was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, October 4, 1825; removed at the close of the same year to Virginia, and was ordained to the work of the ministry, March 13, 1827, by the Presbytery of Hanover. He was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, N. J., from January 10, 1829, until the end of October, 1832. In November, he became editor of The Presbyterian of Philadelphia, relinquishing this position at the end of a year, to become Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres in the College of New Jersey. After nearly twelve years' occupation of his Professorship, he accepted a call from the Duane Street Presbyterian Church of New York City, and October 2, 1844, entered once more on the pastoral work. In June, 1849, he accepted the Professorship of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in Princeton Theological Seminary, to which he had been elected by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and returned again to his beloved Princeton. The summer of 1851 was most profitably spent in Europe, and, on his return, in October, he became the pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York, composed mainly of members of his previous pastoral charge. In this responsible and influential position, highly honored and greatly useful, he continued until his decease, which occurred very unexpectedly at Sweet Briar Springs, Va., July 31, 1859. Dr. Alexander belonged to a family of rare gifts and superior scholarship, and in his own person fully sustained the high character of his lineage. As a Christian minister, as a ready writer, as a ripe scholar, as a correct and profound thinker, as a pulpit orator, and as a faithful pastor, he had few superiors. His active and versatile mind found frequent expression in the periodical press. His other publications also were numerous, and as popular as they were practical and useful. His contributions to the Princeton Quarterly Review, through a long term of years, were frequent and powerful. He wrote more than thirty volumes for the American Sun day-school Union, including his well-known work, "The American Sunday-School and its Adjuncts." Other works that he gave to the press, at various dates, were his "Gift to the Afflicted"; "The American Mechanic and WorkingMan's Companion," in 2 vols.; "Thoughts on Family Wor ship"; "Consolation: in Discourses on Select Topics, addressed to the Suffering People of God"; "Memoir of Rev. Archibald Alexander, D.D."; "Plain Words to a Young Communicant," and "Discourses on Common Topics of Christian Faith and Practice." From an early age, he amused his leisure hours with poetic essays--mainly as a literary recreation. He took a deep interest in Hymnology. In 1845, he contemplated the compilation of "a small Hymn Book, to contain none but unaltered hymns, about 250." An article from his pen in the Princeton Review for 1850, on "German Hymnology," shows how earnestly and successfully he had studied the fascinating and fruitful theme. In the New York Observer for April 24, 1830, will be found his translation (under the signature of "Didymus ") of Gerhardt's “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden": "O sacred head, now wounded," etc. He contributed, also, to the Kirchenfreund, April, 1859, a few months only before his decease, that peculiarly sweet and exquisite version of Bernard's Latin hymn: "Jesu! dulcis memoria,”—beginning with "Jesus! how sweet thy mem'ry is !" The last four stanzas are as follows: "If thou dost enter to the heart, "This love of Jesus is most sweet; This laud of Jesus is most meet; Than tongue of man can utter here. "Praise Jesus, all, with one accord! Crave Jesus, all, your love and Lord! "Thou art of heavenly grace the Fount; WILLIAM LINDSAY ALEXANDER. 1808 At THE REV. DR. WILLIAM LINDSAY ALEXANDER occupies a position of great eminence among the Congregationalists of Scotland. He was born August 24, 1808, at Leith. an early age he was placed under the tuition of the Rev. Dr. Jamieson, at East Linton, by whom he was fitted for a collegiate course. He was, for three years, connected with the University of Edinburgh; and, for two years, with the University of St. Andrew's. Among his instructors, during this period, was Dr. Thomas Chalmers. In 1828, at the age of twenty, he was appointed Classical Tutor in the Independent Theological Academy at Blackburn, England,-removed in 1842 to Manchester, and known as the "Lancashire Independent College." After a brief pastorate-1832 to 1835-at Newington Chapel, Liverpool, he accepted a call to the pastoral charge of Argyle Square Chapel, Edinburgh, which position he has most ably filled for nearly forty years. In 1854, he was appointed Professor of Theology and Church History in the Theological Hall of the Congregational Churches of Scotland, as the successor of the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, since whose death, in 1853, he has been the acknowledged leader of the denomination in Scotland. As a preacher, a theologian, a scholar, and an author, he ranks deservedly among the first men in the land. In 1861, he was appointed Examiner in Philosophy at the University of St. Andrew's (whence came his degree of D.D.); and, in 1870, a member of the Old Testament Revision Company. The publications by which he has acquired his literary fame are the following: "The Congregational Lecture for 1840, on the Connection and Harmony of the Old and New Testaments" (1841); "Lectures to Young Men" (1842); "Anglo-Catholicism not Apostolical," in reply to "Tracts for the Times" (1843); "Memoir of the Rev. J. Watson" (1845); "Switzerland and the Swiss Churches" (1846); "Iona, the Ancient British Church" (1852); "Christ and Christianity" (1854); "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Ralph Wardlaw, D.D." (1856); "Christian Thought and Work" (1862); "St. Paul at Athens" (1865); and the elaborate Articles in the eighth edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica," on "Moral Philosophy," "Scripture,” and "Theology." He has made frequent contributions to the Periodicals of the day, and was the editor of the third edition of Kitto's "Encyclopædia of Biblical Literature." His interest in Hymnology is attested by his " Augustine Hymn Book" (1849), and the contribution of several hymns to the Scottish Congregational Hymn Book, and the United Presbyterian Hymn Book. The hymn, 66 Spirit of power, and truth and love," is a fair specimen of his poetic talent. A stanza is also subjoined from his "Last Wish." He longs to hear of the land of rest beyond the skies: "Oh! yes, let me hear of its blissful bowers, JAMES ALLEN. 1734-1804. JAMES, son of Oswald Allen, was of Yorkshire, England, and was born June 24, 1734, at Gayle. He was designed for the ministry of the Church of England, and was fitted for college chiefly under the instruction of a Rev. Mr. Noble, at Scorton School, near Richmond, Yorkshire. entered St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1751. At the expiration of a year, on a visit to Yorkshire, he was received into Mr. Ingham's Connection, and, full of zeal, immediately became an itinerant preacher. He is spoken of by Charles Wesley, in his journal, October 17, 1756, as both "modest and discreet," as well as zealous and faithful in his work. He and William Batty, about this time, were appointed the two general elders of the Connection. On a visit to Scotland, in 1761, with Mr. Batty, his views were considerably modified by his intercourse with the societies under the care of Messrs. Glas and Sandeman. Soon after, he left the Ingham Connection, and joined the Sandemanians. "My eyes," he says, "were never fully opened till the latter end of October, 1762. How am I now ashamed of my preaching and the hymn book I was concerned in printing! Almost every page puts me to the blush." Shortly after, he left the Sandemanians also, and gave up the itineracy. Retiring to his paternal inheritance at Gayle, he built a chapel on his own grounds, where he continued to officiate statedly until his decease, October 31, 1804. Seventeen of his later hymns he published at Gayle, with the title of "Christian Songs." A second edition was published in 1805. Many of his hymns, inferior as they were, found a place in the collections of Madan, Lady Huntingdon, Conyer, Toplady, Edwards, and the Moravi ans. The only one of his hymns that is worthy of preservation in its original form, is "Glory to God on high," etc. |