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Preface

Rev. S. G. Buckingham, D.D.

The Gaylords were a typical New England family. They lived in one of the farming towns of Eastern Connecticut, where nobody had much property fifty years ago, but where all were industrious, frugal, moral, and they were as well off as their neighbors. The whole town of Ashford contained perhaps 1,200 inhabitants, and the little parish of Ashford Hill, only 250 of them. Here was a church, school-house, postoffice, two or three stores, two blacksmith shops, and a harness shop, not only for the farmers, but also for the stage lines between Hartford and Boston, and Hartford and Providence, that met here, and made it a post of considerable importance. The father of this family was the village harness-maker, when the trade included trunk making, and carriage trimming, besides the manufacture of military equipments. The oldest boys were taught to “ work in the shop,” where they became more or less expert in the several branches of the trade, two of them, including the subject of these memoirs, turning their attention particularly to trunk making, while another became the harness-maker of the establishment. The father was intelligent and influential, and commanded the respect and confidence of the community, as appears from his being first selectman of the town for many years, and elected again and again without opposition, until the infirmities of age compelled him to retire. He was also clerk of the court of Probate, and then Judge of Probate. The mother, who is still living, is what we might expect from the successful training of such a family, a woman of excellent judg¬ ment, good domestic management, and devoted piety. The children consisted of seven sons,—a large number of boys to be trained successfully without the softening influence of a single sister.

The ideas of the family were peculiarly New Eng¬ land. Each was to do something, and be somebody. He must be trained to self support, and contribute to the support of the rest, and be of some use in the world. He must become an important member of the household, fill his place well in the little community around him, be a reliable and faithful citizen of the Republic, and be a devoted servant of Christ, with reference to the advancement of His cause in the earth. To do this, he must be aware of the capaci¬ ties within him, and cultivate his powers, and improve every opportunity for doing so, trusting in God to favor such praiseworthy endeavors, and furnish a sphere for the use of such attainments. All must have a good education, even if they had to obtain it for themselves, and perhaps supply their deficiencies late in life. And all must mark out some useful and noble course in life, and expect to pursue it vigorously in spite of difficulties and discouragements.

So thoroughly sensible, and deeply religious, were the influences under which this large family of boys came, and the result shows how they were moulded by them.

They all learned to work, and were capable of selfsupport. Two of them made their way through Yale College, and became physicians. Two more, includ¬ ing William, though not educated at college, were well educated, and entered the ministry. The rest were intelligent, reliable men, who could appreciate a princi¬ ple, and would respond to a duty. Nothing shows the qualities of the family better, than the response they gave to the call for troops when the war of the rebel¬ lion broke out. Five out of seven went into the army. One was too young, and another, the minister, deemed it his duty to look after his parents and his parish, where his patriotism inspired the whole com¬ munity and sent many a substitute to the front, although he could not go himself. Of those who went into the army, one starved to death in Salisbury prison ; another came home sick, and soon died of con¬ sumption, the result of his army life; another one lives as a cripple on crutches; while one of the others, if not both, is still suffering in health from those hard¬ ships. Happy the State that has such citizens, for she is invincible, and it is such families that furnish them.

“ What is the State ?—

Men who their duties know, and know their rights,

And knowing dare maintain.”

It is interesting to see how the family character¬ istics were combined in this member of it, and what in him were the results of such training. He took his physical constitution, with a certain delicate sympathy of feeling, from his mother, while his coolness and sagacious management were derived from his father. As a young man he was noted for his ability to provide for an emergency, and find a way out of almost any entanglement, and this was what always made him such an excellent adviser to those in perplexity, and his preaching so helpful in suggestions amid the difficulties of life. Add to this his spirit of self-sacrifice and well known generosity, and we have, under the control of Christian fidelity, the chief elements of his influence and usefulness. His circum¬ stances and training, also, called into requisition these very elements, and helped to make them so useful to himself, and to others. He went to work, as soon as he was old enough, and learned his trade, and with a brother carried it on for awhile. Then he became a teacher, and finding himself inclined toward the minis¬ try, put himself under instruction in Latin and Greek, until he was prepared to take up theological studies, when he went to the seminary and completed a full course. And this he did at his own expense, with assistance from no one, except as a loan. Next we find him undertaking to carry a younger brother through college, and then coming to the relief of his father, who had become embarrased by the loss of his sons, and the expenses connected with their army life. This last seemed likely for awhile to prove too much for him, till a friend came to his aid, to whom he subsequently repaid every dollar with interest. His memoranda showed that he had devoted more than $7,000 to helping his parents and younger brothers, and others who could never repay him, besides his generous contributions to benevolent objects.

