The Portland daily press., 1869-06-14

Will ever give that to-day with ITS settluS sun
says the Termination Of the rels tionship which
has existed between us as parish and pastor.
You are looking to the past and so am j, and
If you are looking to one future and to an
other, it is our duty and our privilege to re-
member tnat THESE futures are yet one; that
wherever may be and whatever YOU NAV do
the joy, the peace, and the satisfaction of those
years to come, rest upon the same faithfulness
and the samc expsrienee that the gospel shall
develop in our souls. And wish to avoid, as
far as can, those peculiar personalities that
may be unfit for the times, and seek only to
bring into light just what may profit both you
and me as we press hands and say good bye
to review the past and forecast the future in
the light Of what have chosen of our text and
what ] have given as its Interpretation.
In the first place you will permit me to re-
mind you that through eight and one half years
of our united toll, it has been by our earnest
and aggressive zeal. by our unity and by our
faithfulness, that those results have been at
tanned, which have brought to us so much Joy
in the past and which can give You at least so
much hopefulness from the future
I can remember well when under the wintry
skies I met you first, 50 long ago, how feeble
was the promise Of this magnificent church
edifce and of this strong and vigorous society.
can remember when I first entered into spir-
itual partnership with your life, how much it
seemed to US both depended upon our union
and upon our zeal Now into the results of
these years of toll do not claim have given
very much; claim that you have; and wish
to remind you Of these results that you may
see how large field OF usefulness and success
is open before you in years to come. wish to
point to you what you have done, not that you
may be vain of it, but that from this vantage
ground you may make your march in the SER
vice Of your master in the time to come, to be
and to do all that the Christian service implies
remind you then, that the law Of this sue
cess has been, on your part, union and love;
and I can honestly say to-day, in parting from
you, that do not believe for eight years and q
half any religious body of believers could abide
together in more harmony and with less dis
cord. beg to remind you that all our great
movements have been done In that spirit Of
been peculiarly to your Christian praise.
beg to remind you that the building of this
church has never been mingled with dissen-
sions or with discords, but that from hrst to
last it represents your concord and your self
sacrifice. Now that you have been able to do
20 much you should have no dread
for the future; you should only feel that God
ssIls sIS y9q stu so remain together loving faith
Ido mot forget the changes which during
this period Of growth have been manifested in
the midst Of you; can almost say that in
many particulars the general aspect of the par
ish has changed i cannot but recollect nearly
o huRdred families that have parted from our
number, mostly BY removal, or by breaking up
Of families, or by death, and more than that
number who have taken their place among us
since we were first united. Many of the faith
ers have fallen asleep; many 2 man Whose
remembered and honorsd to-day, but his per-
| sonal presence is in heaven. Many woman
| whose sweet and faithful life was at once
| grase to this church and an ornament to some
loving family, has been called to the great
| church and to the great family above. Many .
| child whose face had just begun to shine with
| love and light under the ministrations of the
sanctuary, has fallen asleep on earth and awak-
| cd to renew its growth in heaven. With how
many of you have been associated in the ten
/ derest Offices of Christian sympathy-w how
many Of you in your tears and sufferings have
1 my own eyes moistened and my own heart
1 throbbed with grief? Standing here to-day
and remembering all these things-seeing how
God has permitted US, speaking Of our com
mon faith, to be comforted-how he has per-
mit.ed us still to persevere in the ways and
works of Christian trust why should not be-
| lieve and commend to you that faith with the
Same peace, and Joy, and comfort, in the min
istration of the future as waiting for your re-
ception and your enjoyment ~. gl.a -i4pA
fcannot recollect many statistics Of my own
work; I can recollsct that I have attended
about $50 funerals and about 100 weddings since
have been connected with this church, while
4 have preached to you about 1000 sermons,
more or less. For all this we have but the
united result of our parish life to show our own
condition our faith, our love, our separate spir-
itual experience, and our Joined and united ex-
istense.
