Page:Robert Carter- his life and work. 1807-1889 (IA robertcarterhis00coch).pdf/100

84 The following sketch of his dear old friend, Thomas De Witt, D.D., of the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church, contains some reminiscences of the visit to Europe in 1846, and is therefore inserted here.

“My father landed in New York on a Sabbath morning, and I took him with me to church. Dr. De Witt was in the pulpit. His subject was the tomb in the garden. The last step in the humiliation of our dear Redeemer drew forth the tenderness, the rich illustration, and the warm love of the youthful preacher. My father had been six weeks at sea. He was hungering and thirsting for the bread of life, and he found it that day. ‘Oh!’ said he, as we left the church, ‘what a sermon! He is a wonderful preacher. He must be very popular.’ ‘Yes,’ said I, ‘he is one of the most effective preachers in our city.’ I had been only a year in New York then, and had not been introduced to the Doctor, but I had a deep reverence for him.

“Shortly after I commenced business Dr. De Witt came to see me. He talked so pleasantly that I was induced to lay before him my plan of work. He listened patiently, and was evidently much pleased. He said, ‘I shall call attention to your work in the Christian Intelligencer. We need such a store here.’ In the following week he fulfilled his promise, and urged the clergymen and members of the churches to call and see my stock. The library of the converted Jew, Mr. Fry, had been sold at auction, and I had bought a large part of it. The folios, too large to go on shelves, were strewed on the floor, and the good Doctor bought the Works of Bishop Reynolds, a huge folio, I offered to send it home for him, but he said, ‘No, I shall take it myself.’ A few days after the notice in the Intelligencer, a clergyman from Ulster County