured out on Turkey by the loss of a great share of the empire. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.' ' Three unclean spirits, —by this we must understand three wicked principles 'l^rogs show us that it is political. ' Mouth ' denotes orders or commands. The * dragon ' is a figure of the kings of the earth. 1 he Beast represents Papacy and ' the false prophet ' Mohometanism. Mr. Miller says the millennium will come in 1843. But whether it comes or not, we are commanded to be ready, and it would well become a Christian people to do so." A few mouths lat^r : nu " ^^''* ^'9' 9^ff P^^ched last evening from Romans thirteenth Z7r h^", f ''^"'^' l^''^' To-night, to-morrow night, and Sunday he lectures on the near approach of the Second Advent He IS firm in the belief that the Lord will come this year He said a praying nian near Patterson went out one morning into comr Hi ' r^' "' "^^ ^"^^^^^^^ ^^'^ -' ^'^-^^ but dkl not come. His family were somewhat alarmed on account of his staying so long and about sunset they went for him They neaven. ihey took hira to the house and with some diffiriilt«^ toM fh. ^'"h \'^r- '^'^^" he got so that he couW speak h^ ln:/o'^X St. dlyTthis=h^rh' S" '^ '''' '^r^''^ ot;";^i"fhSs^^^^^^^^ will show. However be ha! H ' ' ''"°T "°' ' '™« ^l""* be prepared andlnrav ,L, ^ '°°"^i °' ^""'"^ " '^ ^est to our Great Judge an'd th^^ »>, "^^ ''^"'^ uncondemned before ** Mother sends her love." be lad mumnli 'f S,^*"^.*^^ " ''^ P=»g«« '^ ^^ich, after «ub m, ^etS ^'''"' ^""^"^"^ '---S "P- the 44 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG " It seems to me the righteous are to inherit a new heaven and a new earth. Just ponder this (the elaborate references) over in your own mind and don't hand it out as all that can be said till you hear from me again. There can be a great deal said on both sides of all these questions, a great many passages of Scripture that seem to form the two views of the sub- ject. . . . "The excitement on the subject is increasmg. I want you to be continually on your watch ; let not evil overtake you. Begin and end every day by conunending yourself to God. The chronology 1 do not look so much at as the fact of the 2300 days, or years, of the visions, and then the time that the decree went forth to restore and build Jerusalem. The margin of the Bible says 457 years before Christ; 1 suppose history says the same. Read towards the last of Daniel concerning the seventy weeks, etc., take 457 from 2300 leaves 1843; then the sanctuary is to be cleaned. The whole world seems to be rousing up to this subject. We do not know what a day may bring forth. Goff says this is the last time he will ever meet his Christian friends in this place in the flesh. Keep this to yourself." Letter follows letter after this from the father to the son reviewing elaborate arguments as they were presented by various ministers, and reeounting in detail events as they developed. The young college student was well balanced. He did not allow these varied influences to in any way unduly bias liim. He was serious iu his consideration of all the points raised and, in common with many others who looked on and who could not ignore the apparent sound- ness of the arguments, was impressed by the tremendous excitement of the hour, was made more reverent by the contemplation of a possible end to the existing order. In a story written by Dr. Edward Eggleston, ''The End of the \Vorld,^' published some thirty-five years ago, in which the coming of this end in 1843 forms the back- ground of the tale, the author speaks thus of the influence THE END OF THE WORLD 45 the excitement had upon others than those who believed the end was coming : "The assured belief of the believers had a great effect on others. The dreadful drawing on of the set day produced an effect in some regions absolutely awful. An eminent divine at that time a pastor m Boston, has told me that the leaven of A.lventism permeated all religious bodies, and that he himself could not avoid the fearful sense of waiting for some catastrophe -the impression that all this expectation of people must have some significance." ^ ' "=i uavc In a letter written from college when the excitement was at white heat the boy agreed with his father that one of the niinistei-s who had been preaching at Peapack and vicinity did appear to prove, from liis basis, that the second coming of Christ iu 1843 was very plausible. '' It all rests," he writes to his parents and sister "unon thp difference of the hundred and fifty' years which m' ier makesS gJln Zt hfJ-n ^f""^*^ Miller'i theory may be truTand'l sulZse 11 at he^ hf ^'' "T«- ^" ''^ " "°' ^''"°^' absurd to eh led, e' I '^'^'■'^"^^''^ ^ """"-y ^"d a half should have an tale t? I 7'"'" °^ '""" "'"'^ ^^' ="P"i°^ i" learning tha N : ;, aml"^ l".." "°' .''^^''"''-% ^° -l-en we considef cii u ,1 """;'■ ^'"""^"' chronologists have had pre- c se y the same means for ascertaining the world's aee thlt c u^reTwrL":"''':"''"' "''^ ''''-«' of aUagefhav notl^rerai;; LSd." ''''" " "" ^""'"^ °^ "'^ ^"fonology the"mil|'",L?i"'°"v'^''' """'' ^ '' g^"' P°'i'i"> change before self-go rZrt mis^'l """"''^ "^"' '''' P'^""'^ «^^ '^'p^'^'^ "^ triuinnh over^' u "'■"•^'^ '"'" ^^''''" Democracy must l>e ToZd^rt^'^^ ""^''"""^ institutions of tyranny fectly carried into ^."^-^J^^ ^^ -""'"- has this been per- alone on the H. nf ^ .Scarcely one. America stands a'Imitted that ell, "°"""''^' governments. It is generally a".< it is in 1^2:, raXe^r:;.h,- ,f r-'"^^^"'^'^' P'eof the monarchies of EuropfrrLXta^^Tgrorfnt: % ' J i » 46 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG For example, see the examinations of the colliers in England and of the Germans at Millville, on the contested elections. These may be taken as a fair sample of the education of the common people in the two principal kingdoms of Europe. *< If, then, education is necessary to free government, and the subversion of monarchy and the institution of republicanism are to take place before the millennium, who shall decide when Christ shall make His second advent ? Are the deeply-rooted prejudices of the present ignorant generation of Europe to be done away and just and enlightened views to be substituted in their place in the short space of six months ? Or is it possible at all to make that generation enlightened sufficiently for the purpose of self-government ? Common sense would say, No. 'I'he children may indeed be educated, but their fathers are too firmly bound by the shackles of ignorance and superstition to render it practicable. It, however, stands all in hand to be prepared, whether the millennium comes or not." In other letters he had propounded various puzzling questions iis to the tox)ie uppermost in all minds and these his father had attempted to answer ; or, not feeling com- petent in certain instances, had turned them over to some minister to answer. Needless to say, the response from some of the ministers of the day was not such as would be of a convincing character to one who was so much bet- ter prepared and who weighed all with the balances of logic and fact. One long letter to Austin though written on only three pages of paper yet containing over two thousand words, goes into an exhaustive effort to show the young man the error of his ways. Indications of irritation on the part of the writer appear, as though, povssibly, he had not been quite satisfied himself that he was able to cope with the younger man. This latter is suggested also by his conclusion of the letter : '' Thus I have thrown together a few (!) remarks embracing my views, in order for your reflection and profit withal, hoping you will examine the right side of this business. I think if a i J THE END OF THE WORLD 47 friend ha5 not the moral courage to make his views known to another there can't be much friendship. By starting on a wrong course and bemg surrounded by flatterers, etc., ftc on account of his talents, education, etc., and no one to cross' Ws path, by and by a young man may be led to think that he s certamly correct; whereas if he were treated more honestly by his friends it would be better for him. It sets him thinking.'' Doubtless the reference to talents and so on was drawn out by the fact that at the time this letter was written, in lcS-14, Austin had begun to prea^ih somewhat in the interim betorc final graduation, and he was so well and favourably received, and his addresses were so powerful and so little ike the current preaching of uneducated men, it would be but na ural that jealousies should arise on the part of some of the older ones who had not had such advantages as he had had and who were not so talented Hour by hour as the middle of the summer of 1843 an Proadied the excitement deepened. The 11th of August had been set by some as the day. The excitementtpread far and wide. Many believing that the end was at hand -Hi seeing no further need of their pergonal b^lLTnS gave away houses and lands, saving out only enS i«ssi> insane. Very many men and women made robes cues for the last hour. An island in the Connecticut ZvZcLl J Z"^' ^^^ '^^'^^^ ^^^y ^^"^ ^ the day Sen t 1 ^ ^''''' '^''^ ^^^^ ^^^^« «f «^en and tioT f ^S L? Z'T 'f ^^-^ '"^^^- ^^ ^^^■ other of thpT.? o ^^°"«yl^a^ia, in Maine, and btns tt "^""""^ ^^" ^P^ ^^ t^eir houses, or t>arns,--theirs now no longer as the day of the Lord wL h \ 1 48 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG coming and they had divested themselves of worldly goods,— would be the proper place to be located. Added to the other signs a huge comet appeared in the heavens of which one man, writing to Austin in response to a re- quest from his father that he seek light on the comet, discoursed as follows : *'This magnificent visitor at about seven o'clock P. m. ap- pears in the west stretching over seventy or eighty degrees of the heavens. His nucleus is too near the sun's rays to be visi- ble yet, being below the horizon. The moon's light obscures his splendour very much, but nevertheless his appearance is most sublime. Were the moon absent he would present one of the most sublime spectacles the eye ever rested upon. His ap- pearance is that of an immensely long and broad ray of light, which like a luminous vapour spreads across the southwestern heavens intersecting the horizon at an angle of about thirty de- grees. ** Whether he be approaching near to our planet at this time or not, I have not the means of determining. If he revolve, as he most probably does, in his orbit in the same direction around his great master, the sun, as our planet does, we are now re- ceding from him at the rate of about a thousand miles a minute. But this speed, were he in direct pursuit, would avail us very little against his tremendous velocity. One thing is most cer- tain that this celebrated visitor is now a much nearer neighbour to our planet than any that has ever appeared. *'Now when we think of all the signs that have occurred within the last twelve years, not including this comet, is it not fair to argue from this that Miller's suppositions are correct ? Is not this the comet that is to destroy the world ? The world, the Bible very plainly says, is to be destroyed by fire. This comet is certainly made of fire, judging from his appearance. Astronomers assert there are not as many planets within the last century as there used to be, a great many have disap- peared, and there is every reason to believe that, their time having run out, they have been destroyed by comets." A volume might be written descriptive of the strange incidents that accompanied the preparation for the main event. In one New York town where there were many THE EXD OF THE WORLD 49 Millerites, ou the uiglit of the eud-to-be the people who were to aseeud put ou loose white robes over their other (•K.thing. Around their waists they fixed heavy leathern bWts ,y wliich they hope,! to facilitate their ascension, he b,.lts being for the purpose of alfording ease in liftiug u lu ! In (he town there was a boys' school and some of the young niscids swung ropes from the limbs of the ti-ees, these ropes having pendant hooks. On the an- p.>arance of a party ready for ascension, a grand rush would be made, the hook would be slipped into the belt the rope would be pulled taut, and in a trice the victim would be dangling in the air. Violent indignation was expn.s.se,I particularly after the night when it appeared rather certain that the end had not yet arrived, and there was .s, II opportunity for righteous wrath t« assume a worldly attuude. One woman in the vicinity, typTof the u tralanatical already noted, had made herSf a c..nplete wedding-robe in which to meet the bridegroon, \\ l.-n the morning came she drowned hemjlf in a well " 2 ,1 of December of the year 1843 that Jesus Christ wZ ha. very day v.i.hin forty-flve miles of the earth "S principles of their h^mbu.llLT'"^""" '° '^'^V °"' 'h^ ^'"'' practicing TlecemTon?! n^' tu*^ ^''"' '" hoodwinking n>i"ds of thofe SIh . ■?" "'^ '^°'^'^' bevvildering the "ivisions in chnrches cl L r' '^' marvellous, casing C'milies and nei/hbo.'.rhc^rkl n' "'°'' ""Pleasant feelings in / 50 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG and money, and now they are poor and destitute ; and assum- inK the power of the Pope, to sit in judgment on the con- sciences of their brethren, regarding them as wicked and ignorant ;— we regard this system as one of the most flagrant productions of error and dehision that ever came under our notice— one that contradicts the plamest passages of the Bible, perverts the prophecies, wrongly apphes the sayings of Jesus Christ And yet, after time has proven them all false prophets, given the lie to the leading principles of their system, and placed them where they are looked upon with derision and disgust, they still persevere in their unhallowed crusade against all who' profess the name of Christ, as they say they are just upon the very time, and Christ will surely be here. *«They have changed 'The Midnight Cry' to 'The Morn- ing Watch,' and in a short time it will no doubt be changed to 'The Noonday Sentinel,' that they may still practice deception upon the ignorant and credulous. Some one will say we only make assertions and prove nothing. We answer it is no use to present Scriptural argument or rational reasoning. They have been written down and all their arguments answered a thousand times. They have been driven from the forum of debate with shame and confusion of face, they have been confounded pub- licly and privately ; the whole world has decided against them ; time has written their epitaph ; God and the Bible have always been against them ; and yet goaded to desperation they are determined to push on in locomotive style; while they can find fools enough to bow to their blind god and throw their all into the sacred treasury they will go on." PictiiiTsqiio indecHl is the following description of a nu't'tiiij^ of those wlio looked for the second coming of Christ ; it is from the pen of John G. Whittier, the poet : ** Three or four years ago, on my way eastward, I spent an hour or two at a camp-ground of the Second Advent in East Kingston. The spot was well chosen. A tall growth of pine and hemlock threw its melancholy shadow over the multitude, who were arranged upon rough seats of boards and logs. Sev- eral hundred— perhaps a thousand— people were present, and more were rapidly coming. Drawn about in a circle, forming a background of snowy whiteness to the dark masses of men and foliage, were the white tents, and back of them the pro- THE END OF THE WORLD 51 vision stalls and cook shops. When I reached the ground, a hymn, the words of which 1 could not distinguish, was pealing through the dim aisles of the forest. I know nothing of music, having neither ear nor taste for it ; but I could readily see that it had its effect upon the multitude before me, kindling to higher intensity their already excited enthusiasm. The preachers were placed in a rude pulpit of rough boards, carpeted only by the dead forest leaves and flowers, and tasselled, not with silk and velvet, but with the green boughs of the sombre hemlocks around it. One of them followed the music in an earnest ex- hortation on the duty of preparing for the great event. Occa- sionally he was really eloquent, and his description of the last day had all the terrible distinctness of Anelli's painting of the 'End of the World.' "Suspended from the front of the rude pulpit were two broad sheets of canvas, upon one of which was the figure of a man— the head of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly of brass, the legs of iron, and feet of clay— the dream of Nebuchadnezzar ! On the other were depicted the wonders of the Apocalyptic vision — the beasts — the dragon — the scarlet woman seen by the seer of Patmos— oriental types and figures and mystic symbols translated into stirring Yankee realities, and exhibited like the beasts of a travelling menagerie. One horrible image, with its hideous heads and scaly caudal ex- tremity, reminded me of the tremendous line of Milton, who, in speaking of the same evil dragon, describes him as '"Swinging the scaly horrors of his folded tail.' " To an imaginative mind the scene was full of novel inter- est. Ihe white circle of tents— the dim wood arches— the upturned, earnest faces— the loud voices of the speakers, bur- dened with the awful symbolic language of the Bible— the smoke from the fires rising like incense from forest altars- carrying one back to the days of primitive worship, when H I The groves were God's first temples, ere men learned io hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, And stretch the roof above it.* " Tlie appointed day came and with it such a condition of mingled terror, distress, fanatical exaltation, solemn H 1 > » i 52 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG and devout submission, and emotional insanity, one were about to call it, ii^s perhaps had not been seen on the earth before. Even those of sound mind and steady poise who had not accepted the new belief were dis- turbed mightily under the strain. When the fateful midsummer night passed and the earth did not see destruction, Miller set another date : — he had made a mistake in taking the Jewish year for the Roman, the end would be in 1844. The faithful largely held to him, but those who had looked askance, even while they could not but be aroused by the awesome pos- sibility of his being right, went on their way. One woman among his most devout followers went to Pales- tine, it is said, to be ready to meet the Lord there on the 24th of October, 1844, the new date. When both the fateful years had passed Miller called a general conven- tion of the faithful, meeting in Albany, New York, and there was adopted a declaration of belief, and the name Adventists was chosen to designate his followers. Miller died in 1849, leaving, in spite of the failure of his prophecy, a reputation among his followers for sincerity and honest manhood. In the thick volume of letters which Austin preserved, written to him during the period 1843-48, none appear fiom his father after midsummer of 1S43, bearing upon IVrillerism. It was plain that while Moses Craig had been deeply interested in the movement, as many another sane and devout man had been, once he saw the fallacy of the argument, he rejected it. How much the calm and dis- passionate letters of the son had to do with this does not appear, but doubtless they had their bearing, for the father had come to place great reliance upon the judg- ment of the son. There are no letters to show how the young man passed the momentous night iu which the Saviour of the world THE END OF THE WORLD 53 was to come with shining angels ; but if we are to judge by his steady and normal course through the years that were to follow, and by his calm and dispassionate con- sideration of the day-by-day events leading up to the hour, we may conclude that his sleep was sound and that he awoke the next morning not more deeply in earnest in his determination to give his life in service to the world than he would have been had he not just passed through one of the most tremendous seasons of excitement that ever swept over a nation. Nor is it likely he saw any more clearly his line of duty ; for he had already made up his mind to devote his life to the preaching, and the teaching, of the Word and to it had given himself with the solemn consecration that is not born of fanaticism, nor emotionalism, nor the wild frenzy of fear. ( t HIS EARLY PREACHING 65 IV HIS EARLY PREACHING AS naturally as the needle seeks the pole the young man was drawn by the great magnet of the Church. All the home surroundings which at first seemed to make so little religious impression upon hioi, all the influence brought to bear by those who saw in his talents, his learning, his devout nature, the stuff of which great preachera are made, all the long months of the tense excitement of the Millerite movement would have had no effect upon so staunch and self-reliant a na- ture as his if he had not felt within himself the overmius- tering call to service. Once in later years a young man wrote him regarding the ministry as a profession asking, **Do you think, from what I have written you, that I would be a success in this work f " Swift and to the point came the answer ; in it we may see Austin Craig as he began his work : "I do not know. But it seems safe to say this, Don't en- ter the ministry unless, in some way, you feel the call of the Lord unto you. If you do feel yourself called by Him, then give yourself to the work because the Lord has called you, and be not uneasy about the 'success.' Faithfulness is your busi- ness; the success is the Lord's concern. U you are in doubt about your ' call,' give the Lord the benefit of the doubt, and try His work in some way for a while. Perhaps you could go out with some minister as Mark went with Barnabas and Timothy with Paul,— the result might make you see your ' call ' clearly. " But does it not seem a half-selfish thing at best for a man to hesitate over a great duty for fear he might not be * a suc- 54 cess ' ? . . . Consider not whether you will succeed, but consider whether the Lord has a work for you to do. If you don't yet feel sure about it, you can get more light by appeal- ing to the Lord Himself. . . . Without love to the Lord, no man can be *a success ' in any part of the Gospel ministry. I would not so much care what else the young man might seem to lack if evidently Jesus had breathed upon him. With that flame in him he will win souls, he will edify the Church, he will be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. " What a mistake it is to bring into the ministry a man who has only ordinary piety, little manifest love to Christ, slight concern for his fellow men. Though he may charm his hearers by his eloquence and gain the favour of multitudes, he cannot be a lasting benefit,— converting men from the error of their ways and saving their souls from death,— unless by his spirit and his teaching he shows himself 'approved unto God ' He enters the ministry for harm to others and for woe to himself who enters with a motive that God cannot approve, who enters for ease, for applause, for gain. *• In selecting topics of his discourses he must beware of in- dulging the passion for novelty, to catch the fancy of the people He must in sobriety of spirit choose topics in his most prayerful, earnest, sober seasons, topics 'approved unto God ' He must not decline a topic through fear of losing the favour of his hearers if he deals faithfully with their souls He is not to study to p ease men, to conform his teachings to the senti- ments of his hearers, to approve himself unto the influential, he wealthy, the great of the world ;-he is to conform his ~?ofrn\ T"^ ""^ ''^'^' '^ ^^"^y '^ show himself ap- ns^r^l? 1^^''^ T^"'''"' ^"^^^ ^^ be a teacher fitted to ZeZV'. ^'""^'^^ ''^ ^^' ^^'^^"^ ^^^^^^ons touching the wel- ^ r.t^n nf^r ""' "^"^"^""^^y' the school, the city, the admin- istration of the government, the education of the youth the unfication and guidance and welfare of the people The man 'st 'he "''I '"'iT '"^ "^^^^ ^^^^ ^i" in^all^these greatT nos hap^;?;'' "^'^"^ '' "^^" ^^^ '"^^t ^^ceptable to God, and so J. n '""T-'" «^'^^^^"^^nt might well be adopted as the soimon-rnaking crml of every young prea<.her. liefore he had yet finished college life, Austin Craig f \ 1 56 LIFE A^D LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG began, in 1843, to preach occasional sermons, now in small country churches, now in dwelling-houses far from all places of public worship, now in larger towns where he met more metropolitan audiences. The life of an itiner- ant preacher in this region of the East, now so far re- moved fi-om any suggestion of the frontier, was not one constant round of gaiety and ease. It was serious busi- ness starting out to preach in those days. It meant toil, physical as well as mental ; sacrifice in many ways ; ex- posure to inclement, and fre(|uently dangerous, weather ; — its wage was little or nothing. He who entered upon it, — be he a youth fresh from college trjing his wings, or some unlettered man who had felt ^a call' and whose chief assets were a powerful voice, a rude, commanding eloquence, a smattering of theology, and a Bible, — found it beset with many annoyances and sown thick with dis- couragements. When Austin Craig entered upon this new field of labour long before he accepted his first formal call to a church, three things, among others, were conspicuous, — his absolute claiity of thought, knowing precisely what he wished to say and saying it so that his hearers should know just what he meant ; a keen and unfailing judgment of the type and general character, as well as the needs, of the particular people to whom he was speaking, and, third, the gentlest tolerance of the views of others. All through his life these steadily developed and they ever formed a splendid background of his public career. In the year 1843 he ])reached his first regular sermon in his father's house in Peapaek, Xew Jersey, choosing foi* his text : ** Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2 : 38). At the session of the Christian conference of New HIS EARLY PREACHING 57 Jersey, held the following year, he was received as a member and licensed to preach, and soon after he was ordained to the ministry. As he went about preaching from place to place he met many of the older men of the Christian denomination to which he had turned, drawn by the simplicity and direct- ness of its scheme of belief. A large number of these men were densely ignorant, vague in their knowledge of the Bible, misty in their theology, but, withal, for the most part, honest to a degree, shrewd and earnest, many of them endowed with unmistakable talents. Not a few of them, in spite of themselves, grew sadly jealous of this powerful new figure among them, because of the learning which he brought to his service, because he had great etfectiveness in presenting the truth in ways wholly for- eign to, and wholly beyond, their cruder practices. But in his relations to them he was ever considerate and kindly ; never ostentatious, nor patronizing, nor con- descending ; ever quick to see their faults and help them in private ; ever honest and unsparing in his criticism whenever one asked him as many a one did. What is the matter with my sermons? for this man was possessed of a virile pen that could be wielded on occasion with pow- erful effect. It took gentleness and tact, tact of a high oKler, on the part of this slender stripling of a fellow uot yet out of college, to stand before some stalwart, griz- zled, consecrated, bumptious pulpit-pounder and show him how to preach. But he did it all fearlessly and, best of all, he did that which he did to the last day of his life, he won these men to him in love and held them as with bands of steel. Frequently letters came to him from those who had but sipped of the cup of knowledge bewailing their ignorance, asking him to interpret certain cloudy passages, begging for judgment on their position or criticism of their ef- ] i 58 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG forts. Many were the times when, in the midst of the most wearing and exacting toil, for he was carrying on deep studies of his own the while, he would take up an obscure text sent him by some old preacher who did not know how to handle it, dissect it, point out its various logical steps, and suggest the arrangement of the whole stumou from firstly to lastly. Many a time the extra etlbrt in answeiing these requests— amounting, practi- cally, to a writing of the sermon for the applicant, en- croached heavily upon his strength, drawing him far on into the dead of the night before he would be able to complete the woik. Here, for example, is a verbatim extract from a letter written to tlie young student— a letter which brought forth a painstaking and splendidly prepared answer : it was written by a veteran in the denomination, well known as a preacher of force, wliose lu'arei-s would scarce expect that he had availed himself of such a service from an- other man. The extract follows : '*I want to ask a favour of you. The 22 of Revelation 2 virs. Will you disect that text in all its parts ? Take both virses if you pleas, i and 2d. What is the river of The tree of life. The twelve manner of fruit c\: Co. Will you favour me with your view in full on the subject written in the Stile of sermon, if it takes two sheets of paper or more, let us have it, I'll gladly pay the postage on it. Does it require omnipotent power to create ? I would like to have your views on this sub- ject. For my part I think it does not and I have good reason for not thinking so that it does, but still My view may be rong. "Austin, is it a fact That because was anxious to kiss a Girl 14. or 15. years ago, That the Peapack Church is now destitute of preaching ? And lacking in Sympathy and love? Bub, don't you think your report rather lame ? When I go out among our folks I am asked When is your bro Craig coming up to [)ay you visit. ** 1 don't know that it w^ould be news to you to say that it's HIS EARLY PREACHING 69 tremendous hot weather. Yesterday I had a regular Pulpit ^''^'^- J, i ^^^^ y^" how it happened. The Baptist had no nieetmg (Iheir mmister being sick) so they came to our meet- ing. And they with our own congregation filled our meeting House ^over-flowing. I had (as Wagoner would say) a free time. The steam was up and you know how it goes when such IS the case In the afternoon I held a meeting in a School-House. We had a warme, heavenly melting time. After preaching we had a good prayer-meeting and I have a fond hope ^ that My yesterds labour's will be productive of some good. Pleas to rember me to your Father's family." Another letter contains this : **'rhe subjects upon which you treated in your letter to me are mighty, they are of deep importance, they are instructive, and most heartily do 1 thank you for the hints and the sketch you ZL'T: 1. . K ^''"' '^^.^^^^"^g on the New Birth. I shall shape the sketch you sent into a sermon and preach it to my congregation and they will receive the truths^herein;-bu^ perhaps they would not have done so a year ago." There wjus one (jnaint old minister with whom Austin (h'arly loved to keep up a correspondence, because of the Pitliy nature of his views of men and affairs; because, too, in his correspondence he was able to do the old preadier many a good turn in the way of sermon -suggest- miirho'l ''"''•'""'' '''''■'''^'' ^sermon-preparing. ^^hIle he ^^.ts giving one congregation whom he was t^'inporarily supplying some quite strong meat the Zl n.an wrote him thus-the extract of the leLr must got Its original form : ^ kind spirit and von InnT .!> . '^°"/°'^ ^ ^noiv yours to be a love & re nect vo" .i^ '[^'"^ndous innocent that they will ^ respect you the more for your honisty and cander. You VS A I *l / 60 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG liave given u.e a rich and racy discription of their mode of Torshfi. but a mode as I think not very congenial w.th you unsoi;l^ist.cated mind. Pleas explane to me if you can how U b 'hat a people who go in so strong for what You call anamal exctemen should be so fond of n.akeing a parade m shownig off their finery? I don't understand it. 1 always thought iL people who considered then>selves ' th. refined ' were ap- posed to animal excitement but it appears that the people go in or show and excitement too, but 1 suppose you will show them the iniquity of the one and the folly of the other before you leave them. Austin, stay as long there is any prospect of your doing good if they use you well and you can stand it. " Don't preach too much. I fear that three times a day is too often for you. Well Bub I pray that you may do grea ^„a i„ or any were else were duty may call you and live many years to see the fruits of your labours of love Ulcl Uv. H— - of Finesville has thrown away his cam and taken a Amusing indeed i.s this excerpt from a letter from one of his old friends in the miuistiy : " One week, last Sabbath, I held forth from John 3 : 3. I presented the great truths you sent me in the sketch of your Lrmon from th' t text. I need not tell you that it -s weU got off, but 1 will say the doctrine was well received. 1 he people ^y they would like .0 have it sent to the ra/MMor pul^tca- tion. I told them I did not think that our good old Pathtr Hazen would insert it in his paper for fear that the or hodox would not like it. But then they wanted to k"°«-;^h^' '^'- orthodox had to do with our paper? But even if he«ouUl print it I could not have sent it until I had consulted the author ami he was in Fall River ! If you have any not>on that I should try Hazen in reference to publishing a short sketch a sermon, why throw it in shape and I will send it on and 1 will try him ; but the worst of it is it would have to appear under my name in order to keep up appearances here ! 1 hope to receive some more sketches on important points. _ " What am I to understand," in a later letter, " by e. g. 1 I have searched the grammar Greek and Latin phrases, but can't make it out. Do you mean by e. g., 'ergo, therefore f HIS EARLY PREACHING 61 You may think I ought to know. Well, I ought to, I confess, but still I have to plead a lack of knowledge." ' During all the time that he was going from place to place preaching, he was not only carrying on much deep study but was keeping up an extensive correspondence on subjects bearing upon his future life-work. Between him and his friend, Eobert Wright, passed many letters full of the most miuute and searching analysis not only of oUsiure paasiiges of Greek but of questions of belief— of faith, sanctilication, election, the judgment, baptism, eternal punishment and reward. They had both been outspoken in the chiss-room when they were at Lafayette together on any point which to them seemed out of har- mony. "Together they protested to the faculty," a friend of later years wrote, " against iiagan text-books in the study of Greek and Latin. They could not under- stand why they should be required to .store the memory with heathen mythology and fables rather than the writ- ings of Paul in order to obtain a knowledge of the Greek language. Hence the phrase, which will be recognized by the faculty and .students of this institution of that time, ' New Testament Greek.' The remonstrance of the two young men wa.s regarded by the faculty as presump- tuous, aiul .somewliat in the nature of an innovation, if not insubordinution. Since, however, Lafayette College ha« aInest of all blue Calvinistic atmospheres. He was absolutely fearless and uncompromising : he was so at the >cgiMiiing, he was so at the end of the splendid years of Jus teaching and ministry. Down in the New Jei-sey Valley a work was awaiting mn. A formal call had come to him to take charge of '';; ^•Inirch in Feltville. Perhaps the nature of the work be ore him and his own views upon it may not better be >"t than by ^P^^^^ ^^52. ^liffe^en^linSr!^'^'^/^^^^ '°"^P^^^^ ^^ P^^^^"^ «^ tlie serv ces ofT I T ^ Christians, are desirous of securing to laH^drall .I'm '"^ minister of the Gospel who is willing croun/ nn^ r '^^^^'■^^^"'^"1' and come among us on common !^"ited Tn a Hne ^e^r^T^' ^T^l^ ^^^^^^ed, but cannot be Portable sup ort^^ % ^"•^^^"'' ^^^«^^^ man a com- support uill be secured, as well as the sympathy and 72 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG cooperation of the inhabitants. The following resolutions were passed unanimously by them at a recent meeting. If you can direct us to such a man, you will confer a favour by addressing the undersigned, by post, immediately. *' 'S. B. Jennings, *' ' F. W. Wilcox, " ' Wm. C. Brooks, ** * Committee. *" I. Resolved. That a committee of three be appointed to take into consideration the subject of selecting a suitable person as pastor and minister of this village, from any denomina- tion, provided he can meet with us on common ground of Christian Fellowshii). And all persons of every denomination of Christians shall have full and free privilege to all the ordi- nances which may be administered in this place. " * 2. Resolved. That ministers of all denominations shall have free use of the pulpit whenever any opportunity offers rendering it convenient. ***3. Resolved. That we shall deprecate any preaching or ministration from this pulpit, of a sectarian character, as highly detrimental to the cause of pure Christianity in this village.' "This call for a minister of the Gospel comes from the in- habitants of a manufacturing village near Newark, N. J. The village possesses a chapel, a schoolhouse, a public library, a Sabbath-school library, etc. He, who was recently their min- ister, having resigned his charge there, they are now desirous of settling a competent person to minister to them in holy things. The inhabitants of the village though of different de- nominations of Christians — Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Unitarians, etc. (as I knew them formerly), in- stead of dispersing in handfuls on Sundays, each to his own denominational church, here and there, wisely unite as a whole community to sustain in their midst Christian institutions and Gospel ministrations. *' The community is able to sustain one church, but not two. Herein its case is identical with that of very many villages and communities. To such villages the practical question is. Shall we have one united church, or none at all ?— One church to unite the people and be a blessing to them, most communities THE FIRST CHARGE 73 could have, if they would let alone their many frivolous and un- productive questions of speculative theology. But this they are not always wise enough to do; and so we find attempts made to support two and sometimes three churches in communities where indeed only one could be well supported, and thus the spirit of injurious worldly rivalry is begotten, ' the things that make for peace ' are forgotten, and neighbour with neighbour engages in an unholy sectarian strife, until little of the Christian spirit— the real church— i^m^ws among them -The inhabitants of Feltville happily determine to pursue a dilfcrcnt course. They are sensible of the importance of hav- nig Christian ministrations and gospel institutions maintained in their must, fheyare anxious to have the Gospel preached to them. Ihey determine to sustain one church in their village " U hat church— that is, what denominational church, shal'l it be ? Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian or Unita- rian ? No, none of these: for they say that they 'cannot be umted many one sect.' What then ? Will one tell them that in that case they had better not be united at all ? Why the patriots and liberalists in Europe have tried to secure liberty for themselves, heretofore, by working in sectional and party bands I am a Pole, and 1 a Frenchman, and I an Italian, and 1 a Hungarian, said the patriots and democrats of the dif- ferent nations. Party prejudices-national prejudices, were a lowed to separate them into factions without organizatbn and the result (not difficult to have foreseen) was failure The struggle of 1848 showed the weakness of factional efforts of democracy against united despotisms. What would you say to the defeated forces of democracy? Would you say unite consolidate your forces against the common foe^^o , would you nd ann'.r "' T' '^^^^^""^ ^ ^^^^^'^^ ^^"^ ^^^^^^^al feeling c V s'e fn r^ t '"'' "'^^"^ '^'"^ ^'^^''^ ^h^" '^ have it oth^ C theTh.L 1 "V','^"''' "' ^^'"^' Hungarians, Italians? fr^no loLer H ''"'1 differently. Pole, Hungarian, Italian, arc no longer the watchwords ; but Union for Liberty And r.inT lli e'd h"^ "^" '""^ ""'^^^ democracies into^he fieW agant allied despotism. And Heaven succeed the Right ' be true t'hat ' th^ Tih^'^^'u"^ '" ^^^^^^^^^ ^hall it'always ^\^T^^^TiJ^^^^ their generation T\l2 A' } ''^'^r '^" ""^ hght ' ? Shall we always say, I am Untarian? '/h^ / Presbyterian, and I a Friend, and H unitarian ?-and endeavour thus with divided and ill-marshalled / 74 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG forces to put to rout the consolidated hosts of wickedness ? Shall we continue to expend our Christian energies in com- l)aiing each other, because of opinional diversities, while the enemy advances steadily upon us ? 1, for one, say, for Heaven's sake, nay ! In God's name, let there be a truce to this skir- mishing and division in the Christian family ! Let Ephraim no more vex Jutlah ! Let sectarian interests and zeals be for- gotten — while with solid phalanx we go up, in the strength of God, to put to rout the hosts of darkness, and give deliverance to the world ! " To iind a mau who bhoiild minister to all of these varying beliefs, who sliould unite them all in service, who should destroy no one's faith, but strengthen the faith of all — this was the man the eonimittee believed they had found in Austin Craig, and siieh, indeed, was the man they found. The proprietor of the town, as noted, was by faith a Unitarian and so the installation sermon was preached by the Rev. H. W. Bellows, of New York, one of the famous Unitarian preachers of the day, who had become greatly interested in xVustin Craig and who remained his steadfast friend until he died. The installation was on the 23d of June, 1S50. IMinisters of other denominations in the vicinity took part. It was an auspicious introduc- tion to the first formal pastorate. Steadily the young man won his way. Now and then there might be obsta- cles, it was in the very nature of things that such there should be, but these obstacles he overcame in the same tactful, gentle, but never vacillating way that distin- guished him through all his life. His manner of pro- cedure was not to dodge the iasue whatever it was, but to nuvt it manfully and fight it to the end in the open. Frequently he invited ministers of other denominations located in the region round about to share his pulpit with him or to jircach in his ])laco. Often a young Catholic priest, who had quite a number of communicants among THE FIRST CHARGE 75 the workmen of the village, would unite with Mr. Craig in the service, one taking a portion, the other the rest, and all in the gentlest harmony. The young priest was Bernard John 3IcQuaid, now Bishop of Rochester, New York. In Mr. Craig's ''Journal of Correspondence '' are entries of several letters asking the young priest to bap- tize children of Catholic parents. Interest steadily deepened in his work. The attendance upon his meetings was large, the sympathy sustained. II..' made men think. He made them think on right lint s. He compelled them to seize the essential. He taught them how to detect veneer. He showed them that which was genuine and exposed to them that which was spurious. While he was in the midst of his pastoral labours he wiis yet carrying on his studies and keeping up a large correspondence in which many vital questions as to re- ligion or the state were discussed. But whoever thinks that a powerful intellectual manhood is developed with- out struggle falls far short of the truth. Writing from FHt ville to a friend, a few months after his installation, he Siivs : ' And .n T ' ^' ^''°' ^^"^"^ ^^" ^ '^^^y ^^ "^^"tal conflict, he mi v'tn l^^^^Tu '"""'u ^^^'y "^^" ^^'h^ h^s yielded himself re^d CarMe'.Tc;'\' ^'p ^' ^^"^^ ^^"^^ ^^^^" ^^^ ^ave leisure, v.trh th!^ f y''''' ^"''"''^^ '-'^ y^" have not read it-and trLls J.'^h ,^'"^fr'"^^T''^ ^" f^'"^'^ "^"^^- ^ have often severe con tel^ ^r^M A^ ^^r^^^^ tabernacle is the scene of many ch m a ri.h ^T ^'^' ^ ^""''^ ^eld possession, that he em m fn l^t' ^""^ ^' ''^"'^>' ^PP^^^^ ^he ^ New Man ' in his time hi ^.f ^P^^s^ss^on of his own. I hardly know some- times how It will turn at last. and ?''^''°"^"y .the ^ Old Man ' goes away for a few days no s^chTT T't t''''^' ^^^"^'"^ ' ^- '^-^-^ him; bui then uch. tV ^r'\^ T^' ^'^^" I ^'^'' expect him and t^en such a tune !~My whole house is presently turned upside ' I I V J 76 LIFP] AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG down,— my plans of usefulness dispersed — my thoughts turned upon self-ends— and my quietude broken. He came upon me last Saturday, and took me quite aback, by telling me that I do not believe in Jesus Christ. He told me that I knew very well I did not knoiv anything about the marvellous tales re- corded in the Gospel, and that it was no better than imposition to pretend to know them. I had to acknowledge to him that I did not know the truth of the marvels narrated in the Gospel ; but that I thought it probable that God had made a revelation of Himself as thus narrated. Still, I could not feel certain of it. *' But, I plainly told him that I felt determined — God, or no God, Christianity, or no Christianity — to spend mylife in labour- ing to purify and elevate my brother- man. I told him that I did believe in the Spirit of Jesus, and in His doctrine of Life ; and that I intend to make harder efforts to subdue every op- posing principle and tendency within me ; and that I 2d//// spend my life in usefulness — in doing good to mankind, and if there be no hereafter, I shall have the satisfaction, when Death comes, to think that I have lived usefully and well ; but, if the story of the Resurrection and Eternal Life be true, I shall hope by faithfulness in subduing my heart-evils, and in serving my brother-man, to obtain an entrance upon its scenes of useful- ness and joy." The following letter received by Austin Craig while at Feltville is of interest : ** Farkersburg, April g^ iSjo. " Dear Sir : " Your discourse upon the unity of the Christian Church has been received and read by me with much pleasure. By the same mail, I received another publication, which I have not yet found time to peruse, but which shall command my earnest attention for the first rainy Sunday that comes to pass. " I had seen notices of your onslaught upon sectarianism, or, rather your founding of a new sect, as was first announced, but I was in doubt whether that Austin Craig was the veritable Austin Craig of college memory. The receipt of your two tracts makes the identity a ' fixed fact ' in my mind, and I am glad thus to renew an acquaintance of ' auld lang syne.' ** But, notwithstanding your discourse is title paged as having THE FIRST CHARGE 77 been * preached ' on a certain occasion, candour compels me to acknowledge myself rather dubious as to the degree of sin- cerity or earnestness that ought to attach to your views All ideas of yourself are closely coupled, in my memory, with a stubborn propensity for quizzing, so that I am really unable to decide whether you are serious. - Let that be as it may, however, you have made one convert to your doctrine, or, you rather express and elaborate mv previously conceived sentiments so clearly and satisfactorily, that I take my stand upon your platform without hesitation W hat kw religious promptings have fallen to my lot. are ever encountered by the great stumbling-block of sectarianism. U ith some knowledge of the various creeds that have obtained I know not one to which I could subscribe without some reser' vation, even were I fitted for church-membership in other par- ticulars-which, I lament to say, is by no means the fact. 1 think you fully expose the errors and inconsistencies per- taining to the very nature of sectarianism. That incubus upon rrltr;L\' ^^V^r^Vr" ?^ '^'' priesthood-a species of priest- craft that calls loudly for another generation of Luthers Knoxes, Zwingles Calvins, Melancthons. etc., who shall pos^ the Chun h'''' """'^^ '''^"^'^'' '"^ ^ '""^^'^ reformation of lear?llT,i^'''T^"? ^^^^^^g^^^^ ^"^ must desist, until I can learn more fully whether you are a preacher, sure enou^^h or ' Sr ri^^u'"": '•^"""' "^IT '''' ' P'^'^ -"-times move^ to speak right out in meetin'.' When you inform me more par icu ar y on that subject I will comm'une mrfreely^'th seTf'fnr T .. 1^^-^'''' ^^ ^^'''^ ^^"^^^^ y«^ »^"^t blame your- ing^'^cLi^^^^^ '""^ "^"^' '' '''' ^^-"-^-- -^ y-^ ^-ax- ycirs^ iTed^f'f "^ ""' Pr'""'' ^"^ ^^^^ ^^^" ^^' the last three and wo IcTbe sHll ''^ ^ P^Per-am very fond of the business diiu uould be still more so, if it would pay better. that you'^Ml^'!- ^T ^""^ T"' ^""^ "^" ^"y «^ y^tir efforts heathen tharnrl '"'"^ '^""^^ "^' ^""^^ ^^^^ ^han half the tan en that common repute once made me appear. ^hall aSres''tEisTo"nl''^'A ^'" ^^^^ P^^^°" ' ^^ "«t, so I to subscd^ myself, ^ ^'"'^' '" ^^^""^ ^ ^'^ ^'^^^ " Respectfully, **A. McD. SlERRETT." , 78 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG Perhaps in no way may tlie spirit and character of the young preacher be better shown than by the following extracts from letters written while carrying on the Felt- ville work to various friends in response to criticism or comment or suggestion : "I dislike the phrase 'Liberal Christianity.* Christianity is never otherwise than liberal. The Apostle's Creed is the best human Creed. Don't despair of your usefulness nor of the world's final redemption." *' I will labour as a Christian with any who will permit me ; but I am anxious to be simply a member of Christ's one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. If I cannot be fellowshipped as a Christian, I must submit to be without fellowship. I would rather not join your conference, though I will endeavour to attend it. I do not know the ministers who compose it ; and they might take it upon themselves to disfellowship me— after my joining them — for my heresies ! " ** * Shall we — the Christian denomination — always be as a people without books ? ' Not if we will condescend to use the multitude of good books which others have published. We ought to learn to value good things, whether they have our denominational seal and approval upon them, or not. What answer shall we give when asked who are our most prominent writers? Answer, candidly and manfully, that we have had none of the great names in literature and science among us— that our denominational list of great names is meagre and scanty; but that the principles on which we profess to be founded, have received the suffrages of such men as Milton and Cudworth, and Newton and Swedenborg— giants in Philosophy and Literature and Science, and saints in life." *« We ought to act a noble, manly. Christian part ; and if a sense of duty demands of us to occupy a position of obloquy and reproach, we should not be backward to take that posi- tion ; if, on the other hand, we may be true to our sense of duty, and at the same time have the fellowship of the professed followers of Christ in our vicinity, that is well." THE FIRST CHARGE 79 -From my heart s bottom I hate restrictions upon free en- quiry and free discussion. I have no spark of sympathy with that spirit which seeks to screen any truth from any onslaught of Its questioners and opposers. 1 ruth asks a * fair field and no favour. '-i "w '■Now, to confess my faith I do believe in experimental religion. I believe m our obtaining and possessing the Holy Spin . I don t believe in 'getting religion,'_as that phrase is popularly understood. I believe that the Gospel is a remedial system for the cure of heart-evil :-that what all men need is sa/v,,/,on, not cuUure merely. I believe in Christian Progress • -that It is the privilege of the present generation to be wiser an. better than their predecessors ;-that we can be so, if we will give ourselves to prayer, and to a faithful study of the 1 ruth I want to feel that I am the property of Christ^; not of he Christian denomination, nor of any oVher human orga^iza- tion. I am at the same time, desirous of cultivatine fraternal relations with all the followers of Christ, especially lith those tZl L'me " TTT'T *"'^ ^''''°''"' <=°nnectio'ns hav en (ltare -'"' ^^p-v;°^ of n,'r ,• I exclusion of the good of any party • the man cllvif" " l^"""^'"'' ^"='^'" fellowship-be Cfn'ophrn t-'lvnist, or Armenian, Trinitarian, or Universalist." " ^ ' slii!^o'l.'^"rf * ^^°"<''°^" in Portsmouth, New Hamp- 'merdeuommatioual church, shows in clear form how i ,t / !l 80 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG strongly the Feltville plan was appealing to him. It was written when he had been in Feltville about three mouths : *'...! hope the society which you have mentioned as about being organized in your place on an unsectarian basis, will be preserved from the error into which some similar associations have fallen — that of regarding the forms and peculiarities of their association, more than the spirit and institutions of the Gospel. It is so common for reformers of every kind to lose sight of great, central, universal interests, and to come gradually to oc- cupy a position simply negative, that I feel interest for your society, lest it fall into the same error. ** Many of the religious organizations in Christendom are little more than theological hook and ladder companies. Their whole mission seems fulfilled in tearing doivn. They lose sight of the great, positive character of Christianity, and centre all their energies and zeal upon a single point — importayit it may be ; but the e?itire Gospel it cannot be. I am confident that the successful way of pulling down any error, is by building up the truth — building it up not merely in dogmatic statements and discussions, but in our lives, in our hearts. ** In taking the unsectarian position which you have assumed, you become an object of interest and dislike (perhaps) to the denominations around you. It is natural to expect that your society will be assailed for holding latitudinarian principles. It is also natural to expect that the pulpit of the society will sometimes be occupied in defense of your unsectarian position ; and sometimes perhaps in exposing the unscriptural position of the various sectarian bodies. Under such circumstances you will be exposed to the danger of becoming too much absorbed in controversy ; you may lose sight of the great object for which the Church exists : — (viz., to cure the heart-evils of the world) and become simply propagandists of anti-sectarian principles. I earnestly wish that God may preserve your newly formed society from such disastrous result. ** In choosing you a pastor have regard rather to his piety and zeal in promoting holiness, than to his particular interest and zeal in promulgating and defending anti-sectarianism. Be as free as Christ can make you from all creed and sect fetters; but use such freedom only as a means of procuring for your- selves a larger measure of the free spirit of God's adopted sons. THE FIRST CHARGE 81 / wish you grace and blessing from God. May He grant you in this enterprise, that wisdom which is * profitable to direct.' " But there were other, though related, principles taking form in the mind of the young preacher as well as those strictly pertaining to his pulpit work. He was becom- ing more and more interested in the affairs of his country and in the immediate welfare of the people. He had early learned the power of type and had begun contribut- ing to the denominational papers and had been selected as an assistant editor of one of them. Now and then according to the fiishiou of the day, he issued tracts' practical helpful talks, in his case, of religious character] lar unlike the namby-pamby productions of those whose chief recommendation was their facile use of cant and liy])()crisy. Austin's father took a deep interest in national politics and freciuently discussed important political events in his letters to his son, hoping, thereby, no doubt, to quicken, stnnulate, and broaden tlie young preacher. Kow and then such touclies a« these, written while Austin was at reltvillc, appear : -I heard Hill preach last Sunday. He is a flamin? Methodist says he would rather be a MetLiist preaX? I an president of the United States. He cin be onirone ^^^ t^::^^ Sviuit" ^ ^^^" ''^^ ^'^^^ "^^ "--- at PlSe^hlfa? ^f g^^r .i"/he Whig national convention salted nfc^ ^^"' '' '^'^ ^^^^^"^1 Slaughter House !) voul 1 II ^ .K ""T^^'' '^^' spokesman-that General Taylor course ff fhi Ir,,^^^ convention they were Whigs of self he wnllH '''''^ u^" "P^^ '^"^^ °^h^^ ^"^ besides him- event he T^ 1'"^^^'' lY "^"^^"^^ ^^^'^ ^"d soul and in that peol slfn^^' T" 1^ ''^^^^'"^" ^'^ "^"^^ ^^«^ before the people. Saunders further stated that he thought a change in ,'] u i |l 82 LIFE A^D LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG men and measures necessary in order to arrest the downward tendency of our government. "This looks too W biggish for me. I take the above from the Tribune^ no doubt reported truly, and also from the Herald. This statement made by the delegation of his own state secured for him the Whig nomination. Availability was about all that was looked at." In anotlier letter written to Austin lie siiys: *' There is no country in the world so prosperous, so happy and so free as this. Wliile the old world is racked and tossed with monarchy in various forms, the people are groaning to be free. They look to this as a model government and say, If we only were as well off ! A currency without a national bank, the best of any country in the world ; good prices for our produce ; plenty of enn)loyment for our people ; the tariff modified on the ad valorem principle ; our people think, talk, and act as they please; — what better? Need we want for more ? ** Democratic measures is now the settled policy of the country. General Cass is nominated and stands pledged to continue the same, — /. -e nC^ oerformance The"v '' J' Z'' •'"'"^'"S '° ^<=« •he country trot Tn f„ ?h. 7 ^ °"''^ '"^^ '"'° '»*" from hell) out th'e faTr ,ex r nm^n/^r"'u"? °"' °^ '^eir rigs and hos ler . to ake the hS^? "^ """" ^''^ '^° ' '^''^ ^^^ ^^ 'he , I I ' I) I 84 LIFP: and letters of AUSTIN CRAIG Broiideniiij; and deepening his iil'e both by his own study and by welcoming and profiting by the stimuhitiou of such outside intlueuces, Austin continued through the months of his work in Feltville arousing men and women to elfort, steadying them in their religious faith, and strengthening it where it was weak, while all the time holding them to him by the winsomenCvSS of his love. \V hen it seemed best that he should leave them for a wider field of labour this is what they said : " At a meeting of the citizens of Feltville, Essex County, New Jersey, held at the church this day, David Felt, Esq., was called to the chair and Philos Gisburne appointed secretary. The undersigned were appointed a committee to draft resolu- tions expressive of their feelings with regard to the services of Rev. Austin Craig as pastor of the church in this place during the last year. " In entering upon the discharge of this duty the committee felt consiilerably embarrassed from the delicacy of the sul)ject and from a consciousness of their inability truly and sufficiently to express the kind feelings cherished by every one in our midst towards Mr. Craig. "To most of the inhabitants in this place and its vicinity Mr. Craig has been known upwards of three years and during this lapse of time they have yet to learn of the first deed or act performed by him in the least conflicting with strict propriety or Christian demeanour. As a man we know him but to love and res{)ect him. As a minister of the Gospel we regard him as altogether beyond all that would seem to hold communion with the worldly-tending elements that have so strongly en- trenched themselves in too many hearts — in too many minds. We believe him to be entirely consistent in the opinions he entertains and that those opinions are not formed without due deliberation and careful enquiry. Upon one point we wish distinctly to speak and we speak it with unfeigned pleas- ure. Never during his labours among us, has he spoken dis- respectfully of any denomination or sect of Christians, but has freely canvassed everything connected with this progress of the Christian religion with the utmost deference to the opinions and convictions of others, and with an entire absence of every- THE FIRST CHARGE 85 thing which could by any possibility be construed into faction or disorganization. "In short we may close by briefly saying that Mr. Craig has been faithful as a minister among us, honest, upright, high minded and just as a man,— earnest, consistent and devoted as a Christian. -In parting ^yith him we sustain a loss in the intellectual, moral and social circles of our community that we fear it will be difficult if not impossible to fill. We commend him to the tavourable opinions and good wishes of all with whom he may associate or in the circle of whose society he may move 'I And may the Great Head of the Church long continue the health and life of one who seems so peculiarly well fitted in every point of view to assist mankind in attaining those great ends which the God of nature has designed for the lot of all who obey her laws and keep her commandments. '* David Felt, "Philos Gisburne, " H. A. Guild, ** William Smith, ** Daniel Jewett." I 4 A I . i ' VI THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS AN important event in the life of Austin Craig occurred while he was in Feltville. It was the delivery of the conference address at the annual meeting of the Christian ministers and churches, held at Camptown, now Irvington, New Jersey, May 18, 1850. Ever burning within the heart of this young man was the fire of a splendid devotion to Truth ; ever the Truth no matter where he found it, who uttered it, who opposed, who endorsed it ; no matter, indeed, who should be over- thrown by its utterance. He had lost no opportunity to publish long and short articles in the denominational press, presenting in the clearest and most trenchant man- ner his reasons for believing in the Church of Jesus Christ rather than in the church of Wesley, or Calvin, or Luther, or the church of any creed or sect. One of the chief attractions of Feltville was the opportunity for coming into contact with a large publisher and printer, Mr. David Felt, the founder of the town ; thus opening the way to the issuance of such pamphlets or tracts as he desired to put forth. Now and then some article which he would propose to the Palladium^ one of the Church periodicals, would be refused, whereupon he would proceed to issue and dis- tribute it himself. The article might not fit the groove in which the periodical ran, but it was sure to find its place in the hearts of the people, approved by the sane and liberal, condemned perhaps by the ultra orthodox ; but admired by both. In a letter to a friend he says : 86 THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS 87 -I observe that you write less frequently than formerly for the lalladiutn. I suppose the reason is the same as my own- easy to write for it ; but difficult to get it pubhshed. I tried as long as I thought it useful, and am now awaiting a change in the editorial authority. I have never written for the Chris- tian Register, I did send the Christian Inquirer one article • I am morally certain its length if nothing else would have ex- cluded It from the Palladium. It is published by the Ameri- can Unitarian Association as a tract, occupying twenty-seven 1 2 mo pages. " Since I cannot write for the Messenger what I feel special interest in, I must seek some other channel— viz., tracts I am directing my attention to that and trying to interest my friends in It. Russel's defection gives me no uneasiness. I look for the hna triumph of truth. A greater progressive work a hun- dredfold, is going on for Christian freedom in earnest minds in society, than compensates this retrocession. An interesting and miportant movement against sectarianism is going on in western New York under the auspices of Gerritt Smith and others A fevv years will probably reveal an immense accession to free principles in religion, and perhaps a great defection from them among us. *' 1 would like to publish some thoughts on the themes you So'tdf rf' ,'"^'p t"'P^*"^ "^^ '^^ government of ^he st iM.' ?."' '• ^T^""^. u'^ "^^''^^^ '^ conference this spring may be occupied with these things." The movement referred to above had taken form in wh:i was called an A nti -Sectarian convention, held in til. I resbyterian church at Peterboro, New York. Gerrit M was deeply interested in the movement. Heir to ^t arge estate and devoted to its administration, he wa^ ;,1;.V Jf ^"^ ^^'^'^ movements looking towards the 1 I uation of body or mind. His outspokenness on the « a -ry question attracted the young preacher^s attention •• Ins great liberality in these and later years in pro- ^0 oon ^^' ^'''''''^^'' ^^""^^^ ^"^ whites,- some cl r T'"^ ""^ ^^"^ ^""^^ ^^"« distributed free of caarge,~kept him in a warm place in Austin Craig^s ;i 'J ii '/' t) i 88 LIP^E AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG heart. On receipt of somo information regarding the Peterboro meeting he wrote to Mr. Smith for ampler data. Tlie latter responded, seuding the iuformatiou, accom- panied by a note saying : ** Dear Brother Craig : " I thank you for your letter. I send you what you wish. We shall probably have a similar convention at Syracuse 2 1 St and 2 2d inst. 1 wish you would attend. Feb. I, iSjo. **Gerrit Smith." All the ellbrt he had so far put forth for Christian unity culminated, if we may so express it, at this period in the conference address. It not only aroused and held the inteiest of those who heard it, but it grij)ped hold upon many others, reaching them through the pami)hlet form in which it soon appeared, and, by a still wider circula- tion in the columns of the New York Tribune to which Mr. Greeley warmly welcomed it, both for its attractive literary character and for the clearness and power of its content. This address, — a state paper of the Church, a notal>le document, a great platform, if you will ; — even more, a Declaration of Independence, — is the more re- markable and noteworthy because it came from the pen of a young minister not yet twenty-six years of age, pas- tor of an obscure country church. That it proves as timely and as interesting at the l)eginning of the twentieth century as it did in the middle of the nineteenth, sug- g(\sts at once the power of the man who prepared it and the universality and vitality of Truth. The address which Austin Craig headed with the cap- tion, *' Ourselves; Our Principles; Our Present Con- troversy ; Our Immediate Duties, '' was lus follows : Christian Pastors and Delegates, Brethren : — I greet you again assembled in annual conference. Again Divine Mercy permits us to exchange fraternal greetings, and to take THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS 89 the friendly hand Again we have met to cooperate in the cause of Jesus, and to unite our voices in His praise. May His presence be with us— and His blessing forever » In accordance with a vote passed at our last session, I appear before you to deliver the customary conference address-to speak to you of our progress, our condition, our prospects I enter upon the performance of this duty with feelings of more than ordinary mterest. ^ It is known to you that since our last annual gathering a very important movement has commenced in some of the churches professing our principles in New England This movement— hailed by some as an omen of prosperity,' but de- nounced by others as the commencement of a destructive ai)ostasy— contemplates the virtual abandonment of our old prniciples and the organization of our -Connexion" upon a new and distmctly sectarian basis. A convention of delegates from our several conferences has been called to assemble at Marion in the ensuing autumn To this convention we must, at our present session, appoint a dele- gate to participate in its deliberations ; and to vote in our name upon the settlement of the questions now agitated among us Ihese considerations impel me to occupy this hour in dis- roursmg upon ourselves : -our principles; our present con- troversy ; our immediate duties r present con ^'Cuir^'^f^^''' '''^'?