USA > Delaware > Methodism of the peninsula, or, Sketches of notable characters and events in the history of Methodism in the Maryland and Delaware peninsula > Part 20
USA > Maryland > Methodism of the peninsula, or, Sketches of notable characters and events in the history of Methodism in the Maryland and Delaware peninsula > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20
325
RECORD AND STATUS.
civil convulsion, and that soon after following in its train in Delaware, have ministered to an increased general intelligence, throughout the Peninsula, that will prove a helpful handmaid to Methodism. The Wilmington Conference Academy at Dover, and the Delaware Con- ference Academy at Princess Anne, the latter of which, "Olney," was once the favorite rendezvous of the elite among Somerset slaveholders and aristocrats, are now rapidly raising the standard of intellectual culture among both white and colored Methodist Episcopalians. This, properly directed, must develop, along all the lines of our future career, into an influence of incalculable efficiency. Furthermore, where, twenty-five years ago, the unrequited sweat of the toiler dropped on the sterile sands, now the home and field or garden of the some- time slave, offer their shelter and generous provision to the family, no more to be scattered by the cruel slave trade. In the exact spot where once stood the Princess Anne jail, where "Uncle Stephen," with breaking heart, parted forever with his little ones doomed to exile by the edicts of the auction block, are to-day rising the fair walls of one of the comeliest colored Methodist Episcopal Churches in the land. As if to vindicate the justice of God and the tears of humanity, the very bricks that walled in and held captive the heart-broken bondmen of a former generation, are now laid in the foundations and builded into the walls of this fair temple of Methodism. Thus, the burned clay that once made sad response to the rattling chains and despairing moans of slave fathers
326
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
and mothers there incarcerated, shall soon resound with the jubilant songs of their unmanacled and enfranchised children. Verily the Methodist who stands in the presence of these new and startling revelations, and listens to the concurrent and imperative call of God's providence, must feel an inspiration far superior to any that ever prompted a Christian soldier of olden time to enlist in the holy Crusades. Peninsula Methodists, follow your divine Leader !
Second. Let us, as Methodists, attend to our own business with all our might. It is well to be liberal and fraternal toward other communions. But he who loves and helps other denominations as much as he does his own is of little consequence to any. A true man loves other churches all the better for loving and serving his own with all his soul and strength ; and that Methodist best serves the general cause of Christ and humanity, who, in all honorable and Christian ways, is most efficient in building up the cause of Methodism.
Third. Let all Methodists cultivate immediate frater- nity, and pray and prepare for final organic union. We all believe the same glorious doctrines ; sing the same inspiring hymns ; observe the same Methodistic usages, and rejoice in the same blessed experiences. The only differences are those of government and of prejudice. Those of the former are now so trivial as by no means to justify our continued separation. Those of the latter are without excuse, and are humiliating to a Christly manhood. Their occasions are among the relics of
327
RECORD AND STATUS.
a former generation's blunders and follies and crimes. The new and harmonious alliances of the unregenerate, and of politicians formerly in deadly antagonism, are a stinging rebuke to our haughty and naughty non- sense. We are responsible for an unjustifiable, if not sinful, waste of forces and means and appliances, divided between seven different sets of ecclesiastical machinery, instead of concentrated as they should be, to drive, with irresistible power and efficiency, the enginery of the mother Church, which, for more than one hundred years, has demonstrated its adaptation to Peninsula evangelism. The good time is coming. It may not be by a wise and voluntary surrender of non- essential peculiarities, and by a deliberate inflowing, but by a gradual disintegration and absorption of the minor bodies into the Methodist Episcopal Church. It may be a victory achieved largely through the modifying and mellowing influence of many first-class funerals. But sometime, somehow it will come; and then the "halle- lujah" of the reunited and on-marching army, will be echoed back from the joyous victors who will be watch- ing the "Methodism of the Peninsula" from the heavenly heights.
328
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
CHAPTER, XII.