With such characteristics, and such a spirit, it is no wonder he made a useful minister,—acquired respect, affection, influence,—was a helpful preacher, a tender pastor, and a man of influence in public affairs ; and that, falling in the midst of his usefulness and seem¬ ing vigor, he left a disconsolate people, a mourning community, and ministerial brethren who knew and praised his worth.

With such families as these, the church is no less favored than the State. Their sons and daughters can be trained to any service, and with such a spirit, may be depended upon for every duty, to which the providence of God shall summon them. And with such service the church is safe.

“ What is the church,

But hearts loyal to God, to all men true,

Souls fit for earth or heaven, the company Invisible, that stand and wait, or fly To minister to future heirs of grace.”

The lesson of such a life is, the worth of such homes and the value of such training. There are many such families,—if their members would realize their capabilities, and improve their opportunities,— parents to make such men and women, and children to become such patriots and Christians.

Springfield , Mass., August , 1883.

A SERVANT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

AN ADDRESS AT THE FUNERAL

OF THE

Rev. WILLIAM L. GAYLORD,

EDWARD WOOLSEY BACON,

Pastor of the First Church of Christ in New London.

2*

Where shall we find that which our Lord has not touched with His redemption ? He hears the confes¬ sion of every repenting sinner, and answers, “ Go in peace and sin no more;” He visits the broken-hearted, and says, “ Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid ; ” He is at once the Saviour of the soul and of the body too, making the earthly house of our tabernacle the temple of the Holy Ghost; He enters every chamber of wasting sickness with the revela¬ tion, “This corruptible must put on incorruption;” and, although He went, with faltering step, to weep at the grave of a friend, He puts a new song into the mouth of the dying and of the surviving also,

“ O death, where is thy sting ;

O grave, where is thy victory ? ”

But not only is the Lord near us with blessed influ¬ ences in such personal ministration, according to our present infirmity, let it be what it may ; all around us, too, His touch may be seen, even in little and not often noticed things, as a sort of supplemental proof of His power and His care, as if, on our toilsome path through life, He would have us recognize the way as that which He trod and glorified, and in which He scattered roses and other such flowers as bloom and are gathered only from thorns. It was indeed His errand to wean us from love of the earth and from merely earthly loves; He said, indeed, “ He that loveth l 9 father or mother more than me is not worthy of me ; ” He would indeed lead to “ a better country, even a heavenlybut He did not find it necessary to be¬ little or debase this present; He rather glorified it and made it delightful as never before; for He said also, “ Every one that hath left houses, or brethren or sisters, or father or mother, or children or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundred-fold, and shall inherit eternal life.” Born of the virgin, cradled with the beasts, numbered with the transgressors, He has touched and ennobled each incident of human life, that nothing shall be called common or unclean. Trained by the village carpenter, Himself among men “ as one that serveth,” He has glorified each occupa¬ tion and made it royal. The very speech of men has gained new significance from Christ; the Christian scriptures have taught new words and fresh and bles¬ sed significations for old words that were repulsive and hard, and these things that are least God hath chosen, to confound the things that are great.

There is no one word by which the representatives of Christ in the leadership of His church have better loved to call themselves than the name of “ servant.” The names of those who preach His gospel are always, according to the nearness of the preachers to the Master, names synonymous with that of “servant.” And the name of servant was given us by Him. It runs through all His teaching; it designates His dis¬ ciples and His representatives through all the parables; and when we read of “ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,” as he loved to introduce himself, we are come very near the highest Christian dignity.

And, in these moments by the body of one gone to his rest from the Christian ministry, whom every heart follows with desire to catch the words,—sug¬ gested by every thought of well employed talents rendered up at the Master’s call,—“Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord,” what can I better offer for consolation or for exult¬ ation in sorrow, than thoughts of what this brother was,—of what every faithful preacher is, the Servant of Jesus Christ.

For, first of all, in this consideration, I am dis¬ charged from any necessity of personal eulogy or personal criticism. Who am I, that judgeth another man’s servant ? Were this merely a citizen’s life that has ended ; were this the career of a servant of the public that has closed to our observation, I might speak of the man and of his work. But this is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. To his own Master he standeth or falleth.