}' '"'^^'^^ ^" '^^ formation of the 'Chnstian Connexion," commenced in a desire to eniov the complete liberty of the Gospel. The pioneers in this moTement senile oTthT ' T'" P-testant 'sects, who harbecome idtv of ff^L ^^^^^^^^'^"f^^' ^nd longed to return to the n i5rK u ^S^ ""^'^ ^^ 'P^^^^ ^^hi^h characterized the E al tn ^r^;- ^''^'^'T'''^ ^" ^" ''' f«^'^^' ^hey declared d^^^^^^ ^""'"'^ legislation, in matters of re- l^ious faith, they regarded as a usurpation of the authority of ItL^ ''^^^' ^^'' movement was represented by its un on Th.^n ""^T^^i: ^l'^' Christian liberty and Christian u rih.f n P'l"^^P^^^ ^^ this movement may be briefly summed up m the following statements : ^n!\' rrJ^^^ u^^?' '' ""''^ ^//^/rr//_established by Jesus Christ: ceid h'- ''^'"1'"^ ^':!- ""^'^''y ^^' ^"^ "^ti«" ^ho have ac'- an h. l^^'-i^^ predicted Messiah, the Saviour of the world : and have heartily submitted to His authority. 2. That Jesus Christ is the sole Lawgiver of this Church : 90 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG so that only He has authority to determine what His Church shall believe, and what it shall practice. 3. That the New Testament contains all the legislative en- actments of Jesus Christ for His Church. That it is the only and sufficient rule of Christian faith and life : and hence that every attempt by individuals or associations to dictate a/ticles of faith or rules of conduct to the Church of Christ, or to any member thereof, is unauthorized and schismatical 4. That all enactments of Jesus respecting things to be be- l.eved and practiced by His followers, are Iddressed to each individual meml>er of His Church ; and are to be submitted to by each as, after a prayerful study of his Master's will, he shall understand Him to require. 5. That men are made members of the Church of Christ bv spiritual regeneration. ^ be^exteT.ried 't ' ^^'^^^^'^^ip of the Church in any place should be extended to every applicant upon a credible profession of ^ Rq>entance towards God, and faith towards ouJ Lord Jesus 7: That a credible profession of faith is that which accom- panies such love to God as leads the professor to endeavour obedience to all His commands known as such ; together ld"h such love to mankind as leads him to endeavou'r thfdischSe re. rd u" ''^ """V^ ''J ^ '^''''' ^^ ^^^^l^f^lness and brotherly regard. He who thus does, affords all the evidence the New lestament authorizes us to require that he is a suitable person to be admitted to the fellowship of the Church ^ 8 That the i)roper designation of the collective body of ot Lhr s ) in such a place : not - Baptist Church,'' - Presbv- tenan Church," -Methodist Church," etc. And that he proper c esignation of a member of the church is Christian • no Presl>yterian, Methodist, Unitarian, or Lutheran in adopting these principles our pioneers supposed they were placing themselves upon the original basis of the Church-upon iVable ' Th" Th"'"' ^'^ ""'^" ^^ ^" Christians is pr'ac me' thl '^' 1 ""t ^"''^''^^ '^^" formation of a new sect! It s orob 11^17' ""^'"'''"^ ^'"'^"^'>' consociated them. And ^uTnfH '' '^^ opposition they encountered in promul- fh Vnir mher^'i-^'' '^ ^'' 'r ' ^'"^ ^^ -P^^^^i-" between see eH 1 f '"^'^^•^^"^^^^' ^^at to superficial observers it seemed as if a new sect was being formed by schismatics from THE COXFEREXCE ADDRESS 91 various religious denominations. As Schismatics, however, they did not regard themselves— very properiy considering tiiat Schism consists in departing from the divinely instituted basis of Christian fellowship ; not in returning thereto. Noth- ing, 1 believe, was further from the intention of the early advo- cates of- the movement whose progress to-day assembles us than the organization of a sect. They intended only to impart to their fellow Christians that increase of Gospel light and lib- erty with which the Divine Mercy had blessed them. They went forth, east, west and south, endeavouring to heal the unhappy divisions among the followers of the Lord ; and entreating men everywhere to accept the Gospel in that simplicity of faith and catholicity of spirit which characterized the primitive Church. As 1 have already intimated, they encountered opposition. Sectarianism (as was to be expected) would not permit the promulgation of principles which aimed its destruction, without an effort to oppose them. And it did oppose them. Every- where where went the preachers of liberty, sectaries sounded an alarm. Untrue and injurious reports were put in circulation respecting their principles and designs. It was asserted that they were deniers of the Holy Spirit, and that they esteemed the Son of God to be a man like themselves. These state- ments, in not a i^yj instances, were made by men whose Chris- tian profession, and whose position as religious guides, im- parted irresistible weight to their false testimony. Thus the pulpit generally was closed against them, and the mind of the several religious bodies effectually prejudiced against their teachings. What ensued was what was precisely to be expected. Being thus assailed, our reformers thought themselves impelled to the adoption of some plan of concerted action. Accordingly they associated themselves, and commenced the work of organizing churches of such as sympathized with them. Many preachers were raised up among them who itinerated extensively, preach- ing whenever and wherever they could obtain a hearing ; and many churches were planted through this instrumentality. ihese churches, however, were generally regarded with dis- tavour by the religious societies which surrounded them. This naturally engendered among the adherents of the new Connex- ion a dislike for the *' Sectarians" (as they often termed their brethren of the other denominations), while it tended to inter- weave still more closely the sympathies of the *' Christian " ( ;.t I ' 92 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG churches, until they finally appeared in a distinctly denomina- tional position. 'I'hen began a change. Owing to the frequent misrepresen- tations of their doctrinal tenets, their preachers had come to occupy themselves more with Dogmas and less than formerly with Principles. Challenges to i)ublic discussion of a variety of doctrinal points were frequently exchanged with ministers of various sects. Sometimes the discussions which ensued oc- cupied several days, and were attended by hundreds of inter- ested auditors. These discussions could hardly fail of exciting a lively interest throughout the " Connexion "—the more so, as reports of them were carried by the itinerants into every part of it. Soon the ministry of the " Connexion " began to theologize. One by one the prominent dogmas of Sectdom were made the topics of their public discourses. Then sharp controversies and sect-criminations and re-criminations ensued.— Then their pulpits commenced to resound with strange words. And in the din, loud above all the rest, was continually heard. Trin- ity ! Trinity / / Tklmtv ! ! ! As might have been expected, many of those who joined the '* Connexion " during this period, learned to regard the differ- ence between the *' Christians'' and the other religious bodies as consisting mainly in their rejection of some dogmas held as sacred by other religionists, and the substitution of a rational and consistent theology. This notion was, however, incor- rect. Theological opinions held a secondary })lace in this movement. That they had anything to do with it was indeed quite accidental. Whether ''Immersion" or "Aspersion" is valid baptism — whether God exists in "Trinity" or in strict unity — whether Jesus is a man or a God — were not the ques- tions with which this movement commenced. The movement, 1 repeat, was originally a struggle for prin- ciples. It was not a conflict about dogmas. But such, unhap- pily, it soon came in a great measure to be. And such it must ever be when religion is accepted rather as a subject for the intellect than as a spring of life to the affections. Then char- ity will cool ! Then controversies will arise ! Then the spirit of life will depart from the Church ! Then purposes and plan- nings for sectarian advantage will agitate the minds of men and expel the spirit of Christian effort and love. And so, to a con- siderable extent, it was in our Connexion. On this point I THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS 93 need not here particularize. I will only refer to a single and well-known fact : A few years ago a great dearth of piety commenced m our churches. Complaints of coldness and spiritual apathy reached us from every quarter. We wondered that it was so, and various causes of the evil were imagined and various plans suggested for its removal. But the evil has not been removed. It is still pressmg upon us, and many are now earnestly askmg, What is the matter ivith us ? and what is the remedy for our ailme,it ? These questions— now more or less agitated in every portion of our Connexion— appear to have excited the deepest interest among our brethren in New England. Their organ has contained, during the last few months, nothing so interesting and earnest as its discussions of our denommational position and ailments. And, although in regard to these subjects, the opinions expressed have been various, we well know that some of the most vigorous minds in that quarter of our Connexion have declared that the great cause of our evils is Latitudinarianism. We are (say they) not sufficiently uniform in our faith and practice— we are not enough denominational. We should therefore assume a more decidedly sectarian position. But— that we may not misapprehend them— let us hear their very words : "The Christian Connexion of this country came out from other parties and formed one more sect about the year i8oo I say j^r/, because they adopted a name and sentiments differ- ent from the parties they had left. Did they do wrong in so doing ? If so, they had better return from whence they came There can be no harm or sin in regarding the Christians as a sect. If we were more uniform in faith and practice it would be to us, and to the cause of our Saviour, a blessing. Our churches have suffered much from false doctrines preached by men who were received among us because their moral char- acter was good. The phrase * liberal Christianity ' has often ensnared them from its liability to abuse. The ChristianP imst have regularity, and look to their own interests, or they will be a scattered and devoured people. " ^^^'ould impress upon the minds of our youth a love for our attairs and operations. Our children should be taught to love the denomination of their fathers' choice. Do this; and wnen the fathers are dead, their children will walk in the same aenommational footsteps. None should excuse themselves ^ll' I 94 LIFE AM) LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG from this effort for fear of sectarianism. . . . The Chris- tians are, and must be, a sect. It cannot and should not be avoided. ... In this light 1 view the Christians : and as a member of that Connexion, I should prove recreant to hon- esty and consistency if I did not use the means and influences in my power to advance her denominational interests in preference to all others." These paragraphs — copied from a late number of our New England organ — are from the pen of an esteemed and mfluen- tial "Christian" minister, and are commended to our attention both by the importance of the subject they treat, and by the high standing of the writer. 1 commence a brief review of this writer's position by re- marking that some of the things which he alleges as causes of our denominational woes, are evidendy the result of agencies over which no possible system of denominational compacture can have any control. If *' our churches have suffered from false doctrines," so have the churches of every denomination : — and those whose sectarian lines have been tightly drawn, not a whit less than those whose denominationalism has been lax or liberal. Creed-governed sects have contained as many wicked men, and produced as many false doctrines, as the more liberal sects. Wherever a deficiency or superficialness of the spirit of Christian life exists, there of necessity '• false doctrines" will obtain : and they will obtain in spite of the most stringent creed that human wisdom can devise. For, a church in which the Bible becomes partially a dead letter, will experience no difficulty in making its creed such also. It is a fact which may be read anil known of all men that the most stringent creed systems ever employed to govern the Church and to preserve its [)urity, have j>roved themselves utterly impotent to keep alive the love spirit of our faith, or to prevent the irruptions of heterodoxy. This last statement is amply confirmed by the history of those rigid denominational- ists, the older Calvinistic sects. In England, for instance, the Presbyterians gradually abandoned the doctrines and govern- ment of their founders; and passing through Arminianism and Arianism, have ended in Socinianism. In the Congregational churches of New England, what multitudes have apostatized from the rigid system of their forefathers into Unitarianism ! In the Anglican Church, once Calvinistic in its faith, and still Calvinistic in its creed, Arminianism is known to be the actual 'J THE COXFEREXCE ADDRESS 95 faith of .the great majority of its clergy. The Presbyterian Church m the United States, you well remember, was agitated a few years ago by an internal controversy which resulted in the separation of many thousands from the original body who strange to say, had come to maintain the very tenets, for the exclusion of which, their creed was particularly deigned f nT then. '""TT" ' ^^'''' ^^-^ "^"^ ^^"^^ ^ "^^^^^ ^^SSOn from them, at this juncture, in our denominational affairs Suppose we should adopt a strict denominational system.* What security would we have that our system could preserve uniformity of faith, and prevent the entrance -of false doc- trine while these far stricter systems than we could possibly adopt, have so signally failed ? v^^^i^i}f Nay, my brethren, we cannot prevent '* false doctrine" bv denominational legislation. Should we write the true doctrine in a creed book and demand assent to it of our ministry, and unanimously resolve upon its uniformity, the ** false doctrine" could not even thus be kept at bay. A few years would per- haps exhibit us in the predicament of the Church of England • with one kind of doctrines enforced in our creed, and their ver^ opposites proclaimed from our pulpits ^ But, says the brother before quoted,-- the Christians must have regularity, and look to their own interests ; or they wnibe a scattered and devoured people " ^ reSitv?'' Ther."""'' ^'^' ^^g"^^"^y-" But what kind of regularity? There is a factitious regularity, the product of denominationa systems of external order ; and Teres a heavenly regularity, the harmonious workings of the ove sp.nt left to the sole guidance of its own law. ^ Wh ch - rS ei g a '^s^attrd and"^ d^ '"^ ^^"^^T^ ^^""^^ ^^ -"'- saved others Th. ?ni T'""^- P"?P^"'" ^^^^"^^ '' ^as not uh7.K K u ^ ^ '''^^"'" ^^^^ ^S' ^hat those denominations it^'s^rttered'Tnd'' T '"'.'^" ^^^"^^^^^>^ ^^^ ^^^ "vT^ich Tl^^f devoured people " in Christendom. been Hiv H H ?'' ^ reed -governed, Protestant sects has no "re^ularlv" tT/ f How can we expect this factitious ^S'///l r^L^ ""T ^^'' '' ^^' "^^ ^^"^ ^^' others? tl 2'^' I repeat, we do want ; we must have :— regularity no factitious and earthly (God save us from that)-bufheavenV ha e^' re^^lX "' ^"^/^"^ inspire our hearts, and we shaU nave regularity enough. That will be the regularity of the 1' i ii 'J-: )t 96 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG living, harmoniously developing man ; the other, at best, would be but the dead, mechanical regularity of an automaton. And such, I believe, would be the "regular mode " proposed in the following editorial extract : '* We want every church to adopt certain rules of agreement touching their moral and Cliristian deportment — their obliga- tions to each other and the church with which they unite ; their obligations to act together both as private citizens and members of one body ; and that these rules of agreement obligate Qa.c\\ mem- ber to walk by certain specific Scripture rules, such as attend- ance upon the various kinds of meetings of the church ; the or- dinances ; acting with the church in sustaining the Gospel ac- cording to their ability ; maintaining church discipline accord- ing to Scripture specifications, etc. " IVe want those who unite with our churches to understand that these things are enjoined in the Scriptures, and that all who unite with us agree thus to walk. Then we want that our conference should adopt rules obligatory on ail its members, which shall obligate each to act with his brethren in carrying on the great work of saving souls, by [)reaching the doctrine of Christ, honouring the name and cause of religion, by a regular mode of admission, ordination, examination and labour.'' The plain English of this extract seems to be that " our churches" should no longer permit their ministers nor mem- bers to understand the Scriptures according to the light which God may give to them individually; and to act according to their own views of its requirements, without constraint of their brethren : that, on the contrary, our ministers ought to be "ob- ligated " by conferential rules, to exercise their ministerial functions in that i)ai ticular mode which a majority of the votes of conference may determine; that " every church " ought to adopt " certain rules of agreement " touching their obligations to each other and to the church of which they are members ; and that these rules should " obligate " them to walk by "cer- tain specific Scripture rules " ; of which one at least is nowhere contained in Scripture:— I mean that one which enjoins " at- tendance on the various kinds of meetings of the church." I am surprised at such sentiments from such a source — from men whom we had ever regarded as earnest and efficient ad- vocates of Christian liberty. Strange! that our r** « h I 102 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG God ; and have submitted to His authority. But respecting how He is God's Son, I have never yet been able to form a satisfactory opinion. Now, if Christians do differ in opinion, ought such differ- ences to proceed to the extent of causing divisions and separa- tions among them? Cannot Christians of different opinions ** walk together " in church relations ? Can they not cooperate for the furtherance of the interests of piety and humanity? Can they not unite in worship, and meet at the communion board with those whom they expect to meet in the pure worship and spiritual communion of heaven ? Why cannot Christians consent to bear with one another's frailties and mistaken opinions ? Difference of opinions does not justify alienations in your families ; why should it cause them in the family of God ? You do not debar your neighbour from the communings of the social circle because he differs with you in his views of various topics upon which you converse ; why then should you debar from your church communion your Christian brother because he cannot view some few points in the same light that you see them ? Shall mutual forbearance be exercised everywhere but in the Church of God ? Come, now; if Christ has received us, let us receive one another ; let us give each other the fraternal hand. We will let opinions separate us no more. Believe you as you shall see reason for believing — I will do the same. Be a Calvinist if you must, or an Arminian ; it is enough for me to know that you are a Christian. As a Christian I will receive you. Would not this be right ? is it not desirable ? Desirable ! " Who desires " — says a brother before quoted — ** to class in the same church an honest Calvinist and an honest Free- wilier ? " (Question, Does not Jesus Christ?) ** Let Calvinists have organizations by themselves. Free-grace believers by themselves, and so on." '* And so on I" But, how far ** on " ? Let us see : There will need be several kinds of Calvinistic organizations; for there are several classes of Calvinists : there are <' Hyper-Cal- vinists," "Strict Calvinists," and "Moderate Calvinists." These are subdivided by opinions on various topics. For instance, in regard to church government, there are Calvinists who believe in Episcopacy, in Presbyterianism, in Congrega- tionalism, and in Independency. Calvinists believing in Episcopacy are separated into " High Churchmen " and " Low THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS 103 Churchmen.'' Calvinists believing in Congregationalism are divided by the Baptisn.al question. Some of them are Ban- tists; some are Pedo-Baptist. Calvinists believing in Presbv- tenanism are divided into the " Regular " (as the Church of Scotland) and " Dissentmg." Dissenting-Presbyterfan-Calvin- isls are divided mto "Relief-Synod," "Reformed-Synod," "beceder, and so on. Seceder-Dissenting-Presbyterian-Cal- yuiists were formerly divided into - Burghers " and " Anti- Karghers ; which, however, were mostly united some thirty years ago, and now form the "United Secession Church.'' But this does not include the sect known as "Original Seceders " Now, If a difference of opinion respecting "Free-will" can justify us in saying, "Let Calvinists have organizations by themselves, and Free-grace believers by themselves," why may we not say also, let the " United Secession "-Dissenting^s^ byterian-Calvinists have organizations by themselves, and the -Original Seceder ''-Dissenting -Presbyterian -Calvinists by hemselves ! And if we may say, " Who desires to c ass in ^ ler''^? 'h'''^ "'^ ^""^'^ ^^^^^"^^^ ^^'^ ^" J^onest Free iller ? why may we not also say. Who desires to class in the same church an honest Pro-Slavery-Methodist-Episcopal bdiev'er-in-the-Immersion-of-Believers-only, with an honest Anti-Slavery-Methodist-Episcopal-believer'in-infant-s^rinklTn^^^^ Or o go "on" yet further (for all this talk is about op n ion quahfications concerning which the Bible says nothing) Who ^^^^l^^rw^'u'Z'^''^ ' Protective-Tariffife^'and a nee- trader ? Why should there not be parties of Free-trade Christians and High-tariff Christians, each having an organiza ion by Itself, as well as the Calvinists and Frelwillerf? Is Free-trade as proper a test of church fellowship as Free- y I rue, the Bible does not authorize us to make Free- ^i\^iu''Y ""^^^^^ but neither does it to make iustifv h. f V" ^^. '' ^" ''^" further- Why should we not JUS ify he formation of a new sect upon the basis of every new nn onanf? ' V ^^'''^."''^ "T^ ^^^""^ "P°" ^"^ imagine to be cZ tVr 1 ' ''I'y """^ ^ " N^ ^^0 ^an ^^^^k together ex- and .nn^K t^^'f"^''' '^>^' ^ S^^^ b^^fher, before quoted: and another brother_a former editor of our New England u th.f ""r ^" ^^^"^^"^ber of the "Connexion "-assures Leorir -Tu^-'^'V"^'^' ^" '^^ "^^"^^ «f things, differ Te or..nf 'r" '^"'' '^^^olog^cal views; and to fuse them into one organization is not the way to promote Christian union." <« ).' 104 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG PI », I say, then, let sects and divisions be niultiplied. Let every view and every opinion in theology be made the basis of a sepa- rate sect-organization. Let our hundreds of sects become thou- sands. In every village where one church would be sufficient (but where there are now two or three), let there be a dozen or twenty. And then let all these churches sedulously cultivate a denominational spirit. Let every good man connected with them tell his brethren — " We are a sect. I sincerely hope we will be more denominational than ever ! We must look to our own interests. Our children should be taught to love the de- nomination of their fathers' choice. I will use all the influence and means in my power to advance our denominational interest in preference to all others." If every member in every sect of the thousands thus to be formed should so resolve, gracious Heaven ! when would the prayer of Jesus be answered, and His followers become one? " The prayer of Jesus ! Did Jesus pray for the unity of His followers?" Indeed He did. Read His prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John's Gospel : "Holy Father ! keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one as we are. . . . Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall be- lieve on Me through their word ; that they all may be one ; as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." Christians would be one in a very intimate sense, if they were one as Jesus and His Fatlier are. If all Christians were one in them, then were separations and strifes and discords ended forever. And why should not unity reign in the fold of Christ ? God has provided His followers with every element necessary for unity. The Church has ever had one faith (Eph. 4: 5). In this "one faith" all Christians are united, how much soever they may be at variance in their opinions. Then again, we have "one Lord," "one hope," "one calling," "one bap- tism." There is also "one Spirit," and it is said in Scripture that Christians "have been all made to drink into one spirit " (i Cor. 12 : 13). In this consisted the unity of the first Chris- tians — '* the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul " (Acts 4 : 32). Nothing is said about their opinions ; we are told simply that they were united in affection and in purpose. They kept "the unity of the spirit " ; and THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS 105 "by one spirit they were all baptized into one body** (i Cor. 12 : 13). In several places in the New Testament the Church is repre- sented under the figure of the human body ; of this mystic body Christ is the head, and all His followers are members. So Paul in a certain place says, "As we have many members in one body, . . . so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another " (Rom. 12:4, 5). In another place, i Corinthians 12 : 24, 25, the same Apostle tells us that "God hath tempered the body together; . . . that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another." God therefore designs that the utmost unity shall reign in His Church— that it shall be " One Body." But how, I pray you, can the Church become "one body," so long as it is sundered into a thousand fragments ? How can we be truly "members one of another," while we are separated into in- numerable sects, and will hold no church fellowship with each other? And how can Christians feel " the same care one for another," when each connects himself with a litde exclusive party; and determines that he will "use the means and in- fluence in his power to advance her denominational interest in preference to all others " ? My brethren, we have no right, under any pretense, to make divisions in the Church of Christ. We have no right to form an ecclesiastical organization upon principles and regulations of our own devising, and name it a Christian church.— We have a right — we who are Christians in any place — to associate as a church upon the principles established by Jesus. If we do this, we shall be a Christian church differing from the Church universal only as the part differs from the whole. In this case we shall be true unionists ; and all who refuse our fellowship, knowing that westand upon theoriginal principles of the Church, will be schismatics; and must answer to God for their sin. Into the Church thus constituted, we have no right to refuse admission to any Christian who applies for our fellowship. All local churches, being parts of the Church universal, should be governed by the laws which Christ has ordained for the Church : not by conferential enactments, and regulations of their own invention. They shall also extend the same kind of fellowship, I t' I 100 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG ni and practice the same kind of communion, that Christ has in- stituted for His one Church. In so far as any church recedes from the observance of those laws which Christ has ordained for the government of His Church, either by dropping some of them or by adding others of their own construction ; and in so far as any church adopts any other basis of fellowship, or es- tablisiies any other kind of communion, than that which the sole Head and Lawgiver of the Church has api)ointed ] in so far, that church becomes either a mere human institution, or a ♦' synagogue of Satan." Some there are who, I fear, will deem these remarks unkind or unreasonably earnest. I assure such that I design no un- kindness by these remarks. If I have spoken very earnestly, it is from a conviction of duty caused by a sense of the enor- mous evil of sectarianism. That sectarianism is an evil, most thoughtful persons admit. But the mass of those whose atten- tion has not been [)articularly given to its principles, and who have seen little of its practical working, will scarcely deem it so great an evil as I have represented it. Oh ! that they might see it in all the horrid deformity of its real character. Oh ! that God-fearing men everywhere would join heart and hand for its overthrow. Oh ! that the youth of our country— as yet untrammelled by sect influences, and generously aspiring to worthy deeds— would be persuaded to cast the weight of their talents and influence against sectarianism, that monster enemy of man and of God. Am I too earnest in this? Well, be it so— I cannot speak carelessly and dispassionately of sectarianism. I cannot forget that my Saviour, with almost His dying breath, prayed ear- nestly for the unity of His Church. Could He remember it in the dark hour of His death-agony, and shall His follower for- get It ? Nay ! Be such prayer ever upon my tongue, and its spirit ever in my heart !— *' Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word ; that they all may be one ; . . . that the world may be- lieve that Thou hast sent Me." The conversion of the world to Christianity is thus suspended upon the unity of Christians. Make all believers truly "one" — one in spirit, one in aim, one in holy effort — and you bring all nations to the feet of Jesus. Divide the Church by sects and conflicting interests, and you deprive the Gospel of its power, and strengthen the hands of unbelief. THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS lor " What few religious promptings have fallen to my lot," said a young man of fine talents and influential position, **are ever encountered by the great stumbling-block of sectarianism. " This is the experience of multitudes. The divisions in the Church are the great stumbling-block by which many fall into indifl*erence and skepticism and ruin ! O Sectarianism ! thou enemy of all righteousness ! thou bane of charity ! thou fomenter of infernal discords ! thou who art fattening upon the bleeding hearts and ruined souls of men ! thou who hast mangled and torn asunder the mystic body of the Son of God ! thou who hast mocked His expiring agonies, and set at naught His dying prayer! Arch-fiend of the universe ! God hasten thy return to thy native hell 1 And He will hasten it. Sectarianism shall not always curse the earth, and rend the Church of God. Messiah's prayer shall be answered. '* He shall see the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied." The ''Body" of our Great Master— like Him entombed a while— shall arise and live. " The Lion of the tribe of Judah " will again prevail. With the grasp of omnip- otence will He raise His Church from her grave, and will speak in her ear that long lost word of her ancient power, " Love one another:" and the living Church will hear it and will speak it again,— Love one another ! Ah ! could we understand it, in this lies the power of our religion. So, at least, the primitive Church believed, and so its example evinced. "See how these Christians love one another," was the testimony which the faithfulness of the primitive believers extorted from their adversaries. The living, ever active love of the early Christians was the argument that stopped the mouths of skep- tic-sophists, and the power that blunted the sword of persecu- tors. It was this that caused the pagan nations to cast away their idol-gods and bow to the authority of Jesus. It is this that the Church needs now. It needs a revival of the spirit of Divine love— of brotherly kindness— of charity, that it may learn to bear with the weakness of brethren — and of self-devo- tion, not to sect interests, but to the universal interests of the kingdom of God. This is what the Church needs, and this is what our Con- nexion needs. We must cease our scheming and contriving for mere denominational advantage, and must learn to regard the interests of the whole Christian brotherhood. We should nave less theologizing : we have so much of it that many of us i;, I ;l li 108 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG have fallen into the error of regarding a few controverted dogmas as the very vitality of our faith. We cannot prosper if we are much occupied with disputings about opinions — with theologic hair-splittings and dogma-mongerings. The atmos- phere which nourishes these things is destructive of spiritual health. Let us abandon it to those who find it congenial. Let us determine to accept Christianity as the life of the heart — as a love-religion. This will do us good. This is what "our churches" need. We do not need a new form, but a new life — not coincidence of opinions and uniformity of practices, but the unity of the spirit — not an adoption of "obligatory" conferential enactments, but an increased obedience to God's commandments. An esteemed brother says : ** If we would promote union and harmony among us, there is a far better course than making laws. Let us not be so self- righteous — pretending we have done the best under the laws we have. Let us own that our law is perfect, and that we have failed in obeying it ; and now, let us yield fully to its commands, and plainly teach them to all the people. For this purpose we need no conference or council to tell us what to teach. Our true course is to bring out the law of the Lord as God Himself caused it to be written ; and not on the authority of men assembled in conference ; but on the authority of the God of heaven — not as the faith of 'our sect,' but as the Gos- pel of Jesus Christ. Christian union is not promoted by com- mands, laws, or tests, established by men in council ; but by plainly teaching the Gospel of Christ, and urging obedience thereunto by the authority of God." These are true statements. They deserve especial consider- ation of the ministry of our Connexion. I wish we might all realize the immediate, pressing necessity of fuller and more faitliful dispensations of gospel truth. We should preach more truth from our pulpits ; more home truth, more practical truth. We should have less to say of dogmas, and speculations, and theories, and should devote ourselves rather to preaching the fundamental facts, and enforcing the life-giving principles of the Gospel. Our pulpit instructions should take a wider range. They are narrow and restricted. Many of the great interests of the Church they scarcely touch. There are truths which society is languishing to hear, and which it should hear from the pulpit ; THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS 109 but, alas ! the pulpit rarely utters them. Such are those truths which concern the physical and social welfare of mankind. The pulpit should teach men the conditions upon which God has suspended their physical perfection and happiness. It should teach them the proper government of the animal appetites. It should teach them how to render the body subservient to the supreme interests of the soul. ** The body," says Paul, 'Ms for the Lord " (i Cor. 6 : 13). In accordance with this prin- ciple he taught that it is the "reasonable service" of men to present their bodies "a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God" (Romans 12: i). Were there more sanctification of the body, there would be more sanctification of the spirit ; that is, were men more faithful to study and obey the laws of their physical being, many of the hindrances to virtue, which they now experience, would be removed. Instruction of this kind comes properly within the province of the pulpit ; for without it, how shall men be able to glorify God in their bodies? (i Cor. 9: 20), and whether they eat or drink, or whatsoever they do, to do all to the glory of God? (i Cor. 19 : 31). I think that the laws of man's physical nature should be explained and enforced in the pulpit. I think that the general usefulness of the pulpit would be much increased, were it more frequently occupied for the promulgation of those truths which regard man's physical and social interests. This class of truths —ever important— has at the present time a special claim upon the attention of the ministry. Look at the alarming prevalence of gluttony and sensuality. See how secret vice is eating out the life of multitudes of the youth of our country. Here are causes continually operative, whose certain effects are to blunt the moral sensibilities of their subjects, and to unfit them for s|)iritual perception and elevated thought. To these evils I see not how the ministry can remain indifferent. Upon the pulpit devolves, I believe, the solemn duty of exposing these evils, and attempting their cure. They should be made the sub- ject of careful and judicious, but at the same time, earnest and faithful appeals to the consciences of men. Happy will that minister be who, in the day of his departure, can adopt the words of Paul—" I kept back nothing that was profitable unto y°" ; ... for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." There is another much neglected class of truths that society . I I I ■Ifl 110 LIFE A2^D LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG m is suffering to hear. I refer to those truths which relate to man's social welfare. Multitudes are struggling in social positions to which they are mentally and physically unadapted. And, because they are thus unadapted, their life proves a failure for themselves, and a disadvantage to society. What course should the pulpit pursue in regard to these things ? Shall it leave society to struggle out its own deliverance from the multiplied evils which oppress it ? Or, shall it not rather interest itself in the social movements of the age ; secure the sympathies of the struggling masses, and teach them how to apply the principles of Jesus in every emergency arising in their social progress ? I trust that our pulpits will not fail to speak earnestly and plainly of the wants, duties, and social elevation of that large portion of our race, to whom it was emphatically said by the Saviour, '* The Gospel is preached." Let none fear that the dignity of the pulpit will be compro- mised by such a course. The real dignity of the pulpit con- sists in its faithful dispensation of truth. It is the appointed dispenser of all useful truth. And the Church is a divinely instituted society for universal reform. Hence, every evil that afflicts society or individuals comes properly within the prov- ince of church action and pulpit ministration. Though we are never to forget that the great evil of society and of man, the source of all human wots, is a heart evil ; and that the chief attention of every faithful reformer must be directed to the production of a radical change in individual hearts and lives. ** Make Christians," says the celebrated M. Guizot, in an address recently delivered before the French Bible Society, *' make Christians ; it is Christians that our society requires. I say Christians, that is our name ; that is what we ought to propagate. Our society ardently desires to make Christians everywhere. It calls by that name all who take the sacred writings as the basis of their faith, of their hope and of their charity. Whether they be in the bosom of the Catholic Church, or in the different branches of the Protestant Church, it sees in them Christians and brethren. Union in the party of political order is recommended, and rightly so ; that union is in fact the only means of safety ; but it is not less necessary to the party of moral order. The question is now between Chris- tianity and Impiety, which affects to advocate the interests of THE CONFERENCE ADDRESS lU Humanity. All Christian forces should unite against the com- mon enemy-.they can do it. A new fact has introduced Itself —liberty of conscience in the Christian Church Let that liberty be accepted and respected by all Christians: it will secure their union, and the triumph of the common faith "But beware of a factitious and forced union; be Christians to the fullest extent of the word. Love one another: that is charity. Support one another ; that is tolerance. Respect one another ; that is the right of liberty. Assist one another ; that IS your well understood interest. On these conditions and on these alone, there is safety for society. We are in the path of that safety. Christians be all together under the standard of the cross — Ifoc signo vincesy Nobly and truly said ! - It is Christians that our society requires. It is Christians that the Church needs for its puri- fication ; that the world needs for its deliverance. Oh • for more Christians; for true-hearted, self-denying followers of Jesus ! Oh ! that an end may speedily come to the wild destructive reign of Dogma and Sect; and that their place may be occupied by Christian Obedience and Brotherly Love ! The address aroused the convention, it aroused the whole ^^ Christian ^^ Connexion, it aroused other religious bodies. It no doubt disturbed some, angered some and perplexed others, leaving them in doubt where they themselves stood, but it went steadily forward in its course winning new friends to the cause of sane religion winning new friends for the fearless man who spoke from the depth of his heart in all charity and kindness. Its splendid temperateness, no less than its absolute sincerity, appealed. Sharp discussion followed its delivery coupled with the introduction of a resolution requesting that he withdraw the paper from publication in the THhune, All a^iknowledged its potency, though many feared its tttect, but the resolution was voted down and Truth went on its way. \\ iiil J VII AT BLOOMING GROVE AS we follow the career of Austin Craig from its begiuiiiug to the eud of an all too short life, we shall find that it was a constant succession of advances. There were no retreats. There were no weak ening concessions, no temporiziug, no hesitation, no de- flection. There were battles for the right to be fought, but he was equipped for them in the strength of a splendid Christian manhood, and he fought them always in the open. The preliminary work as an itinerant preacher proved invalnable to him as he entered upon a larger field. It had broadened him. It had shown him many sides of life. It had brightened him by its attri- tion and strengthened him by its culture. Feltville, too, liad helped fit him for the broader field. He had stayed just long enough in the itinerary, long enough to brush up against men of diverse types, long enough to gain the needed experience, not long enough to fall into the sad groove of the hackneyed travelling preacher, often im- provident, always poor, frequently robbed of all self- respect by humiliating dependence upon charity. The work at Feltville was so difficult a one, his labour there was watched with deep interest by many who had hoped to gain him for their own congregations. It was so signally successful it heightened the interest in his pastoral power and opened the way to calls to larger fields. In Orange County, New York, near the Hudson River, is situated Blooming Grove, a lovely country place within a rich farming region. It contained an historic church. 112 X u -*- C y; '" > a> jo >» _♦-•♦-« .'w i- X - f"5 1) ^ i. rt Hp, *-. rt i* K I ^ be X O I cA 3 3 U a ^ 0^ rt.- C c ■r. o T3 •'- "w c a — *^ ^. t« I ^ £ 2 o o w X zi o o ■ ^ o «_ ;c ^ ^ *- o ;;; -y) 1^ rt S « i2 4; -^ 3 "- c -^ > 3 cj 1> 3 IJ C — 3 e put at the price of thirty-three and one-third cents per volume, or thirty dollars per set, embracing, in fair proportion, the very best works on history, science, morals, etc., of such as are especially adapted to the improvement of common readers. Such works, to name a few without regard to order, as Dymond's * Moral Essays,' Combe's 'Constitution of Man,' Butler's 'Analogy,' Dewey's 'Sermons on Human Life,' Guyot's 'Earth and Man,' Nichol's 'Architecture of the Heavens,' Mitchel's 'lectures on Astronomy,' Miller's 'Old Red Sandstone,' Humboldt's 'Cosmos,' perhaps,— yes ! Mil- ler's ' Footprints of the Creator.' A few biographies like those of Dr. Channing, and those of Mary Lyon and Mary Ware ; a few of the best volumes of ])oetry ; and if you would add a few works of fiction of the character of Frederika Bremer's, I would not object. I have indicated a few as a sample. To issue and colporteur sue h works through the country would, I think, be a noble field of use to society. " But chiefly I would delight to see some one take in hand the publication of a cheap, neat, good library for children. i AT BLOOMING GEOVE 123 'The Tract Society publications,' so.iie one may say. Oh 1 oh! I never dreame. , until the care of the lai/bs of a flock ed me to seek out books to put into the hands of children, ho«^ few eally good books there are, adapted to children of from e,gh to fourteen years of age. I l,ave several times applied o gen lemen whose posn.ons allowed the conclusion thit they coul. direct me ni my search for suitable books for children and have mvanably been disappointed in the result. How exceedingly th,n the nUellectnal food served up in most of the books for chddren ! I would not, indeed, forget that < strong .neat be longeth to men of full age, while ,nM is ?or S Yes, bu let ,t hejur, nnlk ; some of it is abominably watered Mr. Abbott's .Rollo.- and -Lucy,' and ' Jonas,' and .Fra„: fo?chilSr"m **■' ""°"^ "'' ^'' '^^' ' ''"''= ^'"^ ^^^^ '° fi°d " I know that it must be difficult to write books for children • more so than to write for men ; an.i those who write would do well o remember that something more is necessary in books Tsvtord:" h'" 'ha'.^-r''""''' "^ '"^''^ up of 'short and r h^lrt-tSs^hrrrZn" ''^ '^^' °' ^ '^'"'^■^ """<* •' Just now an odd thought came into my head : what sort of a book do you tlunk that Jesus would have written for those have done it, I think ; could have written a book that children °ured I'me'f ""'f\ Y'" '''''^'''''^ '" read-those we 1 nur" tured, I mean And I am not sure but the history of His own hfe, embo,l,ed in firesi.le stories by the lips of kin.l and w7se Ch ns tian parents, is the best nourishment for infant uZl must w ir,r'" ^^'^ '^' ^"^ "^'^ '""'^ o"^*^ ■' '^n^l -others must wme them. Christian mothers, possessed of well -stored es and .? Pf°^"'fn«, science, and life their choicest beau noble hLm^'^^"^ "'^"' '^ '"/^"' ':°'"P'-^hension, in simple but noble language, must send them forth to fill the void now ex- rhundreH"nV;r^'"'^ ' ^'"^ ^T^ munificent soul must embot as an ever-enlarg,ng conduion of exalted activity and use<\ji ness, forever bindn,g the pure souls more firm y o U^ir Gret father, and forever producing and Deroetrntin^fh^ k V of friendship and kindred among ?hemsS^ ?1n "!•'? that Christian friendships shall surWve "he hock oV2 k ""."'' love to Christ kindles the fires of errL, if^tlhe J^'of i^s possessor; and that heaven is the union, and tl e e„d!es nu ' V it "if {::'^'r"'°' ^" «'-' -^^'hoiy soL ' p""- from uniting our hearts and abj; t^Ltfn "°k'fe""" "^ yearning towards us in the Chrkttn'i h ^* T? ''^^"^ faiher piiieth his children ^o Vh-T/ ^°T ^'^^ ^' » Hin.. W He kuo.Jho.T^^^^^ are dust. ' Our ' elder brother ■^^' • ■^^"i,^"i'>^«th that we tion; commiserat^g ou^°iff;ri^s^''^ "t"'"' ^«'^'=- us: 'for we have not an Hhfh p \ u '^"'P^hizmg with with the feeling of our infirn^fj! ^k'" ""^^ '^""°' ^' '""'^hed like as we aref yet w thou n ' I , ''"V" f P°'"'^ '^"'P'^ unto the throne^o g ace th ^we mlv" U^""^"''" '""'' "^"^'y grace to help in time of n;ed ■ " ^ *"*'" "^"^y- ^"'^ fi»d " I am afraid I shall be of little service to von " I,. . : ■ a letter which serves to indicafP .hi ^- j '. "^ ^""^^ '" his volun,inous corresDondenre « "^^".y-sided character of I^gos of Saint oLTptT-ShTllTcrfLIt'^^^ " reft of Srdenborg"„re e°xp" ^n Tf. '^ ^'"'"^ ^' "^«= apparently, a shade too metaph^s^ar Such n?"','"°"r^''' ^"'• S'S Z-lXdf^ ' a^lrSisSS -e, and n>oreTcred"S c^u'm°e„"rrrntS.^^ "' '"'^• eveu" fn'mit If, *'' ''"""•• *^^* '''^' ^o his hand Tht Zl ? "•' '*"'^* """"^"-y P''»<^«- he never lost eight of an opportunity to render service to others. Now ft ifii 132 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG it was some secular matter connected with the parish ; now it was a carefully written and beautifully composed letter prepared with his own hand for some old man or woman, too old, or too illiterate*, to be able to write for themselves, conveying messages of love and humble items of news to friends or relatives ; now it was some outside service which would naturally fall to the hands of some one not so burdened with cares. His deep thoughtful- ness of others and his desire to help them come out in a letter to his long-time friend, the Rev. J. G. Lawshe, then of Quakertown, New Jersey, to whom he wrote from Blooming Grove in October, 1852 : *' I feel at present that I should be willing,— in case I should survive you, and possess strength to labour, — to undertake the revision and preparation of such manuscripts as you may leave for the press. Their being written in the phonetic character would not seriously embarrass me ; I could soon master that, so far as to decipher your writings. **I am glad that you have felt free to respond so, in this matter. Fearing that you might pass from us, in consequence of your present illness, 1 felt an earnest desire that your manu- scripts might be so left that a volume of selections should see the light. They would be useful to our ' Christian ' brethren, and would also, I believe, interest and benefit the young peo- ple into whose hands they might fall." The reputation of the pastor of the Blooming Grove church was not confined to his own immediate vicinity, or denomination, as shown by many varying letters of which the following is a type : "To Rev. Austin Craig: '* The undersigned members of the Legislature of New Jersey, and citizens of this State, having learned that you had prepared a lecture upon * The Mission of the United States and the Responsibilities Imposed upon the People,' respectfully re- PROGRESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 133 quest that you will consent to deliver the same in one of the public halls in this city on Thursday evening of the present Trenton, February 17, 1852. Thomas Miles, Benj. C. Tatem, John D. Jackson, John Hughes, John B. Clark, J. W. Hancol. James Applegate, Joseph O. Johnson, D. Graves, John Manners, W. C. Alexander, J. A. Blucher, Arthur Gifford, E. C. Rogers, Thos. A. Allison, John C. Beardsley, Josephus Shann, E. J. Dougherty, J. A. Boyle. It was in public addresses such as the above that he came into touch with men who were not so deeply inter- ested in religious or moral endeavour as those among whom he worked from day to day, and every such addi^ess not only gave him a more intimate relation with the out- side world and kept him from becoming one-sided, but had a marked influence upon such of the people as did not hear him in his pulpit. In addition to the many demands made upon him, —an extensive correspondence, calls for preaching in other pulpits on notable occasions, writing steadily for the r^'ligious newspapers of the day, the thoughtful and ('arnest carrying out of his own pastoral duties, the con- stant study of contemporary ecclesiastical movements, with the searching out of obscure passages of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible,-in addition to all these serious demands he was constantly harassed by poor health. A frail boy when at college, he did not develop the physical strength he should have had in later years, but while never an invalid, and capable of per- lorming prodigious amounts of mental work, he was yet I'l •:_ '_» 134 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG kept constantly on his guard. In a quaint letter to Horace Mann written from his study iu the Blooming Grove parsonage on May 7, 1854, he says : ** I pen you this line merely to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, and of the accompanying * Inaugural ' ; to express my hearty thanks therefor ; and to say that some time by and by, I mean to write you a huge letter. I am very much en- gaged now-abouts — arboriculturally and horticulturally ; — partly to gratify my taste, but chiefly to recover somewhat in my outer-man of the lost Eden. I am treating dyspepsia minerally and botanically — mixed practice. I take the former by shovelfuls and wheelbarrow-loads — (stones, clay and chip- muck) ; the latter, I take by the armful. I took last week 9 peach trees, 7 apple trees, 6 pear trees, i apricot tree, i chest- nut, etc., carrying them from the nursery (3 to 4 miles distant hence) on my shoulder. I like this botanic (or rather den- dronic) treatment of Dyspepsia. " Besides, as soon as I get my grounds ready, I mean to take between 50 and 60 kinds of flowers. I hope the virtues of them will strike-in. I think hoe-handles good conductors of medicinal virtues from flower-plants into weak nerves. " Your Inaugural (permit a friend to say it) is magnificent. Those Titanic periods, — huge, gorgeous, harmonious, refreshed me. I had been 9 hours working hard, the day your Inaugural came to hand (working with my shovel and wheel- barrow). At sunset I walked to the Post Office and back (4 to 5 miles) home by 9 o'clock. Then I devoured the Inaugural. Midnight, I think, found me yet wakeful. I should have been sleepy-headed hours before, I suppose, but for the * Inaugural.' It fairly treads the truth into the Reader. I fancied a com- parison of the Style of it. At least, it reminded me of what I had read and imagined of an oriental caravan of white elephants, with housings of glittering gems and gold, with musical har- monies, and sacred banners flying, nearing the Holy City with worshippers and offerings. " I cannot attend the Louisville meeting ; but next October (if God spare me) I mean to attend the Christian General Con- vention in Cincinnati, and on the way, or returning, hope to visit you — and ' preach in your chapel ' too, perhaps. If you come this way this season, pray, visit me, spend a Sunday here, and preach to your friends in Blooming Grove." PROGRESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 135 One ph^ of the preacher's life of that day-and bear in mind this ^as no ordinary preacher but one who, to- day, would be sought far and wide, -is well illustrat^ in an extrax^t from a letter written by Mr. Craig to Mr. Mann lu 18i)4 from Blooming Grove. " My congregation number about 1.0-120 families scattered over a d.stnct some sixer seven miles in length and bread'? ami they wish the mm.ster to visit them frequently, and totl;> theni when he comes. And, my dear Sir, I tell you thata v s f m l>e Bloommg Grove sense is oftentmies a formidable affa Unless you eat with them it is only a 'call.' And Ike mo'; other communittes. as I suppose, they think nottog t^ 3 for he minister, and really injure him with the excefs^dTn wholesome richness of their preparation. I have • blown out ' at them m private and in the pulpit, often for their t.hll snaring; and I suppose they think U 'some queernes of the minister and so pass it by." qucerness oi the Mr^ Mlnu":'''"^ '^'''^*' ^ ^^'^ ^'"''"^ ""^ ^^'^ P«"od to " My Dear Friend : ii>c yuuug laaies oi our communitv Thrf^t- r,( fV.^»^ Si sir '' '^T ^''-"■y s'pea J o;< A°it cT-Tnd stitmS Xe of'^^hesl sa d to -^'^'"6 '-'-^f- -t your in' lisin thai ch„ ■ '° ™^ '" ^^^ applicat on for bap- the setting we gathered together upon the banks of a sS What a dreamlike, changeful life it all is I Everything 136 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG seems at times emulous of Chaos. St. Augustine, amid the wreck of the old Roman civilization, turned his eye steadily to the * City of God ' : Happy the thought that Sects, and nations and empires and Democracies may rush to ruin ; but the Church of Christ, built on the rock of ages, shall survive and triumph. " 1 suggest as a quieter of these feverish times, the reading of the Bible and of Church History." In the following fanciful letter he took occasion by per- son ilication to show how Mr. Mann might well extend his writing : *' Blooming Grove, N, K, August 2 , 1853. ** Hon. Horace Mann. **My Dear Sir: ** It affords me pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to you for a copy of another of your valuable publications — 'The Powers and Duties of Woman '—which reached me yesterday by Mail. As you have allowed your friends to per- suade you ' to send forth a Sister to keep that Brother com- pany,' I wish you would permit me to tell you that to my cer- tam (?) knowledge there are three in the family; besides the adult brother and sister, there is the Young Master, who hav- ing just signalized his entrance upon his second decade, by donning his first frock-coat, is trying (rather awkwardly, to be sure) to enact the Man, and naturally enough feels slighted that such nice books have been written to his older brother and sister, and no notice taken of him, while he, when he has his new black-hat on, is ahnost as big as they. '* Our Young Master, 1 think, would give almost anything (except his new frock-coat, aforesaid) to have ' the Congress- man ' notice him in the handsome manner that he noticed his brother and sister. — Between us, I must tell you that Young Master has somehow gotten the notion that the highest earthly happiness of a man, next to being the President, is to go to Congress. I wish you could have seen him last fire-cracker- day as he was letting off his first Fourth-of-July oration to a parcel of his playmates. He had a three-cornered newspaper- hat on his head, and pieces of yellow-cloth pinned on his shoulders ; and he talked away quite surprisingly about * lick- PROGRESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 137 ing the British and the Mexicans,' and about this being 'the greatest country that ever was ' ; and, O ! how the little fel o»s hurrah-ed at that. I wanted to tell them all how George WashMigton, when he was only a lad, felt his ambition excited -not to become a Congress-man or a General, but a noble good man; and how he drew up a number of rules and gov- erned himself by them, until he became the noble man thai he was^ But they were not just then inclined to hear ha and now. but If the 'Congress-man- would say something to them I feel sure that a great many of them would listen to^it Young Master is very General-Jackson-ish ; loves to hive his own way, and doesn't sufficiently regard his mother; though he seems a good boy at heart, and sometimes shows himsflf possesse. of generous and noble traits. I wish, Mr. Mm« you would say something to him to induce him to leave Tff hi^ careless and rowdyish airs, and to cultivate those gentle and :"h;"'birinfll'' '.' --'"-s displays. I a^, S th"at he has been influenced by some bad boys at school You have had so much acquaintance with the schools Aat vou know all the evil influences to which the young ma ^s a e ex posed there, and why not tell them ? Tell a// Teufhem how Health is ruined by Carelessness at school-Tnd tow vice IS earned Tell them what books to read; and man v other things which they need to know, and will listen'oTor^ )ou._.