THE NEW MEETING-HOUSE.

547 men by whom in the society he was surrounded, he held on with unyielding perseverance, until at length success crowned the enterprise, and this building so excellently placed for present and prospective usefulness, and already filled by a large congregation, is his vindication and his monument."1 The new house of worship was dedicated December 15, 1875. The Rev. James H. Means, D. D., and the Rev. William H. Fenn conducted the preliminary exercises, and Dr. Blagden offered the prayer of dedication. Dr. Manning preached from John iv. 24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." The subject of the discourse was, Worship as a Means of Spiritual Culture, and its closing sentences were as follows:

That this great privilege of spiritual culture might come to you and your children, and to as many as choose to cast in their lot with you, you have undergone the sore trial of removal from your old to this new house of worship. How slowly, how unwillingly and how sadly you yielded to that trial is known to yourselves and to God. Some of you bear names which stand on the first records of our venerable church. You had associations with the former place, tender memories of it, and a loving attachment to it, which those who have criticised your actions before the public cannot understand. If they had known how faintly their love for the ancient sanctuary reflected yours, I believe they would have tried to strengthen rather than weaken your hands, seeing that your love made you to act, and that you acted only as you were urged forward by the compelling hand of God.

There you were surrounded by a crowd of secular and patriotic memories which obscured the spiritual history of our church, but here that spiritual history may come out into the light, and be made an incentive to soul culture upon you and your families. There you were isolated from other Christian churches, lacking all opportunity to welcome them to your sanctuary for those general religious meetings, occurring for the most part on secular days, which enter so largely into the present methods of the church; but here you can take your

1 At Dr. Manning's funeral Dr. Duryea spoke as follows of his relations to his ministerial brethren: "If, in the interests of God and man, of truth and righteousness, for the weal of the present time, and the destinies of the time to come, he ever came across your path, and grazed or struck upon you in collision, sure I am that if you could have sat apart with him and talked it over fairly, you would have found in him a

generous spirit, a warm and faithful heart, the largest charity, and the power of immeasurable sacrifice, for you as well as others. I say this now, because, otherwise, it might not have been known save to those who have been closer to him than most of you could be. He was true to his brethren. Never did I hear from him an ungenerous word; never did I witness in him an unfraternal temper."

proper place in these evangelistic efforts which are common to the entire brotherhood, and so do your part toward fulfilling that blessed ministry by which each part supplies unto the other parts something which they lack.

Take this building, O Thou Great Head of the Church, to whom we now bring it. Make it Thy own temple, and make us Thy living temples. Use it for the glory of Thy holy kingdom, and keep us the loyal subjects of that kingdom. Spare it only so long as it shall serve Thy loving purpose, and spare and bless us only that we may declare thy name. When its noble walls must crumble, teach thy people to bow in the faith of something better to come; and when our spirits must be unclothed of their earthly house, may they rise to be clothed upon with the house which is in heaven.1

Dr. Manning's last years in the pastorate were his happiest and best. In the ripeness of his intellectual and spiritual powers, he was permitted to exercise his ministry under the most favorable external conditions. At length he was in a position in which he could do himself justice, and in which the community did justice to him. The church was now growing steadily in both numbers and strength, and it was the hope of his people that he would be permitted to enjoy for a long period the prosperity which he had done so much to promote. But this was not to be. After a few years his health gave way; he struggled against disease with all the heroism of his nature, and at one time it seemed as though he must win in the unequal contest by the very force of his will. "At the last, how grandly came his courage out. Here [in this pulpit] was his post of duty, and here he loved to be, to teach the truth of the gospel, and urge it home to men's consciences and hearts. And here he willed to be, so long as he could stand erect and speak. With what feelings of mingled wonder and tenderest sympathy have we seen him struggling hither, and rising to declare his message with trembling limbs and quivering hands and broken voice, bent still on doing his Master's work, a good and faithful servant. Thanks be unto God, who giveth men such victory, through Jesus Christ our Lord! "2

Dr. Manning resigned his active pastorate, and accepted the position of pastor emeritus, to take effect on the 11th of March, 1882, the twenty-fifth anniversary of his installation. "A twen

1 [We have quoted, as above, from the Boston Journal, December 16, 1875. The discourse will appear in a volume

of Dr. Manning's sermons and addresses now in press.]

2 Dr. Duryea's address at the funeral.

DEATH OF DR. MANNING.

