In memoriam. Tributes to the memory of the Rev. C.P. Gadsden, late rector of St. Luke's church, Charleston, S.C.

Front matter

V

vl ¥

In JHemottam.

II. Tributes From Brethren Of Other Denominations

BY REV. E. T. WINKLER, D. D., PASTOR CITADEL SQUARE BAPTIST CHURCH.

A T the close of a sermon on " The King- -^ dom of God" (Romans xiv. 17), the Rev. E. T. Winkler, D. D., Pastor of the Citadel Square Baptist Church, made the following allusion to the recent death of Rev. C. P. Gadsden : —

" The Kingdom of God ! blessed association to which all true Christians belong; sacred, imperishable union of all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity ; how the revelation cheers amid earth's losses ! how potently it soothes the sense of public bereavement which has possessed our hearts for the last fortnight, and which to many a considerate and grateful spirit would have otherwise cast a dreary shadow upon the festivities of the Lord's Day ! Who of us has not mourned the withdrawal from our community of an influence that has been felt 6 for good in every social and religious circle ? The Episcopal Church, honored as he was among its dioceses, had no exclusive claim to Mr. Gadsden. Around his dying bed, that scene of triumph in his quiet home ; beside that mournful couch attended by its loving watchers, the sympathies of the whole city and the whole State gathered; and when he departed, who of us did not feel as if something that had made life sweeter and better had ceased to be ? Who did not grieve for the manly form that had perished in its prime ; for the noble spirit that had passed away from its fields of usefulness; for the wise and generous counsel henceforth silent in the place of ■ Christian communion; for the bright and honored and cheering example so soon absorbed into the pure light whence it came ?

" As for myself, I have no special right either to speak of him or for him. It was a mere coincidence that we came to Charleston, for official service, in the same year. Since that time I have enjoyed no privilege of association with him, save what was possessed by other evangelical ministers of the city, who frequently united with him in the advocacy of the general religious interests of the community, and in prayers for the world-wide success of Christ's cause. And yet the coincidence, and all the genial and inspiring circumstances of that long association, may justify the expression of a tender grief that such a discrimination has been made by the inscrutable providence of the Almighty, and that such a man has been taken away. Ah ! if he were here, how much more potently could he speak of Christ and his salvation, amid the enhanced reverence and affection of the people ! and how greatly we need such potent speech !

" But let us not mourn for the pious dead. Let us rather render a tribute of solemn gratitude to God for such men. Let us cherish a sense of pious obligation to remember their words and follow their footsteps. They have been summoned from the dying chamber and the gloomy grave to the shining fields of immortality. They were kings in exile here ; they are now kings enthroned. From their radiant seats they regard us, they call to us : and Jesus also looks and summons, from the central throne. Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us and run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith." ,

BY REV. W. H. ADAMS, PASTOR CIRCULAR (CON- GREGATIONAL) CHURCH.

The Conclusion of a Discourse preached by the Rev. W. H.

Adams, Pastor of the Circular Church, Charleston, S. C,

July 30, 1871, commemorative jof the Rev. Christopher P. Gadsden, late Rector of St. Luke's {Episcopal) Church.

u I have glorified Thee on the earth : I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do." — John xvii. 4.

These are the meditations which, the past week, have proved strong consolation in the sudden bereavement of an entire community, of a faithful pastor, a beloved brother in the ministry of reconciliation.

On this, the first Sabbath in heaven of the Rev. Christopher P. Gadsden, his friend, the Assistant Bishop elect, will doubtless present to that mourning congregation his portrayal of his character, history, and distinguished services for Christ. But it is a grateful duty to the memory of one whose blest ministry has not been circumscribed by denominational lines, that a minister of another communion, honored by an intimate acquaintanceship with the departed, should bear testimony that not in his pastorate and sect alone, but in all his walk and conversation, he glorified God on the earth, and has now finished the work He gave him to do.

It has been the privilege of the speaker once each week, as a rule, for more than four years, to meet in familiar Christian intercourse this now translated minister. On Monday noon, some of the evangelical ministers of the city have been accustomed to assemble for prayer and conference. After a half -hour of devotional exercises, a subject previously selected, and usually relating to experimental religion, is freely discussed. It was here that he specially endeared himself to his brethren. Here, in the freedom of fraternal intercourse, his true character was displayed. Here it specially appeared that he glorified God in the entire consecration of his highly cultivated faculties and his whole heart to the honor of his Saviour. To Him all his conversation tended. We could almost invariably anticipate the nature of his remarks ; however varied the illustrations, however extensive his citation of authorities, Christ was his one theme.

