1862.] ^]_ [Dunglison. 



successful merchant. His mother was the daughter of Isabella 

 Graham, whose life was devoted to good works, and whose " Letters 

 and Correspondence" were edited by her daughter. Both parents 

 were celebrated in New York for their pious and charitable phi- 

 lanthropy. 



After having passed three years in his preparatory education in 

 Columbia College, in New York, the subject of this notice was sent 

 to Dickinson College, at Carlisle, in Pennsylvania; and, after gra- 

 duating there, entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton. In 

 1827 he was ordained to the ministry, and having, at an early age, 

 married the excellent lady who survives him, he travelled for a time 

 in the Southern States and in Cuba, officiating in Savannah ; and, 

 on his return, having joined the ministry of the Reformed Protestant 

 Dutch Church, became, in 1828, the pastor of a prominent church 

 at Rhinebeck, in New York, whence he was translated, two or three 

 years afterwards, to Utica. 



In all these places he was eminently successful in his holy calling; 

 and soon gathered around him, to listen to his eloquent ministrations, 

 and to enjoy his rare social and intellectual endowments, many of the 

 wisest and the best. 



He continued in Utica until the year 1834, when he was called 

 to the pastoral charge of the First Reformed Dutch Church in Phi- 

 ladelphia. At once his admirable qualifications for his elevated ofiice 

 were appreciated; and measures were speedily taken to extend his 

 sphere of usefulness, by the establishment of the Third Reformed 

 Dutch Church, of which he was chosen pastor in the autumn of 1837.- 

 He continued there, respected and beloved by his congregation, and 

 by all with whom he was brought in contact, until the fall of 1849, 

 when he resigned his chai'ge and removed to Brooklyn, in order that 

 his wife, who had been for years grievously afflicted, might be nearer 

 to one from whose medical services she was led to anticipate relief, 

 an anticipation which unhappily proved to be illusive. 



It was during his residence in Philadelphia that Dr. Bethune's 

 reputation as a profound theologian, a fiiithful and devoted pastor, 

 a learned and accomplished scholar, and an eloquent and gifted lec- 

 turer and author on various topics, became established. " Around 

 him," as has been well remarked by his successor in the Philadelphia 

 pastorate, the Rev. Dr. Taylor,* " were soon gathered many of the 

 elite of the city, distinguished laymen and professional gentlemen. 



* A Discourse on the Death of the late George W. Bethune, D.D., by William 

 J. R. Taylor, D.D., &c., &c. Philadelphia, 1862. 



