. "Bramerd

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¦**¦»¦

QUARTER CENTURY SERMON,

I>BEACHED IN THE

THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,

PHILADELPHIA,

^BRUARY 2, 1862 ;

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

OF HIS. SETTLEMENT AS PASTOK,

BY REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D.D.

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE FESTIVAL,
Sansom Street HaU, Feb. 17th.

PHILADELPHIA:
WILLIAM P. GEDDES, PRINTER,
No. 320 Chestnut.

£2El

QUARTER CENTURY SERMON,

PREACHED IN THE

THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,

PHILADELPHIA, ,-¦£'¦

FEBRUARY 2, 1862 ;

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

OF HIS SETTLEMENT AS PASTOB,

BY REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D. D.,

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE FESTIVAL,
Sanson^ Street HaU.

PHILADELPHIA:
WILLIAM F. GEDDES, FBINTEE, 320 CHESTNUT STREET.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Philadelphia, February 27th, 1862.
JOHN C. FARR, Esq.,
President of "Commemoration Festival"
of Pine Street Church.
Dear Sir : — In common with others present, we greatly enjoyed the
Festival on Monday evening. There was one thing however intended which
in the pressure for time, we failed to accomplish ; in asking of Dr. Brainerd
by a resolution of the meeting, a copy of his Twenty-Fifth Anniversary
Sermon for publication It would be a valuable document hereafter as
part of the history of Old Pine Street Church ; and highly prized by many
who had the privilege of listening to it, as well as others who were not
so fortunate. Can you not request of the Doctor, a copy for publication f
Very truly yours, ALEXANDER WHILLDIN,
FERDINAND J. DREER.

ALEXANDER "WHILLDIN, "I w .
FERDINAND J. DREER, /•c's-'"rai>

Dear Sies : — It was designed at the Commemoration Festival to ask for
a copy of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Sermon of our Pastor, for publica
tion. It was, as you say, omitted for want of time ; but I am happy to in
form you that, at the suggestion of friends, Dr. Brainerd has already put
his manuscript in the hands of Mr. Geddes for publication.
Yours truly, JOHN C. FARR.
March 4th, 1862.

TO JOHN C. PARR, ESQ.,
As the sole survivor of the Board of Elders, who sanctioned my
call to Old Pine Street Church in 1836 ; and as one who during a
Quarter of a Century has shown to me the truest friendship ; and
aided my work by the exhibition in his example, of the virtues of
that Gospel which I have preached ; this Sermon is most affection
ately dedicated. THOMAS BRAINERD.
NOTE.
From the nature of the case, this Discourse embraces matters more in
teresting to members of my congregation and myself, than to the public at
large. It seemed to be a time when a pastor was allowed to speak more of
himself than good taste would ordinarily justify. The Sermon is mainly
valuable as a frank expression of a pastor's heart, under the touching
reminiscences of a Quarter of a Century. As such, it will be welcomed
by those who have desired its publication. — T. B.

QUARTER CENTURY SERMON.

"Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I
have been with you in all seasons." — Acts xx. 17.
That minister of the Gospel must be a pure and happy man, who
can review years of past labor without self-reproach, and who can
boldly appeal to his hearers to attest his fidelity. Paul enjoyed this
eminent satisfaction. He calls the Elders of Ephesus to bear witness
to the holiness of his life, the soundness of his doctrines, the fearless
ness of his reproofs, the tenderness of his sympathy, the energy of his
labors, and the fulness of his charity.
Your pastor shrinks from applying such a test to his Quarter of a
Century of service in this Sanctuary. He feels more like hiding his
face in the dust, and saying : "I have done the things I ought not to
have done, and have left undone the things I ought to have done."
Paul had some special advantages as well as martyr trials. He
was an inspired apostle. He had with his own eyes seen Jesus.
He had wrought miracles. His conversion, in its transforming power
and holy impulse, almost reached a translation to Heaven. This,
added to his great genius, learning, and eminent grace, set him on an
elevation to which modern ministers may aspire, but which none fully
attain. But though it is less safe for themselves, it is equally proper for
modern ministers to appeal to the judgment their hearers may pro
nounce. If able to bear the scrutiny, they may use it for their
comfort. If rightly censured for their unfaithfulness, they need it
for their humiliation, penitence and reform.
Standing before you to-day, at the end of a Quarter of a Century,
I say : "Ye know after what manner I have been with you in all sea-

sons." You have known me from youth to gray hairs; you have
known my manner of life at home and abroad, in sickness and
health, in joy and sorrow. Ye have known me as a neighbour, citi
zen, pastor and preacher of the Gospel. I have been with you in
all seasons ; in your prosperity and adversity, your sighs and your
songs. I have been with some of you from infancy to manhood ;
and with some of you from manhood to old age. At your fasts and
feasts ; at your weddings and your funerals ; I have been with you.
You have the materials for judging, and you have the right to judge
me; and I submit to your verdict. In saying this, I apprehend
that I have less to fear from your severity than your partiality. I
shrink not so much from the scrutiny of my congregation, as from
my own self-inspection and from the searching eye of God.
And on this Quarter Century Anniversary, it is proper to remind
you, that our relations are reciprocal. I have owed duties to you
and you have owed duties to me; and you may transpose the text
and say : " Our pastor knows after what manner we have been with
him in all seasons." We have had his services; we have had his
sustenance, his reputation, his comfort, his usefulness very much in
our hands ; and he knows after what manner we have been with him,
in all seasons. This mutual review of twenty-five years relation of
pastor and people, has in it great solemnity ; a solemnity only sur
passed by our final meeting at the judgment seat Of Christ.
In reviewing these many years passed together, I think we shall
be able to make common record.
I. ON THE PILLAR WHICH, IN THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE, WE SET
UP TO-DAY, "WE ARE PREPARED TO INSCRIBE A RECORD OF
GRATITUDE.
" Goodness and mercy have followed us" through these twenty-
five years. " The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and we
have had a goodly heritage." We have had twenty-five years
together, in the best age of the world ; in a land the most abun-