\nd I wish you would tell the ministers that thev ougb^ But now Mr. Mann, I mtended to have written onlv thrPP or four ines in this half-frivolous manner, and I have ins ead quite filled my sheet with what I feel tobescarceSvanlace ■n a letter to any dignified and well-deserving prrson I be^ you excuse me this folly. Were there less of it,TZht olead n.l , ■ ■ ^^ ""^ ™^«" stands, however, I throw mvself upon your leniency, and subscribe myself, ^ "Respectfully and truly,' yours, "Austin Craig." The years passed and the calls to still wider service were heard. lu succeeding chapters the relations of Mr t^raig to Antioch College both as teacher and president Mil 138 LIP^E AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG will be taken up. It is sufllcieiit chronologically here to 8iiy that at the end of six years of service at Blooming Grove, six years of as devoted service as ever man gave to men and whicli knitted him into the very hearts of his people, the cliurch gave him leave of absence for the closing months of the year 1855 to go to Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio, which liad come under the presidency of his friend, Horace Mann, to teach tempo- rarily the classes of the piofessor of Greek then away from his j)ost on leave of absence. A second leave of ab- sence was given the piustor a year later when he went South, preaching for a few months in the city of New Oi'leans. In September, 1857, lie resigned liis pastorate at Bloom- ing Grove and went again to Antioch as preacher to the college and professor of logic and rhetoric. Just a year later the church at Blooming Grove, una- ble to get along as they knew they ought to get along without their piustor, sent another call to him to come and once more minister to them, in the following words : ''Blooming Grove, April 12, i8§8. ** Dear Brother Austin : ** In obedience to the wishes of the congregation, in pub- He assembly expressed, I am once more found in the responsible position of spokesman, or, if you please, committee. " The honourable — the Trustees of the Blooming Grove Con- gregation gave notice last Sunday for a meeting in which the purpose of giving you a re-call was to be considered. " The meeting was held to-day, at 3 o'clock P. m., and after the usual preliminaries and deliberations, it was decided that an unanimous call be forwarded to our former pastor to come and resume his labours among us ; 2d, that hereafter, whoso- ever should be our pastor, he should receive an addition to his salary of two hundred dollars per annum, above the amount heretofore paid by us. *' And that H. F. Moffat, Daniel Goldsmith and Alden Gold- smith be the committee who should communicate the result of PROGRESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 139 these proceedings to Mr. Craig and request a reply at his earli- est convenience. ** May the Master of Assemblies guide you by His wisdom to such decision as shall be for the glory of His name. ** Yours in Christian bonds, "H. F. Moffat, '* Daniel Goldsmith, ** Alden Goldsmith." The call was accepted and the interrupted relations with the Blooming Grove church were once more resumed to be continued without break for the next seven years. Writing to a friend. Dr. Craig expressed his apprecia- tion of the people among whom he laboured, as he did on many other occasions : *' I have your kind letter of the 9th instant," he says, *' and have read m a column of last week's Gospel Herald the kind things you say of me in your Blooming Grove letter Let me confess to you that I find a little drawback from completeness of satisfaction with your letter and article, in the feeling that you are evidently thinking of and describing a wiser, better more faithful man, than I know myself to be. What you say of Blooming Grove, however, and of the Blooming Grove peo- ple, would stand the test. A noble people, indeed ! *' That good Deacon Howell was a true yoke-fellow Rain or shine, he came to church— to the Sunday-school— to our lit- tle prayer-meeting, and always so full of faith and love ' His prayers and testimonies did help and strengthen me many times He is ' a hereditary Christian.' His father was dea- con of the church for fifty-two years." In 1856 a very urgent call had been sept to Mr. Craig to become the pastor of the Christian Church at Yellow Springs, the seat of Antioch College, matters in the c*hurch being in a much disturbed condition. It was be- lieved that he was the man of all others to put the church upon its feet and to harmonize the discordant elements. He called a meeting of the Blooming Grove church, set if 140 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTLX C'RAIG the whole matter before them, proposed that he go to the Yellow Spriugs church for ten months, if it was the will of his own Hock, but they voted as their decision *'a unanimous and emphatic uegative.^^ And now a new Aictor, if so sweet and dear an element may be given so prosaic a term, had entered into his life Indeed it may be said to have been a part of his life, for a long time, a very fair and beautiful part. The tall young minister had seldom surrendered, but now to a fair young enemy he made complete capitulation and Miss Mary Adelaide Churchill became his wife. It was a pe- culiarly happy union, for tlie wife brought to the husband the influences which served to broaden and strengthen his life, to lit him still more fully for the part he was to play. 8he was a young woman of rare intellectual life with a fine strong mind united to the most delicate femi- nine nature. She was of that rare type of woman who embodied all that was noblest and best in the intellectual side as well as all those fine and womanly traits which make the ideal home. The following characteristic letter, or excerpt from a letter, gives a glimpse into the new life which came to the young minister : ..x^ Af ''Blooming Grove, N. K, Sept. 23, 1858. " To Mr. AND Mrs. Mann. ^ ^ *'Dear Friends: *' It is little, as news, that I have to write you : for our outward conditions are as yet unsettled. We^Adelaide and myself,--vvere counting upon a quiet sort of time here until next spring, as members of the family of that Mr. Moffat wes"! JrH 'r^'''''. house some months ago on his journey westward. He returned home, two or three weeks since, to Rlk^o^r^rii''^'^^^^ ^""n '^' /^^"^^^^'^^^ ^^"^oval of his famil^ to fnd tt ^rrln"""*'- .^T P^""'' '^^''^'''^^ ^'' ^" '^ ^e recast ; fnc tu- l''^"g^"^^"ts for our own household and housekeep- ing, which we anticipated making at our leisure during the ADELAIDE CHURCHILL CRAIG WIFE OF AUSTIN CRAIG i^ 'I Jl I PROGRESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 141 winter, we must proceed to make at once. Meanwhile we are encamped in the parsonage, with characteristics of housekeep- ing more nearly allied to the nomadic, than to the settled, life '*l am assummg— you perceive— that you know the fact of our marriage. Except to a few of our immediate kindred no notice of our marriage has been given to any one except its publication in the New York City newspapers. —In case however, that you do not know the fact, or know it insuf- ficiently (as a certain student is said to have given as an excuse for non-attendance at chapel, that he did not hear the bell dis- tinctly,)— therefore, be it hereby known unto you that we Austin Craig and Adelaide Churchill, were united in marriage* according to the laws of the State of New York, at Schuylers Lake Augu^ i2th, 1858.-N. B. The initials on the spoons are A. L. The more exact formula might have been A^ C." Miss Churchill was born in Richfield, Otsego County New York, December 15, 1828. She attended school a^ a child near her home ; afterwards was a student in the Female Seminary in Utica, New York, and, still later in the Clinton Liberal Institute at Clinton, New York Here she was graduated and became a teacher for several terms in the institute. She entered Antioch College for a broader training, and there met Austin Craig during the time he was professor of rhetoric and logic She was graduated from Antioch, in 1858, in June, and the marriage took place in August following. She was grad- uated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in the second class to go out from that institution. Later the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon her by Antioch mak- 111;,^ her one of the first women in the United States to be honoured with this degree. During the year 1858, when the cares of the pulpit had been exchanged for the cares of a college chair, Mr traig kept a diary or as he called it '^a journal,^' in winch he jotted down in his remarkably clear peuman- sliip the events of each day of that year passed at Antioch J^very essential detail of a life of great activity is included »i 142 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG h I I i 4 in this diary and all placed in the most compact and con- densed form. Frequently through the diary are notes of ill health. The labour in the college was very exactiug and there were so very many demands upon him for public addresses that his strength was tried to the utmost. He found relief in long walks in the country, and very many notations which show that he walked ^^to the Glen" with ** A. C." and others, or spent the evening in the Ladies' Hall in company with ^'A. C." abound in the journal. Once he speaks briefly of lx?ing with Miss Churchill in the parlour considering ^* Logic, etc." The following from one who was a student under Miss Churchill while the latter was an instructor in the Clinton Liberal Institute at Clinton, New York, may be taken as an illustratiou of the universal esteem in which she was held by those who came under her painstaking and thoughtful care : ** During my school days at Clinton Liberal Institute, I was most fortunate in having for my instructor in literature, Miss Adelaide Churchill. I say fortunate — for she was such an en- thusiast herself regarding the best in books, she inspired those under her charge with an earnest desire to read and possess the wealth of knowledge in them. *' To this day I feel the influence of this gifted woman about me, and when I find myself wasting time on a poor book, 1 re- member her once saying to me : ' Do not encumber your mind with trash, — how much better to possess one sentence from an immortal author.* ** Personally she was very sweet and gentle, and treated us with consideration. If occasion arose for reprimand — a rosy flush suff'used her face, showing how difficult for her to repress our girlish exuberance. " Most assuredly I ow^ her beloved memory most grateful appreciation and recognition." As a girl she had shown a distinct talent for writing. In her letters written home from school this constantly PROGRESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 143 appears in a fine discrimination in the choice of words, in clearness of thought and in vivacity of expression. (Quaint bits come out in the letters recounting the daily events of her seminary life, as this : " Ah' the little rogue of a kitten ! He is walking over my shoulders and head and cutting up all sorts of kittenish pranks It is not my kitten, only a borrowed one; it is Mrs. Rockwell's pet I saw It running about in the hall just now and so took It for a few moments; but as the little plague is too trouble- some with his unmannerly pranks— he has no respect for anv- thing-I shall have to take him home. Apropos of cats, how is my Jim coming on ? You must remember he is getting old and has lost his teeth, and so be a little indulgent towards his peculiarities. She possessed aptness in the telling of stories and Dr. Craig s earnest desire was that she might write stories for children, for which she had a particular facility : but the care of her six little ones left her scant time for liter- say, ^\ hen the children are older, I will write." But before the leisure time came she was called away. Her lather w^s a man of strong intellectuality and very fond of a high type of literature-chief among the books most read in h.s library were Shakespeare and Scott. Mrs. taug had, too, a sprightly wit, possibly because of the nfn, f T , ,' "'"^^''''^ ^'^"^ ^^^ «P'-*"g from the same dements stock from which came Mark Twain She became acquainted with Norman J. Coleman, the Jo L ' Tl°^ ^^"'"'*"''' **f '^^ U°*ted States, ^heu he was publishing a stirring agricultural monthly in St Louis having a large circulation and with contributions Alt rr'^.M,'^* "P '"^ '^' ^'^^"^^ Po««ible standard. Ml s Churchill was invited by him to contribute. She was loath to try it, but on his insistence she did so, and I 144 LIFE AND LETTEI^ OF AUSTIN CRAIG i ^ ^ frequent complimentary letters were received by her from him. A portion of one of them is as follows : ** Your excellent article for the Vaiiey Farmer has just been put in type and looks well. I have read the proof with great pleasure. Two or three others have read the article and say that you have a strong, clear-cut way of expressing your views which they admire. 1 came near writing to you to ask permis- sion to use it as an editorial. ** I hope you will write more. In no other way can you ac- complish so much good. I shall always be glad to get articles from you — and I know they will do my journal much good. Your style is most excellent — not that of the general run of female writers — but more manly, if you will allow me that ex- pression, conveying truths so that they reach the heart of every reader. The soft sickly sentiuientalism so common nowadays 1 don't like, and you have none of it." Paragraphs from other letters from Mr. Coleman to Miss Churchill are of interest. Under date of December 20, 1856, he writes : ** I have a good deal to say on the subject of education dur- ing my travels, but take the ground that physical as well as moral education is too much neglected in our present system. A great many tell me that if I will start such a school as I advocate, they will patronize it forthwith. I have no idea that I shall ever start one. If I should, I should purchase a large farm contiguous to a railroad twenty or thirty miles from St. Louis. I would teach practical agriculture to the scholars daily, having the various departments of the farm under com- petent professors as well as a thoroughly scientific department. The products of the farm being accessible to a good market would always sell high and pay. And every branch of farm- ing would be taught in the most approved manner. A ladies' seminary with a flower and fruit garden might also be located on the same farm. The ladies should also be taught landscape gardening, the proper laying out and arrangement of the grounds, the grouping in proper manner of the trees, plants, shrubs, etc., and should have ample room for daily physical ex- ercise ; and the laws of health should be imparted to them, PKOGKESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 145 which they should be required to observe. I could get the land easily enough, but it would cost a great deal to erect buildings hire professors, teachers, etc., and the only way it could be done, would be by scholarships, which you say proved a failure at Yellow Springs. r K 'i .T°"''^ "",' ^^"^ ^"^,"'l"S '° ^° ^""h such a school unless I had the complete control of ,t. Give me freely and candidly your v.ews of such a school, of its probable success and any suggestions hat you could make in regard to either department a school." "' """^- ^' •'"" '^^ "° '^"■" '° '^'k about such It was a busy life the young wife entered upon at Bloom.ug Grove, for in addition to the demands of a pas- orate upon the minister's wife, she taught for a time in the academy of the church. Peculiarly happy was this nn.ou ; the one supplementing the other ; both forming the completed whole of (he ideal Christian home. The devoted w,fe-to.be shone forth in the following letter, written to Horace Mann a month before her marriage : you to il""' ''"°'' ^°^ '° ^"'''" y""-" '""^■■' °^ '^"'^ t° thank ,Zl°'JT^" /^°''/''"u '"■"^"^'' ^"'^ f°f 'he content you Z n.H ,- S?'S' '''°'" ' ^m very grateful as well as fC^'J "^'"^^"y <^"0"gh feared it migh? be different and xtctit T '"^^"^ y"" valued so highly %„ might I^'very exacting n, your demands. I know well how high a comoli " s'hVlI l'' "°'^^ ' ^"""^ =""' ^'l^P'^^d fof "Ch other.' ^ hein it nn ""'T' ^°" ■'^"fficiently by saying that if I can n ake? UW K ^^'^ ,'" ^"^ '^^"''°'' ^^ "'^^ ^ver have to besno go '"^'^ '"^^ '^'" '° '''"' '" ^ I =hall like even^f'r'L"°' "^^'^ u? ^^T ^'"^ ^'" "^"'y <>' "'8^ him to do it, -mmt L:Zn?Z"^^: f ''T^ ^"^ appreciating it, which am not at all confident of m the present case. done fnr° '^™T''"' ''"7 g^^'ef^Hy. ' that Antioch College has aone lor me what no other would ' " I know .ny joy at the words-' Antioch College will con- U(^ LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG tinue,' would not have been in any wise as great three years ago when my studies there were not yet begun as when I heard those words and my course was ended. Yet you would not demand such a vicarious atonement as that Mr. Craig should pay my debts. ** I do not believe in any conflict of duties and have the most undoubting faith that some time in the eternal fitness of things I may yet show my gratitude to Antioch, and to you which is, indeed, the most of what I mean by 'Antioch.' " I cannot realize that anybody's presence at Antioch is es- sential save of the one with whom it is identified — in whom it has so far had its life. " But you want helpers. It is not generous that you should be left to work alone. I should think any one upon whom you may call for help would feel the call a forcible one. " I forwarded your letter to Mr. Craig by the first mail and have not heard from him since. I did not express any prefer- ence and begged him not to consider me as having any. You will not, I am sure, think me ungrateful. Please believe how earnestly I wish your success in your great and good undertak- ings and pray for your ha})piness in them all. " Adelaide Churchill." Deep was the interest whieb the young preacher took ill the affairs of the nation, at that time slowly but surely approaching the great crux of civil war. " I cannot exult," he writes, ** over the prospective slaugh- terings of this great struggle ; yet in view of what is to come of it, according to my expectations, I am exultant almost. I think the kingdom of heaven will be plainer to the view of nations when this nation emerges from this struggle for a second birth." To a friend who w^as on the southern side of the line he wrote : " Dear Brother Wellons : ** My thoughts have frequently been with you since I formed an acquaintance with you, during our pleasant trip to Niagara last autumn. Several times during the last winter and PROGEESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 147 spring I was upon the point of writing to you : why I did not IS, snnply, because ,t ,s not always a virtue of mine to do what- soever my hand findeth to do. ;■ How much longer I should have deferred my purpose to write you. I cannot tell, had I not recently read your reply to rhe Providence Resolutions. ' I was glad to read that anicle? Brother Wellons; and nnmediately determined to expre to you my hearty good feehng towards you, for the liberal and manly sentiments you have thus given utterance to "1 perceive no reason why the subject of slavery should be made a wall of separation between those who are brethren ^ Christ, or why ,t should prevent them from cooperating for the furtherance of their plans of Christian benevolence. You are a slaveholder Brother Wellons; yet this fact (notwithstandW that all my feelings and convictions are opposed to slavery) ought not to close my sympathies against you ; nor should U cause me to withdraw my aid from you in any of your Chris tian labours which it might be in my power to help^nward to a happy consummation. ^ has' lotT? Th!."n '' ""'' T'u "''''''' (■''^'' thoughtful citizen has not ?) the progress of the recent agitation of the slaverv ..rand 'ho°" '"T'-- ^'''"S '°'' --" bitterness otfee7 Sk,n rL?T P""^^" J-^-'o"^/ ^ere commingled in this agila ion, I felt desirous, when the subject of slavery was re- erred for report to a committee at thi Marian Convrntion that a mild considerate and Christian-like report should be presented before that body. Such a report (to my g eat grati! pC"iirr:?str;T':f!' ^l^ 'i'^'''"- '^^^^ ^^e r'eplrt fafL o than was to hi /' 7 ^u°''^"" °' Southern), is no more of nVIt, ^^''^^"^'^'^j that It is acceptable to moderate men tfloTrl\ T "'"^'ll ^'^''^' ' 'h« it, and the whole sTb- betle° ^h e^hrln l''VT''i "°' ^ •"^'^^ * -"^"^^ °f contention between brethren who (if they remain at peace) may accomplish so much for the world's good, I earnestly desire and hop7 It you on tv' ""'t'" '''^"°"^' 'f "^^ ^^"^""^''t^ expressed by tC.hf,, '"^J""' "^ ">' sentiments of the majority of tnoiigluful persons in our country. courie^o? ,\!n^^^u° ^^ .'i"^' ^^^ '^° "°' sympathize with the kctnf .1 T.''° '"°"^'^ .'■""■^'" f'^^ discussion of the sub- ject of slavery. Discussion is not ' Agitation.' And if ever a gemnne brotherly feeling shall come to be felt, recipr(KalTy in the Northern and Southern sections of our country^ I am per" i. M ; i 148 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG suaded that it will be, not by the efforts of those who declare it wisdom to keep silence upon this subject, but by a mutually candid and free discussion of it, by judicious and Christian men of the North and of the South. I trust that moderate and wise counsel will be regarded by our brethren both South and North ; and that no unwise movement or unkind speech of brethren in either section will be permitted to destroy the harmony of our united efforts for the advancement of Christian knowledge, freedom and holiness." Below will be foiiud au extract from a letter written somewhat later to bis father which will give a clear idea of the sterner view he took of some who were engaged iu attempts to stab the nation in the dark. It is followed by a letter from Dr. H. W. Bellows, for many years an ardent friend of Dr. Craig. Dr. Bellows was president of the United States Sanitary Commission, organized in the North to snpplement the work of the medical corps of the army ;— the choice and inspection of camps, the transportation of the wonnded from battle-field to hos- pitals and their care thereafter, the formation of convales- cent camps, the establishment of a bureau of vital statis- tics—these were some of the important features of work of which Dr. Bellows speaks in his letter. Mr. Craig says : ** I have not heard to-day whether Governor Seymour's * Friends ' are yet busy in New York or not. They will be shot down soon, I hope, if they are still mobbing. I wish to see the authority of the United States vindicated so triumph- antly, that henceforth ' not a dog shall move his tongue.' If traitors will have ' free speech ' to incite mob resistance to the government, let the government have its right to send free bul- lets among them. I ache to see a vindication of authority and law, against the lawless ; but I can wait patiently ; for I see how each new move of events makes manifest some depth of wickedness which we did not before know. Who could believe that our pandering to slavery here at the North could have pro- duced such horrid forms of negro-hate ? It is well that an op- PROGRESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 149 portunity should be given to all to show their sympathies Those who hate the government and would join the open rebels —if they dared— have opportunity now (and may have more hereafter; to show themselves ; but, it seems to me, that the stench of the Revolutionary Tories is no comparison to the offense m the nostrils which soon these men will be, who under pretense of Constitution-guarding, are now stabbing their coun- try m the dark. They will be remembered long,— I think " The news from the Southwest is very cheering indeed* I would rejoice over our victories there, if I did not just nowVeel that the pressmg point with us is to have a triumphant victory over the traitors at home. T/iat will come soon, I think." , -, ^ ^ '* ^^^/A/^, JV. H.,July 20, i86i, " My dear Brother Craig : " I have flown home to my farm for a few days to rest my weary body and labouring spirit-after many months of restless activity. Your letter of June 27th I did not get till long after July 4th and since I received it a week or more ago. have not had a moment to notice it. You can help us essen- lally by setting an example to other towns and communities like your own, of active sympathy with our Sanitary Commis- sion. Money is the thing we want— to send our inspectors and keep them m every camp and hospital, urging all the care of those still well, and all the possible alleviations which the hard condition of our sick and wounded allow of. I think a con- tribution taken up in your church after a suitable discourse on the relations of Body and Spirit, or the relations of strength or physical force to civil and social well-being, would be an excel- lent example to all our churches, and properly exploited, one that might be extensively followed. '* I send you a few documents that may interest you in our Commission still further, for I have no time to set forth the matter, as I should like. *' We are ready and anxious to receive at Room No. 24, Cooper Institute, New York, at the Woman's Central Army Relief As- sociation, all kinds of hospital clothing, and stores, flannel Shirts drawers, socks, sheets, pillow-cases, etc., which we un- dertake to distribute with judgment and despatch. '*! ani very glad, my dear Craig, of any opportunity of com- municating with you-for I can never forget our long and al- ways pleasant and profitable friendship— which, however inter- ill i 150 LIFE AND LETTEES OF AUSTIN CRAIG rupted by our diverse cares and by the hard conditions of space and time— IS never broken in spirit, and will continue \vhen wars and fightings have ceased, and the world and her con- cerns have all passed away. "With kind regard to your wife, and with the affectionate recollections of my own family, '* I am your friend and brother, '*H. W. Bellows." While absent from his young wife at intervals during this period, he wrote frequently of the impending con- flict in such paragraphs as these : "It came up rainy this morning about the time people would be starting for church, so not more than fifty were present • sermon taken from Hebrews ii : 32-34— showing that 'Faith' both nourishes the passive virtues, begets the active ones too !• or through it, the faith-heroes of olden time were 'out of weakness made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.' Two more young men have gone to the army from this region. You did not know them The news in the paper of Sunday morning the 28th, is that 20.000 troops are now m Washington, and the secession spirit in Mary and and Virginia shows signs of submission. 1 can't help thinking that it might be best for the future, if the rebels Hnitn c:f f ^' ^T' °"^ 't''' °^ '^^ ^'^'^"^ «^ ^he army of the UTa f- ^ ^^^"^Pi^hize with the Massachusetts troops in their desire to meet the Baltimore mob." '* The safety of our country occupies every heart The largest ever held there. Men of all parties,_Mayor Wood aiul everybody,.-urge the people to fight back the rebels Ir^LTr'V^ '^' ^^"^ ^^ '^' ^^^^"«g -^^"^-nce of ou; triumph over the traitors. to 'ii!wh/^°'^ ''?' l^}'^^- " co-^Pany in Albany and expects ves e dav L^ ''' '"/^'^^hmgton shortly. He was at church oSenc ?^ .1 ^"^^ "'*">' P"°P'"- Sermon was on the duty Tn ?m« nfH f°" u '^' '° '^^' '° government, especially Zrl^T TJ '° "'^ '^tate-partly on that. The second sermon was on ' the city that hath foundations ' PROGRESS AT BLOOMING GROVE 151 "In the afternoon I attended the Methodist Church, and participated in the services, especially in a prayer for the country. '^ ' " I arrived here. Xenia, Ohio, safely two hours ago. Shortlv after arriving a stranger accosted me, and offered me a passage up with him in a carriage which he expected shortlv 'Ihe carriage did not come. So he procured a locomotive and car and we are now going up. Stranger's name is ' General Rose crans. I will mail this at Yellow Springs,-or send it bv the engineer to be mailed at Xenia." ^ ^ ' "' "^"^ " °y 'he "The telegraph hither this morning informs us that the bells a os^thf ;",5"^"-"..\""ouncing the presence of .he rebel across the river,— our pickets driven in by bodies of them I here are earthwork fortifications across the river and severd myriads of volunteers in them to defend the city "Do not be alarmed if I should not arrive Tuesday. Mili- tary law may impede the movements of travellers. I can ee a pass, I presume but don't take alarm if I should not arrive- and should not be able to get a telegram to you at Rome." Year by year Austin Craig's interest in education deep- ened. He Lad shown great capacity for teaching : he was to show, as other years passed, still higher powers We may turn at this point to the events of one of the most important periods in his life, eveuta which centre in Antioch College. ■I Antioch College— Its founders were Christians who desired to make the college open as Christ the Church itself, to all worthy souls irrespective of creed, sex, colour, or condition. Antioch is the expression of a yearning after a better age, not yet come but amid all the wrecks and ruins surely coming, when learning and knowledge and science shall be consecrated to the uses of life ; when all civil institutions, all laws and constitu- tions of society shall express the will of Christ ; when nations shall no longer depose and oppress the poor and defenseless, but consider the least • as Christ's wards and treat them so. Austin Craig. 4 152 IX ANTIOCH AND HORACE MANN SOME twenty miles from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the midst of a fertile plain with the noble mountains round about, there was established in the far long ago the city of Antiochus, on the river Orontes, most magnificent city of the Hellen- istic Kings of Syria. Three hundred years before Christ the city was founded, and, until Constantinople assumed leadership, it continued to be the chief city of the East. It was a beautiful city, this Crown of the East, as the people of Antiochus loved to call their home, progressive, magnificent, luxurious, rich in all beautiful things. When the time of the Christ drew near it was still a notable city ; its people famed among other things, as a historian points out, ^'for their biting and scurrilous wit and for their ingenuity in inventing nicknames. '» Here in this city of magnificent history came Paul, the apostle, and Antiochus became Antioch, home of the mother church of Gentile Christianity, place of the first ministry of the great disciple, the starting-point from whence he set out on his memorable missionary journeys through Asia Minor and Greece. It seemed particularly a city of religious possibilities and when at the end of the fourth century of the new era It became the home of a theological school which had been in course of formation for nearly a century, under the fostering of the learned presbyters of Antioch, it was little wonder that, as one writer puts it, *4t distinguished Itself by difi-using a taste for Scriptural knowledge and arrived at a middle course in Biblical Hermeneutics — 153 ' II ^!i 154 LIFE A.\D LETTEKS OF AUSTIN CRAIG betwecu a vigon,»«Iy literal and a„ allegorical method of nuerpn. at.on ' It seen, par.icularly interesting, iwe u eutity the .subject of this work with the newer Intiolh ol Amenea, that this high-sounding term, hermeneutS should .n us de«uitio„,-"the art or .sci;nce of t^n^ the meaning of an author's words and phnu^s and of ex ti ;m".'7h" '« """"'' '^^'^'^^y '*PP'i«J to the interpreta- t o of the benpture8,"-so closely tit into the life work ot this brilliant interpreter of the Word of God The new Autioch was not a city, but a college" a college destined to a storm-to^sed history, where noble men and women have b«;n educated, where bitter feuds have been if"S ; "^"^ *'""' '':" ^'"""I"'*-*'^- ^V-ith any bitterness ot sect which may luae arisen, with any dogmatical «"slaugh..s, this chronicle is not Concerned fit is enou^ here to present a brief history of this institution and the com.ec ion wth it of the man of whom this volume treats In the latter part of the decade, ending with 1840 JuanycKucational institutions were forming in what was dH , ^?'A,^'*^«^' '^^ '•«g'°" of which the states of Im a, and Ohio were the geographical and. it may be s. d the intellectual centre. Much was being sai.l about the nivei^ahty of Education ; the development of woman u education ;-the e.lu..ation of woman alongside of man ludeed, was among the possibilities for which the mor^ progressive hoped. i-" lut moie lu the state of Massachusetts lived a man approaching ns prime who had already crowded into the tentf le hat dwelt in his frail frame a half dozen average live He was cnsp.cuously interestcl in education, and par- Ocularly the education of women on a footing 'with m^eu the Z' ' T1 ^°'"">«" ^^J-^- "Mv DEAR Sir: ^. V, A ^Tu ""^'^ ^^""^ ^^"^' ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^f Friday last, came hlv'il ZJ'T '^■^\^- ^ ^"^ ''""^y h^PPy t« be s« favoura- ably regarded by one whose esteem I so highly value • but— excuse me for saying it-your kind and commendatory language I)ained me ; seeming to me so little deserved by me. 1 know no position in which I could reasonably anticipate so much real hap- IJiness, as in being associated with yourself and a band of kin- I reel minds, m the work of instructing young men and women L f P^'"ciples of useful science and Christian virtue. n..H "^f ^'^^^ ^he off-er of a professorship in Antioch College, partly--I may say chiefly-from a consciousness of lacking the requisite preparation and fitness for such a post. It would cost L™. {/"l ^''^"'' ^"^^^^"^ ^^ ^^^^h the Ancient i^anguages, or Mathematics ; besides it would be impossible I4 158 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG for rae to enter heartily upon the work of con)municating in- struction in these branches of study, for the reason that my heart is in quite a different department of knowledge— that is to say, in the department of Christian knowledge— in its Social Individual and Physical applications. I could not feel justified in adopting a sphere of action which could not be considered essentially a field of Gospel labour. Could I haxe a post whose duties would permit me, for instance, to teach the Physical Laws in their moral relations; to unfold the true principles of personal and social morality ; to give instruction in the Greek New Testament ; and to preach statedly as a pastor of those young people; that I could feel free to accept; for that com- prehends the duties to which I feel called. " But I had no assurance that any such unusual professorship was in contemplation for Antioch College; and so I replied to the letter of invitation by stating that 1 preft^rred to remain in my present very agreeable pastoral relation, rather than to ac- cept a post whose duties I could not enter upon with a whole heart. To teach a band of ingenuous young men and women the great principles of Physical, Intellectual and Spiritual Health, is the work which of all others 1 choose. I would sooner do^ that in Blooming Grove, than do anything else in Antioch College. I hope you will assume the reins in the new institution. It can hardly fail of extensive usefulness, if only the right men are placed at its head ; especially if the right man (Mann) is placed in the presidency ! '♦There is a young man of the number of our ' Christian* ministers, who would be a capital acquisition to the board of instructors. He is an expert and enthusiastic phrenologist ; has taken a regular course of medical study in a medical college in Philadelphia; and belongs to that class of clergymen who preach much respecting the Formation of Character, the Con- duct of Life, and Obedience to the Creator's Laws; addressing particularly the youth. He would love to teach Physiology, Dietetics, Hygiene, and Phrenology, to the young people His name is Joseph G. Lawshe. He resides at present in Quakertown, Hunterdon County, New Jersey; an affection of the throat having compelled him temporarily to retire from the public duties of the ministry.— I take the liberty to accompany this letter with an 'Address' by him, in which especially in the pencil-marked pages at the conclusion, I think you will feel interested. ^ ANTIOCH AND HORACE MANN 159 <'I have taken the liberty also (knowing your interest in all well-meant efforts for the elevation of the youth) to mail you a copy of my thirteenth 'occasional tract,' entitled « " Yours, ex animo, "Austin Craig." Upon Mr. Mann's formal acceptance of the presidency of Antioch Mr. Craig wrote to him this letter : ,, tr , u " ^Jf'""'"S Grove, TV. K, October 14, i8s2. " Hon. Horace Mann. * -^ " My dear Sir : "I learn with feelings of gratification, your election to the presidency of 'Antioch College.' I believe that you will find a noble field of usefulness in this new in st.tution. I am familiar with the persons and the agenc es which originated and are now advancing this enterprise -and I conceive that there will be no material difficulty fn renderl .h,s college superior to any other west of the Alleghanies Tn^ deed I see not why it cannot be made strictly a' model ' n- stitution. It IS the first that the ' Christians ' have established and they have few prejudices in favour of .A/ things, n gen- eral (always excepting the old Christianity), and of oH scholastic methods, in particular. I earnestly wi h the continu TLT^^A ^ TI ^^ '."^trumental in the establishment of minded and I"'"'' "' '"^'""'?' '-hence multitudes of large TsSs vineyard " "'" '''" ^° '""' *<> '^'->- - °- in,',i.!,!"^^^" ^}^l * ^'■''"""8 "^"^ should be connected with the rom devoted 1^:^ ' T"""^ "'^^^'"^ ^'^°"'d ^ '«'"«<1 'here me rests of PK '.h^.^'^^^n^ment of the great principles and 'Chri Lnf. K^^"^^'' ^°'^'^'; ^"'l M°^^' Salvation. The Christians have no magazine of this character,-indeed . fl 160 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG nothing of a higher grade than the ordinary religious news- paper ; and a magazine of the proper character ought to secure an ample support, and obtain a large circulation throughout the denomination, but especially in the West. It ought to find a large support outside the denomination ; because it ought not to be denominational in its character. " I have never yet seen a magazine that meets my views with regard to what a Christian publication ought to be. The religious periodicals are sectarian, and almost exclusively theological. Got! in Theology they treat, after a fashion ; but God in Science, Society, and Progress, they generally ignore: as the scientific and the physiological publications likewise ignore the truths of the Christian sphere. Why must our periodical literature be so sectarian ? Shall we never be de- livered from the fragmentary and 'one-idea' view of the Universe? "I am impatient that Humboldt's great work, which ap- proaches the true standard by many degrees nearer than many other works, shoulil be called 'Cosmos,' while it almost en- tirely ignores the moral Soul. I want to see an ably-conducted monthly, in which all the interests and relations of Man are distinctly recognized. Let us see the universe as a whole. Let Christianity and Science and Physical and Social relations, be woven together somewhat after the manner that Our Father interweaves Mind and Matter in His ' Cosmos.' The con- stant aim of every article in such a paper should be to point home the mind towards the true centre of the universe where God sits enthroned in love, and radiant with the glories of salvation in the person of Christ. '* I find, in the July number of the American Journal of Science and Arts, an extract from Harvey's ' Marine Algx of North America,' which expresses an important and suggestive fact I " * Unfortunately, it happens that in the educational course prescribed to our divines, natural history has no place ; for whi( h reason many are ignorant of the important bearings which the book of nature has upon the book of Revelation. 1 iiey do not consider, apparently, that both are from God- both are His faithful witnesses to mankind. And if this be so, IS It reasonable to suppose that either, without the other, can be fully understood ? It is only necessary to glance at the absurd commentaries in reference to natural objects which are to be :■ ■' t ANTIOCH AND HORACE MANN 161 found in too many annotators of the Holy Scriptures, to be convinced of the benefit which the clergy would themselves derive from a more extended study of the works of creation ■ • " .J ' r"^^'^'^^ ' "^ numerous, ready to learn, and will- ing f^ do Their intellectual character and tendencies are to be created Antioch College is, humanly speaking, to be the Providential means of this work. The president of this insti- tution can gain an iiifluence over the minds of the ministers and people of this body, second to none. Ministers will prob- ably be educated by hundreds at this Jerusalem of the ' Chris- tians. Why would it not be well to establish there a monthly magazine of the character above indicated, adapted especially to the wants of the young men and young women now arising in our country, and at this momentous era, to play a part in the advancement of civilization, more glorious than has fallen to the lot of any generation since the apostolic age ? " Our church has reappointed the committee of the last year to procure a series of lectures to be delivered to us the present cold season. We wish to hear you again. Will it not be in your power to make us an early visit, and give us a lecture or two ? Ihe young men at Montgomery (about twelve miles from this place) have taken measures to secure a course of lectures in Li,''! It 'J^''.^'"'^'' ("i°ved by our example), and they will most likely desire to secure the lecturers that visit us, for their own course. At least, so in regard to several who were named, ™rh^r!lrr°"! ""^ '""'• °^ "'*'' '^°^^^"' I ^°"W inform you hereafter. As to compensation, we cannot safely to our- "f^l I' f °"'' ^^T'^'^ ^ '^'6^'' compensation than /2s for a ingle lecture ; with the addition of travelling expens^ in case the lecturer comes far to address us whv \'^T^ ''^"'^ u*'^' "-"f P^°P'^ '" ^ "^^^" 'O'^n are enquiring why they cannot have lectures as well as the Blooming Grovf commu„,.y^ (!) Heretics ought not to have all the good things! n~e, ?n"h"'T ^'^^''^^^^ti'^^l neighbours have taken measures to have lectures this winter, in order to keep their young people away from the Blooming Grove lectures I am informed that their pastor stated fro,^ his pulpit that al our DeL,? i'l'T '""'"■ ''"' ^'"^ two-some say .«. exception,- De,s,sand Unitarians. Do, Mr. Mann, please tell us the names nonTn^/°KM:. '^r"""'^^'^' '°"hodox,' lecturers, of reputa- nmLt /,f A'^' "'''°"' "'^ "^y P''°'^""'e fo '^ipe away our re- proach. (!) Can you suggest to us the names of some of your ' « ' li I 162 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG New England lecturers, who would be willing to come to our community. Would Emerson and Parker come from the Peo- ple's course in New York to lecture to us ? Would Mr. Sum- ner (United States Senator) probably be willing to come ? If you can come, Mr. Mann, please give us a list of the themes on which you would lecture, for our consideration and selec- tion. ** Truly yours, ** Austin Craig." As the initial development of the college began to take shape, the eagerness of Mr. Mann to have the assistance of the young minister took ever a livelier form. Writ- ing to Mr. Craig from West Newton on November 8, 1852, he says : " Last week the first Faculty meeting of Antioch College was held at my house. They were here two whole days, and parts of the preceding and following. We had a very full and free discussion on a great variety of points, and came most har- moniously to unanimous conclusions. We have sketched a provisional^ XioK finals course of preparatory and undergraduate studies, which I intend to copy and send to you for your re- vision and suggestions. *'I found a most remarkable coincidence of opinion and sen- timent among the persons present, not only as to theory, but in practical matters. . . . We were all teetotalers ; all anti- tobacco men ; all anti-slavery men ; a majority of us believers in phrenology ; ' all anti-emulation men, — that is, all against any system of rewards and prizes designed to withdraw the mind from a comparison of itself with a standard of excellence, and to substitute a rival for that standard. We agreed entirely in regard to religious and chapel exercises, etc. The meeting was very satisfactory, and has raised my hopes very much as to the ultimate success of the enterprise. I can never, how- * Phrenology, as noted in a previous chapter, in the sense here used by Mr, Mann and Mr. Craig, had a much broader and deeper signifi- cance than that commonly attributed to the word to-day. ANTIOCH AND HORACE MANN 163 ever, sufficiently regret that you are not of our number I hope you will be ere long. " I read to the persons present a part of your letter of Oc- tober 14, m which you speak of a magazine for the place. We all exclauned that you were the person to carry out your own idea. You must leave your limited circle at Blooming Grove and speak to them, and to all good men, from Yellow Springs' What a wide sphere for your improving influence » - You speak of lectures and of my lecturing. ' We have no Orthodox lecturers of any great celebrity amongst us. Emer- son Whipple Parker, T. S. King, Sumner, Pierpont, etc., are all heretics of a very malignant type when tried by the Ortho- dox standard. Ihe truth is, the iron bars of Orthodoxy do not allow a man to expand into the qualities indispensable for touching the common heart of men. Witness Beecher and Bushnell, who reach the public soul only because they have broken from their cage. ... ] ^^ '* Yours most truly, *' Horace Mann." - Your little tract is admirable. How it would suit George tSudon " "" ^"^ ^"^ ^"""^ ^'''' """'^ ^'^^ "^^ '^"^^ ^^^ ^^s- Soon after, the following characteristic letter was re- ceived by Mr. Mann : "My dear Sir : .ketrh "JT '^"^'' °^ l^'' "^ '"^'^"f' a"'' the enclosed Annnrh L^^ """'"^ of studies provisionally adopted for t^u^X T' ^""""^ '° ^^""^ yesterday. Our lecture com- vnnr I . ^f^'^^ arranged to publish an announcement of vou hL^UK '"^'n'^ on 'Great Britain,' to be given us (if r .„ II K ^T'^ °" '^^ ^^^"'"8 °f Wednesday, Dec. 8th. nCZll ^ '° '^^ ^1^ ^^"^ y°"- ^°' ™y«elf, I will take pleasure ni conversing with you on several themes, about which If SdiLTwtTr-se/youl "^ ' ""'^ "^^^^''^^ ^'^^ ' ^^^ ' K, n 164 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG '* I will endeavour to arrange matters so that you contract no cold by sleeping in *a kind of barn-chamber.' Besides, our cook is conscientious, and mixes no grease in her preparations of potatoes ; or if she does, she gives honourable warning ! Be- sides this, — what is remarkable, — I do not recollect that she ever told me the tea was weak, when it was not so. Have you never, dear sir, been furnished with tea strong enough to make your nerves wince, and, on complaint thereof to the presiding functionary of the teapot, been graciously consoled with the /yf that her tea was never made strong enough * to hurt ' any- body ? ^ " By the way, is not the bill of fare for the refectory of Antioch College deserving of some careful thought from the faculty ? Are the cooks to have an unlimited jurisdiction over the stomachs of the students ? When they pass from the halls of science, where they have been regaling their better parts with Longmus and Homer, are they to be conmiitted to the tender mercies of ' Pan-theists ' and ♦ Pot-theists ' who will gorge them with Ohio pork, and drench them with villainous coffee? —I would not vituperate the cooks, though they have uncon- sciously done me much harm. They may know very well how to feed an Irish ditcher ; but to feed a Thinker properly is a 'fine art,' and requires no small knowledge of 'The Right Use of the Body in Relation to the Mind.' " I would like to see the day when cookery will take place as a learned profession ; or, at least, when it shall be Christian- ized. For, at present, as far as I know, generally, the prin- ciples of cookery are horribly Heathenish. There is no regard whatever generally paid to the evangelic principle, ' What- ever ye do— whether ye eat or drink— do all to the glory of God.' How would that look as a motto for Miss Leslie's book of Cookery ? "I hope that the authorities of Antioch College will secure, if possible, a sensible and conscientious cook, who possesses suffi- cient knowledge of Physiology and Chemistry, to know how to discharge the important functions entrusted to him— or her. ** Your sincere friend, "Austin Craig." Early in January of the following year Mr. Craig again took up the question of a periodical. His far-sightedness ANTIOCH AND HORACE MANN 165 and the depth of his thought come forth in this letter, as well as in the succeeding one : ''Blooming Grove, N. Y., Jan. 14, 1853. " Dear Mr. Mann : " Yours of the 8th instant, dated at Canandaigua, came to hand the day before yesterday. I was then on my way to Middletown to deliver a lecture before the Young Men's Lyceum. I embrace an early opportunity to reply. " I am not anxious that there should be an organ of the Chris- tian denomination established in Yellow Springs; though I pre- suiiie that there will be. My anxiety is to see an organ of universal truthy * ?iullius addictus jurare in verba magisiri,' and I care not if its articles all appear anonymously. People are so much accustomed to judge such things by the names of the contributors and the denominational wing under which it is supposed to nestle, that I would like to see the publication that 1 endeavoured to describe to you presented to the public free from any sectional and party relation. So that an acute reader should not be able to determine its connection with any party. Not omitting to have it such that universal, harmonious, eternal Truth may be found on every page of it by such as stck ic. " Creation is a Cosmos. Every fact in every science stands related to every other fact, and to the eternal design of the Creator. Isolate Truth— whether in Theologies, Philosophies, or Sciences,— and you emasculate it. Consider Truth— that is, any fact in creation— without its innate reference and rela- tion to the ultimate design of the universe, and you render it a dry husk which men may share with swinish natures ; rather than living bread for the nourishment of angelic natures. 1 here is a divine use in all created things, and an eternal re- lationship established between them all. The whole universe IS one problem, namely, How to produce the greatest pos- sible number of beings like Jesus Christ. All the science, philosophy, and art of God terminates in this. The manifold world around us is the means to this end. Not a sun nor an insect did the Creator ever make, but because He saw that His great end was otherwise unattainable. Our science ought to recognize the central principle of the Great Designer. How can we have a true ' Intellectual System of the Universe,'— a genuine ' Cosmos,' without that ? y . I 166 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG ;*I fear that I cannot give my full idea within the limits of this sheet Indeed, I ought to confess that the idea exists vague and undeveloped with me. Your perception and sym- pathy will,— I doubt not,— readily see about what I mean or ought to mean. Can we not have such a publication ? one in which universal science and art shall be represented as per- fulfill Itself in the divinest product of the creation, -a perfected ooul of Man r " You must lead in that matter, yourself, Mr. Mann,— not in the pecuniary risks, or anything of that kind,_but in the plan and execution. Gather to the work true men from any acces- sible quarter Let us have the Science of Man, of Nature, of society, of Life, viewed in the light and in the spirit of that serene position ; where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God ' I feel conscious that there are laymen enough in our country —men of faith and light and influence, to sustain a Christian movenrient in behalf of what is eternal and universal in the Oospel, as distinguished from what is temporary and sectional in human theologies and philosophies. I sometimes meet such men, and wonder at them for not attempting somethine I saw some such at Middletown recently. They seemed de- lighted with our unsectarian views of the Gospel, and with the origin and aim of Antioch College,— particularly in view of your connection with it. There must be many such men : and honourable women not a few.' Can we not have an organ —a new • Novum Organon ' to bring them out, and represent the many-sided truth ever pointing inwards ? Not for these few,— few comparatively,— must the work be designed ; but for 'the common people.' The time was when the highest knowledges were written in unknown tongues for the learned lew ; now, we are called to present nobler knowledges and the profoundest generalizations of universal truth to /At teotU ■ rnH''°/^ f "'■fri"- "^"^^^ '^ somebody's mission; and "with God s help it will be accomplished. " My opinion is that the Gospd H.rald (a ■ Christian ' paper now issued in Springfield, Ohio) will be removed to Yellow bprings, and a book-concern established there. I do not know m.n!-f " TTu-°, '■\'^°"™"d to you for such a post as you tTn,^ w ^i'"'"'' "'^^ *^ ™"^6^ "^y f"^"ish you one in due t m«ln .h "^ I'rT' ^ r^" f°' y°" »° ^a'ch the signs of the times in the ' Christian ' organs ? Shall I procure them to ANTIOCH AND HORACE MANN 167 be sent to you ? I doubt not that the publishers would freely forward them to you. Or, do you already receive them ?_I shall be happy to hear from you soon again, and frequently. Meanwhile, Farewell, "Austin Craig." "Blooming Grove Orange Co., N. K, Feb. 6, 1853. " To Hon. Horace Mann. •'■^ " My dear Sir : "I employ a portion of this stormy Sabbath to remind you of the friendship cherished for you by your humble corre- spondent and to gratify the wishes of some of our youne ladies, who have requested me to enquire of you somewhaf particularly respecting the terms of admission and the probaMe expens^ of attendance at Antioch College. There L three young ladies m this region, whom I have heard speak wifh much interest in the new college. There may be others,-! hope there will be.-who will go from us to enjoy the ad;an. ages of a thorough training at Yellow Springs.^ The three ladies before mentioned are earnest, reformatory, 'strong- minded girls (I use this phrase in a proper sense) ; two of hem are-from principle, I believe,-' Bloomers.' VVilUha be an objection to their admission ? One of them aoDlied recently for admission to the Florida Seminary (in thTs coTn yt aiHl was told (as she informed me) that they would gS receive her, if she would consent to adopt the ordinary dress lo this she made answer that her sense of self-respeci wouTd prevent her from entermg the institution upon such a condi 'on. I presume that there could be no other objection to her admission than that she wore the Bloomer costume. Is that Sfl am tnT""" hTk 7''^^^^'^°°' ^^' '■°""ded and endowed (ab I am informed) by the father of Wm. H. Seward and is m..ler the d,rection,-it is said,-of Senator Seward Whefhe t ,?:che"r.?,'h;"''?r'' *^ ?'°°'"" P^°^'^°' °^ -hetLr sllS'l'dott know.'"" ^"'°"^ " "P°" '^^'-- - boarS it"''T ''' '7 °^J'"'°" '" P"pils-of either sex- boarding them,selves in their own rooms, at the college ? Some mifVlirnVn'^' 'Chiefly perhaps from' considerSs arising coild e, T P^?'."'"y resources. A vegetarian student CO lid easily supply himself (or herself) with food, at less than l>alf the cost of board at the public table. If the institutioS i \\ ' ) .1 f i It 168 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG should procure the cooking, baking, washing, etc., done — after the manner of the Mount Holyoke School — by the members of the school, /. ^., by those of the young ladies who may be will- ing to serve in this capacity, you would have the cooking more fully under your control than when done by hired persons; and the cost of support would be rendered lighter to many! Besides you could render manual labour respected in the insti- tution, by this method, perhaps. **ln the animal food put upon the table of the institution, I hope that the disciples in Antioch will be Christians enough to observe the Levitical dietary law, in regard to abstinence from fat, blood, and unclean animals. For all the swinish multitude —quadruped or biped — let one irrevocable sentence of ex- clusion be adopted. Over the doors of the refectory, write, * Procul, procul, este profani ! ' And when you install the cooks, I should like to be present, and deliver the 'charge.' I think I could preach pointedly and feelingly on such an occasion,— say from such a text as the last verse of ' Zacha- riah ' :— * Yea, every pot in Jerusalem, and in Judah, shall be Holiness unto the Lord of Hosts: The interior sense of this passage (shall we say ?) is, that in the good time coming, the art of cookery shall have reference to the wholesome prepa- ration of food for the subserviency of God-appointed uses; instead of ministering to luxury and animal indulgence, as now. Alas ! how few cooking utensils there are, upon which the motto ' Holiness to the Lord,' would not be sadly out of place ! **Most respectfully yours, ** Austin Craig." I I Ml THE STRUGGLE FOR several years, in spite of incidental discourage- ments, the affairs of Antioch College in general progressed satisfactorily, though there were in- liei-eiit defects in the plan of establishment and the income basis of the institution which were bound to cjuise trouble at last. But the president persisted with unfliiggi ng zeal in his efforts to maintain the institution at a high degree of efficiency. When, however, from any reason the outlook darkened, he turned unfalteringly to the man who had never failed him in sympathy and aid, who out of his generous store was ever ready to furnish help to others. From more than one point of view Mr. Mann approached the young minister, with the end of drawing him to Antioch always uppermost in his mind. Now it was the suggestion of larger service and the duty of entering in upon it ; now the broader oppor- tunities offered for self- improvement and, as a result, larger usefulness ; now it was Antioch College and its future, the time when Dr. Craig should follow him as president of the college. Indeed, as the days went by, the quest became more and more spirited, the efforts unflagging. The letters which follow not only indicate this but they show the deeper nature of the issues involved. It became a struggle on the part of one man t« bring closer to his aid one whom he felt absolutely indispensable to his own bappiness and to the success of the great enterprise which had become the passion of his life ; on the part of the 169 ^ 170 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG other, a struggle iu which love for his frieud, obligation to his people, iiucertainty as to his lituess for the place, and doubts as to whether or not his life would be short- ened, constantly perplexed and harassed. Now and then Mr. Mann essiiyed a tactful approach,— though never aught but sincerity itself,— as witness the followiutr letter : ^ 1 ^'iVashingion, Feb. 26, 18^7. '* My DEAR Mr. Craig: * ^^ " Can a clergyman, located sixty miles out of a city, sit- tnig in his manse, with hardly a sound about him save the l)leasant ones of waving trees or flowing waters, understand the hounded, badgered, tormented, fragmentary life of an M. C. in Washington? If he can, then 1 need make no apology for so long delaying to answer your late letter. U he cannot, then though innocent, I must be convicted. ' " The course of i)reparatory and undergraduate studies for the college has not yet been definitely determined. I sent you a provisional one. A meeting is called, at my house in West Newton, for the 23d of next month. . . . *' A well-balanced mind graduates all the affairs and interests of life on a scale according to their relative importance ; and though young |)eo[)le, and imperfectly educated people, put some things high up on this scale which ought to be low down, and vice versa, yet, as they grow wiser, they are constantly re- arranging them, and conforming the order of caprice or mis- education to the standard of nature. A well developed mind and heart is the only remedy for youthful vagaries of fancy. "I presume no one will be compelled to board at the com- mon table. ... My observation, however, has convinced me that serious evils are likely to grow out of the self-subsisting method. It IS usually adopted by those in straitened circum- stances. *; The desire of economy, added to the inconveniences of pre- paring food, make too strong a temptation to live meagrely. Now, the philosophy of living, as you know, is to make strength out of food. \y hat ran poor nature do when her supplies are cut ofl ; when, like the inhabitants of a beseiged city, or mariners on a wreck, she is put on the shortest living allowance ? There THE STRUGGLE 171 is a fatal seduction about this, too, to ambitious tempera- ments. It gives a preternatural vivacity and activity to the faculties, which the deluded victim mistakes for strength. But its end is weakness, exhaustion, and premature decay. I know some temperaments will bear this much better than others. Unfortunately, those to whom it would be most injurious are most readily decoyed into it. As I grow older (may I hope wiser) 1 find my former contempt and neglect of the thoracic and abdominal viscera,— or, to speak it plainly, of lungs and belly,— gradually changing into a kind of respect, not to say homage ; not, however, as I certainly need not tell you, as the dii majores of my regard, but as the dii w/«^r^j,— without whose help the upper deities of the brain are as helpless as a commodore without crew to work his ship. The calamity is that there is such infinite ignorance about the rules of health and life among our people, that the kind, the quality, and the amount of food which people consume are determined by every conceivable consideration except the right ones. " Of course, the very object of the preparatory school is to fit Its attendants for admission into the college. At first, this pre- paratory school will be our stock in trade,— the only thing out of which we can make capital. With our Eastern teachers, the Pennells, brother and sister, if we do not have an unusual kind of school for that latitude, I shall be disappointed. "And so you recur again (and I like to read what you so wisely and with such simplicity say) to the subject of a press One thing only you omit. You speak admirably of an effect • but where is your cause /—of a paper ; but where is your editor ? A glorious invention, you know, the Frenchman had for preventing the ravages of city fires ; but when the confla- gration came, he had only a specimen of it in a phial. " Where is the man to conduct such a paper ? That is the 'main question' by a higher title than any parliamentary lavy I have pleaded with you to go. Oh, no ! you are too vvell situated with the young people whom you love, and with the old people who love you. As for myself, if there are half as many pupils there as some of your sanguine coadjutors expect, 1 shall need a hundred heads, as well as a hundred hands, to meet the daily demand upon labour and thought. " When, in my younger legislative days, I projected a hospital lor the insane, and carried it through our Legislature unas- sisted, and agamst great opposition, the governor, on whom i 1' 'I 172 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG devolved the appointment of commissioners, sent for me, and told me he should appoint me (young as I then was) chairman of the Board. I remonstrated. ' No,' said he: * you have got us into this scrape, and you must get us out.' What shall I say to the Rev. Austin Craig of Blooming Grove, New York ? ** And now, my dear sir, to whom have I given so much time as to you ? And if anybody upbraids me for this, have I not full justification in being able to say, no one deserves it so much as you? ** As ever, most truly yours, ** Horace Mann." In answer Mr. Craig wrote most earnestly from his deep heart: *^ Blooming Grove ^ N. V., March /, 1853, •*Dear Mr. Mann : ** To-day's mail brings to my hand your welcome letter of the 26th ultimo : and I should be lacking in that affectionate regard which I am happy to entertain for you, if I did not earnestly express to you the pleasure which the receipt of your two sheets gave me ; penned, though they were, during the closing days of an official life which my friend denominates 'hounded, badgered, tormented, fragmentary.' — The more gratitude 1 should feel, and do feel, that amid your harassing official cares, you have found time to favour me with so long a letter. ** The full and explicit statements made by you in answer to my several enquiries, leave me nothing more to seek on those heads, at present. ** You must pardon me, my dear Sir, for recurring so often to that matter of the Press— the Antioch Press. I regard the establishment of a tract-publication office at 'Antioch,' as a matter that must be.