Was the question, " The best practical methods of increasing the holiness of the Church ; " we knew that he would advise that ministers should themselves draw nearer to Christ, and preach Christ more fully and persuasively. If " Ministerial training " were considered, he would certainly argue that the primary essential was for the candidate to be found in Christ, and to pervade all his studies and life with the spirit of Christ. On one occasion, in remarking on the subject " What is comprehended in saving truth ? " he closed an earnest exhortation to " make Christ the main theme of our discourses," with the words, accompanied by his genial smile, " In brief, I think that all truth is saving truth which, with one arm around the cross, you can touch with the other."

No narrow or sectarian remark ever fell from his lips in that meeting. While ever professing his firm adherence to the communion of which he was a minister, he yet maintained that he loved the Church Universal more. The catholicity of his spirit was the tenacious bond which drew and indissolubly united to him the hearts of brethren of other denominations, as well as his own. For several months past, tliese meetings have been held by kind agreement of brethren, at my own study. Occasionally, by reason of ministerial engagements, there would be present none but Bro. Gadsden, and at times even he was compulsorily absent. Those seasons of intercommunion with himself alone will be ever memorable among life's rarest privileges. On one occasion, after an hour's converse on Christian union, he, as usual, proposed prayer before parting. So deep was the impression made by his heavenly-mindedness in these supplications, that on the following day I portrayed it to my people. Among his petitions, he pleaded : " Let not this meeting be discontinued. Let it continue a little fountain springing up in the midst of the week's care, which shall invigorate us for more active and self-denying toil in our Master's service."

It was my happiness last summer to meet him in Xew York, returning from the White Mountains, where his health had been confirmed, and to project an excursion up the Hudson River to West Point. As we sat upon deck, he related with fervent tones, as strong as before his severe illness, his recognition of a gracious Providence in his recovery. He stated that vrhile being brought down from his sick-room in the arms of friends, to be taken to Somerville as a last resort, he was greeted by a hymn sung by the Sunday-school Convention then in session at Trinity Methodist Church, diagonally opposite his residence. He was afterwards told that that hymn succeeded a prayer offered by the Convention for his recovery. On the way to the depot he felt the current of his disease receive a check, and from that moment his recovery began. He then gratefully acknowledged God as the hearer of prayer, and the fulfillment of the promise, " Before they call will I answer, and while they are yet speaking will I hear."

On being rejoined to his people he preached a sermon, a printed copy of which he placed on my study-table with the modest remark that ,; it had been published not for any intrinsic merit, but as commemorative of his restoration to his people." But this discourse, the last he ever published, contains his creed. Here the secret of his consistent walk with God, and his successful ministry, is clearly announced. In entreating his people's prayers for his resumed ministry, he selected Paul's request to the Ephesians : " And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel." (Eph. yi. 19.) In the sermon occurs the following passage, suggesting the subjects of his people's petitions for their pastor : " An outspoken rebuke of sin and unbelief ; a steady lifting up of Christ as the atonement and righteousness of the guilty ; a direct invitation to Him as the only hope of the lost ; a courageous cleaving to inspired Scripture in all its breadth and depth, in the face of cavilers and gainsayers ; with an acknowledged dependence in all things upon the grace of the Holy Ghost, — for this I would pray, and ask your constant supplications to Almighty God, as most necessary for an efficient ministry and a living Church." I cannot refrain from quoting from the close of this discourse, which is a noble and befitting monument to his whole ministry ; and by these solemn words to-day, he, though dead, yet speaketh : —

"As a preacher of the gospel, I am commanded to glory in the cross ; standing at its foot, I am to point you to the finished redemption accomplished thereon. T am to direct the eye of faith to the enthroned Saviour, pleading as our great High Priest within the veil, and bid you with all your heart to trust in Him, and realize your present acceptance in the Beloved, your justification as you ' look by faith unto Jesus,' and your eternal security as, united to Him through the new birth of the Spirit, and incorporated with Him by the Holy Ghost dwelling in you, you are ' kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.'

" To every convicted sinner who 4 trembling ' asks, 4 What must I do to be saved ? : I am to make the all-sufficient answer, l Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' To all ' passing by,' however thoughtless they may be of their souls and the eternity which is before them, I must cry (and O ! that the Spirit of God may make the words potent !), ' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' I must invite with that most tender and attractive call of the Master, 6 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' "

And then he continues, until he has circumscribed the entire circle of faithful invitation and warning, in pleading with sinners to " flee from the wrath to come." Would that this sermon were in the possession of all who knew and loved him ! They could not have a more adequate memorial.