dant, most intelligent, and most free ; in a city beautiful, health
ful, and prosperous ; concentrating almost every intellectual, artistic,
and social appliance for our instruction, our recreation, and our
enjoyment. With an open Bible, and full liberty to worship God
according to our consciences ; our thousand Sabbaths and praying
circles ; our blessed revivals of religion ; our mingled prayers and
songs ; our sweet, sacred festivals ; our Christian friendships ; our
days of pleasant activities ; our home evenings, and our nights of
safe and refreshing repose — all continued through a quarter of a
century ! "What shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits ?"
If David counted one day in the courts of the Lord better than
a thousand elsewhere, what a privilege for us to have enjoyed toge
ther thirteen hundred sabbaths — thirteen hundred Friday evening
prayer meetings ! If a single sentence uttered by Christ on the
cross opened Heaven to the penitent thief ; if a single direction of
Philip sent the Ethiopian eunuch on his way rejoicing ; if a single
response from Paul made the Jailor to rejoice in God with all his
house ; has it not been a privilege for me, here to preach probably
three thousand sermons, and for you to sit twenty-five years under
the full beams of the Gospel ?
When we think of the worth of an immortal soul ; of God's
mercy in providing salvation ; of the martyr sufferings of Jesus ;
of the value of Heaven and the terrors of hell ; can we over-estimate
the value of twenty-five years of probation under the best influences
of truth and the Spirit, to persuade and direct us to eternal life ?
For myself, my heart is overborne with a sense of obligation
to-day. Twenty-five years ago I began my labors here, literally
"in fear and much trembling." I had a magnified apprehension of
the dignity and critical severity of a Congregation in this great
Eastern Metropolis. I had a distrust of my own talents, my acquire
ments, my health, and my piety. I have always had a beau ideal
of excellence in sermonizing which has mocked my attainments. I
have constitutionally an awful reverence for God, and a shrinking

6
humiliation, under the apprehension of the sublimity of the Infinite.
The thought ofthe immortal soul; of the deep, vast, Eternal reali
ties of a hidden existence, overpower me. When I came to this city
I could not enter a pulpit without trembling. I cannot do it yet.
This peculiar awe of the solemnity of standing up in the name of
God, has had much to do with the physical causes which compelled
me, at one period, for three years, to sit while I preached to you.
By the counsel of friends, and what seemed to be duty ; by a strong
will, and trusting in God, I pressed oyer my fears to accept the charge
of this church. You know the result. My brethren around me
have died, and I am still . in vigorous health. Other and perhaps
better pastors, have found difficulties, and have been dismissed.*
* I seem to belong almost to a past generation, though I lack some
years yet of "threescore." Time has brought great changes to the churches
and ministers of the Presbyterian denomination, during my residence in
Philadelphia. Arch Street Church has had three pastors; "Waterman,
Thompson and "Wadsworth. Second Church, two ; Cuyler and Shields.
Eleventh Church, two; Grant and Edwards. Sixth Church, three ; Win
chester, Jones and Harbaugh. Central Church, two ; McDowell and
Clark. Seventh Church, six ; McCalla, Blythe, Lord, Ruffner, Rogers and
Crowell. Scotts Church, three ; McCalla, Macklin, and Conklin. Mariners
Church, two ; Douglas and Ripley. Fourth Church, four ; McCalla, Lough-
ridge, Cheeseman, and Mowrey. Ninth Church, three; Gibson, Tude-
hope and Blackwood. Church in Sixth Street above Green, three, at least ;
Dinwidie, Janeway and Christian. Southwark Church, three; Judson,
Adair and Bruen. Cedar Street Church, three ; Eustace, Ramsay and Smith.
First Church N. L. four ; Patterson, Carroll, Ely, and Shepherd. Central
Church, N. L. four; Mines, Rood, Wilson and Duffield. First Church,
Kensington, two ; Chandler and Eva. Western Church, four ; Patton, Rich
ards, Gilbert and Smith. Logan Square, four ; Davis, Moore, Brown and Pat-
ton. Mantua Church, three ; Drysdale, Renshaw and Johnson. Walnut
Street, W.P.,two; McKnight and Butler. Clinton Street, four; Todd, Parker,
Darling and March.
The Rev. John Chambers, Rev. Albert Barnes, and Rev. Henry A. Boardman,
D.D. were in their respective churches when I came to the city. May they
long ¦continue to edify and strengthen the Churches.
In other denominations, ministerial changes have been as frequent as in
our own ; so that old pastors have seen several generations of their clerical
brethern. It is pleasant to remember that I have lived in peace with all ; and with

7
We are as firmly united as ever. Other churches of our denomina
tion in the vicinity have faded, and some sold out and removed ;
while old Pine Street Church has still w hundred and fifty
members. When I contrast .this Providential experience with the timid
apprehensions of twenty-five years ago, I would say: "Bless the
Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits I"
I cannot expect that you should share all these sentiments with
me ; but not a few here, looking back over the perils and deliver
ances, the privileges and mercies of twenty-five years, and finding
themselves alive and in health, in their old sanctuary, and with
their old pastor, will be likely to say with emphasis : " hitherto
hath the Lord helped us."
II. IN REVIEWING TWENTY-FIVE YEARS PAST TO-DAY, WE HAVE
TO MAKE A RECORD OF RESPONSIBILITY.
A single interview with an immortal soul, on which we can im
press an infiuence for good or evil that must last forever, is a serious
matter. But to stand for twenty-five years before one thousand
such souls, all entitled to look up to me for the teaching, the sympa
thy, the example and the prayers best adapted to renew, sanctify
and save ; to have had twelve hundred Sabbath opportunities to
preach to such the glorious Gospel ; to have had the affection and
confidence that adapted them to receive truth from my lips ; to
have been sustained by their earnings that I might be wise to win
their souls to Christ ; to have had a place in their prayers, private
and public, that I might be fitted to do them good ; to have had a
thousand gratuitous tokens of their love, binding them to my heart ;
all this presses on my thoughts to-day.
When I consider the value of the Gospel to the soul, and - how
that soul is polluted, stupefied and blinded by sin, and perilled by
many of my brethren in the ministry, of all denominations, have had de
lightful social intercourse. As I have given these statistics from memory,
there may be some omissions or misapprehensions.

