Page:Robert Carter- his life and work. 1807-1889 (IA robertcarterhis00coch).pdf/216

200 home life of the past generation, Even dear old Scotland is changing so fast, that the manner of life depicted by him and by Paton will soon be a beautiful reminiscence of things utterly departed.

“In 1862 I met Mr. Carter in London, and we attended together a service preparatory to the communion in Dr. James Hamilton’s Regent Square Presbyterian Church. That man of blessed memory, Dr. Arnot, was with us. I gave a brief discourse on ‘Love-service for Jesus,’ and we all had a pleasant interview afterwards. Those three beloved friends, Hamilton, Arnot, and Carter, are now together ‘before the throne of God and of the Lamb.’

“In the last letter that I ever received from Dr. John Brown, the immortal author of ‘Rab and his Friends,’ the Doctor wrote, ‘Give my love to dear old Robert Carter, and tell him that Earlston still flourishes.’

“The hours which I have spent with your venerated father were among the happiest and most profitable of my life. He was a full man, and his talk was like turning the faucet of a reservoir. His letters also were the outflow of a beautiful and sincere affection. He belonged to that remarkable group of New York laymen which embraced also such choice spirits as Apollos R. Wetmore, William B. Crosby, Theodore Frelinghuysen, James Lenox, and William E. Dodge. To him the Church of Christ and many a movement of Christian philanthropy owe a debt of profound gratitude. He contributed more than money, he gave himself.

“It was a precious privilege to spend a half-hour with my beloved old friend when he was lying calmly on that pillow from which in a few days he passed sweetly into heaven. His blood-washed spirit was already in the ‘land of Beulah,’ and in the full view of the Celestial City. Having lived so long and so well, he had nothing to do but to die. Death was to him the translation to glory. When he left us, he left no more sturdy or steadfast servant of God