New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-20
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
WILLIAM Z. DODGE.
4 Tribute by President Hall of
Union Theological Seminary.
o the Editor Of The Tribune.

Sir: The death Of William E. Dodge has az
fected many interests and has moved many
hearts The impulse that is felt to speak long
and freely of his life and character ought $50
at least it seems to me- TO be properly restrained
by respect for the habituaf preference and tenn
per of him whose career on earth has closed
in peace. His innate and unaffected modesty,
his simple way of doing things, are known and
remembered by all. He came near to fulfilling
the ideal suggested by Archbishop Trench:
That day by day we may do more
And may esteem Il less
A catalogue of his helpful. life enrichinG
achievements would be as distasteful to him. and
TO those who survive him, as it would be diff
cult to make His works shine in the memory
of his fellow men, and are gone up for a memo
rial before Cod The range of his interests illus
trates not only the comprehensiveness Of his
view of Christian and philanthropic service
but even more finely the many points at which
the religion of Christ working through the
medium of able and willing mind establishes
contact with humanity for practical ends. By
the grace of God. Mr.. Dodge was what he was
The will to accomplish much good, enthusiasm
for moral and religious service in the world
joy in establishing and sustaining beneficial
things We're spiritual gifts conferred upon him
by the GIver of every good and perfect gift.
If his life singular blessing to the city,
the country and to the world, it is God whom we
must thank ana Gods grace that we must
praise. II his voice was lifted up through many
years to speak in power and in love and in
sOundness Of mind on the side of virtue, liberty,
peace and social progress, and against all IN
righteousness and injustice we must remember
that it not he that spake, but the Spirit
of the Divine Father that spake in him He
simply represented, in so far his life and
work have been in accord with the Spirit OF
Christ, the natural outcome of the religion OF
the Son of God working freely in the life OF
intelligent, gifted and responsive manhood.
I make no attempt to idealize his character,
nor to conceal it's limitations 7 only affirm that
those things in his life which. as every one
! knows, have wrought widespread blessing and
encoura cement in many circles are evidences Of
the fidelity and reality and the practical eff
cheney of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love Of God. the fellowship Of the Holy
Ghost
It is of the greatest Importance to society to
| realize that the Christian religion has power
| thus to stimulate and to guide human lives in
the way of usefulness. 1t is also of the greatest
Importance to society to realize what that is In
the religion Of Christ which so specially oper-
ates on some human souls of distinction to pro
duce the evangelical type of Christian philan-
thropy. It is not merely an intellectual COM
! prehension Of the greatness of Christian ideas,
| nor is it merely an ethical response to the in
| spring commands and example Of the Prince
of Workers. the incarnate Jesus as He went
about in the world doing good.
| Both of these elenents-the intellectual COM
! prehension and the ethical respOnse-are pres
ent in the evangelical type of Christian philan-
| thropy. and We're present in a marked degree in
the thinking of Mr.. Dodge; but there is more
than this without which that type comes not
! forth. 1t is the power Of the Cross Of Christ
Whether one can or can not analyze that power
theoretically, whether one can or can not explain
| the Atonement and construct an adequate theory
! Of it. is quite beside the mark In BIr. Dodge's
life it was particularly beside the mark He
/ paused not at a theory Of the Atonement-he
/ lived in the fact itself; the fact Of the Son Of
| God as loving and giving Himself for the world
! To him the Cross of Calvary was the primary
inspiration of all personal effort for society and
| for the world at large. His urgent, sohcitous
! interest in the betterment Of his fellow men
! sprang from his tremendously real conviction
! that God in Christ has reconciled the world to
/ Himself, and that the world has the right to
| know the good news of God.
! So he labOred. in season and out Of season, at
! home, abroad. by unstinted giving, by ungrudg-
! ing toll that men might know their salvation
and live in the light of it. 1t ought to be said
| that, he studied the problems and the temper
! Of his time with wise and gravely sympathetic
! eyes, one great anxiety seemed 10 grow upon
| him He felt profoundly the growth of non-re-
| ligion in this land through the alienation OF
/ large masses of the community from the Chrls-
| tian church. His respect for laborlng men, theIr
| feelings and their opinions was very great ana
no burden weighed more heaNlIy upon MN IMAM
the consciousness that vast sections OF the popu-
/ lation, estranged by social and industrial con-
| fiicts, are living and dying uncheereu py the
! knowledge of that Divine sympathy, sacrlhce
! and forgiveness which spoke from the cross OF
| Christ If the joy of HEAVIER for him couId ne
/ augmented by any influence proceeding from
/ earth, it would be by the knowledge thdt the
| Christian Church is finding some way 10 win
Hacl he Aa1 Saw
! multitudes in this Christian land.
| AS one looks backward and thinks over the
| course of Mr.. Dodge's life, what oeautliul
! glowing record it presents Of friendly sympathy
| Of an extraordinary gift for turning away wrath
! and bringing the estranged and the antagonlstlC
! together, Of happy occupation OF strong anu
| good endeavOr! At how many points ne mas
! touched life. How clean. how wholesome, now
! worthy have been those contacts. In sympathy
! with commerce. with the promotion or hberaI
arts, with books with public AFFAIRS, win scAoI-
! arly research. with education, Win InlSa4OliS,
! with the relief Of suffering in all parts Of the
| world. with the advancement Of the ChrlsllaH
| Church large lines of unsectarlan Le!!oN :
ship with the upbuildipS of society on pASls OF
! brotherhood, with the quiet deNghtS OF uotIle-
! how much he mas put into life, increasing us
! value adding to its significance hundreuIoI9
above the mere duration Of threescore years anu
| tenl
! And as one looks forward it seems Impossible
| without Offering an affront to every rational N
stinct, to believe that a life so fun ana so EN-
| cient ceases to enjoy conscious existence Wheh
! the body succumbs under the falntness OF dedIA
| IN the presence of such a record OF achleYetIelt
! and aspiration on the highest levels or service
! the argument for personal immortality becomes
cumulative and. it is to be hoped Tor EeTy IIteiiS
/ conclusive. CHARLES CUTHBERI HALL
! WeEtport Point Mass. Aug. H. I9Oo-
A TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM E. DODGE.