MEMORIAL OF DR. L. C. MATLACK.
MONG all the saintly and heroic men whose min- isterial labors have blessed the Methodism of the Peninsula, none are more worthy of being remem- bered and cherished, than the man of God whose honored name fitly adorns this closing chapter.
On the evening of July 3d, 1883, a few days after Dr. Matlack's burial, a fitting memorial service was held by his bereaved flock, in the Cambridge Methodist Episcopal Church, where for three months he had so eloquently and effectively proclaimed the Gospel of salvation. Addresses appropriate to the sorrowful occa- sion were delivered by Rev. Jno. D. Rigg of Smyrna, Del., Rev. Thos. E. Martindale, Presiding Elder of Easton District, Rev. Wm. L. S. Murray, of Wilming- ton, Del., and by the author of this volume. The latter address was as follows :
REV. LUCIUS COLUMBUS MATLACK, D. D.
Sixty-seven years ago, the infant cry of a child they ` called Lucius, was borne to the world on the silent breath of the morning. In the early moments of
329
MEMORIAL OF DR. MATLACK.
Sabbath morning, June 24th, 1883, the same voice was heard, for the last time on earth, saying: "God's holy will be done: I am not surprised;" and then the tired breast of Lucius C. Matlack rested from its laborious struggle; and his manly form laid down to rest, and listen for the trump and the voice that shall herald the eternal morning.
On the following day, the precious dust, which had been hallowed by his blood-washed spirit, attended by his bereaved and stricken companion and orphaned boy, and by a deputation of the sorrowing Church bereft of his holy ministry, was conveyed to Port Deposit, and to the house that had been the former home of Mrs. Matlack. A little over ten years before, our brother and sister, a happily wedded twain, had gone out from this little home to the blessed experiences of a most fitting and congenial matrimonial union; and to the equally con- genial life-work of winning jewels for their Master's crown.
On this sad return to the bridal scene, it was fitting the casket containing his manly frame, should be depos- ited on the precise spot, where he and his bridal partner had stood and taken the mutual vows that made them one till death. Thence we bore his body to the village Church, whose walls had so frequently echoed with his eloquent words, and placed it in the chancel so often graced by his manly presence ; where glowing tribute was paid to his worth, and fitting expression given to our sense of loss and bereavement. Then, amid the
330
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
peltings of a furious rain-storm, the sad funeral cortege wended its way to the beautiful hills of Hopewell, the place of interment. On leaving the church, the lips of her who sorrowed most whispered her heart's desire that the falling floods might be stayed while we laid our pre- cious burden in its last resting place; and Heaven heard her prayer. While all around, in sight, copious showers were deluging the valleys, not a drop disturbed the fare- well service at the grave, or hastened the departure of sadly-lingering footsteps.
Hopewell never received a treasure of more precious dust than the sleeping form of Lucius C. Matlack. And no more fitting location and name could be found as his place of sepulture. Topographically about the highest point of land in our conference territory, it is appropriate that he, who, in his physical stature, form and feature, was most noble and courtly amongst us, should there lie down to his rest. It is fitting that his consecrated body should sleep at our nearest point to the heavens. And if, from Christ's Paradise, a white-robed and white-winged soul is ever permitted to visit the spot where his dust reposes ; from the heights of Hopewell, to the vision of our departed brother, God may some- times reveal the old Peninsular battle-field, over which, as a Christian soldier, he fought, gladdening his redeemed spirit with the assurance of the cumulative and culmi- nating victories of the cross.
"Hopewell." How suggestive the name! A well- grounded, well-assured hope of resurrection and immor-
331
MEMORIAL OF DR. MATLACK.
tality cheered him through life and as he entered the valley ; and cheered us for him, as we turned sorrowfully away from the holy spot where we laid him down to his peaceful slumber. Sleep on, Lucius, among the beautiful, green hills of Cecil ! Shout on, Lucius, from the mountain peaks of glory ! We are hearkening; and, by God's help, will try to follow the shining pathway that leads up to where thou art standing !
