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BX 6379 .D3 B68 1876 Bowen, William H. Memoir of George T. Day, D. D.
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MEMOIR
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( NOV 15
M «>^4^^
GEORGE T. DAY, D. D.
MINISTER AND EDITOR: 1846—1875.
BY
WILLIAM H. BOWEN, D.D
DOVER, N. H. :
FREEWILL BAPTIST PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT,
1876.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by
I. D. SXEWAKT,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at "Washington.
TO
THE YOUNG MEN
OF THE DEXOMIXATIOX OF WHICH HE
OF AVHOM WE WRITE
WAS A MOST HELPFUL AND EFFICIENT SERVANT,
THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED,
WITH A DEVOUT DESIRE THAT IT
MAY FURNISH QUICKENING AND ENCOURAGEMENT
FOR THEIR OWN CHRISTIAN SERVICE,
BY THE
Author.
PREFACE.
The preparation of this memoir of my early spiritual guide and my latest counsellor, has been invested with the sacred- ness of duty and love.
Dr. Day left no sketch of his life, — not even a recorder notes of the most important events of it. His private corres- pondence, in those forms which lay open the sanctuary of the inner life, was very limited ; that which is found upon these pages, so rich in Christian experience, so characteristic, leaves us ardently longing for more.
The first sermon, of those inserted, is the only one found in MS. which has not been already published, except two or three belonging to the earliest years of his ministry. We have attempted to represent his pulpit work, therefore, chiefly by selecting from the mvtltitude of such brief sketches as lie usually carried to the pulpit, some of " The tops of thoughts " written in the quietude of his study. These appear as, "Studies of the Word and Life." Wliile we regret that they
VI PREFACE.
must partially take the place of pithy, electric xitterances thi-own off under the inspiration of the hour of delivery, yet we hope that these brief sentences wliich suggested the living utterance, or often constituted it, will go for toward renewing and preserving valuable impressions of by - gone Sabbatli hours. We have also, in the same chapter, given numerous ex- tracts from his editorials in the Morning Star.
The peculiar value of his characteristic letters from abroad, specially emphasize many expressed wishes for their insertion. All his lectures, — excepting " Across the Desert," and " Eu- rope," the chief features of which are given in his foreign let- ters, — are found in these pages.
The difficulties arising in our task from the absence of usual materials for a memoir among Dr. Day's papers, have been greatl}' relieved by the cheerful and valuable help rendered by many who, more or less intimately, were associated withhis life.
Wc have aimed to exhibit his character and work to the fullest extent possible within the limits of a single volume. ^\G have endeavored to do this in such a way that, in ac- cordance with the meaning of his whole life, they should be full of helpful ministries to mind and heart, that his " works " may " follow him." Not the least welcome and durable of those " works " will be that which he will continue to perform by his words recorded for hearts bowed in affliction. As
PREFACE. ^^^
.ve have trodden the old familiar ways anew with our father in Israel, another presence hath accompanied us; for, in the same month in which he ascended, one who, in the fullness of his loving, sunny boyhood, used to call him " Papa Day," en- tered one of the " many mansions."
If this memoir shall create in the hearts of readers who had not the rare privilege of his personal acquaintance, a sense of loss because they did not know him; -if, especially, it shall suggest to his friends, or enable them to supply, those name- less, inexpressible gi'aces which each holds peculiar and dear- est, the most ardent wish of the author will be satisfied. Lewiston, Me., Dec. 20, 1875.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Youth Am) Eaely Manhood ----- 11
11.
In the Ministry : Grafton, Chester, Olneyville - - 35
III. In the Ministry : Providence. Letters - - - 76
IV.
Editorial Life -------- 127
V. Memorials of his Death and Character - - - 160
VI.
Recreation in Europe and the East - - - - 196
CONTENTS.
VII.
Studies of the Wokd and Life _ - - - 241
VIII.
Sermons and Lectures :
I. Religious Prosiierity .--_-- 294
II. Clirist's Vital Relations to Men - - - - 319
III. Christianity : Our Help and Hope - - - - 344
IV. The Bright and Dark Sides of Life - - - 372
V. Public Opinion _______ 383
VI. Crusades and Crttsaders ----- 399 vn. Augrlo - Saxon : The Old and the New - - - 41G
GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
I.
YOUTH AND EARLY MANHOOD.
1822 — 1847.
ON the eighth of December, 1822, a new- born child was welcomed to a home of piety and love, in the town of Concord, now Day, Sara- toga Co., N. Y.
He was the fifth son and tenth child of Benjamin and Cynthia (Kent) Day. Other Georges had en- tered life with greater earthly advantages, certainly, to help answer the question, " What manner of child shall this be?" He owned no illustrious an- cestry, nor family name honored even in decay. No delicate training, nor luxurious shielding from rough, unkindly influences awaited his steps. But
12 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
intellectual power and royal gifts refuse to enter no cottage, however humble, nor avoid the dwellings of poverty.
At three years of age, he showed unusual apti- tude of mind in learning and reciting stanzas of po- etry, and some entire Psalms. When three and a half years old, he removed with his parents to Hope, in the town of Scituate, R. I., where he spent nearly two years. At five years of age, George was sent with the older children, to work in the cotton mill, his little help in contributing to family support being deemed necessary.
For several years his time was divided between the mill and the school. Often, however, he worked until nine o'clock in the morning, returning to the mill at the close of school in the afternoon. The days of labor at that period were strangel}^ long and wearisome ; beginning, the 3''ear round, with the earliest light, and closing at eight o'clock at night, in the fall and winter, and at sunset in spring and summer. It was not uncommon to find children of that tender age, even more closely con- fined to the mill than he.
Removing from Hope to Hebronville, Mass., and thence, after two years, to Kent, now Lebanon, Mass., the family remained together until October, 1834, j'^st preceding George's twelfth birthday.
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 13
when his mother, for whom he possessed a most ar- dent affection, died. Thirteen of her fourteen chil- dren survived her. His father died about eiofht years after.
The mother keeps the home for the children's re- turning footsteps and love, and when she passes away, the wide world claims them. With three other members of the family, George left home for work in the mill at Lonsdale, R. I., soon after his mother's death. Here he remained, with the ex- ception of a few months, until he was eighteen years of age. While at Kent he attended school for a short time only. After removing to Lonsdale, his school - days were interrupted altogether.
His parents were members of the Congregational church in Hebronville. Amid poverty and the cares of so large a household, they conscientiously carried forward the religious training of their chil- dren. They insisted, with the strictness of an ear- lier time, upon the observance of religious duties. The catechism and Scriptures furnished tasks to be learned on Sunday. One of the reminiscences of his boyhood, is of a Sunday when he was left at home by his father, with the one hundred and nine- teenth Psalm to be committed to memory and re- cited before sunset. He regularly attended Sun- day school at Hebronville, previous to his mother's
14 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
death. Before his sixth birthday he was sprinkled by Rev. Tliomas Williams, pastor of the Congrega- tional church at H.
His mature estimate of the value and wisdom of this form of early discipline, finds this expres- sion: — "There is certainly much to commend in the earnestness with which our New England an- cestry sought to indoctrinate the youth of their charge. They believed the sentiments taught in the catechism as fundamental in practical religion, as is education in a popular government. To reject the ' Westminster Confession of Faith,' seemed to them equivalent to a rejection of God's plan of sav- ing the soul. 'Their faith was practical, and their conviction expressed itself in action. They felt that their duty was done only when they had securely deposited within the store - house of their children's intellects, that whole digest of theology ; and then they waited for religion to spring up from the soil which their training had prepared.
" Nor was their labor in vain. It may some- times have cramped the intellect by repressing its inquiries, and curtailing its rational freedom. It may sometimes have increased the tendency to fling the charge of heresy at every dissatisfied inquirer, and begotten such a tendenc}' where it was not be- fore. The doctrines of divine appointment and
THE GREAT DECISION. I5
providence, may have sometimes weakened the feeHng of individual obhgation, and induced a few daring minds, unable to reconcile the statements with philosophy or consciousness, to plunge boldly into skepticism. After all, that early training ope- rated powerfully as a conservative force in the moral life of that early time ; and aided in nurturing and developing elements of character that have done much to make whatever is valuable in American mind and American institutions. It kept alive a solemn reverence for God, for truth, for sacred things, for duty, for moral heroism, for the civil magistracy, for age and for order."*
The religious training was answered by this large number of children, without exception, by lives of virtue and positions of respectability.
Martin Cheney, pastor of the F. Baptist church at Olneyville, in labors most abundant and self- de- nying, unable to confine his work to his immediate field, answered frequent and earnest calls for his la- bors in neighboring towns and villages. jiany were thus brought under the influence of the Gos- pel who had never else heard it. He was accus- tomed to visit,among these outposts of labor, the vil- lage of Lonsdale, at the invitation of some families who had removed thither from Olneyville. Indica-
*Lile of Martin Cheney, p. 15.
l6 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
tions of unusual interest induced him to commence a series of meetings in the beginning of the winter of 1839 — 4*^' ^^^ hopes of a revival were not dis- appointed, a number being brought to Christ.
The religious interest had almost lost its special power, and still George, who had attended the meetings with some regularity, seemed entirely un- moved. The final result is given in his own words : " One day I was meditating upon the matter. The question was asked me : ' Are you willing to live longer such an ungrateful life?' I pondered, I de- cided. ' Will you live hereafter in obedience to God?' Another season of reflection, and the last decision was made. Only an hour had passed, and I felt that I was in a new relation to God, entering upon a new life." His attention had been arrested by a sermon from Mr. Cheney on the text : " Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
This process of calm, intellectual reflection and decision, which characterized his conversion, was reproduced to no small extent in the experience of many whom he led to Christ. Though his appeals from the pulpit, and in private, lacked somewhat in the emotional element, they stirred hearts pro- foundly. It was his conviction that the better way to radically afiect the life and secure continued and
THE GREAT DECISION. I7
abundant fruitage for the Master, was to reach the heart chiefly through the intellect. The large spir- itual results of his ministry, and their permanency, go far to prove the correctness of his theory. Many can recall the earnest pleading, the apt illustrations, the cogent reasoning, and the loving, brotherly in- terest with which he attempted to draw their love and life to his own Helper and Redeemer. As one who could not be denied for Christ's sake, he en- tered the lists in behalf of wayward, straying souls, to help them win the great battle of life.
In his own case, the fruitage showed the gen- uineness of his faith and the fullness of his consecra- tion. His conversion, occurring in 1840, in the spring following his seventeenth birthday, gave significance and direction to his entire future.
At five years of age he had read with great ea- gerness and intelligent comprehension, every book which the library of his Sunday school could fur- nish ; but years of severe toil greatly diminished this love of books, and straitened pecuniary circumstan- ces could not allow food for its growth. Special encouragement to learning which others might have supplied, being wanting, the physical prostration incident to his labors, and the demands of a grow- ing body for recreation being especially exacting, little trace of that early thirst for knowledge seems
IQ GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
to have appeared in the interval between his twelfth and seventeenth years. Ambition took new and surprising directions ; the better and higher aims were held in abeyance, and there seemed to be lit- tle promise of a high and noble manhood.
His life was kept, however, from gross vices. Amid all his wildness and seeming recklessness in the companionship of low associates, he never was known to make religion, either in its professors or its claims, the subject of joke or sarcasm. " When I was tempted to use profane words, like some of my companions, I always seemed to feel the pres- sure of my mother's hand as it used to rest in boy- hood upon my head as she commended me nightly to God in prayer," is his touching testimony to the maternal influence which never left his spirit. As it was the earliest influence, so it was the latest, to which he responded. It was recognized all through the waywardness, and the consecration, and the vi- cissitudes of his life. It was upon him in his last public address delivered at the Anniversary of the Free Baptist Woman's Mission Society, Oct., 1874. The tenderest, sweetest portion of that address was a tribute to the virtues and life of that mother whose tones earliest evoked his own, and which sang themselves all through his life, to burst out in notes of devotion and praise, in this his own dying song.
MATERNAL IXFLUEN'CE. I9
He speaks of her as the " meek and saintly spirit that lighted our early home with piety and love, even now acting on our hearts freely, sweeping all its chords with strange power, though it be many years since she obeyed the summons, ' come up higher.'" As, in the closing hour of a most busy and trying week, he summoned his flagging ener- gies to the fulfillment of a promised service in be- half of womanhood in India, that motherly pa- tience and self-denial, sensitive love and thought- ful tenderness seemed to culminate in his own spirit, imparting to it a chastened dignity and a mellow luster which impressed his audience as on no previous occasion.
The tenderest spirits are strongest, and often yearn for the grander exhibitions of God's nature, and most freely respond to their power. With the spell of the holy influences of the evening before still upon him, he preached Sunday morning from the words: "But the natural man receiveth not
the things of the spirit of God "It
was an effort of surpassing power, magnificent in imagery and reach of thought, full of devotion and fidelity to a love better to him than life. It was fit- tingly his last sermon.
We are aware of digression from the special promise of this chapter, but the grouping of events
20 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
may sometimes most fittingly require other than mere chronological order.
Such a character as that of Martin Cheney, defi- nite, independent, full of sincerity and daring impul- ses, was needed to make the required impression upon this young disciple, whose years had recently been full of frivolity and aimlessness. He must be trained by some master hand and made to listen to truth spoken with authority, before his true life - work should stand out clothed with significance. Mr. Cheney was now at the height of his fame and power as a preacher, and his personal magnetism was in fullest play, and as a master he directed and inspired the soul of his awakened and willing pu- pil.
Then came a most perplexing question in re- spect to church membership. The preferences of the family were with the Congregationalists, to whose customs and tenets his acquaintance had been almost wholly confined, and his connection with that order was naturally sought with some eagerness. He had known a little of the Calvinist Baptists. An Episcopal society held services in the village. He knew nothing of the Free Baptists save through Mr. Cheney. At length, after pro- curing and carefully studying the confessions of faith of these and some other religious bodies, he
STUDENT LIFE. 21
decided to unite with the F. Baptist church in Olneyville. He was baptized by Mr. Cheney on the second Sunday in May, 1840, and received into church fellowship.
An older brother about this time removing to Saccarappa, Me., George accompanied him, and lor two years continued at work in the mill. But now a new ambition burns within him, his early thirst for knowledge comes back with manifold power, baptized with holy fervor. Within this period he read wholly by candle-light more than twelve thousand pages. His religious purposes gained strength, and his desire for Christian service, began to manifest itself in decided forms. He found duty in the pra3'er room, where his exercises both in prayer and word, became increasingly welcome, and where he was often assigned leadership. Grad- ually the conviction arose in his own heart and with others, that the gospel ministry was likely to be- come his life service. Though unsettled as to his future sphere of toil, he could not feel that any po- sition was to be successfully entered upon without systematic literary training. He accordingly re- turned to Rhode Island, and at the commencement of the academical year, in 1843, began study in Smithville Seminary, Rev. Hosea Quinby, Princi- pal.
22 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
His entrance upon student life was characterized by an intelligent, deep enthusiasm. His long cher- ished dream was about to be realized ; the conquest of the realm of knowledge, upon which he had de- sired to enter, especially since his conversion, seem- ed more practicable now. Freed from the burdens and hindrances of daily manual labor, he entered most joyfully into the more exhausting toil of the study and class-room. He had a definite purpose ; knew the value of his opportunities and grasped them as a miser his gold. He was now almost twenty years of age, and the time had alread}^ gone by in which the majority of youth complete their academical studies.
The prescribed hours of study were easy limits to his ambition and his endurance, the average time spent over his books being from twelve to fourteen hours daily. The tasks set for his class were faith- fully and quickly learned, and then left for other studies and literary pursuits. He was excessively fond of, and expert in, youthful sports in his early life, but he sparingly, or rarely, indulged in them at Smithville. He was avaricious of even the mo- ments which had, with wisdom, been given to rec- reation.
His work in the classroom was marked by exact- ness, and showed careful and liberal preparation.
A WINTER AT BRISTOL. 23
His recitations were not confined to the routine of the text -book, but conveyed the result of collateral reading and study. The manual was the starting- point from which he proceeded to new investiga- tions; and afforded stimulus to inquiries in fields be- yond. Although not mingling with great freedom, nor promiscuously, with his fellow students, yet he gained no unpleasant reputation for exclusiveness, but by his kindly, conciliatory spirit, and his emi- nent abilities, won their admiration and love. The attitude of Principal and teachers toward him soon became more like that toward a younger brother than a pupil. In the fall of his second year, the Principal having occasion to be absent for two weeks, he was put in charge of the classes of the Principal and of the government of the school. His services were attended by the respect and obedience of pupils, and the satisfaction of teachers.
In December of this year, he accepted the charge of the High school in Bristol, R. I. His work as a teacher and disciplinarian received commendation, and met success. His hours out of school were still devoted to close study, or the writing of essays and lectures, upon which he spent much time and labor. His lectures were delivered before various associa- tions in the town. Though his time of study and read- ing had been very limited, yet these produc-
24 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
tions show more than an ordinary acquaintance with the geological theories of the time, with the issues of the temperance controversy, and with the history of the slavery question, and its prominent actors. They exhibit, besides, no ordinary ac- quaintance with English prose writers, and poets. His discussions were mature in thought and style ; the arguments carefully stated, and supported by ' abundant proofs. We can not help the expression of regret, as we examine these early productions and note their ability and promise, that greater wis- dom had not regulated his application, and that a more intelligent decision did not fix the kind and amount of his intellectual training. It did not re- quire the keen insight of Dr. Shepard to enable one to declare, as he did : " Mr. Day will make one of our ablest men."
During the winter, among other lectures, he pre- pared, with his usual care, one upon Temperance. His brother Lewis, then a resident of the town, was desirous that it should be delivered in the Congre- gational church. Upon expressing his wish to Rev. T. P. Shepard, the pastor, he was met by the re- ply : "We have had a great many temperance lectures ; they are all about alike, and the people, I think, are getting tired of them; but if your brother wishes to speak, I will announce his ad-
THE CHRISTIAN STUDENT. 25
dress, to be given in the vestry, and will at the same time say that other speakers may be expected also ; so if he does not get on well, I, with others, will try to help him out. " At the hour fixed, the speaker was introduced not a little distrustfully. After listening five minutes with increasing interest, anx- iety fully giving way to confidence, Mr. Shepard left the platform and took a seat among the au- dience, directly in front of the speaker, who contin- ued to hold undivided attention for an hour. Mr. S. referring to it afterward, said with nervous em- phasis : "I didn't know the man. "
He was soon after invited to lecture in the au- dience room of the church, where he was greeted, on his appearance, by a large congregation. On whatever topic he spoke subsequently, during that winter, he never failed of a flattering reception. He is remembered by some of the older residents of the town with special interest, and reference to his ef- forts still awakens enthusiasm. A part of another winter was also spent in teaching in the same town.