— In plain English, Mr. Mann, the Chris- tian denomination has no literary and scientific character. All that is to be formed. It is new, virgin soil, that you are to cultivate in your new position. You will find our ministers and people very receptive (so is my conviction, at least), and I am persuaded that your influence outside the sphere of your professional relations to the denomination, might easily equal that which you will exert as President of the institution. THE STRUGGLE 173 - Permit me to say to you, privately, that you will naturally be considered and treated by the ministry of the connexion as a knid of bishop, or grand-patriarch of our order. J-TOs is bu^ my opmion of course. Now, you will not consider it amiss trust, If I say to you that among our ministers you wiU find few educated men; you will find many who entert^ain views of cchication, and employ methods of advancing ChriZn ty wh.ch you would disapprove. Nevertheless, I am confidenl that they will incline to reverence your suggestions, as perhaps no man among us could be reverenced.'' They vill gCyfn you as a denominational possession, some of them • bu don'^ mind that, Mr. Mann. One of this class, a mTn ster some days ago, said to me that he had learned ^u were pTrS to be immersed and to come into full communion wi^h us f told him that I entertained no doubt you would obey the promptmg of duty, as you should at anytime underS it and as for; communion,' that I believed you had long been in communion with Christ; which, of course, makes you^inLn communion with us : he assented presently " Will you permit me to urge you to attend the conferences of our ministers as frequently as you can ? You will STain their confidence and regard. ^ ^ V 'n ^^ T '^^'^ '^^ ^^^ "^"'^ h^^^ ^ P^^ss, and Tract-office at Yellow Springs; I think it will be. And you must be H.. editor of the magazine, Mr. Mann. Your name must yJu 10 a^d 72/r^ of Education, Physical. Me'tat ReTj" ous . and it will be new to the great bulk of our oeonlp r S ""would r"" 'T " •"'^"' C°-''^'^ ' ConstKon o u vm . "°'"' u° T'^ "^*" half the ministers among US.— Yes, much more than half «i"*uijg the' eSiSmX'/' ^K ^'""' ^.""' ^"""g.-i" the event of toLe T. ? ? ^"^ "" "'agazine as I have described here- olore -to put my pen under pledge to you for all the aid be heart v>vhl ,'° ^°°'^.*" ^'""prise. My help would De ^hearty, whatever else m.ght, or might not be predicable m"ti \"T' u^""- '^^^""' ^^^^ yo" 'Iiave pleaded ' with me to plea anitv ^^' /l'^ ^ "^'^^ ^^'^""'^'^- " '^ '-^ 'hit a^° Sans mo ^nf ''T '"T °"" <^'^^Syn.an in a hundred, has at t^mT P'f 'f "y--the very pleasantness of the position has at times weighed oppressively upon me. But I do not fee :^.-l! m \'H' 'H 174 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG conscious of having declined the post at Antioch, solely on this ground. 1 assure you, Mr. Mann, that I feel incompetent to undertake any duties more onerous and responsible than those connected with my present position. I should feel a hesitancy about going to Antioch, until I have some more distinctly rec- ognized ' call ' from the Master, than I have yet had. I am not superstitious ; but think that the way should seem open and clear to any one, before he permits himself to assume large re- sponsibilities. *' I am, to some extent, a weak and enervated man, although just upon the threshold of Life. Physical development, I never had. A full, noble, manly, Christian development, I scarce expect to attain this side the Great Change. Meanwhile, with such fragmentary attainments as much weakness and the few uncertain years before me allow, I am labouring (not with satisfactory faithfulness, nor near it) in a field sufficiently extensive to tax to their utmost all my capacities and strength. Please regard kindly these personal statements, and accept as- surances of the warm regard of one who is happy to subscribe himself, Your friend, ** Austin Craig.*' The following letters develop new phases of the pur- suit " Yellow Springs, June i6, 18^4. '* Mv DEAR Mr. Craig : " I received, in due course of mail, yours of May 7th. To that part of it which related to your health, let me say that I am rejoiced to know that a clergyman is recognizing and obeying the laws of health, and performing the first steps in the regeneration of the race ; that is, their physical reforma- tion. You honour philosophy and religion alike by so doing, and enroll yourself in the new school and among the new lights. " I ought not entirely to omit, and yet how can I properly notice, that part of your letter in which you refer to the * Inaugural ' ? I never wrote anything that seemed to me to fall so far short of what should be said on the theme therein discussed. Your partiality alone makes you speak of it kindly : and yet I love to be commended, even for such a reason ; that is, by such a man. ** But, my dear sir, I sat down this time to make love to you 1 THE STRUGGLE 175 Do not be alarmed. I am serious and literal ! I must woo you ; and nobody could woo who did not hope to win r^^ .K • Z' n ^^^}^y^J^'' has preached to the Christian Church in this village for the last few years, has just resigned! They are looking for a successor. Yesterday the committed ofbut vouT "\T'^' '?""^ ^""^^ ^ ^P^^^ «^ think of but you ? ... If your right ear did not burn, there is no truth in signs. ' "And now, my dear sir, you want to do good. That is your divinely appointed mission. Where else can you reach and help to fashion three, four, five, or perhaps six hundred growing mmds and fashion them after your idea of the image of Chn.t ? There never was such an opening for you : thefe may never be such another. Were I a believer in sVecial providences, I should think this had all the signatures of genuineness. We have a paper here, the Gospfl Herald- where else can you better write? We shall have a library •' vvhere else can you better study ? We are students of eartWy lore: will you not infuse the heavenly? We are amon/ a i"I' uses"?"^ P^^P^^ ' -i" y^- not make them sanctify monej "Re-preaching your sermons will give you a ^reat deal nf time for other services. Everything^ says?" Come ' ' The Spirit and the Bride say, Come ' ^^ " The people here are favourable to extempore strmons • that '* Yours as ever, '* Horace Mann." "Mr. U.J' ■^''"""'"' ^'-'^'' ^- ^- S^P^"»l"r4, 1854. "My dear Friend: JuL^"" f"*'°"' ? ^^"^ y"" f""y understand my views and ' uJow'''/h u' r^'''' ''' °"' '^""t correspondence in. GrZ ^^ ^"^ ^^'^' ''™' °^ "^y engagement to the Bloom- oriio, «? <^°"f e?2t.on to give them six months' not>?e previous to my leavmg them voluntarily. I could not, ther^ 176 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG fore, come to Yellow Springs (if at all) before the middle of next spring. Again : I am unwilling to enter into an en- gagement which may require me to preach more than one regular sermon a week. Of course, occasionals are excepted And I would stipulate for a vacation of two months,— July and August. I suppose that these conditions would be unsatisfac- tory to the society in your place. The * Christians,' as I have known them, like to have several sermons a week. I have twice been under engagements to ' Christian ' churches, and in both instances found it customary to have three regular preaching, services a Sunday. Possibly, two may be the general rule with them ; but two sermons a week, I would not be willing to prom- ise in any place where I should settle with a view to continu- ance. '* It occurs to me to state that another difficulty might be found m the fact that I am not— what among the ' Christians ' IS sometimes called— ' a denominational man.' I have no de- nominational attachments— as such. I am unwilling to be known as a Christian in any other sense than that which the people of God everywhere acknowledge. Now, it is my opinion that It will be deemed desirable to secure for the Yellow Springs church some minister who may be fairly regarded as a represent- ative of the Christian denomination. If so, I can by no means be the man. I have no heart to preach about Trinity; nor to occupy myself and my hearers with sect-dogma-controversial- isms. I quite ignore those things. I am concerned to present the claims of Christ as the Redeemer, Life and Lord of man; and to show the applicability of Christ's spirit to all our human conditions, pursuits and interests. I do not even look upon the Christian denomination as embodying the* great movement of the nineteenth century.' (!) It is not unlikely that I should preach year after year without mentioning the denomination at all. I have so done; and might again Now, judge for yourself, my dear friend, whether such a course would not be likely to lead to heart-burnings and em- broilments, in case I should be ' settled ' with the Christian society in Yellow Springs. '' My present hope and purpose is to pass the winter in a more genial latitude, and in freedom from the labours of the pastoral office. I feel worn-down,— preached-out— almost : weakened in body and in mind. I must keep Sabbath a while. Ministers get no Sabbath, who constantly preach on Sundays, THE STRUGGLE 177 and are ever a-stretch to think what is next to be said I mean to he fallow a while; hoping to increase the future productive capacities of the soul-soil by so doing. On several accounts I feel sad in view of the present unlikelihood of my seeing vou this autumn; but I believe it is best so, according to mv pres- ent light. ° ^ ^ -I hope you will consider kindly the letters which I have recently written you. Do not think me light-minded and trivial because in some of them I have expressed the hope of visiting you and preaching to the society ; while in this a con- trary purpose IS announced. I am not as vigorous in health nor as buoyant in spirit, as when I wrote you early in the past summer. I feel now that I must not think of coming to Yel- low Springs. ° -But I cherish the cheerful hope that (as you have said) we shall be brought together at last ! ' The merciful God grant it ! Not h^r,, perhaps ; but there / what myriads shall be made happy in that meeting !-Ransomed souls in glorious bodies and full of immortal energies ! A ransomed Universe fit in all Its agencies to aid the efforts of God's children in their endless advance in wisdom, love and joy ! The inspiration of Riul rises to its sublimest strain over < the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven ' (Hebrews 12: 22-24). And one could almost fancy that Cicero had a glimpse of the glorious Family of God when he penned these noble words :-<0 pr^clarum diem, cum ad illud divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar cumq^u^e ex hac turba et colluvione discedam ! ' (De^SeneS "Please write me at your convenience ; and believe me, ''Yours most truly, "Austin Craig." " Rev. Aust,n Craig. " '''"'"" ^^'''"''' ^^'^ '°> '^^*- "My DEAR Sir: ,r.A V " \ '■^'^^^^d your 'etter of the 4th inst. on Saturday t sestTav T " '"° ^'''' ""^r^ '° '^■^'°-^ by reflection th'e m?LT^ V ^"^«'^""§ "• But my reflections have done me I am «H r T^ '^i^ ^'''" >°" ^'°*^ it,-morbidly so ; and 1 am sad when I read it or think of it. You magnify your fiilfi ll|! 178 LIFE AND LETTEKiS OF ALbTlN CRAIG duties; and then you change the telescope, end for end, to look at your ability to perform them. "The idea that it was possible and probable that you would come here has occupied my mind for several weeks past. The anticipated influence you would exert on our young men and maidens has filled me with joy ; and when, last week, they came togeilier at the beginning of our term, to the number of about four hundred, I assure you it was with very vivid delight that 1 looked forward to the influence of your spirit among them. Was there ever a more inviting field ? With your eager desire to stamp the spirit of Christ upon the human heart, were there ever, or will there ever be, more hearts, or more susceptible ones, than these, on which to make the im- press? . . . '♦ I thought, too, that your duties would be light here. You could turn the old barrel of sermons over, and begin at the other end. 1 think the people here would want to see you pretty often in the church ; but one of your sermons would make forty such as they have been accustomed to hear. *• My dear friend, I fear the wind was east when you wrote that letter. Do not disappoint us. Professor Holmes is de- lighted at the idea of your coming ; so are others. As to ex- ternal attractions, we have but few ; but for one who lives so much as you do in the region of the heart, and who wishes to enlarge that region, 1 know of no place for you so suitable as this. Farewell, my friend ! " Horace Mann." ** Yellow Springs J Oct. 26^ 18^4* "Mv DEAR Mr. Craig : •* I cannot tell you, my dear friend, how much all the more reflecting people here were delighted with your visit. I think you gave many of them a new idea of the function of an ambassador of Jesus Christ. . . . " But those whose hearts are earnest for the religious growth of the place, and the most subduing influences upon the un- tamed spirits of the youth who resort here for education, will never surrender the hope of having you here. I exhort you, therefore, to hold yourself in readiness, that, when the time comes, you may be translated here as quickly as Elijah was into heaven. . , . Yours as ever, most truly, "Horace Mann." THE STRUGGLE 179 In April of the followiog year, 1855, Mr. Mann, recog- nizing the great talent for teaching which was so con- spicuous a part of Mr. Craig's many-sided endowment and recognizing, too, the substantial basis of this talent' laid on the wide foundation of Greek literature and thought, wrote several letters to Mr. Craig at Bloominir Grove. They are full of the tokens of the deep insight Mr. Mann haxi into the nature and character of the man he so much loved, while the answers to them have vital human interest. •• Mv DEAR Mr. Cra,g : " ^'"'"" ^^""''' ^^'"^^ '^S5. " I wish to write a long letter to you, but have hardlv t,me to wnte a short one. The absence of Mr H—tl know. All our thoughts turned at once to you. But I knew t^ried Dr^T.'ir"ff V""' ^'^^ ^''^ the beautiful name We wnt f^ ^ t = ^^ """°' ^°"'^- ^^e have made arrange- S e chs i'n V"'l'"' '""'' "°' '" ^" ^«P«c'« satisfactof;. One class m Greek .s postponed, which I do not like ; and fe ibe^~f; : !/ °"r • ^^ ^T' ^ '^^^^er for next Sep touber. It s a/most six months. You can fill that nlace Your general culture, your acquaintance with Greek thou^t' JaZfo^ThtSt'"" Greek philology, indeed, fityou ad-i' shoSd b ' Twould take- vouTr°' ':" ^°" ^ow delighted I " Ever and truly yours, ** Horace Mann." '■ Mv D.AR FR,;;sriASr ""■ ""■' ""''""' ''''■ my pockei vesUrH '^^'1°' '^T'- ^"'^ ^ ^''^"-^^^ ^"^^'°Pe into for a n.H J^^^^'^'^y' ^'^^n. 'e'lvmg my own house, I started £an Jnen I'nn" ' '° ^^' "^" '''^^'' ^^ere. no;, with a strange pen and at a writing-table not my own, my thouehts ea forth most cordially towards you and yours ^ ^ sentimen'/c »"""" '^"'' "'"^ ^°' the very kind and confiding sentiments expressed towards me, in your letter dated the 3d '•it 1 180 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF AUSTIN CEAIG inst Be assured, my dear sir, that your flattering and kindlv words could not afford me the gratification they do, if I did not most highly esteem and affectionately regard the writer of J' I will come now to the question proposed in your letter bhal I go to ' Antioch,' or stay in Blooming Grove? Let ui we,gh the matter. You, if you please, hold the scales and observe the libration, while I arrange the weights and counter- poises. ° ;; ^ have now been four years in this place ;-have taken root rather firmly ; feel more at home than ever before, and more 1 think, than I ever expected to feel anywheres; am prettv well known among my parishioners, and in the region around me; can preach more effectively than 1 could anywhere else until a corresponding lapse of time should afford me an equai degree of intimacy with the people. I even doubt that I should be able to become as familiarly acquainted in the same length of time, as 1 have in this place; for within a twelvemonth past 1 seem to have been losing my readiness to visit and form acquaintances among the people-and personal intercourse seems necessary between minister and people, in order to the best condition of a society. To sum this in a few words, it seems to me that as 1 am now situated and known here, I can do an equal amount of benefit by my labours here, with con- siderably less expenditure of time and strength than would be necessary to the same amount of influence in a new place Mv limited strength, and my occasional fears of failing health make me think that to remain rooted (and propped a little) in this soil, is safer on many accounts than to become unrooted and by transplantation to a new field (or even nursery) to incur the risk of being unable to get firmly rooted again in time to yield an autumnal fruitage. 1 almost shudder at the thought ot having again to pass through all the preliminary acquaint- ance-makings and mind-measurings and uncertainties incident to the settling anew in the pastoral relations. I may add to these considerations that I am here settled with a reasonable pecuniary provision for my present needs, and a satisfying prospect for such future time as I may be able to remain here and may choose to do so. I might add that I should consult the wishes of my parents rather in removing nearer them, than in going a comparatively much greater distance from them. AS tor a distinctly perceived and keenly felt sense of duty (or THE STRUGGLE 181 divine 'call') directing me in this matter, I have it not. Need I say more ? Most truly yours, '* Austin Craig." " ^^^^^^ ^P^tTtgs, April z/, 1853. " My dear Mr. Craig : ^ t^ jj '*lf I thought you had at last taken the position of a final, irrevocable denial and refusal ever to join your fortunes with ours, and help us to carry on the great work here begun I should submit to my sad fate as well as I could, abate a great portion of my hopes, and labour with my might for the fulfillment of the rest. " In reference to the arguments for remaining where you are, or coming here, you say that I may hold the scales while you put in the weights. But, my dear sir, may I not also see whether the weights are correctly or erroneously marked ? If you put in platinum, and call it feathers, or feathers, and call It platinum, may I not point out the mistake, and remonstrate against it? Otherwise how am I better than any peg or hook from which to suspend them ? " Now, have you not made a mistake something like this— quite like it — in relation to the ' weights * ? "In regard to health, would not our milder climate be more congenial to your lungs than the butcherly blasts of the High- lands ? ^ " In regard to society, you know that your nature yearns towards the young ; that, reckoning from fossil old age down to indurated manhood and to irrepressible youth, the fervour of your affections, the vivacity of your love, increase far more than in the ratio that the squares of the distance diminish "In regard to intellectual companionship, you know that you are now just as solitary as you would be on the top of Mont Blanc. Nobody comes up to your altitude intellectually. \ ou may pursue your studies there ; you may become very learned and wise : but it will not be that better sort of wisdom which is found by study and contemplation, blended with communion with men. The wisdom of the recluse is a very ditterent thing from that of the practical moralist or statesman I^o^v, although we cannot supply you with many intellectual companions here at present, yet by and by I hope it will be otherwise. '' In regard to the good that you can do, I must protest that i 11! .1 182 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG I never saw such false weights used in all my life before Why, seriously and solemnly, had you done this in old times' when barbarous punishments were resorted to, I should have been afraid for your ears; that is, your m.aphyTaf^^^ You must know, and do know, that' whatever Smvou have or have not, you do ream n.ore of the purity and sim phc. y and mnocence of childhood than almost any other mLn and therefore are divinely fitted to sympathize ,^tli the yS while you instruct them,-to go down to the lowliness wherf ™Ses1r'^ r/ts " "^' "'•^"^ " ^°"^ ^^'■^•''- ' '^i '°- " As for labour,— ministerial labour,— you have now a ereai storehouse of thoughts, more or less perfected what bette could you do, either for yourself or for others than to rev w them, and give them, with the improvements of a secon ' ButThat" "^''^""^ '^.'^°"^ =""^ enhancing benefits "" But what we want now in the college is a teacher in Greet for the coming year. Where shall we find him ? Was there ever such an opening ? All the circumstance point to Jmi everything connected with the case shouts, • Au°, n Cra^e ' You can come for this year: if then heath should faif ' repulsions spring up or the social atmosphere become' an you c: J'reTurr Th°"" '"" y?-,"""^^' "-''"''-"- 'hen /uu couKi return. 1 here is nn Hr^il^t r\n *u^ i *. • .• r^f fUo* 1 • A *»'tic IS no uouDi, Oil the least intimation of that kind, your people would keep your place open for you W^y, then, will you not come and help us for this one year at Ki " ^ "^"^^ ^? ^"^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^ c'ass : so good-bye. and God bless you, and us through you. ^ * *' Very truly as ever, *' Horace Mann." " Dear Fr,e.d ^ifTuJif: '''■''"' ^^ ''■' ''^'" ''' "^S' ' yesterda7°7r!fJ"/'!K'' '•''",'7"' '"^•^"'' """^ «° hand feSs ^" I \T ":■"'' """^'^'^ agitations of sad and glad N I ft 1 ^ Purposing to go to-morrow home (to PeapLk Sa^^' and Venn" f ""'•"7 f ^'°°"'*"^ ^roveand < A^us fn ^^^^ViF^ a-fe--kslSs-m «n.ity.^^^;.Sii' eas t'x T—E-st THE STRUGGLE 183 convenience, the several certainties and uncertainties likeli P°n'me airoft ""' '""^ °' '^^ °«^'^'^' d^^esj^devo! e wuh them P''""'"''^ compensations to be connected f^^rc^ 'pres-^t ^^^z-^^^z::^ two last-named items might be worth (I 3d ^think^ in money-equivalent groo. My residence at Yellow SorUs would involve the necessity of some additional expenditure in e sef P'sa°v 'ho''"" °' ''*^^' '° "-^ ^^'^er's home ^New jersey,— say, however, once a year- and allnu/ ^Kof ..ems of expenditure there, may s'how'a result omewha mo™: o7Tf' ' .';:," T^\ ^^^^ •'"- H-. I am eS shed nou 11 1 pull-up, what certainties may I calculate nnnn ? ihLf b3 'L"" > '°T 'P"".«^' ^^'"^ "0 -rtahlty of%ro, atSceTwould ^"wis^rltf A":i'"t -"'-P'^'^d blooming Grove in the evenf J l^"*^ ^ "^"^ returning to elsewhere- fh/tiH f ?'^ ""^ *"""« ""aL)'^ to remain elsewhere , that idea I cannot for a moment entertain I Hn Sltt.ranor"pasfor"a:!'d'rh''^ "^^T '''- '^^ again, even if it were'CccuS rC Tl / ^^"^ 'Replace Grove at all T i^o "^^^"P'ea r jno, if I leave Bloom ng home - • '"'" " """^ "'^ P^'-P"^^ °f seeking ' a new .", ie~ta"„"e :'h.'„ t^ r; iriLir frA'"" ""h'™- ckief .„o„e my ,a.li(c.„„n, („, H^«d«,J^^^ M 184 LIFE AND LETTEKS OF AUSTIN CRAIG in Antioch. Your last letter leaves me disposed to weigh the whole matter anew; and now, dear sir, hide nothing from me, which may help me to understand what my resi- dence in Yellow Sprmgs may involve, require and promise. " Yours truly, "Austin Craig." " Kf//i?Z£/ springs, April jo, 1855. "My DEAR Mr. Craig: ^^ " By your letter of the 22d instant, I see I am required to sit down and compute the tables of an almanac, showing the decimation, right ascension, etc., of your orb for the coming year, and for a somewhat indefinite future afterwards. We cannot, as yet, calculate the orbit of a human, astronomically quite as well as we can that of Mercury or Neptune. Still, I will do my best. At any rate, I will put you in possession of facts from which you can cast a horoscope. . . " The committee on the subject of teachers is authorized to employ a teacher of Greek. . . . There has also been a good deal said among the faculty about a chaplain for the college; and, could we get the right man, the feeling amongst those of us who now supply the place of one would be unan- imous in favour of the demand. They have been deterred, as yet, from bringing forward the subject by the condition of the college finances, which, we have reason to hope, will be improved before another year rolls round. "Both the chaplaincy and the Greek would furnish easy occupation to a man so equipped as you are. ... I can- not believe, that, once here, you would be allowed to go away until you went the upper way. I have now stated the facts conscientiously. I will not offer any new considerations about your health, your growth, your very much enlarged sphere of usefulness, etc., but remain, as ever, " Yours affectionately, " Horace Mann." ''Blooming Grove, N, K, May 7, 1855. " Mv DEAR Friend : " Yours of the 30th ultimo was in our post-office on my return from New Jersey last Saturday evening.— Moved by your urgency, I hasten to reply. :«ii THE STRUGGLE 185 " The week before last I purchased a copy of Bullion's Greek Grammar; designing to engage myself with it at inter- vals of leisure. 1 expect to find much study necessary, in order to equip myself properly for giving instruction to your Greek classes I have for several years been devoting atten- tion to the New Testament Greek; but, having ever in view the uses of the pulpit and my own satisfaction, I passed bv many matters which 1 should feel to be necessary in the class- room.-.Should I be called to the Greek chair in Antioch. I would strive to do what my abilities and strength might per- mit; but I forewarn you that Dr. Siedhoff probably knows ten times more Greek than I. " I now definitely tell you that I am inclining to accept the call to the Greek professorship during the absence of Mr Holmes.— But I do not, of course, announce this as ih^fifiality. ^/^/ will be deferred, properly, until my reception of the official invitation from the committee.— For your own eve chiefly, I now write that, I think I shall willingly, -even hope- fully and gladly, perhaps,— (if God please) cast in my lot with you and your associates next autumn. " I have been carrying in my pocket for several days past, a let er addressed to the trustees of the Blooming Grove congre- gation which I propose presenting before them this week :- to the lollowing purport :— " • Gentlemen and Esteemed Friends • ,1,- -. '"^ respectfully tender to you-and through you, to he congregation which you officially represent, -my resigna l^four yerrr""P "'"' ' ""''' '''"' '""""^ ^^ ^"""6 "«. " ; According to the terms of our contract, I am obligated to give you SIX months' notice of my intention to withdraw. IrVJ^^L ^l ^""^' "■■'hdrawal from the service of the con- gregaiion. The six months will be ended on the first day of ^r^H '; next._If, however, satisfactory arrangements could the^tlmiltn ^' '"PP'V^ V^" P"'P" ^^°'^ the expiration of aJ'/i '"^H"''^ communication deliberately; and with un- con re ation "'^ "^^''^ ^°^ ^°"' •"^'^'<^"*">'' *nd ^r Ae "'A. C" 186 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG ''Blooming Grove, N. K, May 7, /<5'fc "My DEAR Sir: -^ ' "JJ- "You have now all that I can at present say —All that IS necessary to say at this stage of our negotiation. I shall be glad to hear again from you, at your convenience Meanwhile, wuh kindly greetings to your household, and friendliest regards to Mrs. Mann, 1 remain heartily, '* Yours, ''Austin Craig." Kot long afterwards the following letter was despatched to Mr. Mann : <• Mr. Mann.' " ^ '"'""'"' '''''""' ^^ ^•' ^"'> ^' '^^S- **My dear Friend: on^ « " u "^^^^ '?"' ^^^^"^^ ^° >'°" ^^^^' meeting Messrs. Fay nf M u Z'"''?'^^ ^"^ ^"'^"^' ^'^^"^ ^'"^^'y ^^ to "^y occupancy ot Mr. Holmes temporarily vacated chair, I began by telling them that 1 could wi.h my recent letter of acceptance to you Amin r/\/Tw''''l' ?^.^"^^^'l ^y promising to come to Antioch (U. V.) by the beginning of your next term ! * What does this strange behaviour mean ? '—I can imagine you ask- ing I wish to tell you. My charge in Blooming Grove is sur- rendered ; though still occupied by me, from considerations of obvious duty to the people, not to leave them until suitable ar- rangements for their pulpit-sui)ply can be made. They refused to accept my unconditional resignation; proffering me a leave ot absence for six, twelve, or even eighteen months, if neces- sary. —I made no rei)ly, at the time of receiving this com- munication from the committee appointed at the coneregation- meetmg except to tell them how uncertain I felt my future to be; so far as relates to the necessary health and strength to work in such a field. Since that time, I had quite abandoned the Idea of coming to Antioch ; and was on the point of writing you so, when Messrs. Fay and Brush intercepted me and re ceived from me the announcement of my hastily formed con- c usion to come to you. Whether I have acted prudently or otherwise in this decision, I am unable to say. I had, before nf ;,ni'^'.K^ reached a point wh.re it seemed to me my think- ^^^^^;r' ''''''''' ^° '^ ^^^^" ^^ -^' madeLthing THE STRUGGLE 137 "I have recently subjected myself to the examination of a physician to learn (,f possible)_if „ot what I must do-wha^ 1 must not do. He tells me that the cause of my present con dmon IS a constuutionally excessive activity of the bra n as compared with the vital supplies in my system. He fi ,ds my nervous system, circulation, liver and stomach, lungs and 'renes all more or less disordered. And he remarked me with emphasis that everything was insidiously conspTring to fasten consumption upon me. He was peremptory hre^ quiring me to cease from the irregularities' of habit and the b"n luLilc?" wth""'',"""' ff ,''''■ '° '^■'"'^'^ I have hSe been subject. With prudence, fidelity to his prescriptions and souie changed modes of life which he specified, he pronounced my cure .0 be reasonably anticipated. All thit he toTd m^f my ailments, I knew before consulting him; and had fek the rouble about my lungs so much, of late, that at times, I would frequently hesitate at any plans or aims, ^hose undertaking co'nruali'c:""'''' "'^ '''^^ °' considerable labour or of mucg "It was this that made me think to write you finallv de chnmg, he before-accepted place in Antioch. ^W .h the besi health that I have had for several years, I would ant ciplte onlv a moderate degree of success in the new sphere, ^vei^wkh "he hard study which I had intended (an.l expected L g ve to the da ly lessons of the classes. And now, when in all lirel hood s ould be a semi-invalid, I both fear the failure o my eS he f^ilu : TT '° ""' '''' "^^°"^'^''= •^-->'^» °f it, and which I could Z ''^"'"."""S ^'"^^gies under the excitements u„-? , °"'^'''' '" 'hose new responsibilities. I stated he.e considerations to Messrs. Fay and Brush; adding hat a year of so uncertain prospects seemed, in my present filinL more than I could perhaps jn.liciously undertake ThevmTde Z:Z^1%^'' ' "'■^'^' "'.f <^ '"^' ^' '-' for one les ion 1 do o if r^Iw°";"n' '"'' '"''^r'^ 'hat 1 would promise to 00 so, — It providentially permitted. thJ'iistitS V '^'^' ^"'"''' ^ '"""' 'hat it would be better for tne institution to secure some other for the temporary suddIv le 'tC' ^"' 'I-^-i"g 'o 'he briefness of the remaS time,-that cannot be done ; I am willing to come fif strength to amti "°"'^ and attempt the duties of the post; wWSS Ind mnT f' '" rf "^''''' ''° "'"'^ 'han an honest endeavour and moderate qualificationsmayenableanot-wellmantoperfJrm 1 liil 188 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG ** Should you continue to desire my coming to you, please write me soon ; specifying the text-books to be used in all the Greek classes during the next session, and throughout the year Please give me also some account of what has been done during the last session ; the mode of instruction, etc. Will you per mit me to interest (if possible) the members of various classes m the study of the Greek New Testament ? I shall not ask to substitute It to the exclusion of other studies, or even of other Greek ; but would gladly make an optional extra of it if I could interest the students— as I might hope. Please write me also whether I can obtain a pleasant room at Mr. Dean's board- mg-house, the more retired from the scenes of outdoor pursuits and activities, the more congenial to my tastes. Do not think however, that I wish to live a hermit. Far from it ! All that my strength can permit I wish to do, in associating with the pupils, in sharmg the burdens of public instruction and worship with you and your associates; but for the hours of private study to prepare for the better instruction of my classes, 1 want a quiet and retired room, such as I think Mr. Dean's house may contain, though |x)ssibly not unoc( iipied. Please write me soon whatever you may think needful or helpful for me to know. Present my friendliest regards to Mrs. Mann ; and ac- cept again the assurance of my unabated respect and esteem. "Austin Craig." XI THE CAPITULATION IN a letter written iu June, 1855, Mr. Mann, noting that It now appeared settled that Mr. Craig was to be with them at Antioch the following year, spoke of the tremendous demands upon his own strength so great that he could not '^get a splinter of time anywhere to float away upon,'' saying in closing : ^^It has been siiid that God will never ask what a man has done, but what he has done under the circumstances." Iu Novem- ber, of the same year, writing from Boston, he calls at- tention to a brief note from Mr. Craig which '^said noth- ing about what I care most for, -yourself You have made us all love you so much," he adds, ^^a new obligation is upon you. You must take care of yourself for our sakes as well as for your own. The fame of your popularity among the students has reached here and I am congratulated upon it." ' One cannot better suggest the powerful hold Mr. Craig took upon those with whom he came in close personal contact than by the following letter from Mr. Mann written from Boston in January of the next year, 1856' Mr. Mann had come up to his own noble estate through great toil and amidst disheartening conditions. He was of that keen and high type more likely to magnify their killings than exalt their better parts. He was abnormally keen to feel his own need of help, and no other man, it would seem, so truly fitted his own nature and supplied that of which he felt himself deficient. The letter in 189 DO LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG *l ft question, oue of the saddtvst iu all the line of published correspondence of great men, is as follows : *' My dear Mr. Ckaig : " As 1 am writing home to Mrs. Mann, I must write a word to you, because you are now associated with all my ideas of home, — an object standing in the foreground of the picture. One of the regrets of absence is to be away from you. Your spiritual-mindedness is the complement of my nature,— of what I have ftiiled to be, though 1 was fit to be, and ought to have been. But Calvinism blasphemed all that part of me; and, if it did not destroy the germ, it checked its development! 1 have something, I hope, of the other side,— the intellectual- religious side. What I have, I rejoice in ; but it constantly re- mmds me of what else 1 ought to have. I desire its possession more fully. I do not feel too old to cultivate its growth. I am only made to feel and to see how much was lost to my nature, because all was done that could be done, when I was a child, to educate the love of a heavenly Father out of me, in- stead of educating it into me. This want I feel and deplore. You supply its place in me. You call to mind, better than any other man I have ever known, what Plato would hold to be the * recollections ' of a previous state of being. Think, then, how dear you are to me ; because I feel, if I could incorporate your soul into mine, it would make me whole; /. e., a whole man. *'I feel constantly, and more and more deeply, what an un- speakable calamity a Calvinistic education is. What a dread- ful thing it was to me ! If it did not succeed in making me that horrible thing, a Calvinist, it did succeed in depriving me of that filial love for God, that tenderness, that sweetness, that mtnnacy, that desiring, nestling love, which I say it is natural the child should feel towards a Father who combines all excel- lence. I see him to be so, logically, intellectually, demon- stratively; but when I would embrace him, when I would rush into his arms and breathe out unspeakable love and adoration, then the grim old Calvinistic spectre thrusts itself before me. I am as a frightened child, whose eye, knowledge, experience, belief even, are not sufficient to obliterate the image which an early fright burnt in upon his soul. I have to reason the old image away, and replace it with the loveliness and beauty of an- other ; and in that process the zeal, the alacrity, the fervour, HORACE MANN II A A \. n II' ,»; |i THE CAPITULATION 191 the spontaneousness, are, partially at least, lost. You help me to recover ,t an, fix the true image; and thus you help my sp,r,tual hfe. I would not part wiih one idea, one convicU^n^ on the other s-de of my moral life; but I feel a though/ S be a better man, and a vastly happier man, if I could add your sule to mme. And as you have opportunity, my dear friend let me entreat you to impart this loving side of religTon to mv j.tle boys. Above all treasures. I lon| that they sh3d have > There can be no such chasm in their being as to be with! out .t. for the tnals of life, it is the best philosophy FoTthe joysof existence, u is the greatest magnifier; for it magniLin the hue of direction as well as of quantity '"agnmes in "But I am interrupted by company ; and what will my wife " Good-bye, my dear friend, "Horace Mann." The following extracts from letters written by Mr. Craig at this time to Mr. Mann are of interest : " I have never yet acknowledged in a manner suitable to m» feelings, a very kind and flattering letter of Jou s to me whkh caiiie enclosed m your letter to Mrs. Mann.-^u °K you left New York to return home. The friendship which vou ex r;:::that^T;,rT"'™'' '" "^^^ ■«=""• -- - tStfui o me that I was fain to appropriate it to myself- but from rer am iiici, ental utterings as to the excellencies of the peTson ad ressed, I concluded that you had written of (and '0^^!' aiur'al'lTi:::"; J'r ^°J? '^^'^ '" "''"'^' -d then (as you^wou^d ZZll , ^^"l'"« °/ y°"' ^''t'"*^'' flo'^k, and of the tem- t'he en'v S'"'* "'""'' T" '"Pf-^"^^' '» -"'« ™y "am^ u^^n ema?ks wa^- nni./l 'A ^"f /' ""' P°'"'' *^ '^e ' train ' of my remarks was quite laid, and I was preparing to ' touch it nff • • vl.o should come in but the minister and his wife So I hol'role'eV;"^' '° T' '''°'''y ' conveSti:?and uV- .0 e^^^he'^tLa.r.^f' '"'^;"°^ '^'^ "' «°"^' I do "°t re. anew. °^ "^ discourse satisfactorily ; so I begin re.n.L-^"' exceedingly /,M,^ with what you communicate respecting the story of those kind gentlemen who cTedTf^n I 1' 192 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CKAIG you with the subscription on my behalf. I can easily under- stand how the lost $80 should be thought my loss.— I'hough I never told any one that I lost it. But how the other reports could have originated,— that I am necessitously poor, and have father and mother dependent upon me for support ! — I am ut- terly at a loss to surmise. I don't know that I ever told any- thing of my financialities to any one in Yellow Springs, except that once in a merry talk in the bookstore I think I stated that my first receipts for preaching were— (after 1 had been a preacher for nearly three years)— seven dollars, and a * bran- new ' hickory axe-handle, for nearly two weeks' labour— Sun- days and week-days. Perhaps they may have thought that I ought to be * necessitously poor ' under these circumstances ; but that was a mistake ; and you did a thankworthy thing in inducing my kind-meaning friends to desist from their en- terprise. ** In relation to the matter of the students' subscription to make * a. present,' etc., I cannot say anything. "I am in a yielding mood now as to being present at the dedication services. If I shall succeed in arranging matters suitably, and can learn the apjx)inted time of the ceremony in season to reach Yellow Springs against the day, I will endeavour (D. V.) to be present. 1 don't see how I could reasonably reach you by the third Sunday of this month ; you might ex- pect me by the fourth Sunday,— if that day should be ap- pointed. Let me know the appointed day ; for I cannot be from home more than one Sunday, at this time. " If you should think the time so short now that your answer might fail to reach me before 1 ought to be on the way to you, you can telegraph me from your Yellow Springs office to Washingtonville, N. Y. ; where the New York and Erie Rail- road has a telegraph office. I must incidentally tell you, how- ever, that the only message which I ever had occasion to send through the Yellow Springs office, had not reached Middle- town ye/, at the time of my arrival there, five days after I had despatched it ! Ohio hghtning doesn't always strike where it hits, does it? Let it be well greased before it starts ! "Away with this note to the flames! But believe me,— with no abatement of former affection,— the sincere friend of you and yours, " Austin Craig." THE CAPITULATION lu February, 1856, Mr. Mann writes : 193 '*My dear Mr. Craig: - 1 put a single word into Mrs. Mann's letter, more for the sake of telhng you how Horace Mann loves Austin Craig than for any other reason. . . . v-*«i'6 ♦' The strongest desire is expressed for your return Our trustee meeting is on the 12th of March. If we can have your affirmative reply before that date, the proper measures can be taken by the Board of Trustees for g^LgyoT^Zus m the CO lege as College Chaplain, and lI cturf r^ the Ev ' dences of Christianity, Professor of Moral Philosophy, or something of that kind. This ought to be; for you should have an official relation to the students as the basis of your moral one Good-bye, dear Mr. Craig ; and if my invocation were worth anything, I would say, God bless you ! "Horace Mann." Again with the old aim in view of drawing Mr. Craig to Antioeh, not only because of his own affection for liini and his feeling of need, but because he saw a day com- ing, and approaching more rapidly than others knew when he must give up the burden and when, as he fondly hoped, Mr. Craig might succeed him, he despat<^hed the following letter dated at Antioeh College, April 7, 1856. Ihis IS followed by its answer together with another similar letter from Mr. Mann. " Mv DEAR Mr. Cra,g : " ^"'"'' ''''"'"' ''^''" ^' ^*^^- Societv'i'n"fhT'','' ^ Tk ^°" '^^ invitation of the Christian society in this place to become their pastor. I need not tell you ho^v much pleasure it affords me to do it cZa^ circumstances attending the call were such as you cou d hardly wish modified, were they at the full disposal of Sr 'f "^•^•^^'».- After your name was introduced at the nieeting, ,t was said that you had been elected Colleee CnM^l'",^. ^"''. 'he enquiry was made, how you could be t.ollege Chaplain, and pastor of the Christian Church also Omitting what I said about Mr. Craig as a man, it was said that »f '! f. i^ke any sacrifice for the welfare of the college, and if we are to have Mr. Z pastor of the church, or any one like him, then 1 feel as though ttn ri?.' °Vh' '°^T "^^'f' ^' '^^^^ ""der my administrl on ,s jeoparded, and the only motive which I have for stay- ng here is gone You supplied all conditions. Your refusal Xs' tr '" '°"'^'''°"' unsupplied. I write in haste a^d sauness, out am, as ever, *' Truly yours, ''P Q rr.u r 1 r 1 ''Horace Mann. f. b.—lf the refusal of the society is peremptory, is it per- await with great anxiety an answer to tAis enquiry.'' i\ : I i m t: 198 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTLX CRAIG The sliadow of ill health for years following steadily on Mr. Mauu's path, was darker now aud more sinister The uext letter diseloses more of this though it does not indicate how great was the danger. The letter is self- explanatory : » AT .. ., "Mackinaw, Michigan, August 7, iSc6 " My DEAR Mr. Craig : « /> "J"- " Yours of July 20 has been forwarded to me at this place, whither I have come in search of the fugitive, heahh • at least, to escape from the debihtations of our iummer heats' I wish you were here. It is a fortnight to-day since we ar^ rived ; and such paradisiacal weather as we have had ' iust warm enough not to be cold, and just cold enough not to be warm. Only one thing is wanting to me, and I should thrive like a green bay tree ; and that is the home diet. •' Last night we had some commotion among the elements • and to-day It is cloudy, and a fire is comfortable. Bu^a flnj whiffs of this air would make your lungs give a hygienic lauol I am sorry to hear there are any symptoms in your thro^^or elsewhere which give you present disxomfort or forebodings I am afraid of that Eastern climate for your lungs. I do not beheve that air will ever agree with you.' It requires a Borea to blow It, and none but a Boreas can breathe it. You are an "°"x^'" j' ' ^^^" hothouses will not save you, 1 fear •' My dear friend, you must answer me one question ; for it will be an element in coming to conclusions that now impend It IS no other than the question I put to you before : Suppose the SIX months during which you feel yourself bound to the Blooming Grove Society to be at an end. would you. or would you not, come to Yellow Springs ? That is the question. Why should you not answer it ? It is an important element at least. If not a decisive one, in regard to ulterior things I canie here with great hopes, ready to put forth my best efforts ready to make any sacrifices probably resulting in success. If 1 am to fail, I have already sacrificed too much; and the sooner I stop the more strength I shall have by the time I get home, which I hope will be about the 20th inst " Yours lovingly, "Horace Mann." In a letter written on his return to Antioch in October, THE CAPITULATION 199 Mr. Mann spoke of Mr. Craig's visit to Antioch in char- acteristic phrase : " Yoia- having been here, and being gone, and being going to be gone, seem to me like a sad and do etu dream. Then comes the consciotisuess that It IS not a dream, but a reality." The autumn passed on into WH, or, the devoted president steadily burning out (In- candle at both ends. No matter what came, no mat- tor how ,leep or great the disappointments, or how bitter the consciousness that he should never see his dream of Antioch fulhlhKl, he never lost his hope that he should some day gain a nearer relationship to the man whose iimiiediate, personal touch he needed so much. Mr. Craig had meanwhile gone South on a much needed vacation, as the two following letters indicate : "Mr. an-d Mrs. Mann'.'^^'^^'"'' ^'"'O' f ''"'""■> ^5, 1S57. " Very dear Friends : "Austin Craig is in Ohio at this present writing and from diose sever^'^I^r,/"^""' ^^ '^l overground railroad fnvli r°"''^ gladly write you a letter more worthy of your to <^;7" -r l\ ^^''y' ^^^S™^''^ ^^r-^'' ■■= likely to gZ train whch k ^ '" "°"-' ^ '"" ^"^'""g '^e arrival of dianlpon;^ ^ '° '°"'"y ■"" °" '"^^'^^ Cairo, via In- if 'v^'t "^f""' p!"'^ ■""'' "'^ enclosed letter to Dr. Hoyt— 'f you can learn his present whereabouts. And do nofforget L** «l. / ** Although the ink is hardly dry on the last letter I 206 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG wrote you, yet, having a chance to send by your friends, I im- prove it. ** I hardly know what I wrote you before ; yet I know I wrote what was nearest my heart, and therefore it must have been about your coming here. If you would do so, I know it would be the turning-point in the institution. It will make a differ- ence of many students ; and, what is better, it will make a dif- ference in the moral and religious character of all. How gladly would 1 help you work here ! how rejoicingly I would leave you here when I am called away ! I know we have a chance for an institution here such as exists in no other part of the earth, — one founded on the love of truth and righteousness. We have the power of saying, and of maintaining the doctrine, equally new and great, that we will graduate none but true, exemplary youth ; and this will push the world along half a century at one impulse. But, to all the good things I plan, you appear in the foreground of the picture. . . . " Pray let me hear from you soon. . . . These matters must be settled without delay. " Yours as ever, and more so, *♦ Horace Mann." '' Ant'toch College, July i8, 1857. *' My dear Mr. Craig : "Yours of the nth instant has reached me to-day. The delay has given me restless sleep and horrid dreams ; but your letter promises a pleasant morning after a dreary night. "First, I send you a catalogue: second, I am afraid you want more exactness of detail, than it will be possible for me, in our present disorganized state, to give ; but I can make one assurance sure, —that we love you too well, and believe that the Lord has too much for you to do hereafter for Antioch College, to allow us to put your health in peril. "I feel as though I could yet, in desperate circumstances, perform a great amount of labour, and so does R ; and what you can't do, I hope we can. What is wanted is, that you, temporarily, should fill Mr. 's place. The college and school are so utterly dissatisfied with him, that it is said the whole of our to-be seniors would leave if he is retained, and at least half of all the other college classes. The case, therefore, is desperate. *' • • • Six thousand dollars are to be raised by sub- THE CAPITULATION 207 scription, which, with the expected income from tuition and rooms, IS thought to be sutiticient to pay the teachers at about the same rate as heretofore ; and I think you should be paid according to the proportion of your labours. But on this point my dear friend, you must trust to the Lord a little, and while you are reasonably careful about earthly treasure, lay up some- thing in the upper treasury, whose officers never embezzle or defalcate. You will be worth ten thousand dollars to the moral interests of the college ; and all this will, I have no doubt, be transferred to your account in the book of life. As to the future, you know what I hope and intend for you. ** Yours as ever, "Horace Mann." Mr. Mann found it impossible to free his mind of the belief that the coming of his dearest friend to Antioch would save the day. Again and again he wrote urging Mr. Craig to come. On August 17, 1857, Mr. Craig wrote a letter in which he defined his position even more pointedly, making it clear beyond perad venture that he did not then feel it his duty to leave Blooming Grove. In the letter he says : "After many fluctuations of feeling, I am conscious that I have not at any time felt it to be my duty to take the post to which you invite me. It is in my power to say that in deter- mining my duty in any case of recognized importance as this is. I do not overlook my need of the highest illumination and guidance. I have not been able hitherto in the use of (as I suppose) the proper means, to arrive at any sense of duty in tins matter of coming to ' Antioch.' I preach to others, that LJght is to be waited for, and that we do well to stand still un- til we are satisfied of the Divine call to go forward. *' Furthermore, my dear sir, in my inmost contemplating of he duties of the proposed post in ' Antioch ' in contrast with the quiet (to me so attractive) of the country pastor's life ; I have found it really impossible to wish to come thither. My heart is not there. How can I help that ? Without any sense of duty to make me feel strong in the self-denial, and without a feeling of attraction to the place and its duties, how could '$ I: tl 1* 208 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG I be otherwise than weak and unavailing there, or anywheie under the same conditions ? *' Have I not presented really a strong case? My feelings of sympathy with you in the manifold perplexities of your position demand from me friendly words (and sometimes upward-look- ing ones), but I must not permit them to blind me to the fact that 1 feel no call of duty to come to you. It has occurred to me that Rev. E. G. Holland (a ' Christian ' minister) for some two years resident for study and observation's sake in Germany, and now (I suppose) on his return, might be found an accept- able and efficient man for the post. His turn of mind is to- wards Belles Lettres. " I am sorry to send you this letter. But I must tell you the truth ; and this letter contains the truth (as it is to me) in rela- tion to this matter. «• May God make you strong, and give you the true success. "Austin Craig." Deep sadness came to the president upon receipt of this letter. "I have received your late letter," he writes, ''extinguish- ing all my hopes. I have no doubt of your being able to justify to your own conscience the conclusion to which you have come. It would, indeed, be most lamentable, if, to the indescribable evils, consequent upon your decisions, that of any conscious in- terference of choice with duty were added. "I will now say in strictest confidence to you what I have never said to any living being before, not even to my wife, — that the probability of my continuing for any length of time in my present position is very slight." He then recounts the sad straits into which the college has fallen through the leaving of professors and the at- tacks of enemies. '' It would have had the appearance of rashness/^ he adds, speaking of one of the acts of the board of trustees, *'and perhaps of passion, had I re- signed at once; and I shall do nothing to prejudice the institution when I leave it. ... I do not know what will come ; but one thing I mean at all events to do,— THE CAPITULATION 209 to keep a conscience void of offense towards God and niau.'^ But brighter, even if temporary, light, came upon him and he resolved to make one last effort, this time in per- son. So he went all the, then, long journey of oyer eight hundred miles, to Blooming Grove, met the pastor on his own ground and won his case. It was a momentous strug- gle on the part of both men. The more so as each one of them was absolutely devoted to the right. Soon after Mr. Craig received the following letter to which the answer is given : ''Antioch College, Sept. 77, 1837, " Mv DEAR Mr. Craig : r , j/ "I saved the college by going to Blooming Grove and secunng your services in it ; but 1 came near losing myself. For thirty-six hours after I left you, I was more ill than 1 have been for years. I laid by at Dunkirk over Sunday ; and was just able to reach home, se?ni auimus, on Monday. Well, I had this to console myself with,— if 1 got you, though I killed my- self, 1 had made a great bargain. "Our school opens grandly with about a hundred new students, and a better-looking class of students than we have ever hud before. These students have all been brought here by our reputation : they have not come to save six dollars a year on a scholarship. They evidently come from the more in- telligent class in the community, and thereby show where our strength is growing. I have great expectations from your con- nection with the college. I understand there is great jubilation among the students,— a double jubilation indeed,— one for those who are to come to help us, and one on account of those who are not. Your presence is looked for most anxiously. 1 he contrast between you and your predecessor in this branch will be immense. " We are all well. I have had a dreadfully hard time since I returned. I want to tell you how the ungodly were caught in their own snare ; but this must be when you get here. Our arms are all open to receive you. . . . ** Your friend, ** Horace Mann." ^Iil 1^11 1* \\l 210 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG " B Zooming Grove ^ N. K, Sept. 2j, i8^y, " Dear Friend Mr. Mann : ** Yours of the 17th instant arrived yesterday. ** The large number of new students, at such a time as this, promises well for the future of Antioch, I think. **The Programme of Logic and Rhetoric recitations is well arranged fur me. — Thank you ! " I am in the midst of a chaos — outwardly and inwardly. Outwardly, as respects the puUing-down and packing-up in- cident to my removal ; and inwardly, the conflict of uncertainty whether I am clearly in the way of duty; the sadness of leav- ing friends here who look upon my stay with them as the pros- pering of their church-interests,— our meetings, since you were here, are semi-funereal, and a foreboding, at times, that all will be failure at Antioch, — as far as my coming thither is con- cerned. To occupy the position, which another must regard as rightfully his own, will require great circumspection and Christian prudence. I beg that you will not permit your friendliness towards me to make you speak anything in my be- half calculated to raise expectations in the minds of those who are to be my pupils. Leave me, I j)ray you, unnoticed. 1 will do the best I can ; but I am confident that my shortcomings will be watched, if not by students, by those to whom any failure or shortcoming in the vacated chairs will be only too noticeable. *• For a kindred reason, I wish that you would not distin- guish me in any way above my co workers. Do not announce me in public as Rev. Doctor ! My dear sir, I have as much ' powder ' aboard as almost any man. Don't inflame my vanity ! I have heretofore said nothing to you about that. I am afraid, among other considerations, that it will make me the object of disagreeable attentions from my ' Christian ' brethren. I have written a semi-jocose essay on Clerical Titles, which I am thinking to send to the Christian Herald and Messenger. " But, at any rate, do not make me conspicuous. — I ask it for the sake of our general good, as well as on account of my private feelings. " I foresee that great wisdom and long-suffering forbearance are now necessary to give the college success. Many— many hard words and unjust surmises and unkind acts, may be met. May we be ' armed ' all over with Faith, Patience and Meek- ness ! THE CAPITULATION 211 "If you would write me again to reach me before starting, finally, for Yellow Springs, address me at Frankford, Pennsyl- vania. '* With affectionate regards to your family, ** Yours, "Austin Craig." In a day when the huge figure of Theodore Parker loomed high amidst those who took part in the prevailing theological discussion and dissensions, when that pioneer among the liberals, with his biting satire and his de- nunciation of cant and his devotion to truth, as truth revealed itself to him, was fighting the great battle of his life, it was not always a desirable thing for a man in the van of orthodoxy to be kno\vn as a friend, even as a pass- ing acquaintance, of this Titan of pulpiteers. In his own words Parker has shown how alone he was in the world, bow shut away from sympathetic friendships, save the splendid friendship of his great congregation ; but Horac-e Mann knew Theodore Parker to the core and he was thus more than willing to write this brief note : M T^ T? T^ T. '* March i, 1858. " To Rev. Theodore Parker. " My dear Mr. Parker : *' I take great pleasure in introducing to your acquaint- ance one of my dearest friends, and one of the best and truest of men,— the Rev. Austin Craig. "You and he may not agree in exegesis; but I know no two men who, m all matters of duty to man, or love to God would be more in unison. " 1 commend him to your fellowship; and remain, as ever, " Most truly yours, "Horace Mann." One of the last letters written by Horace Mann to Dr. Craig closes like a benediction. It was in the year of the former^s death, near the close of a service in which, liter- ally and figuratively, he had offered himself as a sacrifice. \^'\ t \h ifi 2f3 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG And yet, no matter what the future might hold in its darkness, nor liow near Death walked, he lost no oppor- tunity for further serviee, negleeted no opportunity to enlist the serv ices of others in every way possible in the mission to which he was consecrated. The letter in q ues- tion is as follows : ,. ivyr *. ^ *' ^^^^^^^ Spf-ings, March j, i8s8. " Mv DEAR Mr. Craig : *^ '' You have not yet been gone two days, and we are all homesick for you already. My ears tingle to know what you are saymg and doing at Stafford to-day. ** . . . Doubtless it will be given you in that selfsame hour what you shall say : but, among the things which you do say, I trust you will not omit to dwell with earnest, apostoHc unction upon the character of our students ; their freedom from almost all the vices and evil habits which are common- place in other colleges ; the security of gardens and orchards and vineyards who/iy from any depredations of theirs; on the fact that both the men and women of the village have been watching the past season for offenders against the temperance laws, yet never has suspicion rested on one of our students of having so much as visited a drinking saloon or other similar resort; the feelmg with which the young men are regarded by the ladies of the place; the high, elevated, and often religious tone of their exercises, whether for exhibition or class compo- sitions ; and what I think will strike your audience very lorcibly,— the fact that, among all who have gone out from here from all the classes, is the only bigot 1 know of 1 hey go out, generally, deeply impressed with the importance o\ religious truth, but enquirers, not dogmatizers. " And now, my dear, very dear friend, may peace and bless- mg attend you all the days of your life ! "1 know Mrs. Mann would send indefinite quantities of love If she were here, and so would the childers. " Ever and truly yours, ** Horace Mann." Leaving these letters, redolent with the perfume of a splendid friendship flowering in the devoted lives of two noble Americans, we may turn to the more active part THE CAPITULATION 213 vrhich the younger of them was to play in helping for- ward the institution which had promised so much and which, in some way, in spite of all its untowardness, had in it the power to draw out the very best effort of those who became identified with it. f p I 'I! H 'iN M^t XII ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION THE intense toil, unrelieved by rests and embit- tered by constant discouragements, told heavily upon the devoted president. As the year 1858 wore on it became apparent to his friends that, unless a respite of some kind came, the fatal end could not lon^ be put off. And the respite to Horace Mann never came! but death mercifully did. ' «n? ^ h!T^. ""^ ^^"' ^^^'""'' ^'^' P^^P^^^^ by his wife and published some forty years ago,-not long after his death --she speaks in these words of the situation and of the effort of Mr. Mann still further to a^ociate Mr. Craig with him in the work at Antioch : "From this time -November, 1858,— the tired brain knew no more respite. Labours accumulated, because a failure of the funds that had been privately subscribed to pay the acuity Sme'ntTha?'''