Page:Robert Carter- his life and work. 1807-1889 (IA robertcarterhis00coch).pdf/84

65 Carter’s relation to the work of foreign missions was no perfunctory affair, but that his labor for this great cause was performed so lovingly that the magnetism of his spirit moulded his whole household. The cause was taken home to the fireside, and the family altar, and the closet. One of the last acts of his life was the making of arrangements for the annual gift for foreign missions.

“Though he continued in the Board of Foreign Missions to the age of eighty-two, yet the spirit which favored progress on the one hand and conciliation and forbearance on the other characterized his whole course. As a rule, he voted for every wise measure of progress) There was a bright and hopeful energy in his mind, even to fourscore years. He was not bound to the past. He expected progress as he had earnestly prayed for it. He realized that many of the old moulds and measurements must be outgrown. He only feared lest his declining powers might not be able to keep pace with an ever advancing work.”

His connection with the Board brought him into intimate fellowship not only with some of the most excellent and eminent of the clergymen of New York, but with such laymen as Messrs. Lenox, Stuart, Dodge, and Booth, for whom he felt the most affectionate esteem. The Board meetings were a great delight to him, and the Secretaries among his most beloved friends. Of all these noble men there was none whom he held in such affectionate respect as the Hon. Walter Lowrie, whom he regarded as one of the most wonderful men of our country and our Church. This remarkable man, after serving six years as United States Senator contemporaneously with Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, was made Secretary of the Senate, and held the office for twelve years. Owing to the peculiarly delicate nature of this office, and the responsibility connected with it, it did