Service Reviewed: Memorial Services, Press Notices

“Champion of Jesus — man of God,
Servant of Christ, well done!
Thy path of thorns hath now been trod.
Thy red-cross crown is won.”

The natural limits of this memoir have been already reached. The story of this humble, godly, useful life has been told, and it might properly be left to go before men’s eyes without the addition of another line.

But in Dr. Tyng’s and Rev. Mr. Brouner’s churches in New York, in Dr. Fulton’s and J. Hyatt Smith’s in Brooklyn, in Rev. Mr. Twichell’s in Hartford, Conn., in Rev. Mr. Holman’s, Bunker Hill, Boston, and elsewhere, memorial sermons were preached, or memorial services held, the Sabbath following the burial of Uncle John; and these unusual, perhaps unprecedented, marks of affection and respect demand some recognition here.

Articles, moreover, from at least fifty different papers, secular and religious, are in our hands, all paying tributes to the man such as fall to the lot of few.

The material thus furnished has been largely drawn on in the preparation of this book. The commemorative meetings in the Holy Trinity and North Churches, of

New York, however, have not been referred to in these pages, and several newspaper articles, graphic and beautiful, have been left unused, because of an unwillingness to insert them in fragments or parts.

To these tributes let us devote a few leaves.

Of the gathering in Dr. Tyng’s church on Sundayevening, December 15th, we have only the meagre press report. The night was unpropitious, but the attendance was very large.

The pastor in opening the service said that he had thought of draping the pulpit in mourning, but on reconsideration he concluded that it would be out of harmony with the cheerful spirit of him who had just entered into his rest. He would therefore ask the congregation, instead of lamenting, to unite in singing a hymn of triumph — * Whom have I in heaven but Thee.’

“The singing over. Dr. Tyng remarked that Robert Hall, in conversation with Wilberforce, said that his idea of heaven was that it was a place of rest. Wilberforce replied that his idea was that it was all love. In the faith of John Vassar the ideas of rest and love were about equally blended.

“The Rev. G. L. Shearer, of the Tract Society, speaking of his army labors, said that he seemed to be everywhere where he was most wanted. He marched with the soldiers and bore all their hardships, carrying often the guns and knapsacks of younger men whose strength had failed. In the hospital he was as tender as a mother to the wounded men. When too weak to feed themselves, he would feed them, and sometimes take a spade and dig their graves. His labors among the miners of the West, the Mormons, and the freedmen, were also illustrated and described.

‘* General Clinton B. Fisk said: In camp and march and bivouac, in field and fight and hospital, Uncle John was a true soldier of the cross. He was a Moody and Sankey combined. His sweet voice could be heard at all times sounding the praises of Jesus. When, after hard days in the field, the officers would say, ‘Uncle John, you’re tired,’ his cheery voice would reply in song:

‘One more day’s work for Jesus!
How sweet the work has been! *

“Dr. J. D. Fulton said: * Uncle John Vassar is to me the marvel of the age. I know of at least three services in memory of the man which are this hour being held, and tears are falling over his departure in the pine woods of Maine, among the mines and mountains of California, and the cotton fields and savannas of the South. He was a wonderful illustration of religion, pure and undefiled. It is with unfeigned gratitude to God that this statement can be made in this and any other presence, and have it stand unchallenged as an admitted truth.’ The reverend doctor briefly referred to the talking gifts of the old veteran, and concluded by saying that America would yet venerate his name as England venerates the name of Bunyan.

“At the North Baptist Church the pastor, Rev. J.

J. Brouner, and Dr. A. S. Patton, gave many facts to illustrate his deep humility and thorough consecration. Among the reminiscences of his pious and unaffected ingenuity in commending Christ to men, Dr. Patton referred to having introduced him to the proprietor of a noted summer resort who was a pronounced Unitarian. Uncle John broke forth into a strain of eloquent admiration of the beauty of the surrounding scenery, made all the more charming to him because displaying the wisdom and power and goodness of his heavenly Father. * But, said he, * His great love, manifested in giving His dear Son to die for sinners, eclipses everything else.’ And then, with tremulous voice and tearful eye, he added, ‘How the dear Lord Jesus did love us!’”

Of the newspaper articles we select seven or eight from representative men in various branches of Christ’s church.

The first is from the pen of Rev. A. J. Gordon, D. D., in the Watchzvord.

*’The record of John E. Vassar’s death will awaken little comment, perhaps, in the world; but I venture to say that it marks a welcome into the presence of Christ in Paradise such as fev, saints have received in modern times. I am sure that hundreds will concur with me in the opinion that since the days of Harlan Page the world has had few, if any, such workers for Christ as this dear man of God. His zeal and consecration were so intense, indeed, that it astonished moderate Christians, and often compelled him to hear even from the lips of Christ’s professed disciples the charge, * Thou art beside thyself.* But often as he met that reproof it never offended him. His reply was ever that of the great apostle: ‘For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us.’ Those of us who knew him intimately know how blessedly sane he was on all high themes of divine love and holy obedience to Christ Jesus the Saviour; how rational he was when judged by the text, ‘For me to live is Christ.* He was eccentric only as the orbit of the sun is eccentric to that of a wandering star. He kept the orbit in which Christ his Master had put him so steadily and so unswervingly that easy-going, half-hearted Christians were amazed and perplexed. Indeed, far beyond any man whom I ever knew, was it true of him that his citizenship was in heaven; and so filled was he with the glory and the power of the heavenly life, that to many he seemed like a foreigner speaking an unknown language.

“But how good it was to be with him, and to be kindled by the intense ardor of his consecration!

I gladly and gratefully pay this tribute to his memory, that I have never been so humbled and quickened by contact with any living man as with him.

“He was not a preacher, but counted it his special calling to go from house to house, beseeching men, in Christ’s stead, to be reconcile’d to God. Often he would so impress ministers, who heard him talk, with his intense and burning earnestness, that they would urge him to preach for them; but his pleasant reply always was, *0h, no! I am not a pastor, but only a shepherd’s dog, ready to run after the lost sheep, and try to bring them home to the Shepherd.’ And that work he pursued with marvellous consecration and singleness of purpose.

“If he found himself obliged to wait a few minutes for dinner, he would often say, ‘Yes; and, while you are getting ready, let me step out and see such and such a one. I think the Spirit of God is working on his heart.’ He took almost no time for rest. He did not walk about his Master’s business; he literally ran. ‘The King’s business requireth haste,’ was his motto. Bright will be his crown. Multitudes will rise up at the last day and call him blessed. He journeyed through all parts of our great country, never halting, never tiring, bent only on fulfilling the mission to which God had called him. Four or five successive seasons he labored with me in the gospel. When he came he always took the church at once upon his heart, and literally travailed in prayer for the unconverted among us. The nights which he spent at my house were nights of prayer and pleading for my congregation and my ministry.

“If any one would like to know whether there is anything practical in living in the power of * that blessed hope,’ looking daily for the return of the Lord Jesus from heaven, let this life answer. The imminence of Christ’s coming, the possibility of living to see the Lord appearing in glory, was with him a daily inspiration and a most powerful motive. Often have

I heard him speak of this theme, and express the longing that all Christians might ‘love His appearing.’ From waiting on earth, he has gone to wait in Paadise.

“Farewell, dear man of God. Hundreds of Christians, while sorrowing that they shall see thy face no more for the present, will bless God, as long as they live, for the quickening and inspiration which they received from thy devoted life.”

Rev. John W. Harding, in the Congregationalist, contributes this equally appreciative sketch:

“Multitudes who have been greatly indebted for spiritual help to this beloved disciple tenderly lament his departure, and rejoice in his glorious welcome to the nearer presence of his Lord. Soldiers who wore the blue and gray; Christian- and Sanitary-Commission men and women; many repenting sinners and returning backsliders; others to whom he has been a son of consolation in their poverty and affliction; many wavering ones whom he has brought to decision; many pastors whom he has edified and instructed in needed points of spiritual experience and pastoral deficiencyrise up now, with swift accord, to call him blessed.

“What a good fight was his! Despised, rebuffed, persecuted, he held right on, meekly and joyfully, in his simple, earnest, faithful way, his little worn Testament in hand, his single eye fixed on Jesus, Master, Saviour of lost souls; his lips moving, even when no voice was heard, in unceasing prayer; ready to break forth in some familiar song; his spiritual intuitions, quick to discern the real soul-needs of others, and just so quick to impart in searching, yet loving, words the remedy.

“Uncle John, while most persistent in seeking after souls, was at the same time the humblest of men. He esteemed ministers very highly in love, for their work’s sake. It has rejoiced many a pastor’s heart to know, how he was praying, and getting others to pray, for the success of the next sermon, and to look from the pulpit into his earnest, tearful, observant eye, taking in every word with such appreciative interest, glancing over the congregation to measure if he could the effect of the discourse, his prayers meanwhile going up unceasingly for particular souls.

“Rebuffs, coldness, insults, were nothing, save that they made him sad for others’ sake. He passed on to another house, and soon forgot the momentary sting or smart. No harshness could quench the ardof of his affection. No one had any need to ask his forgiveness. It had already beamed in joy over the returning sinner, not for his own, but (or Jesus’ sake.

It was my inestimable privilege in the earlier part of my ministry to sit at the feet of Uncle John as he taught more effective methods of pastoral work in the care of souls. I met him for the first time at the railroad station one lovely day in April, he having come to spend a week with me in pastoral visitation. While the hands were yet grasped there was established a bond of sympathy. There was no time, he thought, to lose. We must begin our work right there. The family of the depot master was nearest, and before ten minutes had passed one lonely and discouraged soul, a wanderer from the fold, was giving out with quivering lip and moistened eyes her heart’s secret and confiding depths, and we had knelt together at the heavenly throne. And so we went from house to house as they came in order, my heart fuller and fuller of sweet surprises at the swift access which the stranger friend acquired as by some talismanic power.

