The State and Prospects of Our Church, as Indicated by Her Last General Convention by Tyng, Dudley A[tkins] - 1854

Cincinnati: Printed by C.F. Bradley & Co., 1854. First edition. Pamphlet. Very Good. 5 7/8 x 9 1/16 inches. 13 pages. Scattered light foxing and dampstains. Otherwise, pages free of marking and soiling. Bound in original light grey wraps. Front cover lacking. Rear cover loose. Signed "Rev'd J[ames] Dixon Carter Milford" in next contemporary ink on rear cover. Carter was rector of St. Peter's Church in Milford and Secretary of the Domestic Dept. of the Board of Missions of the Episcopal Church. An scarce copy of this interesting discussion of the "high church/low church" debate and its effect on missions during the period before the Civil War from an evangelical point of view. Tyng (1825-1858) became pastor of the Church of the Epiphany in Philadelphia in 1854. He was a committed abolitionist, and two years later, his preaching against slavery resulted in his being forced to resign. In 1858, he held a rally for fathers and sons, and 5,000 attended. He concluded the event with this: "I would rather this right arm be amputated at the trunk than that I should come short of my duty to you in delivering God's message." Two weeks late, while visiting a congregant's farm, Tyng's sleeve was his sleeve caught in a mechanical thrasher. His arm was pulled into the thrasher and torn from its socket, and a few days later was amputated at the shoulder. Before he died days a few days later, he told his father to "stand up for Jesus." His final words soon became a popular hymn that is still sung today: "Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus."