USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Lives of the clergy of New York and Brooklyn: embracing two hundred biographies of eminent living men in all denominations. Also, the history of each sect and congregation, Pt. 2 > Part 24
USA > New York > New York City > Lives of the clergy of New York and Brooklyn: embracing two hundred biographies of eminent living men in all denominations. Also, the history of each sect and congregation, Pt. 2 > Part 24
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Dr. Thomson preaches very effectively. An excellent scholar, and perfectly versed in the Scriptures, he delivers himself with as much freedom of speech as depth of thought, and with a pleasing
574
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REV. JOHN THOMSON, D. D.
animation. His gestures are few and of the simplest kind; but his whole manner is greatly calculated to give additional impressiveness to his religious reasonings. He never departs from a plain, ar- gumentative, illustrative style, and his language, always well chosen, is particularly forcible in giving a clear and striking view at once of man's debasement and God's glory. In truth, the Scotch Presbyterian believes and preaches " the steep and thorny way to Heaven" in its fullest and most terrible meaning. Proclaiming the wonderful mercy of the Most High and offering praise to His name, this stern religion- ist calmly declares to his fellow mortals the mandate against the ac- cursed-" Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust thou shalt eat all the days of thy life." IIc presents a faith which it is as hard to attain as fearful to neglect, and which arraigns the soul of the fallen creature charged with a guilt beyond human comprehension and human repentance. Holding these views as Gospel truths, the ancient Presbyterians of Scotland verified their fidelity to them by lives of strict discipline, and by a written covenant which the horrors of per- secution only made more sacred. After two centuries and upward, their descendants in this far-off land stand as true in doctrine and as earnest in maintaining it. Dr. Thomson has all the stubbornness of conviction and enthusiastic adherence to his religious principles which characterized the olden Covenanters, and, like them, he preaches for heavenly and not earthly approval. Asking nothing of men but quick repentance and lives of penitence, he walks among them in that manner most likely to ensure him success, and his hoped-for reward hereafter.
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REV. GEORGE E. TIIRALL, ONE OF THE EDITORS OF THE CHURCH UNION, NEW YORK.
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EV. GEORGE E. THRALL was born at Cireleville, Ohio, April 23d, 1829. He was graduated at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, in 1849, and at the Virginia Theological Seminary, near Alexandria, in 1854. Im- mediately after graduation he was made a deacon of the Episcopal Church, by Bishop Meade, of Virginia, at Christ Church, Alexandria, and in the following year he was admitted to the priesthood, by Bishop Lee, of Delaware, at the Church of the Epiphany, Philadelphia, where he had already settled as assistant of the late Rev. Dudley A. Tyng. Mr. Thrall withdrew from the parish after a service of two years and three months. He became rector of Christ Church, Bridgeport, October 1st, 1859, and thus con- tinued nearly three years, when, June 1st, 1862, he assumed the rectorship of the Church of the Messiah, Brooklyn.
Mr. Thrall labored in the parish of the Messiah for ten years. His home became a resort for clergymen of all branches of the Church, and various plans were laid for effecting a closer fraternity between the different denominations. As the Lord's table was con- sidered the true center of fellowship, the scheme of Union Com- munions was hit upon. The first one was held in the Reformed Church in Fifth avenue and Twenty-ninth street, New York. The second was held in the Church of the Messiah, and was considered by all present as one of the most heavenly meetings ever witnessed upon earth. The Union Communions have since been held in hundred of towns and villages throughout the country.
The main idea of the Christian Union Brethren was, that all the believers of any given locality formed the Church of that locality ; and that, however, numerous were the societies, or varied the forms of worship, there was really but one Church in any one place.
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REV. GEORGE E. THRALL.
In accordance with this principle, a convention of the Church of Brooklyn was called upon the evening of the 28th of June, 1866, at the Reformed Church on the Heights. The spacious edifice was crowded with ministers and delegates from nearly all the Protestant congregations of the city, and the proceedings were entirely harmo- nious, until discord was introduced on the subject of Baptism. The assembly dispersed in great sadness, and it was felt that Unity was impossible until that question could in some way be arranged.
Several newspapers have been started. The Church Union, of which Mr. Thrall is one of the editors, is the organ of the movement.
Mr. Thrall, having been always a warm advocate of congregational singing, in 1867 edited a book, intended to popularize the music of the sanctuary. It was an octavo of 600 pages, and called "The Episcopal Common Praise," and has had several editions.
In the years 1867 and 1868 active measures began to be taken by many clergymen for a revision of the Book of Common Prayer, with a view to bringing its ritual more into harmony with the worship of other Protestant denominations. A committee having been formed by the Low Church party to propose such a revision, Mr. Thrall was appointed the Secretary, and from that time devoted his efforts to the furtherance of that project. Obstacles of every kind intervened. Different parties took up the task and laid it aside, and it was soon found that participation in this work sacrificed one's influence and prospects forever in that communion. At last the labor fell into the hands of a few who were willing to give up everything for its success. The Revision was amended over and over again, and finally took the shape, not as originally intended, of a Manual for Evangelical Epis- copalians, but of a form of service for all Christians who desired a Protestant Liturgy. It was called "The Union Prayer Book," and by removing all the expressions which savored of Romanism, by presenting an episcopacy extremely modified, by reducing infant baptism to a consecration of children to the Lord, it aimed to be nothing less than a platform upon which all Protestant Christians could unite in offering up prayer and praise to their Heavenly Father.
In anticipation of this result, Mr. Thrall resigned the Church of Messiah in April, 1869, and removing to New York, began the formation of a new church. This society met for a time in a school- room, and in 1870 erected the building, called Emmanuel Church, on Fifty-seventh street, near Lexington avenue. Service was first
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REV. GEORGE E. THRALL.
held in it in January, 1871, and upon the first Sunday in September of that year the new Union Prayer Book, which had come from the publishers the day before, was introduced as the form of worship, Mr. Thrall baving previously sent in his resignation to Bishop Potter as a Presbyter of the Episcopal church.
The public were not, however, prepared for the movement, and the society, falling into debt, were forced to give up their building, and eventually disband.
Mr. Thrall then turned his attention to the building up of a newspaper, which should promote the principles to which he had devoted his life. After different changes he established his present paper.
Mr. Thrall is of the medium stature, equally proportioned, and active. His head is of fair size, with an intelligent, amiable face. He has dark hair and whiskers, and his whole appearance is that of good health and vigorous energies. His manners are without osten- tation or reserve, and all who approach him are frankly and sincerely received. You immediately discover that he is a man wholly natural in manners and feelings. What nature made him he is in every word and action. Affectation, any assumption of dignity, and all those exploits of deportment by which men impress and dumbfound their fellows, are his abhorrence. An honest man, an unassuming gentleman, an humble clergyman-these, and these alone, are the individualities which he seeks to represent. One look at him, and the fewest possible words, proclaim all this to you ; and the longer you know him and the better you test him, the higher does he rise in the scale of a true and exemplary, while modest manhood.
Mr. Thrall is a clear and forcible writer. He is well calculated to do a large amount of valuable service as a clergyman without making much noise about it. He has no sensation sermons, no courting of one interest or another -- nothing, in a word, but God's word to speak and God's work to do. His sermons have a vividness of truth and . a gentleness of persuasion which are quite as striking. He speaks in a clear, flowing voice, with an easy and impressive manner. Making it his whole effort to exalt his calling rather than obtrude any talents of his own for men's applause, he really presents the strongest claim to private regard and public approbation. Both are generously awarded him.
578
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REV. ISAAC H. TUTTLE, D. D.,
RECTOR OF ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, NEW YORK.
EV. DR. ISAAC H. TUTTLE was born in the city of New Haven about the year 1816. Ilis early studies were in that place at a school established on the plan of Mr. Lancaster, of England, and conducted by John E. Lovell, author of a work on elocution, and at the High School of Amos Smith. In 1836 he was graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, and in 1839 at the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, New York. IIe was made deacon during the same year by Bishop Brownell, at Trinity Church, New Haven, and priest in 1840, by the same bishop, at Christ Church, Bethlehem, Connecticut. His first rectorship was at this church, where he remained five years. He then went to Christ Church, Hudson, New York, where he officiated six years, and then, in June, 1850, came to his present field of labor in St. Luke's parish, New York.