*’ It was the power of the Holy Ghost that was in him, and which he seemed to impart to me as by a magnetic sympathy.

“It was again the power of a large spiritual experience of his own, enriched by extensive insight and observation. His intuitions were quick, his questions intelligent and direct, his diagnosis accurate. Not a moment’s time did he waste in beating the bush, in making careful and roundabout approaches. The simple preparatory question was: ‘My dear friend, have you experienced that change of heart that the Saviour calls being born again .?’ The gentle frankness of the question usually elicited a frank reply. If there was hesitation through spiritual doubt and darkness. Uncle John was quick, in manifest sympathy, to draw out the real soul conditions, and their causes in the past. There was no delusive consolation, no smoothing over the case with uncertain remedies, or the offering of delay. Now must be the accepted time, and the decisive moment, and the case must be laid directly before the waiting Lord in prayer. No unnecessary time must be spent in urging duty when the light had come. There were other souls who demanded us, and we moved on.

“What revelations by the way, some cheering and others sad, but when day was over and the night far spent, what thrilling and abundant occasions for prayer that was prayer, at our family altar. And what occasions for preaching, too; different preaching, thoughtful, well-aimed, the winged arrows, the sword of the Spirit drawn from its scabbard, the encouragements and helps that must be given.

“No professorship of pastoral care has ever taught our theological students what John Vassar would have taught them in one day’s experience from house to house. How sad the ignorance with which our youthful ministers often go out from their long years of scholastic training into the common life of the people whose souls are committed to their charge!

“What a glorious power would our Christianity put on if in every church there should be even one man or woman with the spiritual energy, and motive and tact to use it that Uncle John possessed!”

Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D., gives us this, in the Evangelist:

“Uncle John Vassar was one of the remarkable characters who came to the front during the civil war. With its religious history his name is as indelibly linked as the names of Chaplain McCabe, or D. L. Moody, or George H. Stuart. Hundreds of soldiers, when they read the tidings of his death, will recall the beloved old man, in his brown coat and soft felt hat, who used to tramp from tent to tent with a satchel of Bibles and tracts on his back. Nor did he only carry good books in that well-known satchel. He always had a supply of envelopes and postage stamps, and a needle and thread to mend a ragged uniform, or some knick-knack which soldiers always need.

One thing he was sure to have, and that was a word in season. A negro in the army gave a capital description of the veteran colporteur when he said, * I just tell you what I think of Uncle John; he is a real Christianity. ’

And so he was. You could not meet John Vassar on a steamboat, or in a street car, or anywhere, without being kindled by his fresh, earnest talk. Even as Jacob brought the smell of the barley-field and the vineyard in his garments, so this good old man carried the flavor of his religion with him wherever he went.

Sometimes during his visits to Brooklyn he used to drop into our church prayer-meeting and modestly take his seat by the door. We were always sure to hear from him, and his words were nails in a sure place. He always illustrated what power there is in Christian laymen when they will ’ witness ’ freely and on all fit occasions for their divine Master. To-day this land needs a hundred thousand Vassars to supplement the work of the pulpit and the Sabbath-school.

“Dear old Uncle John has reached his last bivouac. The tireless frame that scoured the prairies of Illinois, and the camps of the Union armies, and the rural regions of North Carolina and Virginia, and the everglades of Florida, is smoothed to its last quiet sleep.

The soldiers and the negro freedmen will bless his memory. And many a polished pastor and profound scholar may at the last great day envy the crown and the reward of that sturdy minister in homespun — brave John Vassar.”

Rev. Charles S. Hageman, D.D., of Nyack, N. Y., but long pastor of the Second Reformed Church, Poughkeepsie, has this to say:

“John Vassar was known to me personally for at least twenty-five years. I have been with him often and much in Christian work. We have labored together in revival work, and talked and planned for the extension of that work. He was always the same — * a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,’ never despondent, always hopeful.

“One thing seemed to occupy his thoughts and to engross his life, and that one thing was the salvation of sinners and the glory of God. You could not meet him even on the street for five minutes without seeing what was the great absorbing interest of his soul.

“He was very careful and prudent in what he did. He had great respect for the ministry, and always sought on entering a place to secure first of all their counsel and co-operation. * Brother Hageman,’ he would say, ’ the ministry is God’s appointment for saving men, and nothing can take its place. Whatever other evangelistic agencies may be employed, the preached Word is and will remain the great power unto salvation.’ He frequently came into my study to talk with me about the Lord’s work, and always before parting he would propose a season of prayer. I was always glad to join in it, his heart was so mellow with love to Christ and for souls, and he so wrestled at the mercy-seat in my behalf.