^/""" "'j'^" ^" ''''' ^^^'^ ^"^'- ^- ^m ployment that would pay their current expenses; and this hrew more work upon those who were left. Again Mr Mann implored Mr. Craig to stand by the institution! and usta nit with his valuable influence as long as it floated upon the waves of uncertainty, vvhich were rendered more boisterous than eve by contending elements. But Mr. Craig had lost hooe and r Ma'n'n" T ^'T'^' ''^ '"^"'^ ^^^'- He fdt th^h:- Pirhi .K ' '"''''^'''^ ^^ *^^ Sre^^ ^ disadvantage, and that ether the community around him must be more !ym pathetic fm ds tn T'ur^'' ""' '^' '^^'"^^ "^"^^ be sustained by amp e ttfal^^lTJ!'' " ^° ^" -^ependently of the evil inLenc'es Dr. Craig had given himself in the cause of his 214 ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 215 friend unstintedly. He had helped at great personal sacrifice in time and effort to support Mr. Mann, and he had come to believe that the president should no longer sacrifice himself in a losing cause. But the fight went on against overwhelming odds, and after a season of the most intense and exquisitely refined mental and bodily pain the sad end came and a great American went to his reward. AH through the period of his relations to Antioch Mr. Mann had hoped for a time to come when, the institution fitted and equipped for the largest possible service, his friend, in whom he had implicit trust, might be called to become the head of Antioch ; but though that end was at last reached by the efforts of the friends of the institu- tion, it was not until several years after the death of Mr. Mann. In March, 1858, the financial condition of the college l)oiug in most wretched shape, a committee was appointed at a convention of the Christian church held at Stafford, New York, to make out an appeal for aid for the college, first of all to the members of the Christian denomination. Dr. Craig was a member of this committee and prepared the appeal. It was an extensive paper, a genuine docu- ment of the church, thoughtful, sane, reasonable, diplo- matic without being shifty, bearing the unmistakable marks of the charity, the clarity, and the shrewd common sense of its author. He traced in the appeal the course through which Antioch had passed, drawing a parallel on the way between the early history of the Christian de- nomination and the history of the movement which Paul headed in the days of the ancient Antioch hard by the l)lue Mediterranean. He noted, too, that while many of tlie pioneer preachers of the new faith were illiterate men they were ^^good men and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith.'' At the same time, the lack of an educated lvV 1™^ ''I . , t tj*! f1 . !» 216 LIFE AND LETTERo OF AUSTIN CRAIG ministry worked against the denomination, especially in the cities where *'the earlier preachers met with little success in addressing the more cultivated classes." They had * bailed to obtaiu an adequate hearing from the educated and intiueutial portions of society.^^ Dr. Craig showed how the members of his faith had gradually come to see that education w«as imperative and that a school of their own was desirable. He recounted the meeting seven years before in the interests of the college when the long pent-up waters broke forth with a rush as the gray-haired old ministers sadly told how their lives had been hampered by insufficient education. He outlined in clear, unmistakable language the sub- sequent history of Antioch, how it was decided to endow the college by scholarships of one hundred dollai-s each, selling to a person for that amount a perpetual right to have one pupil educated at the college ; how promis- sory notes, instead of cash, wei-e accepted for these hundred-dollar pledges ; how over eleven hundred scholarships were sold ; but by far the larger pro- portion of them were never paid for, — save in promises to pay ! The erection of the college buildings which, for that day, were really splendid academic structures, was re- counted. The financial condition of the college was then clearly set forth. It appeared that the institution was about seventy thousand dollars in debt with no hope of liquidation. The board of trustees had made an assign- ment of the college property for the benefit of the cred- itors of the college. At a subsequent meeting of the board it appeared that the college had been unable to pay its debts from the start and was going into debt at the rate of ten thousand dollai-s a year. Incidentally it was clearly shown that co-education at Antioch had been successful. This was particularly ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 217 interesting from the fact that it was the first college in the world to open its doors to young men and women upon an equal footing. Dr. Craig, far in advance of his generation as he so many times was, had himself ad- vocated co-education years before this. Interesting in this connection, also, is the fact that it was the first col- lege to provide for the admission of the black race. The whole appeal was a miisterly presentation of the situation. It no doubt did much good but there was a class of persons who appeared to be satisfied with noth- ing less than a complete subversion of the i)resent insti- tution. Some of those of more narrow vision in the Christian denomination felt that the interest taken in the college by men who were liberally inclined theolog- ically was a dangerous omen. These were outspoken in their denunciation. Dr. Craig had been the preacher at Antioch for one school year, as noted in the chapter dealing with his pastorate at Blooming Grove, — while at the same time temporarily filling the chair of Greek. In March, 1859, the year of Mr. Mann's death, he answered one of the critics in a clearly -set- forth letter showing the topics he had discussed in sermons during his stay at the college. It was one of the steadily re- iterated charges that the institution was leaning towards the liberalism of Theodore Parker. Prominent men in the more liberal branches, — the offshoots of the great orthodox church, slightly to change the figure, — and those who were in little, if any, sense, orthodox, had been among the welcomed lecturers at the college. Such men as Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Theodore Parker himself had appeared before the students and had been warmly received. In the letter referred to Dr. Craig gave a list of his twenty-eight addresses during the college year, all of them, while not essentially orthodox in the Calvinistic A ;i < ' H 21S LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIX CRAIG m, were unquestionably orthodox in the Christian Ueuomination's interpretation of the Scriptures. ,J'7°" T^ observe," he says, concluding his letter "that he series began mth the Crucified Saviour and end;d ui.h he Judgment Ten weeks after the la.s. sermoT was preached ou teTr n°Lt'::r'r'^°''?V^^ 'l!'''"''' ^^^ "ui uremren agauist recent Antioch renovations; tnA ,u^ substitution of the hberahstic theology f^r Chrilliani^v^ U latter.\^;d I 'a!;: r^y IcTitrt." ' ^' '"" " ^^' "°' '»><= brk-Sv to''b'"''r '".''""■'' ""■ ^'•''*» --efe,^ nc^ds only brutij, to be refe.T,.,l („ here. It wa.s an iuterestin/ niou,h unfortunate feature of the situatiotf . S A ti J ."■". "V"""'=""'^' -"^ "'""gh its attacks upon Ant.o^^h, chietly ,n the fonn of half-truths and innuendo IS nit of t'**""" '^'^ ""' '^"'*^^- ^'"' '•«='' •ruth, it t ^ . 1- r ^"'"' *"^""''«^='"y for elaborati;n. An , h "" ' T, ^'" '"''' •'**" ^° '"^tructor at Ant o ,, It purported to be a "History of the Rise D.n.eult.es, and Suspension of Antio,.h College " ' o.n!;.l"Dfc""/"r '"'"'' "'" ^" ""^'-'di-'K. it at htst fo-.^Ml In ' ""^'"'^ ""* '""R'T remain be- f, ..;> ' , ^^' •""' *""'' *^*' '^"ok in hand and effec- tually disposed of it. He p„i„,,.d out that it was an t^n ana sineertty of the .an^r : ^ dlarJ^^Z ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 219 fact that, alter his manuscript was completed, he kept it back for three mouths to make sure that his state- ments were not warped by the just indignation it had aroused. During tliese three mouths whenever he came into what he called his ** calmest moments, '' he would go over the manuscript again and again, striking out what- ever he might thiuk harsh or unkind. He rewrote the manuscript four times and then, still further to fortify himself against any possible harshness and to make sure that his reply to the misstatements was unobjectionable in both expression and spirit, he sent the manuscript to one of the oldest and most respected ministers in the de- nomination requesting him to point out any i^assages or words which he might think *' objectionable on the ground of Charity." Dr. Craig himself put the matter in graphic form in SJiying that the simple facts in reference to the misstate- ments were so like cannon-balls that a man void of animosity might wish to wrap them well in velvet before projecting them forth. Many of the points raised, and which were deftly and for all time brushed away by Dr. Craig, would have little interest to the geaeral reader to-day, though they were of vital moment at a time when the struggling institution needed every possible support and encouragement. Some unkind thrusts were aimed at Dr. Craig. There was a covert charge that he was not in sympathy with, and did not in his chapel services inculcate, the essential beliefs of the Christian denomination, that he differed from all, or nearly all, members of the Christian church. In sharply defined sentences Dr. Craig refuted the statements and proved his steadfast devotion to what were the real tenets of his faith. Frequently in the book Mr. Mann was attacked in open or covert language, one of the points raised being his particular interest in 'iliM'l II! mm i"»f' f'l' 220 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTLX CRAIG Dr. Cnii^ ami, hence, tUvouritism to him. The fad that duriii^r l>ie8i(i(i)t Manu'ii absences from the college he left Dr. Craig in eliarge i;'dvt* ris«i to Jeah)usy on the i)art of thi« otlier man. .Som** of the expressions applied to Mr. Mann were not only l)rutal l)nt grotes(iuely absurd charging him with -enielty,- with '^ most despicable injustice,'^ and the like. Fretpiently the writer of the book indulged in words wholly uubecouiing a gentleman. Mauyof the statements began with ^' it is said,»» follow^ ing this up with untruths uttered by some mythical tliird party. "I do not cpiestion the fact," comnuMils Dr. Craig on one statement, ^'that somebody * told ' Mr. A these bitter words; for men with diseased livers may be found even in Ohio; but it is strange that a bistonan should -"F'c uu KmkaHp I An,l V f r ' ^ ^^^^ ''''"°st seen Th Ki n , ^,''^°'^ ' "'^^ "=" y^"'^ "'' ^^"^^'"6 in a Elder^r/ff •!''''" ^ '? T"' ^'^'" ' '^" y°"' howl heard Elder Goff s earnest, solemn tones in |,rayer a long while be- fore I shared w„h him in 1848 the duties and joys of his on pastoral charge m Camptown ? Shall I roll back twenty yea s hea t asT. ^l''"" I'' ""^ f '"""'« ^^''"^^'^^ my c'hildish heart as h s kind eyes beamed on me through his gold spec- Sh' ,?', ?; •"' r'^'^y "'"'""« voice dehgh.ed my ,^1 ? Flli Jn Tr'tv^ y,ff'-'"'' y'"' 'SO, I heard El.ler John Elhs sing The U'hite Pilgrim's Grave ' ? The White Pilgrim too I_ have heard preach. I remember his tall form as, at m^ on hL\ ^^'' , r""l5'^ ^''' ^'^'"^ ''°^^^' ^^-i'h his white hat before h^ il^ '"'""' '1"°^' °" ^'" ^''^'' ""'^ 'hree weeks Detore he was a white corpse ! he Bi^;l'' ^he immortal 'Pilgrim's Progress,' only tvvo'boolfs, n x^M ^; ^""^ ^^^ 'Gospel Luminary— conducted bv in our Christian Heaven,'— the books, I mean. «ut let me not ^become a fool in gloryine,' and vet might I not say ^ ye have compelled me'? Fo? that I who th" ?on'ofTpl^ •' Hebrew of the Hebrews '-^ a PhariLe! thL fifteen vr^'^'^i ^'^^ ^"^" ^"^" ^^^^^^ ' Elder ' Craig just been rounded out into ' the first qhristian D D '—to anTcTme^3"'n" P'' "P.^"^ ^^^^^^°" "^y ^^^hodoxy ana call me * nominally ' a member ! ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDEEATION 223 ''Reared thus in familiarity with the doctrine of the 'Christians,' I was yet in my nineteenth year, when I began to preach among them. Not long after, heartily approving their professed principles, as I do this day, 1 joined myself to them, on the 30th day of May, 1844. "Thus, I continue in the fellowship of the 'Christians' unto this day ; because their principles teach me to love the General Church of Christ, and leave me free to extend equal affection and fellowship to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Whatever Dr. Craig approached he left illuminated and clarified aud so iii this iustance, all fair-minded men could but see the real truth, condemn the error, and remember gratefully the one who to his own distaste, but because he felt the obligation of service upon him, had given the book its right status before the world. One cannot forbear this bit of correspondence as illus- trative of the universal affection which he inspired. It is a letter written from Antioch by Mrs. Mann to Dr. Craig^s mother. He was just going back to visit her after his initial work at Antioch : " My dear Mrs. Craig : " Allow me to introduce to you my friend, Mr. Austin Craig. It IS impossible to tell you how sorry we are to part with him, but you can doubtless only too keenly imagine our regret. 1 assure you I enjoy the thought of your happiness in seeing him very highly indeed, for I know what a good son he is. We hope most sincerely that the call he has re- ceived from the little society here will bring him back to us at no distant period. Every one concurs in the feeling that no other but himself will ever unite the contending elements ot this village community in which the college is located. All these contending elements are united upon one point— and that is Mr. Craig. '* He has won his way into all hearts and identified him- selt with all the interests of the place. He has moved around amongst all classes, young and old, and every one blesses his 224 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG footsteps. When he preaches to us, we do not think to oursdves.-' I hat is for our neighbours '-' How nicely th^ app.es to our enemy/^but 'How it apphes to me.' My husbaiHl feels truly bereaved at the parting, and can onlv reconcile hnnself to it by the hope that he will return From the earliest period when he concluded to come to Yellow Sprmgs he always said, ' Mr. Craig must go too.' It was I part of his conception of Antioch College. "I remember your short visit with pleasure, and hope to have many repetitions of it. I also hope to return all your visits, past and future, when I go East next summer. *' Yours with much regard, *'Mary Mann." On the death of Mr. Mann the affairs of the collef^e were in deplorable shape and the loss of the leader seenuMl a heavier shock than the institntion eonld bear And yet even though Antioeli were Ix'set with many ills, even though it had mortal enemies among those who should have been its staunehest friends, it was not to die Reverend Thomas Hill, a leader in the ranks of the Uni* tarian denomination, was called to the presidency The college hail been given marked aid and support by Dr Hill s denomination. In poi„t of fact, the board of trus- tees contained eight Unitarians. When it was seen that the college must fall without outsKle aid, various plans were tried as the result of Dr Craig s earnest appeal to the Christian denomination,' bu they had all come to naught. The college failed and assigned all its property for the benefit of its cred'. itors: a new organization was effected with a board of ^VT'-^ twelve Christian members, and, as noted, eight Unitarian. The new organization was entirely In^tl"""^/ ''""""''^^ ^'''''' '^'' ^^^ one but under obli gration to perpetuate its general educational policy and be managed and conducted upon its liberal principles - It was a union of the two denominations, witli eal one, ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 225 — through its representatives upon the board of trustees, — held in check by the other. It was expressly forbidden that religious or theological opinion of any kind should ever be set up to exclude any person from the benefits of Antioch College. It was provided that the president of the college must be elected from the board of trustees so that the president must be either of the Christian or the Unitarian faith. Every precaution was taken to place the institution upon a sound financial basis. Dr. Hill did not find his incumbency a bed of roses. He found that he, too, must face the enemies of Antioch. In a letter written to Dr. Craig he spoke as follows : ** Yellow Springs, July 26 y 1862. ** My dear Brother Craig : ** And I should very much like to see you and Bloom- ing Grove. But when 1 shall go East I am sure I do not know. '* I commend our poor bantling Antioch to your care. Between the call upon young men to the army, and the stringency of the times produced by this awful rebellion of Southern Barbarism against Northern Civilization and the apathy of Eastern men of wealth to Western claims and oppor- tunities and the prejudices of the Gospel Herald against my so-called Unitarianism, I have been compelled to desert my post, — and I would that it had been less of an empty honour to you, this unanimous election of you to succeed me without salary and with leave of absence for a year. *' It appears to me that nothing can be done here of conse- quence while the war lasts. After that one of two things must be done : Either graduate the expenses to the income and conduct the affairs economically (almost impossible with such huge buildings), or else raise a generous, bona fide en- dowment. I cannot approve of the makeshift expedients of the past ten years. *' I hope we shall at least meet next June at Antioch Hall. Remember, you must come then, or send fifty dollars, or else resign your place ! Ever truly yours, «'Thos. Hill." (< 4 !il:i' i 226 LIFE AND LETTEliS OF AUSTIN CRAIG It will be uuted by the above that Dr. Craig had been uiiauijiiously elected president of Antioch. lie recog- nized the impoitaiice of the act and the possibilities of Antioch even under all the lieavy burdens that had rested ui>()n the college, but he was slow to accept the position. The leading men in the Unitarian denomination had long recognized the splendid qualities of Dr. Craig. No doubt they could have wished him an out and out member of their fold, yet they were keen to recognize his allegiance to his own denomination and respect it. But there was something in his splendid catholicity that bound them closely to him. An early letter from Dr. 11. W. Bellows, one of the leaders of the Unitarian denomination, illustrates the regard in which Dr. Craig was held. It was written at the time when Mr. Maim was so earnestly trying to get Dr. Craig to go to Antioch. '' IVaipole, N. H., August 2j, 1855. " Mv DEAR Craig : ♦' Your handwriting is always grateful to my eyes, as your thoughts and affections are refreshing to my soul. I grieve to think that you require any change of i)lace to make you well ; but if you must change, I am resigned to a removal which carries you to the scene of so much moral in- fluence as Yellow Springs. Your modesty and reserve do not permit you to tell me anything about your plans ; so that I do not know whether you go double on this journey or not ; nor whether you have abandoned your charge at Blooming Grove finally, and taken a permanent post at Yellow Springs? Pray, inform me how it is ! 1 think we have a right to know whether you are soon to be Benedict, the married man; who, when 'he swore he would die a bachelor,' 'did not think he should live to be married '—(See * As You Like It '). I really hope you are about to consummate this happy measure, and if it be so, present you in advance (it may be on the very eve !) the congratulations of our experienced hearts. " In regard to your health, my dear Craig, I confess I do not expect to see you ever a very stalwart man. Your brain H ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 227 and heart are too full of thought and feeling, to have much time for the vulgar oftices of digestion and blood-manufacture. It is perhaps impossible that you should be Austin Craig, and a well man. Had some stupid John Smith dwelt in your clay, he would have found it plastic enough to the beef and pudding he crammed into it, and by this time your tall skeleton would have been clothed with muscle and fat. But 1 could as soon undertake to fat up a Damascus small-sword, or a streakof June lightning, as you, conscientious devotee, always intent on finding the truth, and urging it on other people ! I do hope something from the social elements you will meet at Antioch ! Pray try and be a little indifferent about the world's progress and your own salvation for a year or two ! Is not this pious counsel ? " We intend to procure our daguerres when we return to New York and forward them to you at Yellow Springs by Mr. Dean, or other opportunity. Excuse our neglect to this time, but it is so difficult to attach much importance to one's own image ! Will you not leave me yours? I shall value it highly. Tit for tat is good morals. *' Affectionately yours, " H. W. Bellows.** In a letter written to Dr. Craig June 21, 1858, from New York, Dr. Bellows makes note of his own financial relations to Antioch saying that he had not yet succeeded in saving one-half the amount subscribed by him, $1,000, and that he did not expect to bring his contribution up beyond $500, ^^ which," he wrote, '^I presume will be nearer the sum against my name than any other subscriber comes." *^My personal sacrifices," he continued, ''for Antioch College are already far beyond my means. My connection with the institution will, I fear, cost me the large part of $5,000 before all is over. I still hope some- thing may be done to avert ruin, but the hand of Provi- dence must show itself soon if Antioch is to remain in our hands." Not long afterwards Dr. Bellows again wrote Dr. Craig this characteristic letter : I 1 1 \ \ ♦ii I .M >i *i I 228 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG " New Ybrk, May y/, f^S9- '* My DEAR Craig : "It is always good for my eyes to see your handwriting ! The round loops of your careful chirography give me glimpses into the land of Beulah, the region of peace and joy. " I wish we could see each other oftener, and face to face, although there are some friendships that are independent of these opportunities of renewal, as there are some metals that do not rust. We take some of our friends, as we do our wives, 'for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,' without adding until ' death us do part ' ; because we know that Death will only bring closer together those who love each other in the Lord. I hope our friendship has the seal of Christ attached to it, and is a bond that distance cannot weaken, nor absence eiface. " I accept your congratulations about Antioch. God alone knows how much anxiety, thought, labour that college has cost me ! If it now subserves the sacred interests to which it is pledged, I shall be a thousand times rewarded. There are still local difficulties to be overcome. Mr. Palmer has not been a willing sacrifice, and he does not freely resign his hope to recover something from the various local endorsers on the paper of the old institution. I wish he could be made to see how he would serve his own character and honour, by doing cleanly and wholly, this act of mercy and charity. If you have any influence with him in this direction, please use it. '* When you next come to New York, you shall have the run of my books and take what you like. I believe I have Palfray— if not lent and lost, but I cannot to-day lay hands on it. Bunsen's 'Egypt ' I have not. Anything I have, you can borrow, if you will come and look for yourself among my most miscellaneous shelves. " Give my kindest regards to your wife. Mrs. Bellows is at Eagleswood or she would join me. I wish you could go on to our anniversary exercises in Boston next week and see what we are all about. It would do you good. You would have to leave early Monday and take the boat that night— for Tuesday is the high day. Do go I I have read your defense of Antioch. It IS triumphant. Also your articles in Gospel Herald. What an improved paper ! I rejoice. God he with you. ** Always affectionately yours, *'H. W. Bellows." m^ ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 229 lu 1862, wearied by the failures to provide funds and the generally unsatisfactory condition of affairs, Dr. Hill resigned, and returned to Boston. The power and effec- tiveness of the man were later even more fully shown in his presidency of Harvard, running from 1862 to 1868. Though Dr. Craig had been chosen president, as noted, he could with great difdculty bring himself to believe that he should become the active head of the institution. The situation, and somewhat his state of mind, is in- dicated in the following letter, written to Dr. Bellows m August, 1862 : «' Ever since I knew you, I have loved and trusted you. I can speak frankly to you because I have no fear that you will understand me in any narrow or ungenerous way. I wish vou and those friends of Antioch College who came to its aid under your leadership, to think of me as cherishing no aim with respect to Antioch which our common Lord could not ap- prove I am undecided whether to accept the presidency or lo decline it. If my ' Christian ' brethren will heartily unite to love and help the college, and will give proof thereof by making all these bona fide, fully-paid scholarship-bonds good again : and by making a reasonable provision for the future of the college, I would feel greatly inclined to enter their service if that ' unanimous will and vote of the Board ' of which you wrote me, should appear to be also the nearly unanimous will of the ' Christian ' brotherhood. ^ . . • ^ "I fully agree with you in the expression of opinion with which your letter closes. You may not recall it all, I transcribe it here just as I read it in your letter : " ' It seems to me that if you should devote yourself to rally- ing the Christian connexion about Antioch,— appealing to their pride and their duty,— you might raise an endowment ; and then, calling about you such professors as you could trust, you might keep up the standard of education already raised there and make the college a great blessing to your body and to the West. "You have said just what ought to be done. Perhaps 1 would make one exception (it seems almost hypercritical to make it)-I would appeal to the ^ duty of my brethren first and their * pride ' afterwards, if at all. ^ % ,*-/ "• li -( , (!) 230 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG " Heretofore you and your associates have contributed generouiily for Antioch, and now we ' Christians ' ought to bear our burdens. If we succeed, I hope a large share of the joy may be yours. Brother Bellows, you have done too much for Antioch heretofore, to permit you to become indifferent to her welfare. I believe that your * best wishes and heartiest prayers will be with us in such an undertaking ' as you have commended to me. As I think of your generous aid to Antioch in former days, I grow bolder to speak what is in my heart Ihe Lord remembers and rewards all faithful deeds : Be that your comfort ! But you and your friends have done too much for Antioch, no^ to do more. I speak my own thought, to be sure, but I want you, and they, to be ready a year hence to endow, say, a Channing Professor of Rhetoric for Antioch College aiid to get your friend (mine, too, I hope he is), the Kev. A. D. Mayo, of Albany, to accept it," It wa^ at Schuyler^s Lake, New York, where lie had gone on a vacation from his pastoral charge in Blooming Grove, Dr. Craig received in July, 1862, the formal an- nouncement of his election to the presidency of Antioch. In a copy of a letter to the secretary of the board of trustees made in Dr. Craig's own handwriting, acknowl- edging the receipt of the formal announcement, there is a significant illustration of his determination not to say anything which could be construed as harsh. He had first written and then crossed out by two bold strokes the following, his own unquestioned belief: it has a special significance to-day : "Consecrated money is a powerful instrumentality of the kingdom of God. As for dirty money. ' the price of blood,' or even * the price of a dog'^J would reject that from the t^Z\ ""^ 1"'^^'^ ^°""^*^^ ^^^" ^^ '' ^^«"Jd have been re- jected from the treasury of the Jewish temple." In concluding his letter which dealt somewhat with the plans for the financial restoration of the coUege, he said: ^ ' ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 231 "It seems to me that it would be a question of TF/V/only, not of Ability. Now that Antioch is down, 1 earnestly hope that we may go down, — down with her until we find the very granite of God's righteousness, and, laying the foundations of Antioch' s future upon that, humbly and faithfully build in Christ's name that which can never be shaken." Letters to different people written at this time by Dr. Craig show not only the difficulty he found in reach- ing a decision but also his shrewd and keen grasp of the situation. Had he not been a religious teacher and an educator, he could have been a diplomatist in the nobler sense ; a statesman. In a letter to I. C. Gofif in the same month in which he received notice of his election he wrote : " I incline to say that I cannot listen to the call of the trustees of Antioch College, unless (i) the Christians of the West, — of Ohio, especially, should generally and heartily sanc- tion that call; and not even then, unless (2) adequate means should be secured for fulfilling the contracts originally made in the name of * Antioch College,' with those who bought — and loho paid in full for scholarships. *' I could have hoped that the blessing of God would rest on Antioch College, — and 1 could work heartily in her service if the brethren who once loved her, would unite to remove from her the dishonour and wrong of those repudiated scholarships. Putting out of view all personal relations that I might sustain to the college, I do wish that the brotherhood would be stirred up now to right those wrongs of the past, even if they should determine immediately to abandon Antioch forever. But, such an act of repentance and justice would reunite a thousand broken bonds of love, and would bring hundreds of pupils to Antioch from our own midst — so I believe." ,C His scrupulous adherence to fairness is shown in the following extract from a letter written while at Schuyler^s Lake to Dr. Hill. \ I m \ 4 232 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CEAIG **I greatly desire to know," Dr. Craig writes, ** whether, in your judgment, the transactions connected with the reception of your resignation (as president of Antioch) and with my elec- tion were fair and honourable. Was there anything like con- spiracy or intrigue ? Do the Unitarians feel that any unfair advantage was taken of them, by the * Christians ' ? Have the Unitarians lost their interest in the college, as it now stands ? Could their future cooperation with the * Christians ' in sustaining the institution be expected if the administration of its affairs should be faithful and honourable ? Or, if not, why not ? ♦*I will not ask you to give me answers in detail to these questions. My object is rather to get your general view of the transaction on which the college passed, apparently^ from the immediate direction and care of the Unitarians, into the hands of the 'Christians.' I would esteem it a favour to have you write me such an account of these matters as you might wish to get from me, were I in your place, and you in mine. Your answer shall be treated confidentially if you so desire it. " If it shall appear that all was right as concerned your resignation and my election ; if, further, I should be * effectually called ' to the post which, as I am informed, the trustees of the college have unanimously voted to offer me, it would be my hearty wish that the administration of the college might be worthy of confidence and love from the Unitarian brethren. Although I am not a Unitarian in name, perhaps not even in theology, still, could we not work together for * Christ and the Church ' ? We could, I am sure, if we would put from us every aim which our unsectarian Lord Jesus would judge un- worthy of His best disciple." To another friend he wrote a month after receiving the call, while still in the midst of doubts and misgivings as to what part his own denomination would take in the re- generation of the college : " Before I could accept this post whole-heartedly I must see a general revival of interest in the college, among its original friends. This interest should take practical form in (i) mak- ing right the past, by henceforth doing what the scholarship- # ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 233 bonds pledged the faith of Antioch College to perform ; (2) in making sure the future, by endowment, or otherwise. "These things done, — or reasonably sure to be done, — and the action of the trustees cordially sanctioned by my * Christian ' brethren, I might see a door of duty opening for meat Antioch College." In showing how the college could be put on its feet by the denomination he said, referring to the scholarship- bonds which should be made good : "That would be right,— would be righteousness. And I trust it would go far towards making God favourable to the college, and towards recovering the alienated affections of many of our brethren." The breadth of the man and his interest in the institu- tion from the standpoint of scholarship are again and again shown in the mass of correspondence regarding the college. These were among the suggestions which he made writing to a friend in August, 1862 : ** That there be added to the corps of instructors of Antioch College a professor of the Biblical Languages and Literature, to give lessons, to such as choose to take them, in the Hebrew language and in New Testament Greek : with such accompanying instruction in Biblical Antiquities, Hebrew Poetry, etc., as shall a make it "m " '" "".'^"'^,'''"6 '° '^'^^ "'oney for Antioch-to tZt we /,! : ""'"^^ ^"'^^ '^'■°"'"' I ''°I'"i ^"<" believed IltoJLf '"f ^ "'""' '° '«"'^f'-' denominational aims ZliT,'- ?'' ,'.'',"' '^^ *^°"''' ""■'"">' and mutually try to •UnLrh'," f '^'';;"''"" ?"^^^' •'"' "^''h- 'Christia'n.'C ren cLn foel ,L71u ". '° ^ '".^^ '*'^' "'^ ' ^''"^''^n ' breth- ren can feel that they have rights there (are not there bv the grace of others), such that they can patronize it. con.nbme o .ts endowment funds, and feel joy in its success. TTni,."' /■'" ^"'^ "'^' "°"'-" °f ""'* can be, if the idea of our t^a the"/^;,?'" ■' '° ""f ' "'^ '^°"^S"= ' 'heirs. ' I under .o« that the college was to be yours and ours, in the unity of an Sr'w'Z' ''."TT '° P-"-"^'heglory of ourcll^n nn^?;^.; . '' ' ''^'"^''^' ■' *^'^'" you mean. But if the to make"th?'.'.T "'"/ ^°"'"'^'"S '"«""^"' f^"'" that-mean fair ,r. K ,5 '?^^ denominationally their own, it is but pwp^Se'^."'""''' ''"°^" "^^' ' "^^^"^ "° '"'^^e^t i" any such fnf ° ^f fJ ^''^ "'"*'' apparently, the conviction was forcing Itself npon Dr. Craig that duty lay in the direc- Hnd T ^"^ ''"" ^^'^ ^''^^^^ "•■^f"'*. the chance steadily widening opportunity to reach the world through ANTIOCH UNDER CONSIDERATION 241 the medium of his pen,— to such an one it was an act of .supreme self-denial to give up all this and ent«r upon the coiiseless care and grind of an offtcial position. But once the door of duty opened, be was swift to enter. ii 1: ,'?f w 41' XIII ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG THE time had now come for dtfiuite action and Or. Craig brought matters to a focus by an ex- haustive paper in answer to the question- *^ Antioch College,— Whose is it ! '^ Such persistent efforts on the part of the enemies of Antioch in public and private to sow discontent had so k)ng prevailed, -and this, too, as it appears, largely by members of the Christian denomination, tiiking particular form at that period in an effort to prove Antioch hetero- dox,-that Dr. Craig felt it imperative this question should be formally raised and publicly answered. In 3Iay, 18G4, he had a paper on the subject in hand. He wrote to the editor of the Herald of Gospel Liberty proposing the paper for publication. In return the editor asked Dr. Craig if he would not be willing to suspend the publication of the paper— whicli had now come to him— until the editor should see Dr. Craig in Fall Kiver, Massiichusetts, and ^Malk the matter over." In all Dr. Craig's make-up no one ever found any trace of the trimmer. He was not open to every wind that blew. He was not outspoken where only anger would thereby be provoked and no good accomplished, but, ever wisely gauging the situation, without yielding an luch to influences he did not approve of, he spoke the right word in the right place, at the right time. Should the word hurt, he would be pained more deeply than the 242 ^ — nil nil I ill C^^^v^^ c?< /^^-^ 'I i; ANTIOCII UNDER DR. CRAIG 243 If • u one who suffered it; but, if it were a just and needful word, be w^ould nevertheless speak it. He could not do anything in the dark, so he wrote to the editor : "If, after due reflection, you think it best to withdraw the article from your readers, do so freely ; I shall at least acqui- esce cheerfully, even if I should at times still think, that, on the whole, and in the long run, the candid statement of a disa- greeable truth is better than misleading silence or politic sup- pressions. This may seem strong language, and may possibly seeni unkind to say, but don't take it as my judgment con- cerning your view of the matter. I only mean to put my own view before you of what is best for me to say. I do not wish any concealment in the matter. I think there has been too much, far too much. I do not sympathize with the wish to make Antioch a ' strictly denominational ' college. (Pardon me, I do not use the phrase here for offense to your feelings, but to designate the thing.) Moreover, if the New England brethren should endow a professorship in Antioch under the impression that Antioch is 'ours,' will not the revulsion of feel- ing when the real state of Antioch's condition and ownership becomes known to them, alienate them from the college, and alienate them from us whom they may then deem agents, or at least permitters — of their deception ? *' I hope you will understand my aim in this matter. I seem to myself a sort of representative of the Christian connexion in my present ' elect ' relations to Antioch. I certainly wish our brethren to endow Antioch ; ^fcaus^ they need it so much. But they will not sufficiently endow it for many years. Some of our influential brethren in the West are bigots,—-! think. The financial management of Antioch is safer, I think, with the eight Unitarian trustees in the Board ; and as to their idea of what a college should be, and their wish concerning Antioch, I must in truth say that I could confide in them more fully than in some of our own trustees. **But this is nothing to our purpose. My idea is neither needlessly to offend the denominational prejudices and sensi- tiveness, nor to bow down to them as if I held them in any re- spect. I consider them as corns and bunions not to be trodden on but to be shaved close and rooted out as soon as possible. " I am afraid of concealment. I think it best to let the brethren see,— see all and see the worst. Mid r w .fill* si ■f , 244 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTLX CRAIG I ^S'you^Z^^:^^^ "^^P"^^'^^ ^y -^-^e. Yet, / ^ *vv^uiu ucar me witness, if ever nrra«iV.r. cU^ u ' qu.re, that I sought to set the matter before the h-.h'!' out reserve." ueiore the brethren with- This letter was written Mav 6th • i., ti.„ • the pttblicatiou for Thursday Lvion tu .'T "'^ peared, covering an eutir ''pa^ f^ ,; fivel ''". wora, wtthota a,ineofspace\h'ro;-nl;;%t:w"a.' ruJ^irrherai? ^^'"' ^^ --^"'--pro:; Of A:tr:;h"'::'r'^sf di'Tr.?'^ ^^^•^^^'^ ^^« — v^Lu Lv tut«. He divided the subject up into ih\vixr Autioch' The exacrsHt ''!" ,^"""'^f -«« ^he path of out Th« f. ^^■f i * ^''** ''""^•ee was pointed out. Tlie fogs lut^-d. Under the reorganization whi.l 'ad been effected after the faih,re of fhe i'st it t7on o hir^ui ■; '"'ir"^" "■'^' ^'"^ consequent ;:;: sh^., Anfoch, ,n Dr. Craig's answer to the question in the general caption, was not "ours," the Christian d" HH -^ "'^ "'*' faultfinding and bickering over Uni- i " ;: ;:?trDr c-"- ':•" ^'^ "^'' "^ ^^-^ ^-" ^-^ put to rest, by Dr. Craig's snnmiing up : and endow an'^'^n'; ° J";,^,.,'!?' 'f,^ »°"ld take the college absolutely-withdraw from ,11 ^•, f^ "'?''^ '" ^ff«^«->f not wholly up to us But I w.. ™"'^o'..and give the institution fore can'^sta°e this o l! T ' '^'" !" "'^ ^""'^' ^nd there- who hear^he offer ir"A'"''''''''°"-''«'^^^ from others namely, that witho,>f ?hf ■• " °"^ f^'"' ' l^a^^ "« doubt : those whomShf E gh^UnS'Trur' ^"""'^^^ ''^"^ "^ dark hour when our fininr nl ^^ ^''' represent, in that ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 245 in any sense whatever, that it is ours.— I for one, have never been sorry that Antioch found other friends besides ourselves, — friends who proved their affection for the college by giving large sums of money to its needy treasury. May both they and we thus befriend the college, again and again. "We may withdraw; but Antioch will still live. It has friends, willing and able. In time, they may endow it richly. It will be * Antioch College ' in name, and, — adhering to the principles embodied in its Constitution, — it will be * Antioch * in spirit and character." In the following issue of the same journal Rev. J. B. Weston, one of the trustees of the college in the Christian branch and professor of Greek in the college as well, issued a personal note in which he, too, appealed to the denomination to come to the support, indeed the succour, of the college. He showed very plainly there w^ere men in the denomination individually able to provide the en- tire amount of money needed. He had done a vast amount of personal work to save the college, but he, too, had reached his limit;— as he put it: **I feel that I should be committing the sin of voluntary suicide, with no hope of any good result, if I should attempt to con- tinue longer to do as I have done for the past two years. If we have any faith in the kingdom of God and in the enlightenment of men ; if we believe that God has a mission for us and that we are His servants ; let us hear the decisive responses at once ; if not, let us profess less until we can practice more.'' But matters did not shape themselves favourably, which is another way of saying that general apathy came hard by the point of putting Antioch to death. It became ap- parent to Dr. Craig that it was best that he should no longer retain the nominal presidency of the college. In June, 1864, he wrote a letter to the members of the Chris- tian denomination as follows : 111 ! I 246 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG " Dear Friends : w» . " l"'/",^ '"'""° '■•^s'g" "le presidency of Antioch Pnl lege, to which I was elected nearly two years ago The L/ ^^ r^^mng may be deferred until the next'annual meeting of he Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, the 28th of lune h "t i now^gtve nottce of my i„u„Uon to resign, m/ "r^Lns 'ari ready^'ti s!,' ^d^^tt 'cX?'Zrr'' ""f ''"«' ^''°"''^ ^e such a president as I can never blvn.,"'' ^°" u^^^ "'"'• irusiees Shall thereby be moved to nffpr \ry tu^ *tt •. . able .hTt^heyThou Id ele'^'-h ""^ 'r^^^''' " i«°"'y reason- case, therefore^^r^^ll'-^^lir^or-.^;;,.^"^ add [" ew"S TtTvou' Chirr ^ r^f ^^ "^^ ' -"'^ appreciate the ma k of confidence which'!^*"'"' '"^ "'^"^ ^ in the Board of TryiZeTdlT ^ , >'?"'' representatives sor of men whose .h^c f„, T^','" ^'^'=""& "'^ '^'^ ^"cces- ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 247 Aniioch — with many brethren unknown to me before, whom now I know to esteem and love. " ' Antioch,' with all its disappointments and griefs, has been a bond of love to many hearts. Even within these last two years, when at times it seemed to me not unlikely that we would fully endow, and thus revive the Antioch of former days, I have gladdened at the thought that we might yet, by the blessing of God, retrieve the mistakes and errors of the past ; recover the lost confidence of many ; win back the love of alienated brethren ; and, by faithfulness and generosity, lay enduring foundations for the future prosperity and usefulness of Antioch College. ** To become a worker with you for healing the division in the church at Yellow Springs, whose misfortune it once was to be too closely linked to Antioch; to aid in recovering to Antioch multitudes of former friends who, by our mismanage- ment, were deprived of ' Scholarship ' rights, for which they had paid in full according to our own terms, and which we could — by ample endowment of the college — fully restore to them ; to be a witness and cherisher of that mutual confidence and cooperative disposition by which the two bodies of Antioch's friends and owners might mutually benefit each other, while advancing their college to eminence for the honour of Christ, and the welfare of mankind ; these were objects, brethren, for which, at your hearty call and by your abundant help, I could have laid aside my sense of insufficiency, and could have counted it a joy to have served you and Antioch for a season. '* The orator of the * Union Literary Society of Antioch College,' at the close of his noble address last year, spoke of Antioch as * the strongest, broadest, and most truly popular in- stitution in the land, which we should not let die.* Through all the uncertainties and discouragements which, for the few years past, have sorely tried the friends of Antioch, many of those friends have been able to hold fast the hope of Antioch's final and full triumph ; because they intelligently believed that such a college as Antioch in idea was, — and in realization was fast coming to be, — is just the institution that in these days the pre- cious interests of the Nation and the Church profoundly need. What but such a faith as this, could nerve the treasurer of Antioch College sitting — after two years of disappointed ex- pectations — by his moneyless chest, to write (as in a letter re- 11 I! 'I ?! 248 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CIUIG ceived this very day he writes). ' I still hope that God willooen a way for us, at or before Commencement ' ^ "In thus announcing my resignation, I do not resim mv hearty .merest m the college, nor my cherished hope hat ^n honourable and useful career still awaits it. Nor do I re ign the hope, dear brethren, that, though our late undertak ngs for Ant.och may not be the success we anticipate, wesSl m hold fast our love for our first-born, and be ready in future onnnr tun.t.es to do for the college what we can. ^^ "Bloomins Grov,, N. V., May 24, rfd!^."'"'"'' ^''*"'- The inevitable end now came. All efforts to resuscitate the college by appeals to the Cliristian denomination being unavailing, the American Unitarian Association, in December, 1864, at a meeting held in Boston,-" ail ever memorable meeting to the friends of Antioch Col- lege, 'as Dr. Edward Everett Hale calls it in another place in this volnme,-voted that it would raise one hun- dred thousiind dollars for the endowment of the college Tins was with the proviso that the institution should be placed in the hands of a new corporation. The money wiis collected, the corporation was effected, and Antioch entered upon a new lease of life. C^ 'T; r'T!^' "'"'"'■ ^''^' '■°'' *^« f°°»ding of the Chn..tian Biblical Institute, which is more fully treated m later chapten.. Of this institution, when established, Dr Craig was to be, as he did become, the first president A new head for Antioch was needed at once. It wi« the earnest^ hope of the trustees that General, afterwards President Garfield, a member of the Christian denomina- tion, should be the new i)resident of Antioch. Dr. Craig carried on the correspondence with General Garfield, but the ellort to secure him failed. Strong hopes were then entertained that John A. Andrew, the War Governor of Massachusetts, would accept the place. In a letter to Edward Everett Hale, written from Blooming Grove 1/ i ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 249 Dr. Craig, who had agreed to accept a professorship temporarily at Autioch, noted the coniiDg of Governor Andrew (mentioned iis assured in a former letter to Dr. Craig from Dr. Hale), and asked Dr. Hale, as he was in a position of responsibility in the new corporation, for a letter of instructions. In resuming his position as one of the professors of Antioch, Dr. Craig had been asked to take charge of the college pending Governor Andrew's arrival. ** Won't you say a word to me," he wrote to Dr. Hale,— ^' you know you may say anything to me in all confidence— in regard to possible arrangements, mutually agreeable, it may be, both to the college and to the * Christian ' church in the town ? I would not seek any * entangling alliances,' yet it would be well (would it not?) to pursue a thoroughly kind and conciliatory policy with regard to that church. Please make any suggestions you think best in relation to this." On August 17, 1865, a communication was addressed to the executive committee of the college, signed by Rev. H. W. Bellows, Edward Everett Hale, and E. W. Clark ; the committee appointed to make selection of a president, reporting the progress made. It was shown in the report that Governor Andrew had the matter under consideration and that he would in all probability a jTrstigo iw a patriot ..v..r .1.,, «hol.. „M.i..n ; . „.„lo,nKl I„v..,- of kadilio.,sa...l ..oble.s..opede„.a;.ded. As was. .ho,.«h heavily ha..di..app..,I by U.e double d,.tie8 '•'d up..., h,.„ as p.ofes.sor and p.v.si.le..t, his work told spl.„,id.y for the f..t,.re .s well L ,he p.;se.rof the 11 Xo tune was lost i„ p„„i„j, A„t,„,„ i,„o shape. The n ; e^ ., " "T ='"";""-^"-^"-" '••■">nu-l five endowed r •* •^''*^ "'-V '" ''^"'w, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Richard Warren, N. Y.; H. P. Kidder, Boston ; E. W. Clark, Philadelphia ; John Kebler, Cincinnati ; John H. Foster, Chicago; Artemas Carter, Chicago; O. G. Steel, Buffalo; E. W. Devore, Ripley, Ohio. With Dr. Craig as president, the college opened in September, 1865. He put the whole force of his life into the work. He not only worked unceasingly for the in- stitution in the direct lines of executive labour, but he worked for it constantly indirectly by interesting others in its welfare and winning them to the same ardent sup- port which he gave it. The college was widely known throughout the United States not only because it had had as its first president the foremost educator in t'.^i KL i n r il. I 26a lifp: am> Li;r'ri:i{s of ai'stlv ni.wa ^"''■'''•■' '"" ' ■■"'^•"f ll.o.s,,l... I IraiMinK '• adonl.-.l a...! .1... .y,,,.aM,l .h.nul.-r „f ,l,os.. wl..„a it gnulnaU-i. 1^ T; T" '""""' " ■'■ '•'■ '''■'"''"" "''••'•^""" <■<'■• IN..>-(,(,, sIk.ws .slu.l.i.l.., ,|..spi(,. (|». (art (hal (h.n.l H'.-^ I.U.I iKH-n ,.lo.s,.,l f.„-,„oy,-ar.s,_,Vo,u ....arly all (he Yu.U.rMaM.1 ...uKll., \V...s.e,„ .sla....s us wHI xs s.,;„.. fn.,a the S.,„tl, and .,„.- fro.., Ha., K.aa.is,..,. < )th..,- p,„f..,ss...s an,l ..s.s>sla.,..s we,,- i„stall,.,l. Tl„.,v was a ...usic ,l,.pa,; ""'•" ■' ;' "">"'='" <"Mrs.. (■,„• irmuiuK taM'l.c,« for (l.o \;,u, ".on .s..hool.s, whid, ,-n.l,..a.cd a uunM ,„-i„,a,y ,s,.l,„.,, i„ '— H.on with ...c ..oil..,., fo,. ,...a.,i,.al woVk, will 8p.M.al normal oo„.s,. f,„. „,„^. „.,,„ ,,,,,.,. ,„ j,,. ,.„^ ; h.Kl. s.. hool ,oa..|,i„^. ,„ ,„ i„ ,i,„,, „„. ,.,,„^ tl.o.o,>Kl.l.v ubirasl will., a.,,1 ahoa.l of, tl,..,.H. ;mt aptitudes, which inhere m the (hlTereni orders of miiuk Hu. ^cultyis unanimously adverse to c onduci ;\!^h,S' ^thcfl^o" 'T'r 'T ^'^ ""^ l-^>re,^in hHncMndimS ^>m Se?' n ''7^ distinguishing one ind.vid"^ irom another. 1 he fatal error of thwarting the nnnife^f in tentiot^s of nature and fon ing upon all niirfcl alik^ 1^ . . ^ inflexible iron system of training, will be sedulously avolll" Tlie position of (lie voUego upon the subj.vt of moral training was 'Mhat intoIh..tual power, di\on.ed from moral p^rpos.^ is an instrumentality of pure evil in the community-, and that a youn, person may a. well be J't out into the world without the knowledge of (he multi- P loation table as without "nplication for admission had been made by a coloured student. At a trustees' niex;ting the subject was discussed. In a little memorandum book preserved among the many letters and papers which are the price- less possession of the family of Dr. Craig, there is the following brief sUiteraent of the outcome, written in lead- pencil in his handwriting : " Resolved, that the trustees of Antioch College cannot, ac- cording to the charter, reject persons on account of their colour. Adopted ; nine to four. ' ' The memoranda gives Craig, Fay, Holmes, Weeks, Weston, Birch, Kebler, Van Mater, and Philips, as vot- ing for the resolution. Apropos of this is the following extract from a letter written by Dr. Craig some time previous : ! i s 254 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG "While the Jerusalem ministers were as yet so bound up in their narrow Jewish prejudices, * preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only' (Acts ii : 29), some men of Cyprus and Cyrene (Cyrene in Africa) 'when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus' (Acts 11: 20). Their names are given in Acts 13- i •__ 'There were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas (of Cyprus), and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene,' etc., etc Two of the five mentioned, were, apparently, Africans. Lucius certainly^ was from the north coast of Africa, as his country 'Cyrene' vouches. And Simeon was surnamed 'Niger' (or as oneoldest English translation— VVickiifre's— gives it Black -^ 'Symount that was clepid blak,' Black Simeon of Antioch,' to distinguish him from Stone Simeon of Jerusalem (Sirnon Peter) ; beware that you don't modernize the orthography, after the Nasby method (not two gs, but one). Happy thing for us that Black Simeon and his African coadjutor Lucius, had none of those mean prejudices against men of a different race and colour, which might have kept them back from founding that church at Antioch which first deserved and obtained the glorious name of 'Christians.' " Dr. Craig apan^d himself in no degree in the adminis- tratiou of tlie affairs of the college. In a letter to a friend giving a reason for not having sooner answered a letter, Dr. Craig says, writing from Yellow Springs, De- cembt^r 29, 1865 : " Mv DEAR Brother : " It shames me to find that my long silence has put you to the trouble of duplicating to me your much esteemed favour of July 29th, last. " Your letter reached me duly at Blooming Grove, in the state of New York,~-where I had been settled as pastor for twelve or thirteen years. But it arrived while I was full of the cares and occupations attendant upon the removal of my home and family to this place,— 800 miles westward from Blooming Grove (on the Hudson). On my arrival here (early in Sep- tember last), the work of reorganizing and starting anew (after a suspension of two years)— the school known as I o en o ill (n o o u X u o H < ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 255 1..f *Antioch College/ was assigned to me. — I had expected only the duty of the professorship to which I had been chosen. The various duties of this school, — I mean its supervision, government, correspondence, business-interests in part, and some work of daily instruction, together with the general chapel service on school-days, and preaching on Sundays, — so occupied my time, that I was compelled to defer my private correspondence in mass, until the close of the term. (Decem- ber 15 th.) ** During this term, the work of settling anew here added to my occupations. The day that our term closed, I started for Meadville in Pennsylvania,— 300 miles from this place, to de- liver my annual lectures to the students of the divinity school there. I was in that place two Sundays and eight school- days, — preached five times, and delivered fourteen divinity- school lectures of an hour and a half each (for my stay was briefer than usual, and I felt compelled to crowd the work), — visited much with the students, and wrote between thirty and forty letters in answer to private correspondents whose favours had been accumulating upon me during the last few months. Yesterday I arrived home from Meadville ; to-morrow I go to Cincinnati to preach there on Sunday, the 31st of December, an ordination sermon, and next Wednesday, January 3, 1866, I must be here again, to open the winter term of our school. "I write you all these personal details of myself, my dear brother, to excuse to you, as far as possible, my long silence." 11 In this connection a letter which Dr. Craig wrote to Edward Everett Hale not long after the above illustrates still further the heavy demands made upon the president's time and strength. f "I am very glad," he writes, "to think that I am at last free from the heavy responsibilities, and I will add exhausting labours, of the year. Could I have foreseen what the year was to be, when Dr. Bellows drew to me in August last his charm- ing picture of that * first year of great enjoyment at Antioch,' I think perhaps I should have stayed with my parish. •* I send you on an accompanying sheet, a statement of expenditures here for the college year, i865-'66. I prepared .pr I. f ' I ' 5 lip Hi' 250 LIFE AND LETTEKS OF AUSTIN CRAK; it for the use of my report of executive committee work. I took the treasurer's ( ash-bo(;k, copieci out its entries and the sei)arate items of the vouchers, referred to in the entries (there were over 2,100 items, in all) ; verified ihecash-lx^ok by the vouchers ; proved,— and in some instances, corrected, the account ; analyzed the 2,100 items, and classified them, 'xhc results I give you under the several headings in the accom panying paper. " Part of my design was to be able to sliow the trustees how much money must be spent next year for warming, light- ing, service, etc., before we coine to the outlay for teaching, so that our estimate for next year might be ba.sed upon the certamties of knowk-dge, rallier than (jucries and ai)proxima- tions. 'I'his work in all cost me several weeks' labour, in which the evenings sometimes drew far on into the night 1 am telling you what the work of my place has l)een this year. I have sent to your committee (chiefly to Dr. Uellows) several reports of business affairs here, accounts of term's business ; some of consitlerable length and labour. I re- member, of this class, one of ten foolscaj) i)ages, written for Mr. Fay, but sent to you last January ; another of twelve toolscap pages to Dr. Ikllows in March ; another laboriously prepared report (though not oftic ial) early in this month (it fills thirty pjges of letter paper). Other reports were of busi- ness of less amplitude. " The correspondence of the college has been in my hands. All appli( ations for information, from all (piarters, have come to me. 'I'his latter is recorded in the book in which I have kept notices of letters sent (or in important cases, copies). Besides the correspondence, applications in i)erson, of all sorts come to my office. Whoever has (or thinks he has) general business, or particular, with the college, comes to my office. Then every day, I have had to spend most of the school-hours in the president's room; for all matters touch- ing absences from ( lass or chapel, applications for permis- sion, or excuses for absences come to me, of course. Hear- ing reports of all matters in the matron's dej)aitment, was my duty too, and all discipline was in my hands— in its details; mine was the work of keeping track of the reported absentees, sending the faculty messenger after them daily (generally), I hearing the issue; executive committee busi- ness; writing the orders, the business notes; giving direc- ANTIOCII under dr. CRAIG 257 tions to those employed by us, to the bell ringer and helpers of various kinds ; looking after the grounds and premises. '«The work has been much, — I cannot specify it well. Hearing all conn)laints from students; their arrangement in (lasses, or about their board ; all applications for changes ,,f ;ill sorts that dissatisfied students so easily devise; re- ceiving visitors who come to the place frequently, talking of the college to them, and showing them through the (.(^llt-ge, — some coming expressly to see the institution. Much time has been taken up in this way. The duties of my professorship I have not mentioned. I have in this, (lone all that was to be done. An hour a day of recitation or lecture, about fifty lectures in place of recitations, and such preparation as I had time and opportunity to make (couldn't study much). ** Chapel services were performed by me to the extent (I estimate) of about two-thirds of all (or counting in the afternoon Bible lectures given during the first term, about three-fourths of all). All occasional addresses to the pupils, at morning chapel, fell to me. Of duties of hospitality and society, ever regarded here as belonging to the president of the college, I assumed the full measure as soon as I entered the President's House with my family. Many occasions there have been when newly arrived professors were brought to- gether there to the table ; many when visitors of the college, or persons likely to be influential in regard to the college, were invited in the same way. Not a few occasions when whole classes, and several times larger companies of students, or students and teachers, were invited to an evening or afternoon party at the President's House, —to tea or dinner, or other kind of entertainment implying refreshments. " These things I have done (and not stinted ly) because I knew that it was important to have such things done, knew that it was expected of the president's position and house, and I was willing (having temporarily accepted the duties of the place) to incur expenses in these things, which I assure you have not been light. " I write you these details because I wish you to know both what I have done and what I have not done. My own burden I willingly bear, but no more. And indeed my own burden here this year feels heavy to me. Very little freedom and leisure have been mine, and (what presses me still more i ii'i' I n i I V 258 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG closely) I find myself by the necessary expenses of the year (of course I include herein expeubCb of removal), several hundred dollars out of pocket. " I assure you of the respect which I cherish for you now as ever. Truly yours, ** Austin Craig." Illiistrative of the breadth of Dr. Craig and his in- terest in all matters pertaining to the uplift of the race is a letter written by him to Dr. Edward Everett Hale on March 17, 18GG. In it he says : *' Could you (easily) put us in the way of receiving the Reports of the Social Science Committees — and of the Prison Association, or other benevolent societies or insti- tutions of your state? Do not let my request put you to trouble. But, if it were easy for you to cause such publi- cations to be sent us, they would be read with interest here. ** At one of our Sabbath-evening Social readings, attention was called to the destitute condition of a Miss Milliken — an orphan refugee from Tennessee, who was then sick in this town. (She died last week.) A committee was appointed to visit her, learn her needs, supply any pressing necessities of hers, and report at our next Sunday evening meeting. We did so. She was a worthy, needy person, aged about nineteen. Her father was a Unionist, and was shot in his own door. She came away with our troops. ** After our report, it was resolved by the Sunday even- ing meeting to open a subscription and provide for her. Mrs. Tucker (the matron) and some of the young lady students had the matter entrusted to them. They obtained over fifty dollars in money among us — teachers and students, —and arranged among themselves a plan of visitation, to visit Miss Milliken by days and watch with her nights, which they faithfully did until her death. They also looked up other cases of need and destitution, reported them to the Sunday evening meetings, and furnished various supplies. The reading of the article in the JVorf/i American on the Irish Prison System at our Sunday evening meeting, March 4th, stirred up several to wish to visit the jails of our region. Professor Russell (who is a great help to us here in man/ ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 259 ways) offered to take students with him to the jails. The following Saturday, a company of them visited the Spring- field jail (nine miles from this place). Yesterday they visited the Xenia jail and our County Poor House. They propose to visit the State Prison at Columbus in a few weeks. «' Much interest is growing up thus (with some of our students) in the condition of the poor and the lost. We would like to increase it as much as possible. If you could now and then mention something in this line, that we could procure to increase this interest among us, I would be very thankful. Dr. Howe recently presented a report on the comparative mortality of children in different ranks of society (at least, that was the point noted in the brief reference to the report which I found in a paper).