Toward the end of his life he spoke of always having preached from the level of his own mind.  It was always true of him.  He never strained for effect, or seemed unduly concerned for results.  In one of his prayers he expresses his deep philosophy of life:  “Help us, each one in his place, in the place which is providentially allotted to us in life, to act well our part, with consecrated will, with pure affection, with simplicity of heart—­to do our duty, and to leave the rest to God.”  It was wholly in that spirit that Dr. Stebbins took up the succession of Thomas Starr King.

Personally, I was very glad to renew my early admiration for Mr. Stebbins, who had chosen his first parish at Fitchburg, adjoining my native town, and had always attracted me when he came to exchange with our minister.  He was a strong, original, manly character, with great endowments of mind and heart.  He was to enjoy a remarkable ministry of over thirty-five years and endear himself to all who knew him.  He was a great preacher and a great man.  He inspired confidence, and was broad and generous.  He served the community as well as his church, being especially influential in promoting the interests of education.  He was a kindly and helpful man, and he was not burdened by his large duties and responsibilities, he was never hurried or harassed.  He steadily pursued his placid way and built up a really great influence.  He was, above all else, an inspirer of steadfast faith.  With a great capacity for friendship, he was very generous in it, and was indulgent in judgment of those he liked.  I was a raw and ignorant young man, but he opened his great heart to me and treated me like an equal.  Twenty years difference in years seemed no barrier.  He was fond of companionship in his travels, and I often accompanied him as he was called up and down the coast.  In 1886 I went to the Boston May Meeting in his company and found delight in both him and it.  He was a good traveler, enjoying the change of scene and the contact with all sorts of people.  He was courteous and friendly with strangers, meeting them on their own ground with sympathy and understanding.

In his own home he was especially happy, and it was a great privilege to share his table-talk and hospitality, for he had a great fund of kindly humor and his speech was bright with homely metaphor and apt allusions.  Not only was he a great preacher, he was a leader, an inspirer, and a provoker of good.

What it meant to fall under the influence of such a man cannot be told.  Supplementing the blessing was the association with a number of the best of men among the church adherents.  Hardly second to the great and unearned friendship of Dr. Stebbins was that of Horace Davis, ten years my senior, and very close to Dr. Stebbins in every way.  He had been connected with the church almost from the first and was a firm friend of Starr King.  Like Dr. Stebbins, he was a graduate of Harvard.  Scholarly, and