BROOKS, PHILLIPS. 



113 





hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Climvli. 

 Reports of certain extemporaneous addresses 

 ami sermons were made aguinst his protest dur- 

 ing his life and have appeared in book form since 

 hi.- lif.-tlli. 



Dr. Brooks was one of the deputies from Mas- 

 sachusetts to the General Convention of the Prot- 

 estant Kpiscopal Church in 1877, 1880, 1883, 1880, 

 and 1881). In June, 1886, he was elected assist- 

 ant bishop in the diocese of Pennsylvania, but 

 declined the office. On the death of Bishop 

 Paddock, of Massachusetts, in March, 1891, the 

 name of Dr. Brooks, who was then chairman of 

 the standing committee of the diocese, became 

 prominent among the candidates for the vacant 

 episcopate. Much interest in the election was 

 shown by the secular press throughout the State, 

 and the desire that he should be chosen was 

 very general, even among those who had no 

 connection with the Episcopal Church. He was 

 elected in the convention of the diocese on April 

 30, 1891. on the first ballot, by 92 votes of the 

 clergy out of a total of 154, and by 71 votes of 

 the laity out of a total of 109. Some newspaper 

 discussion ensued upon the subject of the con- 

 firmation of Dr. Brooks by the bishops and 

 standing committees of the various dioceses. 

 In July the necessary assent to his election was 

 completed, and he was consecrated on Oct. 14, 

 1891, in Trinity Church, Boston, by the Rt. 

 Rev. John Williams, D. D., Bishop of Connecti- 

 cut and Presiding Bishop of the Protestant 

 Episcopal Church. Bishop Brooks resigned the 

 rectorship of Trinity Church before the date of 

 his consecration, ana devoted himself to the du- 

 ties of his new office with that untiring zeal and 

 enthusiasm which had been characteristic of his 

 whole life. He was .warmly received in all parts 

 of his diocese by every class in the community 

 and by persons of every religious connection. 

 In October, 1892, he occupied his place in the 

 House of Bishops in the General Convention, 

 which met in Baltimore. 



But his episcopate was of short duration. On 

 Jan. 18, 1893, he attended the annual dinner of 

 the Choir Guild of Grace Church, in Newton, 

 Mass., and made an address. It was his last 

 public appearance. He was then suffering from 

 a cold, which showed serious symptoms during 

 the following days, and developed into bronchial 

 diphtheria, from which he died early on Monday 

 morning, Jan. 23, 1893. His unexpected death 

 caused a great shock wherever he was known. In 

 the city of Boston the grief was universal. His 

 remains were viewed by thousands in the vesti- 

 bule of Trinity Church. The funeral took place 

 on Thursday, Jan. 26. No building could hold 

 the multitude that gathered, and after the serv- 

 ices in the church a service was held in Copley 

 Square, in front of the church, where crowds 

 were assembled. Services were also held at the 

 same hour in the neighboring churches and in 

 Philadelphia. His burial place is in his father's 

 plot at Mount Auburn. Hundreds of memorial 

 sermons and addresses, many of which have since 

 been published, were delivered, at home and 

 abroad, by clergymen of every denomination, 

 and the city of Boston provided for a public eu- 

 logy by Samuel Elliott, LL. D., which was deliv- 

 ered on April 11, 1893. A public meeting in 

 New York on Feb. 16, at Carnegie Music Hall, 

 VOL. xxxin. 8 A 



was addressed by eminent -peakers, anmn- v,h,,m 

 was a Jewish rabbi as well as Christians of every 

 name. 



Since Bishop Brooks's death a volume of his 

 letters of travel has appeared, and also a volume 

 of short selections from his writings for devo- 

 tional uses. His miscellaneous papers and ad- 

 dresses will be prepared for the press by his 

 brother, the Rev. John C. Brooks, rector of 

 Christ Church, Springfield, Mass., and his biog- 

 raphy is in preparation by his brother, the Rev. 

 Arthur Brooks, D. D., rector of the Church of the 

 Incarnation, New York city. 



Bishop Brooks's personal appearance was such 

 as always to attract attention. He was 6 feet 4 

 inches in height, and of commanding presence. 

 The noble proportions of his figure increased the 

 charm of his genial and scholarly bearing and 

 expression, which made themselves felt univer- 

 sally. His mode of speech was exceedingly 

 rapid, but was clear and distinct. He was easily 

 understood by all classes, by reason of his clear- 

 ness of thought and simplicity of language and 

 rich use of illustration. He was an indefatigable 

 worker, willing to preach at all places and all 

 times. Both with manuscript and extemporane- 

 ously he appealed at once to the.hearts ana minds 

 of hearers, and held them captive by the rush of 

 his thought and his poetic utterances. His large 

 reading and ripe scholarship showed itself in a 

 power of adaptation to the minds of many men 

 by reason of a deep understanding of the hu- 

 manity that belonged to them all. He repeated 

 his sermons in places differing widely in charac- 

 ter, and they were equally acceptable and helpful 

 in all. His preaching was free from sensational 

 features ; seldom, except in critical times, did he 

 refer to current topics. No strange subjects were 

 given out in order to attract attention, and every 

 trick of style was conspicuously absent in his 

 methods. His attractiveness to all classes of men 

 grew with the advance of years. His nobility of 

 character and purity of motive and kindness of 

 heart were a subject of universal comment. His 

 printed sermons drew attention to him in all 

 parts of the world, and wherever he went his 

 fame had preceded him. To the clergy of all de- 

 nominations his sermons have been especially 

 helpful and stimulating. The secret of their 

 power has been a subject of much discussion, for 

 their eloquence, poetry, logic, and original 

 thought were never obtrusive, but were blended 

 under the influence of a deep spirituality and 

 love for men which made analysis of the effect 

 they produced peculiarly difficult. 



Bishop Brooks, through all his life, was iden- 

 tified with the Broad Church clergy. His train- 

 ing was in the evangelical school, but without 

 dogmatism, and the devotion to the personal 

 Christ, which was thus given him, grew as the 

 prominent feature of his theology. His mind was 

 eminently constructive. Old forms of thought 

 and expressions of doctrine received new mean- 

 ing under his large and intelligent and spiritual 

 interpretation of them. There was no hostility 

 toward ideas that he had outgrown, and which 

 to him had been the starting point in the search 

 for new truth. He was intensely loyal to all 

 the doctrines and discipline of his own Church, 

 but he claimed the right of free and large inter- 

 pretation in their use, and of Christian charity 



