"Our goods are for sale, but not our principles."
He, as others, suffered for this, but the only effect it had was to strengthen them in the position they had taken. The American nation owes a debt of gratitude to the patriotic New York merchants who stood for liberty and their country in these perilous times. Among the first were A. T. Stewart, Simeon B. Chittenden and H. B. Claflin.
It was natural under the circumstances that the early history of the church should have been very much controlled by these men. Of them all, Mr. Bowen was perhaps the most aggressive and the most of a leader. He was the first superintendent of the Sunday School, and had much to do with the plans for and the erection of the present church building. A man of very positive convictions and great executive ability, he did what he did with his might. The same characteristics went into his conduct of _The Independent_, of which he was one of the founders in 1848. While the fame of its editors, Henry Ward Beecher, Joseph P. Thompson and Richard Salter Storrs, went far and wide, not a little of the success of the paper was due to his general management, and to his hearty indorsement of the position of his editors, however radical they were--indeed the more radical the better. Later, when he acquired entire control, these characteristics were still more manifest.
Another prominent man was Austin Abbott, brother of Dr. Lyman Abbott, a well-known lawyer, and one who was closely identified with the defence of Mr. Beecher in his famous trial. Well do I remember him as he first came, a boy, and took his seat in the west gallery. Then there were Henry M. and Augustus Storrs. The former was an intimate friend of Horace Greeley and used to travel about with him in his political tours. Both were warm friends of Mr. Beecher, but Augustus was specially active; it was at his house in Sidney Place that many of the meetings for consultation were held. Robert R. Raymond came to Brooklyn from Boston and brought the classic atmosphere, combined with a most emphatic manner, to his professor's work in the Polytechnic Institute. He was one of the comparatively few who took part in the prayer meetings, which generally were really lecture talks by Mr. Beecher. He seemed to think that a literary atmosphere would certainly do no harm, for his favourite subject was Shakespeare, and he frequently read lengthy extracts from his plays. He became widely known as a student and reader of Shakespeare. His son, Rossiter Raymond, will be mentioned later.