Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1865-06-08
A SERMON
PREACHED IN EMANUEL CnuEcH, CuMDsR
LAND, Mn. JUNE LIST, ~: TIE
REV. JOHN w. MOTT.

SN'bJ NNbsb iSt, ~
REV. JOHN W. MOTT.
The Lord God omaipotent reigncth.ns
Retelatichs xM G..
About six weeks ago we met together on al
OCCASION very similar to the one on which W,
iert to day; similar yet unlike in some of it
features. Then the body of our Presiden
was, scarcely cold, now, it has reacEed it
final resting place, conveyed by the lamenta
tons of millions. The, first, birst 1t. til,
grief of Whole nation is ever and pute,,
never since the world began was grief as sin.
cerely. aid deeply fe!t for the loss Of any mar
by any people. When say that grief wa.
never so deeply and sincerely felt for the un
timely dcatf Ct fny man by any nation So,
it with due. consideration. However any mar
may have lad the great qualities by which tc
win the hearts of a multitude to himself, II
was scarcely possible that at any previous age
of the world he could SO have became dwell,
ler in the households of all Our rapid means
OF lntercommunicaticn; the tEciity With Which
art reproduces the features of men and other
circumstances that belong to our present civ
illzationq make W have much greater feel ling
Of Intimacy with those who occupg the place
of leaders than men could have had three or
two prone hundred years ago. This NAV
diminish very much that awe with which men
have, been ready TO- lock- upon those in great
piece, but It capnet take sryas n,thipg from
that simple greatness which is moral more
than it is intellectual, the greatness that of
necessity belongs to man that is purely true
and honest lover of his country and lover
of his kind. Greatness like this can stand any
test. 1t is pure gold that the breath of man
cannot Permanent..y, taIintn, ttat tPe free air of
the WORT cap. Hc;e: corrode. aad unlike the
gold ST coinage It never allows its - image
aud superscription" to be worn away by the
frequent handling of men. Our very famii-
arity with our great men, the feeling Of house,.
hold intimacy with which we regard them
makes Is bit feel. tie csedttess of rtch
character the more.
But the na,t!e of Abraham Lincoln has be-
came household word not merely because
the appliances and conveniencies of modern
civilization tend to make men in prominent
positions more familiar to us than the95 6p:e
were, and thus to, make US mnre fhn.isar With
his simple uprighttsess;;' hut because he was,
what the large majority believed even though
they NIGH not, Eaye. PIT it into words, man
who stood for millions. He WAS not .rhe ren
if such eve. rcaily existed yho Gent and
moulded the character of pecb1e by himself.
Rather springing from the people he repre-
scented the people, was mould d, by them and
as all men must do who have character of their
own, doubtless moulded them in turr. lie !
was man borne on the pillows ola great com
motion not helplcssly or aimlessly but vet
still borne by the waves not guiding the waves
More or less evidently all l~ading men are
The foods carry them all onward. They do
not guide them, God alone sits over the
water floods. God alone governs and herds
the hearts of millions even more evidently
than he does the heart of one. But, with an
individuality of his own. wi, h clear sense Of
right, WITH i power of thinking and Judging
for'tApscly' ,feythd th3t of most men, Mr..
Lincoln was peculiarly borne onward and it
is one remarkable feature in his character and
| may say. in the character of his greatness
that he Acknowledged, freely and distinctly
that he was borne, onward He recognized
il :hc voice of the people the voice # Frovi-
dence. He evidently believed as l believe.
that. there are Nations vic, are set to do GER
tain york, and that there ere certain divine
impulses IN TIE life OF such q nation " hich
drive it onward towards the at.aii hmesht.
Now this very subject--tlre WORT ct CIR nh
ton. he nation of which Abrahanl I.i,.coln
was an exponcR.-rthe work which will go on
is not only a proper subject for our coltem-
platicn to day but the proper subject. 1t first
our minds we're occupied with the man new,
since time has melowed our g'fcf tfourf it
has not and connot diminish our loving re-
mem sraa:c,, p5F, they would seem moro
suit.bly occupied with the meaning for the
worlds history and the worlds advancement
Of ahe existence q Tat country OF which he
hscap,e to srch an extent, the representative.
Our gathering to-day is not simply to
show hogcr to the dead, but in humiliation
before God and trust in him to fix deeply in
our mind this trutlE. that nations that are re-
ally nations are net se. Is lie. world as oilers
but as workers, whether they viii 81: nc; in
carrying out Gods plans, ans that there are
some nations that have some particular work
set before themselves to do If We fully COM
p-ehcnd that We were not put into it fer any
desert Of our own but as instruments Il Ccd's |
land 70 DO Garfs' WORK an1 not orr own, to
glorify God and not ourselvea, t. ,raiee ard !
bless all men of al races and tongues much |!
more than to bless ourselves, we shall be |
humbled to the very dust. The services Of
to-day should fill us with the thought of the |
of our position as citizens of the |
United States of Anerica--tbe awful respou-
sibility tina. rests upon US not to misapwehend
tie meaning o; this ration among the ma
.ic:his thatst:T dwell or TIE eartE, and that
Rave drclt or it b5fore our Day
There is a certain unity of character lsh suc e
and purpose that neee ssaiily belongs to what VIC
lenou,inate nation. 1t is not always striking
in the earlier periods of its history, but to the
close aad judic;ous observer that the oneness
Of what will be real co.ssnrrnftyis rerf city |
evident ev, in the midst of :isJ'scbri. Rome |
was Rome before the enactment of the Lcinian |
laws had formally removed the distinctions be-
tween Patricians and Plcbeians. England
was England even in the times of the Hep !
tarchy more so when Alfred ruled nor was
she less really England, ); ttoQgisaless evident
y so when Saxon and Norman were Sighting it |
s1t in the feps of laneolnshire Qr Cavalier nsd
at, Naseby and Worcester. But
besides . ccr.a'Ha degree Of oneness and pur-
pose which belongs to all nations making
lhems in sorret mysterious way even more
really persons than many individuals, there |