of the ministry; how loyal he was, in every thought, word, and act, to that branch of Christ's Holy Catholic Church in which he passed the time of his sojourn here. But, in this brief introduction, I propose to dwell on two points. only—his zeal in the work of Christian education, and the sanctity of his life as priest and pastor.

It may be said that, from the day of his entering the General Theological Seminary to the hour of his death, the work of teaching was always in his thoughts. With him it was a controlling desire, a passion, to inculcate that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, and without which mere intellectual culture must prove a failure. While yet a student in the seminary, he aided in establishing what was known as a "Ragged School," and in that school no teacher was more zealous or successful than he. I well remember it, for I was in the Seminary with him; and a more unpromising set of boys could hardly have been collected from the streets of New York. Among us seminary graduates there are traditions of that school, and of the dreadful time the men had with the swarm of uncouth ragamuffins whom they gathered together on Sunday afternoons in the "Long Room." But how lovingly did James de Koven work with those poor outcasts! Nor, indeed, without result; for, years afterward, at one of our General Conventions, a clergyman requested to be presented to him, and told him that he was one of the very boys whom he had taught in that Ragged School! What a reward for the great heart, the loving soul! But, to con

tinue: he was ordained deacon at Middletown, Connecticut, August 6, 1854, by the Right Rev. John Williams. Thereupon he received a call to a charming parish in Brooklyn, and another to an attractive work at Lower Red Hook on the Hudson River; but he declined them, and decided to accept a position as professor at Nashotah House, in Wisconsin. He arrived there on the 15th of September, 1854. In his diary we find this note :

"November 15, 1854. My Parish School opened to-day. Thank God! May He bless it and make it succeed!

This school was at Delafield, about five miles from Nashotah, where also he had under his pastoral charge a little church, St. John Chrysostom's; and so he was deep already in his favorite work. We find in his journal memoranda of gifts for the school, and pledges toward its endowment, coupled with expressions of gratitude to Almighty God for whatever help and encouragement he had that way. Ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Kemper, September 23, 1855, he spent five years at Nashotah and Delafield, his life a scene of self-sacrifice and his days spent in incessant and exhausting toil. While fulfilling his duty as professor at Nashotah, he gave part of every day to his school, five miles away, going forth and back, often on foot, through furious snow-storms, and without regular meals, or any regard to his health, preaching and teaching, holding Bible classes, baptizing children, burying the dead, and having no one to assist him. Thus it went on, writes

one very near to him: "Work, work, work, until it almost makes one faint to think how early in life his self-discipline began, and how little of pleasure or recreation came to him, save in the consciousness of duty well performed."

It was not strange that a man with such a spirit in him, and such a bent toward one department of the Master's work, should have been soon called to a wider sphere. In the year of our Lord 1859 he was elected Warden of Racine College, though only twenty-eight years of age. He went to the place, and there he staid till the day of his death, March 19, 1879, resisting every effort to draw him away, and giving his life, his splendid powers, his spiritual and personal endowments, and, at last, by will, his fortune, to that institution. And how it grew under his culture! And what a monument is it, to-day, of the zeal and devotion of that man! Nay, if there be any right feeling in us who remain, if any faith in the value of a godly learning, if any conviction that it is the office of the Church to guide and bless the work of the teacher, then shall we deem it our duty to see that Racine College be so well endowed and thoroughly built up as to stand for ages, the memorial of her indomitable Warden.

What Dr. de Koven believed he believed with all his heart; he was a man of intense convictions, and among them none were stronger than those which he held as to the teaching office of the Church. His diary abounds in memoranda which disclose the enthusiastic habit of his soul. At the close of each week something is sure to be

found inscribed, as thus: "The week is ended. Amen. Praise God for His mercies. May He preserve my health and strength to do this work! I am sometimes very, very weary; but, if my work succeeds, it matters not. This constant teaching is very treadmill work; but, if I only see the result and can do the work right, and faithfully in God's sight, I shall have my reward."

In another place, when two of the young men whom he had taught were about to be ordained, he wrote as follows: "O day of days! How happy I am! How I thank God for saving these precious souls, for being able to bring them to Him!"

Thus he did his work, ever looking unto Jesus, always thinking of Christ and the Church, and still laboring as to the Lord and not as to men; and this was the key to his success as a priest and pastor in that household of faith which he loved with all his heart.

I have not read so much as one of the sermons which follow; it matters not: without having seen or heard them, I know that there must be in them more than enough to make them precious to us. For these contain the beliefs, the uttered thoughts of a pure, sweet, and noble spirit; of a man who led his life close to our Lord; who was imbued with that old theology which alone deserves to be called theology; who loved it as one must love the form which realizes to him, in scientific terms and clear outline, what God has revealed to us in the Gospel of His Son. To have given such a man as James de Koven to this age,

is glory enough for the Church of one generation; we need not expect to live to see his peer. To us he is especially precious, as being the exponent and natural outcome of a system, apart from which such men as he are impossible. There is, and always will be, somewhere, such a system: characterized by a certain aggregate of convictions, a habit of thought, a way of looking at things, a profound realization of the supernatural; and this, when accepted by persons of refinement and culture, and of intense devotional turn, forms a marked and peculiar individuality. There are rival systems, which act but to repress the burning desire of the soul, and dash cold water on the trembling flame; and these do their fatal work with logical precision, so that men pine away and are dwarfed, under hard, chill ban and iron rigor, till the beautiful life is choked and mere traces alone are left of the nobler thing that might have been. But, fortunately, the lines fell to him in places where the oppressor, though he may curtail the sphere of action, can not reach the sanctuary of the inner life. His natural gifts were exalted by fearless study of those old Catholic fathers, whom we are commanded by our Mother to revere as our masters; his convictions were those of one who knew the ground thoroughly; his faith was supported by the testimony of many a holy doctor and teacher; and thus he throve and grew, as a light, kindled from above and shining more and more unto the perfect day. Others have been formed in that same mould; others will hereafter be