His religious life at the Seminary gave no out- ward occasion for anxiety, yet he often had seasons of self- reproach for his coldness and inactivity. Concern also for the religious welfare of the school, mingled largely in his meditations and prayers. At one time he writes :
26 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
" There is a religious stupidity among us at the Seminary which is truly alarming. Science has its votaries, pleasure pleads successfully, and worldly intellectual ambition enthralls many hearts ; but re- ligion, bearing to us the great lessons, the great as- pirations and hopes of life, revealed by the blood of Immanuel, is forgotten. My soul, arouse thy dor- mant energies, awake and gird thj^self for thy ardu- ous task. Not only thy own destiny but that of a thousand others may depend upon thy activity or indolence. "
On the evening of his twenty -first birthday, after recounting, with deep gratitude, the many mercies which had crowned his life, among which he spe- cially mentions the prayerful love of Christian parents, and the helpful solicitude of brothers and sisters, he concludes his reflections with these de- vout words :
"And what shall I do but dedicate myself anew to God, consecrate myself afresh to his service, and devote my life to the work of aiding the cause of righteousness in promoting the highest present and future welfare of mankind? Hol}^ Father, confirm and seal these resolutions of faithfulness, that my life may tell to some good account. And when I shall have fulfilled all thy will on earth, ma}^ 1 be permitted an inheritance among the sanctified, through the merits and sacrifice of an atoning Re- deemer. "
It was often remarked by his friends that " He
THEOLOGICAL STUDY AT WHITESTOWN. 27
ought to go to college. " This question of a coUe- fj-iate course, after giving it considerable attention, he decided in the negative, although specially en- couraged by one of his brothers, and also by others, to pursue a liberal course of study. His advanced ao-e, together with an ardent desire to enter, soon as possible, upon active life, was allowed to influence his decision unduly. Cherishing somewhat errone- ous ideas, of the nature of a true culture, — ideas which in after years were greatly modified, — he believed he could obtain what he wanted and need • ed, in the way of discipline and actual attainments, easier and better by foregoing collegiate priv- ileges.
This decision, with its consequences to mind and body, he regarded in his mature years with regret. During the entire four years of his first pastorate, at Grafton, he buried himself in his books, and at- tempted by intense study to supply what a limited attendance upon the schools had denied. It can not be questioned that he succeeded in gaining a more thorough and intelligent acquaintance with English literature than the graduates of colleges usually reach, and a wider and more comprehensive theo- logical knowledge than the majority of graduates from our foremost theological seminaries, but his victory was won at too great a cost.
28 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
At the time of entering his pastorate at Olney- ville, in 1852, his daily hours of actual, severe study had become reduced, by mental and physical inability, from twelve to two. This lower limit he rarely, afterward, was able to exceed, although his power of application, in the easier forms of literary service, continued for many years the day long, save in time of actual prostration. His after life of almost continual pain, — often of intense suffering, — was chiefly born of the unwise, but absorbing devo- tion to study in the ten years succeeding his enter- ing Smithville Seminary. His change of feeling with reference to collegiate education, is partly evinced by his direction of the life of his son, whom, at no small sacrifice, he placed within the reach of college privileges.
Having decided to enter upon a course of theolog- ical study, he left Smithville in the spring of 1845, and entered the F. Baptist Theological School at Whitestown, N. Y. His examination for admission showed an independence of thought which was well nigh arraigned by one of the examining committee as heresy. It was certainly an advance in knowl- edge, and power of thought, beyond what had been usually witnessed on similar occasions. He became not only a student, but an ornament of the school, giving it new acceptability and higher rep-
LIFE AT WHITESTOWN. 29
utation in the community of which it was the center.
Rev. Dr. Butler speaks of his " marked ability and originality of thought." " Throughout the course of study he was diligent, earnest, courteous, and eminently successful. My remembrance of him in the class-room, is unexceptionally pleasant and endearing ; he commended himself to other teachers also, and to the students, in a manner to obtain a large place in their hearts. "
Thoroughness and promptness characterized his exercises in the class - room ; a spirit of devotion and activity marked his attendance upon the meet- ings for prayer. He was courteous in«social inter- course, free from sharpness in debate, and abstain- ed from decided expressions of approval or dis- pleasure.
The students were accustomed to hold extempora- neous debates, in which he took a lively interest. At such times a question would be proposed, and speakers called at once to discuss it. His im- promptu arguments at these debates, were a source of constant surprise to his class - mates. He would open the question systematically, and argue with a clearness and effective rhetorical arrangement that seemed the fruit of long study upon it. His lan- guage was grammatical,' eloquent and forcible.
30 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
" The critics had a lean subject when he was upon the floor. "
For a number of years he held substantially the position of his early religious guide, Martin Cheney, upon the Peace question : that all wars are wrong ; that armies and navies are excluded by the spirit of Christianity ; that Government has no right to resort to force of arms to restrain vice or to punish criminals ; that capital punishment is totally unallowable ; that " to control, or attempt to control the actions of men by a resort to force, is a practi- cal refusal to recognize them as moral beings. "
He frequently discussed this question at Whites- town ; and having studied it more than his oppo- nents, he maintained his position to their discom- fiture. His opinions on this subject were either greatly modified or abandoned, as he came in more direct and serious contact with questions of morals and government, especially when the stern logic of events, the hand of Providence, laid the fearful is- sues of life and death before the nation, at the in- auguration of civil strife.
Toward the close of his studies, Nov. 4, 1846, he delivered an address of signal ability, entitled "The reign of Force and Reason," before the Rhetorical Society. In this, his Peace principles received an ornate setting, and somewhat thorough presentation.
ADDRESSES AT WHITESTOWN. 3 1
The term Reason was employed by him in its widest sense, to denote all that is implied in the very trite phrase : " moral suasion." We introduce two or three paragraphs from it, to illustrate the beauty and strength of his style at that time, rather than the course of argument or the nature of his opinions :
"The first act of homage was paid it," (the reign of Force) '* when the earth was yet young. ' And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass, that when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.' He talked with Abel ; for Reason had until now equipped him with his implements of control ; but he abjured her mildness in his passionate heat, and grasping the proffered sword of Force, sent it quivering to his brother's heart.
" The history of the reign of Reason is sad, not in its character, but in its brevity. Not an age has
honored it, not a nation has welcomed it It
has sometimes peered out, amid the almost univer- sal despotism of force, most lovingly upon the world, showing that it has other homes, when earth will not give it a shelter. ... It has been like a lone bright star, gazing out through the cloudy folds of midnight ; like a rose blooming on the bosom of winter ; like an angel's song bursting up from the heart of chaos.
" If the natural sympathies of your renovated souls had instinctively clung around the sword as
32 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
the great instrument of social blessing ; if they had harmonized with the reign of Force, why choose Whitestown rather than West Point as the place of instruction? Why seek skill in the use of the Bible, rather than the pistol and scimetar? Why covet the ornamental graces of the Spirit rather than sash and epaulette? Why gather from week to week for logical, rather than military power? Why cultivate a persuasive eloquence rather than a frightening fury? Those belong to the sway of Reason, these are essential elements in the reign of Force."
On the nineteenth of the same month, he also ad- dressed the "Society of Christian Research," pre- senting, " The Christian Scholar's Mission." He was expecting to enter upon his first pas- torate two weeks later. The address, there- fore, possesses some interest as indicating his convictions of work and duty. In it he de- clares: " It becomes a matter of less importance what functions it will be our lot to discharge, than how we shall discharge them." A sentiment full of meaning; as he afterward translated it into life. " He who dignifies his office, whatever it may be, seldom does it b}^ mere accident. . . . It is the Christian who searches most deeply and earnestly into the things of God, that honors best his high and sacred profession. " His unremitting efforts to win abiding gains ; his utter unwillingness to accept
CLOSE OF STUDENT LIFE. 33
show for substance, and to rest upon reputation rather than character, show that the young candi- date for the pulpit had wrought this truth into his own being, before it gained the utterance of the tongue.
With similar spirit he proceeds to say: "The scholar's obligations are commensurate with his power. Every scholar has his specific sphere and his specific duties ; a sphere and a class of duties, which, so to speak, are created by his scholarship. For what are schools, seminaries and col- leges established? Not to twist the cords of caste but to sunder them ; not to disqualify men for bear- ing a part among the multitudes of their fellows, but to gird them with higher efficiency for this very work ; not to break off their fellowship with the rest of human souls, but to strengthen, exalt and sancti- fy that fellowship, and make it an instrument of universal blessing. "
This is his farewell word, spoken at the close of the address, to those with whom he had been asso- ciated in study: "Let us prosecute our work, whether here or elsewhere, now and hereafter, with manly fortitude and singleness of heart. As the night is doubly welcome to the weary laborer, so will heaven be sweeter after the toils and warfare of a faithful life. "
34 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
In the eighteen months which comprised his con- nection with the Theological School, he had com- pleted, to the satisfaction of the faculty, the studies of the three years' course.
This chapter has attempted to reveal some of the moulding forces of his life, and his response to them in the forming and cherishing of purposes, and choosing his field of service. We must now follow him to the battle - field ; to the tent of rest by the way-side ; to heroic endurance ; to the test and fruit- age of early choices and principles.
II.
IN THE MINISTRY,
GRAFTON, CHESTER, OLNEYVILLE. 1846 1857.
ON the first of December, 1846, he entered upon his first pastorate with a church of sixty mem- bers, in the quiet village of Grafton, Mass. The stipulated salary was $350 per annum. At the be- ginning of the second year, fearing this amount was too great for the ability of the parish, he requested that it might be reduced to $300.
His ordination occurred in connection with a ses- sion of the R. I. Quarterly Meeting, held at Olney- ville, May 20, 1847 ; Martin Cheney preaching the sermon, and M. W. Burlingame offering the prayer of consecration.
During the four years in this pastorate, his life was almost wholly free from cares beyond the
36 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
limits of his parish. He was cheered and helped in very significant ways, by the abundant hospitality, the kind social intercourse and confidence of his people. Not unfrequently he took his books to the woods, or chose for the place of composing his sermons, some rock or mossy bank by the stream. His communion with nature was then, as always, in- timate and free, and she readily gave back to him help for the work of promoting the spiritual life of men, and refreshment for his own mind and heart.
He was married Dec. 23, 1846, to Miss Frances L. Green, of Lonsdale. The house which wel- comed them was most frugally furnished, and the books which aided the young pastor were few ; yet he always spoke of this beginning with the greatest satisfaction, and from amid the heat and pressure of multiplied cares in after, years, often looked back upon it as a desert traveler upon an oasis of wav- ing palms and cooling waters.
His coming to his chosen field was not greeted with special enthusiasm. Many inquiries were made as to the wisdom of the choice of the church, because of his unprepossessing personal appearance : complexion being dark, his form stooping, and manner suggesting awkwardness. But prejudice and doubt quickly vanished as he earnestly and ably ad- dressed himself to his work. The first two years
CLOSE OF LABORS AT GRAFTON. 37
were comparatively barren of spiritual results. The last two years were blessed by a number of conver- sions ; and the house of worship was crowded reg- ularly. On pleasant, mild Sundays, even the steps and entrance would be filled with eager listeners.
The opening of the year, 1848, brought to the household its first great grief, when " an infant of days," ascending, bound earth to heaven with strong- er bands. Its body rests beside his own in the ceme- tery at Mulberry Grove, a place which, because of the presence of the dust of that little form, and of his own prospective resting there, he called " the sweetest spot on earth. "
His pastorate closed October 29, 1850. His fare- well sermon, proclaiming "The Duties and Rights of Ministers," was no attempt at self- defense or incul- pation of the people, but a robust, manly presenta- tion of the mutual relations of pulpit and pew. The limits of these pages allow only brief extracts from it:
" // is the duty oj the minister to give instruction in the great doctrines and duties of the Gospel. To teach, or rather to interpret and illustrate God's teachings, is his primary work. Whatever else he may do, if he does not dismiss his congregation to their homes from Sabbath to Sabbath, with new means of wisdom and clearer views of duty, he and his labors must be found wanting.
3& • GEORGE TIFFANY 'day.
" They mistake the character of the Gospel sad- ly, who suppose that it comprises only a few com- mon - place ideas connected with the salvation of men. It has these, certainly, shining out glorious- ly and distinctly on its surface, so that even the weakest may learn the methods and the means of redemption. But no minister whose opportunities and capacities enable him to look from the surface to the interior of a truth, from a principle to its modes of application, can be justified in simply re- peating these general truths from week to week and from year to year, investing them with no new meaning, and giving them no new application.
"Is it objected that these are the great funda- mental truths of the Gospel, and should therefore be constantly insisted on? My reply is that this suggests a reason why they should not occupy ex- clusive attention. A wise builder- does not work forever on his foundation. He has the building still to erect above it, and the value of that founda- tion is estimated in proportion as it meets the wants of the structure above it. The alphabet is the foun- dation of learning, but a wise and faithful teacher does not always keep his pupils repeating it. And so. the inculcation of these primary truths in Chris- tianity has reference, in a wise minister's labors, to the noble and godlike character he seeks, by wider teaching, to rear upon them. — Is it said that Paul knew nothing among men save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and therefore his successors should be satisfied with following his example? I ask
FAREWELL SERMON AT GRAFTON. 39
what did Paul mean by this language? That his mission should be confined to the simple announcement that Christ died for the world's salvation? Not at all. Take up any of his discourses recorded in the Acts ; or follow him through his epistles to the churches, and his com- prehensive meaning will soon be learned. The cross is the central truth in his system of teaching ; but he shows it sustaining relations broad as the universe and vast as eternity. He makes it link it- self with the soul's highest destiny, and with all the facts of human history, and with all the hopes and passions of human hearts. It takes a firm step and a strong head to follow him over the dizzy heights of wisdom he traverses. Now he welds an argu- ment with the strength of steel ; now he throws an all comprehensive truth into an epigram ; and then with a burst of imagination, he flashes light upon a vast field of inquiry, where all was dark and unin- telligible before.
" It is strange that Paul's example should ever be quoted in support of barrenness in pulpit teaching. Never was there better illustration of his own pre- cept : ' Therefore leaving the principles of the doc- trine of Christ, let us go on to perfection.'
." Whatever else you may forget or neglect of m}^ teachings, do not forget nor neglect that part of them by which 3'ou have been urged to receive and study the Bible as the inspired word of God ; that part which has aimed to show the importance of a living, trustful sympathy with Christ."
40 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
While at Grafton he composed his sermons with great care, usually writing them out with considera- ble fullness. They were marked by carefulness in expression, and elegance of style. He devoted special labor to the preparation of his illustrations ; appreciating the value of complete, definite pict- ures, which should lose nothing of effect from lack of fitness or from imperfect finish. This early hab- it reveals not a little of the secret of the masterly use of illustrations which attended the maturity of his powers. He also gave careful study to the con- clusions of his sermons ; not satisfied to leave them wholly, nor chiefly, to the working of his mind at the moment of delivery. He could never be ac- cused of a rambling, pointless, ineifective close. There was a reserving of strength, a hiding of re- sources for the final declaration of the discourse, which made it the culmination of thought and elo- quence.
In an essay read before the R. I. Minister's Con- ference, near the close of his labors at Grafton, he says; " It is claimed that the preacher should fol- low his tendencies, whether they be natural or ac- quired : that ' he must be like himself,' ' maintain his individuality,' forgetting that he may be like himself, may be individual, and yet have a culti- vated style. If he cultivate himself, as he certainly should, his style will be like him. Cultivation of
MENTAL HABITS. 4I
mind and of style go hand in hand. The style of the pulpit should be the purest possible, but fre- quently instead, as once when the sons of God were assembled, Satan is found also."
Among a thousand sketches of sermons written subsequently to this pastorate, there is rarely one covering more than a sheet of note paper. Hard study accompanied his early written productions, whether essays or sermons. It is not easy to think of him spending, as he once declared, four hours of study upon the composition of half a page of manu- script, or a week upon a single sheet. Those valu- able qualities of speech which signalized his last years, were not the result of genius, nor gained without difficult struggles.
On being asked if he ever experienced difficulty in finding words to clothe his thought, he would re- ply : " Not the least,- the chief task is to choose the most fitting of those words which present them- selves." With him this very facility of expression was an element to be controlled and guided. Readiness in the use of language, this " almost fatal facility of words," as one fitly describes it, has proved disastrous to multitudes as gifted as he. But we find in him no resting in the ready tongue and quick utterance ; language must embody thought and be the vehicle of real spiritual forces.
42 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
His abiding, resolute choice of unfaltering serv- ice, forbade dependence upon a readiness of ex- pression that might seem likel}^ to retain acceptabil- ity with his audience.
Great as was the promise of the opening of his career, he was saved from comparative uselessness and obscurity, by the spirit which entered into his labors. He scorned subterfuge and formality, and strove to make his work stand not in the sight of men, but of God. His conscience was kept too keen to allow him to attempt a sonorous utterance, rather than a thoughtful, self- denying helpfulness. The decisive, telling utterances ol" his later years had been impossible without these qualities.
One substantial proof of his strength of mind and the nobility of his nature, is exhibited by his steady development in precision of statement, terseness of expression and weight of thought. A feeble, unhe- roic nature would have given over the severe strug- gle ; fallen back upon some fancied superiority of mind, or upon a fluent utterance, and missed the grandeur of a life of self- sacrificing toil.
Continuing to supply the pulpit at Grafton until the close of December, he accepted in the begin- ning of January following, an invitation to visit Ohio and preach as his services might be sought b}^ the churches. He then became acquainted with the church in Chester, acceptably supplying its pul-
REVIVAL WORK IN OHIO. 43
pit for several Sundays in the absence of the pastor, But the chief event connected with this tour, was a series of meetings held with the church at Greens- burg, where some religious interest had been ob- served and promoted, previous to his arrival. He cheerfully accepted the invitation of the pastor to aid him by preaching a single sermon. At the conclusion of the services it was felt that the interest had received a specially needed help and direction. He responded to what seemed an indication of Proviflence, by preaching nearly every evening for three weeks, when he was compelled by exhausted strength to give the work up to other human hands. A number of conversions resulted from the meeting's. This large draft upon his resources was, of course, wholly unexpected, and found him in a measure unprepared. He had not studied the nat- ure of his work in vain, nor did his heart lack vital sympathy with Christ and regard for the salvation of men. There had been a deep and true founda- tion for enduring power, laid in mind and heart. He yearned to win triumphs for Christ, in the wisest, most self- sacrificing ways, and his desire had not been wholly disappointed. Still there was needed a special vitalizing of waiting forces, — the stirring of valuable soul -depths, to reveal the man, the Christian and the minister.
44 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
Fortunately for him and the world, the needful quickening was not long to be missed from his life. He was thrown by these revival meetings, upon his own resources, as never before. The fev^ sketches of sermons which he had brouo-ht from home, soon failed to serve as guides to thought, or helps in em- barrassment. He was then in no little anxiety over the question : " How is it possible that I can contin- uousl}^ feed and guide this people?" He was com- pelled to abandon the methods and routine of labor to which he had been quite closely bound ; and as never before, was brought in contact with the active forces and immediate power of the Gospel. His preaching at once exhibited marked improve- ment. He had formerly spoken with a small voice without much emphasis or force ; but now his whole nature was roused ; his eye began to kindle with that significant light which afterward became of rare power to magnetize and inspire his audi- ences ; his spiritual life became clearer and more vitalizing ; and his voice ever after exhibited greater flexibility, volume and power. Theory had become transformed into life : the man stood forth in the light of a new revelation; the secret of preaching power was more fully revealed to him, and the elements of pastoral success more intelli- gently comprehended.
LABORS IN CHESTER. 45
In April, 185 1, he became Principal of Geauga Seminary, a young and promising institution at Chester, Ohio ; he also assumed the duties of pas- tor of tiie church at that place. A previous ac- quaintance prepared the way for the hearty welcome which was accorded him ; and high hopes were en- tertained of his ability to give the school and the church added prosperity. But he had scarcely ar- rived and signified anew his cheerful acceptance of these trusts, before he was prostrated by an illness which threatened his life. For several weeks his friends were without hope of his recov- ery, until at length, the hour of dissolution seeming near, preparations were partially made for the proper transportation of his body to the East for burial.
On Sunday Christians met in the church and much prayer was offered in his behalf On their return to the house he was rational, and expressed great ecstacy of soul. "• Have they not been pray- ing for me down at the church?" said he. "I feel as if they had, and I have seen angels, oh, such beautiful angels, all around me and in the sky." He expressed firm belief that he should recover, and at once began to amend.
He recovered from this illness only in season to be present at the graduating exercises, July i. He
46 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
remained in Chester until the close of the next aca- demical year ; both church and seminary having, meanwhile, been blessed with cheering growth.