*’ All the glory of everything accomplished he gave to God. I never heard a word from his lips that could be interpreted to mean the glorifying of himself. Self was lost in love for Christ.

“In parting from him I cannot but say, * Well done,

good and faithful servant.* May the mantle of the

father fall upon the children. May I not add, upon the

ministry of Christ?”

“O man of wondrous piety,
And marked by such humility;
Who waits thy mantle to receive,
Like thee to love, as thee believe?
The meek disciple everywhere,
No sham, pretence, but steeped in prayer.”

Another adds: “How much Christ was to him! His heart was aglow with the sense of what he had done, and was doing, and was going to do for him. How sweetly and eloquently he would dwell upon the scenes of our Saviour’s life! They seemed to be always before him. His soul feasted upon them. They came into his dreams. The memory of Christ was the conscious fountain of his motive.”

“He was so humble, so brotherly, so loyal, so true. A right noble helper he proved to be, interesting himself as much as if it were his own parish, but always and scrupulously keeping himself in the shadow as it were of the pastor. He positively would not take the lead where the pastor was present. Efficient as he was, wise as he was, able as he was to exhort, it must always be as second to the pastor, and his helper. In this he was an evangelist of the old school, to which Dr. Nettleton and Dr. Kirk belonged. His coming and his going were both calculated to strengthen the pastor’s hands and to tighten his hold in the parish.

“There was nothing of professionalism in his way of doing things and with tact and knowledge of human nature equal to his zeal, he was enabled to turn defeat into success. Such a life shows that the religion of Christ is still what it was in the days of the apostles.”

Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr., D. D., rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, New York, and one of Uncle John’s warmest friends, adds the following testimony:

“The Gospel Tent, New York City.

“Uncle John Vassar in the Gospel Tent! Who can describe him y Who among us was able to comprehend him y What memories of his fidelity and tenderness still abide among us! Wonderful old man! ‘When shall we see thy like again V His was an almost inconceivable zeal, an unflagging energy, and these were connected with a temper as tender as that of a child.

“This special work to which I am about to allude was really begun in the fall of 1875, as an effort preparatory to the Hippodrome services of Messrs. Moody and Sankey. But it long survived its occasion. At the close of the Moody meetings the same kind of

THE GOSPEI. TENT

SERVICE REVIEW ED. 2Ji

labcr was employed in the Church of the Holy Trinity, and Uncle John was our leader. But as summer approached we purchased and pitched the Gospel Tent. It was circular in form, one hundred feet in diameter, and forty-five feet high at the central pole. It had a seating capacity of two thousand persons, though by the use of the “much grass” in the adjoining lots, additional hundreds were often brought under the influence of the Gospel as preached from its platform. During four months our friend and brother continued his ministry in connection with this tabernacle. Its seals remain with us to this day. Scores were by him led to the Lord, and hundreds were helped and comforted by his apt words of encouragement and consolation.

“I shall never forget the early morning prayer-meeting on June nth, 1876, when we dedicated the tent to the worship of Jesus. The day was bright and cool. There was a benediction in the breath of the morning air. Uncle John seemed to perceive it. When I asked him to make the prayer of dedication — before we ran the flag bearing the words ‘The Gospel Tent * to the perch of the central pole — his heart was greatly enlarged. I have no doubt that he had spent a large portion of the previous night in intercession for the work. His words were m’ghty as he implored a Divine blessing. But when his voice was toned to thanksgiving, it seemicd to us as though we should lose him in a rapture. With wonder we were led with Elisha to say, ‘O my father! my father!’

“At every succeeding daily service, noon and night, he was always on the platform and in the inquiry room. His keen eye watched the congregation during preaching, and immediately at its close he was by the side of some anxious soul whose interest he had through spiritual discernment detected. And how gentle was he with such! No shepherd ever carried lambs more tenderly in his arms. During the day-time he spent the hours in visitation. The thermometer marked 90° very often, but he was undaunted. His physical disorders might well have excused him, but the spirit compelled the flesh to * go about doing good.’ The success of this tent work, under God, was largely due to his untiring labor.

“The quaint things which he said and did have their place among our memorabilia. I remember his criticism upon a very devout woman who had aided us greatly in the work of the tent. The epithet is always suggested by a sight of her face. * Beloved,’ he said, * that good woman is a cJmnk of rock salt.’ On the only occasion when an Episcopal minister of High Church tendencies preached in the tent. Uncle John was very much excited. He rejoiced in spirit that Christ was preached in anyway. A true Pauline joy he had. His ejaculations through the sermon somewhat disturbed the preacher, but the good man could not repress them. And when the sermon was concluded, Uncle John prayed — and such a prayer! It gathered up every possible want, and especially wrestled for a blessing upon the preacher, who was greatly overcome by its sincerity and intensity. But it was such a shock to the preacher’s churchly prejudices that he disappeared as soon as the prayer was concluded. To the day of his death Uncle John had no truer admirer than that man.