— How could I get that ? Dr. Howe used to know Antioch. Would it be at all out of the way if I asked him to send our college a copy of his report ? "Let me trouble you a little further.— You will bear with me for the college's sake,— what really good, brief tract on the Use of Tobacco, could you commend to me, for distribu- tion among our lads here ? Are Mr. Trask's quite the thing? I know them only by name. And do you know anything better on the subject than Dr. John Ware's ' Hints to Young Men ' ? Mr. Mann used to distribute that tract, and I have copies yet on hand." Dr. Craig never swerved from his devotion to his own denomination,— or, better put, from his allegiance to a simple and direct form of Christianity, for he ever put Christ above creed,— even though there were sharp criticisms of his words from some of the older, meagrely educated, and less broad-minded of the preach- ers of the Christian faith. Nor did he ever lose an op- portunity to help them. In a letter to be read before the state convention of the denomination, written from Anti- och in November, 1866, he said : ** The education of the ministry may occupy attention some- what. It must be a few years yet before our brethren have an ample Biblical school of their own. Meanwhile our young 11 il fl L X, "^^f-- fl 260 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CEAIG brethren who wish to prepare themselves by study for larger usefulness in the ministry, would find help and welcome at the MeadviUe Theological Seminary; or, if that seem too far away, or its course of study too extended for their opportunity then they might find here at Antiuch the helps they wish. ;' I am teaching this term a class in Biblical Geography and History which would be, J am confident, very interesting and useful to all students somewliat advanced, —especially to young men looking to the ministry. Then, again, 1 teach a volunteer class in the Greek New Testament which can be continued as long as there are persons here desiring it. Dr. Dosmer is teaching a class in the History of Civilization, whi( h though not specifically Church HiNtory, does, nevertheless, so illuminate the history of the great elements contributed by Christianity to our modern society that the student gets a good insight into the relations of the Church to the world of the Middle and Modern Age. Dr. Hosmer will next term teach a class in Moral Philosophy and Ethics. I expect to teach classes in Mental Philosophy and in Evidences of Christianity. In con- nection with the latter, we will study the transmission of the bacred Books from ancient times down to our day, and the history of our English Bible. "Besides these things a young minister could study here Logic, Rhetoric, Ancient and Modern History, Grammar, Languages, Physiology and various other sciences, making a selection of such studies as he might deem specially useful to his purpose; and so i)erhaj)s spending a year or two, or even three, to as much advantage here as anywhere else. **As to the influences here thrown around students, I be- lieve that tliey are truly Christian. I have great faith that Antioch by the blessing of God, is to be more and more a school of Christ. We mean not to detract from other schools --there is room enough for all the schools now among us and the prosperity of one will, to some extent, be the prosperity of all ; but we wish Antioch to be favourably known to our breth- ren. Perhaps these special helj)s which it can now afford to some among us who wish to study a while for greater efficiency in their ministry, may make it not improper that Antioch should nave a few moments' notice in your convention." Dr. Craig came into particularly close and intimate touch with the students under him. The affection for I ^serS ti ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 261 M him is shown by numerous letters written by students and miiuifested in many other ways. But he was not only kind, he was just, also, and no wrongdoing could for a moment be tolerated. Whatever he himself might have thought about the needlessness of the prohibition against dancing and other similar regulations, he was granite when it came to any question involving known evil. In a letter to a young man living in a Western state he said : <« When I first saw you as you were applying for admission to our school last fall, your evident maturity and capacity led me to expect a considerable advantage to our school from your membership in our classes and your intercourse with our stu- dents. The college had then but lately been resuscitated after its temporary suspended animation, and we had not yet formed its new life to the full resemblance of its former excellence. That former excellence was largely due, as President Mann often gladly acknowledged, to the presence here, at the very beginning, of a number of students mature in age and char- acter, who, giving themselves faithfully to cooperation with President Mann in his high aims, became a powerful element of salutary influence in the school and helped effectually to realize the ideal Antioch which Horace Mann planned. " When you first came to us, Mr. , I did you the honour of supposing you able to appreciate the high aim with which Antioch College was opened at first and with which we were wishing, hoping, striving to open it in this its second career. I did you the additional honour of expecting that your appreciative sympathy and influence, — while you con- tinued a student here, — would be with our aim and our well- meant effort. ** Here I would gladly lay down my pen. The truth is not pleasant to write. t( Mr. , you might have laid us under such obliga- tions to you as words of thanks could hardly measure. You could have done us much good. But we feel your influence here to have been only a hinderance and a harm. There were young men here who, at first, gave promise of excellence. Some of them became unsettled in purpose and character, by a baleful influence which it seems you exerted upon them. ^l I #i t If 262 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTLV CRAIG " There is not a member of the faculty who did not feel " For myself (and I write all this not in anger but in sorrowl I was glad when you came to us and gladder still when sli' you departmg from us. ^^ " I cannot but think sorrowfully of the good you might have done us ;_ca„not but wish that the future scenes an^felations actu'aZ oLTI^ '""^r" "^"^ ''^PP^ consciousnes? of gZ actually conferred accordmg to your ability." To stop in the midst of exacting toil when every minute was precious and every houi- waa crowded to burstit.u to wnte such a letter for the only object of so impressing this young man as eventually to make a true man out of him -It was all characteristic of the noble unselfishness and devotion of the man. Into all the manifold activities of the college life, fh':, \^'^^u^^ "''^^ ^'^^ earnestness and enthusiasm that marked his relations to the work of the pastorate. Possessing a keen sense of humour himself, he was ever appreciative of it in others, though he knew when and where to draw the line as to college fun as appeara from his entry m his letter book of the copy of a letter to one of the students : "I shall expect you to put in my hands by ^ven o clock to-morrow morning at the latest the Society Paper read by you last evening." The college newspaper in question had contained material which was " offensive to good taste," resulting i„ a faculty resolution that there must thereafter be faculty revision of the paper On the opposite page is a copy of a resolution of the board of trustees "that no students shall be permitted to appear on the stage at commencement wearing the Bloomer, or other unusual style of dress " Tie?n'' w"""!f °^ *^^ ""^^ •' "^°^"' *««' i° a letter to Kev. Dr. Wise, the prominent Jewish rabbi of Cincinnati, carried in person to Dr. Wise by a couple of Hebrew ■■if II ,\». ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 263 students of Autiocli going ou a visit to Cincinnati. In the letter lie calls attention to a brief interview he had had with Dr. Wise in his synagogue and adds : ** I do not speak by authority, but it is my opinion that if the Hebrew residents of your city were disposed to endow a Hebrew professorship in Antioch College and fill it, they would find this college in every way suitable to their wants and ac- ceptable to them. I wish, my dear sir, that you would take an early opportunity of visiting this place and seeing for yourself what our institution is. The young men— the Myers — who bring you this note can tell you much concerning our school. . . . We are having at present a very interesting series of lectures by Prof. Edward L. Youmans on ' The Unity of the Universe.' I would be pleased to see you here some time and to hear from you at your convenience." In the midst of the exacting toil of his dual position as president and professor, such letters of cheer as came, and there were many of them, went far towards lighten- ing his burden. The following from Dr. G. W. Hosmer, one of the board of trustees and afterwards president of Antioch, father of Dr. J. K. Hosmer, the well-known professor, librarian, and author, illustrates the point : ''Dorchester, Mass., July ij, 1867, " Dear Dr. Craig : " How do you all do at Antioch ? I should love to look in upon you. I wonder if you are as cool and comfort- able this Saturday afternoon as I am. The breeze comes up from the sea upon these hills and nature is as fresh and beauti- ful as in June. I never saw so charming a July in Massachu- setts. I am here with my classmate. Dr. Jarvis — one of my homes. I am to preach here to-morrow in the parish of old Richard Mather, the grandfather of Cotton, who had the rare felicity of once having two sons in the pulpit with him. In- crease, one of them, the father of Cotton, was minister in Boston and president of Harvard College. It is a fine parish. Nathaniel Hall is its minister and has gone to England. There )|. 1. ii 4 •HB* f :l 204 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTLV CltAIG W<^ ,""•"", ^"^ ^',"^ ^ ''^^'^ '^^P^'^' 1° su'^h these days' Last bunclay was at Jamaica Plains. Last night I spent t^h Mr Pay at Uoburn ;-he is gaining strength but still Ws bra n IS too sensuive to work hard. He introduced me to some of his wealthy men and he still hopes that they will g^vegener ously to our college. I an, to go and ,,reach for hin Sum lav and am also to visit Providence. Have yon seen tl "^""5; which Mr. Richmond has given us? 'ticscopt " I do not beg now but try to open the way for next autumn • J^^^ thini, of ruling in the cars this morning; with a man Ted it ' w ""i"'7,':" "" '''''^ ^'^'^ '-^^h^ endow us andTot feel It. W hy shouhin't he be robbed ? '* But 1 hope we shall get what we need, and soon enoimh tn com "■;;"'r ?,t'"«- '''' ^^•^''■■e '^^^"^ AntioT fe^! that we sj;n„M 7 "^ '° '"^ ^' '^ '^e^ considered it certain that we should be ]n.t upon a good foundation. Mrs. 1-ay tells me she shall not rest till the chanel ceiling S h^ld f":toT.7l- ', '"'' ''" '-^^'^^ ofVetspri'gf t^eln tto^S w..h"i\ nXar'^"""'"'- ''"• ^^^ ^'" "^^^ Deerfieirwi,h'\°, ' Y' ^^''- f^"^™" »"'' ^'^^^ Kendall at v^s.t on to nf r '• ■''"'"' ""'' '^' grandboy. Our Buffalo visit on top of Commencement week was very damaeine to our wrek^Mrs^Ho"'"" 'T,'' ""'"'"-'' ''"-' -s'delightft,^ ' Ne" and of bLs on I .^^ T"n ""'"""^ Cambridge this week, six ve° rs wi ^no ll '"^"^^^y' ,^'«bi"g Greek and Latin SIX years with no look at nature or the world and life of to-dav ' ling sutnce, as Mr. Orton does, with classics. nell I am'.HH 'tn h^' ''T'^' '° ^'"- ^''"''S' ^ell Mr. McCon- Miach'seis ''" '^ '""^ ^ '^^^ ''' '° ^^^^ -°-- ^om "Ever and truly yours, ^*G. W. HOSMER." tion, 1)1 Craig failed out the time he had allotted two y-'^ and at the end of that time presented his i2g^ tion which was with reluctance accepted by the trusteea I AXTIOCH UNDER BR. CRAIG 265 The followiiii^^ letter was received by Dr. Craig in re- spouse : ^'Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OhiOy June 24, 1868, '* My dear Dr. Ckaig : *' I laid your communication before the board of trustees yesterday and it was considered with earnest and painful feel- ing; all agreed in refusing to accept your final resignation ; and i think not one was willing to entertain the proposition of indefinite leave of absence. The vote was unanimous, that leave of absence for one year should be granted you, your chair to remain vacant, and you still to be Bellows Professor ; and that we all make every possible effort to gather students and increase available means so that we can welcome you back to your place among us as soon as possible. *' Meantime our love and veneration rest upon you. May God bless you, my dear brother. Personally, I feel bound to you. I thank you for your generous, noble friendship. " With affectionate regards, ** Ever truly your friend, **G. W. HOSMER." But the large field of the Biblical Institute lay before him aud however great the desire to have him remain at Antioch, he knew in which direction duty lay. And duty to this man always lay in the direction of the largest possible service to his fellow men. Dr. Craig put into his work at Antioch all the resources of his rich store. It was so in whatever he did,— he must ever give and give his best in largest measure. "My teaching- work," he wrote in May, 1868, ''is a bread- and-butter calling ; yet, in some respects, it has been nearly akin to the teaching-work of the Christian ministry. During the year I have given about 120 lessons and lectures in Logic and Metaphysics, tracing the laws of thought and the course of human thinking, so seeking in ancient and modern schools a criterion of the Truth and the feeling after the True One. I have also given about 1 25 lessons and lectures in History, giv- i i t I H I 266 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG ing particular study in trying to trace the finger of God in the course of human events. The conflict of Christianity with Paganism, the Rise and Growth of the Papal Power, the for- tunes of the Oriental and E:astern churches, the career of Mahometanism, the modern Re-awakening of the Human Mind the Protestant Reformation,— these were subjects brought into prominence and considered fairly, as I trust to say, and under a Christian point of view. " Several lectures were given on the historical testimonies of the ancient writers as to the leading facts of the gospel narra- tive; also on the transmission of ancient books to our times I gave to a volunteer class about twenty lectures on the Geography of Palestine and the History of the Hebrew Patriarchs, and to another volunteer class I gave instruction twice a week in the Hebrew language. "Besides these instructiens which were all in Antioch Col- lege, I gave a short course of lectures on the Providential His- tory of the World to the students in the Wilberforce University at Xenia, Ohio." In addition to all this he delivered frequent sermons without charge to poor and struggling cliurclies without pastors. Before passing; from the work of Dr. Craig, at Antioch, it will not be out of place to give the subjoined some- what intimate view of Antioch printed in the Westmhisfer Review, x\merican Edition of October, 1868. The name of the author of the article is not given, but he states that he had long l)een in intimate touch with Antioch affairs. After recounting the initial work of Horace Mann in the development of the college on co-educational lines, not- ing Mr. >rann\s testimony as to the wholly sjitisfactory result (-oming from this first test in the world of the fejLsibility of educating young men and women side by side, the writer speaks of his familiarity with the University of Virginia, with Harvard and with some of the English universities, giving it as his conviction that '*in none of these male institutions can there be found .L ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 267 anything comparable to the moral elevation, the refine- ment, or the intellectual enthusiasm which characterize the students of Antioch.'' Continuing he says : **In our estimate male students were first called gentlemen at Antioch. The young men were none the less chivalrous be- cause they did not drink or smoke ; while their personal neat- ness, courtesy and delicacy of behaviour, showed that under the refining influence around them a certain manliness, very rare in college students, had appeared in their characters. The college had the grace of a refined household. On the other hand, the finest and most womanly traits were visible in the young women. During the seven years of the present writer's intimacy with Antioch College, he at no time knew or heard of any scandal in connection with any student in it, and, in short, through personal observation of that and other co-educational institutions in the United States, we have be- come convinced that the purification and elevation of the educational systems of the world are to be wrought by carry- ing into them that influence which has never failed to civilize and refine wherever it has gone, — the influence of woman." Interesting also is it to note that at Antioch, in addi- tion to its other innovations, was first introduced in a college course the teaching of physiology and hygiene, as it was also the first regularly established college to in- corporate into its curriculum the theory and practice of teaching. Following is a sketch of Antioch College from the pen of Dr. Edward Everett Hale, a trustee of Antioch and one of her staunchest friends and supporters. This sketch was written by Dr. Hale for this volume. Antioch College and Dr. Craig ** I have the most pleasant memories of Dr. Austin Craig, as I have the greatest respect for his distinguished services. I was first acquainted with him in the year 1864, when he was living it. i 268 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF AUSTIN CIUIG have a cordial note from him writ e, in th^^ ' f"'"''^- ^ visit him at Blooming Grove I canno fi^if' ■^''""S "'^ '° removed to Yellow Springs '" ""'^ "'>«» ^e "Antioch College had been founded l,v il,» nu ■ ■ nomination in the year 18^0 << iTv H.. ^ ^ Christian de- college, which should om^no from ^,h. .™'"^'^ '^ "'^'^•'"sh a Western country, if not [^' h*^ Ced St^^el' "T"'' '", '"" not only that education should be horonl !' ^^ 7 u'''°'^'^ universal, and to this end they embS jn t1 •'^''' ^' "'^° academic education, young womeT as wel^^ 1 "' ''^"^' °^ They resolved on knowing no morr Hic^- .• ' -^"""S "'en. than in religion." ^ distinction in education saysft'ht'trustel° ff An'tLc^h^'rlll' °"'' ,f "f .^'^""" Pf°^«b its first president. H " as a^e HS^' .°"" ^^'"" '"'^^ education. He ha.l bJen the firs, ^""6""'^''.' "^ " '^^^^^ "' tion in the state of Mass chus Jf , Superintendent of Educa- the first person to fil anv smI „«' ^"'^ ^at means that he was had served eleven veas in H- '" ""^ ^"''^'^ States. He Congress, wherl^he^:," 'ourTarf ' ?."V^" "j"' ''^' '° the trustees of Antior h rv.ii '°"^.>^^^s-. J" September, 18^2, .ion by oirering1r£i^"S£;"8u.shed their new instil: which l^Tfirfi^StuZ"'? '^^ very difficult task, plans, and removed 'o Ye low Snril '■°'^. and generous in its his death. He save tn,hT "^ ,f ' '"^"^ ^^ remained till has never lo" f^he tauSt t^ '°"'^' ' ^^P"*^""" "hich i closely allied with the Sat LTT"""^' "''^' "^ ^^°^k was education. ^ ^''^ "''"°"^' system of free public professor of Greek. ' In Feb?u' rs'f '~'' f^^P'^'" ''"^ in eastern New York Mr m 7' ^2. on a lecturing tour then a young clemvmin J ^"•''u'" ""' ^^v. Austin Craig, his whole I. 7iTJ7^2T^^' y^"' °f ^g<=. "ith whom loved as a younger brother '"^^ """"^'^^"'^ ^""^ ^^'hom he ' Henry W. Bellows. ANTIOCH UXDER DR. CRAIG 269 "Antioch College had erected three admirable buildings at very considerable cost. Few colleges in the country could at that time boast such a building as the college proper. There was a large dormitory for men, and another for women, provid- ing larger accommodations for the residence of students than Harvard College had at that time. An elegant campus was laid out for the students, and a large and convenient house was built for the president. All this required money, and the most of this money had been raised by loyal subscriptions from the congregations of the Christian denomination. Tiie promise had been made to all subscribers that if any person subscribed one hundred dollars, he should be permitted to name a student who might go through his course without other charge. And this privilege was not to end with the death of the contributor, but was to extend generation after generation, to his descend- ants or assigns. ''From this unfortunate provision, it befell that while from the very first Antioch College had always a large assembly of students, it had almost no income. The dormitories were full the instruction was admirable, the esprit de corps was well-nigh perfect, but from year to year there was almost nothing re- ceived in the treasury. The corporation which founded the college had assumed obligations which it could not discharge Not unnaturally the founders of the college and the friends of Air. Mann in New England appealed to a larger public to pro- vide permanent funds for carrying out the magnificent purpose which they had in hand. At that time, every college west of New England with the single exception of Antioch College was under the control of some ecclesiastical body. Even what were called the State Universities would receive no teacher or pro- fessor who was not considered sound in old fashioned ortho- doxy. An appeal was therefore made to the Unitarian Church to come to the rescue of an institution which had opened its doors with such courage to all sorts and conditions of men and women. " The trustees of the college found it more and more difficult every year to provide for the annual expenses by other means than the money obtained from the tuition fees of the students Iherefore, the trustees under the original charter proposed that if a new corporation could be formed ready to carry on the college on a generous scale without the incumbrance which Had been carelessly assumed, not understanding its results, they 270 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIX CRAIG were willing to make such transfer. When this offer was well understood, the American Unitarian Association held a meet- ing, ever memorable to the friends of Aniioch College, in Hollis Street Church, Boston, in December, 1864, and voted that it would raise one hundred thousand dollars for endowment of Antioch College, if it could be placed in the hands of a new corporation. This sum was collected by the committee ap- pointed for that purpose, of which I was the chairman. The committee met the trustees of the old corporation in 1865, and with utter cordiality on both sides, a new corporation was formed, called Antioch College of Yellow Springs. •^ The hope and plan of all the leaders, both of the Christians and Unitarians, was the appointment to the presidency of the college, left vacant by the death of Horace Mann, of some dis- tinguished civilian whose name was publicly connected with education throughout the country. For a year or two the trustees were in hopes of carrymg out this plan, and no one was more eager in this than Dr. Craig, as may be seen from his letters. General Garfield was one of the persons ap- proached by the trustees. Dr. Craig was entrusted with the correspondence with him. He declined, however. It was then determined unanimously that Hon. John A. Andrew, the War Governor of Massachusetts, should be invited. In this invitation the trustees had the cooperation of his nearest friends, who thought that if His Honour could be transferred to Ohio, his deserved influence throughout the country would be greatly enlarged. Writing to me on this subject, Dr. Craig said, *I was yesterday told that Governor Andrew is to preside at Antioch. I hold my breath a little, fearing to shake the state- ment loose from the fact on which I hope it is built.' ** These negotiations, however, were futile, and the trustees unanimously appointed Dr. Craig as president of the college, he having agreed to take the presidency only as a temporary appointment, as he had promised to accept the presidency of the Christian Biblical Institute when its doors should be ready to open. Almost of course he so endeared himself at the college to the students, the teachers, and the whole community, that it was with great regret that at the time he had himself fixed a new appointment was made. To him is due the great credit of the immediate success under the new administration. His duty was so successfully discharged that I tlunk he did not regret his loyal acceptance of the charge. ANTIOCH UNDER DR. CRAIG 271 He retired from the presidency blessed with the love and good wishes of all who knew him. He had the satisfaction of Know- ing that he had recalled to the number of its friends, many who had been somewhat alienated from the college by its misfortunes. He carried with him to his new post of duty the respect and love of all with whom he had had to do. " Edward Everett Hale. '' Roxbury^ Mass., June 18, igo6:' XIV A LETTER FROM A MAN'S HEART WE may pause at this moment long enough to consider a letter written by Dr. Craig out of the fullness of his heart, a pointed, searching letter, and yet without bitterness. Again and again throughout his career, jealous men, envious men, ignorant men, attacked him,— by innuendo chielly, in (he open seldom. He maintained the same gentle silence that ever characterized his attitude to such people unless some vital principle wius at stake, some truth so violated that, un- less made clear by the real facts, untoward results might follow. It was his fiishion in such a case to write, or speak, with great plainness. To the hearts of those who falsely accused him his letter, or his spoken word, not only carried conviction but bore the noble weight of truth, crushing the lalsehood, open or implied, to its death. And yet love was master of this man, even when he came close to a solemn sternness. The letter written while he was yet at Antioch just before his acceptance of the call to Kew Bedford, is as follows : 44 "Dear Brother Ko^I""" ^^'-''"''- ^''"' J"'y ^3, 1S67. T 1^ y°"^ welcome letter of June 19th came duly to hand. 1 would have taken the time to answer it immediately ral- though we were in the midst of * Commencement ' services and scenes— when it came), only that I had a few days before sent you a note givmg you such suggestions ' about the dis- position of the manuscript letter/ as your postscript seems 272 A LETTEll FlIOM A MAN'S HEAET 273 especially to require.-Hoping that you received that note and found its suggestions satisfactory, I now use my earhest good opportunity to reply to a few points presented in your - 1 find this letter beginning naturally, just as my ' manu- script letter began ;_beginning, namely, with a reference to my own pecuniary circumstances. In that • manuscript letter ' I Nvas moved to say a few words concerning the financial re- suhs of my ministerial life, in order that you might see whv I had ventured to write concerning the Biblical School, after vou had publicly expressed your wish that no one would write for It * without giving.' " What now calls me back to the same subject— of mv own pecuniary circumstances-is the following paragraph in your letter, which I will copy here in full :— ^ » r / " ' Now, Brother Craig, you have been some time ministering to an independent church, not specially of the *^ Christian Con nexion, and who are reputed rich, and proverbially liberal and to the now, richly endowed Antioch and Meadville : iust give us a liberal donation for the Biblical School, then publish or have published, your recent letter to me, and then you mav pray, and preach, and write for our school all you please, and the gift wil so sanctify the advice, that we will be likelv to give It a patient hearing.' ^ " I answer (i), as to the publishing of my ' recent letter ' to you 1 will take no step whatever in regard to that If the bret ren of the Conference before whom it'was read choose to publLsh it-or any part of it (as has been intimated), they may do so. In that case the • patient hearing ' will be far more likely to come from the regard due to the liberal Con- n^Zv^'.f '"^^"'^ request the private communication is made public, than from any 'liberal donation' given by the in- "^^'-"« ^s well as others. But I was already several hundreds of dollars A LETTER FROM A MAN'S HEAET 277 in debt, with no prospect of imi)rovement near at hand. I then told my congregation how affairs were with me, and said that I would be compelled to seek more means somewhere. They immediately voted to add ^500 annually to my salary, and to give a donation visit, which in various ways brought us in nearly ;$40o more for that year. But, in making that com- munication to the people, I felt no longer free to remain with them. It may have been a matter of feelhig only ; but I could not stay, and did stay only ten months,— until the beginning of September, 1865, when I removed to this place. The Blooming Grove people were, as you wrote in the paragraph copied above, 'reputed rich and proverbially liberal.' That liberality I cultivated for others. The church collections for purely foreign objects amounted in one year that I now remem- ber to nearly $500 (speaking roundly). I frequently gave as much as any one, and urge(i the duty of giving. But for my- self I never spoke one word in the pulpit, and never preached on the duty of congregations to see that they who preach the Gospel 'live by the Gospel.' For that reason, I suppose, the liberality of the congregation did not reach me until it became necessary to say to them that I could not live on the salary paid me. And when I had to say that, I felt myself no longer at liberty to stay with the people. They are a liberal people, as you say, and perhaps I did not well in keeping silence so long concerning my necessities. Their liberality has abounded, as I am very happy to learn, towards their present pastor. I have only words of praise and love when speaking of that ex- cellent congregation. I mention these particulars to show you how mistaken is your inference— your apparent impression con- cerning my financial ability, as derived from the fact that I ' have been some time ministering ' to a church ' rich and pro- verbially liberal.' The fact is that on leaving Blooming Grove to settle in this place, in September, 1865, I brought with me a debt of several hundreds of dollars, which had grown upon me during the years of the war. And the other statement made by you, with its implied inference, that I have for some time also been in the service of ' the now richly endowed Andoch, and Meadville,' seems quite a different kind of fact to me from what I think it seems to you, for counting in the expenses of removal hither and re-settlement in Yellow Springs, I cannot reasonably hope to be as well off, pecuniarily, at the beginning of September, 1867, as I was September, 1865, when I removed ^_^Vi 278 LIFE Ax\D LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG from Blooming Grove to Yellow Springs. My service to the nchly endowed • Mead ville,'_do you suppose^tl>at I recdve a Urge saary there? Last year I received not a dollar from Meadville; the year before, for fourteen lectures delivered m December, ij.h to 27th, I »vas paid fifty dollars. My first teachmg service at Meadville was in October ,86: my clear receipts (after deducting expenses of traveH wer^ a i-rolessor m the 'richly endowed' MeadvSle un to ih^ nent ^ V """'"^'^ J"'' seventy-three dollars over my ex' alo" e ;ave,°l!.'/?"'' ""^^1"^'"''"'^^ with these detailed facts alone saves me from suspecting you of a grim joke in vour paragraph where you intimate my ability to give you -alibera donation for the Biblical Schoolf' because /have 'been tm tme ministering • to a 'rich and proverbially liberal ' churcT and to ' the now richly endowed Antioch and Meadville •' it see r't r.^ n"' "r ' ^T'K '' * ' '5°° P^^ ='"""™- I know that theP^L n " ^ '" ■"conveniently small sum. ] know Uiat the S800 per annum which professors were paid here a dozen years ago was a larger sum (relatively) than $.,500 >ow For myself, it ,s just possible that by living closely here 1 tniph tn three or four years be able to save enough ,0 pm me oS debt At present, the best I can say to those who ask me for to Elde'r h""^."'"^'" ''"y enterprise is what 1 said recemj to Elder Heath, who asked me for a gift of Jcoo for ' Union Christian College.' I told Brother Heath that, if he w3d nrclesTalu'e^ T'^ ^''''' I' V ''''"'^) ^^^ sime person articles valued by us as gifts, I would surrender to him every dollar s worth of property that I now own, on condition thalhe would pay my debts. (1 could well afford to do that ) It IS very unpleasant, Brother Ross, thus to rehearse to vou these iXK^r financial details of my affairs. It is onlyless un toT wonlwca'r '^ 'T'""' "''' '° e'- ^ ' liberal donation . to a worthy cause, and yet unwilling. " I pa.ss now, to answer a few points presented in your letter but not connected with myself, personally. The first point U matter, relating to ministerial supmrt. I will codv a (Jt passages of your letter, in which you speak of your'^own ex A LETTER FROM A MAN'S HEART 279 pericnce in the ministry. You wrote me that you ' have never received over three hundred dollars per annum for ministerial services, and, probably the average wages would be less than Uvo hundred. You ' have had pretty hard work to get along. ' You 'sometimes think you ' might have been something if you had had ha f a chance ' Even in writing an important leuer you have to write hastily, for ' your 'garden and j^Kitatoes need hoeing and you ' know no other way than by the labour of your ' hands, in part to minister to' your ' necessities, and to those about you Yet you • wish, sometimes, that some of our brethren in the ministry, who have left the connexion, and others who are a little homesick because our churches do not properly appreciate and reward their services, and complain ^ h""""!,^^ / "^'^''T? r^''^^'^'^ '° '""Pa" Pf0P« instruction to the churches could, for a while, be placed in the condition of our early ministers.' " Certainly it is well to appreciate the difficulties and the faithfulness of those who have gone before us. The history of the hardships suffered by those who, in any sphere of use, have acted as pioneers of Truth and Righteousness, constitutes a por lon of the most useful and instructive of human recor.ls. Ami yet, neither are pioneers (even in Christianity) always free from blame in all things; nor is the work of the pioneer ^'Z, 'IT^Tl T*°"' "'" ^"^^ °^ "^ "^'y different sort of gift for which the pioneer prepares the way. For pioneering you need robust manhood. ' rough-and-tumble ' qualities vou may postpone refine.nent of all sorts until the pioneer's grand- Zl T/,,"' ''l^ '''"■"• ''''"^" "^^ Pi""^*^^ has done his work, and the wilderness is subdued, then a new slate of so- ^fK'."rr''™"^'T' ''[''■'■' ""•""'''- ^"'^' ^' ^ consequence, new gfts are required in those who must carry on the work which the pioneer began. Min.i you, I do not saV that less manhood, less zeal, less devotion to the work, will serve: 1 only say that an entirely different class of ' gifts ' may be necessary. Vhen the work in a given society or community is to save the people nn^fin r'^',"^ v.ces,-from drunkenness, gambling, harlotry, rofanity, Sabbalh-breaking,-in short to plant the Church _ me very germ of spiritual society, among that people then a s.rong s,,ul like John ,he B.ptist (and n,f mal.ei^hough he be as n>ugh in speech and dress as the Baptist was)_a strong soul, a sharp rebuker, a stern denouncer, is needed Very httle need then for church history, or for Greek and Hebrew • 4 280 LIFE AND LETJ KliS OF AUSTIN CRAIG learning ; the poorest translation of the New Testament ever made might be good enough ; nay, but a few chapters of the Gospel would be sutticient. Repent! Repent/ Repent/ ♦' But, Brother Ross, when the pioneer has done his work, and the spiritual life — the Church — has been planted in a place, then commences a new set of conditions. The- Saved -from- their-Sins must be carried on in a course of instruction and improvement, and, especially, those who shall be born into this Christian community — the new generation who need not to be saved, as their tailiers, from sins of gross kind, but only pre- served — safe, instructed, guarded in Christian homes and trained up in the sanctuary of God, — this new generation will need (not a pioneer preaching at irregular times, in the open air, by Jordan, or in the desert), but a regular pastor, a fixed sanctuary, stated worship, Sunday-schools, Bible classes, Scriptural ex- positions of such kind as only he can very well give who has had a certain kind of education which the John of the Desert did not receive (perhaps) ; who also has access to books, and has leisure for continual study. Now all this, Brother Ross, presuj^poses that the age of ' Locusts and wild honey,' has come to an end in that conmnmity. The i)astor must be fed by his flock, if he is to be as useful as possible to them. If he has to spend his time catching his * locusts ' (or to put it in modern phrase, in * hoeing his potatoes ') he cannot spend it in giving 'attendance to reading,' in 'searching the Scriptures ' and in pastoral work. But, if it is needful that a man give him- self wholly to these things, and best that he begin early, then those who are to come after the pioneers thus, will hardly be qualified^ even, to catch locusts. Some of the pioneers began to preach when they were forty years of age, or older, and had two kinds of 'faculty.' They could, by a trade, earn their bread, and at the same time give tlieir Sundays to the preach- ing of the Word. It is an admirable thing to be able thus to do; but the tendencies of the age — the multiplied demands of churches on the ministry — seem to put that ability far away from the rising generation of i)reachers. Let me instance my own case. / never learned a trade or handicraft, by which I could earn my bread. Those years which would have been spent naturally in an apprenticeship to some trade, were spent by me at school. I was learning what could be made serviceable, in some degree or in some place, to the ministry. Not a pioneer 1, — not a John the Baptist ; but (perhaps) a scribe instructed A LETTER FROM A MAN'S HEART 281 into the kingdom of heaven, so as to be able to bring forth out of the treasure (of history, of libraries, of Hebrew and Greek learning) things new and old. I reverence the pioneer of the Gospel ; but 1 am not a pioneer. My gift is different from his. I cannot live by the labour of my hands. If I am to be in the ministry, in any effectual way, it can only be on the gospel con- dition that ' they which preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel.' And it is certain to me that I could not 'live' (as prices now rule) in (say for instance) your conference, if (as you say) the churches are not able to give more than an average of four hundred dollars for pastoral services. I would be compelled to decline all invitations from those churches for the unsurmountable reason that I ' cannot dig, and to beg I am ashamed.' "Now, if our churches wish to make the pioneer condition of the ministry a permanent institution, instead of recognizing it, as it is, a merely transient phase of the ministry, to be superseded as quickly as possible by a fixed and better con- dition of things ; then I cannot doubt, there will often here- after be brethren who will become what you call 'a litde home- sick,' and who will, of course, leave the connexion, if they can find elsewhere opportunities of living 'by the Gospel.' Nay, it is my belief that if we have a Biblical School, and are able in it to train up able pastors and teachers, we cannot prevent them —we must rather expect them to receive and accept calls from churches, here and there, which are glad to pay good ministers, and to pay them competent salaries. For, the more we educate our ministry, the more we impart studious habits, and the desire for learning and books, the more, in short, we make it necessary for our ministers to use their time for study and to have means for the purchase of books, the more we shall make it difficult for them to remain among us, unless our churches do really make it possible for them to 'live by the Gospel: -^ *• I assume, of course, that few sensible men will be fright- ened by the idea of leaving the denomination. The earth is the Lord's, the churches everywhere are His; the minister of the Gospel may go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature ; in short, he may rightfully go wherever he may find a Christian hearing ; and whether in the Christian denomination, or out of it, he may still be in the vineyard of the Lord. Nor, will it be likely to repel these ministers from 282 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG the work to suggest to them that they go • to build upon an- ^h^^PK™''?- ' '^°""'^="'0"'' *hen they go beyond the bounds of the Christian Connexion to preach tlie Gospel. In that sense nine-^tenths of our own ministers are even now building upon another man s foundation ; that is, are carrying on work begun before their day^ And every year makes it nfore necess^fto do this very work. '1 here are. say, fifty thousand churches or societies already planted in our country. It would be a great growth indeed, if two thousand new societies should be generally speaking, as many as twenty-five ministers engaged m building upon foun.lations already laul, where there may be but one engaged in laying foundations. Even those who think heniselyes at work in laying foundations, may call to mind ™,r Lm . "'~f "'"'? '° ""= '^'"'^"'•■^ of Jesus-it is in an im- portan sense true that 'other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.' So the workman do hi J work taithfully ,t IS little matter whether he work at the foundation or at the turret. Let each work where he best can " 1 his tram of thought— and, indeed, your own course of remarks— brings me to that portion of your letter in which you ask me the following questions : V ',"'•'>■, .<^^n""' 'he Unitarians with their abundant wealth and liberalitv, and their Harvard, Antioch and Meadville, educate a stiflicient number of pastors and teachers to supply them? Uhydo they not build up more congregations in the country? Why do not the common people hear them gladly? "I suppose that some member of the Unitarian body could better answer these questions of yours than I can. Brother l-ay in the GospH Herald for June 1511., mentioned a re- mark of Dr. Osgood's, recently made, that • with the exception of some political demonstrations in a few of the great cities the largest gatherings the East h.is witnessed within the past year have been called together under the auspices of Liberal Chris- rS' ?M"'"n.^'7 l',""-'""'^ '° s-^y 'that the Unitarian churches of New England were never so fully attended as they have been the past year, and there have never before been so many societies reorganized in the s.ime length of time with so abundant promise of success, and there are several very im- portant points many of them already centres of vast influence, like Cleveland, Ohio, and Portland, Oregon, where ample A LETTER FROM A MAN'S HEART 283 ^laries would be guaranteed from the beginning, from which the call for n.inisters is most importunely made ; but, alas ' as of old, the harvest is great and the labourers are few ' .u "rl '^^ "^^i"* ^"^ y" "^" qi't^stions, Brother Ross. li\ Is the deficiency in the supply of pastors and teachers any greater proportiona ly among the Congregational churches Lfown a^ r,^' wLTt' P ." ,"T"? "^^'O^hodox' Congregationalists? (2) U hat Protestant denomination has. within the last two years, in proportion to the number of its churches, built up more congregations in this country, and gamed a larger hearing from the people generally, than the ' Unifarian ' ? ^ '' But, though I thus answer and return questions, do not mistake me I am not one of those who have an unqualified admiration for everything ' Unitarian.' Neither do I belong to the number of those (alas ! that the number seem so largl among us) who seem unable to speak of the Unitarians except when some word of doubt and suspicion is to be uttered " X pass on to other questions which you have put to me You write that, 'Some, perhaps many, have thought thai Brother Cra.g conceived that Antioch College was as good an institution, and doing as much for the cause that the Christians had in view in its conception, as though they had retained and managed it in accordance with their views. In short, that the Christians should be satisfied with Antioch, and patronize it And also that the Meadville School is just the Biblical SchJoi that we need, and that nothing but prejudice and sectarian bigotry moves us to try to build another college or Theological School. Now, Brother Craig, is this your opinion ? . ^°'°S'^^' Were fT ""''"^' ^™"'" ^°''' °'' "'« '^"g"^ °^ this letter. Were I to answer this passage and question just copied from your letter, answer it fully, as I would like to answer itTn con versation with you,— I know not how many more pages I would forror°mfne '"a''/ --"er-already too'many for^Lr c'S .;.xi, A . ^. f^^^,gf"eral statements must here suffice. with Aminrh"'"v ' '^°"''' "'J ^'" "y °P'"'°") ' be satisfied with Antioch No men-and no body of people-having capacities and means, should ever be satisfied to have every? h ng done for them. Were Antioch twice the excellence that L nL"^".K° ^' '"'•" ^ '"^""■'^ ^^y '^^' ^ ^^hool Of less merit- in^ 1 fi ^^^ ".'^'^ ^ "^''°°' ^"Stained by our efforts-call- hfn„ our liberality, taxing our energies, costing us some- thing, would do us more good. I have hoped, Brother Ross, 284 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF AUSTIX CRAIG that our brethren would by and by awake to the recognition of the great opportunity for usefulness to ourselves— to society— which Antioch presents to us. It will be a great disappoint- ment to me, if at last our brethren let Antioch utterly go helping It forward no more in the very useful career which 1 do feel confident is yet before it. The best thing our brethren— especially here in Oiiio— could do with ^100,000, even now (It seems to me), would be to put it into Antioch College But though Antioch should continue (as I trust it will) To sustain and to carry forward the great principle of unsectarian yet Chris lan education, the equal right and privilege of all who would come,— and though the college should within a year double Its present endowment, and within ten years quadruple It (as is not unlikely); yet, if our brethren are to sit quietly by seeing all this vyork done by others,— work which they have a right to help do— which they (in this state of Ohio) have abundant means for doing,-! must say, rather than have them send their sons and daughters to Antioch— to steal their education (as some hearers are content io steal their preaching —letting others pay the preacher), I would count if far more creditable to them to be content with an education in any second rate seminary of our land, on condition that the semi- nary were their own m this sense; namely, that they had paid tor it, and whatever educational means it did afford were honestly procured by their own efforts and contributions. Jiad as ignorance is, it is not so bad as meanness. "Our people did incur a disaster here at Antioch,— the in- evitable effect (I do sincerely believe) of our own rash and blameworthy methods of oj-eration ; but the disaster does not seem to me an irretrievable one. Nor need we-nor ought we —(I thmk) to go into a 'pet' and renounce the great oppor- tunity of doing good and getting good which here remains to " I wish, however, to confine myself to the enunciation of a general pru.cple. If I should turn aside to the details of this Antioch business, the story would grow interminable. The principle is this : As K-"' ^'''°r^^' ■" ^^Ich he can liv'e for four years, for so long he thinks to stay. Another student i, here who has six chihlren. Another o^f the three wo vT ted n e this afternoon, had wished for years to ao to schoo hnf h'e a tlrr" ^" i ''^'f "^ ""•■ A^few mon°hs ago L^f s^ i 1° :.s^scZ;rhr7eeS.;'tf ;| SU t'^XscToo?'.''^^^^- "^ ^'- ^rou,..\^t^?:i I hale but one "tv T °" ^^'"'"^^y- To-day (Christmas) Ml Ind Mr? r " '^'""°?" ^'- ^"'1 Mrs. Livermore and w h us an W^^"' '"V"^ '° '^' ^^''"'"'''' dinner here of onr, rJ I ^ ""fl .^ '""°^^ "^^' I ^'5"^d some students ^.fe 1 ,7 fi "■ uf'} ""'^ ^'' ^'■«her (and the elder's family- c urch twj^,r '^'''^''"^ ' ^' •^'■'^^'^hes half the Sunday to a hi nil' ^ ™''^5 away, getting say $250 a year, which with board rr' /''T- •''' '''"'""y °f f°"^ dollars a week for of -.nA-K *"' ''^'"'=^- ^ ^'^''^d '"° the little shanty home of another minister here, with his wife and child-I guess I quentirin"^ "'''• ^"^^ ^'""^"'^ ^"-"^ *" and visit me fre- comer^ talTU°°™- , \ '"' '"""^ P'""^^'' ^^i* the newest <-omer, a tall, benign looking man, who has been a Methodist I I I 290 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG circuit preacher,— preached four years,— is about twenty-six years old. Meads Tuthill came from church to dinner with me yesterday. " In the morning preached in the Unitarian church from Luke 2 : 15, ' Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known mito us.' Good attention, and sermon not long. Afternoon at three, went to the church of the coloured people, preached to them from Acts 8 : 26-39,— the Conversion of the Ethiopian. Services in all about one liour and twenty minutes, and atten- tion good. Went to Mr. Cary's— on invitation— to tea. Even- ing, preached in the Unitarian church. Text, • Prepare ye the way of the Lord.' Had a good time and didn't preach very long. So much for the preachings. " 1 am to go with Mr. Livermore walking to-day, to see the college on the other hill— to see some of its people— and its cabinets. It is a pleasant day." Year by year, as Dr. Craig went in and out among the young men of the institution, coming, as he wished, into very close and personal touch with them, his influence over them deepened and he was able to help shape the life of many a man into the mould of the IMaster. Others than the students in his classes were attracted to his lec- tures. Frequently men of wide reputation as preachers would come to hear him. He not only had the ability backed by a splendid scholarship, of disclosing vital truths in simplicity and nobleness, but he had, at the same time, grace of language, a winning personality, a charming method of presenting what he had to say. Nor was his i)resentation that of the dry-as-dust theologian, musty and smelling of the grave-clothes of dead dogmas, but live, vivid, picturesque, vital, fragrant as a breath of spring, shot through and through with the brilliant threads of the Master^ s love. Now and again as some particularly distressing fling appeared, he made public answer to it and in such a way that there was no adequate answer to his answer. The ' MEADVILLE AND NEW BEDFORD 297 fferald of Gospel Liberty, the denominational paper of the Christians, contained a paragraph to the eff-ect that a minister who had been a pastor of a Christian church had begun ministering to a Unitarian church, noting that he was a graduate of Meadville Seminary and that *'the reader may draw his own inferences." To this Dr. Craig replied, applying logic to the '* inference" to show that it was by no means necessary to believe that the man went to the Unitarian church because of Mead- ville and then adds : **But the reader whose denominational antipathies are active who in every heap of Unitarian Meal sees a Cat watching her opportunity to pounce upon our unsuspecting Mice, will find the premises already given, quite sufficient for < his own infer- ences He has only to fall back upon his self-evident proposi- tion that, no ' Christian ' pastor ought to go a ministering to a 'Unitarian Society.' True, a 'Christian ' minister may go ' into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,'— may go and preach to Mahometans, to cannibals, and to Hottentots; but he must not go a ministering to a society of Unitarians : that is simply going to the Bad. Therefore, how pestiferous must that 'Meadville' be, which does not inspire even its Christian graduates with a horror of the Unitarians ' " There are inferences of Jaundice, which are not good ; there are inferences of Logic, which are better; there are in- ferences of Charity, which are best of all. The premises given in the case of our Rev. Mr. A do not forbid to infer that he left the Christian church in B , cherishing all kindly feelings towards them, while they also retained their old respect and affection for him :-that he went to the Unitarian Society ^^. ^- > ^" the spirit of a Christian minister, desiring the salvation, and the upbuilding in holy things, of the flock. If he truly went in that spirit, may the Gracious Master abun- dantly bless him and his ministry ! " Perhaps in no way may the influence of the work of Dr. Craig at Meadville, and its scope, be better shown than in the following from the Rev. S. S. :N"ewhouse, D. D., of Lima, Ohio, who was a student under Dr. Craig : J ItfUi^ if 298 LIFE AND LETTEKS OF AUSTlxX CliAIG "Dr. Craig's lectures were of the nature of a profound ex- position, from the original text, of portions of the New Testa- ment— chitfly of the Fourth Gos|)el. Though delivered to the outgoing cla:.s, his lectures were always largely attended by otliers — students, citizens, visitors and resident professors, in- cluding his great admirer and personal friend. Dr. A. A. Liver- more, the president, 'ilie writer well remembers one occasion, when among the visitors present were three eminent divines and authors, of the Unitarian body, — Rev. James Freeman Clarke, D. D., of Boston ; Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D. D., of New York; and Rev. William G. Eliot, D. D., of St. Louis. These men sat with manifest fascination under the mild but magical eloquence of the profound teacher in the deep things of life as revealed in the original text of our Lord's words, and l)assing out were heard to speak in terms of wonderment and high api)reciation. "Dr. Craig's work at the Mcadville Theological School terminated with his acceptance of the presidency of the Chris- tian Biblical Institute at Eddytown, New York, in the autumn of 1869. At the head of this Bible School, and as its first president, Dr. Craig spent the later years of his life in his favourite employment as teacher of teachers of the Word and the divine art of preaching. "The deep and clear perception of revealed truth, the en- larged view of life, the charming presentation of the character and mission of Jesus Christ, and the simple but logical unfold- ing of the divine method of human redemption that this unique expounder of the Gospel imj)arted to those who were favoured with his instruction, were a great spiritual uplift and enlarge- ment of vision of human life and destiny to them. "The impression made by his gentle personality and sim- plicity of manner added to the truth he so beautifully portrayed. He never failed, though as unassuming as a child, to imi)ress his pupils as being, in the gifts of his nature, and by the endow- ments of grace, among the eminent sons of God, challenging admiration and imitation. Such was his power over young men preparing for the Christian ministry that, in many in- stances, he was unconsciously copied in the tone and manner of his address. " He was a rare man, possessing qualities of nature alto- gether out of the ordinary. By contact with him one quickly learned that he was possessed of that type of dignity which al- MEADVILLE AND NEW BEDFOKD 299 ways mspires admiration and sincerest respect, and which be- gets the feehng that one is in the presence of an elite spirit of his race. Li his habitual action he revealed the traits of a noble sou . Jn his bearing as well as in his conduct he showed himself the singularly beautiful character that he was— thus making his teaching the more impressive and effectual by its illustration m his luminous Christian life. " Dr Craig was a Christian gentleman, not in the ordinary sense of these words, but in that profounder sense in which the soul continuously and increasingly lives in Christ. His life was so imbued with the spirit of Christ, that his walk and conversa- tion were an epistle of the grace of Christ to all who came withm the range of his influence. "In his daily movements he convincingly expressed the reality of the religion he believed and taught. Not more by what he said than by what he was in his daily life— the same guileless, genial Christian soul— did he certify the truth of the saying : * Fhe Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.' "Dr. Craig lives not only in the memory of many men who sat under his forceful and profound instruction at Meadville but also in their characters and life-work, for he left an abid- mmdT' Hislfl''""^' 'n' "' ''^ '^''' ^^^^ '"^^^ hearts and ocome s„.h ""' '"'^^ Perpetuate itself in the generations to come. Such a man can never die." In the year 1868, when Dr. Craig had completed his work at Antioch aud while waiting for the opeuiugof the projected Christian Biblical Institute, he accepted a call to the pulpit of the North Christian Church, of New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was the most important Chnstian church in New England, with a large, well- equipped house of worship, with ample means at disposal for the successful carrying forward of the work, and with ■^ large, well organized and enthusiastic society. Here Ur Craig preached for a year, preached witji all the added power that came with his ripening years. The congregation was hearty in its support, earnest in service appreciative of the talent and power of their preacher' ■k 300 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CKAIG Here Dr. Cruig set a new staiulard for himself. His ser- mons grew in depth and breadth ; his splendid schohir- ship, always with him a matter of progress, brought out the old truths with new and original force ; he was singularly effective. Crowds packed the church. The newsi)apers contained appreciative reports of his sermons. The reputation of the preacher both as a man in the pul- pit and as a man on the street among men si)read beyond his own congregation, for those of other denominations recognized in him not only the winsomeuess of the man but the spirit of the Master. *' I have always understood the position of the Christian con- nexion," he says in writing at this time to a friend, " to be that we fellowship the Christian heart in all; leaving the head of the Christian, in any particular case, to be flat, broad, or round as the case may be. If any man gives us evidence that he has the spirit of Christ, we do not trouble ourselves (at any rate, we do not trouble ///w) about his theological opinions. He may be Trinitarian or Unitarian, Calvinist, Armenian, or Universalist; yet, if he has the spirit of Christ, that is all we require in order to our fellowship. This, as I have always sup- posed, is the position of the Christian connexion. At any rate it is my position." *' Now I do heartily believe, and always have believed," he says to another friend in a letter which well illustrates his catholicity of view of the Bilile as a book, " the Holy Scrip- tures to be one only and sufficient rule of faith and practice. And that the Bible contains a Revelation from God, I feel as sure of, as of anything known by faith and not by sight. But there is in the Bible, as there was in the living word Himself, a human element, as well as a divine. To revere the Bible for the Divine Truth which is divinely given in it, is our wisdom and duty. But to worship the letter, is possible (as history shows), though not beneficial. "Oh, what an outcry was raised about three centuries ago when Reuchlin appealed from the Latin translation of the Old Testament to the Hebrew Originals ; and when he showed that the Hebrew manuscripts differed among themselves—had multi- tudes of * various readings ' as the modern terra is ! Before Nokiii ( iiKisriAN cnrKCH New lleclnid, Massachusetts IN'rKKIoK OF NORTH CHRISTIAN V IUKCH MEADVILLE AND NEW BEDFORD 301 that time, the millions of Western Christendom rested in the notion that everywhere, all the manuscripts of the Scriptures rt tW f P'''''!f • ^y '^^ superintending Provide.L of o%e SWT/Sl'" '"^'y "^--'P' -^ 'he exact copy •' But men-(good men in many ages)_have regarded the B.ble w.th superstitious, or ignorant, reverence. Should ti^ey not be taught the way of the Lord more perfectly ? If in one age men believe too much, and make a merit of holding to their excess of belief, another age will surely come when th? Law of Reac ion in our mental constitution will swing them over into -at least temporary-belief of too little. If one should deny he Divine element in the Holy Scriptures, that would be to • unchain the riger • : but, if one should reverently attempt the te (as 1 think) a meritorious work of Christian instruction w^A%"'^"^^ % ^"-^ °f Bethlehem, so as to quicken all the childlikeness within us, would be piety and duty ; but to go to worshipping the Swaddling Clothes in which the Heavenly Babe was wrapped, would be a superstitious adoration of relics into which, in fact, millions of Christians have fallen The question concerning Luke's Gospel with me is this: ' What does Luke himself say concerning the origin of his Gospel ? An,l the answer is-not as our English erroneou.sly has it (Luke I ■ 3). but as Luke's own (Jreek gives the idea-that he ac- curately traced up everything to the original source of ^he asT"refuuT'H- ^''' ''°''T '« hav^-ritten^: history' Ann f '^^'•u't Of historic research. His authority was the Apostles,_and there the authority of his book is to be found is historical! """'"^ '^ %^l"'''''" """''''' ^"^^ '^at his record s historically accurate, I have satisfactory reasons for believ- ing. Ihat he wrote as a mere penman of the spirit of God wming down what the moving spirit gave him to say as S i iXTn^'.''^' Pn°"^'' "ho come to us with their VqC Lull hi If ' ^~^u 'h^' '' '° •^"""■^'■y ('" "^y view) to what Luke himself says, that I frankly say, I am not able to believe his't'n^vl^f !h^°'P^'-'' '° ""^ ^ critically-prepared and accurate teach/r [ ^u"°"' 'T-'^' '""^ "fe of our Lord and divine ne« I;/h !'u^'"'"'-. ^"'^ '" "'■'^' l"spira.ion dwelt in all full- our La ^Yu'^-^ ""^ °'"' ^"^^ "'" ^^"h. and His command Il 302 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG How this many-sided man wou men to Mm aud lield them fiust in his friendship may be seen in a thousand ways, such, for examjiJe, as this fragment of a letter : **It gave me great pleasure yesterday to find at the post - oflfice your good letter of the 4th instant. Your letters arc very interesting to me. I never saw you, and yet I seem to know you intimately. And the secret of our mutual knowl tdge and affection is, that we, both, love a Person whom neither of us has ever seen. And He has made it possible to His friends to love without sight ;— He has broken down all separating walls, making His friends one in Himself ; and He has abolished the Ocean and the Mountains,— and Time itself, almost, — that words of Christian love might have free course^ and run very quickly from heart to heart throughout the world.' 