549

ty-five years' pastorate over this honored, historic church! Let us thank God to-day for a record like that, for that permitted, finished, faithful quarter-century of service; for that ministry of consecrated power whose waves of hallowed influence shall not cease to bless men until they break in fulness of fruition upon the immortal shore." 1

"Then came almost a year of silence, cheered by the kindness of his people to him in his hour of trial; brightened always by the happy home radiance with which he was surrounded, and occasionally by the hope that he might yet be able to do service for his Lord on earth." 2 On the first Sunday in March Dr. Manning put on his gown for the last time,3 and took part in the services at the Lord's table. His solemn prayer on that affecting occasion, and particularly his invocation of blessing for all time to come upon the church which he loved so ardently, and from whose service he was to retire in a few days, will never be forgotten by those who heard it. The summer and autumn months brought no real improvement, and no valid ground for hope; and on the 29th of November he "entered into the unencumbered life of heaven." He died at the house of his brother-inlaw, the Rev. W. H. Fenn, in Portland, Maine, where he and his family were making a visit. Among his latest words were these: "God is with me; my God is here." In another month he would have completed his fifty-eighth year. The funeral services were held at the Old South on Friday, December 1, in the presence of a large congregation. The Rev. Dr. Duryea presided, and made a most interesting address, as did also the Rev. Dr. Gould, a college classmate and life-long friend of Dr. Manning. In accordance with the custom at the Old South Church, a memorial sermon, from which we have freely quoted, was preached, Sunday afternoon, February 18, 1883, by the Rev. William M. Taylor, D. D., of New York, from Phil. i. 21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.'

The venerable clergyman who for fifteen years had been the senior associate in the pastorate, and who had retired from

1 Dr. Gould's address at the funeral. 2 Dr. Taylor's memorial sermon. 3 In accordance with an old custom, Dr. Manning was buried in his gown.

The pall-bearers were the Rev. Rufus Ellis, D. D.; the Rev. William Burnet Wright; the Rev. Leighton Parks; the Rev. James M. Gray; the Rev.

James B. Dunn; the Rev. A. A. Miner, D. D.; the Rev. A. J. Gordon, D. D.; and the Rev. J. W. Hamilton. The burial was in Forest Hills Cemetery. The cost of the monument, and the expenses of Dr. Manning's last illness and funeral, as in the case of previous pastors, were assumed by the Old South Society.

active duty in 1872, survived until the 17th of December, 1884. He spent the last months of his life in the city of New York and died there. His body was brought to Boston, for burial at Mount Auburn, and funeral services were held at the Old South, conducted by the Rev. George A. Gordon. On Sunday morning, February 22, 1885, a memorial discourse was preached by the Rev. Charles A. Stoddard, D. D., of New York, - son of Deacon Stoddard, - who joined the Old South under Dr. Blagden's ministry in 1848. The text was Psalm xci. 16: "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation." The devotional exercises were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Gordon, assisted by the Rev. Francis H. Johnson, of Andover, who joined the church on the same day as Dr. Stoddard, and the Rev. Professor J. Henry Thayer, of Cambridge, who became a member in 1853.

At the weekly prayer-meeting of the Old South Church, two days after Dr. Blagden's death, resolutions were adopted, some of which we quote, in token of the affectionate regard in which his memory was and is cherished by his old parishioners :

"That this church recalls with feelings of devout gratitude to God, the labors of Dr. Blagden, as a minister of the gospel, which covered a period of half a century in this city, and of thirty-six years in this church, which were marked by great fidelity and earnestness both in the pulpit and in every department of the pastoral work, and which were attested and emphasized by a consistent and exemplary walk and conversation.

"That the recognized standing and acknowledged influence of Dr. Blagden as a Christian man and minister, and as a scholar, and his demeanor and deportment as a Christian gentleman, were all calculated to commend the religion which he professed and preached to all who knew him in this community.

"That his long career of active service and usefulness was fittingly followed by a serene age whose conditions he accepted cheerfully and whose honors he wore gracefully, and was, in due time, beautifully crowned by a peaceful and painless departure from life, when, like a shock of corn in its season, he was gathered to the heavenly garner.

"An honored life, a peaceful end,

And heaven to crown it all."

A

CHAPTER XI.

1884.

PARTISANSHIP DEFEATED.

DISTINGUISHED Scotch divine, Dr. Marcus Dods, is reported as having said, not many months ago, that it would be difficult to "pick out any term of twenty-five years in this world's history which had seen so little outward change, and such enormous inward changes, as these last twenty-five years." So far as the churches of New England were concerned, no man was better qualified than Dr. Manning to understand the nature and extent of this movement below the surface.1 Nor had he any fears in reference to what might be the result of it. He not only knew the age in which he lived, but he was in sympathy with it in all its aspirations; and he was willing to trust the churches, - the people. He was able to discriminate between what is vital in theology and what is incidental, between the word of God and the teachings of men; and he did not think that the foundations were giving way, because of the prevailing disposition to challenge the latter. He saw no occasion for the alarm with which some good people had been seized, for example, in connection with the doctrine of retribution, and he endeavored to counteract the influence of their gloomy forebodings. On the 29th of February, 1880, he preached from Jer. xxiii. 28: "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord." A few sentences will show the aim of the sermon :

If they [evangelical ministers] have changed in any of their views, that change has not carried them away from but nearer to the gospel. They have departed to the faith once delivered to the saints, not from it. They are thinking more of the divine word and less of the human

1 What Augustus Hare has said of statesmen, in one of his Guesses at Truth, is true no less of clergymen: They "should have ears to hear the distant

rustling of the wings of Time. Most people only catch sight of it when it is flying away. When it is overhead it darkens their view."