Last Sabbath morning, as he lay on the confines of eternity, in my deep sorrow I opened a favorite book of his, which, impressed by the frequency of his allusions to it, I had borrowed from him. It was a copy of that sacred classic, " Rutherford's Letters," rendered especially attractive because filled with his own pencilings. You can realize the depth of feeling sounded, as my eye fell upon these words of Rutherford, underscored by Brother Gadsden : u There is nothing oat of Heaven, next to Christ, dearer to me than my ministry" Yes, that ministry, which he was about to leave for that only dearer object, his Saviour, had received his every glad energy ; had evoked all the possibilities of his consecrated being. Perhaps it was while recovering from sickness a year since, that he marked the following passage : " Lord, give me submission to wait on. My heart is sad that my days flee away, and I do no service to my Lord in his house, now when his harvest and the souls of perishing people require it ; but his ways are not like my ways, neither can I find Him out. , . . O that I might preach his beauty and glory, as once I did, before my clay -tent be removed to darkness ; and that I might lift Christ off the ground, and my branches might be watered with the dew of God, and my joy in his work might grow green again, and bud and send out a flower." This is the last passage marked by his pencil, in the volume. If we are known by our favorite authors, as by our companions, his character is clearly evinced not only by his admiration of " the holy Rutherford," but also in that this author's longing for the salvation of souls, and his most rapturous breathings after Christ and his precious love, are the passages he has the most frequently and uniformly marked. Of the former, take this : " O if [that] I could buy your soul's salvation with any suffering whatever, that ye and I might meet with joy up in the rainbow, when we shall stand before one Judge ! " and of the latter, this : "I resolve to wrestle with Christ ere I quit Him. But my love to

Him hath casten my soul into a fever, and there is no cooling of my fever till I get possession of Christ. O strong, strong love of Jesus, thou hast wounded my heart with thine arrows ! O pain ! O pain of love for Christ ! Who will help me to praise ? "

Ah, now that pain is quelled, in its measureless increase ; and his more than angelic praises are helped by the voices of harpers harping on their harps unto the Lamb that was slain.

My friends, to ourselves, as well as to his charge and to this community, God is solemnly speaking in this our great sorrow. Let us take heed that we be also ready. Let us also be encouraged. Henceforth let it be our meat to do our Heavenly Father's will, that if suddenly the Master should come and call us from earth, we may be able to reply, as could our beloved, lamented, redeemed friend : —

" I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do."

BY REV. CHAS. S. VEDDER, PASTOR OF THE HUGUENOT CHURCH.

The following is an extract from a sermon

9-4 nr MEMORIAM.

preached by Rev. C. S. Yedder. at the Huguenot Church. Charleston. S. C. from the text. u I will give you rest," Matt. xi. 28.

; - The last public address of that greathearted and beloved minister of Christ, who entered into rest during the past week, was upon the dosing words of the Apostle's Creed. * life everlasting.' He told the children of his Sabbath-school what life is: that natural life is the breath , and

spiritual life the breath of the Holy Ghost Time not then permitting, he promised to speak to them, the next Sabbath, upon the word • everlasting/ The next Sabbath came — he did not. But. from his bed of sickness, he sent them word^ that if he had spoken to them of everlasting life, it would have been to tell them that we could know nothing of it until we enter upon it. and that now he was going to see what mortal eye had not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived. And he has gone ! From the work to which he gave himself with such self-sacrificing devotion, he has been called to enter into the joy of his Lord, leaving the savor of a name which is * as ointment poured forth,' and t the memory of words which will speak long, long after the lips which uttered them have been mute and motionless to earth forever ! He realizes, in its fullness, the promise, ; I will give you rest ' ! "

BY REV. J. T. WIGHTMAX.

The following is the substance of a tribute to the Rev. C. P. Gadsden, delivered on the Sabbath following his death, from the text, " For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain " (Phil. i. 21), at Spring Street Church (Methodist Episcopal Church, South), by the pastor, Rev. J. T. "Wight-man.

" This day is a day of mourning. The city is clothed in sackcloth. A good and great man has fallen. The beloved Gadsden is no more. His church is draped in mourning, and the altar at which he faithfully ministered is bathed in the tears of his devoted people. It is not in my recollection that mourning was ever so wide-spread in this city at the death of a citizen. All unite in the common grief, without distinction of class or denomination. It would seem as if almost any one else could have been better given up. My lonely spirit cries out, c Would to God I had died for thee!'

