"HOSANNA"—"CRUCIFY."
On an ever-memorable day, the Son of Man rode into Jerusalem. A vast multitude of people thronged the streets and cast their garments and palm branches before Him, and with unbounded enthusiasm cried "Hosanna in the highest!" But only a few days later that same multitude, as cruel as they were fickle, followed the Son of Man with the fiendish cry "Crucify him! crucify him!" ceasing not until he hung on the cross, and then they taunted him with sneers and mockings.
The followers of the Son of Man are sometimes called in their measure to pass through almost similar circumstances changing from the highest praise to the bitterest denunciation. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, that grand old man, who surpasses all others of this generation in his knowledge of the great men of his times and in his accurate and vivid descriptions of them, has given, in a recent article in The Evangelist, a striking sketch of some of the prominent clergymen and laymen of this city two generations past:
"The death of that noble Christian philanthropist, William A. Booth, removes from us about the last survivor of a remarkable group of men who for three-quarters of a century impressed themselves most deeply on the religious life of New York and the whole country. Among the earlier members of this group were the brothers, Arthur and Lewis Tappan, Harlan Page, Anson G. Phelps, Moses Allen, R. T. Haines, W. W. Chester, and Joshua Leavitt, who was one of the earliest editors of The Evangelist. Later on we come upon the names of William E. Dodge, Christopher R. Robert, William A. Booth, Apollos Wetmore, R. M. Hartley, Robert Carter, James Brown, and Jesse W. Benedict. Other names might be added to this roll of honor, but these were representative and conspicuous.
"As far back as 1825 Arthur Tappan might have been called the most prominent Christian layman in New York. His moral courage and philanthropic zeal made him on a humbler scale what Lord Shaftesbury became on a larger scale in London. Those were days of foundation-laying of great religious enterprises. The Home Missionary Society, the American Temperance Society, the American Sunday-school Union, and the Seamen's Friend Society were born about that time. In February, 1825, Arthur Tappan sent on to Boston for the Rev. Wm. A. Hallock, who before sunrise on a winter morning presented himself at Mr. Tappan's door. They called together a few warm-hearted Christians—among whom were Messrs. Allen, Haines, and Chester—and the American Tract Society was organized, and its new building was erected. It was while in the employ of the Tract Society that Harlan Page did his wonderful work as a consecrated laborer for the conversion of souls."
It was not Dr. Cuyler's purpose to follow these men in their later experiences. But we take the liberty of doing so in respect to one of the persons named, Arthur Tappan, of whom Dr. Cuyler says that as far back as 1825 he might have been called "the most prominent Christian layman in New York." If we step down nine years to 1834, we shall find that same Arthur Tappan ostracized by his former associates, ridiculed and denounced by the press, a reward of $50,000 offered for his head, and his store assailed by an infuriated mob, and defended inside by Mr. Tappan and his little band of clerks, of whom the editor and proprietor of The Independent was then one. It is not too much to say that in 1834 Arthur Tappan was the best-abused man in New York.
It may be asked with surprise, What had made this great change? The answer is simple: He had become an abolitionist. The same zeal in the Master's cause which led him to do so much in founding and sustaining the great missionary and benevolent enterprises, induced him to assist the anti-slavery cause, which had then come forward. He felt a profound sympathy for the oppressed slave, and rejoiced to do what he could to secure his emancipation.
It should be remarked that Mr. Tappan did not agree with those abolitionists who denounced the Constitution and the Church. On the contrary, he took a leading part in the formation of a new anti-slavery society that was established in opposition to those extremists. He was the president of that new society for many years. Mr. Tappan used the same quiet and unassuming methods in giving his time, influence, and money to the anti-slavery cause as he did to the other benevolent and missionary enterprises.
Now we think that the Son of Man, assailed by the mob in the Garden and crucified on Calvary that He might save the world, was more exalted, and revealed His divine character more distinctly, than when He was surrounded by the hosannas of the thoughtless and fickle mob. So, in like manner and at a humble distance, Arthur Tappan reached his highest point of honor as a patriotic Christian man when, for the sake of the poor and downtrodden slaves, he was willing to bear reproach and jeopardize his life in their behalf.
Mr. Tappan and his associates, fifty years ago, founded the American Missionary Association amid the obloquy and danger that surrounded anti-slavery people in that day; and now, as the Association is rejoicing in its successful and honored work in this its Jubilee year, we take pleasure in its behalf in testifying to the courage and self-sacrificing labors of its founders.
From The Independent.