But think, in the line of what I said in beginning, what word is this I am using as the proudest claim to be made for the minister,—that he is a servant. It has been of old the lowest of all titles. It is the ancient name for a slave. The revision of the New Testament recognizes that, by reading in its margin, where ever the word comes, “Servant,—or, bondservant.” There were other words for servants of peculiar dignity, or for other agents of authority; but the word in common use by the Teacher and the taught is the ancient name for a slave. It would be into gloomy thoughts indeed we should be led were I to trace the way rapidly backward into the ancient slave-life, in which the master’s will was as fate and the servant’s body and life dependent on the master’s whim ; when, for the breaking of a dish, or on a frivolous dislike, the servant might be slain and no account be taken of the deed.^ For then service should seem like drudgery, and life be emptied of both pleasure and hope, and the years and talents spent by a servant of Jesus Christ be thought of with pity and regret.

But against that possibility from the olden time, I set the present reality, as Christ has touched both the word and the work and made them glorious, so that, at a minister’s ordination and at a minister’s burial alike, “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Since He declared “I am among you as one that serveth,” every laborious life and every life of drudgery is made lighter, and, as the Epistles demonstrate, every actual slave has become the Lord’s freeman. Every burden is His burden and every yoke is His yoke. And it has come to pass that even the world pays its highest tribute to those noble souls who stoop the lowest for humanity’s sake. It has come to pass that idleness is a crying shame, and self-denying ser¬ vice is the object of the highest eulogy.

Such is the work of Christ in this incidental re¬ demption of a word and of what the word stands for. “ It is enough that the disciple be as his Master and the servant as his Lordand how proud may be the thought of a parent that a son was in a peculiar sense, and as a representative of Christ in the leadership of his church, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ; how proud the remembrance of sons and daughters of a father who, turning away from opportunities of tem¬ poral advancement, gave himself to be a servant of the Lord Jesus, remaining, like his Master, poor, that through his poverty many might become rich ; how glad the thought of a friendship and devotion become willing to share such service of the Lord, so that, around this bier, and at the moment of our lamenta¬ tions, we, who mourn the most profoundly, are also the most exultant.

In another respect, however, these moments remind us sadly of what it is to be a servant ; “ for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth.” The work of the servant is plain enough; his portion is no more than he has strength to do; but how little he can under¬ stand of the vast plan which he humbly and for a little while helps to .execute. Interested and absorbed in his own small part, how great must be the sur¬ prise, how inexplicable the reason, when sudden sum¬ mons breaks off that task and calls away the laborer!

Thus it is now with us, as we are groping to find an explanation of what has befallen us. But let us not forget that such sharp and sad surprises and such bitter disappointments are not peculiar to this little group. They fall upon all sorts and conditions of men with terrible upheaval, under their blows, of what seemed solid ground.

But nowhere else can there be more comfort than when it is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ who is thus cut down. Who, but the faithful Christian minister, is “ that faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath set over His household to give them their meat in due season ? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.” For the servant waits upon his Masters will and his Master’s coming; he is always prepared to render his account : he is ready, knowing that, “ in an hour when he thinketh not, the Son of Man cometh.”

Thus it has been with the servant of Jesus Christ whose silent form is before us, to whom the Son of Man came by the messenger of death, in an hour when he thought not.

But from these circumstances of sorrow how blessed it is for us to look away to where the servant and the Master are together, and the “Well done” is said and the entrance into the Lord’s joy completed. In that new relation, how the servant is emancipated. At that supper, new in the kingdom of the Father, how true are the words which seem obscure of mean¬ ing here. “No longer do I call you servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth ; but I have called you friends ; for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known unto you.”

In the memories of this hour, and out of its disap¬ pointments, let such thoughts as these possess and calm our souls that we may learn the solemn triumph of our hymn :

“ Go to the grave, in all thy glorious prime,

In full activity of zeal and power ;

A Christian cannot die before his time,

The Lord’s appointment is the servant’s hour.

Go to the grave ;—no, take thy rest above ;

Be thy pure spirit present with the Lord, Where thou for faith and hope hast perfect love, And open vision for the written word ! ”

EULOGY,

PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF THE

CONNECTICUT VALLEY CONGREGATIONAL CLUB,

BY REV. F. M. SPRAGUE,

AND READ AT THE MEETING OF THE CLUB IN SPRINGFIELD, MASS., JANUARY 22, 1883.

Friends and Brethren:

Since our last meeting, and for the first time since our organization, death has broken our ranks.