81 He was lovely in spirit, exalted hi views, ardent in piety, and he stood in the front rank of every movement which advanced the kingdom of Christ, His broad and catholic spirit rose above barriers which circumscribe the charity and labor of most men, and bore him ' everywhere doing good to all men.' The Bible Society, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Orphan House, the Confederate Widows' House, the Missionary, the Tract, the Sunday-school work, every enterprise which looked to the elevation of the intellectual and moral status of the community, received new vigor from his counsels, and new beauty from his sympathies. His heart was an affluent fountain from which perpetual streams flowed forth to nourish the roots of every good word and work.

" He was a man held in universal respect. All loved him. I loved him as a brother. We now recall with chastened admiration his manly patriotism in upholding the city with faith and prayer during the darkest and heaviest night of his country's struggle. But especially does his character shine in its brightest aspect under the light of the cross.

" His earnest, pointed, and Christ-filled sermons ; his ardent, agonizing, faith-illuminated prayer ; his broad, noble, heaven-expanded views ; his temper, charity, works ; all, all have left us an example worthy of imitation. Who does not wish to possess his docile, humble, and sweet spirit ?

" But his work is done. ; A bright and shining light ' has gone out in his church. But thanks be unto the Father of all mercies, he died in triumph, and has left a bright example to the Church of the power of the Son of God to support a soul in the passage of death. Several days before his departure his mind was profoundly impressed with the chapter from which the text is taken. His life and his death are beautiful comments on that chapter, by manifesting the spirit of the holy Apostle, 6 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' I speak for the denomination which I represent ; our sympathy goes forth for the smitten flock and family, and to the God of all grace we commend them in prayer."

ni.

FUNERAL CEREMONIES, ETC.

A SKETCH OF THE CEREMONIES ATTENDING THE BURIAL OF MR. GADSDEN.

HPHE services over the remains of this be- -*- loved minister were performed at St. Luke's Church, of which he was pastor, on yesterday afternoon at five o'clock. The public, by their number, their deportment, and the solemnity of their bearing, gave evidence of their consciousness that a sudden and heavy bereavement had befallen themselves and their city ; and along the streets through which the funeral cortege passed with its sacred burden, the general grief was manifested in a most striking manner, which has been seldom witnessed unless upon the death of the most conspicuous, most distinguished, and most revered of our citizens. The body was borne by the vestry and wardens into the edifice which he had aided in founding, and to the ministrations in which he had consecrated a great part of the most active period of his life, which now was draped in

L.ifC.

100 IX MEMORIAM.

mourning, and was likewise thronged and overcrowded by a vast concourse composed of persons of every race, class, and denomination in our city. Every one seemed desirous of testifying by his presence to the zeal, ability, and faithfulness vrith which this man of God had sought to perform the duties of life. He had ever been accessible to all — kind, friendly, and compassionate alike to rich and poor : he had ever been ready to take his part in every good and useful work, and the people desired to show their appreciation of the man and the Christian.

His clerical brethren, from every denomination, whom he had always been ready to aid and to cooperate with in the common service of their Master, were also gathered together on this solemn occasion. The presence of the children of the Sunday-school, who were seated around the chancel, gave an additional interest to the scene within the church. Their hearts seemed touched with the tender recollections of him who so often, so earnestly, yet always with pleasant manner, had taught them from that spot where his lifeless body now lay, and they made no effort to restrain their emotions whilst they looked upon his bier. The impressive services of the Episcopal Church were conducted by the Rev. Messrs. Pinckney, Prentiss, Elliott, and Howe, whilst several other ministers, some of whom had come for the purpose from their distant homes, were present in the chancel.

After the ceremonies at St. Luke's, the body was removed to the burial ground of St. Philip's Church, where it was interred amid the chanting of hymns, in which every one united. Wreaths of flowers, crosses, and garlands were deposited by his nearest friends of the clergy, and by the immediate family of the deceased, upon the newly made grave, and the benediction was pronounced by a reverend brother. Thus terminated ceremonies which, from the beginning to the end, were peculiarly impressive, from the sincere affection and regard which were so universally entertained for him whose body had been placed in its last resting-place. This was close by the church in which he had been baptized, had been consecrated to the service of his Maker, and had acted as assistant minister for five years ; it was within reach of the sounds of the swelling organ, and now, when the choral music and the voices of the morning and the evening hymns shall be wafted on the air, they shall be borne over his tomb, but will fall upon " the dull, cold ear of death," and will awake henceforward no responsive note of praise from the lips of him whom, when alive, melodious anthems and songs of prayer had power to stir with sacred rapture.

