utive Committee of the American Missionary
Association, the Society, as well as the denomination of which he was
one of the most conspicuous members, has suffered a great loss.
Central Church, Brooklyn, where he ministered with distinguished
success for seventeen years and where he was beloved by all, will
feel the loss of this great and good man most keenly, but all the
churches of his home city, where his voice was often heard and where
his influence was so great, will mourn the departure of one of the
greatest preachers of this generation.

Born in Holland, in the home of an humble Lutheran preacher, he came
to this country with his parents when five years of age. While
teaching school in his seventeenth year, near Portsmouth, Ohio, he
was converted by the preaching of an obscure Methodist minister and
at once decided to fit himself for the work of the ministry. Largely
by his own efforts he worked his way through Dennison University,
Ohio, graduating in 1862 in a class of three, all of whom became
prominent clergymen. Three years later he completed his theological
studies at Rochester Theological Seminary at the head of his class
and was called at once to the pastorate of a large Baptist Church in
Yonkers, N. Y., where he remained eight years. He was then called to
the First Baptist Church of Cleveland, Ohio, where he won great
distinction as a platform orator.

It was during this pastorate, which lasted only three years, that Dr.
Behrends, after a great struggle, decided to resign from this strong
church, where he was very popular, and enter another denomination.
Six happy years were then spent in the Union Church of Providence,
where he was recognized as one of the foremost preachers in the State
and nation.

Dr. Behrends was a great scholar. It is the belief of those who knew
him well that he was able to fill any chair in any of our theological
seminaries. His services were in frequent demand for courses of
lectures in our leading colleges and seminaries, and at least two of
these courses have been put into book form.

While his services were often sought for on great occasions, such as
the annual meetings of the A. M. A. and A. B. C. F. M., and similar
gatherings, his best work was done in his own pulpit. His sermons
were always prepared with the greatest care, and, except on rare
occasions, were delivered without a note and with wonderful beauty of
diction and irresistible logic to the audiences of two tho