Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1859-08-26

ing. August latn, ioJs tEN. Dr. lLAAFONs hector
said Parish.
Never have been called, my friends, to
so painful duty as that which is now be-
fore me. Never have known--God grant
may never again know-such struggle
of mind and of soul as that through which
have passed since on last Sunday morning
il was told me, "E. T. Sterling is dead. -
Deall Can it boz Ny friend my coun-
sellor my brotherl He whose kindness |
had so often proved; whose unselRshness |
had seen SO abundantly manifested; whose
generosity | had so largely experienced; {;
whose sympathizing tenderness had sooth-
ed my hours of deep personal affiiction;
whose hand was the first of all the mem
bcrs Of this Parish to give me the warm
grasp of greeting, in my then distant home
on the banks Of the Ohio, and afterwards,
when drawn largely by the magnetism Of
his noble nature, ! came to seek home
amongst You; he with whom | had spent
most of the pleasant hours Of social inter
course that | have ever enjoyed; he whose
business tact and far-reaching sagacity had
made him an invaluable co-worker with me
in the Vestry of this Church, in the Con
vcntion of this Diocese, in the Trusteeship Of
Kenyon College, ian Institution whose pres
ent prosperity is largely owing to his faith
ful and disinterested labor in directing its
administrations; } he whom his fellow-citi-
zens (by whom he was so well kuown) had
admired and honored and trusted; he whose
presence in any circle was won't to add to
the satisfaction of all with whom he min
gled he, whose name had so often men
toned in places near and far off as one who
was treasure to me as pastor; he IS dead
But how, when, whore did he dieG Do you
wonder, Christian friends, when | call this
the most painful duty of my lifel | stand
here to speak on this subject because it is
my duty because | am not man but an
officer; because | am Watchman, a Stew
ard, an Ambassador for Christ; because
God has committed to me the care of i'm
mortal souls, for whom ! must render an
account when | stand before him in judg-
mcntl
That our thoughts may take moro pro
iitablo shape, let me seek to link them with
passage of Gods own word Genesis iv,
8, 10:
"And the Lord said unto CAIN Where is Abel thy broth
err And he said know not; am my brothers keeper
And lie said what hast thou done? the voice Of thy
brothers blooG crieth unto me from the ground"
1t is fearful thought that the first hu
man death of which we have any RECORD
was death by violence-a death by mur
der-and that by brothers hand. 81
quickly did sin run to its height, the frs
recorded crime after the fall of our first pa
rents being the greatest Of crimes. How
often in the subsequent history of the race
| life has thus been taken, God only knows
! There will be an awful revealing of well
kept secrets when the blaze of the Judgment
throne throws its light upon human his
tory There will be no oblivion there nc
evasion there. When God maketh inquisi
ton for blood, there will be no suppression
no Withholding of evidence; nay, it will moi
need the testimony even of tho Omniscient
witness to disclose the whole truth. Con
science, though it now may be scared as
with hot iron, or stupefied as with dead
! ly opiatc, will then speak and the voice Of
self-accusing tongues will be louder than
that of ten Thousand upbraiding witnesses.
Woe then, woe now, to the murderer
His fellow-man may never suspect his secret
but he knows it and that is misery enough
1t confronts him when he is alone, and il
makes him tremble. 1t goes with him into
the crowd and there it fills him with terror
! 1t goads him with remorse, or menaces him
with apparation of evil. He may seek il
mirth and reveIry, and carousal to drowr
! his conscienciousness of crime, but he car
drain no cup in which he finds not {
serpent; he hears echoing his own mao
laughter the mocking of the fends who
we're his tempters, and who--unless he shall
repent and seek mercy-will be his tor
mentors.
Only in confession and in penitcnce car
the murderer ever find peace; cloaklng his
sin he
"Bears with him a black
That makes his being enduring death"
II. remark again, as suggested by the
text, that God holds society to account fol
the blood of man shed by violence. In thi.
case wo find that He himself dealt directly
with the murderer; but after the universa
deluge, when He gave to the head of the
future family the fundamental law for al
ages He set forth the principle, "WhosC
sheddeth mans blood by man shall hi,
blood be she'd" In dealings witt
His own people Israel, God established
fully and perfectly the law concerning tho
punishment of the murderer, and He taugh
what l believe to be still rule bearing up
on all communities of men, that He woulC
hold each community responsible for dill
gence and fidelity in the administration o
Justice in this respect. (Sec Deut. 81, l O..
| III. But it is not the mere infiction o
the penalty which God demands of society
He holds men in their social and their indi
yidual capacity to guardianship of eacl
other
From no mouth could the question so fit
ly como as from that of the first murdere
"Am l my brothers keeper!" You and |
beloved friends, hear voice to-day which
says Every man is the keeper of his fellow
man. He is bound to consider his neigh
boris welfare in all his own acts. He il
bound so far as it is in his power to shape
all the habits and customs of his family, ant
of tho community in which he dwells; and
in a land like ours where every mans voice
and vote has its part, is he bound to SHAPE
all tho laws and institutions of the city, o