St. Luke's parish is one of the old Episcopal congregations of New York. At the time of its foundation, the section of the city where it is located was known as the village of Greenwich, and was a rural suburb, though now far down town and densely populated. The first preaching, as an experiment in the neighborhood, was by the Rev. George Upfold, in the school-room of Mr. V. Parker, in Amos street. The attendance was considerable, and the friends of the undertaking were encouraged to organize the parish, which took place November 6th, 1820, with twenty persons. Permission was obtained from the Common Council to fit up the second story of the watch-house, corner of Hudson and Christopher streets, for church purposes, where the communion was first administered on Christmas day, December 25th, 1820, to sixteen individuals. Dr. Upfold was called as rector at a salary of eight hundred dollars a year. A site for a church on Hudson street opposite Barrow, (now Grove street,)
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REV. ISAAC H. TUTTLE, D. D.
the present location of St. Luke's, was donated to the parish by Trinity Church, and the first steps toward the erection of a suitable building were taken in May, 1821. The corner-stone of the church was laid in June, 1821, by Bishop Hobart, and bore the following inscription : "Glory to God in the Highest! St. Luke's Church, erected A. D., 1821. Rev. George Upfold, D. D., rector; Clement C. Moore, Edward N. Cox, church wardens; Nicholas Roome, Henry Ritter, Andrew Backus, John P. Roome, Floyd Smith, Henry Constantine, Donald Cushman, William H. Hanm, vestrymen ; John Heath, architect; Richard Kidney, builder." The church was a small building, and, being completed, was consecrated by Bishop Hobart in May, 1822.
The immediate rise of the parish was prevented by the want of population in the vicinity, there being no dwellings to accommodate them. Among the records of the church appears a resolution by which it is recommended that capitalists should be induced to build houses in that section. The rector leased certain lots of Trinity Church at a low rent, and in 1824-5 the "rectory house" and another dwelling were erected. After a time Dr. Upfold made an arrange- ment to officiate a part of his time in Trinity parish, and procured the services of Rev. Mr. Doane, subsequently the distinguished and now deceased bishop of the diocese of New Jersey, to preach alter- nately with himself at St. Luke's. In February, 1828, Dr. Upfold was called to St. Thomas' parish, St. Luke's at the time having one hundred families. Dr. Upfold is now Bishop of Indiana. Rev. Mr. Ives was the next rector, and was called at a later period to be Bishop of North Carolina, subsequently united with the Roman Catholic church, and recently died in New York. Bishop Whitting- ham, of Maryland, was for some time rector of the parish, and was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Forbes, who also went, for a time, into the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church. Dr. Tuttle was the next rector, and has now officiated for twenty-three years. It will thus be seen that some of the most distinguished names in the Episcopal ministry are connected with the history of this venerable parish.
During the rectorship of Dr. Tuttle the church has been twice enlarged, and recently has been modernized and decorated. There are about three hundred and seventy-five communicants, and five hundred and seventy children in the Sunday School. Connected with the parish is an institution known as St. Luke's Home, which is a retreat for indigent aged Christian women.
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REV. ISAAC H. TUTTLE, D. D.
Dr. Tuttle received his degree of D. D. from Trinity College in 1863.
He is a little below the medium height, sparely made, but stands very erect, and has a quick step. His head is small, with regular features, and a forehead which shows him to be a person of con- siderable mental caliber. In his manners he is free and entirely un- restrained, and equally frank in speech. More than this, there is a great deal of cheerfulness about him, and he has, in fact, all those qualities which do most to promote good fellowship in social inter- course.
Social life, cultivated though it may be, is, after all, very much like a den of half-tamed animals. The laws of courtesy, impartial and strict as they are, have really less potency than appears to the casual observer. There is an outward show of civility and good feeling, and of regard for the demands of social propriety ; but it is to a considerable extent a mere cloak, covering up hideous sins be- neath it. Men shake hands and hate each other in their hearts, and women kiss and trip off to their " school for scandal." In the most brilliant throngs, every demon which human malignity and envy can summon is present in human bosoms, and where there are noble words and smiles there are whispered insults and sncers. Few men and few women there are who can rise to a perfection of courtesy and charity, which will keep down these struggles of the baser nature to do evil in thought or act to our neighbor. Few there are who can be called popular men and women, because they are silent when they cannot praise.
But these almost strange elements of character are fully illustrated in the excellent man of whom we write. He is the friend and de- lightful associate of all. He never seems to be looking for those foibles and weaknesses which in social life are the targets of so many jests and sneers. But he is genuine and hearty in his friendship and love-manly and warm in his greetings and attentions. It is not the shallow courtesy of society-not the silken paw of the tiger with the claws hidden within-but it is the outpouring of the honest heart. It is not that hypocrisy and sham which every day are dis- covered to the eyes of men in the conduct of their fellows, and which make the heart sick, but it is that kindness and noblencss of soul which draw man to man in the true brotherhood of his race.