The death of Martin Cheney, Jan. 4, 1852, left the Olneyville church without a pastor. From the beginning of his acquaintance with Mr. Day, Mr. Cheney had cherished toward him great admiration and ardent affection ; and often declared that no common career awaited him. It was also his ex- press wish that Mr. Day might be called to be his successor. Responding to its own favorable im- pressions and the known desire of Mr. Cheney, the church at Olneyville, soon after his death, summon- ed Mr. Day to its pastorate. At about the same time he received from Hillsdale (then Michigan Cen- tral) College an appointment to the chair of Rhet- oric and Latin,
He decided to accept the call to Olneyville, and accordingly entered upon his labors in July, 1852.
Amid the numerous and pressing duties of this large pastoral field, he entered upon the fulfillment of a promise made to Mr. Cheney more than two years before, that he would become, in the event of Mr. C.'s death, his biographer. This work, per- formed at no slight disadvantage, but in a manner creditable to his literary abilities, his power of dis- crimination, and his reverent affection, was publish-
SUCCEEDS MARTIN CHENEY. 47
ed in the following December. In the preface he says: "Unfitted as I might have felt for such a task, I could not refuse to comply with his request, when I saw that his heart was strongly set on such an arrangement."
Not only was the admiration of Mr. Cheney re- ciprocated by Mr. Da}', but he possessed a keen appreciation of the peculiar character of the man whom he was called to present, by virtue of the in- trinsic qualities of his own mind and heart. He had not less courage than Mr. Cheney, but more persistence ; not less independence, but more cau- tion ; not less self-reliance, but more self-control.
He entered upon his pastorate with sanguine ex- pectations. He came as no novice in pulpit and parish work, but ripened in judgment, and assured by the success which had recently attended his methods of toil, and possessed of an encouraging amount of mental and bodily vigor. His capacity for application to severe study had, indeed, been greatly reduced, yet, in the briefer period allowed him, he w^as able to perform more than a propor- tionate amount of w^ork, because of his retentive memory, his systematic habits of study, and espe- cially his thorough, exact discipline.
His ambition, in a healthful way, received a powerful stimulus from his new position. The
48 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
name of Martin Cheney had become significant not merely in Olneyville, but in the adjoining city, and in the denomination at large. The Olneyville church, in numbers, social standing, wealth and in- fluence then stood at the head of the R. I. churches. He was not likely to be unimpressed by all these circumstances. The work which had prov- identially fallen to him was accepted with modest courage and a self- depreciating, yet hopeful spirit. There was intelligent Christian stabilit}^ recognized in the existing membership ; a large number of promising youth were either actually attending the sanctuary, or likely, with proper efforts, to be won to it ; there were, too, many enterprising young men of business, whom he hoped to win for Christ.
The first communion Sunday yielded him no" little satisfaction and encouragement, as two candi- dates presented themselves for baptism. It was to him, as he said, " a binding of the sheaves" which had been matured by his predecessor. Nearly every one of the first twelve months witnessed anew the stirring of the baptismal waters, and valuable accessions to the membership ; and with each occa- sion his heart acknowledged afresh its early hopes, and hastened with heightened joy to fulfill them. Within this time thirty persons were admitted by baptism. The 8th of May he declared to be one of
METHODS OF WORK AT OLNEYVILLE. 49
the happiest days of his Hfe, when four young men were among the number gathered into the Christian fold.
He did not shrink from inaugurating such new methods of church work as seemed to promise sub- stantial advantages, while endeavoring to impart ad- ditional vigor to those already accepted. Sunday school concerts received considerable attention, and were made attractive and profitable ;. a Friday even- ing Bible class was organized, and he became its efficient and instructive teacher. Not a little through his influence and co-operation, attendance upon the school was greatly increased, averaging, during one of the years, nearly three hundred. The meetings for prayer yielded less readily to his wish and effort, but he steadily strove to make them occasions for impressing the practical, vital forms of Christian duty upon the membership, and upon the unconverted. A well filled lecture - room regularly greeted him at the hour of prayer, on Sunday even- ing ; the great majority of those in attendance not being Christians, he often attempted to set before them the claims of the Gospel by a brief, informal sermon, which, in flow of sympathies and quick, cogent reasoning, was the climax of the day's min- isterial toil.
It was remarked how easily he secured the con-
50 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
sent of Others to engage in the public exercises of Missionary and Sunday school concerts, making them feel honored, even, by being allowed to bear a part in the service designated ; the younger with the older, responding readily to the magnetic in- fluence of his word and example.
Not a few persons can testify to his happy faculty in discovering latent talent, and his attempts to de- velop it. Others can speak of the skill with which he reached a dormant or latent interest in the Gospel, and its practical work for the soul. A num- ber of those who united with the church in the first year of his pastorate, had been quickened under the preaching of Mr. Cheney, but awaited another hand to lead them to the light. He challenged no comparison of his labors with those of his predeces- sor, but rather, when the words and acts of the lat- ter were extolled, he was a pleased and unprejudic- ed listener.
Some of the present teachers in the Olneyville Sunday school readily recall, with a thrill of pleasure yet, his eye resting upon them in encour- aging sympathy as he used to walk slowly through the aisles of the lecture -room during the session, and can feel his presence still, as he sat down unob- trusively, quietly, beside them to utter words of cheer for their own hearts or of Christian love and
SUNDAY EVENING LECTURES. 5I
helpfulness to their scholars. How he was felt, when he entered the vestry door, almost before we saw him, or knew by his voice that it was he ! He was recognized by the school as its watchful guardian and personal friend ; contact with its life he felt to be a necessary help to the succeeding pulpit ser- vices of the morning.
With the hope of reaching with religious truth, many who did not attend regular Sunday worship, he gave a course of lectures on Sunday evenings to young people. Beginning them modestly in the lecture - room, the large attendance compelled the use thereafter of the audience room of the church, — even the natural seating capacity of the latter proving insufficient. On such occasions he treated some practical question of public or private morals, in much the same way, (only less formally,) as in the usual Sunday services. The interest in these lectures culminated, in some instances at least, in a practical Christian life, while many others acknowledged their reforming power. En- couraged by these results, he gave a similar course in the following winter; and, several years after, another, while pastor of the Roger Williams church, of like value and profit.
The opening year of this pastorate witnessed con- siderable pastoral visiting, and it was his desire to
52 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY. ,
equal, if not to exceed the amount of it, year by year ; but he was now to become, in no ordinary sense, the honored and laborious servant of others be- yond the limits of his parish. He was called to frequent service in the neighboring city, and also to promote, in various important ways, the interests of the denomination at large. Burdens were thus pressed upon him which he knew not how to refuse, nor yet, sometimes, consistently with parish duties, how to accept. The number of his public address- es, at home and abroad, reached one hundred and fifty annually. He attended fifty funerals each year, and engaged in many lesser forms of Chris- tian labor.
In the spring of 1849, he introduced at the R. I. Quarterly Meeting, a resolution favoring the publi- cation of a Review which should represent denomi- national enterprise and tenets to the world, develop literary talent, and minister, in the higher forms, to intellectual and spiritual life within the denomina- tion. About the first of October following, a call was issued in the Morning Star, for a convention to consider the propriety of publishing a "Quarterly Review ;" the call being signed by fourteen clergy- men,— G. T. Day being one of the number. The convention met at the time of the Anniversaries, at Great Falls, Oct. 16, and decided to attempt the pub-
CONNECTION WITH F. BAPTIST QUARTERLY. 53
lication of the Review which was afterward known as the Freewill Baptist ^lartcrly. Mr. Day was made one of the editorial council of five, to which the literary and financial management was entrust- ed. The complete arrangements were not made until the fall of 1852. On the first of January, 1853, it was published at Providence, by "Williams, Day & Co.," and by " Houlston & Co.," London, England.
The publication and literary management of the Quarterly threw upon him, for sixteen years, great, and sometimes very pressing burdens. His contri- butions were of a high order and permanent worth, constituting valuable additions to our denominational literature. After the editor, Rev. D. M. Graham, he was the principal working force and sustainer of the ^lartcrly. Half the book notices were his ; one, two, and sometimes three articles in a number, would be his ; the general editorial supervision he shared equally with the editor.
The promotion of this literary enterprise marked liis first attendance at the larger denominational gatherings. He became at once an active, earnest participator in the discussions and other public ex- ercises of that anniversary week. And, as after years found him almost invariably present on like occasions, they found him also bearing in them a
54 ©EORGE TIFFANY DAY.
more prominent part, and accepting new and greater responsibilities.
Soon after his coming to Olneyville, it became apparent that the house of worship was too small to furnish sufficient sittings for those who sought to attend Sunday services. The question of erecting a new and larger church edifice, was generally and earnestly discussed at intervals, between the winter of 1852, — '3, and the spring of 1854, with varying encouragement and disappointment ; at the latter date it was practically abandoned as a financial im- possibility. In his second anniversary sermon,
1854, ^^ ^^^^ •
" One phase of our work, that which respects a new house, I may speak of. The subject is dis- missed for the time from parish consideration. I appreciate the difficulties, but I have my doubts whether ^can not * is the word to be used when set- tling your policy. In a few words I will tell you frankly the aspects it presents to my own mind.
" The society itself is not accommodated. Many members of the church feel positively excluded. Many are all ready, and waiting for the opportunity to give their help when it can be done without seem- ing intrusive. Souls about us hunger for the bread of life, and can not obtain room in the house of worship if they would. There are many who at- tend nowhere, and with a little effort could, under proper circumstances, be gathered in. The Sun-
EFFORTS FOR A NEW HOUSE OF WORSHIP. 55
day school is crowded and overflows its limits, while multitudes of children are left to neglect.
" The entire field is by the providence of God placed at your disposal, and for its spiritual welfare you are made responsible. The pressure can never be expected to be stronger ; the longer it is resisted the less inclination will there be to yield to it. Neg- lect a duty and it will be questioned whether it be a duty. It will cost something to build now, it always will cost something. To refuse to build is certainly nurturing a narrow, selfish, unenterpris- ing spirit that looks dark for the future. Better die now, honorably, than here to drag out a lingering death. Certainly a narrow, illiberal policy will doom us."
With him this question assumed vital proportions, freighted with the highest welfare of the society and that of many souls dependent upon its saving influences. The village was rapidly extending its borders, the population continually increasing be- cause of the recent establishment of great business enterprises. The field had been nobly won and tilled by Mr. Cheney ; its sympathies were with the doctrines and work of the church ; and it was a crushing blow to his ardent hopes and spiritual longings when a conservative, timid policy was al- lowed to prevail. The matter was practically dropped throughout the remainder of his pastorate. This decision was the first great public disappoint-
56 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
ment which he was called to bear. That it should not seriously diminish his hopefulness, dampen his enthusiasm, and therefore affect his bodily health, was simply impossible.
A visit to the New Hampshire Yearly Meeting, in 1854, '^'^^s made memorable by his sermon,- a copy of which is found in these pages, at the dedi- cation of a new house of worship at New Hampton. The interest during its delivery was, at times, in- tense. It was observed that Deacon Dudley was, at any moment, liable to uncommon demonstrations. These were restrained, however, until after the benediction, when he shouted, as he alone could shput, "Glory, glory, glory!" The retiring au- dience was startled, many were alarmed, thinking that some calamity had befallen, but after those three shouts all was calm again.
His first serious, protracted physical prostration at Olneyville, occurred in the summer of 1855 ; for a number of weeks he sought strength and rest on the eastern shore of Narraganset Bay, at a retired spot of great natural beauty, about three miles be- low Providence. Amid "influences that teach, chasten and soothe," the ministry of the sea that " is never spent, its lessons never full}^ learned, its litany never completed," — he addressed to his church these sweet lines, which he calls
REST BY THE SEA SHORE. 57
AN INVALID pastor's SABBATH MUSING.
The distant bells, whose tones fall faint around me,
Reclining on the sod, Rouse up my spirit from the spell that's bound me,
And say "Come, worship God."
in the dim distance graceful spires are pointing
Up to the deep blue heaven ; »
And reverent souls go forth to the anointing Which in God's house is given.
Gladly my feet would hasten to the portal
So often passed in peace. And, feasting on the word of life immortal,
Seek there the Father's face.
Back from the temple where tried friends and cherished,
In by-gone Sabbath days. Cemented heart-bonds that have never perished,
Mid prayer, and song, and praise ; —
Thence come remembrances that wake up yearning,
And make my eyes grow dim ; And thither even now my ear is turning,
To catch the Sabbath hymn.
Again within that jjulijit I am sitting.
Calmed by the organ's swell ; Before my eyes familiar forms are flitting.
Each face — I know it well.
Now clear and sweet the grateful psalm seems pouring
Its melody abroad. And now in prayer the soul is upward soaring.
Craving the he]p of God.
But when my trembling lips the text has parted. And winds take up the tone.
$8 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
Then breaks the dream — tli' illusion has 'departed. And I am here — alone !
The city bells have ceased their Sabbath calling,
Fresh breezes round me play, The sea's soft murmur on my ear is fallino-,
Then softly dies away.
Alone ! — yet Nature is God's habitation,
The clouds his robes of light. The winds his messengers — the best oblation
Are pure hearts in his sight.
To the true soul that bows itself in meekness.
Or lifts itself to sing, All holy beings come to aid its weakness, —
All blessings to it bring.
Within deep dimgeons heavenly light comes flaming. When Faith kneels there to praj^ ;
And voiceless solitudes hear heaven proclaiming, Redemption on its way.
And thus my spirit bows itself in meekness
Here by this beetling rock. And cries, " Come near me in this hour of weakness.
Great Shepherd of the flock."
And then my heart flings off its load of sadness,
And feels no more of fear ; For, as of old, is heard the word with gladness,
" Look up, for I am near."
Then flame the skies with a celestial brightness ;
The ripples of the sea Lift to the breeze their liquid lips of whiteness —
All things bring joy to me.
My prostrate frame renews its strength while sharing These gifts of heavenly love,
REVISITS OHIO. 59
And seems anew beneath Heaven's smile preparing Its gratitude to prove.
Not less is prized the wonted Sabbath meeting With God's dear friends and mine ;—
Stored in the memory is each heartfelt greeting, Shared ia the by-gone time.
Back to those fellowships, at beck of duty.
In gladness will I go. Counting it joy alone to show Christ's beauty, —
Him crucified to know.
Yet 'tis a dearer thing to know that ever
Christ walks close by my side, — To share his fellowship, and fupl forever
He is his children's Guide.
To that great faithiul One our souls are yielded.
Sailing life's ocean o'er; Till in his presence, from all peril shielded.
Heart-bonds are broke ro more.
In the autumn of 1856, being much worn in body and mind, he spent a few weeks, previous to the session of the General Conference in October, in vacation rambles amid familiar scenes in Ohio. The visit to this field, where labor had been most gratefully received, and where many tender friend- ships had been formed and cherished, yielded him unusual pleasure. In this letter addressed to the covenant meeting of the Olneyville church, the old memories seem struggling with the new for the uppermost place in his heart, and pastoral love beams out with tenderness ;
6o GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
" Chester, Ohio, Sept. 25, 1856.
" I can not meet you this month as usual in the covenant meeting, and so there is only left me a prayerful remembrance, and a few lines of Chris- tian sympathy. They are small gifts in themselves ; but there is heart interest enough going with them to make them larger if I knew how. In the midst of the rural retreat from which I write, thoughts of those who call me pastor come trooping up in battalions. Surrounded by those whose faces beam like stars because they suggest many remem- bered kindnesses, your forms are present to the in- ner eye. Gladdened by tones that tell of well - tried sympathies, your Christian speech still seems to blend with all these friendly voices. The greet- ings of old acquaintances are associated with the pres- sure of your hands. The sacred words I read, bear me back in spirit to the spots where you and I have meditated on them together. A familiar hymn leaps to my lips in melody, and I am listening for the tones that so often helped me lift it heavenward. I kneel amid a group of worshipers to ask the peace of heaven, and your interests still stand be- tween me and the Mercy Seat. Sabbath bells call, and I seem hastening to stand before the faces that have looked up to me eagerly or reverently from the seats of the sanctuary. My pastoral responsi- bilities will not be wholly loosened from my heart, and m}' pastoral yearning for your welfare leaps these hundreds of intervening miles at a bound. ' God be gracious to you, and lift the light of his
LETTER TO THE OLNEYVILLE CHURCH. 6l
countenance upon you and give you peace, ' is the pith of my prayer, and the hope of my better hours. I trust you stand fast in the Lord, and are dwelling in unity and peace ; not the peace and unity of simple contact, but the unity of a Chris- tian oneness, the peace springing from the daily ' well done ' of heaven over your zeal and faithful- nes-s. Be strong and fear not. Trust in the Lord and do good, and he shall strengthen you out of Zion and give you prosperity. May none of your hearts falter, none of your hands hang down, none of you be wanting at your posts in the labors of the Gospel. I desire above all things that you may prosper.
" For myself I feel that my heart is set on doing the will of God. Cloudy or bright, my purpose is to tread the path of duty. Blind to the issues of the great conflict of sin with righteousness, or fore- seeing the triumph of the truth, I would ever be fol- lowing without a fear the great Captain of our salva- tion, not doubting but as soon as is meet, I may cry, ' Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory.' May we all be sharers in that triumph of the cross. Afresh I accept our covenant, and over it I clasp all your hands to night in spiritual fellowship. Count me one of Christ's friends and yours, and speak my name and hold up my weakness some- times in your prayers."
Another letter addressed to the church on a simi- lar occasion, a few weeks after he had resigned its pastorate, may fidy appear in this connection :
62 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
" Edinburg, N. Y., May 31, 1857.
'' As my membership still remains with you, it will be a privilege to me to express in this way my interest in the great common cause which makes all Christ's followers one.
" Removed as I am from the circle of former as- sociations, and more or less removed from the active duties to which I have been accustomed to devote myself, I have time for the review of my opinions and experiences, my work and plans. I am not now in a position to be controlled by enthusiasm, nor held fast by outward cords to a mode of life which my cooler judgment would not sanction. On these heights of contemplation and survey, I can stand and look upon the stream of human life as it sweeps on till it is lost in the mists that hang over the eternal sea. I stand here and look Heaven in the face, then turn to inspect the world and the life to which I am wedded by Providence. I recall what I have read of history, I arrange before the mind what I have seen and known in experience, I cast a glance into the future, and then endeavor to frame the judgment which I shall be likely to pronounce in the days that are to be. I try to sum up the meaning of life, and ask where and how are its great interests to be found, how its results are to be made longest and best. And with a force that is peculiar, the conviction comes home to me, that to ' do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God, ' embodies the highest philosophy, and reveals the deepest wisdom which ever belongs to human
LETTER TO THE OLNEYVILLE CHURCH. 6^
life. A life of piety and prayer is the sublimest thing which human history knows ; it is a grander epic than ever poet wrote, a richer picture than ever artist painted, a sublimer prophecy than ever herald- ed the downfall of an empire. It is more royal than the sovereignty of a king, and no discovery ever put in motion such an enduring and redeeming power. I can newly understand why Jesus bade his exultant disciples not rejoice over the wielding of miraculous powers, but reserve their gladness for the assurance that their names were written in heav- en. To be an humble, faithful Christian is the great glory of the noblest lives. All other splendor fades; this brings increasing light. All other hon- ors find a grave ; this is immortal. Whatever else we fail to obtain or keep, let us hold fast to Christ, who is the Rock of our confidence, the inspiration of our virtues, the guide of our steps, the Saviour of our souls.
' In our hands no price we bring, Simply to thy cross we cling.'
" I need not speak of the peculiar relations we have sustained to each other, nor of the experiences in which we have been sharers in common, nor of the memories which will long survive them. They have moulded our spirits in no small measure, and will reach on to the end of the earth. May God forgive whatever was unfaithful on my part and yours, and teach us thereby wisdom for coming days.