8
guilt, I ask myself have I sufficiently studied that Gospel and expe
rienced its transforming power ? Have I felt its worth, and by
earnestness and zeal represented it in its spirit as well as its letter ?
Have I told the story of the cross as a living, saving reality ? Have
I preached God's truth wholly, purely, fearlessly, assiduously,
warmly? Have I preached "as a dying man to dying men?"
Nearly one thousand anxious souls have asked me what they should .
do to be saved ! Have I met this crisis of their immortality with
wisdom and love, and guided them safely to Jesus ? When the
dying have looked up to me for the last counsel and the last prayers
they were to hear on earth, have I represented the sympathy and
faithfulness of my great Master ?
My reflections carry questions like these over the whole field of
my pastoral duty, and leave me humbled under the consciousness
of imperfection ; and I say: "who is sufficient for these things?" To
a pastor asking himself under the eye of God these questions, of how
small account is the good or ill opinion of man I
In your relation as hearers of the Gospel through twenty-five
years, you know that a fearful responsibility has also rested upon you.
You will ask yourselves, have I fully availed myself of every oppor
tunity to hear the Gospel from my pastor's lips ? When I have asked
him to stand in the pulpit Sabbath morning, afternoon, and lecture
evening, have I filled my place in the pew ? Have I estimated
the Gospel, embraced it, lived it, spread it ? Have I loved my pas
tor as much as I asked him to love me ? Have I sympathised as
deeply in his trials as I expected him to sympathise in mine ? Have
I bound myself to hear while I bound him to speak ; and lived
truth as earnestly as I required him to preach it ? Has there been
deep feeling in the p.ews, while I demanded feeling in the pulpit ?
These are solemn questions to carry over our twenty-five years re
lation of pastor and people.
And when we bear in mind our central position in a great city;
our means and our privileges, and think of what are the claims of

9
perishing thousands of our city, our country and our earth, we see
what obligations have rested on us in twenty-five years to do a great
work for God. " To whom much is given, of them much shall be
required." In view of our short-comings, pastor and people, let us
make a common pilgrimage to the cross to-day, and say: "God be
merciful to us, miserable offenders !"
III. AND THE QUARTER CENTURY HAS ITS RECORD OF SORROW.
I speak not now of our sins but of our afflictions. I have often
wept with you, and you have wept with me, as we laid our loved
ones down in that sleep, which on earth has no waking. In the last
twenty-five years nearly all our dwellings have at some time been
" houses of mourning." As I look over this house after twenty-five
years, I see the ravages which death has wrought. In the middle
aisle, I believe but three are left alive, who were its pew-holders when
I came. George Pearson, Weston C. Donaldson, R. R. Stewart, J.
B. Sutherland, Thomas Sparks, Wilmon Whilldin, Sr., Dr. Duffield,
F. A. Raybold, Robert Mercer, William Dalzel, Ebenezer Osborne,
Joseph Robinson, James Gaw, Lemuel Lamb, Levi Eldridge — all
are dead. In other portions of the house, death has been equally
busy. I may well ask : "The fathers, where are they?"
When I have seen the pews of such men as these, with those of
Robert Clark, William Schellinger, Simeon Toby, Joseph Hand,
William Worrell and others, made vacant, my heart has sunk, and
I have said: "Help, Lord, for the faithful fail!" Of the Elders
of this church, William Nassau, W. B. Duffield, Robert W. Daven
port, James H. Eaton, Thomas McLeod, Dr. Samuel McClellan,
Levi Eldridge, F. A. Raybold and John R. McMullin, men that
bore to you the sacramental emblems, have all gone to join the
"four and twenty elders who stand before the Throne" of God in
heaven. Though I was their pastor, I felt in regard to some of
them, willing to sit at their feet. In life and death they were
ensamples alike to the pastor and the flock.

10
The beloved Physicians have died, as others. We have together
stood at the open graves of Drs. McClellan, Richie, Duffield, Lister,
Yanhoy, Spencer, Tumbleston and Myerle ; and wept that we were
to see them on earth no more.
The mothers in Israel, "noblewomen not a few," true hearted
wives, lovely maidens, and cherished little ones, as well as young men
in the pride of their manhood, we have followed to their narrow
house. In these trials I have wept with you.
I have stood at many a death bed and many a grave here, and
spoken words of consolation, which my own heart craved as deeply
as yours. How could it be otherwise when death was robbing me
of my dearest, most trusted earthly friends ?
My most impressive recollections to-day are connected with these
scenes of bereavement and burial. By cholera, by yellow fever, by
water, and by fire ; by sudden violence, ordinary disease, and expiring
age ; by every form in which death comes, I have met it among you.
I have attended more than eight hundred funerals, of every age, color,
character and condition. I have gone to the' grave-yard with the
poor and obscure ; a hearse and a few followers on foot ; and I have
gone with the affluent and a numerous train, and insisted on the
vanity of earth by the coffins of such men as John Price Wetherill,
James Fassitt, Joel B. Sutherland, A. H. Simmons, and F. A.
Raybold. I have sat a hundred times in the dim light and close atmosphere
of the dying chamber, and with aching head and heart have we
watched and prayed while humanity was struggling with life's last
agonies. Little do those know the heart of a pastor who regard
him as a "hireling;" giving so much service for so much money.
His office, as it widens his friendships, deepens his affections ; and
sends him as a constant mourner to the grave of some friend ; or
veils him in the drapery of the house of mourning, and almost fixes
his mansion in the valley of death.
I have not spoken of my personal and family afflictions, of sick
ness or of death. These I have only shared with you.