As the only surviving classmate of Mr. Gadsden in this city, and connected with his church from the inception of the enterprise which built it, it may be permitted us to state, that at the early period of his college life he was conspicuous for his great reverence for religion, and his earnest and consistent piety ; and as an incident in his career, that it was his habit to have prayers, and to listen to, or himself to read a sermon in his rooms during every Sabbath evening ; on which occasions a few of his friends were invited to be present. His fellow-students, without exception, entertained a proiound respect, both for his attainments, and his high moral qualities. He graduated with distinction in a large class, and he was considered one of the best orators among his then associates. We only repeat what others have so well expressed, when we add in conclusion, that his life since has been one of unselfish devotion to the requirements of his calling ; to serve his Master, to convert souls, to minister to the wants, spiritual and temporal, of his fellow-man ; these were his greatest pleasures, for to such duties he had consecrated his time on earth. His life has been a toilsome one, and not without its trials ; but it is not surprising that, with aims like these, a man of so unselfish a nature — gifted with talents and with irrepressible energy, displayed in whatever concerned the welfare of the Church — should attain so high a rank in that in which he worshipped and labored, as to have recently received the support of a majority of his order for the highest, most responsible, and most sacred gift it was in their power to aid in conferring.

Mr. Gadsden belonged to a family which has been distinguished for its patriotism, and for its civic and social virtues. He also greatly loved the people of his native State and city, and he was willing at all times cheerfully to sacrifice his interests, his property, his life even, for their benefit. He has done this ; and we doubt not that he is now reaping those blessed and more enduring rewards which his Heavenly Father and Saviour has in store for a faithful servant. What we can do, now that he is dead, is to show that we appreciate the labors and the example derived from a review of the life of one who was the friend of all who needed the aid of a minister of God ; and more especially we can exhibit this practically by perfecting the plans which we know were those most dear to his heart.

F. P. P.

copy of resolutions passed by the vestry of st. luke's church.

At a special meeting of the Vestry of St. Luke's Church, Charleston, held on the 27th July, 1871, the following proceedings were unanimously adopted : —

Vain would be the effort to depict the depth and poignancy of that affliction which rests upon the congregation of St. Luke's Church ; futile the attempt to give adequate expression to the emotions which swell each bosom, and bow each head with a grief too deep for utterance.

In the prime of life ; in the active discharge of ministerial and social duties : with an intellect gifted, cultivated, and refined ; a mind stored with the attainments of the scholar and the theologian ; an imagination fervid, chaste, and captivating ; a fluency and felicity of expression of the highest order ; a heart tender, loving, and overflowing with sympathy in the joys and sorrows of others ; a disposition gentle, kind, amiable, and winning ; all consecrated to the glory of God, in the salvation of man ; all purified and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and rendered meet for the Master's service. Such was the Christian pastor ; such the faithful shepherd, whom " the Lord gave, and " whom " the Lord hath taken away."

Early called to preach " Jesus Christ and Him crucified," the last summons found him (in response to prayer) with armor on, still battling under the " banner of the cross," against " the world, the flesh, and the devil."

The fight fought, the course finished, the faith kept ! His the crown, his the lifesought welcome : " Well done, good and faithful servant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord ! "

Priceless the privileges of such a ministry ; incalculable its loss ; deep the responsibilities which rest upon each member of that favored fold !

Feebly, yet affectionately, and in humble submission to the will of our Heavenly Father, would we record pur sense of this dispensation of his mysterious, yet all-wise providence. Therefore —

Resolved, That in the removal of the late Rev. Christopher P. Gadsden from the scenes of his earthlylabors, to that "place prepared" in his " Father's house/' " to the whole company of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect," the Church militant has been deprived of one of her ablest champions, one of her brightest ornaments, and most zealous heralds of the cross.

Resolved, That to the congregation of St. Luke's Church, it is the severance of the tenderest earthly ties which can bind a devoted, zealous, and faithful pastor to a favored, loving, and grateful people.

Resolved, That as emblematic of our deep bereavement, and as a token of reverence and affection for the memory of its late rector, St. Luke's Church be draped in mourning for the space of six months.