Where shall I begin in the task these loving brethren have invited me to undertake? And how shall I fitly perform this work of love? The greatest obstacle I encounter is the greatness of my affection for the-to me-more than friend and brother whose life and virtues we here and now commemorate. The poverty of my words, as compared with my impulses of love and sor- row, is an embarrassment I may not hope to surmount.
To Lucius C. Matlack, nature was generous-even lavish of her gifts. To a physique noble, kingly, beau- tiful ; and a face and feature in striking harmony therewith ; with every curve, lineament and expression instinct with the health and force of the most robust and manly vigor ; she added the splendid endowments of a strong, careful, discriminating intellect, furnishing all the attributes of a possible commanding greatness, in any field of attainment or achievement he might have chosen for the exercise of his powers.
Mingled with these great elements of natural strength, however, was a native modesty that held him in check from self-assertion, and led him to esteem others as
332
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
better and more capable than himself. Such were his natural endowments of humility and modesty, that he scarcely had need of the Apostolic admonition, not to "think of himself more highly than he ought to think." Indeed there were times in his life when this inherent timidity and self-abnegation became so nearly excessive, as to prevent his doing full justice to his manhood and his mission. Although one of the leading spirits in the great anti-slavery agitation, and the author of an ably written history of the events leading to emancipation, his part in the stirring drama is modestly kept in the back-ground. But, on the whole, these were doubtless to be numbered among the endowments that gave strength to his character, and attracted the profoundest respect of those who best knew him. It was his native modesty, together with the embarrassment incident to a defective vision, that occasioned the apparent reserve sometimes calling forth unfavorable criticism, and led some to sup- pose him cold and indifferent, or even haughty. Those, however, so fortunate as to come near enough to Dr. Matlack to understand him, and feel the pulsations of his great, manly, but loving, gentle heart, found a cheer- ful, genial friend, whose affectionate attentions attracted the most unreserved and respectful confidence. His was a nature to lean on and tie to, and never find our reasonable expectations disappointed.
These adornments of nature were carefully polished by a culture none the less genuine that it was obtained, for the most part, outside the schools. Laying the foun-
333
MEMORIAL OF DR. MATLACK.
dation in the common schools, and in the literary and theological course prescribed by the Church for young ministers ; he succeeded, by his native power and industry, in reaching a scholarly eminence that merited and won for him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity; and that commanded the respect of the most cultured of his fellows. To these natural endowments and adorn- ments polished by industrious study, grace added her charms, until it was no exaggeration to apply to him the glowing words in which the Apostle expressed his wish for the attainment of Timothy, and call him "a man of God * * * perfect; thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
As to religious attainment, experience and profession, Dr. Matlack was exceedingly cautious in his steps and careful in his utterances. At every stage of the journey from the City of Destruction to Beulah Land, the ground was critically examined; and no steps were counted or relied upon that were not consciously felt to rest upon the solid granite of God's Revelation, as inter- preted by the dual and harmonizing utterances of reason and experience. But all these conscious steps were taken ; and, as a general, strong in his victories and resources, he held and occupied every advanced position taken ; until the foe, pressed to the very verge of manhood's empire, was hurled over the battlements; and Lucius C. Matlack was anointed a king and constituted a priest unto God, to rule over and minister in the realm of his own redeemed nature. With him, God's will was not
334
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
only supreme, as authority to be respected; but as a bless- ing to be enjoyed-a delight and a luxury to be eagerly coveted. It was no new thing, superinduced by the exhaustion of the last struggle, for him to say, "God's holy will be done." It was the established habit of his daily being. It was the language and poesy of his holy psalm of life; and, in these words, he was but epito- mizing hurriedly, with breath too precious for extended speech, the last paragraph and experience of that psalm. Amid the last conflict, so unexpectedly precipitated, and the gathering darkness of the night of death, the dying victor was enabled to gasp, "I am not surprised !" The last foe found him armed and ready.