64 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
" In the prosperity you have enjoyed within a few weeks past, I have rejoiced, it seems to me, scarce- ly less than though I had mingled in the scenes which have made your hearts throb faster, and your faces wet with grateful tears. May many seek your guidance to the Saviour, and while suc- cessfully leading them thither, may you yourselves approach and tarry still nearer His footstool.
" I hope I am learning some new and higher and more practical lessons from the great volumes of Nature, Life and the Gospel. If I am permitted to go back to the pulpit at a future day, I hope to carry there a wisdom, a faith, a devotedness, a sympathy with God and a yearning for the redemp- tion of men, which no previous portion of my minis- try has possessed.
" I would bind myself anew to faithfulness by giv- ing a fresh endorsement to the Covenant on whose basis we have pledged ourselves to God and each other. No day passes but 3^ou are remembered be- fore God. May I hope that my necessities will sometimes add a petition to your prayers?"
From the hour when Martin Cheney entered the lists against American Slavery, until his death, the 01ne3'ville pulpit was recognized as no insignificant bulwark of freedom. Its utterances rang like bugle peals of victory to the sons of liberty, rousing the courage and directing the blows of ministry and lait}^ who felt the need of strong leadership ; but the friends of slavery dreaded its power and cursed its
ANTI - SLAVERY EFFORTS. 65
influence. It had been a calamit}^ indeed, if, as Mr. Cheney left that pulpit, his successor liad looked upon the growing insolence and mighty ef- forts of the slave power with indifference or timidi- ty. But the pupil was worthy of the master, and the mande of the strong, undaunted prophet fell upon no unwilling, inadequate shoulders.
Mr. Day early became a close, earnest'student of the character and workings of slavery. He began to discuss the issues involved in it, at Smith ville, not merely with the fervor of youthful enthusiasm, but in the spirit of sober inquiry and manly resist- ance, as one who grapples an evil so vast and dan- gerous as to forbid aught but the most intelligent, serious, determined opposition. At Bristol, in 1844, he delivered an anti- slavery address having this conclusion; "I need not ask whether such a system is hostile to the spirit and designs of Chris- tianity. In bringing it to the principles of revealed truth by which to test its character, I have acted under the conviction that it can be justly decided by no other standard. If it be opposed to the Gospel it is wrong, wholly and radically wrong, and it will leave a withering, blighting influence wherever it goes." »
By that same unvarying, infallible test he thence- forth gauged and defined the system ; nor did he
66 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
fear to expound the principles of liberty and politi- cal obligations because of the obloquy attaching to a minister's "dabbling in the dirty waters of politics." With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill, in 1850, the nation, generally, began to enter into the fiercest heats of political strife. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the rendition of Burns, and Kansas cnitrages quickly followed. Freedom and slavery stood face to face in a gigantic moral war- fare ; the mask had fallen from the great foe to civil rights, revealing in all their nakedness the hideous lines of avarice fed by lust, and sinister designs supported by recklessness. Meanwhile, many who had for years been strangely blind to the real nature and issues of slavery, were startled into hostility to it. But there were many others who, with more or less willingness acknowledging it to be an evil, would not confess it to be an evil to be repented and abandoned, nor to be laid at the door of the party in power, with which they voted. Although Mr. Cheney had incurred the bitter Opposition, and suf- fered from the withdrawal of some who had support- ed that party, yet many of them remained under his ministr}', illy concealing their uneasiness in the presence of his severe condemnations of slavery from the pulpit, and were still members of the con- gregation at the beginning of Mr. Day's pastorate.
AXTI - SI.AVERY EFFORTS. 67
When the hour was darkest and the foe most insolent, then it was that Mr. Day put forth his most daring, brilliant efforts in behalf of freedom. It implied no little courage and strength of purpose, to proclaim boldly the unpopular cause in a town whose prevailing influences were arrayed against him, and where not a few pew-holders were sure to denounce and desert the church to which he minis- tered. But no new outrage was suffered to pass without eliciting from him a new vindication of right ; and occasionally a town - meeting would be preceded by some clear proclamation of a principle, or followed by wholesome rebuke. Some of his warmest friends, startled by his boldness and keen onslaught, would now and then counsel greater moderation and prudence. His opponents freely sneered and condemned in stores and on the street, but ventured no open attack by argument or by or- ganized opposition.
The most remarkable episode in his anti - slavery efforts, occurred in the early part of the summer of 1856. It was at the time of the Kansas troubles. Governor Reeder had been driven from the State, which had become a field of bloodshed in' the en- counter between freedom and slavery. A conven- tion of those who sympathized with the sufferers from Southern outrage had been held in Buffalo, N.
68 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
Y. A minister present at that convention, on his return to Providence, was allowed the use of the lecture - room at Olneyville, for the purpose of giv- ing an account publicly of its spirit and action. At the close of his lecture, a gentleman well known in Democratic circles in R. I., asked the privilege of the use of the lecture - room for an evening- of the following week, that opportunity for criticism upon the remarks just presented might be afforded, inti- mating that he himself should not presume to answer the lecturer, but would procure the service of one amply qualified to do so. The request was grant- ed, and, at the time specified, Hon. Welcome B. Sayles, of Providence, a thorough - bred politician, being introduced, gave, as was hoped and supposed by many, a triumphant vindication of his party. Before the close of the week, Mr. Day announced that he would attempt an answer to Mr. Sayles, on the next Wednesday evening. Both curiosity and anxiety attended the announcement : — curiosity to know how a minister would appear in a contest with a recognized political leader and orator; — anxiety by timid men lest he should greatly offend and alien- ate, and also by some of his friends lest he should appear at a disadvantage.
The lecture -room, on the evening of his speech, was filled by an audience which embraced a num-
ANTI- SLAVERY EFFORTS. 69
ber of the prominent men of both political parties, among whom was Hon. H. B. Anthony, now of the U. S. Senate, and others who then figured, and are now known, in the politics of the State.
Mr. Day had taken full notes of the utterances of the previous meeting. These notes, together with carefully compiled and effective quotations from ad- ministration journals and official documents, fur- nished the basis of a strong, thorough indictment of the pro - slavery party, both in its Northern and Southern developments. For three hours and a half, scorching rebuke, keen analysis and Christian protest went on with resistless might ; while no po- sition assumed was left carelessly guarded, nor any blow suffered to fall in weakness. Its close was a burst of patriotic fervor, ending with the lines :
" Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity, with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years. Is hanging breathless on thy fate ! "
The Providence Journal referred to the speech the next morning, at some length, and in terms of high praise. It was more pointed and scathing than his audience had anticipated, as it was more powerful and eloquent. No answer was ever pro- posed or seriously contemplated. The master in the pulpit was also master in the political arena.
70 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
Weakness crushed, or suffering imposed, had special claim upon his sympathy and help. He en- deavored to ascertain the nature of his human rela- tionships, and become in a true sense, his " broth- ers keeper." Compromise of principle, or fear of results in the presence of threats or contumely \vas with him impossible. In the heat of the anti - slav- ery conflict he was bitterly charged with being an Abolitionist. He simply replied: "Whoso- ever is afraid to avow it, I glory in it." His posi- tion admitted no charge of ambiguity. If he were complained of, as "helping prejudice the slave- holder, making him more determined in his course," he replied : " If slaveholders are such men that they will hold on, and grow more oppressive just out of spite to their accusers, they show that they are not fit to manage slaves ! " While, in this combat with slavery, one missed the fiery, epigram- matic utterance, the sharp, stern dealing of Cheney, there was recognized in his successor a finer array of those qualities and powers which are dreaded and shunned by an opponent.
While our attention is directed to his position and exertions in this field of patriotic, Christian service, let us notice his utterances on two oth- er significant occasions, — after which, formal refer- ence to his anti - slavery efforts may cease.
ANTI - SLAVERY EFFORTS. 7^
A meeting of citizens of Providence was held Dec. 2, 1859, th^ ^^y °^ Jol^'^ Brown's execution at Harper's Ferry. Few prominent men in political or business circles, and few ministers even cared to be identified with it. The better portion of the city press had strongly intimated that such a meeting, for such a purpose, ought not to be holden. The m'eeting was addressed by Hons. Amos C. Barstow and Thomas Davis, and by Revs, G. T. Day and A. Woodbury.
Amid the deep gloom of that hour, with great national issues fearfully impending, strange por- tents appearing in the political heavens, and men's hearts well nigh failing them, — hope, faith and couraiie beam out in his words :
"Somehow deliverance is manifestly coming; that is hardly a question ; the eternal laws of Provi- dence settle that It is a fitting time now to
bear testimony for Freedom in the face of public clamor. I can afford to be silent when her step is stately, her mien majestic, her work manifestly con- servative, when she stands simply on the defensive, or is pitied by the world while she bleeds in the Senate Chamber, struck down in the person of a noble Senator, and all voices are lifted in her de- fence and praise. I choose to come here in the da}- of her misfortunes ; to stand by her side when men are doubting whether it be wise and prudent to be allied with her interests. I take her with all her
72 GEORGE TIFFANY DAV.
perils, and will repudiate no confidence when her friends commit excesses in her name."
Here appears the nobility of his nature. Shun- ning no cause through the obloquy or weakness at- tending it ; once assured of the fitness of its claims, he accepted all the liabilities of an alliance. The " irrepressible conflict " found him never less warm in his adherence when an avowal of belief excited a howl of indignation. Nor did he ask who pro- nounced a denial of the facts, nor who were dumb before them. To know the facts was to decide his utterance and his allegiance. If he seemed in the advance as a reformer, it was chiefly because of his determination to see, and abide with, the right, when others fell back from it or refused to accept its utmost direction.
In the sermon, delivered on the day of President Buchanan's National Fast, just preceding secession, after referring to the position of the President, of Congress and the country, and recounting the real issues presented in the crisis, he asks :
' ' What shall we do ? There is one way in which we may seek relief, it is to yield everything. Can we do that? If we have meant nothing in wliat we have said ; if our praise of liberty is mere rhetoric ; if we feel that no honor, no justice, no righteous- ness, nor manhood, nor virtue, nor religion is in- volved in this question ; if quiet and cotton, sugar
ANTI - SLAVERY EFFORTS. 73
and tobacco, and the money they represent, are everything: and if satisfied that these are to come through submission and acquiescence, we can yield everything. If every man who has stood for a truth, or died for a principle, is either a fanatic or a fool, then we may consent at once, promise all that is demanded, recall our words, annul our oaths, and go down on our knees in penitential confession. If we have acted with a Christian conscience we can not retract ; and if we read history aright, the future offers a straight path. New England at least, has grown from the seed of free and sacred principle. The chief freight of the Mayflower was moral •conviction. The Pilgrims chose manhood with exile rather than servility with preferment. The real thrift of two hundred 3'ears has come of per- sonal courage and fidelity, of social honor and re- spect, of national justice and dignity. Our chief strength and glory are the outgrowth of that spirit which has lifted up the weak, given the despondent courage, taught the lowliest of our race to aspire to the functions and honors of a man, and which flung off" as an incubus, that hideous system which grew up in the midnight of barbarism. And when we are now asked to unlearn all the best lessons of our significant history, to ignore all the facts of experi- ence, to pervert the conscience which our whole training has taught to cry out against oppression, to confess that the Bible is the slave - trader's war- rant, to blot out or blur over every sentence which our fathers spoke for freedom, to eat all the bravest
74 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
and most generous words which we have ever utter- ed, to sneer at the Declaration of Independence, to commission the plague and pestilence of slavery for an irruption over all the region and territory of the Continent, while freedom is left without a single legal guarantee, — when all this is demanded as the condition of fellowship and peace, — the answer to such dictators ought to be calm, prompt and final. " Yielding to a conviction which the experience of nearly two years had been maturing, — that pro- tracted efficiency and usefulness required longer and more complete rest than could be consistently gained while sustaining pastoral relations, he tendered his resignation in February, 1857. During the two months following, the tokens of personal inter- est and appreciation which accompanied his ministry, were manifested in a peculiarly tender manner, and plans highly honorable to the generos- ity and devotion of the society were proposed for his personal relief and welfare ; but still urging his request from a sense of private and public duty, the relationship of pastor and people was dissolved on the first of April.
Seeking only the regaining of physical and mental vigor, he retired for a number of weeks with his family, to the seclusion of his brother's farm in Edinburg, N. Y. How freely he gave himself up to the new and welcome influences ; how fully he
REST IN EDINBURG, N. Y. 75
drank in the teachings of nature, and how readily he allowed her moods to direct his own ; how trout and bird, brook and forest, the farm-yard with its in- cidents of animal life, afforded occasions for playful humor, as well as refreshment to jaded powers, his letters written at that time to the Morning Star bear some witness. One of the letters sent from this re- treat did not appear in its columns. " A fact accounted for, " he said, referring to it some months after, '■^ ^erha^s by failure of the mails, but more likely because it so far surpassed its companions in the element of fun as to be unwelcome to sober tastes. " To those who knew the fund of humor in his nature, these sportive sketches of rural life and enjoyment were the exuberant sallies of a healthful, genuine soul, the gratifying signs of returning hopefulness and vigor.
III.
IN THE MINISTRY.
PROVIDENCE.
1857— 1866.
The pastorate of the Roger Williams church in Providence became vacant soon after his resigna- tion had been sent to the societ}^ at Olneyville. But not until final action by the latter, sundering the re- lationship which had subsisted between them, would he listen to any proposition for his labors else- where ; and after his pastorate had formally closed, private solicitations having reference to the Provi- dence pastorate were met by little encouragement.
While at Edinburg he received a formal call to the Roger Williams church, with the privilege of a vacation of six months before he should assume its active duties. Accepting the call, he decided to devote three months to a European
FIRST TOUR IN EUROPE. 77
tour, and sailed from New York, June 24. Having visited England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland and France, he reached home Sept. 23. Before going abroad he had become sufficiently strengthen- ed to be able to enjoy with comparatively few phys- ical hindrances, the taxation of strength, arising from the experiences of a tourist.
It \Yas a joy to walk by his side as, with form erect, the dull leaden line, brought by severe, anx- ious toil, and by suffering, faded from his eye - lids, exuberant movement taking the place of the old languor, he performed a toilsome journey of twent}- miles in a day, on foot, over the rugged Swiss mountain passes. The nerveless, weary, despond- ent pastor could scarcely ha\»e been recognized on that radiant August morning, when with the sun's rising he stood upon the balcony of the hotel at Chamounix, and clasped his hands with childlike un- consciousness over his heart, as if to keep in its wild beating, as he gazed with lustrous e\-e up to the clear, pure, vast majesty enthroning Mt. Blanc, and then silently, with inspiration and dignity in every step, went back to his room to meditation and prayer.
Every day, almost, seemed to add to his strength of body and exhilaration of spirit ; and the results sought by the tour were gained to a degree highly
78 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
gratifying to himself and his friends. It was pur- sued with such regard to personal endurance, and the gaining of intelligent acquaintance with what was best in art, peculiar in society and striking in nature, that there were no features of it which he ever recalled with feelings of disappointment or re- gret. A series of letters contributed to the Morn- ing Star, were remarkable for their ease and fresh- ness, their vividness of descriptions of life and scener}^, and their comprehensive appreciation of the beautiful and grand in art, and of the wonder- ful achievements of scientific and architectural skill.
His pastoral labors commenced with October. In regard to this entrance upon ministerial duties he said :
" I felt in some sense as if beginning anew ; had been given a season for reflection, for a survey backward and forward. I meant to make my ser- vice more full of heart. I felt that spiritual results alone, without undervaluing others, could satisfy me, and that these should be chiefly sought ; never felt more self - distrustful, nor more like looking to God. "
Those who were permitted to enjoy his public and private counsels in the ensuing nine rare years, realized a significant incarnation of these words of pastoral devotion, of Christian love and hope. The study and toil, the varied and rich experiences of a
ROGER WILLIAMS PASTORATE. 79
faithful, watchful ministry bore in this field their choicest fruits.
Mature judgment, ripe scholarship, large and quick comprehension of human nature, caution in forming opinions and their usual correctness when reached ; an intelligent, sympathetic appreciation of the spirit and eftbrts of those who sought his help and guidance, combined to make him a pastor and teacher indeed.
His pulpit ministrations disclosed, if possible, more than former dignity, and were richer in thought, more practical, and more effective in reaching the intimate and peculiar wants of the soul. He strove to win men ; his ambition was to save them by the faithful application of the vital teachings of the gospel. At one time he said publicly : " I am trying to be more plain in speech and kind in act. " In his anniversary sermon, Oct. 2, 1859, he said: "To me the work seems every year to grow weightier. I am settling more and more into fixed- ness of character and eftbrt. More and more ] seem to hear the precept : ' Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it ^vith thy might, ' sounding from every side. More and more the Gospel seems the great reality, and all beside it, phantoms. Here is The solid adamant. I seem but a child in grace, but thank God for the hope that I shall have an eternal summer for my growth.
8o GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
" I have not met you as a mere routine always — I know that. I have tried to study your wants, and have tried to meet them. I think we are coming to understand each other better, and I should be sorry to think that increasing knowledge was not bringing increased confidence.
" We have met in sick rooms and at death beds, and looked upward to find hope and light ; in joyous circles and our pulses have leaped freshly in the sunshine of S3mipathy ; our voices have blended in song and our hearts in prayer when the hour of evening worship drew on ; and sometimes in this sanctuary has it not seemed as though we were on the crest of another Tabor, amid eternal brightness, saying with deep fervor : ' how good it is to be here'? But we are workers together here. Not finished yet are our tasks.
" Do not suppose that I am alone responsible for your religious character, life and faithfulness, or think of me as necessary to it. I have no compul- sory power. And if any feeling of excessive con- fidence or passivity exists, I am the occasion of your loss. The profit you gather must largely de- pend on yourselves. It is your enterprise quite as much as mine — more yours who are not Christians. It involves your salvation, and that no man can se- cure for you. "
The amovmt of work pressed upon him from be- yond his pastoral field was in no degree intermitted or lightened. A larger sphere of public service
ROGER WILLIAMS PASTORATE. 8l
was opened to him b}^ his removal to Providence. He was more closely surrounded' by the workincr forces of an intensely active and growing city. Among its pastors he was accorded a prominent and influential position, while none of their number who came into close acquaintanceship with him, did not find it pleasant and profitable to consult his judg- ment and seek his counsel. He was in all circles recognized as a fearless, independent and valiant friend and defender of human rights, and of all healthful reform. And while timidity and conserva- tism stood aloof, it was understood that he would not be found wanting in any crisis however beset with difficulty or obloquy. His presence at the "John Brown meeting" has been mentioned. When "the colored school question" came up in the R. I. legislature, in 1859, he made several speeches upon it before the legislative committee at the State House, and also wrote the report to be presented to the legislature by that part of the com- mittee favoring the bill.
His efforts as a lecturer were not unwel- come in his own city. At a festival, in i860, of the " Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers, " he was called to respond to the toast : " The R. I. March — As played b}^ the pulley and wheel, spindle and shuttle ; sweet music and popular. "
82 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
Col. Wm. Sprague, who was expected to re- spond, was absient, and the President called up Rev. G. T. Day, who till that moment had no in- timation of such a change in the programme. After an introduction full of pleasantry, his remarks ran in the following vein :
" Music has been classed among the fine arts ; it is described, sometimes, as an accomplishment; it is set down as belonging to ornamental education. It •is suggestive of taste, and implies refinement of feeling. This eesthetical culture is no longer con- fined to what are peculiarly literary circles. It is not alone the possession of the wealthy, nor the joy of those who live in ease. There is rnind among the spindles ! The mechanic's hand is guided by a cultivated intellect, and his home bears witness to the presence and influence of refined tastes and ele- vated enjo3'ment. The eye of labor is becoming quick to perceive beaut}^ ; its ear is open to music ; it is at home amid the refinements of social inter- course ; it feeds its understanding with thought, and its heart answers to the appeal of virtuous love.