1 have friends of my own personal winning, and dear are the form and eye and voice of such. Other friends have I, of whom I must say— Jesus won them for me : and dear and pre- cious from such have been to me the Epistles which His loving spirit impelled and filled." While it was believed on all sides that Dr. Craig was to be the first president of the Cliristian Biblical Institute now rapidly uearing the point where a i)resident must l)e installed, Dr. Craig was not so sure as the others that it was for the l>est that he take the position. In a long let- ter to one of those in authority written from New Bed- ford in April, 18G9, he suggests that possibly there might not be full sympathy with him on the part of all the members of the denomination. He urged that the board of trustees make a most searching test of the matter and Jiscertain whether or not he was the unanimous clioice of the denomination for the position. Regarding his own personal wishes and comfort he said : "Try to realize my condition, dear brother.— Here I find myself unexpectedly (as if the lord's own hand had brought it all about), — where I have ample work, most undeserved fuU- MEADVILLE AND NE^y BEDFORD 303 ness of personal affection,— and better still f„n««o r tion to the Word. Then for the fir. H } T ""^ ^"^"■ T n 1 ./ ' ^ ^"^ "^^^ ^ime during the asf <;#»v#.n to payoff the cieb. whfch Tht'e 'S LS ^eaS' htS b ought upon me and those removals, and to p ovWe for the litUe flock that ,s growing up in my own househoW I hate not saui one word about compensation of services here Ixcent in answer to their statement at first that ' if «, ! ' P' not enough they could pay me mo e ' ^''^Z ^thl:'' enough.- But I so often have huus thatafumshe^ house reni' free could be expected here, if I would stay,-,hat I feeJ tempted • perhaps. I have said nothing in reply to all this seemTeellS a^u^n ''' '° ™^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ '^^ -y ou; Sththooi ts t-^'o-'iTLn^ n'^^^-r^) salary that my wants requ re I ^eel ^ "^'^ '^^ '^'^e hindrance to my choice." *" uiicertainty and In (he spring of the a-ime year he wrote to a friend • 'I am happtly situated here. I have .ever beenTore sal-sfied w.th my ministerial relations and work thlT I5i.t all things were shaping themselves for the still r; ieh lT""rK^' ^"'^ «'-°^ «- Of mutual a Je" iZ Siford K ^*^""° ^'"'^'^'f ^""^ the church of fir.t ^ f ' T^ '"■*"'^" "^ h« *'^^'°« the bead of the meoiogy, but that did teach the Word of God. J . I XVI THE CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL INSTITUTE DR. CRAIG was not only in the noblest and tst sense of the words a winsome man, not oiilv one who caught and held and reflected more of the divine light of love than is the portion of most mortals, but he pofaessed a strong, viiile character an earnestness of purpose, a consistent persistency, if we may so use the words, in accomplishing whatsoever he set his hand to do. It mattered not if the thing to be attained stood miles ahead on the journey ; it mattered not if he s;iw plainly it would Ik; years before the plan would Iks ripe for the harvesting, he kept steadily onward with one undcviatiiig purpose that could not be thwarted until the end was accomplished. He wasa living illustra- tion, among many other things, of the fact, at least so maintained by some, that genius is eternal perseverance. He was shrewdly alive to the futility of pressing unduly for a point at an inopportune time, but, however neces- sary strategic delays, he never lost sight of the line of main advance, and, concentrating all his forces, pressed forward irresistibly. For many years he had believed that there could be no large success among the churches of the Christian con- nexion or better put, no wide-spread success among its piustors, until they had a school for preacher-training,— pastor-training were nearer his thought. For years he Studied the problem from all points of view. He took account of the failure of other institutions for the train- ing of men to preach the Word of God, and made plans 304 THE CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL INSTITUTE 305 for an institution which should avoid the errora of the piist and present and be the means of sending men out into the world fully equipped in such things as his aeute mind told him were the essentials, stripped clean of the impedimenta of dogma and tenet and creed and all the theological rubbish which men were wont to load upon the b..nt backs of those who sliouKl have been stalwart and Iree. He laid his plans broad and di«p for a school where the Bible should be taught on each day theology on no day. His idea was not, on the other hand, merely to cram young men with passages of Scripture and then set them adrift, fitted for a low form of immature evangel- ism. And yet, at the .siime time, while he would provide them with all available inf.,rination regarding current uiKl historic cn-eds and faiths, in order that they might be well rounded out in their chosen field and ready if needs be, to answer intelligently on ow^usion those who might strive to mislead or perplex, he would make the chief equipment actual, intimate, personal knowledge of the writings of the Ol.l and New Testaments. Where po.ssible he woul.l have the students expert in the original texts of the Scriptures; where this was not possible, he would place before them the best that man had made in t.e way of Bible aids-discussions of obscure texts; ilhimination of well-known but misstated passages; the test of concordances and text-books ; and all the in- strumentalities of man helpful to a knowledge of the vital thought of the Word. Above all else he would teach in such a school the simple faith of Christ, above all he would shun even the shadow of denominationalism. In two letters written in sio7 m'"™""""' ''"■' ^^''^ '■" '^"^ '*''• that just such a ^< hool as this was to be established and when he came to near from various sources that as soon as the prepara- tions for the Christian Biblical Institute were in proper 30G LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG shape fiuancially, he would be called to its head, lie used these words, beariug on the question of denominational- ism : " I love the * Christian ' principles (if I understand them) but 1 will not commit myself to any local prejudices existing among portions of our bretlirtn whether at the East, or in the West. Moreover, as I joined the • Cliristian Connexion ' be- fore the word ' denominational ' came into vogue among us, 1 do not consider myself as belonging to that word. It is to me a disagreeable word. I like tlie name Christian far better. That name expresses all I have ever desired to be. — Moreover, I like the name ' Christian ' best, in its widest sense. I deny in toto that any little connexion of one or two hundred thou- sand people, is ' the Christian Church.' It is an insufferable arrogance, m my view, for us to style ourselves so. ''Still further, 1 believe in cooperation,— in fellowship in spiru and m work— with any people of the Lord who wish— or are willing— to work with us for Christian ob- jects. I have no fear of being swallowed up by any Christian people. And I think it entirely consonant— both with the spirit of Christ (which is the chief thing), and with the pro- • fessed princii)les of our platform,— to extend Christian fellow- ship, and to cooperate in Christian work, to all— and with all, who for our Lord's sake seek it.— 1 i)reach wherever I find an opening. Within the last two months I have preached in churches of the 'diristian,' the Methodist Episcopal, the Unitarian, and the Universalist, denominations. My first aim (I do devoutly hope) in preaching anywhere, is to bring men to Christ. 1 am sure that my great object is not to set forth denominationalism of any kind. I preach out of an unde- nominational Hible, and I preach an undenominational Lord; for though He is (as I trust) ^//r Lord, I remember that Paul said, * both //leirs and ours.' And so, as we hold our Saviour m co-partnership with all who love Him in sincerity, I am will- nig to be counted as a partner in any good word and work by any good man— whether of ' our denomination,' or of no de- nomination at all." "I could wish," in the second letter, ''that some of our brethren (who I think hold a denominationalism not so free as yours) would talk less about ' our denomination ' and more about the work of Christ. THE CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL INSTITUTE 307 - How strange it is ! Some of our brethren have their eyes turned back to the days when our pioneers were clearing away the rubbish-the Mns of the outworn creeds-preparatory to building anew m grander proportions the temple of the Lord It was a needful work in its day, and well done - But now some of our brethren think all our trouble Tour denomination s trouble) arises from the neglect of our preachers to pitch into the rrinity as they used to. They don't seem to realize that after the pulling down has gone on far enough to give a fair field, there must be work of another sort done that instead of pulling down forever, we must sometimes ' arise and build -Good brother , a very good man, favoured us through the Gosp,/ Herald some months ago, with his judgment that our ministers could not advance the cause of God until they contended earnestly for the faith once delivered etc— that IS, until they banged away at the 'sects ' after the olden time, and pelted the Trinity. *' I think our denomination (or any other man's) can put the u'?f 1 u c ^""i ^^"^' "'^ ^^^" ^^ ^hop it up into doctrinal shilialahs, for knocking out the theological brains of the Irinitarians The minister most needed now in our day— Tin my opinion) is not the smart debater and victorious^n- troversiahst but the man who somehow makes people think admiringly and adoringly of our Jesus." In another letter written a month or two later to a prominent preacher of the denomination he says : -You ask me, 'What stronger incentives to virtue, or mo- tives to Christian obedience, are found in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, than in our English version ? '-That is not lr^,r' Rh ""^^^ r^V ^^^' ''' ^^ y^" ^^'^ ^ Catholic with your Rheimish New testament for Douay Bible) in hand — you might ask me the same question respecting that translation 01 a translation. And yet, among translations, a better is for some reasons preferable to an inferior one. What ' stronger incentives to virtue ' etc.,-you might put in this form : Are there^ fewer blemishes, defects, marrings or distortions of the simit s meaning in the English ' Common Bible,' than in the uouay Bible ? The earnest soul can find the living water in Doth of them;— or, say, in the poorest translation ever made. wny, then, study the original Scriptures at all? Ql "J 1 r./ 308 LIFE ,A\I) LKTTEltS OF ACSTIN CRAIG "But, brollicr, we live in a.rilical ace— si)c( uhiiv^ .t tual, perhaps ;-,vewa„t n... nuxHy ,, opl.e.s^™^^^ hearts, but also tea,:|,crs U. deal wi,h ne^ per 1" tus l " nus„.s ami the like an,I chieliy-.o take Z 1 ■ „: VnV.'e way. One rea.is ,„ his ' iC.glish ' translation that - the 1 ve „f money .s the r„.,t of all ev,l.- (. Ti,„. 6 : ,o ) No he vws Pan lis mistaken: sensuali.y, pri.le. are roots of some evil ! the love of money is not '///^ r warm l.„n,s,.|f, a„,l Mu;s, at the genial l,J.,.h of In, """••• I" a letter writU-n at this period ihl.s «„d.s„„ai„t 111 list ration. Hj» wi« wt.;*;.... *i i n f ....!.. ^^ntmg the letter ou ji railroad II (1111. of oLryork"? "■°"' ^I---«a,"-he writes, ."oldest town nr.<:.\ M 1 '■'.""o. oy iNaMum v\ ard, — now m p bry fas I sun- pose) Nahntn was a prophet. an f°"-k"<»vn of men as William S. Ward, es- "re,— ,s the pdlar fan.l steeple) of that church William S Mipermtends the Sunday-school ; his good wife Ve cheV^ the s^hoo ye^er nor m. F ' ""' 7" "'^'^'y «' ''"l^^** ^' in ih- ^ . niorning. I-nie rooms for the Sunday-school —in the church basement. Now co im-stiirs Who, r room for nrew-l.in^ o., i i- ''! "P -^'airs. What a fine for 60^0/700 heie '7^! "' ^'''' ^''' ' ^^"^ ^ere very lar^e nirn.r^ i ^"'^^^ ''P^^^'^^^ ^^^ entrance, with a very large picture over the m nister's heid f^f r\ .- . ■ over Jerusalem.-Not very su^l^^^^^^^^ of Christ vveeping mens, that nicture f nJJ ^"f^^^^'^^. ^^ ^^ry themes for ser- picture !~Organ at the right side of the pulpit. THE CHRISTIAN BIBLICxiL INSTITUTE 309 People seem to prefer old-fashioned tunes, and congregational sinf,'iiig. Also, 1 learned that they have no prejudice against a niinisier's being a man of piety. '♦ Now the bell ceases its tolling, and the minister (your friend) rises to the public service of the morning. Sees about sixty good people before him.— Has 'liberty' in prayer and preaching, and a good time generally.— 'Ihe same at the even- ing service, with an attendance of about eighty. Preached about loving Jesus.— Had good attention, earnest feeling, and (a|)i)arenlly) some tears. Notice of the preaching had been wiiiiheld until after my arrival Saturday evening. Therefore some of the customary attendants may not have known of the service. They have no pastor now, but wish to get one. They would welcome a good man heartily; pay him at first say 58oo a year; and give him what seems a good chance to work and grow — and do still better." Id November, 1809, he prepared for the Gospel Herald an exhaustive pap<^r on the proposed school, outlining his thought as to its i)lan. The paper wtis packed with sc^iisible advice, and no doubt it had a marked influence on those who were to shape the school into form. ''The immediate locality of the Biblical School, '» he said, ''should be a quiet, still, secluded spot ; yet near enough to one of our great thoroughfares to be conveniently ac- cessible to all who may wish to come. It might be well for the school to be near a good cla^ssical and scientific school ; yet not so near as to be in the same building ; hardly, even, in the same twenty-acre enclosure. The young prophets must have silence ! '' He was an earnest advocate of some sort of manual labour for the pupils and among his recommendations was one that it might be well to have the institute lo- cated on a small farm. "Sweating from labour in the open air,^' he said, *'is, if taken in moderation, the best preparation for mental effort, and the one thing upon which the Biblical School must rely as its safeguard against rearing a race of nerveless dyspeptics. ^^ He laid 'i' 310 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF AUSTIN CKAIU SfshT,u?'''\"'^'" '''' P"'"^ *^^* *"«tructio„ iu the stliool should embrace training for preachinimn.i fJ for paatoral work. He took 'occa^'irntatf J^l^i'T^ points words on the support of the p^poid ^ " "Many of the churches of the Chri.fJ.n r said, «'are to dav m.ff^rj..^ 1 ^ ^nnstian Connexion," he iH.bera,ity m ttr^^^S ^'^2 '='^1"^ ""^ ^ ^''-- of our country the people know, T %^ '°'"f """"'""^ wealthy. But there aVmher ° /, o' of ^r"""' '""^ "°' haps in the East, as well as at^hl vv . K '^ountry-per- tian societies are very weLhhv ^Vest.-where the Chris- considering how smaT^ rprop^;7on"ofrh?"'' ""rf)"' '""'''''• the furtherance of the Gospel T.''"' ^''"^ "^^ ^"^ churches of our conneyinn , Ik ' i •" ' .^'^ '^ '" "'any sustain Christian ins"i"u,irs bv m 1'^ ""« f' °^ "'^ ''"'^ '« A portion of the resDonXi^^|'''T contributions of money, these churches r^s-TsnL ""' ""'^"Pl^y disposition o'^" preachers in our connTxL T ~T"P°" '°"'' °^ 'he early Christian un..ylrcS;'^,ttf"nfix:;;in''.hrT^^.°^^ and anti-scriptural notion that fh/;^ u ^^^ unchristian of their ministers bv oavU rK churches make • hirelings ' their support Tha^t ^unsrHn. "i '"^"^"' '"^"^'^^ sufficient for -cause (iTaO of'th e"ei C^t^^^^^ ''^ -- connexion. Our preacher. HJH V ^^^^^lency of our men's minds fromTverence^f^^ T'^ "^ ^^^^"^& but not a few o^our nTniste^r^^^^^^^ hearers from their aforeHr r ' "^^ '^'^ ^^"''^^^^^ ^heir Trinity, failed toLe nroZ^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^"^^ of the that ^ 6od loveth Tche'erf"] gfver!' '' ^'"'^ ^"^^^^^^ ^^^^^^"^ nnai aflairs and, with the example of Antioch before him, he wrote to a friend the ]f^H^. e ^"i ocn oeiore tracts are made : ^' ^'^^ ""^^"^ ^^'^^ ^^' builX^f Jrnth' InT^eJulp': theoio'^^r^ '"^'^ ^^^^"^ ^^'^^ ^^ might reasonably deem ^necessar??^^^^ ^' ^' to endow the inLtution so^^^lj^^^^ ^^5^- THE CHKISTIAN BIBLICAL INSTITUTE 311 regular and preparatory classes, might be henceforth assured — lo secure these sums and to erect the building,— May we not suppose that it would take us from three to five years ? -Meanwhile, what should we do for a theological school? If we content ourselves with something under that name but yet a meagre approach to what we need, is there not daWer that the meagre and temporary substitute will become the per- manent institution ? ^ *'lf our brethren should determine to have a school whose cost and endowment should be at least $70,000, and to give themselves five years to do the work, there is a method by which we could, immediately, have the advantages Hn great measure, at least) of a good school of our own, and at the same tune be training up two professors to take their places— with ripe experience— in our school, at the end of the five years «'lf our iNew York brethren would secure, say $1,200, annu- ally for five years, to make Brother Warren Hathaway a pro- fessor in the Meadville Theological School; and, if our New England brethren would secure an equal sum to send some one ot tlieir strong and qualified ministers to occupy a second pro- fessorship at Meadville; I feel confident that the Meadville School would in that case, be very eligible to young men of ours desirous of preparing themselves by study for the ministry I speak without authority, as uttering only my private judg- ment in this matter; yet, I am persuaded that there would be no obstacle to such an arrangement as this, if our brethren de- sired to make the arrangement.— One thing further, 1 am moved to say. If also our churches would send to the Mead- ville School twelve or fifteen capable young men of mature convictions and real piety, their coming would be welcomed to me school (I am sure) as a happy accession to its life and power. " Need it then be feared, that we would lose all— professors and students— through the superior attractions of another peo- ple/ Ihat would depend upon ourselves. It has been said that students educated at Meadville leave us, many of then. • while students educated in the ' orthodox ' schools remain with "^*.u f "'^^ ^^ ^'■"^- Certainly, students educated in orthodox seminaries would not be admitted to orthodox pastorates, without subscribing to a creed; which the Unita- rians never require our young men to do. If our people did out pay their ministers so that a young man desirous of gain- ■ < m 312 LIFE A.\D LE'ITi:US OF AUSTIN CRAIG ing means to improve himself, furnish himself a good lihrarv an,l .levote all l„s ,m,c ,o his work, conl.l do sof there would be fevyer desertions Iron, ns. Until as a ..eonle, we learn ^ha the labourer is worthy of his h.re, and learn' to pay mmis ter ld.era ly-aca,rdn,g to the.r nee,ls,_we shall 'probably be calkHl upon, from time to time, to chronicle the loss of our young ministers, whether they go to Meadville or not." At last the (iiue secm.Ml rip., f,,,- Uie foundinir of the school which had iM^n th,- , (o be a poweiful organization witli tar better pivaehiiig e.i.iipmeut than it had ever liad there was but one man to whom i>i-aetieally the eutir^ denommadoi ked as tlie one best fittwl to Iweome tlie leader of the new school, and that man was Attstii. CraiK' All the prelimii,ai,y work of th<,se wlio had been labotir- ing along many lim-s .•ulminat.-d at a meeting of the American Christian C.nve.Kion held in Man^hall, Michigan, in Octoter, 18(i<;. when by vote of th(> conven- tion It was decided to establish a Christian Biblical In- stitute. In answer to the solicitations of his friends to accept the presKlency Dr. Craig writes : " You say I • ought to be willing that mv friends use mv t"o TeT'the 3r a "'""' ^"''"1" ^^oi^ruLzzi to seek the place (I am „of a candiaration, a many-sid,.,! preparation, had united to fiishion him for the positi..., h,. now h.-ld. His broad and deep knowledge, making him on matter pertaining to he interpretation of the Slf knew '•"t how to fin.l ,mt for (hen,s..lves the things thev did "Of know; his splendid Christian manl.ood, now r'ecog- mzed wherever his denomination had a member and 1 1 If IB ■|f'. 1 CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL INSTITUTE Stanfordville, New York I ; I >i I STUDENTS- HOME I 'I' I ! I THE CULMIXATION OF A LIFE-WORK 323 almost as widely among other neonl.. nf ih^ faiths, his steadtiust ad^erencx to Le ' J^r"^ T'"" Word of God an.l I.i» .■ i ' ^^'"S^ of 'lie wonderful p:trfutepl-rm'r''"^ ^' ^^"^"^ ' ^'« not less byhis eloquence £' Tth "' "''" ""^ ""'"*'" his l>er^ouality,-these and H^ '''''■*' sweetness of to be oiif uf iJiii \. "" '-'^'^*^^ «Aiiu Hebrew, version L B blttlT"" Tr^'^ "*" ''''-' ^--^ Who was presidenf of fi . * ^^^^^1^ ^^^^aff, revision, ^rr^, , ^ ^T Cr.i"""'^'" ^" *^^ on diffienlt prob.en.^ in t.fe "S^^' '" '=°-"'^«- "^a/^e^S^iiSn^S:::;^^^::^-"-^- der Dr.' Crafg's wise pr , oT, " 'T.'' "^ ''''' " "- .od,y..re, A.ay .:; a'^l^ \ 'S^^^^.^-^-' -d lias been simnJv wondorf„i ^ development I'as done for ij and1„ ' ''""^ ' ^^' I*"-- Craig "•i"«« Which t;ir„,":;s !:/?• '^'^^ "*'•''-' talk of; thev beIonike, Jioss, Sun.mer- bc 1 Guff, Maple, McConuell, Spoor, aud dimes, who acted as y.s.tit.g lecturers. AVh.... the .lew b.ulding was InTssi? V""', """'"" "'"^ ""^-'-".orcprofcLtB. B.bl.cal lecturer; Rev. R. J. Mnght, LL. J)., Meta- physics, Moral Philosophy, and Church Ili.storv' ; Rev ^Varre„ Hathaway, A. M., Hon.ile.ics; Rev. Martyu Suntinerbell, A. M., Pastoral Care; ].>ev. Alva H Mornll, A. M., Greek, English, and Music ; Rev. Asa \V. Coan, lecturer on Parliamentary Law. The day's work at the institute was a full one. There were, each day, led ..res ou the Bible, daily readings in the Grt-ek T.-sta.nent, lessons in Hebrew to such as wished to go deeper into the Old Tcstan,e..t, togelher with all the work of the other departments. lu one school year early iu the history of the institute Dr. Crai^ noted >n a comnninication to oue of the denominational newspapers that there were eight hundred and forty-nine hours of actual t.-aching work and about one-half of the whole time was given to the study of the Scriptures As the s<.hool progres,sed, while none were r..ceived as stu, leuts uules.s it was with an avowed purpo.se to stay at least a year and with the r-'commendatiou of two min- isters in good standing of the Christian denomination, or that of two of the board of trustees, together with the approval of the resident professors of the board of in- M THE CULMINATION OF A LIFE-WORK 325 struction, others could avail themselves of the benefits of the lectures free of charge. During the first ten years seventeen states and the Dominion of Canada were represented in the institute. The influence of these young men going out from under such teaching and from the splendid personality of the man who was at the head of the institute cannot be given estimate in words. Very many lettera came to him many others came to his family after his death, from those who were students under him, and while his magnificent scholanship is not ignored in recognition of his power the noble character of the man himself seems to be most dwelt upon. Here in the midst of congenial surroundings, the great aim of his life to teach others to teach the Bible to men found daily fruition. No one could consider the breadth and scope of this man's many-sided character without see- ing how powerful a figure he might have become in other directions had he chosen paths that led to more conspic- uous positions ; for Austin Craig had the flexible nature and endowment backed by an unusual breadth of culture that would have made him preeminent as a man of let- ter, as a great jurist, or as a master of diplomacy and statecraft. But his eye never swerved from the path of duty, and duty led him not where the bugles played but where the call to service came along the peace-marches of the Master. In the year 1879 a sad and crushing blow came upon Dr. Craig in the death of his wife, June 24th. She had been for a time in poor health and yet so devoted to her tamily, so ever ready to comply with all the social and semi-official requirements falling to the lot of the wife of the president of such an institution, she nerved herself to follow the line of duty long after she was too ill for such service. In February of the same year Dr. Craig had Ml I t, f i 326 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG poignant grief wMch'fiS ^eJ^Z o^uS: r'/ ^^^ noblest women ever given to bless the home of any One who knew her well and long writes : but'^cfdX herafuin'i"' '° '"''' '^"'^ ^' -^-nd -other gentleness of spirit and manners mo^ "°^'^ """«'' 8^"' affection that was ever "eek.n.Vn '^ ^""^ P""'^' *nd «" woman ! He wZ no morf h! ^T^'' "'*^"'- ^ ""ble knew it. Whe^The diS^the rr" T^!'^l °^ "^^ ^"^^ '^^'l he of my life hath clean gone out. ' " '''' **'*" '^'^' ' ^he light bnf zrh? tt vt^ r^r; a'id"'-^ ^°^ '''-^'' -It :;;'as L'aT/r IT ''^^^'^ "^"^ '—-^'^ he was constau"; gil^of hSf ? "I.'" "'"""^''■' him how;e?en;^i;rnV?„;r;:s:ni"?'^' ^""^^°^ i-titate and settle for l^uZ'^^'Z^'ZV^: §-: THE CULMIXATIOX OF A LIFE-WORK 327 called of God to preach His Word, he answers a request for ail explauatiou of a text, to the young man obscure, as follows : ** You ask me to * explain First Timothy, second chapter and fourth verse, for your benefit and for the benefit of others in your couimunity.' The words in Timothy are these: — ' Who will h:ive all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.' — Let us open the Greek Testament, and try to study the passage in its words, and in its connections of thought. "This second chapter exhorts that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made by the Church on beiialf of all human beings (the Greek word anthropon means humans^, — especially, on behalf of kings and all per- sons who are in eminent position; in order that we may pass through a tranquil and undisturbed life in all right-piety and gravity: for this supplication on behalf of all humans, is beautiful-good (the phrase is awkward Euglish, but it hits the sense of the Greek Kaloti), and acceptable in the sight of our Saviour God who willeth all humans to be saved and to come into acknowledging of truth. For God is one, and there is one Go-between 'twixt God and human beings, human Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom on behalf of all (humans, aforesaid) ; — the testimony whereof, to come at proper seasons (say, in God's own good time). Unto which testimony — (namely, that God is the God of all, and that there is one Go- between 'twixt the one God and the entire Human race), — I, Paul, was appointed Herald and Apostle, — a teacher of nations in faith and truth. *' In this passage our Paul runs into his favourite doctrine, — the favourite doctrine (we might even say) of the whole Antioch school of 'Christians,' as distinguished from the cir- cumcised and sometimes Judjtizing disciples of our Lord in Jerusalem and Judea. Many of those Pentecost disciples con- tinued long in the prejudice in which as Jews they had been reared, that God was the special possession of the children of Abraham. Under the covenant by the hand of mediator Moses, the family of Jacob were for a time the only people of King Jehovah ; and the nations of the world were aliens and outsiders. But that Mosaic covenant could not be eternal, be- cause it did not make the fullest and highest possible revela- 328 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG tion of God. Indeed, Moses never saw God's/ace, and the face is the full revelation of the true being. Judaism was vailed out, and could come into the Divine Presence only m a figure, when the high priest entered once a year into the earthly * Holy of Holies.'— But in the one Mediator of the whole Human race, the vail is taken away, and all the Father is revealed by the spirit of the Son of God sent into the hearts of those who receive the Son. "The blessings of this new and better covenant are not limited to one elect nation chosen out of the seventy nations of mankind, but these blessings are thrown open to the whole human race. In Paul's testimony this universality of the new covenant in Christ Jesus, is the characterizing feature. Paul's apostolate was not specially to the people (of Israel), but to *//i^ nations' of the world. Paul's special testimony in Christ's name is, that, God is not the God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles (the Greek is nations). In a word, the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the God of all Humanity, — of every human being. ** Beware here, that you do not take the word ' man ' — or hu- manity — in any later Socinian sense. Our minds are so full of this later ' Humanitarian ' controversy, that we are in danger of overlooking the high sense which the word * human ' or * man ' bears in Paul. With the mere ' Humanitarians ' to say that Jesus was a man, was to deny the highest characteristics of His being,— to lower Him, in fact, while, with Paul, the word ' man ' is used in contrast with the narrowness of mere Abrahamic-flesh relations. When Paul said, ' One Mediator, human Christ Jesus,' he presented our Saviour as world-wide, broad as human nature itself, in His flesh - nature ; and not narrowed within the birth-range of Abraham, or Jewish, flesh. "In this preference of Paul for the world-wide, humanity- wide view of Christ, he followed Jesus Himself, who would not be known as Son of David— as a Jew, or son of Abraham ; but preferred to speak of Himself as • Son of man '—child of hu- manity. I would not call Jesus 'a man ' ; but would gladly think of Him as human, as being in all His manifestation in form and relations to us, the full, complete, yea, divine, glori- fied, perfected human; imaging the God which indwells and thus, comprehending all humanity— every human being, in the plan and range of His salvation.— But, now, perhaps, these THE CULMINATION OF A LIFE-WORK 329 words of mine may seem to you to need explanation quite as much as Paul's passage, i Timothy 2 : 4.~Well, if so, try again ! Yours cordially, "Austin Craig." Following are examples of the demands, and the an- swers to them, which were constaiitiy being made upon him. They are taken from letters written with his own hand, often after gicat weariness of body and mind, in time snatched from the pursuit of his regular duties. "If our school had 100 friends who had been in it as you have, and who could feel towards it as you do I would feel little concern for its pecuniary future. If our school can live until the 100 have been sent forth, it will then continue to live (God willing) ! So many institutions get the rickets while teething ! Yet, I don't feel discouraged or alarmed. Our eighteenth student came this night a week ago. We expect two more anyhow before the school-year ends. And David Clark was here a week ago, and that is equivalent to the loss of the indigo-bag any time. As a consequence of his coming, there is now a heap of stones— ((\^\\y enlarging) on a beautiful spot near our present school-building; and soon there will be 50,000 brick, and timber, and slate, etc., and a house 60x30, two stories above the basement, and a steeple or dome, and sweet-toned bell in it. ( ' Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound ! ' ) "You enquired lately concerning 'Home's Introduction,' etc. The last (English) edition in four volumes, octavo, would cost (I suppose) nearly twenty dollars. Cheaper editions can be found, especially old American reprints of the work of twenty or thirty years ago— dear at any price. (Don't read an old edition of a work which has been brought up to date in im- proved editions.) \{ you study the Statistics of the United States, get the last Census Report, rather than an older one : especially if you wish to understand \\\^ present state of affairs ! It wastes time (and misleads) to read a poor book. And any book is a poor book — no matter how good it was in its day, if the progress of knowledge in the field which it purports to cover, has been carried forward greatly since the book was made. Let the antiquated editions (all the American ones) of ' Home's Introduction ' severely alone ! " ^*M 330 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF AUSTLX CRAIG *' Your letter of July iQih asks me to give ' a brief idea ' of what Jesus ineant when He said to Nicodemus, * Ye must be born again * — * born of the water and spirit.' "Well notice fnst that the Evangelist John (the sole nar- rator of Jesus' Conversation with Nicodemus),~-begins the narration with the significant statement that Nicodemus was 'a man of the Pharisees '— ' a ruler of the Jews.' "The 'Pharisees' were to Judaism in that day, what the Jesuits are to the Papacy in our time ;— ilie everywhere active zea ous partisans, i)ropagandists and proselytists. They under- took the world-wide missionary work of bringing the Gentiles (the nations ot mankind) into the Church of Moses and the Kabbis. Jesus said that the IMiarisees would ' c ompass sea and land to make one i)roselyte.' And He added : ' When he is made ye make him twofold more a son of Gehenna than yourselves.' (Matt. 23 : 15.) -The frue fmssi'omiry of faith seeks to bring men into the fellowship of God : ih. />rose/ytist is satisfied to gain adherents to nis ;it-ct. In the Abrahan.ic spirit and seed there was spir- itual life,— having its beginning in that Fai/h in God, which God counts for ngJiteoNsness. The Abrahannc kernel of Ij^iith had for its i)rotection until the fullness of the time came the shell of Mosaism,— a great system of parabolic things and acts and institutions, by which the fellowship of man's spirit with God the Spirit, was symbolized and made impressive to the senses of the worshipi)er. The strength and the weakness ot Judaism were here— in that, by setting forth heavenly things by earthly ' patterns ' it both revealed God and concealed Him. " To the si)iritually-minded, Mosaism became a transparency showing the things heavenly ; while to the c arnally-minded it became a veil hiding the things of God by means of material forms. thus, the spiritually-minded Gentile could find the faith of Abraham and the righteousness of God, by means of the Mosaic symbols; while a born-son of Abraham's flesh might fail to find the spiritual life altogether, and become no better than an idolater— by tailing to look through and beyond the mere letter— the material part of Mosaism. To make men sharers of the Abrahamic faith and righteousness, was the noblest missionary work of a glorious Pharisee— such as Saul of Tarsus (Paul of Cyprus); while the work of proselyting Gentiles to the mere shell and material outwardness and selfish interests of Judaism, was the work of the * blind Pharisee '— THE CULMINATION OF A LIFE-WORK 331 such as Nicodemus had been; a work in which the proselytist and his proselyte— the blind leader and the blind led,— both fell into the ditch. **To commune with the Jfo/y God, the worshipper must first be cleansed. Completed cleansing employs the three agents; 'the Blood' (of the Altar of Sacrifice), 'the Water' (of the Laver) and ' the Spirit ' (of the innermost shrine). These three, 'the Spirit, the water, and the blood,' — do bear witness on earth that the thrice-holy God of heaven is seeking to purify for Himself a peculiar people, who may become par- takers of His holiness and sharers of His heaven. " The real purifier of man's spirit, is the Spirit of God. In the days of the Messiah, the spirit was to be poured out to all flesh. Mosaism pointed onward to the Messiah — and prepared the people for His coming. Mosaism could typify purifica- tion, — but the Holy Spirit was not given until the Son of God was glorified. Mosaism could take the Gentile to the brazen altar, and by blood could represent the divine forgiveness of the sins that were past: — next, Mosaism could take the wor- shipper (say) to the brazen laver, and by the washing of water could represent and signify the cleansing of the man from his Gentile nature — his whole inheritance of defilement from his fallen ancestry. **In making a proselyte, — in naturalizing the proselyted Gentile into the Church of Israel, a noticeable part of the cere- monial consisted anciently in the washing, by which the defile- ment of the Gentile birth-state was washed away, and the proselyte became a clean man of Israel.— And it appears that the Jews were accustomed to speak of the washed (or baptized) proselyte, as being then new-born into Israel. For they counted all his former life in heathenism as no life at all ; considering him as a new-born babe the day he was baptized into Israel, and ' born of water.' " " I do not 'regard the Bible sufficient without notes or com- ments.' No book in the world requires for its full unfolding, a wider range of learning. The deep student of the Bible (if he would become an expositor of its deep things) needs to become —-in considerable measure — a Chaldean, a Hebrew, an Egyp- tian, an Arabian, a Persian, a Greek, a Roman, — a geographer, a historian, a linguist, an ethnologist, a metaphysician, — and a saint, through the sanctifying spirit of the Son of God. The 332 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG Bible is God's book to man : or God's library : for there are sixty-six books — written through a period — from first to last of fifteen or sixteen centuries. To understand the all-sided fullness and depth of the Bible, we require nothing less than the all-sided intelligence of the Family of God through all ages. **And yet, every human soul may find its own salvation fully made known. A little child may find its way of life and peace — in a few simple verses. Sometimes (oftentimes) it takes hardly more than a verse or two to save a soul : but thoroughly to furnish the man of God for ministry to the Church, and fully to equip the Church, as God's witness through and to the ages ; the whole variegated, manifold wisdom of God— in the whole range of its length and breadth and depth and height, from the Divine Beginnings in Genesis, to the Divine Unveiling in the Apocalypse;— all is needful. And who is sufficient for these things? Far be it from me to think the Bible an easy book ! A plain man may find his salvation therein ; but yet, to com- prehend its range and fullness, something more than an honest purjx^se, and a Bible * without note or comment ' is requisite. «* I hold therefore of inestimable value for understanding the oracles of God— the Holy Scriptures (next after the Holy Spirit and its tuition in the things of God)— all that now abundant and providential array of grammars, lexicons, concordances, in the sacred tongues, — in Hebrew and Greek. God has provi- dentially prepared these choice languages of Shem and Jajjheth to be the vehicles of His Word to Mankind. And He has gifted and raised up men to make dictionaries and concord- ances — with an appalling amount of labour — bringing down at last, even to ordinary |)eople of sense, the best results of high Hebrew and Greek scholarship, in those blessings of His good providence— the Englishman's Hebrew Concordance, and the Englishman's Greek Concordance. *' A little study will enable any one, by the continued use of these works, to gain the larger part of that critical knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, which has until recently been the almost exclusive possession of scholars in Hebrew and Greek. " I hold it incredible at the outset, that any one man should be competent to write a commentary of high value on all the books of the Bible— or all the books of the New Testament. When you seek a valuable commentary on the whole Bible you THE CULMINATION OF A LIFE-WORK 333 must seek a work in which many workmen of God have la- boured together. Shun a sectarian commentator— a man who finds his denommation and creed in the Bible and not much else— shun him, as you value the Truth of God. And shun men who pretend to have found out the great secret of God— which has been hidden from His Church universal through all Christian ages, until Doctor Ego, of the town of Self-Conceit found It all out for the first time twenty or thirty years ago ! " " What you request me to do, cannot be suitably done within the compass of a short letter. Your questions deal with some of the most difficult parts of Theology. If I should answer fully you might tell me that you did not ask me to write a pamphlet, but only a letter. . . . But on a subject so dif- ficult, brevity becomes obscurity: and short answers to your derTto^d^ ^^ ^""^^^^ ^^^ answers to the risk of being misun- *' My 'view on the state of the dead,' does not differ in es- sential points (I suppose) from the general view of the Church in all ages. If I have any special way of setting forth my ""'^u, '° ^^^° s^^^" different from other Christians, it would probably be due to the fact that in psychology I am a Tri- ^^^A7.,//x/ Man represents the three heavens, and (as created at first) his body has its life from his soul, his soul from his spirit, and his spirit from the eternal fountain in the bosom of God ^ When Man was created, then 'the heavens were fin- ished as well as ' the earth ' ; and man, made to show forth the glory of God, was not made subject to death, as (all) the animals were. He was indeed made capable of falling out of his first estate of life, and falling under the power of Death And he did so fall. Inwardly, he fell out of fellowship with the Spirit of God ; and, outwardly, he fell out of the heavenly part of the Earth— out of the suburb of the Paradise of God losing his privilege of eating of the Tree of Life, by whose virtue his flesh had been kept in incorruption. " Driven out from his Paradise, Man carried forth with him the promise that Mhe seed of the woman ' should bruise the head of that 'serpent ' which had the influence of temptation and the power of death. At the postern gate of his lost Para- dise, God placed for Man's hope a visible sign of His Justice A ^^'S Grace : placing at the east of Eden 'the cherubim,' and the I^ laming Sword turning ever upon its own centre (Eze- 334 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG kiel's 'Fire unfolding itself)— to keep for Man ♦ the way of the Tree of Life,' — God and the Heavenly Powers keeping for Man, against the day of redemption, his forfeited privilege of Incorruption. " 'I'his visible reminder of the heavens, represented at the postern gate of Adam's Paradise, was the first sanctuary of Man's worship as a sinner— as a fallen heir of life. Nothing now (from Adam) can reach the Tree of Life, without passing under the Sword. Here in this awful presence, Abel's faith brings a type of the Lamb ' slain from the foundation of the world. ' The Blood of the Lamb cleanses the believer from sin, and reopens the way to the Tree of Life. •' Afterwards, in the sanctuary of Israel, the same truth was represented again. The ' Holy of Holies ' in both the Taber- nacle of Moses and the Temple of Solomon, continued a repre- sentation of the postern gate of Adam's Paradise. There were * the cherubim ' overshadowing, and between them the ineffable light shone forth : ready to be a sword of fire to smite the unworthy with their unhallowed offering, and ready to smile a favour better than life, upon those who approached ac- ceptably. . . . This great lesson runs through the volume of the Divine Testimony : the last book of the sacred library closes with the reopening of that postern gate of Eden. The guardian heavens and the flaming sword have kept the way of the Tree of Life for ALin, until the redemption of the i)urchased possession ; and now, they that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, shall have right to the Tree of Life, and shall be where there is no more death." ** Brother M fears that * peril ' may come to us from the agitation of questions concerning Inspiration. Agitation may come; but not 'peril,' if we faithfully hold our old ground We take the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as our only and sufficient rule of religious faith and practice. 1 he Scriptures are our rule ; they command our obedience ; we, Christians, strive to live and walk according to this rule We have no other rule; we confess this 'sufficient.' Whoever practically, and in his practice, holds this confession, stands on Christian ground. - Whoever preaches the Scriptures as the rule— only and sufficient— of the fliith and practice of Christian men and churches, preaches like a Christian. He may have a f/i^cry ut THE CULMINATION OF A LIFE-WORK 335 Inspiration, if he have intellect enough to frame one for him- self, or the good fortune to find a suitable one framed by others As to theories of Inspiration, he may think Bishop Lowth's the best; or, perhaps, Dean Alford's; or, Gaussen's; or, some other good man's. A man might honestly take either of them and yet stand fully on our ground. ' - There are diflferent degrees of knowledge among ministers ; theories vary, as knowledge differs in degree. But ministers of all varying degrees of knowledge must bow to the only and sufficient rule. They may have any theory of Inspiration, or none at all as the case may necessarily be— to the honest con- clusions of each man. He who rejects the Bible as his only and sufficient rule, rejects the platform on which we stand And he who should set up any f/ieory of Inspiration as a test ot fellowship among us, would step off the Christian platform and become a sectarian." "I have not written you since brother Garfield became President elect— a result which satisfied me well. And now if only the several party-leaders in the Republican party can be brought to cooperate for the welfare of the nation; I see noth- ing to^ prevent the final break-up of ' solid South ' and * solid North and the attainment of solid union— solid prosperity- solid America, -providential means to the final establishment of hat only endurmg and eternally solid polity whose length and breadth and height are equal. ^ - If Garfield can bring the Sou//t into the C/m'on, the Demo- ^.Trl\^r.^'^^^?^^ then permanently go into written history from Burr to Kelly. But I hope there will be a sharp lookout kept by the sera f, hers upon the Conklins :-the < Boss ' business be- longs to the Democracy. T C '^^t^'^'^^l'^^^f' "^""^^ ""^^^ ^^^ North and South in union. I have heard that the ' Christians ' of the * Campbellitc ' order are disposed to vote for their own men. It is said that your aforetime Governor Bishop owed his election to the votes of his Disciple brethren. And I noted recently that in the late election, Kentucky fell short of her anticipated Democratic aggregate by 20,000. It is said that there are 600 ' Christian ' churches in Kentucky. (I think the census of 1870 says so.) The 600,000 * Christians ' of Brother Garfield's sort, are mostly along the border line between the North and the South, from Missouri to Virginia. I hope that among those 600,000 Gar- 336 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG field knows one or two men fit for ' Cabinet ' use, and hundreds who will heartily favour the generous and uniting policy which I hope he will adopt. I expect no post-office ; for my sect are not Christians of the same sort as Brother Garfield's Christians ' VVould to heaven there were but one sort of Christians in all the umverse and that sort— the best ! Do I then think that all Christians would be of my sect ? By no means ; they would all be members and organs of the one Christ— the Lord and Head of all. *' But I meant to write you a letter, not a harangue:' XVIII THE MAN FREQUENTLY in a consideration of the life of a iiiiiu of affairs the world is apt to lose sight of the personality, the man iis he appears to family and intimate friends. Now and again in the range of biog- raphy, a great man's life scarcely suggests treatment from this point of view. It may be that the weakness of his human nature drew him into paths whose description is scarce printable ; it may be that he lived in isolation, personally a quite colourless life ; it may be that his in- tercourse with his fellow men and the more intimate rela- tions of the home were marred by a distressing personality that needs no other comment than such as a kindly ob- livion offers. But in the case of the subject of this biography, the matter stands wholly different. In all his personal life he preserved the same splendid characteristics that dis- tinguish his public career, save that they were softened and made more tender by the intimacy of human love. Dr. Craig was particularly beloved by his family to whom he was counsellor and confidant, companion and pattern and guide ; at once the most dearly loved person in the world and the most reverenced ; while he in turn with the great father love of his heart was as devoted to them as they to him. An old student recalls the familiar pic- ture of Dr. Craig on his way to the village post-oflBce with one child in a little cart and another on his back — seemingly enjoying the fun as much as they. It was this ability to throw off cares and worries and enter into the 337 .M \% '*!( n 338 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG interests and enjoyments of those around him that kept him young in heart. No matter how heavily duties pressed upon him, he took a deep and active interest in every detail of the family life, particularly whin some member of the little flock growing up around him was in any real or fancied trouble. To him the sorrows of childhood were not mat- ters for light and disparaging treatment, to be hushed up with sweetmeats or checked by harsh words. To him they were vital features of the child life. One day— as an illustration— a homeless cat made its way to the hearth that was never aught than generous to man or beast. The cat became a much loved pet in the tamily, of which it remained a member for many years. It fell ill at last, for age advanced, and the children were nuich concerned. Especially distressed was tin* little boy, who could not bear to go to bed in the evening until his father had told him he would take care of his i)et during the night and try and keep it from [)ain. So, knowing how it would bring comfort to the child, the father stayed up through the long night ministering to the sick cat until it died at the dawn. Even in the midst of the severest mental strain, when every ounce of reserved force was drawn upon for the prosecution of his public duties, he was ready and eager to do this humble service. For two days (he cat's body lay in state wrapped in a white sheet in a passageway leading to the wood-shed. Then there must be a funeral with appropi iate singing and remarks and a burial under an apple-tree on the lawn. The boy chose the text— *' All flesh is grass!" Dr. Craig made the occasion an opportunity for saying some most beautiful things on the need of kindness to animals. The eat fell into history, his life being described by :\rrs. Warren Hathaway in the FJImf rated Chnsiian Weekly then under the editorship of Dr. Lyman Abbott. THE MAN 339 Austin Craig early inculcated the principles of self-re- liance in his family. He taught his children to accept their due responsibility for the results of their actions instead of shouldering them upon some one else, or upon "^ Providence. In em^jhasizing this point in an address he " said: '*My children were very sick last night j some might call it Providence, but it wasn't ; it was unripe cherries !" He was passionately devoted to all that was beautiful in nature and in books, and the radiation of his own pro- 4 found understanding and appreciation stimulated this love in others. As soon as his children were old enough to begin to understand he placed before them the rarest verse of the centuries. Frequently he would call them about him and read to them from Homer, adapting with the facility of a great scholar the story of the poet to the mind of the child. Now and then he would read and paraphrase or explain to them selections from Plato, ever simplifying, but never distorting. A lady who was a guest in the home, an author of not«, was much amused to hear the little four-year-old pipe up in response to the question what the evening's reading should be—" I like the ' Iliad ' best." In a letter to Mrs. Horace Mann, written in 1880, Dr. Craig says : (( I want my children to have a few years of real childhood at home, to romp and play and shout, and play with dolls and make playthings with a whittling-knife, and be with each other. There are enough of them to make plenty of company for them all. At evening I often open the doors through a circuit of rooms and hall in this large house, and then the children all have a race and romp playing 'Old Witch* and * Fairies,' laughing and puffing and screaming and sweating until they are tired ; and then we read ; that is I read to them. They have heard all of Jacob Abbott's books, sixty or seventy volumes, read, — many of them over and over again. I have just finished n 340 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTL\ CRAIG reading to them Hue and Gabet's * Travels in Tartary arid Ihibet.' We read Herodotus before that and part ol Dr I hompson's new edition of the ' Land and the Book ' Dr Kane's report of his arctic life was very interesting < The Swiss l^aii.ily Robinson/ and the ♦ Pilgrim's Progress ' have been read over and over many tnnes. And the story of Joseph and other hible stones come up often. They are interested in real things and m good books." ^ Called away from home on any journey, he kept in constant daily eomnmnication with his lo\ed ones, send- ing them the most minute as well as interesting details of the events transpiring around him. The letters U) his children are full of the father love as well as replete in interest to the childish mind. The following well illus- trates this ; '' Peapdck, New Jersey, Sunday Evening, June 3, '77. "Dearest Mamma and Dear Children— All : ''Mamma's letter of June ist came Saturday evening We here are all well. Grandma will get well again. We went to see her this afternoon. She does not mean now to come with me when I come to you. I think to start next Tuesday— perhaps in the afternoon from Bernardsville. Then 1 cannot be with you before Wednesday morning. " Moses is in bed now— asleep ; and so are all the people in the house— except me. It is after ten o'clock. Before he went to bed Moses read to me out of the Bible— how the Ark of God was taken by the Philistines, and how they sent it back Moses went with me to church this morning; and this afternoon he and I went to see Grandma. Mrs. Auble had baked a nice little cherry pie in a saucer, and she sent it to Grandma by Moses. Grandma was much pleased, and she gave Moses a fine orange, which Moses did not wish to take from Grandma ; but she wished to give two oranges. After we came back home, we had a good rain, and now it is cool, and the grass looks greener than ever. The grass is very pretty this year be- hind the house, and the trees grow big and leafy and make shade over the grass. The strawberries have begun to ripen, and the ' snow balls ' are very big and many. And now, the yellow roses do out- yellow everything ! THE MAN 341 <* After I came back from church I was in the east orchard, lying down on a heap of mown grass under an apple-tree by the brook, and the litde turkeys all came right up to my hand, as if they thought 1 was there to feed them. But the mother turkey did not come so close. I counted them, but now I can't think whether they were sixteen or seventeen. Mr. Auble has two nice little pigs in a pen, and he gives them clean water to bathe themselves in every day. But the big pig in the barn- yard will lie down in the dirty water, and muddy herself ail over ; and then Moses comes with a long stick and rubs her and scrapes her, and she lies down and grunts as if she liked it. I think I will tell Moses some time that pigs would like to be washed and combed ! '« But the cleanest things about the barn are those two fat little kittens. To-night the mother cat brought one of them down to the house with her, and they both came in. She did not carry it ; it is now too big to be carried ; she called it — and it came along. Then Mr. Auble took them back to the barn to the other kitten. "Last evening Moses and I went to the brook to bathe. After we were back again in the house, Moses found on his hat a locust not yet out of its shell. It was one of the seven- teen-year locusts. They come up now out of the ground here, and the woods and old orchards are full of them. To-day I broke a litde twig off an apple-tree, — a very little twig — and on it I counted fifteen shells of locusts, — one of which 1 send you with this. They live in the ground most of their life, and when they come out, they cannot fly, but can only crawl. They crawl up on trees, or on stalks of any kind, and after a while they burst open their shell and leave it dry and empty, whil'* they get wings and fly away. When Moses was at the brook bathing, he set his hat down on the ground under a big tree, and when he came home there was a locust crawling on the top of his hat. I took the crawler gently off" upon my finger, and it crawled up to the tip of my finger and held fast, and was still. Then Mr. Auble and Henrietta and Moses came to the table and watched it with me, for thirty or forty minutes. After it was still for eight or ten minutes, it began to draw itself up, shortening itself and becoming thicker. Then we began to see a little band up and down on its back, which grew wider and wider till it opened, and then the locust slowly pushed its head and body out of the shell. At first it was al- li 342 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG bTci :^;:' rr z:^-^ ^^-.^ir?. -'-- and thev ooened fir J li^^^^ n f " ^^ -'^^^^ them out slowly and lull Y ^^^^ ^'^^^ coming out of a jack knife- ana then they spread out like a fin rr^^r * * j**^*^ Knire, verv fast 1 thir.). ;. "' getting wider and longer which on the tip of my finger was chan-'l ""V''""^'' a flver flew ;.«,..„ .^ ""S" J^^s changed from a craw er into which all Ivnn^ ^^""^ •"' P"' °f 'he >4<,rr->S<,r,-./i<,^r "Papa." In a letter from Peapac-k, Easter Suuday, he writes • " My dear Boy Moses : •• I am ^elad 'thl'^ ^""'^^ '""'^^ ''"^''^ ^'" ^^^t letter to you Keep uTthtl ! haCanT ^""^^'"1' "" ^""^ ^<^'^°°' rf^-ies! oni/ A.te;dTi?ctreTd^'o°u:Zit\rp^i:^°'r'' •'°^^ heavenly Father in all things '^^"^ '° P'^^'* y"""- It is'a' gr^TLrcv'oTth^T ""J' ^^ "'" "^^^ ^^'^ again.' -. ani do e^Hinl It w^S. '^C! t^ all S^ "r THE MAN 343 I) hands and feet, and our minds and hearts to love the Lord, and to do every kind and right and good thing that we can find to do. "I went out at eleven o'clock this forenoon and climbed the hickory tree near the meadow gate and shook it and then I picked up almost half a bushel of fine and large hickory-nuts, and I picked a barrel of large sweet apples from the tree across the lawn. ** Write me all you have upon your heart for I will do all I can to help you ; but fail not to seek the help of your heavenly Father. ^ **May His blessing be with you ! "Austin Craig." This little boy Moses was named for his grandfather, Moses Craig, whose father, grandfather, and great-grand- father had all borne the same name. Dr. Craig used to say jokingly, ^' Moses is named for his fore (four) fathers," and often spoke of the importance of good ancestry, that it was something to be thankful for to come of a line of good, clean, upright men and women. He said : * ^ It is well to be born again, but it is a good thing to be born well the first time." The accompanying facsimile letter illustrates not only his understanding of child life and its interests but shows how admirably he could stimulate interest by the char- acter of the letter itself. From the very many characteristic letters to his little flock these additional paragraphs must suffice : ** Dear Ones: '' 1 am glad to hear that you are all well. All well here, and very beautiful weather. " I send by this mail the book, ' Mary, Queen of Scots.* I hope you will all try to make the best use of your opportunity to learn. Tell my dear little Autie to try hard and learn his lessons ; they will be of great use to him when he has the work of a man to do. /" /* 344 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CKAIG I' " His flower plant (Lady's slipper) by the front door here, escaped the frost ainl has grown very pretty and is in full flower now. And Rachel's almond tree is still green and grow- ing. I turn a barrel over it every night. What are you all doing now every day? Can you keep warm? Barefoot days are ended for the season. Don't let the little people be out in cold winds and dampness. Yesterday 1 picked a bushel of grapes and laid them up until you all come. " My love to you all — dear children. May the heavenly Father keep you unto His service and love forever more ! " Papa. "Tell Josie that I saw the little kitten last night. It does not seeni well. I patted it kindly for her." ** The strawberries are beginning to ripen. Tell the dear little ones there is a cat-bird's nest in the apple-tree by the corner of the back porch ; a wren's nest in the back porch ; a robin's nest in the honeysuckle bush ; a dove's nest in the big pear-tree ; gray squirrels in the woods ; and the old hen has ten little chickens, only two days old. The dear little things ! " ** I picked a large handful of very large ripe strawberries yes- terday off" the new bed. Wish I could have put them into some little mouths 1 know of. " My dear little seven-year-old ! Seven kisses from your papa ! And you can give them on your birthday to your dear mamma and brothers and sisters. ** All the cats are well and there are many little chickens, three calves and eleven youngster pigs." And then the lettei-s of love ! Many of them there are, letters of the long ago, written in the glow of youth ; in maturer years when love grows broader, but who shall say deeper!