After eleven years of intimate association and fellow- ship, in all the varied relations in which it was my great honor and privilege to come into contact with Dr. Matlack, I am proud, without qualification or reservation, to declare it as my profound conviction that the will of God was the rule of all his actions, words and thoughts.
Dr. Matlack more perfectly obeyed the Golden Rule- "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,"-than any person I have ever known. I have known him grievously misrepresented and injured, not only without being excited to retaliate, but without even a word of complaint. In all the years of our intimate and confidential association, there never fell from his lips a word of bitterness, or an insinuation that reflected unkindly upon any of his fellows. His pure nature was transparent ; he had no covert, selfish
335
MEMORIAL OF DR. MATLACK.
purposes to subserve; and I would as soon suspect the highest Archangel of being the head of a proposed sin- ister combination in Heaven, as to have thought Lucius C. Matlack capable of being complicated with any similar ring or clique on earth. But he not only possessed the negative but also the positive form of Christian charity. He would not only do no harm to any; but, to the utmost of his ability, he would do good to all-to foe as well as friend.
In the council sessions, in which it was my lot to serve with him, his consideration and love for his brethren, shone with a steady and undimmed beauty. When,-as must always and necessarily be the case,- some one was about to be pressed into an undesirable place, our dear brother's kind heart always prompted him to co-operate in any measures that might promise relief. When any member of the Council was distressed by untoward complications, in his relations to the appoint- ments and preachers, this unselfish man of God was always ready to adjust himself and his work to the exigency, and aid in the happy solution of the problem. At the last conference, during the fourth session of the Council, when most of the preachers except the outgoing Presiding Elders had been stationed, Bishop Simpson inquired of Dr. Matlack as to his wishes for himself. The answer was characteristic. It was, in substance : "You know, Bishop, what I told you thirteen years ago. It is not for me to choose. I have one thing to say, however: I want no appointment for myself,
.
336
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
until we provide suitably for all the brethren on my District."
As a counsellor and administrator, our departed brother was eminently wise and prudent. I doubt whether any person or interest was ever harmed by his counsels. These valuable qualities were recognized by the chiefest powers in our Church, in his appointment to superintend our work in Louisiana; and also in the very complimentary vote he received, in the General Conference of 1872, for the Episcopacy. For similar reasons he was selected to represent the Louisiana Con- ference in the General Conference of the same year, and the Wilmington Conference in the years 1876 and 1880.
Dr. Matlack was an able preacher of the Gospel. He attempted no lofty flights. He made no pedantic dis- plays. He never amused and entertained his hearers with any scientific, metaphysical or theological specula- tions. He proclaimed no new and liberal theories (so called) of the Gospel. But he honored the Law. He gloried in the Cross. He exalted Christ as a Prince and Saviour. He proclaimed salvation-full, complete, present, for all who would receive it. He was a meek but confident professor and possessor of the "like pre- cious faith;" and, with becoming modesty, he did not shun to declare publicly and often, in his sermons, what his Saviour had done for him. As the result, his preaching was plain and simple. A child could understand it. It was profitable. It was not confections and flowers, but bread. It always fed the hungry ; and, not infrequently,
337
MEMORIAL OF DR. MATLACK.
created a hunger that it also satisfied. In the pulpit he was not always equal to himself and his highest efforts and attainments. Sometimes the current reached a valley, where it was almost provokingly quiet ; but it was never muddy or stagnant. At other times it flowed gently, with
slight ripple and scarcely audible murmur.
Its general
flow, however, was strong, steady and musical. But there were times, when, breaking away from all restraints of timidity, and overflowing all the barriers and boundaries of logical and rhetorical caution, amid dashing spray and tempestuous roar, it rushed with impetuous impulse adown the rocky rapids of impassioned feeling; bearing irresistibly on its loving torrent, whither it would, the thoughts and hearts of his captive auditors.