11
It seemed meet to-day, as we are dealing with the past, to give
this tribute of remembrance to those who have fallen by our side.
It is our consolation to remember that most of them died in hope.
Some, like Thomas McLeod, said in dying : "Hallelujah 1" Some,
like Rachel Sparks, said : —
" Hark ! they whisper — angels say
Sister spirit come away I"
Some, like Levi Eldridge, said : "lam going to drink the full
chalice of eternal life /" Some, like Captain Simeon Toby, said :
" I am in the hands of God — all is right /"
While we wept they have rejoiced. Our tears have begun, where
theirs were forever wiped away. "Blessed are the dead" of Old
Pine Street Church, "who have died in the Lord ; for they rest
from their labors, and their works do follow them."
" Remembered are the dead ! They have lain down
Believing that when all our work is done
We would lie down beside them, — and be near
When the last trump shall summon, to fold up
The trusting flock, and with the promises,
Whose words could sweeten death,
Take up once more the interrupted strain,
And wait Christ's coming, saying : ' Here am I,
And those whom thou hast given me /' "
IV. WE ARE ALLOWED TO-DAY TO MAKE A RECORD OF
PROGRESS.
But for the dark shade now over our Southern horizon, I should
like to allude to Our national growth in twenty-five years ; our aug
mented territory, our doubled population, our increased commerce
and wealth, our iron roads and invented telegraphs, and power
presses. Twenty-five years have wrought great national changes.
In the winter of 1836 1 came from Cincinnati to settle in this church,
by stage — a ten days' journey. It can now be travelled in thirty

12
hours. Our city then had not half of its present population. It
then numbered 237,000, now we have near 600,000. South of
Carpenter street, west of Broad and north of Yine, I believe there
was scarcely a single square of uniform buildings. We had but one
omnibus line, and but two church steeples. One public square was
laid out with walks ; but even that was surrounded by a wooden
fence. The foundation of Girard College had just been laid. The
walls of the Old Walnut Street Prison were standing at Sixth and
Walnut. Two Railroads, one to Trenton and one to Columbia,
(on the first, horse power was used) were finished. Scarce a Pub
lic School house had been erected in the city. We have made great
progress physically, in twenty-five years.
In religious affairs we have made also some advance. Twenty-
five years ago Philadelphia had about one hundred churches of
all denominations. Now it has near four hundred. Our N. S.
Presbyterian denomination then had in the city eleven churches:
now we have twenty ; though we have failed to keep up with the
population. When I came to this church edifice it was barn-like in its aspects.
We had no Vestibule ; no Lecture, Sunday School, nor Business
rooms. Our weekly lectures were held in the great, dimly-lighted
church ; our Sunday School in the high galleries and high-backed
pews. We have not dwelt " in ceiled houses," and allowed the house of
our God "to lie desolate. " By the appropriation of thirty thousand
dollars, all paid, you have made this edifice worthy of the age and
the cause to which it is devoted.
And while we have cared for ourselves we have not been unmind
ful of others. You have given eighteen hundred dollars to German
Street Church; five hundred dollars to Camden Church; fifteen
hundred dollars to Green Hill Church ; eight hundred dollars to
Cedar Street Church; seven hundred dollars to the Western Church.
With some three or four exceptions, every church of our denomi
nation in this city, has received your contribution in the last
twenty-five years.

13
We have not been unmindful of our great national charities. In
"all seasons," some twelve times in each year, you have contributed
to these causes ; and your charities have generally averaged three and
four thousand dollars a year ; and all told, would probably reach
one hundred thousand dollars in the Quarter of a Century. Every
month we have had also a collection for the poor of the church.
Besides this, our "Ladies Dorcas Society," has given each winter to
the indigent around us, at least twelve hundred garments ; making
thirty thousand garments in twenty-five years.
I have felt my responsibility to widen out the influence of the
Gospel, under Presbyterian forms, as I was able, in this city. I
counselled the purchase of Clinton Street Church ; and walked the
streets for ten days, soliciting means to pay the first indebtedness.
Nine hundred dollars were advanced' by you. My ill health, which
drove me to Green Hill to reside, was the occasion of my interest in
building a church there ; and I suppose I gave two months of suc
cessful labor towards erecting the gothic edifice on Girard Avenue,
which I trust may echo the 0osPel f°r a thousand years.
I was one of four persons, including the Rev. Albert Barnes, Dr.
J. M. Paul, and the late Charles S. Wurts, who met to devise the
erection of Calvary Church. I gave to that church the Thursday
evenings of thirty-six weeks ; begged for it among the wealthy ; sub
scribed five hundred dollars, of which you returned me three hundred ;
and travelled first and last near three thousand miles, to find them
an able pastor. It pays. well; for it is a fountain of truth, at which
generations shall quench their thirst.
By procuring your contributions to the amount of nearly one thou
sand dollars, I was enabled to aid in building a beautiful little church
in a destitute town, on the borders of the great Adirondack Forest of
New York. I went upwards of four hundred miles to preach at its
dedication. I have engaged in these enterprises with an earnestness,
anxiety, and self-denial, such as I never bore to any matter of per
sonal gain, reputation or enjoyment ; and the thought that the

14
Gospel will be preached in these temples long after I am dead, is
one of my sweetest reflections to-day.
During my ministry here, I have been called to deliver an address
at the laying of the corner-stone of Calvary Church, Olivet Church,
Walnut Street Church, W. P., German Street Church, Rising Sun
Church, Norriton Church, Reeseville Church, Camden Church,
0. S. Church at Bridesburgh, Third Church, Elizabethtown, N. J.,
Central Church, Wilmington, Del., Rev. Mr. Dunning's Church,
Baltimore, and others.
By order of Presbytery, I organized Calvary Church, Green Hill
Church, Rising Sun Church, Camden Church, Beverly Church, and
some others. I was also present in the little circle which planned
the establishment of the Presbyterian House ; now a treasure to our
denomination. The Presbyterian Quarterly Review originated
in a council of the late Dr. Gilbert, Dr. Parker, Rev. Mr. Barnes,
and myself. It has realized, under its able editor, all our expecta
tions. I have preached at the installation of the Rev. Dr. Jenkins, Cal
vary Church ; Rev. Dr. Darling, Clinton street ; Rev. Dr. Patton,
Western Church ; Rev. Mr. Gould, Norristown ; Rev. Mr. Mears,
Camden ; Rev. Mr. Bliss, Beverly ; Rev. Mr. Eva, Kensington ;
and of some others which I do not now recall, as I keep no journal.
I have never coveted these services, but have always shrunk from
them when duty would permit.
In respect to all these enterprises outside of my church, I have
been only a co-laborer with my ministerial brethren ; especially with
my friend the Rev. Albert Barnes, who, if he brought to the work
less enthusiasm and impulse, sustained it most effectually by the
steadiness of his purposes and the great weight of his character. I
may say of him, after an acquaintance of twenty-five years, as my
nearest clerical neighbour, that I have never known a man whom
I would prefer to labor by my side ; to offer a last prayer by my
dying bed, or greet me first at the open gate of Heaven. His coun-