" The old mythological story carries a prophecy ' whose fulfillment we are witnessing. Gigantic Vul- can, muscular, swarthy and grim, whose business it was to forge thunderbolts for Jupiter, in the depths of Vesuvius, was wedded, — not to Juno, nor Minerva, — but to Venus, child of the sea -foam, goddess of grace and beauty. So the mechanic is rapidly forming an alliance with the artist, taste is
ROGER WILLIAMS PASTORATE. 83
the perpetual companion of labor, and beaut}' is wedded to strength. Everywhere the Vulcan of toil is effectually wooing the Venus of taste. The disciplined ear and cultivated intellect of the Rhode Island mechanic are translating the hum of machin- ery into marches which quicken and steady the steps of progress. "
Not only is his chaste eloquence illustrated by this extract, but the response was regarded as a most happy preof of the readiness of his mind in emergencies which might be expected to confuse or silence. The speech, given with such spirit and ef- fect, was received with special demonstrations of pleasure, and led to an invitation from the Associa- tion to deliver one of the lectures in its regular course the following winter ; an invitation possessing significance from the fact, that in a city boasting large talent, few of its residents have received a similar honor.
Churches of his own order freely sought his ad- vice in connection with the settling or dismissal of pastors, and upon financial matters. They also re- ceived the benefit of frequent sermons and lectures. In the beginning of the year 1859, ^^^ " Choralist," a hymn and tune book, upon which he had bestow- ed much time and labor as chairman of the com- mittee of compilation, was issued. He writes :
'< Wn/\rf^ ^OTind. <50me dif^'^"^*'"' ^'"' rn^i-i^'Mnrc tl-l^ COO'^'' -
$4 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
righted music to insert. It is about as easy to ar- range with musical composers, as to get a choir to go along without quarreling or pouting. "
Multiplied general labors, added to those of his ministry at home, made incessant, exhausting in- roads upon his powers of endurance, and it excites little wonder that once or twice in each year health gave way altogether. But he would rally from prostrations that seemed likely to keep him from activity for weeks, with surprising quickness, suffi- ciently to enable him, all too soon, to creep back to his post. It is deeply to be regretted that the re- monstrances of his friends, to which he alludes in the following letter, could not have more frequently and successfully prevailed over his unwise persist- ence. It is written after an illness resulting in the suffering from debility beyond what he had ever felt before : "I hope soon to be about my usual service' again. I ventured out last Sunday afternoon and bore it tolerably. Last evening went to our usual prayer meeting and enjoyed it highly. I think I could manage to preach jiext Sunda}^ but our people threaten to leave me on the useless list, at least a week longer. "
In one of his anniversary sermons he sa3'S ; "I am not a little perplexed to decide what is my duty with respect to general service, which absorbs more
ROGER WILLIAMS PASTORATE. 85
or less ol' time and strength. Calls for general labor are frequent and burdensome, and I do not see how I can get rid of them. Yet I have had a prayerful longing for the growth of spiritual life among you. Judge my ministry by what it does as bearing upon that object. If it has failed here, the failure has been sad and disastrous. "
But amid all outward distractions and cares, he kept his deepest interest and tenderest care for his own people. No triumphs elsewhere were to him such sources of joy as the evidences of their growth, nothing saddened him " so much as disappointed hopes and eftbrts in that direction. " Ag-ain he says :
" I have been anxious to see a rounded and com- plete Christian character in individual cases, and in church life ; have wanted intelligence and heart, solidity of principle and fervor of feeling, system with spontaneity, reverence with sociability, conscien- tious fidelity and sunny gladness. For every gain in this direction I thank God daily. I may some- times seem too intent on reaching unattained objects to give appreciation to what is done. I try not to err in that way. Every day my life becomes more closely bound up with yours. I learn to be glad in your gladness and sorrowful over your griefs. I long to work more in Paul's spirit, and find the re- joicing of which he speaks. "
86 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
In February, 1864, his health demanding respite from pastoral toil, his friends procured him an appointment to labor in the army under the au- spices of the Christian Commission. The kind, as well as place of service, was left freely to his choice ; and while it was mutually understood by him and the officers of the Commission that it was to be of real, value, 3^et that it should be of no greater weight than due regard for the regaining of health would allow.
It was hoped that such a change of work, with the stimulus coming from the encouragements usu- ally experienced by the agents in that kind of ser- vice, would impart new vigor to body and mind. March 22, after a week's absence, he writes, show- ing that he shared the expectations, and entered cordially into the plans of his friends: "I am rest- ed a little and hope to begin recruiting in earnest. I mean to take things easy and grow strong if pos- sible. I want to go back with a fresh and higher fitness for service."
A private letter indicates the natiire of his posi- tion, and the reception which, in peculiar circum- stances, was accorded him :
" I find myself most cordially received, have pleasant companionship in the delegates of the Commission and others, and enjoy my work among
CHRISTIAN COMMISSION WORK. 87
the soldiers. Have felt sometimes a little delicate, mingling with regular delegates, being myself pos- sessor of special privileges ; and I had a little fear lest the accents were feeling it an embarrassment to them ; but that feeling gradually w^ears away, I feel more and more easy, and the agents gradually come to help me to be quiet, and caution me against over risk and service."
After arriving at the front, Culpepper, Va., he again writes of his associations: " I receive every kindness and attention which I need. The longer I stop at any point somehow the more of kindness and generosity I meet, so that I make every change with as much regret as gladness."
His intention " to take things easy and grow strong," was overborne or forgotten amid the full, earnest devotion to duty into which, almost at the outset, he was drawn. The interest with which his sermons and personal approaches were received by men and officers alike, in the camps which he visit- ed ; above all, the religious awakenings which at- tended them, — ten, twenty, and sometimes a great- er number asking prayers and wishing to be en- rolled as Christians, stimulated him to the utmost exertion.
The reaction following this excessive drain of nervous and physical energy, he was illy prepared to sustain.
88 . GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
On his return home he experienced great lassi- tude, with symptoms of fever, but refusing to yield at once to the intimations of disease, he preached on the following Sunday and performed' other ex- hausting labor. In a few days after, he was strick- en down with an illness of so alarming character that for weeks his life seemed almost hopelessly jeopardized. It was not until autumn that he was able to resume his usual labors.
With tender, subdued, chastened spirit he uttered in his sermon on the first Sunday in October, being his seventh anniversary, these memorable senten- ces :
" Our ways the last year have been peculiar. During half of it I have been only nominally pastor. I have seen some unusual aspects of life. My way has taken me among camps and over battle fields, and by the cabins of men and women just rising from chattelhood. It was an instructive part of the journey. I hope it has helped me to see the path for the future more clearly.
" And once my way ran near to that valley through which we shall all pass sooner or later. The fading world seemed to grow dim and shadowy ; at times there was heard something of the roar and dash of those waters which all must cross some day ; and sometimes, for a little, it seemed that the good - bye to earthly life might require to be sum-
IN SICKNESS. 89
moned to the lip. For years I have learned to look calmly on the end of life by anticipation. I was never calmer than then. Sometimes earthly toil and experience seemed a burden which it would be pleasant to lay down, if the Great Master's permis- sion were given unasked, — hut whether it were lono-er work as I mostly thought it was to be, or speedier rest as now and then seemed somewhat probable, I was content God should decide that as He deemed wisest and best. I have come back slowly to the physical vigor which is needed to ena- ble me to fill my sphere properly ; how much of wis- dom I have gathered and what lessons of consecra- tion I have learned in the school of suffering and weakness, remains to be seen. Not alone that you might be spared the sadness of missing another life, did your prayers go up for my recovery, during those days when you thought the angel of death was hovering over my chamber ; but I trust every petition was winded and freighted by the desire that the great objects of the Gospel might be furthered by my return to active life. To live nobly seems to me greater than to die peacefully. A coward and a traitor can give up life amid the batde field, — it often takes a patriot and a hero to take up his life and march across other terrible fields of blood till he wins.the final victory."
The kindness, sympathy and generosity which gathered with such meaning, from all sides, around him in these and other hours of weakness and pain left impressions upon his heart which all the fric-
90 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
tions of life could not wear away, nor prolonged ab-- sence dim. Here were his chosen people, and amid their friendships, till life's latest breath, was always " home."
The value of his work can be determined in part, at least, by his success in so directing and instruct- ing his flock, that, in the absence of his leadership and teaching, their Christian service was not slack- ened, but increased, rather, in noticeable ways. He counted it the most cheering testimony to the enduring nature of his ministry, that their faith and active interest did not seem dependent, necessarily, upon his continued presence and co - operation. It is equally true of few pastors that the value of labors bestowed in health, so spans and keeps fre- quent and protracted intervals of sickness as to al- low, with the people, scarcely a thought of a neces- sity for a change in pastoral relationship.
It was painful to him to think that he must have been in his invalid days the occasion of anxiety, care, generosity, sacrifice and responsibility : '•' To lie in any sense like a burden upon the hands and hearts even of those who do not shrink at the load, is repugnant to my whole nature. But I have tried to hope that anxiety for my life will deepen the sym- pathy of this church for other anxious sufferers, and even help to turn your feet into the way of God's _
IN SICKNESS. 91
testimonies ; that this long, weary waiting for my return to the post of duty may teach you a more trustful patience ; this steady outflow of generous deeds and gifts may impart a deeper meaning to Christ's saying, ' It is more blessed to give than to receive ' ; this fresh discovery of the weakness of all mortal helpers, may teach this people to depend more fully on the unfailing arm ; that this walk in darkness may fix the disposition to take the leader- ship of Christ, this present grievous chastening may yield more abundantly the precious fruits of righteousness. If it shall serve this purpose no price is too great to pay for such a blessing."
Yet, notwithstanding this repugnance, he could write in one of his times of partial convales - cence :*
" I am almost willing to be sick once in awhile, in view of the culture which my sympathies secure through the many kind offices which multiply around me. My pride very strongly rebels against being laid under obligations, even in this way, but it even gets nearly conquered sometimes when I am fairly down, and must be helped, and am kindly thought of. Scores of little delicate, nameless kindnesses still make my heart swell, and bid me believe that this world has much sweet sunshine in it. They are little and nameless to the calculating
*Deceinber, 1859.
92 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
intellect, but great in the estimate of the heart, and each one has a sacred name. Amonsf the num- ber of these precious things was the basket of my favorite apples, and the little bouquet of flowers, which smiled beside my bed till they had smiled their life away.
"I hope always to be able to do some work — inore work. I have sometimes a little forebodinof and dread of a useless, nerveless, invalid existence. I know of nothing that would try my faith and spirit like that. I can not help praying sometimes : ' If it be. possible let this cup pass from me.' And I think it will be allowed to pass."
While engaged with his experiences in the army his concern for those with whom he had associated at home was greatly quickened. His remembrance of the prayer meeting, the Sunday school and the congregation was conveyed to each by letters wherein he exhibits the aspects of his work and his prayerful interest for them. Liberal extracts are found among the correspondence at the end of this chapter.
Another alarming illness was suffered in the spring and summer of 1865. After rallying from it a little, a tour in Europe and the East was proposed to him. His prostration being made the subject of special remark at the General Conference at Lewis- ton, Me., in October, generous, and somewhat gener- al response was made to a suggestion that not only
SECOND TOUR ABROAD. . 93
the sympathies but the financial help of ths Confer- ence be extended him. With the impression that foreign travel would be highly beneficial, and to encourage him to pursue it, several hundred dollars were readily and cheerfully pledged toward his ex- penses,— another proof of the wide and deep interest attendingr him from the denomination at large.
Having decided upon an extensive tour abroad, in the sermon of the Sunday before his departure he addressed his congregation as follows :
" Many of you may think if you were going with me you Avould see, feel, believe and live, — that I can hardly help doing so. But it will depend greatly on my spirit — mostl3S indeed, on that.
" These renowned spots and lands are what they are because the moral heroes of their time, — the seers whose eyes grew keen with their stead}^ up - look ; and the Saviour whose touch hallowed every thing, have made the whole land Holy. I hope for profit, but a true soul and life may hallow the com- monest sphere and task at home. I hope to add something to the strength of conviction, something to the vividness of feeling, to the firmness of the grasp of t'aith, to the unction of the confession : ' Behold the tabernacle of God is with men ! '
" But I feel that the forces of God's kingdom are in constant and effective exercise here. Through our furnace of fire which has flamed for years, the
94 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
glorious form has been walking. In all that has worked toward the regeneration of this people I trace the movement of a divine energy. I do not leave a desolate and Heaven - forsarken land, lor the footsteps of the Highest echg across the conti- nent. I shall study other lands as embodjnng the significant past of humanity ; but I shall turn to ours as the highway over which the race is to march to a higher goal and a truer glory.
" My position and relations here to - day might seem to invite a retrospect of the eight significant years in our life as pastor and people. The story is too long ; some of its paragraphs are too peculiar, or touching, or sacred for a public rehearsal. The kind and encouraging words which were not meant for flattery to pride ; the generosity which has kept on with its unostentatious offerings, through long delays and beneath burdens which it would not own were heavy even when they pressed the spirit into anxiety ; the charity which has covered many fail- ures and much unfaithfulness ; the Sunday gather- ings when each hour of worship lifted us nearer Heaven ; the evening prayer circles, when our hearts thrilled in unison, or melted in sympathy, or were stirred by a better purpose, as we communed of Christ, or prayed for a trembling penitent, or sur- veyed our field of labor ; the solemn hours when you have taken the veil from your burdened hearts, and I have helped you tell the sad story to God ; the seasons wdien we have rejoiced together — all come up freshly and vividly before me at this hour."
GENERAL BAPTIST ASSOCIATrON. 95
Sailing from New York, he arrived in England in the early part of December. Thence, after a few da3^s of rest he went to Paris, on to Italy, and across the Mediterranean to Egypt. Crossing the desert b}^ the way of Mt. Sinai, he visited Pales- tine, and reached England again, by way of Constantinople, Vienna, and through Switzer- land.
During his protracted stay in England he at- tended the meeting, in June, 1866, of the General Baptist Association at Loughborough, as a dele- gate from our General Conference. He says of it:
"• I do not know whether it was an oversight, or whether credentials were supposed to be needless', but so it was that we appeared at this trans - Atlan- tic gathering without any sort of attestation of our appointment as a deputation to our brethren here. I did not know this until a late stage in the proceed- ings of the Association, or I might have suffered a little mental discomfort. But, welcomed at once by a resolution, moved by Dr. Burns and seconded by Bro. Goadby, overflowing with Christian kindness and courtesy, there was promptly accorded us by the assembly a greeting in which the English heart spoke out in its best tone, and called into play its noblest impulses. After that, there was no room for anxiety or distrust. I was too grateful to be proud just then, too conscious of being treated with
96 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
an excess of confidence and kindness, to find room for anything hostile to humility and home feeling. . . . New cords have attached my heart to the fatherland which are in no danger of breaking when stretched across the sea."
Again referring to these gratifying experiences, he says :
" The two or three days spent in Nottingham — including a Sabbath — were filled with a varied in- terest. The thorough, unmistakable heartiness with which we were welcomed to the very central circle of the Christian homes of England, was more grateful and touching — especially after the long months of wandering as pilgrims and strangers — than I dare attempt to tell. I had allowed myself to anticipate, as a representative of the Free Baptist denomination in America, a kindly and dignified English courtesy ; but I had not dreamed of such a warm, unreserved, affectionate greeting as was at once accorded to us by not a few of the noblest and best among our trans- Atlantic brethren. There was no show, no voluble profession of regard, no ostentatious demonstrativeness from first to last. Instead of words there were quiet courtesies that forbade formal notice ; the perpetual surrounding us with an atmosphere that either took off* the weight of conscious obligation or made its pressure deli- cious,— in a word, the feeling that we were at home was made to overspread and permeate the whole social experience. When the English heart wakes, its movements are strong, and we have felt the
HOME AGAIN.
97
beating. Bridge over fairly the chasm of Enghsh reserve and self-assertion, and the fellowship is like the manly love of brothers. Rouse the enthu- siasm of an English audience, even at a religious anniversary, and it storms out its kindled feelmg in a way that puts to naught the explosions of a wes- tern political convention. All this we have seen and telt."
After bidding farewell to England he visited the Scottish Highlands, lona, and the cave of Staffa ; returning to Glasgow^ crossed the Irish Sea to Bel- fast; thence in a week's time to Queenstown, — em- barking for home from the latter city, Aug. i6th. " New York Harbor, Aug. 25, 1866.
"We have just sailed up the Narrows, past the forts, around Castle Garden, the forest of masts half revealing and half hiding the greatness of the American metropolis. America greets me at last, and I answer her silent salutation with heart - bounds and moistening of the eyes. I put the treas- ured memories of the old world into the keeping of my spirit, and am content to leave that world behind me ; I grasp the mighty possibilities of the new world with my affection, and seek an abiding place beneath .the skies that brood over it like the stoop of God's love. Europe and the East are pleasant schools for the mind ; America is the home of the heart."
" Providence, Aug. 27.
" ' Home again!' God be thanked for his guardi-
98 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
anship over those whose lives are so- closely linked to mine ! T hear with gratitude of the safe arrival of Bro. Dunn and son, comnanions in a portion of life which will never cease to be memorable, and which they have done so much to invest with inter- est. Heaven keep them and theirs in its care for- ever ; and may all the readers of the Star — espe- cially those who, with such unexpected and unde- served generosity, aided in opening my way to the wonders and sanctities of the Orient, and have fol- lowed our coarse of travel with their sympathies and prayers — may all these find the gates of a land still more glorious, open at once to their coming when their feet press the threshold of immortality."
Although not reaping all that was hoped from this tour, it imparted considerable gain to bodily and mental strength, so that he was enabled to re- sume pastoral duties with much greater courage and efficiency. Still, in looking back upon it, he was compelled to admit that it had been too ex- hausting for his enfeebled physical condition, and for the fullest recovery of mental power.
At the annual meeting of the corporation of Bates College, preceding his return, he was elected pro- fessor of Rhetoric and English Literature. In Oc- tober following, a convention of fifty ministers in connection with the Anniversaries at Lawrence, Mass., met to urge upon him the call of the col-
RESIGNATION AT PROVIDENCE. 99
lege; declaring that, "in the opinion of this con- vention of ministers, it would be for the glory of God for our beloved brother, Rev. G. T. Day, to accept the professorship in Bates College to which he has been elected ; and we respectfully recom- mend the church of which he is pastor, to release him for that purpose."
On the death of William Burr, for many years editor and manager of the Morning Star, in No- vember, 1866, attention was directed to Mr. Day as his successor in the editorial chair. On the as- sembling of the corporators of the Star for the pur- pose of choosing a successor to the vacant post, his eminent fitness for it was freeh^ conceded, but be- cause of the claims of the College, and the feeling represented by the action at Lawrence, together with his unreliable health, his election was not at the outset secured by the requisite number of votes.
Being elected at length by a unanimous vote, the Board united in askintj the Ro^er Williams church to release him from his engagement with it at once. In harmony with this request, he presented his resig- nation Dec. II, 1866, to take effect immediately, that he might enter upon his newly chosen duties.