— letters of affection to an aged, dim-eyed mother, waiting calm -faced for the Last Dawn ; lettera written of the dead ; letters from the heart of a noble man. They prove him, were it needful, rich beyond measure in that which reaches out beyond the short love- times of earth and takes hold on immortality. Dr. Craig exemplified the Bible injunction to use hos- TnorriLn^ before sun*r/se I tre/it dohrn t tHe 7nea,£ow a.n3L picked, up a^peck of hukcTif' ■nuts Jof m^ little squirrels % ea,t next winter. I hsiye ^AtTiereei ^lctx,t a lusTiel a,nci a^hsLlj kzlfjL IsLr-T-eZ -- of Ttice 111 ckoi^tf: nuts, a.ncL som^ Sutter- nuts. IjB^st evening 1 ptclced the J>eSLc7ies cjj The be^^cli: tree iejore cur SciztX- door. They were veru nice T^ed cTiee^s. There fvere /u,o liisTieZs ^a,7iSLl£ ^enou^^h tS Jill SL is^rral. 1 took fi o^ S dozen, cf The iic^est &.Hd J>rettiest ones dot^/t to Mr: Morrill"^ house IsLst evening ;&^ Xt^dsiy X ^ox H 4. ?ion, some one looked up and sjiw two strangers approaching with satchels. Kxtra plat<^s were speedily i>rox idc^l and the guests were met and w(>leomed. The kerper of the village inn was instructed by Dr t nug to provuh^ at his ("xpense hxlging or meals to any uerdy person unable to pay for them. One day, a tramp wh(» had travelled mauv miles came to the door saying that away up in Counecticut he had been told to follow t:r. railroad till he saw the college THE MAN 347 with the golden cross aud uear by lived a good man who would give him something to eat. An old mau who knew Austiu Craig in his eai'ly man- hood relates an incident which well illustrates another phase of his many-sided personality. It was on an Ohio river steamer bound tor Cincinnati. There were at least three hundred piussengers. The captain learning that Dr. Austin Craig, then i)resident of Antioch, was on board, invited him to hold a preaching service. The an- nouncement wius made and Dr. Craig spoke in the dining- salon, which was crowded with a motley throng. The subject was ^' Breaking olT our Sins." Directly in front of Dr. Craig Siit a cattle drover, dressed in his rough plainsman's suit with long boots above his knees, a broad-brimmed hat resting on one knee and his big stock whip lying across it. He was plainly somewhat the worse for whiskey, but he paid close attention and endorsed the speaker's views with frequent exclamations of *^ That's so ! " "1 know that ! " ** Sure ! " to the evident surprise and amusement of some of the audience. When, however, they sjiw that the preacher was not at all disturbed, they quieted down and resumed attention to the sermon. In his talk Dr. Craig laid stress upon the point that men in sin thought they would some time re- form, could reform, indeed, when they had '^ a mind to " ; but that the time came at last when habit had conquered the will, when they were bond slaves in a free country, and had lost the power to reform, and no help was left save through Christ. He then related an incident in his own experience. In college he had become addicted to the use of tobacco. One Sunday morning he was to preach on ^^Self-denial." As was his custom he w^as walking in the fields in the early morning, thinking over his sermon. He reached M 348 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG into his pocket for toba<.co, when it suddenly occurred to l»m thut thi8 habit, which was both di^igreeable and expensive, wa« scarcely permissible in a man who w^ } ou urge seit-deniiil upon others V His first impulse was to s,.udword to his congregation that he was sick, for he hi.i „r. „fi. fo'tfeauon h,.t ♦! ^ • "° °'"*''" sermon prei)ared but the unfairness of it all came over him • he ofl -red -1 quick prayer for help, threw the tobacco 'as f^rafhe ri;": V"''' !:• v'"'^' ■' ••^•""-"-dent, pre.;:hed iiib seiDiou ou sell-den jil 'm*! «c^..i * i mu^ X , ueiiicii, cind used tobacco uo more mtle r^ related iu the simple yet powerful way t, mi thTn:ttr\H*^ eougregatiou and upou uoue m.^^ Itds win. n '^'^'^^^^^''^^'-^ -^0'-«-r the service shook of 'Ike'tarr"'"'^ '"'' '"' ^"^^'"^^^^^^ descriptiou ui of Jll "f^""^P^^^^^""^"t «f "uich by meaus of strict It wc^e Z ^ "r'"'""'- ^' '''''' '^'''' *^«"^' -« though It weie the only hour. Other hours might come to him o~ne h ul H T ''\ '"^"" *^ '""^''^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^^ one hour that was known to be available for service To him waste of time was hard by grievous sinni g.* H^ lid not however, lose sight of the fact that there must be cessation from labour, relaxation, varietv, chaZTn lines Of thought, for these were e^ential to LtTuse In the diaries which he kept he was peculiarly precise ^^ii^^i::^' fth the utmost limLf cond'enX e- Iv in nln • . ' ^'"'^'''" ^"""^ ^«^^' ^^ «^t down S Scter ^ c r '"''^" ^"'^^ "^^^^^ -^ «- -Pt and Characteristic that they are here reproduced. Dr Craig THE MAN 349 in writing always used a quill pen. Facing the pages on which these rules appear he wrote : ** Ye are not your own ; ye are bought with a price; wherefore glorify God in your bodies and your sjjiritSj which are if/s.'^ PROPERTY '* The silver and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts y 1. Do not be careless of Money or Value. 2. Retrench as much as possible : but not at the sacrifice of Health or Duty. 3. To ask myself, Do I need this ? And will it be worth to me what it costs ? 4. Avoid expenditures for trifles. 5. In Buying or Selling, deal in a manly and Christian manner. 6. "Owe no man anything." 7. Keep a correct record of all business transactions. 8. Do business in a businesslike way. 9. Leave nothing at "loose-ends." I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 letter. CORRESPONDENCE Be careful what you commit to paper. Avoid letter-writing tattle. Make the Ps as small as Christian modesty requires. Write as usefully as possible. Be frank and faithful in letters. Keep letters one day before maihng, if, etc. Be duly respectful. Be prompt to reply to letters received. Read these rules, or remember them, before beginning a I. 2. PREACHING " Preach the Word "—the Truth that Saves, Don't preach too long sermons. 350 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG It is the 6. 7- 8. lo. II. 12. 14. 15- I. 3. 3- 4. Cultivate dignity of manner. . . Lord's message. Avoid all words and statements that would not seem rercher^^ ''' ^''"^ "'''"^^' ""^ *'*'"''" ^*'"'^' ""'^'"^ ^^ ^^^ Mention as little as possible controversies and con- troyertists.—Always respectfully. - Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, durst not l)rnig a railing accusation against him " Be pomted, earnest, evangelical, faithful to Christ's message, and to human souls. Study the models in the New Testament, Jesus— Paul l^reach plamly : that all may understand. Give to all their portion of meat in due season: but especial ly * ' Feed the lambs. ' ' In every sermon, if possible, address something to the Voung. ^ Make thorough preparation for the Pulpit. Enter the Pulpit in the name of Jesus Christ Be ready to preach, whenever and wherever' there is a desire to hear. Preach as much as is advisable. Study the methods and history of those who have been successful in -turning many to righteous- ness. —But do not become a mere imitator of others' ways. PASTORSHIP Have a list of the families and names of the congrega- tion, and visit among them regularly. Make the visits as profitable as possible. (i) Converse if possible U|)on Divine themes Endeavour to interest and instruct children. Take some good reading-matter to them. Encourage them to procure good books. Don't make the visits too long. lr^^.- c ^l^^^ ""' possible, pray with the families, l^k after the young people : especially those who are m service away from home. Embrace opportunities of visiting the sick and those who are in affliction. (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) the THE MAN 351 5. Try to make peace. 6. Frequently read the list of the names of the congrega- tion — tTziakoTzttu, TIME ** Redeeming the time,** I. To do the most possible of the highest use. a. To use the most favourable hours in doing the best works. 3. To have some work always on my Register, with which I may occupy the otherwise unemployed moments. 4. Am I engaged in anything which I can as well omit? 5. Can I properly abridge what I am doing? 6. Plan for to-morrow : What to be done, What visits to be made, etc., *' if the Lord will." I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 HEALTH '* The Body is for the Lord.** Avoid unnecessary exposure. Clothe warmly and exercise forethought. Bathe enough for cleanliness and vigour. Avoid an excessively warm room. Breathe a pure atmosphere. Exercise enough for Health. Keep the person erect. Expand the Lungs. Beware of night-study. Retire early to bed. Nine o'clock? Dr. Craig was in advance of the age in which he lived in other Hues than theology. He was deeply interested in science at a time when it was not always considered a minister's duty to know science as well as the Bible, when, in fact, science and religion were by very many held to be sharply antagonistic. On one occasion he took with him to Albany, New York, a number of the young people of his Blooming Grove parish in order that they might attend with him the annual meeting of the Amer- 352 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG ican Association for the AdvaDcement of Science, an or- ganization in whose proceedings he always took deep in- terest. Dr. Craig always showed the most tender consideration for his mother and loyalty to her little personalities. Dr. Hathaway tells how during one of his visits when Mrs. Craig had just left the room, he turned to her son with the question, *^How old is your mother!^' The reply waij, '' VV^iy don't you iisk her r' '^ I feared she might not think it polite of me," said Dr. Hathaway. ^^She wouldn't have told you if you had," said the son. ** And neither did he," was Dr. Hathaway^s laughing comment. Dr. Craig was unique in his methods of dealing with students when called upon to settle their difficulties and to restore harmony. The hour for his afternoon lecture was three o'clock, but a news(u(k'tit thought it would betU'r suit his own convenience to have the lecture at one o'clock, and so informed the student whose duty it was to ring the bell, requesting that the change be made. The bell-ringer re- fused to make any change without instructions from Dr. Craig, to whom the new student then carried his request for a change of hour. Dr. Craig mildly replied he would come for his lecture when the bell rang. Back to the bell-ringing student hied the dissatisfied one with orders to ring the bell for the afternoon lecture at one o'clock. By this time the bell-ringer was out of patience and re- plied witli some warmth that Dr. Craig's lecture had always come at three o'clock and he wasn't going to change the ringing of the l)ells for every Tom, Dick and Harry who asked him. The student in much excitement hastened to Dr. Craig with the complaint he had been insulted, that Mr. B had caUed him Tom, Dick and Harry. THE MAN 353 At the close of the lecture that afternoon Dr. Ciaig turned to the student who rang the beU and said : ** Brother B , Brother complains that you called him Tom, Dick and Harry. When you have oc- casion to refer to those worthies again, suppose you say Thomas, Richard and Harrison ! " Dr. Craig was a man of singularly beautiful character, combining with the rare and sweet qualities of his life, manliness and power. He was one of the most winsome as well as the most talented of men. There was nothing unkind or ungenerous or unchristian in his nature. He was ever tolerant of the belief of others, always broadly and sanely liberal. He was for years conspicuous in his denomination as an apostle of freedom of thought, abso- lutely fearless in his presentation of the truth, no matter how it suited others ; and yet, while he was so liberally inclined that he sometimes may have incurred the dis- pleasure of some of the ultra orthodox, he yet adhered with a fine and strong consistency to what he considered the essentials. His life was singularly pure and sweet, his personality was most charming, his character was full and noble, his scholarship distinguished, his learning profound. In personal appearance Dr. Craig was tall and very spare of frame but with a fine carriage — the man you turn to look at a second time as the throng goes by. One time when Dr. Craig was visiting the Connecticut Legislature as the guest of Hon. David Clark of Hartford, one of the members came to Mr. Clark and asked him who was the man with the two-story brain. Perfect care of his person was a part of his nature — his dress was distinctive but never obtrusive and he wore it as a gentleman. He appreciated neatness in others. In writing to his wife concerning a Chinese servant he was sending from New York to the family's summer 354 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG home iu New Jersey, he said : " I hope he will take knjdly to scrubbing and that he will begin with hia "It is the fortune of few men," writes Profe«f.r c;»i,», Howell, .' to be able to bring to the battle nfurt, '^'^ .^H.ses.u of th^t^^h '^r.urh.Si;".s ^^ helu^ToJ tL'^Ser^Se"''^' 'f "■«*"' '""^ "^ "^y -" from both thol ,^ ,.^i' , '^"=e?'"«'' ^-'fy organization ; and .he nrt'tred'S';^::;: s ""^ ^^^^isi ^Jir thin form siimrf^vr^H f..,;i* r • ^'^^'g => tall and rather tio» was o/r^XtS ™1S'"S stS;ireTS brra^rnrsrSr-'"^"^' "^^''^"""^ ^'-d. stretch', iS col^nvoTl/n"*^ face would have arrested attention in any e°vTno h n^or ^^ ''"' °^ "^^' cosmopolitan cast tha^ fhe,V hneamen.s of t"' .?"• J°" thought, as you studied int^ir lineaments, of Jonathan Edwards MenH^lQcnKt. t^u wa? tl^'Se'S' r f "r ^'''-"-g -d'vSSuV""^ ; was the tace and head of a man equal to anv intHlprfn^l f^Jl and^an^mtensity and loft.ness of spliituaUxr^nSeam^'g vf^:nTpoVeSXSe%S^^^ 19^8 11^11;,"";*? '''"" ^'^' ^™°^«' '" February, 1908^ Mrs. Julia J. Irvine, formerly president of Welles ZS Ze'Z^'r " ^ermsof dc^p^ppreoiationTf Dr. toT,^ . r^ ' bousehold, and she had not failed to feel his powerful influence. To one of Dr Cm L'« ^^Zriir'T '"^''^^ ^ suit"abi:?eLSaro " cui HIS mends. I wish very much that I might THE MAN 355 have even the smallest share in honouring your father^s memory. The kindness received from him and your mother, at a turning point of my development, was very great and very judicious ; their example was an inspira- tion and a continuing ideal of life.'^ Rich in splendid character ; instinct with all desire to aid the world ; kind to every being and to every living creature ; bearing heavy burdens but never shifting them upon the backs of others; democratic but yet aristo- cratic ; beset with bodily weakness and pain but facing each day with a calm brow; loyal to his hearths last drop ;— is it not a rare life, worthy to be patterned among men I (»i ill ¥ XIX IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS IN the year 1880 Dr. Craig was married to Dr. Sarah J. McCani, of Kocliester, New York, a womau of hue qualities, of stroug character, of deep sympathy with his life-work, a woman greatly beloved iu the city lu which she lived aud by all who came in contact with her Au invalid iu her youuger years, she became, on restoration to health, eager to devote her life to the cur- nig of the ailments of others. Under the presidency of Horace Mann she had bt^'ii a student at Antioch College and, after her course there, entered, and was graduated from, the Woman's Mediciil College of Philadelphia She entered practice in Rochester, -the second woman physi- cian in that city, -and won her way not only into a large and lucrative practice but into the hearts of the people She joined the Christian Clairch while a student at Antioch and was a constant, and generous, contributor to the various denominational interests. She paid the expenses of several students of the institute. She was twice chosen a member of the board of trustees of the institute once in 1880, for two years ; again, in 1882, for a term of SIX years. The Biblical In.'.titute was now at the highest point of service ,t had reached. It was Dr. Craig's practice to prepare each year for publication an announcement of the coming year of the institute with various data as to Its progress, need.s, and the like. On September 1, 1881 such an announcement from him appeared in the Herald of Gospel Lrbe,iy. The following paragraph suggests the 356 Y UK. SARAH MtCAKN CKAIG IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS 357 earnestness of his purpose in every minor detail of the work of the institute — he could not so much as send out a formal announcement of the school without using some word that should arrest and hold the attention : " Persons already ordained to the ministry will be welcomed as students for a single year, if their circumstances forbid a longer stay. But the trustees and teachers especially desire to draw to the institute persons who will take the full course. Students who have plenty of time for thorough preparation, and who are capable of enthusiasm for the Greek Testament, will be welcomed in both Greek and English. Our Christian con- nection will go on crutches until a goodly proportion of our young ministers shall attain the twofold qualification of the Holy Spirit in the heart and the Greek Testament in the pocket." But on the saiue page with this announcement over his own name, appeared another one, the announcement of his death. Stricken with mortal illness he had died within a few hours. The thousands of people who had come to know this man personally, the tens of thousands who knew him through his life-work and word, were in- expressibly shocked by this swift ending of the noble life, scarcely yet in its prime. On the 26th of August, 1881, he was at work in his usual health around the lovely grounds of his home at Stanfordville. He had been gathering fruit and working among the flowers in his garden, the flowers he so passionately loved, until late in the evening. Before he went to bed he read aloud to his children, strangely enough, Plato^s treatise on death. While yet the night was young he was suddenly taken ill, and within an hour or two it was apparent that the end was nearing. Would you learn how such a man dies? How, after a life of the noblest service to his race, unfolding behind him like some splendid tapestry in whose fadeless weav- 368 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG ings all the future might learn of his deeds -how snoh « mau meets the last enemjt ^ ^low such a frienrnr' W^""* "'^'^^ ^"""^ ^^^ P«° «f his long-time friend, Dr. Warren Hathaway, Dr. Craig's successor Crl to this present day stiU the pastor of Zr? ' Grove Cliurcli : ^ Blooming like a\ay from The Le?llo I 1^ T" '"'"^ "'^' ^° of'-n. self-possessed as he ever S^' h "P, '"^,^°nderful face. A love of the father the sT the hr'h ^i' "'^ '^^"P' deathless beaming from every featZ' h. ,h" X'*' ^"'^ "'^ Christian family. All were there t J' ''^, "i^" addressed his assembled Death seemed to w^t to Lause^'f ^K^w"" '"'^ "^^ ^''^ children by the hand each one of th« ^^ ^°°'' ^= ''^ '^"^erly took his dying counsel and h°s btsrnrK^'^'' ''"'^ ^^'^ ''"^^ his mind was as clear as his l^vT^' t ^^' *"P'^'"« ""anient fitted to address wise aff^ction,^?' V^"'' ""'^ ^^ ^^' P^^' cious memories m«t forever t^^ """f^l '° '"'• ^^'^at pre- The little ones, "he three vou^'l"."^ k f 't^'^'^'^ =^^"e ! heart clung to hem ' AnH y°.""S'=«'-oh ! how his father's say ' farewfu ° ' y^,' hot abu^da^rl.'"""'"'-" '^^^ ''^'d to the presence of the Redemer ?h.? n !fl*;^ """^ ^°^ ^'^^^ well, until we meet at hTm' ''^' ""f'^.'^'^ ^""° ^ay, 'Fare- Calmer than any one there h. TT' ,'" *•= "^'""''1 home! kiss to each one^nd asked thftf^'K ',!,'"'' ^''^'«' ''^ Pa«i"g third Psalm, the^ raising InH ^ '''!,'^''^" '"^P^^' 'he Twenty! blessed them'. cl^^^reU^ld^'sS; if S^^l^ '^^'^ ^^ «n. fiLrSr^nSr oJTr:^ ^ T^^^^ and counsellor of common m^n k ? f I ' '^^'^'^^ «r„„„,- , '-"Jumon men, beloved bv an ever in creasing number; for day bv dav nnf^ "^ an e^er-in- name, his words his infl? ^' ^^ ^'^'^ ^^ur, his life like a flaS'nc toJch n °'' ^ ^'"^ ^"°^«<^ '^-^'^ way of other Tv^unTh/nT^r"; '"'"^^'^ *« "g''* the The mor^ dSv Snl P? '1*' '^^'^^ ^ the Maater. or« aeepiy one studies the life and work of this 1 i' DR. WARREN HATHAWAY Who succeeded Dr. Craig at the Blooming Grove Church, and still remains its pastor 1 IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS 359 man the more one is impressed by the universality of the love he commanded from those early days when as a college student he first began to preach and write con- cerning the Word of God, all along the brilliant path- way of successes to the swift close of his life. Surely there must have been something wondrous fine and tender and noble in a life which through the years should draw so many comparisons from those who came to know him best, comparisons between this human life and the life of Ilim he so humbly and ardently served. It would be a physical impossibility within the bounds of this volume to attempt to give place to the expressions of regard and esteem which came from so many sources after the death of Dr. Craig. These which are subjoined must serve as types of those which may not be used : Rev. Warren Hathaway: ''I write this at the request of children who revere the memory of an affectionate father, and of friends who honour the name of this earnest, saintly man. Hence it is a labour of love— a leaf from the memory of the heart. ^ ** In 1863 there was quite an important gathering of clerev- men at Medway, Greene Co., N. Y., in attendance on some church function. It was a meeting of interest to that rural community, and at the first public service, Mr Craig gave the discourse. I shall never forget his introduction. His text was I Cor. 13: 13, * Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.' 'These three '—why three ? Perhaps because of the grand divisions of the earth— as then known. Perhaps because of the three representative nations and languages of the world— the He- brew, Greek and Latin. Perhaps because of the divisions of the human mind, the sensibility, intellect and will. '' He secured our attention by this original preface, and held It for an hour by his simple eloquence and by his clear state- ments. It was the first time I had heard him ; and though I listened to him often in after years, both from pulpit and platform, there was ever a charm in sermon or lecture; for he 360 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG had something to say, and it was so presented that a child might understand, and a sage be delighted. He opened fountains . where lambs could dnnk; and deep, «^deS where leviathans could swim.' F. »"uc pools "Mr. Craig was not only a manly man, but a considerate Christian gentleman. He knew L much more than hk ordinary associates that often it would not have been difficult for hmi to be sarcastic or critical ; but there seemed to ^ a check upon him, a regard for the feelings of others and no guile embittered his lips. If one in his hearing made a false ETnd" o^eT""H '°'"^ it ignorantly, he^S'surfto notice and correct. His corrections were never offensive nor from pride of knowledge; but always made modesUy in be half of the truth. How kind and gentle he was ! ^ the ancient r, rt7'"\"^P^^'''P' ''''•'•''"^' P«^'°^^"^ "'^ ^'^^ Mr S"s call tl^r"'^°^ "1'°"'"'"^ ^^°^^- At the time of Mr. t-raig s call to this church, it was really independent even beyond the Congregational interpretation of InTpendencv and so remained under his ministry. He was a you"™' and but for his solemn mien and sedate manner, might have been taken for a boy, although he had already served as naLtor in New Jersey and in Fall River, Mass ^ ^ "^ " When he came to Blooming Grove, he found himself under a somewhat painful probation-hehl aloof and regarded as an SrofteTrr ^ "'ir'«''^°^'^'"^ ^^'^^^y' -ther tha„ " aisciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. But everything bows to the K7 dTh7t,"a'r;'rn'"^ Onebyo'nethlfoesbecam inends and the hardest of all spirits—conscientious sectism — kZtZ ° Wh:r"'^M '"" '°"^ ""'' "'^"'^^d hand in tender leiiOHship. What will not gentleness do? ,1/ p ,.^''^'^'* ''°'"'"g ^° Blooming Grove was like the Anos- It w ^ ^°'"S ""? A^'^'^'^ f°^ ^ t™e. It permitted The H^fhe o2l7in\t ^'"^-^^ ^'^""^ "^-'°6'"1 ->'-> nere he could in the seclusion of h s hilltop home not onlv " wl: lt^^ '"^"^ '"^ TV"' P^-^^ reU'^n of Got unejr^^^^^^^ ''^^' - -tten by no pen,' providence of God. The parsonage became a lighthouse to tn the' studvTuf Vi "'h '"'^ ^^^"^^ "^ ^^^ ^^^P t'at b"rned in tne study, but also because through him who trimmed and kept It burning glowed the heavenly light. IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS 361 ** And so he studied, thought, and preached, to the strong people who faced him. on the Sunday, who by their rever- ent attention inspired and by their thoughtful bearing called forth, the deepest truth he had to give. He had no fear but that the best he could do would be appreciated. He found a class of elderly, devout persons, who by their wisdom and affection aided and sustained their young pastor. It would seem as if they had been providentially educated for him, by the then new doctrinal preaching of Rev. James Ar- buckle, under whose ministry the church had become inde- pendent. ** It was here Mr. Craig married, taking for his companion, Miss Adelaide Churchill, a graduate of Antioch College, a woman every way worthy of his large heart and pleasant home. It was a wise and tender union, until an angel of the covenant came and called her to * the upper countries.' " At the beginning of their home-making, Mrs. Craig, aided by her sister, Miss Churchill, took charge of the select school that the wise and economical parishioners had established near the church and parsonage. It was a private academy intended for more thorough instruction than was afforded by the public schools. ** Many men and women look back with gratitude to the in- struction there given and honour their memory. This, how- ever, though not trifling, is small compared with the influence for good which Mrs. Craig has given to the Church and the world. " Mr. Craig's ministry in Blooming Grove covered the dark and bloody years of our Civil War. The labours he freely, loyally took upon him were a greatly added burden. His zeal for the soldiers in field, camp and hospital awakened a gener- ous response in the community. Supplies came in and were passed over to the Sanitary Commission, thus comforting many a suffering hero. While acting in this way, as the almoner of a generous people, he received several personal letters from that rare devoted friend of all who suffer in times of peace or war, Miss Dorothea L. Dix. They were letters of thanks and good cheer from one of the elect women, one of the ministers of God, to our friend and brother, working in the same cause; a testimony of which his family may well be — not proud — but thankful. ** On the parish of Blooming Grove, Mr. Craig left his mark 362 LIFE AXD LErmtS OF AUSTIN CRAIG began. And it was like the love nfn > i t^"" """"^'^y unselfish affection based on qtluies 0^.7"^ IT""'"' ?" recognition of characteristics tha nil '""1^"'' heart-the and members of one fa , t On ' "', "'^ '°"' °^ God, well-won fame as etln «; . ""^^ ^' '^^ '""''^'^" o^ his North and ^"st t^it^.^^;^,^^''' ' IV '■" '"^^ q'lent appeals in behilf of rnV ^ J ^"'"'''" ^''^""^ elo- and judg „em The o.hl '"" ^"^ ''«'''"' '^'"P^^^"", justice as ye{ u-fkn^n mim^te"; oTtirCoVer"^' "°'^^'' '"'''' ^^^ spe'ikt^rr .1 j'^r; r::;:::en;TH°' '-' r • p°p"- nhrf» i-r« i; i- i r^prebcnted, Horace Mann had a place. He Iistenec to a sermon frnm \f . r- • I ^ prised and pleased -md "'f^^^.^^O"^ ^f^- <-raig, was both sur- earnest pleading he besot h?h"' '""""'^'' ='"d ^^'"^ the most preacher^ or bmh The^f,^ e.'fi P^^^f/here as professor or Mr. Mann ma? be seen more nLnJf ''"1 °^^"^"" ^raig by any words of mine ^ ^ '^'°'" '"' '"'"^ 'han from •TLt^ttSra;d'd,e?e"are'rnfo'f,f """ ''"^''^"'^' ^y- removal to Yellow SnwLc ^ °^ l*'^"'' "'^'"8 ^I^- Craig's ing morecLrlv thin he^ A T ?'^'" t' "'" P"^P°^e °f ^hol- on'which'^Mr'tfa n s ^ to° o'm ' hi ?e"r'°' ''^ ''""^'P"^^ new institution.' She then adds ^^'°"' '°"' °^ "'^ chlrlcfer. ^It' was'S d"o.'nH? 'i r"'''Y '^ '"'^ "^" '^''gious IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS 363 '* ' His young friend, whom he had so long and earnestly im- portuned to come to his assistance, was to him the type of what all the young might be ; and the fruits of his experiment during the last few years had satisfied him that his plans were not Utopian, as many of his friends wished to make him believe. ' **I do not know about * the plans 'of Horace Mann ; no doubt they were wise, and if wise, possible; but that Austin Craig * was the type of what all the young might be ' by intel- lectual development and spiritual influence was certainly a de- fective conclusion. Education is a power, but that even with moral training cannot make all men ideal. Even in the firma- ment that * declares the glory of God ' there is variety ; shining points of the first, blending their light with those of lesser mag- nitude. And among the stars of God here, it is as above, ' one differeth from another star in glory.' And it is the type of variety that prevails, not that of sameness. "The fact is, Austin Craig was a genius, an exceptional mind having rare gifts and unusual powers. Hence it is diffi- cult to classify or fix his place among men. He was pre- eminently Biblical ; his studies, thought and discipline were directed to a knowledge of the one Book. ** While many during his life thought of him as a teacher, specially qualified for the class-room, or as a college president, it seems now that he was above all a preacher, expounding for the many the treasures of grace, and proclaiming the Gospel of the Son of God. He certainly was not a Boanerges, ' tear- ing and shattering the heart,' nor depending on any 'counter- feit presentiment ' of feeling ; but a true Barnabas, the *son of consolation.' And whether in the pulpit or in the home, in country or city, in solemnizing a marriage or bowing by the bed of the dying, how welcome his presence, how cheering his manner, how inspiring— how tender and hopeful his words ! '*Mr. Craig had the gift of an artist, and could make the pencil speak a varied language of beauty or caricature ; and with this, a most keen, incisive wit. Yet he bridled these powers, wisely no doubt, fearing their use might harm the ten- der plants in the Lord's garden. So completely were these gifts hidden, that often among even intimate friends they were not suspected. **ln one point, among the many that might be men- tioned, Dr. Craig revealed his obedience to, and fellowship in 364 LIFE AND LEITERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG Christ— revealed his recognition of the Man of Nazareth as Leader, Saviour and Master; and this was his complete Chris- tian Democracy. Not only did he receive the words of Teffer- son m the immortal 'Declaration/ but, as supreme, the words of the Saviour: 'Por one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.' ' - VVhile Dr. Craig belonged of right to the blue-blood of New Jersey, yet he was not like that proud Duke of Somerset, who in his conceit once declared that he ' sincerely pitied Adam because he had no ancestors.' As was said of Governor John Andrew, so it may be said of Austin Craig, • he was a ^TT\ r""^^ and. through, feeling himself on'an equality wi h all, but never putting on airs of condescension to any.' ..re Tk '^'f '^'^^ ''^'""^'^ ^^'^'■^^ «^ Christ were ever in the ZnT ^f^'^^^^^'^^oih^r; ' Inasmuch as ye have done it unto Z' F^u'^ff '^'''^ ^^y ^^^^^^^"' y' have done it unto Me. lor he did not seek to see the world of mankind through the purblind eyes of a greedy politician, nor the gim- blet holes ot an aspiring dominie; but rather with the clear vision of a Paul on Mars Hill, he saw ' the all embracing love of God who hath made of one blood all nations of men ' fr, '/k ^P'^^.^h^!■' ^'' <-^raig was Biblical, presenting sublimest truths in the simplest words, 'so that the common people heard him gladly winle the ablest minds were edified and instructed His method was extempore and conversational, holding the at- tention by direct appeal; but always obeying the comnTand 'to bring the pure, beaten oil for the light ' of the sanctuary He was studious, not depending on any inspiration without labour reahzmg that the harvest depends on the sowing, and that in all things, we ' are to work with God.' - He had mastered the fine art of standing without being tied by creed, tradition or desk. He represented by his atti- tude in the pulpit the words of the lawgiver: 'Fear not stand still and see the salvation of God ! ' And then came the nn?I ."k^ command which he also religiously obeyed : ' Speak enough to stand, but also go forward in the name of the Lord. Mr. Cra.g believed the time had fully come when ' knowledge should be increased.' What a model he was ! Never bofs- terous, but easy, dignified and impressive T rlT"" "^""^ ■!]'" '■^^^•"^^'^' his trained powers through study, I relate an incident in which he, perhaps, was the only possible IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS 365 hero. At Marshall, Michigan, before ' The Quadrennial Con- vention,' he was asked to give a five minutes' sermon, as it lacked that time to adjournment. Some one in the audience said as he stood on the platform : ' Dr. Craig, give us some- thing good.' He replied : ' I will give you the best there is.' And opening his Greek Testament, he read Ephesians 3:17, 18, 19 : 'That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to com- prehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.' '* Then followed a sermon so complete, so full of Gospel, that for five minutes we were silent as a mountain top envel- oped in a cloud of glory. As the clock pointed, he ceased speaking and we could breathe again. But it was as if an an- gel had spoken to us. ** Perhaps it was during his brief pastorate in the ' White Church,' New Bedford, that Dr. Craig reached the maximum of his powers in the pulpit, and received a just recognition. Here was a field, in a measure, worthy of his ability and schol- arship. As a religious teacher, he attracted at once the atten- tion of the thoughtful and devout. Here, he gave the course of lectures, some twelve in number, to which he had devoted years of study. The theme was: 'The morality, the re- ligious bearings of Physical Geography.' And as with him, 'AH roads lead to the Bible,' so the text for these lectures was Acts 17 : 26, ' And hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation ; that they should seek the Lord.'— These invaluable discourses are lost to the world. "As the first president of the ' Biblical School,' his cherished thought was carried out— a thought and hope that he had dwelt on for years. It was not his desire to see another theo- logical seminary established for teaching any form of dogma or doctrine— there were plenty of these institutions. His hope was exclusively Biblical— to take the Bible as text-book, as literature, as religious authority— as Revelation— the paramount Idea being to seek to understand the Scriptures. ' So that if any speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth; that 366 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CEAIG God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ • to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever.' Tl L was h.s Ideal : ; A School of the Prophets.' And at the ime k w^ an ongmal thought; though now ' institutions 'and -hairs • are established and endowed for this purpose When It became known that Austin Craig was head master of a school for simple Biblical study, without regard to Ss 'he stiden'tr T't'^vf ' ^^^^"^^' '^^^"^ ^^^ enrolled am^ enrich their minds and hearts. Next to the pulpit Mr Crai^ was at home here, and indeed the stores of know edge thaUi ad cT's room Z7T'f' 'V^^''^^^'^^^ P^-cher, now made he fofded Uh^^ ''^''"'^' ""^' ""^^ ^^^^' ^' ^' '^ -Nearly un- olded those things that are revealed and belong unto us and ^haTroi -' h^ 'T^'u- ^"^ "^^"^ ^^'^- -"-'-^ ' Be- drlnJ ' f r^^ ""^ "'"' 'h^' ^^^^^'^ ^"d '^^'^' nie,' and they drank deep of that water that never faileth ^ sucV'a Thcin'^'p T'^ ^^.^f^^J'fh and stand at the head of had been f^ '^^"' ^"^^- ^"^ ^^^^^'" ^^ ^is life service hkher hnl .J'' '^' ''^^'"'"^^ ^^^'^ «^ ^^^ -^^^-- ^Vhat &:ir i^iin^^^ :;i ;^^' ^^^^^ " -^^^^ ^-- ^^^^ ' ^--^ f.n'l!''/i!'*' <;Jhristian virtue of hospitality, Dr. Craig never failed, hough h.s generous welcome might puzzle his com- the almoner of the meat and the grace of God who feeds the was an of?.T '^T ^''""^- T'' ^' '^' ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ home, he father D^inr 1 ' l^^"^;.^^^"-^^^. husband, and a most tender father Dunng his loneliness it was touching to see his ;//«- /^r,;.^/ care reading to his children, and in every way r vTn. to make their poverty rich, their bereavenient^heerfu and reXHi'/^^'lTin^^^""^^^^ ^^ ''^''^'^^^'y ^'^ ^^^^^ ^-^- tllS a time when' h'T ' ^f'^^'T ^"^ '° '^'"^ ^"^^ ^« ^is children- M D on. " ""'^ '" 1^'" l^"^^^" «f ^^'^s Sarah McCarn, bm-M *hi?K r^ r'^ '"'"^^ '^ ^hare his burdens and help re- and nrtn ? " home-with her motherly heart, clear mind 'o an^ most tr^fl"''' r"r' 'l"^'"'^ ^ ^^"'^^^ ^"^ ^ blessing ing and the darf ness cam^ ""''"^' '''"'' ^'^ ^^^^"^■ IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS 367 ** When the end came, as come it must, it seemed at the noontide hour ! Came suddenly while the 'eye was not dim nor his natural force abated.' We thought he stood on the foot-hills of Pisgah, not on the top. - The world seemed dark and lonely, though it was not, for God was here. His grace and providence the same as ever- boundless as His power— perfect as His wisdom. And our brother s life, his mspired words, have entered into hearts and lives and like 'the rain from heaven give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.' " Rev. Isaac C. Goff : - Dr. Craig was not only a great man. but a man of great humility, and most childlike simplicity He was a Christian in the most Catholic sense,— not merely a member of ;yhat is called the Christian Church. Although scholarly and eminently critical, he was not dogmatical or in any sense controversial. He was a man and a minister of eminent spiritual mindedness. His ministry and teaching for more than a score and a half of years have been a large and invaluable contribution to that type of Christian faith. Horace Mann used to say that he never knew any other man who so much, in his character, life and spirit, resembled Jesus Christ I knew him intimately for thirty-nine years, and never knew anything of him that gave me pain— not an act or word that I could see to be wrong." David Clark, m Address of Commemoration at the dedica- tion of the monument to Dr. Craig at Stanfordville: ''In some-yes, in most— respects Dr. Craig differed from all other men I ever knew. It would seem that both nature and grace contributed liberally to his make-up. His tall, angular form seemed designed for Western frontier life, yet the spirit in the man fitted him to be an angel. He was large-hearted and generous, even-tempered and kind, tender and loving as a woman. And then what a large and social nature he possessed ! U hat lengths, breadths, and depths of humanity I His beam- ing, sweet face was the 'sign manual ' of his heart, so that his presence among us was an inspiration and a kind of unspoken benediction. Did you ever think, dear friends, when he was in 368 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG Craig, D.D for litinLh,K'"^"'°.''y °'^P^^='«'«"t Austin selfish life which marlp l^v r ^™ '^°'' '"' P"""^ ^"d un- his example •• '*"" '""" "^""'^^^ ""^^er and better by IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS 369 a vast ^^ss- infi?Ltr:[^^ reS'tJih'^ "li"-^ .^1 pour out a fluent stream nffmh '" .h^"'^. ^"d without notes, ^ his earn^tne s ca S'ii an "ca,^v^ "'"''«'°" His power here was marked .nH ? ^ ^ ^"^^ ^'^ audience. he wL effective as^l preSrTnli'l rchen"'^' ^'^^"-« '''- speak^an'fn 'hirSar wo^r H°" '" "'^ ''yP'^^' ^ '" ? t rCfF^- ^^^^^^^^^ Se'SbSo^rwit-h' numSr ofTrSht m^en^fcr" 'n""« Z'"'"'' ' ''^^ ''"-"a of wit was so Vxub^ra;/ .nH ?" f'^'^''' '" ^^om the flow was ever caustic it was a .. "?'"'"'l- ^ ^° "°' ^'^"" '^at he out scorchinf i 1^^1.0?^" '""f'""^ ^^^ich cheered with- after thirty yfars onVvfh!- ?^^" P«'"^"'ar instances; but thin figur'e/s^moum 5 fv" the ""P''^'°" ^emains-the tall smilingLthe rapTd expti 'o'n of thTCdT "™°'' ''"^^^ of side-lights to make^ll vivid-that^° L "'"^°",'''°''^ my memory as he stood Mnl. J a "'^ '"^" *"'"' '"^^ '" formal occasions. af^d-Wor Z^'"T ' ""'^ *''^" °" '«^^ gown and slipper • caL esTciaH v t^e? ■ ^.'n''"' ' '" '^"^''"S' m and frienTy cordial t^ra 2 ts^^rSom:^"''^"^''- Rev. J. B. Weston ; ** The memories which have rushed upon and held possession of my mind since tlie announcement of the sudden death of my Brother Craig are loo many and too sacred for expression. How vividly 1 recall my first acquaint- ance with him, at the Marion Convention, in 1850, wherein our youth we were drawn together by our interest in the establish- ment of Antioch. How pleasant the recollection of the visit thence, of ten of us, to Niagara Falls, and our prayer- meeting in our room at the hotel, with the constant roar of that mighty cataract to us a new anthem of praise to God. How sacred the years of association at Antioch, with experiences of anxiety and hope, of sadness and burden-bearing and work, in hope of realizing our early ideal. " Especially vivid, now that he has passed away, is the memory of the strength and comfort of his companionship in the hours of my own bereavement and loneliness. There were circumstances, too, in college and church which demanded faith and wisdom and patience. How conspicuous they were in him ! I have seen him in many places calculated to dis- turb equanimity if anything could ; but in all he was never dis- concerted— never put off his guard. From years of personal companionship I can join the general testimony : He was one of the best of men, if not M<=hers. . . . My ,„,, ,-, ^ ,^^ chur.W r'"^ T" *"'""'S "'^ """i^'^y- 'he loss of al our foZ he tilTU°,"'' '"T °^ ^^"'' °" ""h. But he is no gone , he will be treasured in many hearts and memories ; his words of wisdom and love will be a living memory ; — the name, the character, the labours of this eminent scholar and servant of God will long be held in precious remembrance by the Christian churches of America. . . . " Dr. Craig was an untiring worker. His knowledge of the ancient languages was most remarkable and in his library were many of the most rare and valuable books on subjects along this line of study. He was unassuming to a fault ; kind and tender-hearted ; always a peacemaker. He had a singular ele- gance and refinement of style ; his utterances were rich and pleasing, — happy in illustration, musical with the notes of the Gospel, and sweetened with the spirit of Christ. I think I may safely say that in his peculiar sphere as a Bible scholar and a Bible lecturer, Austin Craig stood as high as any other in this country." Rev. N. Summerbell: ♦* Austin Craig appeared to all as though he felt as Jesus felt ; he spake as though he thought as Jesus thought. His spirit seemed to be one with Jesus. Al- ways kind, loving, benevolent, cheerful, pleasant, to do his duty was to him a crown of pleasure, not a cross. He loved the loving accent of the Master more than the lofty style, the grace of charity above the polish of learning ; therefore, though his language was the very acme of purity it was ever gilded over with the golden lustre of heavenly grace and divine beauty. His religion seemed homogeneous and unaffected, his grace hereditary, his goodness natural, his kindness rising to angelic loveliness and celestial sweetness. His faith was divine. The will of God was consulted, and was the arbiter of all his ways. Obedience was his delight, the footmarks of Jesus, the path he trod. To be 'like the Master' was his constant joy. With John, he seemed ever to lean on Jesus' breast ; with Mary, to sit at Jesus' feet; with the sainted three, to ascend to the mount of transfiguration. With the wise men, he worshipped the Lord in the manger ; and, with John, did outrun Peter and come first to the sepulchre. He was at home nowhere without Jesus, and wherever he came it soon appeared that Jesus was there. His adoration of the Saviour was of the most exalted character, and his devotion to His service a corresponding faith- fulness. Men called him Christlike. The Hon. Horace Mann said in the writer's presence, * Austin Craig reminds me .)! 372 LIFE AND LETTEltS OF AUSTIN CRAIG ir:e/h-!rto'irAZ.tr:hr-!;'^'^'='=^""--' Others applied to hm, even by tKl 'd A V '" ' ?"^'"''^ ' ^^'^^ said to theuriier ' No man H,!r\ ^ '^'"^«^ "^ iitanfordviUc munity co.nnu, ded sud,Ta,e a ' f' ?'" *'!^ '" "''^ '^°™- all classes and denom naiu n '* ' "' ''^'^ '^e esteem of thousands bith in this cofn,r„ , ^"^i^ "'^^ considered by itX. and an ^rr^.^.J^l^^^^y^C^Z: f£t^^ blue backgrottud Willi Ik nf '"""^'"'^ "" "« ^^P life of AtfstJu CW ,Jl'„\;":t o' ;•-- -"-'- Of the It wu^ written by oue of nf ? l^'"" '™*'"""' ''■^'^ ^t. eration, of any i^^^r ,tTo. of f. T,"'^''' "' ''''' ^^- to draw Austin Craig o il^id, .^7'^?*' wa« seeking nf }.Ju ..« • ., ^ ^^^**^» "^*^ ^^^ to avail binmplf W ' r*"" ^^'"' '"^ «t'*"Jftheu himsc-lf by the stelSt love and sympathy of the younger man. withltrr'eh'l'fo'rThTCr''' '"" ''"" ^^^^' "b"' brings 1 go by your ^oor but vour Z TT""'"^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^''«^"«- mere personal or .h, ic^aTabs^nce I'hrh'n' """^ ""^^ "^^^ not the ear only but the hp.w t ^''^ ^°"o»^ soun, Is reach loss of your influence utLnh """°' "^"^ "'^ '^'^^ "^ 'he you can do good here vTJT r'"%^°P^^- Elsewhere therefore, a question remov.Hr ° ^^"nd.ng good. Is it not, sideratiot^s into hT mX? i""" '^t '^^''^ °^ P^^o^al con^ merge his personal c£iL7uZl °^ ^."'^ \ ," "^"^ °"^ "'"^^ *orld ? And now I Tm ^„,n?V k J" ■"' ""^''g^'ions to the you on consideraLn.: whic "fo : sth "7 '"°"^^'° ^PP*^^' '° mn,e,_on considerations that ^'^ °^.^:°!" Preferences and moral realrn._on con^ eratioL^K i'^ * '^'S'^" ^'^atum in the ings and the demandH'ou S m^n^^K^ ^''"'^ "^^ ^""^ '^^^h- yourself. If you and I alone "^ ''"' "°* '"Pose upon you do what you like bes forf l' ^''"^^^"^'1. I would h^e oeM , lor I love you most among living IN THE SIGHT OF OTHEES 373 men. But you and I are not the only parties to this question. Our duty subjectively, the welfare of thousands objectively) God in and through all and over all ; — these are the umpires that are to settle this great question ; so that even if it were a case of martyrdom and 1 were your father or your son I should say the same ; — I should be bound to forget myself on the point of duty." ,l»l ? HIS SCHOLAKSHIP 375 XX HIS SCHOLARSHIP PlnJof 'tT T'^ adequately to .set forth the stand- lug ot Austin Cru.g as a scholar, one of eaual stand.nj,^ ninst needs be drawn for the service bu je may here in «ome slight me.isnre indicate hi St bv a general review of this feature of his life-work -tn bv some gei-mane comment. "^ From th,. earliest period in his life when his (hon-rhlfnl futhe,- started him along the student's way tu ^CV j lie particularly loved fn m..!- , ^ inniib, but 1 aiij luvtu to make .scare 1 for liiijiself wau ;;,r:T " .'-'""-»;> rz';i';s;:™- rue ordiuary eonsfruefinn nf ^...i; • ^^'""'"^iis, J ^^ "Miiuriou ot ordiiiarv wr ters the fr-nno work so fn «T^o.ii' *• 11 * "*'^^*^j i"t ii.uiie- He searched on^.. "' ' '"""'""-'' '^"^ ''« -*^^"f deeper. from the ordinarv c, I I:'tr ui; r, '•"' """""■'^ the customuiy text-books • v ^ 'V"* '" ^ "^"'"S :> itxt oooks chosen for their illustrative 374 character, sometimes for their simplicity and ease of use, became the mere commouplace for him ;— it was the deep study of the abstruse things that so splendidly fitted him for the iuterpretatiou of those less diliicult. Aud for this reason it was that he devoted so many years of his life in such measure as was possible to the study of the texts of the Old and New Testaments, that he might obtain complete mastery over them ; such a mastery few Americans living or dead have acquired. Nor was it that he might shine as a brilliant light among scholastics, or that he might air his knowledge in new critiques on obscure passages, or to give the world notice that he had mastered two of the most difficult languages, ancient or modern j nor did he study for the mere liter- ary pleasure of it : his sole object was to equip himself for largest service. Much of his work wa« of an indi- vidual character, on lines mapped out by himself. *^My Greek studies," he writes in the year 1855, when but at the threshold of his career, "have been for some years quite exclusively within the limits of the New Testament aud the Septuagint,— a very little in the Apostolic Fath- ers and in Plato. I am studying Greek on my own plan and with reference to a long-cherished result. Xeno- phon's ^Memorabilia' is a good class book regardless of its Greek. I hope teachers will aid the classes which study it to weigh the wisdom and appreciate the charac- ter of the noblest man in Grecian history whose life it too briefly presents. John's Gospel is a good text-book, too, —I have sometimes imagined that if I were allowed only two books of those which I know, I would probably se- lect John's Gospel aud Plato's ^Phfedo.' " JHustrative of the depth and scope of his study is this fragment of a letter written in 1854, when in his quiet study on the hilltop at Blooming Grove he was delving deeper and deeper into the sacred texts : i .1 "I li If f 376 LIFE AXD LETTEKS OF AU6TIN CEAIG *; I have been engaged for a considerable time past upon a project of Greek New '1 estan.ent study which I cherish the purpose of pursuing for years to come, if God permit. *' Myself and a friend have for several years entertained the purpose of producuig a volume in illustration of the New Tes- tament. I will not here particularize. Sufficient to say that It seems to us very necessary to be done; and that we have monthr ^' '^' ^""^ "' ''''''^ ""^ '^' ^""^^ ""^ "'' '^^^'^^ '* Since last November, as my part of the work, I have col- lected, by collating Bruder's 'New Testament Greek Concord- ance with Scapula's ' Lexicon,' the entire list of all Greek words contained in all hitherto examined manuscripts of the Greek Nevv 1 cstament ; and have disposed them in classes according to their etymological affinities— derivative and compositive 1 he work of arrangement is completed ; the copying-out is about one-third done. fj 6 ^ ^» - In connection with this I am engaged upon a classification ot these words according to their signification. Much the same for the New lestament Greek (though upon a different plan of classification) that Roget has performed for the English lan- guage in his ' Thesaurus. ' These works completed, prepare the way for M^ wse) as French, Spanish and Ital an r^.s"f :; T' °"/ "^'''X \°r P''""'°^^'^ affirm tJ'at re roots of all the words in the Hebrew Bible may be traced in the Arabic language of the present day. Much light has been hrown upon the difficult places in the Hebrew Bi We byThe re suits of inodern studies (German, chiefly) in comparative Phi- ology. Many doubtful words, occurrii/g'but onc'e o? uU in he Hebrew Bible, and being therefore often uncertain as to heir meaning have been identified in origin and import with some roo in the cognate languages : still this whole ma^ er of etymological affinities is often uncertain, if not e^tfrdv ccMijectural.-Now, in the case of these words Adam and Sefh the results as given by Gesenius-one of Germany's receiU greatest-if not M^ greatest of Hebraists, are as follows _ First the root (verb) CIN (Adam) signifies 'to be red, ruddy. '—From which, as a derivative, Gesenius gives uy (adam) 'a man, a human being male or female, so called from his ruddiness, compare DT ' (dam) (dgm is fiUoeo{)le may read with- out difficulty: compare, Comment, on Is. 1. c. Rev. 13: 18, 21 : 17, also A'fiTa ayUfHOTzov. (kd. 3 : 15 7) wickeii 7nen. Ps. 9 : 20, 56 : 2, 66 : 12. Cotn[).ire Clis* No. i (adrim). *' • 2. Pr. n. (i>ro})er name; Enos, son of Scth and grand- son of Adam (Gen. 4 : 26, 5 : 6, 9).' "Thus fiir Gesenius; whom I pieler to co[)y that you may form your own conrlusion from the date here given by him. — You will observe, doubtless, that your reviewer is not sustained by the authority of (iesenius. — I use tlie translation of Oese- nius' Lalm, made by Edward Robinson, I). I)., and i.ssued at Boston in 1836. 1 suggest that it would l)e well, if you wish a larger array of authorities, to apply to Dr. Stebbins, who has access to the necessary books (which here I have not,) and who rather relishes sucli investigations, I judge. — If any points are not sutVu iently clear to you in my statements, please give me an opportunity to clarify them. •* As to the 90th Psalm : it has generally been attributed to Moses. Though the Hebrew particle ^ (letter /.7//W) trans- lated ''of Moses" — may signif) — ivilh rejercnce to Moses: but this is no more natural than the signification "mi, and the self-poised sword of light turning every way to keep the Way of the Tree of Life ; did he not understand the heavenly Parable ? And there Man found his first sanctuary, and built his first altar ; and there the Prophet Abel, offering N ^ Nrf \ K V )^, ^ ^ ^ ^ '*^- M> «N t^ .. ^ s ^ e \H 9 \ ^ i s < ''^ ^ U/ - ^ <: 1. ^ N ^-^^ X ^ < ^ ^ V S ^ ^ -^ Hj ^ *^^^ ^ ^^ ^ Sns :? "^ ^ t> J*- /k fv r t^ fh- n\ Pi t fi . t^:?" ^ 4V W (h ^v^ «^ ^ :i;^ }^ s ?^ .'^^ ?^ Ji ih s ^ ^ r^ f^ "^ X \ f^ ^ \ h ^ ^ > 6) )( ^ u^- c^ ;^ '^ >: Ni N? \ fi > Ni .^ >t •v^ ^- ^'^ T ff> J ?C <^ F^ S. ^ > ^ rl b5 <^ ^ k NJ §-:?*i.^ ^ N?- <6 v"^ ^ e. 5 ^- & *) .\ >^ ♦ ft\ ^ \ fh \ X <^ >i > fti H r^ f> 5v ft) 'Sa \ i ^. ^ ^ ^ fti ?v ^X W" ^ - ;< .^' ^ .^^^^>^*\ ^ > ^ k !>' ft >i f> F^- K k > f> > .^ & ^ rh »s N \. »s "J ?, ^ ?. "^ ^ >^ !J ft S. '^ "^ > X r*^ "^ n\ h «n '^ ^' ^. ^ ^ f^ f^ Ci^^ >' <^ J ^ ^ .^^ ft ^ S \ 5 X S (h ffk fti ti* "^ ^3 ft >^ N^ ft ?: .^ I HIS SCHOLARSHIP 385 the inner life of the choice lamb — (a parabolic act) was slain between the temple (/. e., vao^) and the altar,— as, similarly, Zacharias was afterwards slain, *' Can we doubt that righteous Abel had Adam's spiritual intelligence ? And Adam was taught of God by those trees in Eden. Was not the Paradise of Adam the first parable of God to our race? What if such parabolic language be dark to us ? I suppose some of Japheth's sons surpass our first Father Adam in Syllogisms (in logical inventions for detecting fallacies), but 1 have no doubt that men who lived in Seih's line near the Eden age, far surpassed us in power of spiritual discernment, and in the power of vivid expression of spiritual things in a sign-language whose most valuable re- mains are now to be found in the non-logical (say non-Japhetic) portions of Holy Scripture. The Ark of Noah contained and bore over to the post-diluvial world the spiritual treasures of Adam and Abel and Seth and Enoch ;— their sacred truth, and the sacred language and forms in which they transmitted it. When Noah's sons multiplied into incipient and settled nations, Ham and his race found — (by the providential allot- ment of God) the rich south lands— the garden places and natural highways of the ancient world ; favoured by geograph- ical position and stmiulated by a quickening climate, the nations of Ham were first to attain, and preeminent in re- cording, what we call civilization. It was theocratic. It had Altar and sacrifice and Priest and sacred signs of things which were transmissions of Noah and reminiscences of Eden." As illustrative of the clarity of Dr. Craig's scholarship and the purity of his Greek it will be of interest here to include an example of his own writing in Greek to one of his students, the Rev. Zenas Post, reproduced in/ac- mmle. Keenly appreciative of the scholarly attainments of Dr. Craig were many men of large prominence. William Cullen Bryant, who gave to Dr. Craig an autographed copy of his translation of the ^^liad'' was among these friends. Prof. E. L. Youmans, the first editor of the 3S6 LIFE AND LETTERS OF AUSTIN CRAIG Popular Science Monthlij who had been a professor at Aiitioch with Dr. Craig, was another. The following characteristic lett43r from Dr. Voumaus, written as he was approaching blindness and scarcely transcribable, is of interest : '' Ng7v York, April g, 1872, ** My dear Mr, Craig : **I received your kind letter some days ago and had a renewal of life at again hearing from you. But I have allowed my letters to pile up unregarded for the past fortnight because I have been busy day and night and could not attend to them. For be it known that I am officially established as chief bellows blower to the • New Popular Double-action Wind Mill and Universal Rag Bag of Science Monthly— Limited ' this day established by D. A. c^' Co.— which the same I will send to you. ♦* Of course Galton*s * Hereditary Genius' is the book for the niental side of heredity. Spencer's 'Biology,' though, is the indispensable first book of the subject. When you get the * Rag Bag ' you will see on the last page of cover a list of names and subjects to be dealt with. Professor Rihat of France will probably contribute to this series— at all events he will soon publish * Heredity in Mind,— Its Facts; its Laws ; its Causes; its Consecpiences.' 1 will have them send you Galton's ' Biology ' which is in two volumes, is more expensive and you can return it if you like. We mean to stuff the sub- ject into the • Rag Bag ' if the texture of said pouch does not prove to be too rotten to hold. *' Do you never come to this wicked city ? If so do stop and S^e tis. My time is spent chiefly at 319 East Fourteenth Street, and 1 would be happy indeed to have you come in upon me for close communion. " I fear me I may not get to your place. My legs are worn away by two feet in travelling, travelling, travelling, like the \Vandering few. Lecturing is played out with me and so I must take to the press the rest of the time. *' With kind regards to Mrs. Craig. " Yours very sincerely, "E. L. YOUMANS." PROFESSOR EDWARD L. YOUMANS First editor of the Popular Science Monthly and a warm friend of Dr. Craig. HIS SCHOLARSHIP 387 But one may only here liiiit at the breadth and the depth of this man's scholarship. It was in the class- room, in personal discussions with other scholars over mooted points, in his immediate interpretation of the Bible from the original texts— in such ways his scholar- ship shone even brighter than in the many, very many, letters he wrote in elucidation of obscure points and l)assages. Often these letters were comi)osed in the dead of the night when his never strong body needed rest. Often they were the indirect cause, through overwork of hours of pain and restless nervousness ; but ever they were given out as was all the service of his great heart, unstintedly, ungrudgingly, with no regret but that he had not time and strength to answer them in a way that juight better suit his critical mind. Day by day and year by year as Austin Craig advanced, one all but overmastering passion was in his heart— to write, as well as speak, for the good of the race. One may fancy easily that through all this noble life ran the regret that he was not able to give himself wholly to the pen ; and if this be so, what daily sac.ifices must have been his when instead of giving his undivided time and his unquestioned talents to liteiature he held himself sternly to the task set before him, doing that which to him seemed his highest measure of good. As we follow him through his writings, we see not only how rare was his gift of words and his fertility, see signs unmistakable at many a turn of the successes that would have awaited him as a writer of superb English prose, but we see through it all the golden threads of his own uns(^lfishness, binding him to the people he loved less only than the Master he served. Writings of Austin Craig The Study of a Language. Conversational Style. The Jerusalem Idea— Fourth of July Meditations. The Press and the Church. **Give Attendance to Reading." The Heart and the Lungs of the Bible. A Minister's Pocketbook. A Christian by Nature. Seven Wishes. What is Truth ? Courage. A Statement of My Belief Concerning the Lord. Opinion and Faith. We Walk by Faith and not by Sight. Hand-works and Heart-work. Denominationalism. The Christian Church. A Milk Diet. Denominational Freedom. Theological Reaction. Sheep Fodder. The Sphere of Mary. Biblical Schooling. Dedication of a Carpenter's Shop. The True American Citizen. The Union of Weak Churches. An Interpretation. Please Pass the Salt. A Blessed Bell. Smaller Cans. A Word on Heralds. Remedy for Skepticism. Enoch — In Meraoriam. The Philosophy of Prayer. Conversion. 389 390 WRITINGS OF AUSTIN CRAIG Duty of Consecrated Effort. Search the Scriptures. The Abolition of Slavery. Bible Translations Common and Uncommon. How to Prepare a Sermon. All Inspired Scripture. Too Much Preaching. Look Ye Out Among You. The Church the Medium. Interpretation of Baptism. Faith and Baptism. Sound Doctrine. Gog and Magog. A Model Visit. God Our Owner. Which, Law or Grace ? "Sir, We Would See Jesus." Paul's View of Women's Preaching. Beginnings. Shem's Debt to Ham. The Story of the World. Science and Philosophy. Christian Conciliation. Fox's Book of Martyrs. ** Opposition to Romanism " — Its Character. Cain and Abel, or The Duty of Brotherly Care. ** Mother, I Want Something to Do." Geometry of the Holy City. Episcopacy. Attitude in Prayer. Inspiration. The Blood of Christ. Preludes to Our Sonship in Christ. A Meditation on Faith in the Lord. To Grandmothers and Aunts. Keeping Children from Christ. What Do Ye More than Others ? An Independence Day Address. Concordances and Their Uses. The Saving Power of God Resident in the Gospel, Is the Gospel of Luke the Apostles' Creed ? Conversations on Christian Union. WRITINGS OF AUSTIN CRAIG 391 Unity and Faith of the Christian Church. Getting Religion : A Popular Error Exposed. Right Use of Divine Revelation. A Literal Translation of the Lord's Prayer. Probably Spurious (Mistakes in the Bible). Building Doctrine on a Greek Preposition. The Great Enemy. The Evangelical Alliance. Marks of the True Church. Eating Christ's Flesh and Drinking His Blood. A Christmas Visit to Bethlehem. Bearing the Yoke in Youth. Love to Christ. Preaching Politics. The Successful Ministry. Christ and the Atonement. Can the Holiness of Christ's New Heavens and New Earth Ever Fail ? Speak Also to that Boy. Abolitionism in 1787. Also Lecture Notes and Various Short Articles. INDEX ANCESTRY, 15-19 Andrew, Governor John A., 248, 250 Antioch, 153 Antioch College, 137, 138-169, 214-271 ; co-education in, 216, 253, 267 ; president of, 226, 251, 283-285 ; professor in, 252 ; cat- alogue of, 252; moral influence, 252; admission of negroes to, 253; and Horace Mann, 153, 168 Arbuckle, Rev. James, 113 Beecher, Henry Ward, 120, 323 Bellows, Rev. H. W., letters to, 74, 148, 229; letters from, 121, 226, 228 Biblical School, 273 Birthplace of Austin Craig, 17 Blooming Grove, 112, 149, 276, 277; church of, 112; installa- tion of Austin Craig as pastor, 116 Boyhood of Austin Craig, 19 Christian Biblical Institute, 299. 302, 304-320, 356; ac- ceptance of presidency, 317 ; dedication of, 321 Christian Connexion, 221, 259, 300, 306, 307, 310 Clark, Hon. David, 321, 353, 367 Coleman, Norman J., 143 ; letters from, 144 College life, 21 Conference address, 88, 1 1 1 ; letter about, 126 Craig, Moses, 15, 16, 18; letter from, 27 ; Rachel Carhart, 16, 17; Adelaide Churchill, 140- 146, 325, 326; letter from to Horace Mann, 145; Dr. Sarah McCarn, 356 Craigville, 383 Death of Dr. Craig, 357 Diaries of Dr. Craig, 348 Early life, 13-20 Early preaching, 54, 67, 373, 275 Felt, David, 68 ; letter to, 1 14 FeltviUe, 68, 71, 73, 84, 112 First sermon, 57 First charge, 68-85 Garfield, General, 248, 331 Goff, Rev. I. C, 22, 43, 323, 367 ; letter to, 231 Goodwin, \Ir. Edwin L., 345> reminiscences "by, 345 Greeley, Horace, 88, 120; auto- graph letter of, 120 Hale, Edward Everett, 237, 249 ; introduction by, 1 1 ; and Antioch College, 267, 271 ; let- ters to, 255, 258 Hathaway, Dr. Warren, 311, 324, 358-367 Hathaway, Mrs. Warren, 334 Hill, Rev. Thomas, 224, 229 ; let- ter from, 225 ; letter to, 231-239 Hosmer, Dr. G. W., 263 ; letter from, 265 Hosmer, Dr. J. K., 263, 368 Howell, Professor Selah, 354 Humour of Dr. Craig, 221 Installation as pastor of Bloom- ing Grove Church, 116 393 394 INDEX Installation as pastor of Feltville Church, 74 Introduction, li Irvine, Mrs. Julia J., 354 Lafayette College, 20, 21, 28- 30, 66 Lawshe, Rev. J. G., 132 Lecture before New Jersey Legis- lature, 132, 133 Livermore, A. A., letter from, 293 Mann, Horace, 117, 154, 189, 372; address of, 118-120; cor- respondence of, 134-212, 376 Mann, Mary, 223, 334 Marsliall Convention, 312 Mayo, Rev. A. D., 230 McQuaid, Bishop Bernard John, 75 Meadville, 278, 285-286, 288, 293- 299 Millerism, 15, 33-53 Miller, William, ^^, 52; beliefs of, 35-37 Moore, Rev. D, W., 370 Newhouse, Rev. S. S., 297-299 New Bedford, North Christian Church of, 299, 300-303 Ordination, 56-57 Orton, Professor Edward, 251 Parker, Theodore, 211, 217 Peapack, New Jersey, 17 Personality, 337 Post, Rev. Zenas, 385 Preface by W. S. Harwood, 5 Relation to students, 260-262, 341, 352 Ross, Elder John, letter to, 272- 287 Scholarship of Austin Craig, 374 Smith, Gerrit, 87-88 Stafford Convention, 215 ; address at, 216 Sterrett, A. McD., letter from, 76 Summerbell, B. F., 67 Summerbell, Rev. N., 371 Weston, Rev. J. B., 245, 369 Whittier, John G., 50, 51 Wright, R. J., 28, 39, 40, 61, 62 Writings of Austin Craig, list of, 389-391 Wyman, Rev. O. T., 369 YouMANS, Dr., 26 Youmans, Professor E. L., 263; letter from, 386 COLUMBIA 1 li I It t UNIVERSITY I 0025985078 • 4iiiMtinM ; ! 3 (