The Life of Charles Hodge

The family of the late Dr. Charles Hodge have been assured, by those in whose judgment they have the most reason to confide, that a memoir of his life should be prepared. This was rendered probable by the fact that, although his life had been a quiet one, varied by few external events of general interest, yet it had been one of very remarkable literary activity, and of protracted and extended influence, involving an intimate association with many of the most interesting characters and events of the century. The totality of the phenomenon, including personality and achievement, was unquestionably very remarkable. It matters not whether the effect is to be attributed in the largest measure to natural, gracious, or providential endowments, the study of the causes combining to produce such an effect must be instructive. Behind every cause, whatever its nature, is the beneficent efficiency of God, and to him will be all the praise.

The subscriber undertook the work because he could secure the agency of none of those who would be more competent. That he is a son is an advantage, in so far as the relation secures special opportunities of information, and the strongest motives to diligence. It need, on the other hand, occasion no embarrassment, as he does not purpose to intrude upon others his opinions of, or his affection for his Father, but sim.ply to gather and present materials through which his Father and his work may speak for themselves, and the opinions of the most competent among his contemporaries may be impartially reflected.

At the repeated and earnest solicitation of his children, my Father

jotted down during the last year of his life some reminiscences of

[y PREFACE.

his childhood and youth, and of his early friends. These I have recorded in the first and second chapters of this Memoir, preserving his order and language in the first person, but interpolating additional matter of the same kind, culled from the reminiscences of my Father’s only brother, the late Dr. Hugh L. Hodge, of Philadelphia, dictated to his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Harriet Woolsey Hodge, during the winters of ’70 and ’71. I have preferred rather to fuse the new material with that of my Father, than to keep them mechanically distinct, and have marked the words of my uncle as his only in a few instances, when the propriety of doing so will be evident.

The other sources from which these memorials are drawn are: — A diary kept during his residence in Germany, from March, 1827, to May, 1828: — meager notices of events and dates, preserved in connection with his daily record of the weather: — his published writings and his extant manuscripts: — his own letters, preserved by his mother, brother, and friends: — the letters of his correspondents: — estimates of his character and services, published during his life and since his decease, and especially the printed records of his Semi-centennial Celebration, April 24th, 1872.

The state of his letters and papers is accurately represented by what he said in response to an application from a daughter of one of his oldest friends: “Through my long life I have never destroyed and never preserved letters.” With much care many interesting relics have been recovered from the mass, while doubtless much just as valuable remains undiscovered.

I am particularly indebted to my Father’s pupils in Ireland and Scotland — Prof. Robert Watts, D. D., of Belfast, and Mr. Charles A. Salmond, of Arbroath, and to Rev. Professor Benjamin B. Warfield, and the Rev. Drs. Henry A. Boardman and Wm. M. Paxton, of America.

Princeton, N. J., August 19, 1880. A. A. Hodge.

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