15
sel, sympathy, companionship and friendly endorsement, have been
to me a source of comfort and strength in all my ministry here.
Neither he nor I have studied our own comfort and prosperity only.
We have aided to build for our brethren better church edifices than
our own ; with the certainty of dismissing to them some of our best
members and our warmest friends.
In these outside labors, I hope I have not robbed you. I should
condemn myself, if I could remember that any interest or enjoyment
elsewhere had ever bribed me to neglect my. duties here. As God
has given me health and grace, I have earnestly sought your welfare.
I have sought your profit more than your praise; and been more anx
ious to bless, than to please you. Three times on the Sabbath and
twice in the week I have aimed to be with you. I never allowed the
love of ease, nor money nor pleasure to detain me from church
services, when I supposed I could do you good. To a call from
any sick bed or any house of sorrow among you, I have never been
insensible. I have never here courted the rich and slighted the poor ;
I have not ambitiously made sermons to gain a reputation for genius,
learning and taste, rather than to benefit my people. I have not
shrunk from the avowal of any sentiment, however distasteful, if I
thought truth demanded such avowal.
Had I been a better man in heart, in prayer, in meditation, in life,
I should have done you more good ; but God to-day gives me the
consciousness that I have earnestly, continuously, and often with great
self-denial of my own comfort, labored for your welfare. And here
I cheerfully bear my testimony at the end of twenty-five years, that
you have been most kind, considerate, indulgent and often generous
to your pastor. To me and my family, with few exceptions, you
have all been faithful ; and, my dear people, in the name of God 1
bless you to-day.
Our union and peace have lasted twenty-five years, and hence our
prosperity. As a church we have had some evils to struggle with.
The occupation of the east part of this city with business, has turned

16
the tide of population north and west ; to higher ground, larger
space, and more modern dwellings. This emigration, while it has
entirely broken up some churches, has had its effect on us. It has
taken away many of our best families. It tends to draw away from
Old Pine Street our children, when they marry and settle in life. It
gives a general feeling of insecurity to all, as it makes our abidence
in this vicinity doubtful. 4
But in spite, of all these causes, our church roll has not been
diminished. Hitherto our accessions have surpassed our dismis
sions ; so that we have six hundred and fifty members. And those
who have left us are not lost to us. They are our missionaries to
plant and sustain churches elsewhere ; and they are now fulfilling
their work. Robert Glendenning, an elder, in Mantua ; Thomas
McKeller, an elder, in Germantown ; Thomas Craven, an elder, at
Rising Sun ; Alexander Whilldin, an elder, in North Broad Street
Church ; J. C. Chance, an elder, in Olivet ; John Aikman, in Cam
den. We claim that they are our men still. And so we claim all
our old members in Green Hill, Calvary, Clinton Street and else
where. We believe their hearts cling to us, as our love follows
them. We ask them to cherish their own pastors and build up their
own churches ; but though organizations externally divide us, and
distance separates, in heart we are still one. Their old pastor claims
the right still to love and pray for them ; and if they are in trouble
and sorrow, he hopes to be with them in sympathy and consolation.
When I came to this church it enrolled four hundred and fifty
members ; now we have six hundred and fifty. The Sabbath School
had about twenty teachers and two hundred scholars. Now, our
Pine Street School has twenty-eight teachers and four hundred en
rolled scholars, with an average attendance of two hundred. Our
Infant school, seventy. In the Robert Raikes School we have twenty-
three teachers and two hundred and thirty scholars ; making a total
of sixty-three teachers, and seven hundred and ten enrolled scholars.
In respect to the youth, I may say, since the foundation of this

17
church, one hundred years ago, there has never been a period when
so many of the young were connected with it as at the present
time. This is hopeful and blessed. For five years you know our
Sunday evening prayer meeting has been under the special control
of our young men. It is a beautiful spectacle. The large room ac
commodating some five hundred, thronged with youth of both sexes ;
the middle aisle set out with Camp stools and filled with young men ;
the faces of all radiant with youth, health and happiness ; the sacred
songs and exhortations, all tinged with youthful earnestness and
enthusiasm ; it is good to be there ! Most tenderly has my heart
yearned over the young people of my charge, and I have had
delightful evidence that they give me their confidence in return.
May I be allowed to lead them all to Him who, looking upon a
young man, "loved him."
In twenty-five years I have baptized here over eight hundred ;
married over seven hundred couple ; and admitted more than one
thousand to the communion of the Church. One generation has
gone ; but another has risen under my labors to praise the Lord.
So may it ever be !
Time will not allow me to speak as I would like of our spiritual
conflicts and triumphs ; of our hundred communions ; of our
half a score of precious revivals. These we shall remember in
Heaven.
V- THE YEARS PAST GIVE US A RECORD OF SOLEMN ADMONITION.
We shall never meet on another such Anniversary. Twenty-five
years are gone since I first preached within these walls. What a
startling portion of human life !
The old persons I met here — they are all dead ; the middle aged,
they are bent with years, and are blossoming for the grave. The
little children are men and women, waiting for the same change.
"We all do fade as a leaf." "Work while the day lasts, for the
night cometh." 3