“This sketch of a noble and self-sacrificing work is most unsatisfactory to me, but the space at my disposal permits nothing more. Heaven is to me more real since this good man has gone. He lived in heaven even while he walked on earth. The savor of his holy life among us is a most sweet and sanctifying memory. May God grant us grace to live and labor like him, and then join him in his well-earned rest.”

From Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon’s Szuord and Trowel, London, Eng. Extracts from a Review:

‘’He was one of the few men who seemed to approach Edward Irving’s ideal of an apostolic missionary — ‘a man of one thought, the gospel of Christ, of one purpose, the glory of God.’ Sublimely imprudent, as the world counts wisdom, he was wise in winning souls. His methods were unique, and his tact was inspired by the singleness of his aim and the wisdom and energy by wdiich he sought its realization: whole-hearted in his consecration, he was untiring in his labors, and not only seized exisiting opportunities for usefulness, but created them. To be ’ instant in season * is a lower grade of Christian service; to be instant * out of season’ is the higher form of Christian consecration. Uncle John’s labors were always in season, for he adapted himself to the sphere in which he was placed, and so compelled his opportunities that they were ’ unseasonably in season.*

“Uncle John not only deserves to be called a * good soldier:’ He was something more, for, while fighting the Lord’s battles himself, he was an active recrultinpf sergeant and never seems to have missed a chance of pressing home the question * who is on the Lord’s side?’

“Resisted or repulsed in his spiritual warfare, he never was vanquished. The word defeat was not to be found in his vocabulary, for in all his encounters if one weapon failed him he was at no loss to command another. He courted the hand-to-hand encounter like the warriors of olden days, and wandered like a knight-errant in quest of the ’ king’s enemies,’ whom he sought to conquer and enlist. It is impossible to contemplate his triumphs without feeling a thrill of admiration for the man, and the quickening of the desire, if not the determination, to emulate the example of his life. Cast upon the resources of his own energy in early life he acquired the habit of self-reliance, and learned to succeed where others would have failed. When recruited for the service of the Lord this habit became an important factor. He could dare and do alone what others would hesitate to attempt. Dauntless courage and persistent energy, when sanctified by divine grace, make up the heroism of martyrs. Nothing but a seven days’ religion suited Uncle John. To him it was marvellous that Christians were not ail alive, and always alive to the work of soul-winning. No sooner was he converted than he commenced a career of usefulness in which the ardor of enthusiasm seemed to intensify with his years. Loyal to Christ he was always eager to lay some trophy at the Saviour’s feet. * He counted not his life dear unto him ’ in his passionate yearning to save souls. ‘All the world was his parish,* ‘every creature’ the object of his solicitude. From the altitude to which he was raised by his divine commission, social distinctions were dwarfed, and all the diversities of nationality and class were merged in the common condition of universal ruin. To him the inspired verdict, * There is no difference, for all have sinned,’ established an equality of need; while the comprehensive assertion, ‘There is no difference, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him,’ armed him with authority to carry the gospel to every member of the brotherhood of man.

“In every special mission he undertook, Uncle John more than justified the designation by which he was known, * The Shepherd’s Dog.’ There was a reflex influence attending his labors. If, as the shepherd’s dog, he went forth and brought home the wandering sheep, the pastors were stirred up to care for them in the fold. If he endeavored to raise the churches to a higher spirituality, he left them with a quickened desire, and the fixed resolution to copy an example so Christ-like. While his strength continued Uncle John held on, and when his health failed he was impatient of the restraint which loving friends imposed when it was clear to them he had ‘fought the good fight.’ Like a Chelsea pensioner the veteran, in recounting his victories, would not admit his incapacity for active service. Dear old man! the ruling passion was strong in death. As he had spent himself in the service of the Lord, there was a solemn fitness in the last words which fell from his lips, * Farewell!” Hallelujah,’ and ‘when he had said this he fell asleep.’”

“With loving heart and tearful eye,
Sad friends were gathered near,
To watch the Christian hero die
A death disarmed of fear.

“‘Farewell! Farewell!’ he murmured low,
Then o’er those death-dimmed eyes
One glimpse of glory seemed to glow,
And Hallelujahs rise.

“O’er hill and vale the breezes swell,
A requiem soft and sweet,
Farewell! a tender last Farewell!
Till we in heaven shall meet.”

The following is by Rev. Gideon Draper, in the Christian Advocate. Extracts from a Review.

“It has passed into a truism, that religious zeal is a condition of religious success. And yet it is a truism that ever needs fresh enforcement. Worldly achievement hinges on passionate ardor. They who keep the world from stagnation, who strike out new paths, inaugurate new eras of progress, who inspire others to action, and overriding apparent impossibilities, accomplish success and leave a monument to their glory through the ages, are characterized by intense enthusiasm.