Such a ministry is not yet ended. In its blessed results it will never end. His voice, even now, is floating down to us on the evening zephyrs. I seem to hear its utterances :- " The salutation of me, Lucius, with mine own voice. Be perfect; be of good comfort; be of one mind; live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. All that are with me salute you. Greet them that love us in the faith. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
Lucius C. Matlack was a patriot. Not such a patriot as mistakes love of party for love of country. Not such a patriot as follows the leadership of politicians or statesmen for the loaves and fishes they throw to the hungry, scrambling crowd. But such a patriot-such a lover of his country and of humanity as was willing to
338
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
have no leader but Christ, and to lead no one but him- self-to stand alone, if need be, so he maintained his honest, conscientious convictions.
ยท As a young minister he stood knocking for admis- sion at the door of the chosen conference of his chosen church. The alternative was presented: "Refrain from the public expression of your sentiments as to slavery, or step down." He stepped-up! Soon thereafter, he was stripped of ministerial authority, and remanded to the ranks of private church membership. He sought and found a sphere of unfettered utterance in the ministry of a sister Church. But there came a day when the Philadelphia Conference discovered its mistake, and made the amende honorable by adopting a resolution, reversing its former action; and, throwing wide its doors, it welcomed to membership the nationally recog- nized philanthropist, patriot, hero and Christian apostle.
Nor was Dr. Matlack such a patriot as contented him- self with paying his stipend to support the government. But when the existence of that government and his country was threatened, he rushed to the front, and put his prayers and his manly, loving heart between it and the bullets of the foe. And, when the struggle was over, and safety and peace assured, his brotherly hand was ready to extend help to our impoverished and suf- fering brothers and their loved ones in the South; and he would as readily have fought for them, had they been unrighteously oppressed, as he had entered the lists against them when he esteemed them in the wrong.
339
MEMORIAL OF DR. MATLACK.
The struggle over and the question of our civil conflict settled, Dr. Matlack resumed his place in the work of the Church; and no one would have ever known, from his voluntary showing, that he had filled any such prominent place in that great and portentous drama.
In presenting, at his funeral obsequies, the resolu- tions passed by the Delaware Conference, then in session, in reference to his decease; Rev. Wesley J. Parker, looking down from the platform, upon the casket containing his form, modestly and beautifully said: "Farewell, my friend ! Farewell, friend of my race! Farewell, friend of the oppressed of all races! I will meet you in the resurrection morning !"
For reasons that may be gathered from what I have said, I nominated Dr. Matlack as a suitable appointee for the important Church at Cambridge, at the last conference. For similar reasons, Bishop Simpson con- firmed that nomination. Whatever doubts any, at that time, may have entertained as to the wisdom of the appointment, were speedily dissipated as he became known to these dear brethren; and, to-day, I speak to a Church in which all are bereft-all are mourners. With tearful eyes, bowed heads and throbbing, aching hearts, you are all sighing, in one tremulous whisper, "The Lord gave" us this holy man of God. And doubtless, my brethren, despite the darkness of his mysterious dealings, you will be enabled to add-" And the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord !"
340
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
But why should God have taken away the precious gift so soon? In answer, I can only bid you hearken to His voice, who speaks to us from the night of his own sorrow: "What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter."
But Lucius Matlack is not dead. Only his body died. It sleepeth. " He yet speaketh." The sound- waves set in motion by his faithful words are still quivering along through the corridors of your being. They are echoed from these temple walls. They are murmuring in your dwellings. They mingle with the tramp of the multitudes along your streets. They are heard, soft as falling snow-flakes, in the chambers where the sick are pining and the watchers wait. They still seek to soothe the remorse and agony that wails in yonder felon's dungeon. * They are heard and appreci- ated in our sister churches. And when and where shall be the limit of their Christly utterance? The worker has finished his task, and laid him down to rest, but his work goes on. As in the case of Samson, Heaven grant that the slain of Israel's enemies by his death may be more than by his life.
