small box-pew, which was close against the pulpit, and within arms'
length of the Dean. His sermon was a beautiful essay on Solomon and
great men, and in the course of it he said: "Such was the greatness of
our Lord Jesus Christ." I felt so pained by _what he did not say_ that I
ventured to write him a most frank and loving note, in which I expressed
my deep regret that when he referred to the "greatness" of our Saviour
he had so entirely ignored what was infinitely His most sublime
work,--that of our human redemption by His atoning death on Calvary. The
dear Dean, instead of taking offense, accepted the frank letter in the
same spirit in which it was written. A day or two after he sent me a
characteristic note, whose peculiar hieroglyphics, after much labor, I
was able to decipher; for it has been often said that the only reason
why he was never made a bishop was that no clergyman in his diocese
would ever have been able to read his letters.

THE DEANERY OF WESTMINSTER,

July 22, 1872

Dear Doctor---Pray accept my sincere thanks for your
very kind note. I quite appreciate your candor in mentioning
what you thought a defect in my sermon. It arose
from a fixed conviction which I have long formed, that
the only chance there is of my sermons doing any good is
by taking one topic at a time. The effect and the nature
of the death of Jesus Christ, I quite agree with you in
thinking to be a most important part of the Christian doctrine,
and Christian history. But as my sermon was on a
different subject--that of the right use of greatness--I felt
that I could not speak, even by way of allusion, to the
other great doctrine on which I had often preached before.

I sincerely wish that I could come to America. Every
year that passes increases the number of my kind friends
in the New World, and my desire to see the United States.

Farewell; and may all the blessings of our State and
Church follow you westward

Yours faithfully,

A.P. STANLEY.

When Dean Stanley visited America in the autumn of 1878, I met him
several times, and he was especially cordial, and all the more so
because of my out-spoken letter. The first time I met him was at the
meeting of ministers of New York to give him a reception, and hear him
deliver a discourse on Dr. Robinson, the Oriental geographer. He
recognized me in the audience, came forward to the front of the
platform, beckoned m