“Others had as clear convictions of the world’s sufferings as Howard. It was passionate ardor that begat his active philanthropy. Erasmus saw the corruptions of Rome as clearly as Luther. Melancthon apprehended the truths of the gospel from which the church had so widely departed as clearly as Luther; but there were needed Luther’s great impulsive nature and fiery energy to stir Europe, and bring on the beginning of the end. Many pious souls saw and deplored the depressed state of religion in the early part of the last century in Great Britain, but it was the flaming zeal and holy ardor of the Wesleys and Whitefield that kindled a kindred enthusiasm among the masses, and breathed life into the dead.

“This zeal, to the fullest, sublimest degree, possessed John Ellison Vassar — familiarly styled, ‘Uncle John ’ — zeal for his Master, zeal for souls, steady, continuous, persistent, tireless, from conversion to glory.

“The universal church of to-day, from the highest to the most humble member, may study vyith profit the character of this humble man of God.

“In the winter of 1877 the writer, exhausted with the labor incident to a widely-extended work of grace in Coxsackie-on-the-Hudson, looked abroad for help. The Episcopalian Tyng sent the Baptist Vassar to assist in this Methodist revival. Uncle John belonged to the universal church. He was now near the close of his career. In energy, zeal, and success, we have never seen his equal. He was preeminent in personal contact with men, house-to-house visitation, and in the social meeting. The remembrance is a benediction and an inspiration.

‘”This land needs to-day a hundred thousand John Vassars.’ The same mighty faith, loyalty, and love to Jesus, thorough consecration, unbroken prayer, fulness, Bible intimacy, tender sympathy, and quenchless ardor, would fashion and inspire them for kindred service. The world is hungry.

“May the reader be clothed with the mantle that fell from the ascending, triumphant hero, Dec. 6, 1878!”

From the Christian Age, London, Eng.

“There is a great deal in a name. General Taylor will always be remembered as old ‘Rough and Ready.’ The fiery Puritan of the Southern army, Jackson, was well described as ‘Stone-wall.’ Uncle John Vassar, the celebrated colporteur of the American Tract Society, who tramped America over from one ocean to the other, was known as the * Shepherd’s Dog.’

“He did not claim to be a shepherd, for he put great power upon an educated and ordained ministry. He regarded himself only as a faithful dog, hunting after the stray sheep of the Master’s flock, and endeavoring to bring into the fold those Christless souls who were wandering over the devil’s commons.

‘’ I have known some extraordinary Christian workers in my day, but I count Uncle John Vassar, Dr. Andrew Bonar of Scotland, and D. L. Moody, to be the three men preeminently who could always season their conversation with gospel salt, and yet never incur the suspicion of cant. They all overflowed with the love of Jesus, and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth spoke the right word at the right moment.

“America is filled with racy anecdotes about Uncle John — as the missionary of Dutchess County, as the colporteur over the prairies of Illinois, as the loving laborer in the Union camps, and as the instructor of negro freedmen clear down to Florida. He was really one of the most remarkable men the American church has yet produced. I never talked with him ten minutes without feeling the electric spark of his piety.

“As I contemplate this life, and see what one ‘Shepherd’s dog ’ could do in looking after the stray sheep I am, more than ever impressed with the prodigious power of ^^^- ly laymen. Say what we will, there are not a tenth part as. many ordained ministers as the immense field demands. There are a hundred things which we ministers cannot do; and unless the million or more servants of Christ outside of the pulpit do these needful things, then this generation of souls will be the awful losers. John Vassar supplied the ‘missing link’ between the pulpit and the people. His was genuine soul-hunting and soul-winning work. He absolutely did more positive service for the Master than some evangelists who peregrinate the land addressing crowded auditories. He dealt with individuals, and that is the key-note of permanent success.

“Why do not thousands of other laymen and women enact the blessed part of ’ shepherds’ dogs,’ like Uncle John y Even if they do not turn colporteurs, why can they not lay hold of the unconverted around them, and, with fervent prayer, ‘pull them out of the fire’ y We fear that the sad, honest reason is that they do not love their Lord, and do not yearn for the salvation of souls, as that grand old man did who was laid last winter in his grave beside the Hudson. His last word was ‘Hallelujah!’ It was the first note in his song of glory for having turned many to righteousness. The old ‘shepherd’s dog’ will find his rescued sheep before Immanuel’s throne.”

From the Illustrated Christian Weekly,

“We went, December 9th, seventy miles, through a driving snowstorm, to join with others in laying away in the grave the wornout body of a plain, unlettered, and humble man. Others were there before us, and from greater distances, and hundreds upon hundreds of the most distinguished citizens of our own city, with manyministers of different denominations, were waiting to do honor to the memory of this simple layman. Every mouth was giving utterance to his worth, every tongue telling of his amazing work. Every heart was full of thanksgiving for his life, and tears that he was gone. A solemnity was upon each face, a hush upon the city, for John E. Vassar was dead.