18
These flitted years have a special monition for me. My work is
hastening to its close. My account is soon to be rendered.
My gifted predecessors, Rev. Drs. Milledoller, Alexander, and
Ely, have all died since I came here. I am the sole survivor of the
pastors of this old Church. Patterson, Carroll, Chandler, Rood,
J. W. Scott, Gilbert, McKnight, Judson, Ramsey, Eustace, Judd,
Harris, Gloucester, and Templeton ; many of them my cherished
friends ; they are all in the grave. Rev. Drs. Ashbel Green, Wil
liam Neill, C. C. Cuyler, and Rev. Messrs. McCalla, Douglass,
Macklin, Cheeseman, Loughridge, Winchester, Tudehope, and
Ripley — my Old School brethren ; they have all fallen by my side.
I now live in Philadelphia among new men. My old associates are
in Heaven. May God give me grace to be ready to follow them !
I weary your patience, and must close. I would, however, avail
myself of this occasion to thank God for his mercies, and you for
your past kindness to your pastor. I would implore pardon of
God and man for my unfaithfulness. I would dedicate myself anew
to pray and labour for my Master and the souls of men.
While I ask a place still in your hearts and your prayers, I
¦would urge upon you, as a matter of infinitely greater moment,
that you make here a solemn covenant to consecrate your hearts'
affections, and your whole being to that Saviour who says: "Be
thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

COMMEMORATION FESTIVAL.
It was thought proper by the Congregation of Old Pine Street Church, to
mark the Quarter Century Anniversary of their Pastor's settlement, by a
public manifestation of their confidence and affection. Hugh Stevenson,
W. J. P. White, James W. Queen, James Fraiser, William Clark, Learning
Whilldin, Jacob F. Hand, Henry K. Bennett, Edwin King, John Kelly, S. D.
Harris and eight others, whose names occur in the proceedings of the Fes
tival, had been appointed a, Committee of Arrangements. The mode adop
ted and the proceedings are narrated in the following report, which we
copy substantially from the American Presbyterian, whose editor, Rev. J.
W. Mears, was present at the Festival.
Monday evening, Feb. 17th, through one of the worst storms which have
been so numerous during this winter, six hundred persons, members and
ex-members of the Third Church, with a few invited guests, assembled in
Sansom Street Hall, to celebrate the Quarter Century of the existing pastoral
relation. It was a goodly, a cheerful, a happy company. The middle-aged
and the old were there. One venerable lady in her nineties, moved, with
slight assistance, among the throng, receiving many attentions and entering
with zest into the enjoyments of the occasion. But youth, too, was well
and abundantly represented there, proving that the old stock has plenty of
vitality and promise for the future yet. The character of the festival has
been well hit by one of our contemporaries, the Evening Bulletin, who
styles it "such a family gathering as is but seldom seen in this cold and
selfish world." There was order without restraint or formality; there was
true Christian cheerfulness and hilarity ; from the Pastor and the presiding
officer, Mr. John C. Farr, down through the whole company, ease and cor
diality marked the manners of all; while mutual congratulations were
frequently exchanged between the honoredpastor and an appreciative people.
There were not wanting representatives of our noble army mingling with
the throng. Thirty-four young men of the Congregation are in the field ;
and one of these, an officer of the Church, Mr. William Ivins, appeared in
regimentals as Lieutenant in the Curtin Life Guards. And the exciting
and glorious news of the fall of Fort Donelson just received, threw a peculiar
and elastic element into the grateful joy of the occasion itself.
At a quarter past eight o'clock, Mr. Robert J. Mercer, Chairman of the
Committee of Arrangement, called those who had assembled in the reception
room to order ; when the Secretary, Mr. George Young, read the general
order to be preserved at the table ; and announced the names of the officers
appointed for the evening.
The summons to supper came at half past eight o'clock, on which im
portant occasion John C. Farr, Esq., presided ; the Stars and Stripes being
gracefully festooned behind his seat. He was assisted by Messrs. Alexander
Whilldin, Capt. W. Whilldin, D. C. McCammon, R. J. Mercer, Samuel Work,
A. Getty, John Wallace, W. Taylor and B. Webb. Among the invited
guests were Rev. A. Barnes, Rev. Dr. Jenkins, Rev. John McLeod, Rev. Dr.

20
Wallace. Rev. John W. Mears, Rev. A. Culver and others. After the
officers had been announced, grace was said by Dr. Jenkins, and the com
pany proceeded to discuss the good things set before them. When sufficient
time had elapsed to do justice to this important part of the celebration, the
Star Spangled Banner was sung, Lieutenant Ivins leading, and the whole
company joining most heartily in the chorus.
REMARKS OF DR. BRAINERD.
Dr. Brainerd was first called for, and on rising was received with a per
fect ovation of applause, which the people scarcely seemed to know how to
bring to an end. When order was restored, Dr. Brainerd commenced by
saying that he was sure he had none too much modesty, but that after
such a welcome he felt doubtful how to proceed. The chairman, he said,
was very kind in giving me an introduction to this audience. I have had
a slight acquaintance with them. And I can say of my people that while
I commenced my ministry with a proper estimate of them, an acquaint
ance of twenty-five years has only increased my esteem and regard.
Every sentiment of affection on your part is fully reciprocated. The present
is not the time for pathos, nor for recalling those chapters of our history
that so touch the heart. This is the time to take the mercies of God, and
felicitate ourselves. For myself, I never supped with so many friends be
fore, and I never expect to again. I have dined with crowds often, but
never before was able to recognize in every face a friend.
A ministry of twenty-five years is likely to develope character. When
I came among you I was relatively a young man. By your kindness and
indulgence, you have made a quarter of a century of my life pleasant to
me. There has been almost no shade on my mind in regard to my congre
gation. I have never had a difficulty with them. I have never distrusted
you, nor you me. In a connection which has lasted so long, such a fact
marks a great deal of kindness, of conscientiousness and of self-restraint-
I have had an Eldership which has enjoyed my perfect confidence. Except
on some rare occasions, we have never had a negative vote When we nave
had differences of opinion, we have differed as gentlemen. I have uniformly
been sustained by them in my labors. A great part of the peace, prosperity
and unity of the Church, I attribute to the Eldership, some of whom are in
heaven. And the Trustees of Pine Street church have been conscientious,
reliable and true-hearted men. Though we have expended |30,000 in re
pairs, Pine Street Church owes no man a dollar. I have been met in the
congregation with a spirit of Christian activity. There was no worthy ob
ject for which I could not summon the energy of my people. And I have
been able to move to outside enterprises, because they have carried the
people with them.
We have felt the pressure of the migration to the westward and north
ward of our city. We have parted with many of our best members, who
have gone to engage in new enterprises in that direction. But those who
have gone out from us, are still with us. By the blessing of our heavenly