Rev. Wm. L. Gaylord, of Chicopee, a brother dearly beloved, and an honored officer of this club, has been summoned up higher.

On the morning of the 26th of December last he rose apparently in excellent health, but while attend¬ ing to the furnace in the basement of his house he was stricken with apoplexy, and fell to the floor. Death, however, had grappled with no mean antago¬ nist. The brave man summoned help, and with his one strong arm, and firm foot, and his iron will, he dragged the lifeless half of his body across the base¬ ment and up the stairway.

The disease rapidly approached the heart, and in the space of three hours, during a part of which time he was unconscious, he fell asleep.

Thus, after a lifetime of waiting, watching, and knocking, the door was suddenly opened and he passed in through the gate Beautiful to that fellow¬ ship with Christ and that sweet communion with the Saints, in the earthly foretastes of which his soul so much delighted.

At your request, dear brethren, I have gratefully gathered a few materials with which to-day we may embalm his memory. We bring choice flowers freshly plucked from memory, sweet spices from various fields of labor, and gems of thought and pearls of truth that have dropped from the lips now silent; testimonials glad and rare to noble deeds and generous words extending from boyhood to the day of his death ; tender and loving tributes from kindred, friends, and people, and lastly, our own sincere affection, whereby as with precious ointment we may anoint him, not for burial , but for perpetual remembrance.

William Luther Gaylord was born in Woodstock, Conn., Oct. 14, 1831. He was the second of seven sons, children of Horace and Mary A. Gaylord. His mother and four brothers survive him. His father was Judge of Probate for many years. He was also a member of the board of education, first selectman of the town for a long period, and held many minor offices. -He died March 27, 1877, at the age of 73.

His mother is a representative of the best type of the old-fashioned New England womanhood. A lady of gentle dignity, sweet strength of character, and a devoted Christian wife and mother. She looked upon her children as loaned of the Lord. This godly woman and aged mother in Israel, having seen the salvation of the Lord in the conversion of all her children, is patiently waiting to depart. Three of the seven sons studied for the ministry. All of them in early life were successful teachers. Five of them volunteered in the war to save the Republic. One perished from starvation in a rebel prison; one came home and died from a disease induced by exposure while in the service, and another returned crippled for life. This brother with three others, still survive: one is an able minister of the gospel, Rev. S. D. Gay¬ lord, of Bridgeport, Conn., and two are physicians, the youngest of whom is a brother member of this club, Dr. Edward E. Gaylord of Florence, Mass.

This brief history of the birth and family of our deceased brother sheds additional lustre on his memory, and more than justifies the observations made by Dr. S. G. Buckingham, who conducted the funeral service, that his was what we love to call a typical New England family.

Soon after the birth of William his parents settled in the town of Ashford, Conn. Here he passed his boyhood and youth, and amid the discipline of a large family, the stern necessities of farm life, tilling the soil and tending cattle, with three months schooling in winter, were laid the foundations of that manly character which won the respect and confidence of all who knew him.

Cicero, I think it was, once said he liked to see a little of the man in the boy and a little of the boy in the man. This was true of our departed brother. He was a manly boy, and often discovered an acumen and judgment beyond his years. A single incident will illustrate this. A man once visited the farmer to purchase young stock. William, though a mere lad, was directed to exhibit the stock. “ How old is that heifer ? ” asked the stranger. “ A yearling, sir,” replied William. “ Arn’t you mistaken, that looks like a two-year old ? ” “ All our yearlings are two-year olds,”

was the prompt reply.

At this early age when boys, if ever, shirk and are selfish, he showed a disposition to be helpful. If the load was heavy, his shoulder was at the wheel.

William went ahead and broke the path, and always as by instinct took the heavy end of the burden. This generous trait won from his mother the sobriquet of “ The Burden Bearer.”

In the home, at school, on the farm, at work or play, his strong arm and sympathizing heart could be drawn on at sight

When he was seventeen, Ashford was agitated with the temperance question. In connection with this movement an incident occurred which shows his manly courage, and his ingenuous truth-loving nature. A certain liquor shop defied the temperance sentiment. William, at the head of several boy-companions, under¬ took to suppress this nuisance. Moral suasion not availing, the boys prosecuted the seller and succeeded in getting him convicted in the lower court. He how¬ ever took an appeal, which then, as is now apt to be the result in such cases, proved fatal to justice and morality. But youth bravely battling for the right never knows defeat; it may check ardor, but it strength¬ ens principle and is thus turned into victory.