With great reluctance, the church accepted his resignation ; waiving its claim to three months' notice and labor, that no obstacle mijjht frustrate
lOO GEORGE TIFFANY BAY.
his wishes, or lie in his chosen path ; and recorded its farewell in words of consideration, regret, ten- derness and appreciation, as it dismissed him to the wider fellowship and service of the entire sisterhood of churches. Its resolutions, having reference to the event, close as follows :
" Though our judgment, generosity, gratitude and faith prompt us cheerfully and hopefully to consent to this separation, yet these sacred ties, ce- mented by years of varied experience, in public and social meetings, in our home circles, amid our high- est joys and deepest sorrows, uniting us with one so pure, so wise, so true as our pastor has ever proved himself, can not be sundered without heart-throbs too deep and strong for words to express. . . . We shall ever cherish the memory of our retiring pas- tor as a dear personal friend, in whose sympathies and prayers we hope ever to find a place ; and we desire for, and will ask God to give to him large physical, social and spiritual blessings, with many added years of successful Christian work."
In connection with his farewell sermon, Dec. 13th, he spoke as follows :
" It is natural for me to - day to refer to m}" work for some ten years in this pulpit, as now I step out of it, perhaps finally from all pastoral work.
" Let me be understood in leaving the pulpit. It is a glorious sphere, notwithstanding its perplexi- ties and privations. I never prized it more than to-day. Deliberately I never repented of choosing
FAREWELL SERMON. lOI
it. Ambition has sometimes whispered, and trial has now and then forced out a sigh for rest, and hopes deferred hare begotten temporary heart - sick- ness ; but to be daily busy with the great thoughts which Christ has iilled with inspiration, and to deal with men in relation to the grandest interests that pertain to them, have brought deep peace, and flooded life with heavenly splendor. Judged at the end of this experience, I would make the same choice were I a young man to-day. I would seek a fuller fitting ; I- would try to fill out more nearly my ideal through a higher work, so that I might blunder less and accomplish more. There are young men here to whom I commend it, and be- seech them to ask if their working programme had not better be made out in view of that sphere. I have hesitated on that ground to accept any other position for all these years ; I could not have decid- ed to take the place awaiting me, but that I deemed it the condition of prolonged service anywhere, and as still offering the opportunity to work in the same general line of Christian education. I am yet to preach, not with the voice in one pulpit, but in an- other wav, around thousands of hearth -stones. Still, as before, I count the sphere Christian, and the implement the blessed Gospel.
" I have sought to make you intelligent, practical Christians in your varied spheres of life. Upon a genuine conversion to Christ I have insisted, as the vital thinw;. But I have not been content with a few penitential tears, nor an open profession, nor an oc-
I02 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
casional gush of feeling or a fierce flame of zeal. I wanted your religion fortified by intelligence and illustrated in life. And so I have spoken to the un- derstanding and the conscienc;e.
" Of the relations subsisting between us, there is no need to speak here and now. It is probably' enough to say publicly that I have always found warm hearts, kind sympathies, charitable judg- ments, and whatever else contributes to make the ministry turn its sunny side toward me ; have had much for which I am grateful to both God and you ; have not, I hope, seemed unappreciative, because I have not multiplied words. 1 trust we understand each other, by this time, well enough to enable us to confide when we can not ahvays clearly see. May God reward all your kindness in the truest way and the largest measure.
" I trust not one of you mingles the feeling of dis- couragement with the regret which arises over m}^ departure. My work is to be made manifest. Should interest abate, and fidelity lessen, on the part of those who have seemed to grow up into Christian character under my teaching, just because I had gone, it would naturally enough awaken a doubt whether the teaching itself were not radically faulty. If there is now a harder task and a more self- sac- rificing service, apparently, before you, you may properly look upon it as God's offer of a more hero- ic work, the doing of which will add to your own moral nobleness.
"My pastoral work ends here; but there is no
FAREWELL SERMON. IO3
dano-er that my sympathies will at once detach themselves from the sphere and circle to which ten years of significant service and experience have wedded them. We shall be workers in the common field sUU. Give to my successor the confidence and CO -operation which he needs, welcome his service and his teaching as you have welcomed mine, and there is little ground for fear that any great dearth will fall upon you.
" Let us one and all hallow this day, and place, and service, with a common vow that our work shall henceforth be Christian, and then its manifestation will be glorious ; and then we can recall our rela- tionships always, with a feeling of sacred joy, thanking God for the satisfacdon they have yielded
us.
"And now, brethren, sisters, friends, farewell. Be of good comfort, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will surely be with you. And though we thus separate, we will do it hopefully, looking forward gratefully to that hour of reunion when the heart shall be satisfied because it wears God's likeness, and the soul joyous evermore be- cause his smile is upon us, in
' The land upou whose blissful shore There rests no shadow, falls no stain ; There those who meet shall part no more. And those long parted meet again.'"
I04 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
LETTERS.
His correspondence was not extensive, at least not in the directions which would show in an intimate manner his spiritual and mental experiences. The few extracts which are here given will aid in reveal- ing both mind and heart. Those not otherwise designated were addressed to the author :
" Nov. 4, 1858.
" I was very glad to get your letter. It was just such an informal, genial, and hearty epistle, as always pleases me. I do not feel that you need to be very severely castigated for any presumption implied in the feeling of brotherly sympathy, nor for the expression of it. You know I am partially conscious of my strong individualism, and rather regret some phases, developments and effects of it, and so I am always glad when I find anybody feeling that there is really anything like real personal sympathy growing up around and for me. It is not alone because of the gratification which the compliment brings, but because of the evidence afforded that I am really living outside of and beyond myself. "
" Nov. 30, 1858. " Madam Rumor is not less busy than usual, and she does me the honor of utter- ing my name in most ludicrous connections once in a while. The latest thing I have heard is, that the ' spirits' so deal with me that I cm 't sleep,
LETTERS. 105
that my pen goes helter - skelter all over the page whenever I attempt to write (that was always rather more than half true) , and that at length I was forced to consult certain Spiritualists for relief; who told me, of course, that I must yield to the sacred influence or suffer 'many stripes,' and urged me to leave preaching Freewill Baptist theology and devote myself to the ' progressive ' gospel of ' Spiritualism. ' That is seriously told for just so much truth from Smith's Hill, around Market Square, and out to West Providence, and as seri- ously believed by some really good people.
"This is just as true as that I had learned the- ology of Jupiter (the planet !), or that I had been negotiating with the comet to give me a ride to the Pleiades. I shall be in danger of feeling that I am somebod}', and that my opinions are weighty mat- ters, if I am to be honored in this way much longer. ' Spiritualism ' I take for so much — 'bosh' ! and its supporters I can't help looking upon as hon- est .' gullibles ', or covert pharisees, making lofty pretensions to hide the lowest purposes. ' ^lantuin sufficiL ' "
"Jan. 19, 1859.
"I preached an hour and a half last Sun- day afternoon on Modern Spiritualism ; and am rather intending to preach a shorter time next Sunday afternoon, on Modern Universalism. The other sermon caused some fluttering, an indication perhaps that the shot took eflect. Do n't think Madam Rumor will repeat the charge of Spiritual- ism upon me this week or next.
I06 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
" Have just received a long and strong letter from Hillsdale, saying that the removal of Prof. Churchill to Oberlin has led to ni}^ appointment to the vacant Professorship ; and after the case is argu- ed earnestly awhile, I am told that farther reasoning is needless, that I must go out there, and that is the end of it. I have not yet replied, and really I find it difficult to decide what to reply. It would save us much hard and perplexing stud}^ if we had per- petual and plenary inspiration. I do n't say I think it unfortunate that we have not. "
"Feb. 5,1859. " I preached as I proposed, on Universal- ism ; not less but more than an hour and a half. I have had no occasion yet to question the propriety of my preaching on those two subjects, nor of seriously doubting the propriety of the meth- od of discussion adopted. Some of the Spiritual- ists are a good deal stirred, complaining of severe things said in the way of illustration, though gener- ally admitting the fairness of the argument. I shall not frobably be accused of being either a Spiritualist or a Universalist, this month nor next, unless some new developments take place. "
" Feb. 21, 1859. "It is in the nature of technical theo- logians to be creed - hunters and creed - critics. Such a class of men are needed, I think ; though from some cause their ministry does not awaken m}^ envy, nor excite my admiration as much as once it did. The fact is, you can't tell
LETTERS. 107
what the real theology of a denomination is by look- ing over its confession of faith. The words mean different things to different persons ; and besides, many men assent honestly to a confession of faith when their real, living, practical theology is some other and some very different thing.
" I have read with some sadness, some merriment, and a little pity, the recent pamphlet of Rev. Parsons Cooke which you sent me. 1 sup- pose bigoted conservatives have a mission in this world : they are a sort of ofTset to the reckless and crusading radicals which more or less abound in societ}^ Garrison and Theodore Parker on one side of an equation, and Parsons Cooke and N. Adams on the other, — what an algebraic formula that would make ! It might seem absurd, but I am not sure that it fnight not express a good deal of deep moral truth. Prof. Park's theology is far less grim and savage than Cooke's, but I can 't acquiesce very cordially in all the doctrines of the New School party. The freedom of all men, and their perfect ability to accept the provisions of the Gospel and be saved, I know are points strongly asserted ; but much of the significance of those statements seems to me to be frittered away when it is added, that, such is the depravity of all hearts, no man ever did come, or can be expected to come, to Christ, save as God specially and effectively influences him to do so. That scheme gets rid of a difficulty in a logical way ; but practically it stands very close to the system it repudiates and fights. But I am writing
I08 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
a letter of theology ; a thing I do n't think it often proper or needful to do. "
" March 7, 1859. . . . " Have you seen Dr. Bushnell's recent work, 'Nature and the Supernatural'? It is the most important contribution to theological science which has been recently made. It deals a powerful and effective blow against the rationalism or naturalism which is becoming so rife. I don 't readily concur in all his definitions, nor in all his points in detail ; but the main argument is full of strength, and the sweep of thought is full of sub- lime and Christian majesty. His portraiture of Christ surpasses anything I have ever met in that line, — the apprehension is wonderfully deep and clear, the study is that of the profound philosopher, the grateful reverence is such as only a deep - hearted Christian can feel. It will richly repay a reading ; it will yield its large and peculiar wealth only to diligent and thoughtful study. "
" Providence, May 20, 1861. "To THE Committee on Finance : In view of the peculiar circumstances surrounding us during the present financial year, rendering it difficult to meet the expenses likely to be incurred, I hereby relinquish my claim to two hundred dollars of the twelve hundred dollars appropriated as salary for the pastor, and ask your acceptance of the sum named, in the same cordial spirit in which it is tendered. It is rather a privilege than otherwise, to assist in bearing the burdens which our great
LETTERS. 109
national struggle is laying upon the people, and es- pecially those which it is laying upon our own Church and Society. "
" Warrenton, Va., April 6, 1864.
" Dear Roger .Williams Sunday School: Have you ever feared that I had forgotten you, amid so many new and strange things? There is no danger that I shall do that. I carry the picture of our vestry at home, as it appears on Sunday mornings, hanging all the while in my memory ; and I turn to it over and over again. I remember just where each teacher was accustomed to sit, and the faces of many of the pupils are remembered as distinctly as though I had just been singing with you some inspiring hymn, as ' Saviour, like a Shepherd lead us, ' or, ' The Sunday school, that blessed place. ' It always seemed a blessed place to me ; and now, amid these desolations of war, where Sunday schools are mostly broken up, where churches are turned into barracks and hospitals, or left silent and desolate, it seems to me twice blessed. I have thanked God many times that the desolations of war have not passed, like a destroying angel, over our blessed New England.
" I can not tell you much of what I have seen, within the limits of a short letter. When 1 say that I have slept in tents ; preached in the open air to a company of soldiers standing eagerly around ; distributed papers, tracts and books, and spoken a kindl}^ word, to such as were cheerful to receive them ; that I have helped to cook and eat not a few
no GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
dinners in a deserted church ; that I have seen many hard, stubborn men, who had been careless and profane for years, get up in the prayer meet- ing, tell how they had remembered the praj^ers and Sunday school lessons of tljeir childhood, and that now they were ready and determined to obey the truth, and become good soldiers of Christ, — when I tell you that I have seen all this, you will understand that it is hard to write you a letter ; not because there is so little to tell you, but because there is so much.
" The men have got beyond the romance of war, and now feel its realities. It is not now animal ex- citement that stirs them. The hour for reflection has come. They are taught to despise shams, and feel that the real and substantial are only worth seeking. Their perils, wounds, hardships, the graves of their comrades, the memories of Chris- tian homes, have disposed them to receive the spe- cial influences set in motion by the Commission. 1 am sure if you could sit, as I have many times, in the chapel or smaller tents, see the men rise to ex- press their purpose to be Christians, listen to their confessions and stories of the inward struggle, mark the simplicity, fervor, directness and force of their prayers, hear the straightforward words in which they speak of their life as it has been, and as, with God's blessing, they mean it shall be, — you would feel that there were depth, sincerity and power in their religious life. You see little hesitation; men do not talk much for talk's sake ; but the plain, reso-
LETTERS. Ill
lute, yet modest utterances of men who feel the seriousness of their undertaking, and who mean, in God's name, to accomplish it.
" A few nights since, at the close of a brief ser- mon which I was permitted to preach, in response to a simple suggestion, six men arose at once, with the most calm deliberation, to express their purpose to be Christians. The number is sometimes twenty in a single evening. The firm, yet tender grasp of their hands as they crowd up to greet the speaker, and say, ' God bless you, ' makes me feel at once among brothers. We know what the expression means, ' one in Christ Jesus. '
" But I must stop, leaving wholly out some most touching incidents which I will keep for my return. Meanwhile, let me ask you to pray much for the army. "
" Warrenton, Va., April 7, 1864.
"To THE Sunday Evening Meeting. No Sun- day evening has passed since I left Providence without bringing me some reminders of the place where I have spent so many pleasant and profitable hours in conference and prayer.
" I read the same words for needed instruction and comfort now, which I used to read out of the Gospel with you, and they bring me the same blessing as before; I lift up m}^ praj^er to the same great Helper, and find his grace comes to me to minister strength as I nee.l it, just as it has for years. I find no other word that reaches my heart - wants, and can turn to no other mighty one who bears up
112 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
my weakness with his unfaiHng power. ' I only desire to trust him more fully, to realize more of his influence, and to honor him with a larger service. " "Norfolk, Va., April 26, 1864.
" To MY Congregation at the Roger Wil- liams Church : The lapse of time does not make me forget the faces that have, on so many Sundays, looked up into my own, nor beget in my heart any indifference over the interests of the people who call me pastor. I think of you as my congrega- tion ; you still are 7ny flock, though for the time I am compelled to commit you, in a peculiar sense, to the watchful care of the Great Shepherd. So I send you a letter, grateful over the privilege of speaking to you at all, and desiring to say something that may interest and do you good.
" Since we have had a national army in the field, I have desired to see and know its character and life ; and since the thunderbolts of war have been shivering the fetters of the slaves, I have been anx- ious to witness their march into the land of their patient faith and long - trusted promise. I wished to understand both these matters, that I might more wisely do my own personal work respecting them, and aid in helping others to know and perform their duty. I believe I have gained something in patriotism, — that I prize the cause of the Union more ; and I find my abhorrence of the rebellion, as a needless, selfish, wicked plot against liberty, jus- tice and honor, is deeper than ever before. If I have condemned slavery heretofore, as founded in
LETTERS. 113
violence and outrage, paralyzing the best energies and poisoning the very heart of the nation, I find now that my opposition to it has been far too weak, and my protests tame. If I have been lukewarm he'retofore, God helping me, I will endeavor to be a patriot and an abolitionist hereafter. If I have not preached loyalty and freedom as vital necessides in the life of a nation or a man, I mean my .sermons shall be plain on that point when I stand in the pul- pit again. If I have not pleaded for a religious spirit broad and strong enough to undertake reso- lutely the work of lifting our whole public life up to the plane of moral and Chrisdan principle, I hope nobody may have a chance to doubt hereafter that I aim at the fulfillment of the prayer — ' Thy king- dom come.'
. . . " There is a thoughtful, direct earnest- ness in the soldier's religion. The work he is set to do is of the decisive, practical kind ; and he generally takes hold of his religious work in the same way. Men in the army feel that the religion which is going "to do anything for them must be more than a theory, a sendment, or a pleasant ex- perience. They want what will save them from camp vices ; what will make God a conscious per- sonal Friend in the loneliness of their nightly pickedng, or when tidings reach them of the desola- dons death is making in their distant homes ; what will come to them like a clear ' well - done ' out of heaven, wdien leading a charge into the terrors of shot and shell ; what will enable them to lean on
114 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
God's promise of immortal life, as though it were the bosom of wife or mother, when they fall unseen and unhelped, to rise no more. The veteran soldiers are far more thoughtful, calm, kindly and modest than the later recruits.
" I can not now speak in detail of the work of the Christian Commission, but I can not help bear- ino- rrrateful record to the success which has attend- ed its work. It has won the confidence, sympathy, affection and good wishes of the best part of the army, — including both officers and men, — to an extent and degree that are touching to witness ; and it can point to results already reached, through God's blessing, which astonish those whose faith was largest. Encouraging incidents, some of a most touching character, are constantly occurring.
" Three^days ago, I went in a detailed ambu- lance to visit several encampments, and called at the camp of a battery at the extreme limit of our fortifications toward Suffolk. The Lieutenant com- manding was a young man, not quite twenty - one. We carried papers for distribution, and asked him if it would be both convenient and pleasant to have a brief service. His quarters were in a large room in an old dwelling-house, and he at once put that at our service, and sent his sergeants to notify the men. I preached twenty-five minutes to a company of per- haps fifty. When the room was cleared, the officer, turning his frank face toward me, said : ' Sir, I want to thank you myself for this ; it is the first time I have heard a prayer, even, in a month.' We sat
LETTERS. 115
down together, and, as if impelled by some inward impulse, he gave me his story, now and then with moistened eyes, and a voice full of emotion. The substance of it was this : ' My father is a minister in northern New York. My parents have eight chil- dren. ' And, pausing a moment, he added, half playfully, half seriously ; ' I am the worst child my parents have been troubled with. I have been faithfully counselled, and often prayed for, but I have departed from the way so kindly and plainly pointed out. I came into the army almost three years ago, only seventeen years old. I expected a long piece of advice, but my mother waited till I had reached the door, and then only said : "My son, keep your integrity, and be true to the prin- ciples we have taught you." Mother writes me now once in a while, though she is sixty-five years old. ' He took from his drawer a sheet folded in ancient style, and read me a paragraph, in which maternal pride, love and anxiety had poured themselves out in most touching Christian counsel. ' That 's the way mother writes me, ' said he, ' and perhaps you can guess what kind of a mother I 've got. Some- how your prayer and the service made me want to tell you this. I said I was the worst child my mother has got, and I think I am. I have been fully resolved to be a thoroughly moral youn<T man. I never tasted a drop of liquor, nor played a game of cards, in my life ; but it is terribly hard to resist sometimes. I do not know of but one commissioned officer among all whom I have met, who I suppose
Il6 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
refuses to drink. Among my equals the temptation is n't much ; but when a superior officer, from whom you have received or expect favors, asks you to drink, in a tone implying that he does n't at all ex- pect a refusal, — that 's the hard place. But so far I have kept to my mother's advice on that point, and maintained my integrity. ' ' Do you feel at all that being a moral man fulfills 3^our whole dut}^?' I asked. 'Not at all,' he promptly answered. 'I know I should have been a Christian, long ago,' ' I hope to be, too,' he added, after a moment, with eyes downcast, and tone subdued. I said a few vv^ords as wisely as I knew how, shook hands with him, and we bade each other good - bye. ' Not far from the kingdom,'.! said to myself as I rode away. Will he step in, or walk in the opposite direction? His form, face, tone and manner have haunted me almost continually since. The story illustrates what we meet here in the arm}^ and sets forth the power which Christian counsel at home, and the letters of loving Christian friends may have. Very many of the most striking cases of conversion, are readily traceable to this source.
