[page 143] On our return north, Dr. Kirk said to me, on reaching my house in Philadelphia, "Mr. Stuart, the Christians of our country have no conception of the grand opportunity offered to ministers and others who preach the Gospel to the soldiers of our army, who seem to drink in every word as I have never seen men do before." [sic] I will remain a day with you if you will gather the pastors of Philadelphia together to-morrow, and talk to them on the subject." By the aid of messenger-boys I invited many of the leading pastors to meet the next day (April 14 [1864]) at the office of the Commission, and, short as the notice was, a large number responded to our invitation. The venerable Dr. Kennard, of the Baptist church, presided over the meeting, and, after the introductory exer- [page 144] cises, Dr. Kirk told of the experience he had had in preaching in camp and hospital, and closed by declaring, "You ministers have no idea of the magnitude of the work which the Christian Commission is doing. If it were generally known, the contributions would be very largely increased." As a result of this I was requested at an early date to call a special public meeting in Philadelphia, and to invite Dr. Kirk and others to address it. Being unable to secure any of our large halls, I was kindly offered the use of the Church of the Epiphany, one of the largest in the city. I at once telegraphed to Cincinnati, inviting Bishop McIlvaine to preside over the proposed meeting, to which request he promptly replied that he would come.
The church was crowded to the doors on the occasion of the meeting, and the audience included many of our leading citizens. In the vestry of the church, where Bishop McIlvaine and the Rector, Rev. Dr. Newton, and others were assembled, I said to Dr. Newton that we wanted to raise fifty thousand dollars at this meeting. He said it would be impossible to raise that amount, and I said I would not bring Bishop McIlvaine from Ohio for a less sum. Dr. Newton replied, "Then, Mr. Stuart, you must make the appeal for money." At the close of the speeches by Bishop McIlvaine, Dr. Kirk, and Dr. Duryea, Dr. Newton said that he had the pleasure of introducing me to the audience to make an appeal for the collection. Addressing the honored Bishop in the chair, I said to him, "You are an Episcopalian and I am a Presbyterian, but the fact is neither of our Churches understand raising money like our brethren of the Methodist Church, and, with your permission, I will turn this vast congre- [page 145] gation into a Methodist meeting and call upon my friend here to take down the names that I shall call out." Looking over the audience, I said to my friend John P. Crozer, "Shall I put you down for five thousand dollars?' [sic] "Certainly," said he. I went on with this sum, appealing to men of various denominations, until I had reached thirty-five thousand dollars. One of these subscriptions (the last) was from Captain Loper, who send me a despatch from the dying bed of a member of his family in New York, through my friend Jay Cooke, to add himself to those who contributed five thousand. All these who were ready to pledge this sum I had known of before the meeting was assembled, but I had not informed Dr. Netwon of the fact. Failing to get any more five-thousand-dollar subscriptions, I reduced the amount of the pledges, and soon the subscription reached forty-two thousand five hundred dollars. At this point, the hour being very late, Dr. Newton suggested to me to send the collection-boxes around; to which I replied, "I have no faith in these boxes, and must wait for some more pledges." At this point a colonel in the army (Colonel Gregory), in full uniform, arose in his place near the door, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you had been present at the last battle in which my regiment was engaged, and where I lost nearly half my men, and seen the work that delegates of the Commission did among my wounded and dying, you would soon make up the balance of the amount Mr. Stuart asks for." At soon as he took his seat a young merchant who was not very rich, but who had already pledged a thousand dollars, arose in his place and said that that speech was worth another thousand. Others following his example, the whole amount [page 146] that I had asked for was soon raised. At a late hour the vast congregation rose to their feet, sung the long-metre doxology, and received the benediction from the venerable Bishop, who had come all the way from Cincinnati especially to preside on this occasion.
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[page 236]
After General Grant's inauguration, I had the usual experience of those who are supposed to have the ear of a new President, and was run down with applications for use of my name and influence in behalf of office-seekers. I felt obliged to advise the President that I would not give my name to any such applicant, but that if I knew of any cases in which my opinion might be of use to him, I would inform him privately. Three appointments I suggested in this way,--that of Judge [page 237] William Strong to the Supreme Bench, that of General Gregory to be United States marshal for Philadelphia, and that of Mr. A. A. Gordon to be bank-examiner for Kentucky. ...