William approached this man, entrenched not only behind his bar, but behind immemorial custom and a formidable public opinion, and said openly and hero¬ ically, “There are seven men in this town whom your rum will kill within three years.” Thus spoke this youthful prophet, and six out of the seven men died within the time specified. These facts are still fresh 3 * in the memory of a large circle of the friends and ac¬ quaintances of his youth. The absence of all youth¬ ful excesses in this affair is worthy of remark. The stimulus of a worthy object, the ardor of youth, the challenge of opposition, together with the conscious¬ ness of being in the right, did not betray him into sympathy with lawless measures, or the use of unwor¬ thy means for the accomplishment of good ends; and this golden principle of rectitude, to his praise be it said, characterized his whole career.

At the age of sixteen he became a Christian. His conversion was not sudden. He thought along while, then solemnly and deliberately avowed himself on the Lord’s side. This early habit of thoughtfulness was also characteristic of the man. With him religion was not so much an impulse as a deep principle. During his attendance at the old academy in Ashford, he dis¬ covered those powers of mind which gave promise of the future. The principal, Rev. E. B. Huntington, did not confine his influence to the school-room, but inspired his pupils with noble impulses and lofty aims. * In the village lyceum the ablest disputants found in this youth a foe worthy of their steel, and in these societies, as president, he acquired that knowledge of the duties of a presiding officer which we have seen him display with signed ability and dignity.

But a crisis was approaching. The time had come, which comes to all noble youth, of deciding upon a purpose in life. God’s gift to Solomon was not al¬ together exceptional. He gives to most young men one great and solemn opportunity of choice. Hanni-

3 ( bal, with his father’s favor, choosing eternal hatred to Rome, or Luther with his father’s anger entering a convent, are only examples, and whenever the mo¬ ment of choice comes it is a moment trembling with destinies. In this crisis our youthful friend did not hesitate. Wealth could not allure him; a life of pleas¬ ure was not to be thought of; ease and honor presented their claims only to be rejected ; but following the ex¬ ample of his great prototype, he made choice of wisdom. It was accordingly decided that he should go away to school. On the night preceding his departure from home, after he had retired to his room, his mother followed to counsel with him and give him her part¬ ing blessing. She found him on his knees, seeking guidance of the great Counselor and mighty God and everlasting Father. On the morrow he bade adieu to the old homestead and town, which virtually ceased to be his abode, although he delighted to revisit these scenes during vacation, and many a joyful reunion has the old hearth-stone witnessed as Thanksgiving day came round.

It is the loss of such young men that these town¬ ships mourn. No wonder that the old hill-towns of New England seem barren and lonely. But let us remember that their leveled forests and disemboweled quarries are the crown of their glory, for they point us to the moral timber and granite characters which stand in all our marts as the bulwarks of liberty and righteousness. They are barren only because they have been so divinely fruitful. They are lonely as the hills of Galilee are lonely, because once trod by the beautiful feet of Christ-devoted, truth-loving, heroic-souled men and women whose memory is the richest legacy we possess.

Time does not permit us to follow our youthful friend in the pursuit of knowledge. While studying at Deep River in Saybrook, he entered zealously into Christian work and rendered valuable assistance in sustaining religious meetings. Here he received a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the great ques¬ tion of giving himself to the work of the gospel ministry was presented to him. The divinity in a man is determined by his choice of a supreme end. Heretofore we have seen in our friend the likeness of ideal manhood ; we shall now discover in him the image of God.

Love overflowing his great heart combined with “ that hallowed supreme motive which men call duty ” decided, perhaps the most momentous question man is ever asked to decide, in the affirmative. Our lamented brother loved humanity. His heart went out in tenderness toward his brother man. When he would express his devotion to Christ and humanity, the only adequate gift he could offer was similar to the one Zwingle made to Erasmus when he exclaimed “ Poor as yEschines when each of Socrates’ disciples offered their master a present, I give you what ^Eschines gave.I give myself.”

He was twenty years of age when this high resolve was taken, and there were opposing obstacles which would have discouraged a less dauntless soul. His education was mostly before him and he had just discovered that there is “ no royal road to learning.” Money was wanting, his studies must be often in¬ terrupted to enable him, by teaching, to secure means with which to continue them. But no hardship could blunt the edge of his determination. He bravely accepted the stern logic of the old Latin proverb, “ Quisque faber est suae fortunae.” Every man is the maker of his own fortune.