21
Father, our chu-rch still has numbers, unity and strength. If you will look
around upon these happy groups ; upon these noble young men and these
blooming maidens, you will see that Old Pine Street Church has hope of
prosperity in years yet to come.
I have known some pastors who sympathized with humanity, " not as
God made it, but as the tailor made it." I have not been of that class. The
people of Pine Street Church have not been what is called "fashion
able." They generally slept in the night and kept awake in the day-time.
They have lived in houses that they owned, or the rent of which has been
paid. If they walked in Chestnut street, they owned the garments and
bonnets in which they were arrayed. In the year 1857, not a single indi
vidual in the Congregation failed. We are a very unfashionable people,
very ! Another unfashionable feature is that we believe religion to be emi
nently social. Hence there is great shaking of hands at our gatherings ;
a great deal of tarrying to inquire after one another's welfare ; much kindly
greeting and friendly feeling that has grown up in thirty years. If respec
tability depends on substantial qualities, on general culture, or on a dis
position to do right to all men, I claim that Pine Street Church falls below
no other in this particular.
I sustain peculiar relations to many of this assemblage. One of the pleas
ant things in my Quarter Century is the fact that I have been able to or
ganize so many happy families among you. How many couple have stood
up to receive my blessing ! Let all here present, whom I have thus united,
lift up their hands and lift them high, so that they can be seen. (A forest
of hands, male and female, twinkled in the air.) Now let all who expect
me to perform the same office for them, raise their hands ! ( Not a few
hands raised again.)
[After the merriment occasioned by this characteristic sally had subsided
the Doctor resumed : ]
I can only say, in conclusion, that I have a feeling of profound gratitude
to my congregation who have been so kind as to meet with me on this occa
sion. I am grateful to them for regarding the termination of my twenty-
five years as worthy of such a demonstration. Why, as to the news we
have heard to-day, I don't know but the capture of Fort Donelson will be
remembered by the coincidence ! ("Prolonged cheering and merriment.)
But I cannot sit down without acknowledging my obligations to other con
gregations. Especially have I been sustained always by the weight of cha
racter, excellent influence and kind heart of my good brother Barnes. I
owe much, also, to other ministers of our church. And with the ministry
of other denominations in this city, I have had no dissension. The only
exception to this was when my brethren of the "Old School" turned me
out of the church ; an act which I certainly felt deeply. Otherwise, I have
lived in peace with all during my entire ministry among you. For some
reason — no merit of mine — the newspaper press has always been my ally ;
and I take this opportunity to acknowledge my obligations to the Press,
which has treated my name and character with so much kindness.

22
In conclusion, I desire to renew the covenant entered into with you a
Quarter of a Century ago ; and I promise with the help of my Master to be
more faithful in the performance of my duties among you.
REMARKS OF MR. BARNES.
A loud call having been made for Mr. Barnes, he rose and referring to
Mark Antony's speech over Julius Caesar, said that while he did not come
to bury Dr. Brainerd — it would be more in the order of nature for Dr.
Brainerd to perform that office for him — neither had he come to praise him.
Yet, he said, it is not improper in the position we occupy, to refer to the
manner of our intercourse. We were brought up in the same part of the
country. It so happened that Dr. Brainerd came to the same town — Rome
— and that we joined the church under the same pastor. There we both
gave ourselves to the Saviour ; there we both consecrated ourselves to the
work of the ministry. Contrary to my early ambition and to the brightest
dream of my life, I was brought to this city ; and here Dr. Brainerd has
been on my right hand at all times. I confess he has always been ahead
of me. If there was ever a smart thing to be said, he said it before I could ;
or if there was a good thing to be done, he was sure to do it before I did.
Yet he has been one with whom I have taken sweet counsel. He has been
a faithful and true man as a personal friend.
You see I am not a young man now. I was young when I came here-
It is a marvel, a wonder to me that I ever did come ; that I dared to come
to this great city, and allow myself to be put in the situation I occupy ; that
I dared to become the successor of that truly great man Dr. Wilson. I have
remained here till I have seen changes in every Presbyterian church, Old
and New School, ("unless Mr. Chambers, be excepted) in every Scotch,
German Reformed, Episcopal, Baptist, Moravian, and of course, Methodist
Church. I have lived while the ministers of all have passed away except Messrs.
Chambers and Furness. I look back with interest over the names of those
who have passed away from this and other congragations in that period.
There are Sanford and Eustace and Scott, and Judson, and Patterson, and
Gloucester, and Templeton, and Gilbert, and Ramsey, and Ely, and others,
whom I cannot at this moment recall, — they have gone. I remember that
I owe not a little to Pine Street Church and its pastors. The fact that I am
now a minister in the Presbyterian Church is due to the predecessor of Dr.
Brainerd. At a moment when I sat in deep distress of mind on the point
of declaring myself no longer a member of the body, he laid his hand kindly
upon my shoulder, and held me down. Very much do I owe to Dr. Ely ; I
cannot repay him in this world, or in the next either. Soon after I came
to this city, I was thrown into a fiery furnace of trial ; I should have sunk
again and again, but for Dr. Ely, then editor of the Philadelphian* who
became my warm friend, and admitted freely to his paper articles in my
defence. He was, indeed, a strong, warm, personal friend. He made sac-
» A Eeligious Paper, printed and published by William P. Geddes, from 1825 to 1835.