“And as this word goes out over the land, there will be sad hearts and weeping eyes in Maine and California, in Minnesota and Florida, and in every state between, and this, too, in thousands of households. Whence this widespread and profound interest in the death of a humble layman who had neither birth nor wealth nor culture to command the attention of his age or nation? What were the elements of power in the life of Mr. Vassar which made him, as we think, the most laborious and the most useful Christian layman of his age?

“He was a sincere man.

“He appeared to be thoroughly honest in his aims, and he was what he appeared to be. Free from guile, pure of heart, and undisguisedly frank and straightforward in his purpose, he impressed all as a true-hearted man.

“On this cornerstone of unfeigned sincerity was his character builded, and from it sprang many of his noblest traits. It made him frank in commendation, fearless in reproof, unflinching in maintaining the right, and gently firm in reclaiming the erring.

SEJ^ VICE RE VIE WED. 251

“He was an earnest man.

“With an object before him, his entire being was aflame that he might accompHsh it. No obstacle was too great to be hurled out of the way, no difficulty too high to be surmounted when with intense zeal he undertook work for Christ; and for thirty years he had no other work to do. His soul was on fire to save souls and with an intensity of desire which consumed him he worked to that end. This made him magnetic in action, fervent in prayer, convincing in argument, resistless in appeal.

“With the little children he became as a little child, and softly led them to their Elder Brother. To the inquiring, but timid boy, to the shrinking and trembling girl, he talked so frankly and lovingly, that they soon gained confidence and told him of their difficulties in finding Christ. The gay and thoughtless young man could not escape the directness of his appeals nor the point of his exhortation. The scoffing infidel cowered before his gentle, but indignant rebuke, and the hardened skeptic, physician or lawyer, was often foiled by his shrewd retort or his burning logic.

“His labor was diligent, but his appeals for the Holy Spirit were unceasing. As he walked the street, as he entered the house, as he sat down, as he rose up, when he fell asleep, when he awoke in the night, as he dressed in the morning, always and everywhere his petition was going up, ‘Blessed Jesus, save souls, save these souls.’ Here and in the constant study of Holy Scripture was the hiding of his power. Thus he was wise to win souls” He was a large-hearted man.

Few men escape entirely from the restricting circumstances of early education and the narrowing effect of prejudice; very few conquer the bias and prepossessions of peculiar training.

“This combination of characteristics — sincerity, earnestness, and large-heartedness, all consecrated to the one Master, Christ — all devoted to the one end, the glory of Christ — all suffused, energized, and directed by the Spirit of Christ — made * Uncle John’ Vassar the most godly, the most laborious, and the most successful lay missionary we have ever known. The church of God is poorer, and heaven is enriched by his translation.”

It is eminently fitting that a resident of Poughkeepsie should tell of the estimate put upon the man and his work at home; so let the senior pastor of the city. Dr. F. B. Wheeler, put the following testimonial on the closing pages of this book.

“Poughkeepsie is honored in having been the birthplace and residence of John E. Vassar — the place where he was born into the kingdom of God’s grace, and whence he went into the kingdom of God’s glory.

This city caught the first fervor of his new life, and witnessed the earnest, heroic sacrifices of his first consecration. Here he began to pray. Here he put on the armor of a true Christian knighthood. Here began those labors which widened with the years into the most substantial and blessed results. From this city the sower went forth to sow beside all waters, and from it the sower and reaper ascended laden with sheaves.

“We feel that we have been like the two disciples to whom the Lord joined Himself in their morning walk. ‘Their eyes were holden that they should not know Him.* So we, though we saw the shining of his face, and were stirred by his words, and were borne on the breath of his prayers, and were made familiar with his simple and unworldly life, scarcely knew the man till he vanished from our sight. We find ourselves dwelling upon his character with feelings akin to reverence, and marvel at that grace of God which made possible and real such a life — a life so closely patterned after our blessed Lord that, as we think of it, it rises before us as an incarnation of saintly tenderness. The writer of these lines knew him intimately for the last twenty years of his life, and knew him as a man of clean integrity, catholic in spirit, an enthusiasm that many waters could not quench, and a piety of wonderful fervor and fragrance.

