In 1880 Mr. Balch visited California; in 1882 the City of Mexico; and last winter Florida. At the present time his health is quite firm. As he writes of himself, "I am comfortably situated, use no glasses except in dim light; and am fairly content in contemplating the past, still busy with the present, and hopeful of a happy and immortal future."
When in Providence, R. I., Mr. Balch gave a course of "Lectures on Language," which were published in 1838. He also wrote a "Grammar of the English Language, explained according to the Principles of Truth and Common Sense," published by B. B. Mussey, Boston, and passing through four editions. In 1849 his volume "Ireland as I saw it" was issued, and in 1881 "A Peculiar People," the first edition of which sold in eight weeks. He is the author of a "Sunday-School Manual," published in 1837.
The business capacity of Mr. Balch was evinced in his raising funds for the Theological School at Canton, N. Y., taking charge of the location, plan, and rearing of the buildings, and selection of a principal. He afterwards completed the raising of a large fund for the institution, obtaining also $10,000 for the library, and securing the valuable libraries of Dr. Credner, and Rev. S. C. Loveland. He devoted much time to the business of making the "Christian Ambassador" of New York a denominational paper, and placing it on a sound financial basis. His work in these particulars was well and faithfully done.
Mr. Balch has always been a very ready and popular speaker with the masses. The graces of oratory he has not sought, but his talking power seems inexhaustible. Although in favor of fraternal organization for the good of the cause, yet his ideas in reference to creeds and to centralized authority are not accordant with those of many others of his brethren, who hold in high estimation the work he has done in the spirit and in the truth of the Gospel.
Black. Phot. H. W. Smith.
W. H. Ryder.
Among the long and successful pastorates in the great city of the West,—Chicago,—we may note that of Rev. William Henry Ryder. He is a New England man, having been born in Provincetown, Mass. (the son of Capt. Godfrey Ryder), July 18, 1822. During the early life of the son it was supposed that he would become one of the fraternity of seamen, as his worthy father had been. But this seems not to have been the Providential intent. The parent did his part in sending the lad to sea in a vessel bearing his own name, "William Henry," but the experience of a shipwreck cured the young sailor of what nautical tastes he might have possessed, and turned his attention in another direction. He became anxious for the life of a student, and in his eighteenth year entered Pembroke, N. H., Academy. He was a diligent and progressive scholar, and while at this institution decided as to the profession upon which he afterwards entered. At the age of nineteen he preached his first sermon in Manchester, N. H., and during the year following he preached frequently in Concord, in the same State.
Leaving the school in Pembroke, he entered Clinton Liberal Institute (Clinton, N. Y.), then in care of a learned and efficient teacher, Dr. Clowes. He preached frequently during his stay there. In the autumn of 1843, soon after he was twenty-one, he was invited to take charge of the Universalist Society in Concord, N. H., to which place he removed, and in November of that year was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Frances Adams, who has proved a worthy and faithful helper to him in all the experiences connected with his profession. His ordination took place in December, 1843. His ministry here was successful. The society had been formed under the ministry of Rev. J. G. Adams while doing missionary work in New Hampshire, in 1834. Faithful men and women had kept it alive through changes and vicissitudes until it realized a new prosperity under Mr. Ryder, which has continued to the present time.
After two and a half years of successful labor here, he accepted a call to the neighboring city of Nashua, a larger and more promising field, which he occupied to good effect. While giving great satisfaction to his people, he became deeply impressed with the conviction that his ability to serve the church in the capacity of a Christian teacher according to his own ideal would be made greater by a more thorough course of study than he had yet been able to take, or than he could take with the cares of a pastor upon him. He therefore determined to spend a year and a half abroad in study and observation. Resigning his charge in Nashua, he sailed from New York to England. Landing at Kinsale, Ireland, and exploring the lake region of Killarney, he passed on to Dublin, and crossed the channel into England, where he tarried awhile, visiting places of historic interest, and making the acquaintance of several persons who were specially interested in his own faith and profession. While in London and vicinity, he was cordially greeted by the Unitarian ministers there, and preached in two of their churches. He soon crossed to the Continent and came to Berlin, where he applied himself diligently in a course of study under German instructors for seven months. He next extended his travels to Palestine, visiting Jerusalem and many other noted places there. He also visited Athens, Constantinople, Cairo, the Pyramids, Malta, Naples, Rome, Florence, Geneva, and Paris, from which last-named place he went again to Berlin. He was absent a year and a half.