" Allow me to add, in closing, that I have asked myself many times, while witnessing the decided, practical piety developed amid all the disadvantages of army life ; and the fervid, trustful piety which has held on its way in the hearts of these freed people in spite of burdens and wrongs, — I have asked myself what apology we can urge for our inefficient type of religion, amid all the helps of New Eng-
LETTERS. 117
land homes, and sanctuaries hallowed by so many tokens of God"s favor. And if to live without God be an inexcusable sin in men who have no home but the camp, and men who have no lot but that of bondage, how sad must be their lot who go on to the last great trial through Christian homes, Sun- day schools, and churches fragrant with prayer and praise, to be weighed in the balance and found lacking in the vital thing? "
" Sept. 13, 1865. " Dear Bro. Anthony : I desire to express my sympathy with you in this hour when the shadow of another bereavement has fallen upon your home, and another star been stricken from the firmament of your domestic heaven.* I need say nothing re- specting the amiability and interest attaching to Abby's spirit, for you know and realize that as no one else can ; and the thought of that adds, doubt- less, to the seeming greatness of your loss. Your faith does not need to be assured that she v/ho, in our earthly way of speaking, prematurely dies, does really leap the sooner into the only blessed life ; for you have opened 3'our heart too many times while sitting beside little, silent, cold forms, to the words
*"\Yere you to ask in what particular way Mr. Day liad been of most service to me, I should say it was in liours of trouble and sorrow. 'While he was my i^astor I burled five children ; the value of words of comfort that came from him at those times never can be expressed by me,"*
*L. W. Anthony to the author.
II» GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
of Jesus : ' Suffer little children' — , and have found too much solace in them, to distrust them now. I am sure you do not so much commit your dear ones to the grave as yield them to the loving care of God.
" No long story of earthly experience, however sunny ; no picture of future years below, however bright the coloring, can equal that single line in which divine wisdom and love paint for us the life of those 'little ones' who hear the Shepherd's voice, and hasten to the heavenly fold : ' Their an- gels do always behold the face of my Father who is in Heaven.'
" All this, I know very well, can not prevent 3^our sense of bereavement being very heavy, nor render your utterance of the words ; ' Even so, Father,' less than painful. You will repeat them with choking voice, and with lips that tremble at each syllable. And I can not think God would have it otherwise. He has not planted tender affections in our hearts and then bidden us be stoics. When the cords of affection snap under the strain of bereavement, he would not have us deny that we are wounded. When the choicest treasures which he has lent us are suddenly removed, he would not have us watch their departure with careless air or with dry eyes.
"The strength of Christian faith and the complete- ness of Christian submission are not seen in our'tak- ing affliction, such as yours, with indifference ; but while the agony is keen and the eye blind with tears, to be able to say : ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the
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119
Lord,' — that tests our confidence and tells whether 'the Lord is our refuge, a very present lielp in' trouble' The submission that costs, is specially dear to him who makes bearing the cross the proof of discipleship and the condition of his favor.
" You were sure to lose your liille child, Abby, even if she had not left you in this form, tier art- lessness, her wondering questions, merry prattle, winsome, childish ways and words, the freshness of her thoughts and feelings which made Spring abide through the whole year in your house, — these things which made her your little child, you could not have kept save in memory, and there you are sure to keep them now. ... If the heart had kept up its beating, do you think that there could have been any transition to another state on earth, that could satisfy your human love and your Chris- tian ambition for her, like this which makes the beauty and the brightness of her earthly childhood ripen into the eternal youth and glory of the heav- enly life?
. . . " God is your Moving Father ' now, not less, but even more than when the seats at your right and left hands at the table were filled by the dear ones whose presence so lighted your home, though he seems the 'terrible avenger.' Nearer than at any other time does he come to us when the streams of human comfort run low ; his ministries are richest when other help is unavailing. You have not un- frequently, I am sure, felt to be deeply and glori- ously true, the lines of Cowper :
I20 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
' Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smUing face.'
I think the last line would better express the truth if it read :
' He keeps a smiling face.'
" Have you never thought how special are the pains God has taken to speak his best words to the smitten, and what an unequivocal bearing that most blessed of Christ's utterances has : ' Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest '?
" God's love may also be discerned in giving an assurance that the dear departed ones find the real home for which all healthy human souls have at times an unutterable longing ; and also in making them go before us to invest the heavenly world with real home aspects, so that we go to it not as stran- gers, but to find a familiar circle and mode of life. You could not have made your earthly home so at- tractive but that the members of your household would have felt the complete idea of a home unreal- ized on earth. They would have felt at times strong yearnings for the eternal house not m.ade with hands ; or if not, the absence of such a look upward would have been to you a deeper grief.
" They are going, — early, indeed, but over a road less thorny because tliey go early ; they are far less likely to miss the way than if the path ran through the wilderness and among the temptations of a long road ; they are going to take their places
LETTERS. 121
around the board where you may find the seats at your side never vacant, and the occupants never unsatisfied with the glorious life. Is he not ' a lov- ing Father ' who comes to light up bereavements, which are inevitable, witli such beams of promise, and such stars of hope ? . . . I thank God that your aifection has brightened the dewy path over which 3'our five children have passed from the morning of earth to the land upon whose celestial glory no night comes down.''
'• London, Exg., Dec. 12, 1865. " Dear Bro. Anthony : I wish you could look in upon us to - night. Three of us sit around a table in a finely furnished private parlor, in the Stevens Hotel, just off from Bond St., about half way be- tween Oxford St. and Piccadilly. Before the grate, where a pleasant fire is glowing, are plush easy- chairs, and the polished fender waits for your slip- pered feet, where you may toast them first into warmth, next into luxury, and last into dreams of home ; so that you will seem to see the distant faces both of the dead and the living shining out through the ruddy flame, and hear the voices that once made music about other hearths coming back in the street cries that rino- in the distance on the night air. At the back side of the apartment is a vacant lounge where you can relax all the muscles at once, and find a deepened meaning crowding itself into the precious word — rest. On the dressing - table is a little Bible, bought in Providence three weeks ago, and the Psalm we would read by candle - light
122 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
would be not less comforting because it had been carried over the sea ; the subdued petition with which we should put our souls into the Great Keep- er's care, would go up by as short and sure a road to Heaven from the new closet as from the old. And I have just ordered breakfast at 81-2 in the morning, here in this room; — the bill of fare to consist of fried fish, baked potatoes, omelet, dipped toast, baked apples and tea. I will secure you the seat just before the grate, give you the second cut from the tail of the flounder, and put two lumps of sugar into your cup. Will you come? If you hes- itate now, I shall give it up, for I have exhaus,ted the argument and plied you with all the motives !
" But I only write you a word, to tell you, thus playfully, that my heart goes across the ocean at a bound, and that to see you to-night would be a rare pleasure. Such a pleasure is, I hope, yet in store for us. Am resting and rallying — go to Paris in a day or two."
" Cairo, Egypt, Feb. 17, 1866.
"Dear Bro. Anthony: I got your letter at Alexandria. Wandering so far from home, seeing scarcely any faces but strange ones, and hearing the music of my mother tongue but rarely, I am in a condition to prize anything which helps to picture the life and bring to the ear of my fancy the tones which have so often and so largely blessed me on another continent. I am very glad to learn of the general steadfastness, interest and prosperity in our church circle at home. It would be a rare privi-
LETTERS. 123
lege to step in and share even the simplest, the briefest and the most ordinary of your services."
" London, June 29, 1866.
"Dear Bro. Anthony: I need not tell you how crrateful it has been to me to learn of the reli";- ious prosperity which has been shared by the Eoger Williams congregation, Sunday school and church in connection with Bro. Perkins's* labors, and the labors of God's people. There is no joy like that which springs from the triumph of the Gospel in the field to which the strongest sympathies of the heart are daily turning. I trust that the religious life is to deepen, strengthen, rise and grow, year by year. And I trust, too, that besides the fidelity which has aided to win so many young disciples to Jesus, there is being and will still be employed the gracious wis- dom and divinely -taught skill, which organizes and trains these new forces for a high, steady, con- sistent, effective service in the great Master's vine- yard. I hope to find when I get back that the yoke, of the Master is not only assumed but worn, — that behind everj^ good profession a genuine life is throbbing, — that each name stands for a real and felt force, to which every day and deed makes an addition.
"I regret very much the necessity of being ab- sent from Covenant Meeting. May the blessing of God be with you in your gathering, and your hearts burn within you, while you talk of Christ and his
* llcv. C. S. Perkins, who jierfo rmed pulpit aud pastoral service with the church during Mr. Day's absence.
124 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
grace, as it has been given to your hearts. Good things and great are in store for you ; open the heart freely and let them flow in. For myself, I feel anx- ious to be a truer Christian and a wiser and more faithful minister. I am sometimes oppressed with a sense of my own weakness and inefliciency ; but Christ is my source of hope, and his promises m}^ never failing fountain of joy. I have pledged him my heart and life, and I am only anxious to redeem the pledge. My church relations seem full of sa- credness, and there is no word of our Covenant but I would renewedly accept.
" I am longincj for two thinijs : A church where every member is a loving, willing, faithful worker ; and the coming of many souls to Christ and to us. My heart is deeply drawn out for this last blessing, and I trust many of you are praying and laboring for it. I can not feel satisfied without seeing some fruit spring up under our labors."
" Damascus, Syria, April 17, 1866.
" I am here at the easternmost point of my tour. I do not always realize that I am sev- eral thousands of miles from R. I. I have now been so long among these orientals, and their phases of life come so much as a matter of course, that the sense of strangeness has largely worn off, and this part of the world appears human and not wholly unhomelike. Yet I shall leave it without great re- luctance, and the idea of getting back to civiliza- tion is agreeable.
" Without exaggeration I may say that I have
LETTERS. 125
ci^joycd this tour. I had longed to see these old lands from my boyhood ; and so to see them has been a prized privilege. Perhaps, too, I do not count the blessing smaller that I have taken this survey in the comparative maturity of thought and life, when reflection is calm and active, though fan- cy is less busy and buoyant ; when, if I have felt less intensely, I may have thought more practically. Besides, I am not much haunted b}'' the idea or feeling that I ought to be at work in the world, in- stead of inspecting it for my own gratification ; — seeing that 1 am here because such recreation ap- peared to be the only road to useful service in the future. And, though I can never be quite satisfied to tax the generosit}^ even, which takes pleasure in giving, there has often seemed to be a kind of affectional sanctity thrown over this whole tour, by the remembrance of what was done at Lewiston and elsewhere, in the way of lifting me from my attitude of waiting and doubt, and setting me at once among the scenes that are so memorable and hal- lowed."
" Inverness, Scotland, July 31, 1866. "Dear Bro. Anthony: You probably want some specific statement about health. I can not tell the whole story in a brief letter, and need not. But I have worked as hard, steaddy and conscientiously for physical vigor as I have been wont to work for spiritual results. I have resolutely put down the doubt which would keep coming up, whether my physical life was really worth fighting such a
126 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
long, earnest, expensive, sometimes painful, some- times weary and doubtful battle. For I had gone into the light for life, and there is something in me which hates to give up when I have once fairly en- tered the lists. In that spirit I have been planning and doing since I came abroad, — in a general way subordinating many other things to this.
" My life must henceforth be more even, if it is to be capable of anything ; I must husband my strength, take counsel of prudence, and heed the remonstrances of my fretting nerves. My frailties are absolutely stronger than my determination ; and the careful study of myself and symptoms during these past months compels the conviction, — wheth- er 1 would or not, — that to be tough and enduring is henceforth impossible."
IV.
EDITORIAL LIFE.
1866 — 1875.
His election to the editorship of the Morning Star, Dec. 6, 1866, was followed at once by his ac- ceptance, but not without expressed apprehension as to its wisdom, and reluctance from considerations of health. On the latter account, he did not hesitate ' to say that his long continuance of service was quite doubtful.
His editorial salutatory appeared in the issue of Dec. 19th, in which he says :
" Calmly, prayerfully, trustfully as I can, I ac- cept the position. I need co-operation, and expect it; I desire a true success, and do not despair of it. Is that presumption?
" I have no new plans to propose to- day, and no large pledges for the future to give. The Star has acquired a character and a moral position. They
128 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
are definite, and liave cost not a little. I trust neither will be sacrificed or impaired. Some of the noblest of our dead and the best of our livinsf have put their richest qualities and their most heroic pur7 poses into its life ; — it would be a grief and a shame to barter away lightly what we have gained at such a cost. If they be new voices that speak through its columns hereafter, I trust it will not be difficult to detect the clear ring of other days.
" The Star will, therefore, continue to speak for and in the name of the denomination, whose organ it has been from the first, while allowing, as hereto- fore, a reasonable latitude for the expression of indi- vidual opinion ; and so seek to promote at once uni- ty and liberty. It^ will plead for temperance and freedom; it will take the liberty of criticising public measures, especially in view of their moral bearings ; and it will lift up its voice for the regeneration of the state as well as for the consecration of the church. While especially aiming at the supremacy of a sound and vital religious faith in the spiritual sphere, it will not stand quietly b}^ and see that faith contemned and crucified in the secular. The relig- ion which it advocates will still include both the first and second commandments.
"It is a time when Christ's disciples are called to be Christian citizens, and to define that duty will constitute a part of the service which is to be under- taken here. The Star wuU not cease to assert the rightful supremacy of true religion always and ev- erywhere. It is quite time that the heresy which
RECEPTION AT DOVER. 12^
divorces politics from Christianity were buried out of sight. The Gospel has many more precepts for week - day life than for Sunday worship.
" Brethren, Friends, Readers, I salute you all. Sorrowing with you over the great bereavement which has fallen upon us, sharing your gratitude over the great blessing which God has vouchsafed us in the long and consecrated service of him who built his life into the F. Baptist denomination and left it as his vital monument, anxious to join 3'ou in carrving forward to completeness the enterprises which owed so much to his clear head and good heart, I take his vacant chair with human trem- bling, but enter upon these duties with Christian hope. I beg your most fervent prayers. I pledge my best service."
His name had long been familiar in Dover, and his abilities held in hicjh esteem. His coming was greeted with lively expressions of satisfaction. His subsequent participation in municipal affairs was much less than was desired by his fellow citi- zens. He served upon the School Board for several years ; and for one term represented Dover in the legislature, where he was chairman of the commit- tee on the State Normal School. At one time durins- the session the school would have failed to receive an important and needed appropriation but for a speech which he delivered in its behalf. He was President of its board of trustees for some time pre-
130 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
vious to his removal from the State. He dedined a second nomination as representative. The honor, never before conferred upon a citizen, of an invita- tion to lecture in the regular city course, was ac- corded him. He twice appeared as a lecturer, and with an acceptability second to none other.
He was warmly welcomed at the office of the Morning Star. To his kindly, courteous bearing was yielded not only the favor, but the veneration even, of those employed in connection with the pa- per. Thenceforth to the end, he imparted needful instruction with patience ; suggestions were made with kindliness ; words of encouragement and help- fulness, and genial qualities of mind and heart made his presence full of endearing, elevating influences.
His v/ork in the writing of editorials and book notices, was performed with great celerity and ac- curacy— never being rewritten, nor bearing marks of correction, except an occasional changing of a word. His quick, exact eye enabled him to cor- rect a proof with surprising rapidity. He was able to seize without difficulty upon that which was re- tainable in a manuscript, and to decide readily upon its merits.*
His book notices in the Star v^ere^ perhaps, as extensively used by publishers in their circulars and
*Rev. J. M. Bre'wster.
EDITORIAL LIFE. I3I
advertisements as those of any other religious jour- nal. Unusually just and discriminating in this fa- vorite part of his work, careful to commend excel- lences as well as to note defects, he was known as an able and appreciative critic. His thorough ap- preciation b}' publishers is strongly testified by nu- merous letters addressed to him personalh', by the quality and variety of books sent him, and the fre- quent quotations made from his reviews. "I re- garded him as singularly fitted to sit in judgment upon the productions of young aspirants in the iield of literature. He was sensitive and genial, yet scholarly and critical in all his tastes and acquisi- tions. He had a disposition to see all the good qualities of an author, and yet his high standard of excellence be held to with tenacity."*
In 1867, Mr. Daniel Lothrop, then of Dover, pro- posed to publish Sunday school books in connec- tion with the F. B. Printing Establishment. The Corporators received the proposition with favor and referred it to a committee of which Mr. Day was chairman. Forty - four books were published under this arrangement, bringing upon him a very large amount of literary labor. He examined and revised all the manuscript of these volumes and read the proof. He also revised other manuscripts for the
*J. E. Eankiu, D. D.
132 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
press of Messrs. Lothrop & Co., whose books bear the finishing touch of his literary criticism, and exhibit the results of his appreciative taste.
With Drs. Lincoln of Newton, and Rankin of Washington, he examined manuscripts and decided the awards in connection with both the $500 and the $1000 prize series.
Meeting in this matter of business as comparative strangers, the acquaintance ripened into mutual es- teem and friendship. Both these members of the committee speak with admiration of Dr. Day's ge- nial, companionable qualities and literary ability. The close of their joint labors was followed by a dinner, at which much good humor prevailed.
" He was patient and minute in his examination and statement of the qualities of manuscripts offered for publication. His preferences were generally for those which had delicate thought exquisitely ex- pressed, rather than for those which, though hav- ing more feeling and action, were destitute of the sensitiveness and the finish which he exacted. He seemed to enter into the sympathies and intent of an author more fully than any other critic I have known."*
Having been, since 1850, a special contributor of the Star, and, since 1863, one of the Corporators,
*AIr. D. Lothrop.
EDITORIAL LIFE. I33
and actively and prominently connected with its lit- erary management, he was prepared to enter efliciently at once upon its more intimate direction. Under his impulse and care, it soon exhibited a higher intellectual character, superior taste, and more of general accuracy and ability.
His editorials took a wide, comprehensive, intelli- gent range ; grappling with sturdy questions of na- tional politics and public morals ; defending some needful reform, or asking that reform be inaugu- rated ; extolling some public charity or private mu- nificence ; pleading for a high and true secular and Christian education ; aiming to extend brotherly kindness and charity ; stimulating and encouraging the ministry and churches : speaking words of ten- derness fitted for a child's heart, or breathing expe- riences full of comfort to the aged saint ; — always Christian, always patriotic and firm in utterance, nurturing faith, heroism and patience. It was ap- part^nt that his political preferences were Republi- can,— it was equally apparent that he was not a partisan. He grasped intelligently and fairly in his discussions, the position and spirit of the various re- ligious bodies, and presented with clearness the meaning and character of religious movements.
Testimonials to the worth and acceptability of the Star, from sources beyond its usual constituency,
134 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
multiplied on every hand, and were continued year by year during his editorship. The business mana- ger of a large religious publication house said : " I read Dr. Day's editorials with more pleasure than those of any other religious paper." From the Gongregationalist, the Watchman and Rcjicctor^ the Advance, the Independent, and other religious weeklies, and also from the higher class of secular journals came high and appreciative words of en- comium, commending the literary management of the Staj' as that of a first class paper, distinguished by its catholicity and fairness, the ability and ac- complishments of its editor. A subscriber writes : "Though a Baptist minister for over thirty years, of the true, old apostelic line, yet I like the spirit of 3'our paper. I like it because you stand up fair- ly, frankly, honestly; expressing your own views without double dealing, or an effort to hover every saint called a Baptist."
He gave to the Star from the outset the deepest devotion, and it was always the object of his intense love. He was greatly pained by any seeming lack of interest or appreciation by its patrons. As he in- sisted upon courtesy, fairness, good -will in himself, he expected the exhibition of like qualities in others. He was ambitious that the Star should be the expo- nent of Christian love and helpfulness. One day
EDITORIAL LIFE. I35
when he was ill in the office, and was talking of the needs and interests of the Establishment, he was asked : " What shall we put into the Star to make it the best possible?" In reply, he said; " Put all the sweetness, bravery, helpfulness and sacrifice of the dear Redeemer into every issue of it. Nothing else is worth the pain it costs or the interests in- volved." He endeavored to make it subserve the fullest interests of the denomination, and fairly rep- resent its spirit and aims.
