Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul: With a Memoir of His Life — John Shaqi
Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul: With a Memoir of His LifeBaker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius)
Religion
Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul: With a Memoir of His Life
Baker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius)
Baker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius), 1820-1865; Catholic Church -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 19th century
Dr. Baker had four sons and two daughters. Only one of them, Dr.
William George Baker, ever married, and he died without children:
so that Dr. Samuel Baker left not a single grandchild after him
to perpetuate his name or family--and of his children, one
daughter only survives.
{16}
Three of his sons were physicians of great promise, which they
did not live to fulfil. Francis was his third son, and the one
who most resembled him in character. Of his boyhood I know
little, except that his companions at school who grew up to
manhood, and preserved their acquaintance with him, were
extremely attached to him. One of them passed an evening and
night in our house, as the guest of F. Baker, but a few months
before his death, with great pleasure to both. I have also heard
some of the good Sisters of Charity speak of having known the
little Frank Baker as a boy, and mention the fact that he was
very fond of visiting them. I am sure that his childhood was an
extremely happy one until the period of his father's death. This
event took place in October, 1835, when Francis was in his
sixteenth year, and in the fiftieth year of Dr. Baker's life. It
was very sudden and unexpected, and threw a shadow of grief and
sadness over the future of his children, which was deepened by
the subsequent untimely decease of the two eldest sons, Samuel
and William.
Francis was entered at Princeton College soon after his father's
death, and graduated there with the class of 1839. I am not aware
that his college life had any remarkable incidents. He was not
ambitious of distinguishing himself, or inclined to apply himself
to very severe study. I believe, however, that his standing was
respectable, and his conduct regular and exemplary. He was not
decidedly religious in his early youth. Methodism had no
attraction for him, and the Calvinistic preaching at Princeton
was repugnant to his reason and feelings. Whatever religious
impressions he had in childhood were chiefly those produced by
the Catholic Church, whose services he was fond of attending; but
these were not deep or lasting. The early death of his father,
and the consequent responsibility and care thrown upon him as the
male head of the family, first caused him to reflect deeply, and
to seek for some decided religious rule of his own life and
conduct, and finally led him to join the Protestant Episcopal
communion, and to resolve to prepare himself for the ministry.
{17}
All the members of his family joined the same communion, and were
baptized with him, in St. Paul's Church, by the rector of the
parish, Dr. Wyatt. This event took place in 1841, or '42. Soon
afterward, Mr. Baker formed an acquaintance with a young man, a
candidate for orders and an inmate of the family of Dr.
Whittingham, the Bishop of Maryland, which was destined to ripen
into a most endearing and life-long friendship, and to have a
most important influence on his subsequent history. This
gentleman was Dwight Edwards Lyman, a son of the Rev. Dr. Lyman a
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