Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-09-18
7
Death in the Midst ollie.

This is the title of a sermon delivered by DR..
Doane, Bishop Of New Jersey, Cd the Sunday fol-
lowing the terrible catastrophe on the Camden and
Amboy Railroad. The opening, which we quote,
diseloses some personal Incidents of painful in
terest;
II is related of the distinguished Robert Hall,
that having written funeral sermon from the
words In the midst Of life we are in death y he
searched the Bible long to find the place to an
nounce them from and wondered thathe could not.
They are in that which is only not the Bible the
Book of Common Prayer, and if not Scripture
were conceived and born of it. venture the
opinion that they have been uttered from more
hearts within the last four days than any other
sentence in our language And have been so per-
fctly possessed with it myself that it must be the
theme, although il may not be the text, of what |
say to you this morning: " In the midst Of hf,
we are in DEATH"
You all remember how beautiful day was We'd
nesday. We may suppose such weather constant
" in Paradise. | spent the morning on our un-
surpassed green bank, with two fricnds-onc Of
more than 30 years, who had come to put their
children at the College. They left me with their
little son, in the most perfect enjoyment of all that
makes up life, to return to their home in New
York, In less than an hour heard of what had
happened on the railroad thought at once Of
them, and rather flew than ran to find their
mangled bodies God had preserved them perfect.
ly uninjured.
There came to me, from Boston, twenty wears
ago, young man" who had early taken high
stand at the bar. He was of patriot name; the
very blood of Bunker Hill. His father had adorn-
ed the bench. His brother had not been surpass-
ed, as historian, in modern times He had lived
carelessly, and away from God but his heart had
been touched. 1t had melted under the gospel
Il yearned to preach to others the unsearchable
riches which had been more than rubies to itself
And he asked me to receive him as a candidate
for holy orders. / did. There are many here
who must remember him. He studied faithfully
and well. lie was ordained. He went to Salem
as minister Of the parish. lie was most accepta.
BILE as preacher, and, as pastor, most devoted
| He married as lovely woman as ever lived. His
life was filed to ovcrfowing with the double tide
Of usefulness and happiness
But "this Is not our reet.n His health failed
He sought in vain its restoration lie went to sea
He died on board the ship. He left widow, with
out childred. Possessed of handsome fortune
and what is better, with the sense that ID was MOI
her own, she was another Dorcas, in the "good
works and the alms-deeds which she did," Al
| ten o'clock on Wednesday she started with two
dear friends upon tour for health and recreation,
and In little more than an hour had yielded uI
her soul TO God Is il not true that, "in the
midst of life we are in death ~ Do we or can VIC
know what shall be on the morrow Which
one Of us might not have been in that dsastrou.
trainS Which one of US might not have been o
that dead company which filed our streets will
cofRns, and hung our houses and our hearts will
sackclothS
| My brethren, there can need no preacher tc
bring this mournfu Providence home to your hear
of hearts. Those nearing trains. The signal L
break up. That carriage on the track. The crash
The crush. Car mounted upon car. Car rushing
through the midst of car. The cloud of dust TIL,
storm Of splnters. The groan. The shrek. The
wall. The wounded. The mutilated The crushed
The torn asunder. The buried alive. That fear
ful row upon the bank. The hurt. The dying
The dead Our public houses filed with the main.
ed and mangled. Our public hall receiving vault
for unknown corpses. Our private houses so many
| hospitals. Every man a servant Every woman
a nurse. Through that whole day business check
ed. The social currents all directed to one point
Not an act, not word, not n thought, but Of the
wounded, OF the dying, Of the dead. The very
centre of our city cboked graveyard. There /,
no human eloquence that is not beggared by such
sermons as that scene preached 10 every heart
God spoke and man was still I" In the midst o
life" all felt-"in the midst Of life" we are il
DEATH"