In his editorial of Dec. 31, 1873, he exhibits the kind of ministry which he would have the Star per- form :
" With this number, the forty - eighth volume of the Star reaches its close. We hope its visits to many homes have not been without satisfactions and benefits. We trust it has carried some light to perplexed readers, help to those who were in need of spiritual quickening, courage, comfort and joy to. the hearts that were pressed by the burdens and discouragements that life is almost sure to bring. If it has helped perplexed minds into clearer views of truth and duty, strengthened and lifted moral and Christian purpose, cheered fainting hearts so that they have been readier to take up their appoint- ed work and carry it on patiently and trustfully, borne healing influences to smitten and wounded souls, taught bravery and trustfulness to the fearful and anxious, aided bereaved ones to put fresh
136 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
meaning into the sentence, — 'Thy will be done,' brought light through, the shadows that hang over the grave, and made the better land and life seem nearer, more real and more precious to the soul, — if it has done these things, and such as these, it has served the ends that stand in our thought and satis- fy our ambition above all others. For these results we chiefly labor and pray, and the evidence that they are reached in any good measure brings back an encouragement and a gladness such as nothing else yields.
" We are painfully conscious that our own service has been too much lacking in the wisdom and devo- tion that are always so needful ; but there has been a measure of satisfaction in honestly trying to serve the great cause which is so dear to the heart of God and so vitally related to the welfare of men. We end the year's work with a humble and glad trust, and ask the great Helper's aid, for ourselves and our readers, that the future may be nobler and bet- ter than the past."
Again, with its first issue from Boston, Jan. 6, 1875 • " We wish it to serve the great end of en- larging the plans, cementing the hearts and uniting the eflbrts of those who are laboring together with God for the highest welfare of men."
He adopted the rule of spending eight hours daily, in the office. How he actually wrought meanwhile, and his habits there, are best revealed
EDITORIAL LIFE. 137
by one who was intimately associated with him in editorial management for five years :
"What impresses me most, and that which comes to m}'' mind first in thinking of him, was his singu- lar persistence in work. He kept himself in the office quite as many hours as almost any one else in it. Eight o'clock in summer and nine in winter usually found him at his desk, and excepting the scant hour that he generally allowed himself for dinner, there he sat until about half- past six in the evening.
" He never stood, except now and then to walk across the room once or twice in a pre-occupied way, as if still carrying on the work in which he had been en^afjed at the desk, and there he would soon be found again wholly absorbed in work, as though there were no time for respite. This was especially noticeable when he was ill. At those times when we knew him to be suffering severely, he rigidly adhered to his usual habits of work. He seemingly never ceased working for a moment out of any disposition to yield to pain or any fear of the probable consequences of overwork. It was only when pain and illness actually conquered him, that he seemed at all to yield."
For some time previous to his election as editor of the Morning Star, the establishing of another de- nominational paper, to be issued from some favor- able locality in the West, had been seriously pro- posed. Western brethren of influence urged his acceptance of the position with the declaration that
138 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
it would be hailed with greater satisfaction at the West than that of any other who could be appointed. He was, moreover, assured by them that in the event of his acceptance, the West would probably unite with the East in making one strong paper. Such a consummation was earnestly hoped for by many, and the prospect of it had no little effect upon his decision. But before he had fairly entered the new sphere it was ascertained that western Free Bap- tists, generally, could not be satisfied except by the establishment of a paper under their control and within their jurisdiction ; and that decisive prelimi- nary steps had already been taken.
He was greatly disappointed by the final result, but, endeavoring to yield his own convictions to the opinions of others in whose judgment he reposed great confidence, he worked on hopefully. Al- though he never for a moment believed that two papers would be as well for the denomination as one paper well sustained, with a strong western as well as eastern representation in its corporate and editorial management, yet, when it was obvious that his wishes could not be realized, he disinterest- edly and heartily strove to make the two papers as strong and valuable as possible.
The Conference at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1868, de- cided to appropriate a considerable portion of the
GENERAL CONFERENCE AT BUFFALO. I39
funds of the Printing Establishment to encourage the continuance of the denominational paper already published in Chicago, and also to aid in the start- ing of a third paper in New York.
When the Committee on Publications, of which Dr. Day was a member, by its majority recom- mended the above action, he prepared a minority report, but after brief thought concluded to withhold it. He was opposed to the action of Conference on the ground that the local and general objects which were proposed to be gained, could be better secured " by an earnest effort of all parties to add patronage and power to the papers already estab- lished, than by calling another into existence." In the minority report, found among his papers, he says further :
" The patronage which on the most hopeful view may be looked for, is not adequate to sustain three papers respectably. One or more of them will be in serious danger of sinking into a weakness that holds on to life only by a desperate struggle to keep out of the grave.
" We have not the needed supply of men and mind that can be spared from other spheres to make three papers either a credit to the ability of the de- nomination, a stimulant and an educator to the young who are growing up among us, or a real power in society. A weak periodical literature, at
140 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
such a time as this, is what we cannot afford to send abroad to represent us. Quality is more vital than quantity.
" The establishment of this number of papers, through such appropriations, will almost certainly cut off the resources of the Printinsj Establishment so that it can no longer appropriate funds to the great benevolent and reliijious undertakings of the denomination ; it is liable to leave us without the means to defray the expense of our general denomi- national work, or to aid in the execution of impor- tant plans in the future.
" This scattering of the funds, for the purpose of exalting and putting vigor into so many measures and projects that are local and sectional rather than general and denominational, will, in our judgment, tend to weakness and disintegration ratlier than to that unity and working Christian strength with- out which our record is likely to be one of partial success, of blighted hopes, of unfulfilled promises and mortifying failures."
He was never after satisfied with his passive posi- tion and inaction over this question, and endeavored as far as possible to obviate their effect.
An arrangement made by the Printing Establish- ment in 1870, to maintain an ofiice of the Slar in New York, did not fully meet his approval, yet, on most accounts he believed it wisest, and honorably and faithfully complied with the conditions involved in it.
VISIT AT THE WEST. I4I
Under the direction of t!:e Executive Committee of the Establishment, in the summer of 1873, he visited the West. "You are going for rest, I presume," said a friend to him on the eve of his departure. "Not at all," he replied; "but for earnest, hard work." This he did in Yearly and in Q^iarterly Meetings, and in other gatherings, as well as in private. He did it for the closer cementing of the denomination. Performed at a time of year unfa- vorable for endurance, it nearly broke down both mind and body ; but it was done out of love for the people of his choice. He went, it is true, as the representative of the interests of the Morning Star, but seeking higher than any local ends, he went es- pecially as the representative of the polic}'' and spirit of the denomination, of which the Star was only the exponent.
Each step of his tour through the West was marked by address, or lecture, or some effort of im- portant and acceptable character. His presence in- spired new confidence in our general denomination- al work, and, besides greatly endearing him to our people of the West, bound West to East in stronger, more vital bonds, b}^ the golden threads of his elo- quence,— furnished it new and fuller drawings of brotherly love from the magnetic impulses of his broad and genial spirit. A needed proof was given
142 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
by his visit, of the sympathy and cordial co-opera- tion of the eastern portion of the denomination with the efforts, toward upbuilding and prosperity, by the western.
He was obliged to be absent from the office from one to three months each year, on account of sickness. Such discouragements arose from this source that he often spoke of giving up his work altogether. The routine of editorial life was at times irksome, — too stereotyped for his ambidon, and too confining for his health, and he was not disinclined to listen to requests for his labors in other spheres. This was specially true at the time both of his first and his second election to the Presidency of Hillsdale College.
" In some respects he wished to go to Hillsdale ; in other respects he feared to go. Some of the firmest friends of the College, and who did most to secure his election, said to me last summer : ' We are glad 'Dr. Day did not come. The expec- tations in regard to his work were so high, that no man could meet them ; he must have disappointed them, after doing a Jiimdred per cent, better than any other man, and the consequent loss of interest and confidence would have distressed him.' I have no doubt that this view of the matter, in connection with the decided wish of the Corporators to retain him, led to a negative decision. "*
*Rev. I. D. Stewart.
CHANGES IN THE MORNING STAR. I43
In his annual report to the Board of Corporators in 1867, he presented and urged the matter of en- largement of the Morning Star, asking that all questions involved, especially that of expense, be thoroughly and minutely considered. This change would involve increased expenditures in a •number of ways, besides in the important items of a larger press and additional room. The Board de- cided to purchase the other half of the Morning Star building, owned by the Washington Street church, remodel and enlarge it, bu}^ a new press, and change the form and size of the Star from folio to quarto. The expense of these exten- sive, radical changes was $26,000.
The removal of the Star from Dover to some larger and more central city had been agitated, more or less, for twenty years previous to the death of Mr. Burr. Soon after Dr. Day became editor, inquiries were instituted afresh in respect to the feasibility of removal ; they were continued from year to year, there appearing meanwhile " no suffi- cient encouragement to justify any recommenda- tion." In 1873, he was very anxious for removal, and accordingly a committee was appointed which reported at great length at a special meeting, April 15, 1874. Boston was selected as the place to which the Star should be removed as soon as prac-
144 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
ticable. In September following, it was decided that the editorial office should be removed previous to January i, and the mechanical and business depart- ments the next spring.
At the meeting of April 15, as he was but par- tially convalescent from an illness of several weeks duration, he was granted leave of absence until the annual meeting in September. The last ten weeks of this vacation were spent chiefly in Nova Scotia. As we remember the experiences awaiting him, his speedy decline and close of life, it is a melancholy pleasure to see him coming back from the healing ministr}/^ of nature, with stronger pulses and a more resolute will, — with the closing words of his last letter from the woods :
" To-day I set my face homeward. I shall long keep in memory what I can not now put into words, — the beautiful scener}^, the agricultural prosperity and wealth, and the pleasant social and Christian fellowship offered to eye and heart along the banks of this noble river of St. John. And now for the home that awaits me, and for the broader plans and higher work that plead for what is truest in my heart, wisest in my brain and strongest in my hands."
It was no freak of enthusiasm when he confi- dently said, on returning: "I feel like going on bravely, and do not see why I may not do hearty
GIRDING ANEW FOR WORK. I45
work for twenty years more." New plans awaited his direction, and he would richly develop them; new hopes animated him, and a fresh courage put languor and weakness at bay.
In his formal report to the Corporators, at the annual meeting in September, he says : "The rest has been very serviceable and grateful to me, as I have steadily and conscientiously devoted m3^self to health - seeking. I meant one thing — rest and rec- reation ; and in some measure I have won it. The tone of the general system has not been better for seven years, and the brain has been rested into comparative quietude and comfort. I am certainly hopeful for the future, as I am grateful for the past and present." That these gains might be confirmed and made enduring, another month was added to his respite from editorial labor. The result was gratifying and hopeful.
The newly gained strength was made subject to another and unexpected draft. He grasped, in mind and heart, as that " higher work " and those " broader plans," the infusing of new vitality into the Mo7"ning Star, making it a greater and more welcome power for good, as it should be issued from its new home. But he faltered in weakness upon the threshold of the new enterprise, and his hands fell in feebleness just as the joyfully antici-
146 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
pated work asked for efficient inauguration and prosecution.
The F. Baptist General Conference assembled in Providence, R. I., Oct. 7, 1874. During the ses- sion, Dr. Day served as chairman of the Committee on Education, addressed the Free Baptist Woman's Mission Society, and met frequent demands, made in a general way, upon his time and strength. These usual burdens he had been able to bear with usual success, but when to them was added the long confinement connected with the sessions of the Committee on Publications, and his labors, arising from the discussion of issues involved in its re- port before the Conference — labors made addition- ally severe from his anxiety to maintain a fair and impartial position — his strength gave way ; and as the audience rose to sing the parting hymn, he fell into the arms of his friends in nervous spasms.
We need, perhaps, refer to that discussion only to say that his views and position were freely, frankly stated, with courtesy and dignity, to the Conference, and subsequently, through the columns of the Star, to the public. If the labor and aliena- tions, arising directly or indirectly from that dis- cussion, were too severe for his physical strength and sensitive spirit, he never allowed any word of complaint or censure to escape him.
DISCUSSION AT GENERAL CONFERENCE. I47
Not only was he anxious during the discussions to avoid any utterance or the exhibition of any spirit calculated to wound or estrange, but he was equal- ly anxious, in his subsequent reports and comments in the Star, to exhibit impartiality, truthfulness and fairness. Repeatedly, and in the most noticeable manner, in the weeks following, did he earnestly request his friends to state to him their impres- sions in respect to the form and spirit with which his statements in the Star seemed to be attended, — always expressing an eager desire to suitably atone for any failure in kindliness and fairness, should an}^ appear.
Nor were his efforts in the Conference, in con- nection with the report of the Committee on Publi- cations, the offspring of the moment's resolve and purpose ; it was no personal caprice that compacted his utterances and directed his argument, but the impulsion of his love for the interests of his denom- ination, and of his unquenchable devotion to them. He felt that the time had come for a masterly and thorough defense, a vindication and an upholding of the policy and interests of the denomination, as he clearly apprehended them ; the maintainance of which involved, in no insignificant way, its integ- rit}', if not its existence. With this belief and this persuasion, he spoke and wrought. He simply en-
148 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
deavored to defend the Star, as the long - time val- ued exponent of the principles and policy of the de- nomination. Urged by no mere personal preference, nor swayed by private ambition, but by a fervent, long - cherished desire to promote our denomina- tional welfare, — this was his chief inspiration, and when his service was rendered he had no more strength to yield us ; he had bowed himself with a last, conscientious, hearty effort, — there was noth- ing left him but to die.
From the general exhaustion, of which the severe spasms were the index, he came back slowly to consciousness through timely and efficient ministra- tions, but his mind never regained its former tone. He said repeatedly in the next three months, " My mind has had no elasticity since those terrible shocks at Conference." Yet it occasionally seemed to rally and work with unusual clearness, produc- ing some of his finest, strongest editorials.
Preparations for locating the Star in Boston were continued, as no serious cause for alarm was appre- hended, and about Christmas he removed with his family to that city. On the 6th of January, 1875, the Star was issued from its new home. In the ed- itorial of that date, which is headed: "• Forward Steps," he says :
"The Corporators have not been hasty and head-
REMOVAL OF THE STAR TO BOSTON. I49
long in reaching the decision to put the paper into this advanced position. To more or less observers the}'' have perhaps seemed timid and slow. But they could not consent to presume and hurry. Too much was involved to warrant that. They have deliberated not a little. They have sought to v\'eigh carefully the arguments on both sides. They have consulted not only their own judgments, but also those of their constituents. One aim has been steadily held, — to find the wa}' in which they could best serve the denomination, and the great cause it stands for, and then walk in it.
" They have chosen the progressive policy, taking its added responsibilities and larger risks. It is one of several such choices, though few have involved so much as this. They have thus heeded the plea for an advance ; they have confided in the pledges of fresh co - operation ; they have gone prompt- ly at work to make practical the decision which many brethren in various sections of the country have strongly and thankfully approved, and whose wisdom the late General Conference recognized.
" Going to Boston will notof itself secure any great gains. Mere change of place is not of much ac- count. It is less where the paper is than what it is, that decides its mission ; it is what the writers for its columns put into it, and what its professed friends do in putting it into the hands of real and re- ceptive readers who give it support, while they are quickened by its messages, — it is this that decides whether it shall be a power for lasting good.
150 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
" It will indeed have a chance to speak now from a more noticeable platform ; it may utter itself where observing men see, and thoughtful men hear ; it may be more freely acted on by the special influences that heave and throb in a great commer- cial, literary and religious centre. But nothin-i; save painstaking, and hard work, and a living and prac- tical interest on the part of all its real friends, to fill it from week to week with just what will stir and bless the readers, can render it what we all long to see it become. Unless removal means more work and harder, on the part of both its managers here and its friends elsewhere, we shall lose rather than gain. Now is the time for fresh and vigorous effort. We who supervise it mean to rise to our dvit}' and opportunity. Will its friends elsewhere at once and generally do the same thing?
"The 'Western Department' of the paper we trust will be a matter of special interest to our read- ers and brethren in that part of the field. We hope it may help to make them feel that the paper is really theirs, and that they will use it freely as a medium of communication with each other, and also with that part of our religious household nearer the Atlantic. Especially may it be a bond of union be- tween different sections of the F. Baptist denomina- tion, and at the same time a token of real fellowship between us and brethren of other households of faith with whom we are in substantial accord. We wish it to serve the great end of enlarging the plans, cementing the hearts and uniting the efforts of those
FAILING HEALTH. I5I
who are laboring together with God for the highest welfare of men.
" These forward steps, therefore, already taken, mean steady advance and ascent. Keeping clear of presumption, aiming always to be thoughtful and discreet, we express our thorough belief in try- ing to do something real, — in daring for the sake of achieving, — in the brave heart and the ringing word, — in tne heroism which prefers to fall, if it must, in the storming column, rather than stagnate and die in the cleft of the rock where cowards try to hide from danger and toil. Is it too much to hope that our readers share our faith ? "
The taxation of strength arising from change of residence, from the performance of arduous and perplexing duties in the new office, with other pe- culiar burdens, developed still further signs of ab- normal mental action, which had begun to appear early in December. Still, in the editorial above quoted, he could say ; " We express our thorough belief . . in the brave heart and the ringing word, — in the heroism which prefers to fall — ." We miss the " ringing word " after this, but we find the "brave heart" and the "heroism," more abun- dantly.
Jan. 26, he said to the Executive Committee of the Corporators :
" I know that my mind is in a morbid condition,
152 GEORGE TIFFANY DAY.
and 1 try to make due allowance for m}^ reasonings and conclusions in view of the fact ; and I some- times logically bring myself to a bright conclusion, and say to myself, stick to that ! But, in spite of myself, such a terrible depression comes over me that I sink under it." Then he added : " I am feel- ing better to - day ; have rested better for a few nights, so am more hopeful. I half believe that I am over the worst, and shall soon be able to take my place here in the office."
But new and fearful symptoms followed, such as he had never before experienced. Daily he seemed looking as if for some terrible calamity; became the prey of false or exaggerated alarms ; and, amid great distrust of his powers and dark forebodings, feared his mind would give way utterly.
The Corporators enjoined complete rest from all thought, even, of work, and granted him respite until the following September.
But cherishing still, with intensity, the idea of work, he attempted from week to week to furnish something for the columns of the Star, with what emotions, this note of February loth will show :
" My Dear Mosher : I tried to fix up a few ' Current Topics,' but the result is small and poor. I hesitated about putting them in, but I let them go. They ought to be far better, but all the present products of brain and heart are sadly lacking. How hard it is to be forced into inactivity at such a
CLOSE OF ACTIVE SERVICE. I53
time as this, I pray you ma}^ never know. How anxious I am for you, and for the interests to which you now stand so closely related ! Ma}^ God help and keep you ! I can not tell how much I ma}^ do for the Star hereafter. I do n't know how much it is wise to try to do, when work strains and quietude brings all sorts of thoughts and fancies. But the wise way may appear. I try to think it will."
He had just previously written to the Corpora- tors :
" I wish the right way were plain to me, but little light comes. I am not sure that any considerable part of my thinking is trustworthy, for the mental moods change radically, it may be, every hour. I hoped yesterday I might be a little better, but the dizziness, confusion, and the tendencies to settle into absolute and cowardly hopelessness come in a stronger current to-day. Sometimes for an hour the will springs up with a calm or a half- desperate energy to conquer the depression,