Allow me to refer to a few sentences in a letter written me by Dr. Matlack, about one month after our parting at conference. "We have been so busy in house-fixing,
* Dr. Matlack was on his return from a visit to a convict, under sentence of death, when he was stricken with the apoplectic stroke, that, a few hours thereafter, terminated his life and his Christly work.
341
MEMORIAL OF DR. MATLACK.
garden-making, tree-planting, and getting acquainted in the homes of more than seventy families, that friendly letters have been postponed." Then, after speaking most tenderly of my recent bereavement in the death of a dear boy, he says: "I shall be glad to have an occa- sional letter, and to send one, which shall be a brotherly expression of our old time formula respecting the duty of preachers to God, to themselves and one another. A few more years, and our work is ended. I would live with the end distinctly in view. That is to live in the present tense, rather than in the future tense; walking closely with God, and having the work greatly at heart." Then follows an account of his prayer-meeting talks and services since conference, concluding as follows : "I enjoy my work. The people are kind and appreciative. To you I owe thanks for your commendations of me to these brethren."
To this, in due season, I replied, enclosing an invita- tion to the Woodlawn Camp-meeting. In response I received a postal card, written three days before he ascended, on which was traced : "Your letter received and welcomed ; to be answered hereafter." The answer never came ; but, oh ! were there postal communications betwixt this and the country where he is gone, what a glowing letter I should some day receive, descriptive of his new appointment ; of his mansion ; of the trees and flowers planted by the Forerunner, growing luxuriantly and bending under their burden of blossom and fruit ; of the new acquaintances made and the great meetings
342
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
and conferences attended ! Well; bye-and-bye we will sit down under the trees by the river side, and he will give me verbally the promised answer.
He continues : "Invitation to Woodlawn accepted. Expect to be there at the beginning, and to stay through to the end with my crowd !" The last two words emphasized and with the exclamation mark. Woodlawn is within sight of where his dust reposes. May not his expectation be realized ? May not his glorified spirit be among the ministering hosts, assured by God's promise, to the heirs of salvation? " Expect to be there * with my crowd !" To our dear brother the precious wife and darling boy constituted a crowd. They were enough to satisfy his home and his heart. The light of their smiles filled his horizon, and made all the earth-side of his life luminous with holy joy. Wait, Lucius; the little crowd is coming to you !
Well; we shall not see his manly form, or hear his well-remembered voice at Woodlawn. He is camped-
"On the other side of Jordan, In the sweet fields of Eden, Where the tree of life is blooming."
He is "there to stay through to the end !" He is there with his crowd! See! The fields of glory are covered with them ! "They have white robes, and palms in their hands." They are "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands !" Hear their victorious shout! Listen to their glad song, as the very foundations of glory tremble with the melodious
343
MEMORIAL OF DR. MATLACK.
anthem-" Unto him who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, unto him be glory forever and ever." Amen !
Warrior, farewell ! Thy earthly strife is ended ; With thee, we say "God's holy will be done:"
From earth released, by angel hosts attended, Thy triumph and thy glory is begun.
Though fierce the charge the stealthy foe thrust on thee; And dark the night, and wild the howling storm ; Thou wert "not surprised ;" Christ's armor was upon thee, And thou a victor, crowned on Sabbath morn.
On Sabbath morn, thy week of life and labor Dawned to its endless Sabbath in the skies ;
The battle fought, sheathed is thy shining sabre, And glory-visions meet thy wand'ring eyes.
Lovely on earth :- though great yet meek and lowly- Thou'rt nobler, lovelier still where thou art gone; Unstained in life, thy home is with the holy,
Where sin nor sorrow's blight shall ever come.
Sleep, sweetly sleep! On Hopewell's couch reclining, Thy precious dust is guarded from on high : Shout, victor, shout ! Thy armor all resigning, And wait our welcome coming bye and bye.
THE END.
19 77 02109 197
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.