23
rifices for me — not, indeed, exclusively for me, but for the cause in which
we were both engaged. He was a true friend — a life-long friend. I shall
remember his kindness till I lay my head in the grave.
It is affecting to think that we are so far along in life. It is much, very
much to have passed through such an extent of life, and to have maintained
a position like this of Dr. Brainerd's under such circumstances. One occa
sion of gratitude lies in the fact that changes in the pastoral relation are
so common. That a pastor, after a connection of twenty-five years, can
come before an assembly like this, exhibiting so many evidences of youth
and vigor, and be received with such expressions of cordiality and enthu
siasm as you have manifested to-night, is truly a matter of profound con
gratulation. Mr. Barnes was heard with deep and respectful attention,
and sat down amid the applause of the people.
REMARKS OF DR. JENKINS.
The Rev. Dr. Jenkins, having been called upon to address the meeting,
said: —
Mr. Chairman- and Christian Friends : — I was brought up in my own
country under the regime of "Breakfast Meetings" and "Tea Meetings,"
and am glad that I am this evening permitted to behold a scene such as
that which now presents itself before me, and to be in this way reminded
of "days of old," and of "ancient times." All the arrangements of the
evening — the order and decorum of this large assemblage— are gratifying
to me, as they must be to those who have had the labor of providing for
us this Christian entertainment. Truly, I have never witnessed a more
orderly — shall I add — happy company, in any country.
I congratulate Dr. Brainerd on being privileged to enjoy this "silver
wedding" with the people of his love ; I am tempted to wish that he may
live long enough to enjoy a "golden wedding" with Old Pine Street con
gregation ; such an event does not he beyond the range of probability, for
if my reverend and venerable brother's life be prolonged twenty-five years
more, he will not then have reached the age of some who are now present,
though I cannot deny that he will be older than he is to-day.
Some eight years ago, your pastor in company with Mr. Barnes, visited
Montreal for the purpose of inducing me to transfer my presence and
labors to this city. I am glad to meet them both here this evening ; and
to have the opportunity of testifying to the faithfulness with which they
have redeemed the pledges which they then volunteered, namely, to stand
by me in the prosecution of the arduous duties upon which they were in
viting me to enter. The fact to which I refer has, in my own esteem, crea
ted a sort of relationship between us which neither time nor distance can
ever extinguish.
It is a great thing for the Pine Street Church and congregation, that they
have enjoyed the services of one pastor for a Quarter of a Century. It is
an honor to pastor and to people equally, that the relations between them
have been so long and so harmoniously maintained. In the progress of

24
his address this evening, my reverend friend solemnly renewed his pastoral
covenant with you. May I not charge his people to follow his example ;
and to renew their covenant with him ; that they will succor and uphold
him ; that they will care for him and sympathize with him ; that they will
pray for him ?
Other brief addresses were delivered ; one in particular by Rev. Theron
Baldwin, Secretary of the Collegiate Education Society ; who shrewdly traced
a connection between this occasion and the fall of Fort Donelson. The
influence which Dr. Brainerd exerted, when in the great West himself, and
which he has always exerted as the active friend of education in the
West, has aided to train the brave soldiers of that region, and prepare them
for the great work they are accomplishing for the Republic. The intense
feelings of the people found vent at this mention of our glorious victory in
a great and prolonged outburst of applause.
William Talcott, Esq., an Elder in the First Presbyterian Church, Jersey
City, said he had been invited as an early friend of the Pastor of Pine
Street Church. He had been a school-mate of Dr. Brainerd ; he had known
him when he was a student of law, and when in the great religious revival
at Rome, N. Y., he gave his heart to the Saviour. He united with the
church with Dr. Brainerd ; sat down with him at the first communion. He
loved him then, and was glad to be present to congratulate him at his
Quarter Century Festival.
Mr. P. B. Simons, being called up, said:- — Dr. Brainerd in his remarks, gave
many proofs that his congregation are not fashionable ; a truth which is now
being demonstrated. The fashionable world is just about setting out to pass
the evening, while we are all anxious at this point to get back to our homes.
Mr. President — I, too, with others who have spoken, have sacred memo
ries crowding upon me of by-gone days, passing before my mind like some
great panorama, but like all other pictures with its light and shade. Yes,
sir, it is not all bright. There are forms and features that we do not see to
night that were wont to meet with us upon such joyous occasions. Well
do I remember the old church with its square pews ; and the old grave-yard
which contains the sacred dust of those we loved, and the old Green's Court
Session Room with its little Sabbath School ; and how fresh in my mind is
the voice of the " Old man eloquent, ' ' who broke to us the bread of life from
the old fashioned pulpit ; how his voice rang out in the broad aisles. I
think I can hear his voice to-night speaking to the boys somewhat in this
wise : " Boys, if you can't be still in the galleries you had better lie down
and go to sleep, like those old men in the middle aisle' '-—accomplishing two
objects with one breath, quieting the boys and wakening the old men.
And I remember, too, when the new pastor came how anxious we were to
see his face and hear his voice ; how we listened as our curiosity was being
gratified ; how an interest was awakened as we listened that we had never
felt before ; and then how soon after we were found twice a week in the
study to talk upon a subject we had so often promised to attend to, and to
this time had always neglected.
Mr. President — Of all other emotions that fill my heart to-night, the great
est is that of gratitude, that I, with many here around me, in the providence
of God was permitted to receive my early religious training in the Old Pine
Street Church. I stand before you to-night as the first fruits of Dr. Brainerd's
ministry in this city ; and I will close my remarks by offering a sentiment
— yes, something more sacred than a sentiment — a prayer, in which you
will all join, that the beloved pastor may live to celebrate the Fiftieth An
niversary of his ministry ; and that " Old Pine Street Church" may stand
for ages untold as a beacon light upon the shores of time to point way
worn mariners to the Haven of Eternal rest.
The speaking and social congratulations were continued until half past
ten o'clock, when the meeting was dismissed with the Apostolic Benediction
by the Pastor.

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