y church that the people of Brooklyn approved of our work. By the
number of pews taken, and by the amount of premiums paid in, I told them
they would decide whether we were to stand still, to go backward, or to
go ahead. We were, at this time, unable to accommodate the audiences
that attended both Sabbath services. The lighting, the warming, the
artistic equipment, all the immense expenses of the church, required a
small fortune to maintain them. We had more friends than the Tabernacle
had ever had before. At no time during my seventeen years' residence in
Brooklyn had there been so much religious prosperity there. The
memberships of all churches were advancing. It was a gratifying year in
the progress of the Gospel in Brooklyn. It had been achieved by constant
fighting, under the spur of sound yet inspired convictions. How close
the events of secular prominence were to the religious spirit, some of
the ministers in Brooklyn had managed to impress upon the people. It was
a course that I pursued almost from my first pastoral call, for I firmly
believed that no event in the world was ever conceived that did not in
some degree symbolise the purpose of human salvation.

When Mr. Parnell returned to England, I expected, from what I had seen
and what I knew of him, that his indomitable force would accomplish a
crisis for the cause of Ireland. My opinion always was that England and
Ireland would each be better without the other. Mr. Parnell's triumph on
his return in January, 1886, seemed complete. He discharged the Cabinet
in England, as he had discharged a previous Cabinet, and he had much to
do with the appointment of their successors. I did not expect that he
would hold the sceptre, but it was clear that he was holding it then
like a true king of Ireland.

There was a storm came upon the giant cedars of American life about this
time, which spread disaster upon our national strength. It was a storm
that prostrated the Cedars of Lebanon.

Secretary Frelinghuysen, Vice-president Hendricks, ex-Governor Seymour,
General Hancock, and John B. Gough were the victims. It was a cataclysm
of fatality that impressed its sadness on the nation. The three
mightiest agencies for public benefit are the printing press, the
pulpit, and the platform. The decease of John B. Gough left the
platforms of America without any orator as great as he had been. For
thirty-five years his theme was temperance, and he died when the fight
against liquor