Dr. Tuttle is a preacher of much power with the masses. This does not come from any particular display, but from the same pecu-
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REV. ISAAC II. TUTTLE, D. D.
liarities of character which are observable in his private life. His mode of address is entirely moderate, and his language is plain while forcible. But his greatest influence is in the dispassionate, calm. and evidently just manner in which he makes all his statements, and the tender and affectionate manner in which he seeks to reach the convictions of his hearers. It is not to the superior intelligence of a few, or to the keen susceptibilities of others, that he appeals with such power, but it is to all those who have an aspiration for a purer life, or a stricter observance of religious duty. He does not preach to dazzle the mind or to stir the heart, but he makes beautiful the way of faith, and tenderly leads the steps thitherward. Hence the influence of his preaching is boundless with such as are found in the sanctuary.
Dr. Tuttle in his rectorship has followed a line of illustrious clergymen of the Episcopal church. They marked out and estab- lished a work in St. Luke's parish on a broad foundation, not only of religious effort but of public good. In all respects he has followed in their footsteps, and neither the changes of population nor the in- crease of Episcopal parishes have particularly affected this. Strong in numbers, carnestly engaged in its educational and philanthropie work for the advancement of every interest about it, there has been no abatement of the vigor which characterized its earlier history.
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REV. STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D ..
RECTOR OF ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, NEW YORK.
EV. DR. STEPHEN H. TYNG was born at Newbury- port, Mass., March 1st, 1800. At the age of seventeen he was graduated at Harvard College, and for two years was engaged in mercantile pursuits. He began the study of theology under Bishop Griswold, in 1819, and was ordained a deacon of the Episcopal church at Bristol, Rhode Island, March 4th, 1821. He labored for two years at Georgetown, D. C., and for six in Queen Anne's parish, Prince George's county, Mary- land. In May, 1829, he removed to Philadelphia, and became rector of St. Paul's Church. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Jefferson College in 1832, and by Harvard in 1851. In 1833 he was called to the Church of the Epiphany, in Philadelphia. The death of the venerable and learned Dr. Milnor having created a vacancy in St. George's parish, New York, Dr. Tyng succeeded him in 1845, and still remains in the same extended field of duty. After a few years a magnificent church was constructed on the corner of Rutherford Place and East Sixteenth street. Rev. Stephen II. Tyng, Jun., is a distinguished living son. Dr. Tyng has a number of published works, the variety of which may be judged by the following titles: "Lectures on the Law and Gospel," " Recollections of England," "Family Commentary on the Four Gospels," " History of Ruth, the Moabitess," " Esther, the Queen of Persia," " The Child of Prayer " (a memorial to his son, Rev. Dudley A. Tyng), " Forty Years' Experience in Sunday Schools," &c., &c.
During twenty-one years of the existence of St. George's Sunday school in this city, under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Tyng, that organi- zation raised and disbursed $63,985, including the building of two churches in Africa-one in Monrovia, of stone, and one in Caldwell, of brick, $12,000; building and furnishing the chapel of Free Grace in East Nineteenth street, $18,000; building and furnishing the Germau 583
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REV. STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D.
chapel in Fourteenth street, together with the purchase of the lot on which it stands, $12,000; building two schoolhouses in Africa, one at Monrovia, and one at Caldwell, $1,500; annual support of the parish missions of St. George's Church, including the Mission Schools' contributions to anniversaries, always returned to them, $7,500; all the chancel furniture of St. George's Church, when it was rebuilt, including the pulpit, desk and font, and partly the clock, $9,000, domestic missions in the United States, through the American Church Missionary Society, $1,500; The Shepherd's Fold, an institution for poor infant children, in Eighty-sixth street and Second avenue, $1,300; education of young men for the ministry, $500; incidentals, $1,185. The parish embraces a congregation large, wealthy, and in- fluential.