Love for the Lord Christ and for souls was the master, consuming passion of his life. During these years of our acquaintance he was occupied in fields remote, but from his exhausting labors he would frequently return to gather up and rebind the activities which had been so severely taxed, in the quiet of his Poughkeepsie home. But the man of God, instead of resting, would throw himself into our religious movements with such a flame of devotion as to make his presence like the Shekinah of God’s glory. Again and again at such times my knowledge of his return would first be had by his presence in my study, with the earnest inquiry, * How is it with dear old Poughkeepsie? ‘And then, after a few words of his growing experience and enlarging views, he would say, * Let us have a season of prayer,’ falling upon his knees, pouring out such utterances as lifted one into the very presence of God. From these interviews he would go forth into the streets and homes of the city, beseeching men to be reconciled to God. With us, as elsewhere, he was the man of one idea, to which all things were subordinated. The Lord Christ was ever in his thoughts, and His praise upon his lips. For reasons that are obvious, he labored more abundantly, and with larger success, abroad than in Poughkeepsie. Measurably of him it was true as of others, * A prophet is not without honor save in his own country; ’ but for all that, there was no man in Poughkeepsie more respected and beloved than John E. Vassar. He lived and died among us as a man of unquestioned piety, to whom all gave honor.

“It was not hard for him to get at men — he found his way straight to their hearts. His words awakened no opposition, and roused no argument, such was the tenderness of his appeals and the manly consistency of his life. I think the general conviction here, for years, ever since his conversion, has been that, however it might be with other men, piety with John E. Vassar was a living fact. And yet there was nothing morose and forbidding about the man. Loving and gentle in all his ways, he drew you to himself in the sweetest and most perfect of confidences. Better than this, he so put the loving Lord before you that you felt you could almost see the face that once was marred, and grasp the dear hand that was pierced for your sins.

His religion had none of the weakness of mere sentiment, rhapsody, or cant about it, but came upon you like a strong, fresh breath from the everlasting hills of God. In it strength and beauty were so mingled as to constitute a sturdy and attractive character.

* But it was the simplicity of the man, and his self-renouncing, that commended him to all and made him a wonderful force. Whatever came from his efforts, he was accustomed to speak of it as God-produced, through the feeblest instrumentality — all of God and through God — he nothing but a poor sinner saved by grace. Whatever formulated religious belief he had was pre-eminently Biblical in matter and form, for with him the Word of God was ultimate and supreme authority. The type of his religion was apostolic from core to surface. As to the Lord Jesus, he crowned Him Lord of lords and King of kings, giving to Him without stint the homage of an undivided and loyal heart.

“He was not a great man in the ordinary reckoning of greatness. His education was limited, his personal presence not commanding, and in intellectual grasp and genius he was inferior to many men; but in those spiritual characteristics which make a man a prince with God, few were his equals.

“Among the pleasant memories of my life is my acquaintance with this saint. Among the sweet and lifting hopes that reach beyond the shadows is that of greeting him again. Poughkeepsie will cherish the memory of that Vassar whose munificence founded a college, and it will not forget that other Vassar who lived and walked with God — the man who has turned many to righteousness, who has given to the world a most signal illustration of the power of a Christian faith. He was twice born in Poughkeepsie; he lived here, here he died, and here his mortal dust sleeps. Herein is honor for which we thank God, counting this honor inferior to none other which God has given us. * The Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there.’

Gone at last, to be with Jesus,

Lord of life, and Prince of peace;
Through his loving-kindness precious,

Found from sorrow glad release.
Darkness all now disappearing,

Comes the bright eternal day,
With its light forever shining

Cloud and night have passed away.

Lo, the King in all his glory

Greets the servant in the skies;
Visions of surpassing beauty

Flash upon him in surprise.
Oh! the beatific meeting

Of the glorified above.
One, who long in labor serving.

Wrought with zeal and burning lovs.

Brother, hail! forever ransomed

From the thrall of earthly care;
Cross and burden now abandoned,

Robes majestic thou dost wear;
Royal harvests yet shall greet thee

From the fields that thou hast wrought — Souls arrested, brought to glory,

By the lessons thou hast taught.

F. B. W.

POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y., I879.

And now this life thus outHned we leave to speak To speak for Christ, to speak to men. Many hands have helped to sketch it. Possibly some features may appear to have been overdrawn. To eulogize, however, or in the least degree exaggerate, has been neither the desire nor the design. To present the man just as he was has been the steady aim. And that not that he might be magnified, but “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”

It has been the hope and prayer that through the man his Master might be seen — that Master who made him what he was.

The beauty of holiness, and the blessedness of service, and the grandeur of sacrifice, are the lessons of his life.

This is the call which it sounds in the ears of every soldier of the Lord: Sink self out of sight in Christ. Warn, persuade, entreat men to be reconciled to God. Pray, wrestle, believe, and through the might of the indwelling Spirit turn others from sin to righteousness, and thus thin perdition and people Paradise.

So shall the heart keep full of holy joy. So shall life look bright from a dying bed. So shall the wandering and the lost be found. So shall the Father be glorified. So shall the Son see of the travail of His soul.

*’ Let us draw their mantles o’er us

Which have fallen in our way.
Let us do the work before us

Calmly, bravely, while we may;
Ere the long night-silence cometh

And with us it is not day.”

DATE DUE

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