can say this, thatI have never labored, that
shall never labor in q more pleasant or con-
genial field; and assure you that in the sym-
pathy that has attended my work, the friend
ship that i have felt az my Indictment and my
courage, the readiness to meet my vie ws and
enter into my plans of Christian work, that
for all these things am truly grateful. T value
them, in the hrst place, because you have given
to me what every minister of God SO much
must nsed-the help Of your friendliness, the
love has become mated with the very pulses of
| my life; it has become part Of that strength
| and joy and glory which have felt in my
Christian experience and my Christian belief
/ 1t has been to nae how much in these years
that have gone by, and then again it is precise
| ly this which has advanced you in the work of
1 the church, which has helped you so much for
the cause of Christ and given you SO much as
surance of comfort, Of health and strength, for
the years that are to come. need not say that
in more than one way shall ever be personal
ly united in my remembrance and in my love
/ with this people; for know that it has been
L under my services that this church has been
built and dedicated, and up to tbs present time
no other pastor has occupied this place. I
shall ever look back to your interests as my
own, and shall ever cherish them with pecul-
lar zeal; and can say that in all time to come
1 my happiness will be found in your prosperity,
and shall count it my honor and my joy that
in spiritual relations you are blest and prosper
ed. N4LAL-E aaGDt4
It would be neglect of duty, appropriate
70 .hi. sdysEs n 9Th 2b'.
city joy to me, and am happy to bear testi-
mony to-day, that from first to last in this city,
OF so many faiths and SO many churches, / have
never received aught but Christian sympathy
and courtesy a. the hands of any. Whatever
bigotry there might be it has never been shown
1 towards me. have had no quarrels with any
| church or with any sect. More than that, per-
sonoLy, have been esteemed and loved as q
of 1nfn
iversal love. I have found that sympathies
were wider than creeds, and that human blood
beat under the warm pulses of one common
1 nature, and was not regulated by the narrow
ness Of any set of beliefs. From first to last
have had the love and sympathy and friend
ship OF all denominations of Christians here.
And bear testimony to the Christian weight
and value of their friendship and their services
to their Masters kingdom.
1 7 do not think that God can call you to pass
through more public excitement and trial than
with His help we have passed through togeth-
or. First, there were those stormy years Of
war, when the whole community rocked like q
swollen and storm-tossed deep; those years of
excitement how intense, of changes how sud-
den, OF plans and thoughts how shifting, OF du-
| ties how imperative, of sacrifices how greatl
And Il ID to your honor, as band Of Christian
belieyers, that you have rode out that gale,
that tempest, and are still sound and whole in
the history Of this city to-day.
linen there came wilder excitement, and
nearer peril and trial of the great fire. shall
ever count it one of the most vivid memories
Of my life that was permitted so near view
OF that calamity, that I was permitted in that
view to do what little could to alleviate its re-
sulting misfortunes. With you 7 have looked
the facts OF these great sufferings in the face
with you have sympathissd in your losses,
and a. one OF the aimoners of the great public
charities of our country, have done what
could 70 restore what has been taken away, to
| never forget these things
One BY one we shall fall away from our work
| on, earth. Tho steady changes of time, the
steady inroads of decay, the steady pressure of
disease and disaster in the ranks Of those who
l stand to-day in their fraternity SO compact and
united, will be dismissed from the stage of life,
and those who have filed the important places
of the time will make room for others who are
to take their burdens and discharge their du-
ties. And SO 1t 10 we are drawing near the
time OF our own dismission fron the services
of the Christian church below, from the SER
vices of Christ kingdom, which has been per-
mitted us as our consolation and our Joy in
these mortal years. What il our pray er?
What do we desire to leave after us? Paul
wished when he was taken from the earth to
leave his representative In every Christian
church; to leave his ideas to be accomplished
and wrought out by tho services Of every
Christian brotherhoed., He wished to leave
the cross for which he had fought, the faith
which he had preached, the gospel which he
had served, planted in q thousand different
lands andtStates; to leave them growing thrift
tily and well until at last it should overshadow
the world with its green canopy of joy. So
In hnkA l. f. L.