Dr. Tyng is one of the most learned and eloquent men in the Episcopal church. His mind, of such ripeness in mere youth, has constantly expanded under the twin benefits of research and experi- ence. While he has sought to sip the sweets of popularity, he has made learning, piety, and zeal the foundation of his renown ; consequently his studies have been most diligent throughout his carcer, and liis gladness is to know that they can never be completed in the period of a human life. As with other scholars, the explora- tion of one mine of lore only opens the path to other treasures beyond. Dr. Tyng has not been satisfied with theological studies alone, and is a man of varied learning. The theories of government and the history of empires have greatly commanded his attention, and to such a degree that he is of the few Episcopal clergymen who have mingled in the political discussions of the day. In this matter, as in all others, he is firm, earnest, and conscientious. Convinced in his own mind of the propriety, wisdom, and importance of any line of action, it requires overpowering reasons to alter his purpose. He is borne on a tide of enthusiasm. New reasons to sustain him come every day like favoring winds, and his eye is ever watching for the haven which his convictions have promised him. He is slow to launch himself upon any untried sea of opinion; but, once afloat, he will courageously breast the wildest storm.
But the love and heartiest enthusiasm of Dr. Tyng is of course for his particular faith. He is in no measure a bigot, but is joyous beyond expression that he stands a believer, a inember, and a preacher within the pale of the Episcopal church. Her doctrines are his sure anchor, her example is his boast, her history is the record 584
REV. STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D.
of God's own work, and her glory is the brightness of the cartlı. He has followed every foot-print of the Lord; he has walked in triumph and trial with the apostles and martyrs; he has marked the progress of the modern church, and now raises his voice to glorify her faith, and, appointed by that Lord and anointed by those saints, he pro- claims himself her ambassador to men. With a heart made tender by penitence, he binds up the wounds of those seeking religious healing, and with a soul inspired of Heaven he beats his blows upon Satan. The heart of the poor sinner, the seeker for Christ, is a lost jewel to be saved for the crown of the church ; but the head of the devil must be bruised and slashed with the sword of the Deity. In this work Dr. Tyng never falters. No discouragements affect him, no monster of sin can intimidate him. IIe is always searching the battle field of life's conflicts for the maimed and dying-day and night he is crossing weapons with the adversary. His is eminently a successful ministry, illustrated all along by souls re-born, and by an unweariness in well-doing.
Observe Dr. Tyng in his pulpit. He is a straight, stiff-appearing person, with a composed countenance and penetrating eyes. His forehead is broad; and the whole molding of his head highly in- tellectual. Ile at once impresses a stranger as being a man of re- markable ability, and a single sentence from him is sufficient to prove it. His words are sentences, his sentences are sermons, his sermons are volumes. There is no effort for effect in his language, no studied selection of words, no obtuseness as to meaning ; but in the discussion of his themes his pen seems to cull the most expressive words in which are traced the most vigorous and beautiful thoughts, adapted as much to the comprehension of the child as to the enlightenment of the matured person. He is formal both in matter and manner, and is rather a reader than an orator. To be sure he is eloquent. He uses imagery, and is warmer at times than at others ; but, neverthe- less, he does not, like some who are true orators, soar away, with voice and sense and soul, into the regions which his thought is de- scribing. With Dr. Tyng, the delivery of a sermon is an effective, eloquent reading, rather than anything which might be considered an oratorical display. He has great dignity of bearing, a smooth but decided voice, polished periods, and sterling thought; but there is none of that lightning of the tongue which flashes from perception to perception, or of that thunder which startles down into the very soul. The doctor follows the more sedate pulpit style usual and
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REV. STEPIEN H. TYNG, D. D.
popular in the Episcopal church. His chaste words, urged with sincerity, devotedness, and piety, fall rich fruit to the inquirer, the devout, and the intellectual. To the first, they make light from darkness; to the second, they invigorate with strengthened hope ; and to the third, they are the luscious product of the tree of scholar- ship.
But when Dr. Tyng puts aside his gown, and steps out on the platform for secular speech-making, he is a new man. He is not walled about by church discipline or Episcopalian propriety, and he is not tied tongue and hands by forms and customs. Well, he stands up as straight as an arrow, and as stiff as his own well-starched shirt- collar. His eyes see everything and everybody : his look hushes the audience into the stillness of the tomb ; and his introductory words are well measured. Presently the words flow quicker and his feel- ings begin to act like fuel to thaw the ice in which the church has congealed him. He has humor, sarcasm, denunciation, electrical words and gestures. He mangles sophistries with his tongue as a wolf would a lamb ; he sweeps away resistance as water-falls do chips of wood ; he spurns wrong-minded men as kings do beggars.
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