Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-09-14
TIE FUNERAL OBsEQUIEs OF JOHN
BELL.
An Impressing Pageant.


d great statesman lay in the Hall of the Re
resentatives' Chamber, and the sentries
the 45th United States Infantry paced the
o rounds in guard of them. From an earl
!: hour, throDg Of visitors of all ages an
d sexes poured silently around th
3 aisles, pausing TO gaze upon hi
: noble countenancs, sleeping afte
> the stormy scenes of his dislinguishe.
, life, in the repose of death. Beautifu
wreaths of evergreens and flowers wer,
freely laid upon the casket, as tributes o
affection and admiration from the hearts
OF the people who had known him 30 long
and whose fame they felt to be reflected
honor upon themselves. 1t was a touch
ing and tender spectacle, and one which,
if from the pale realm of spirits it is given
to the departed 10 see and feel, would have
more deeply moved the spirit of the great
deceased, than all other earthly honors he
had ever received. The scene was solemn
ly impressive.
Long before the hour designated for the
funeral ceremonies, the Capitol Hill was a
dense throng of people, and as the bells of
the city began to toll, the chambers and
galleries commenced to be filled, and by
P. M. were densely packed. 1t was vast
concourse Of mourners-sppsrently the en-
tire population-assembled TO pay the last
tribute of respect to its most eminent
member.
Under the orders of Chief Marshal, Gen
| Chesthsm, and his assistants, Generals
Foster, Dawson, and Smiley, the Utmost
quiet and order prevailed, as the
officiating ministers, the Rev.
P s Fall of the Christian Church, Rt Rev
Bishop Qliutard of the Episcopal Church,
Rev John II Rice of the Presbyterian
Church, Rev R A Young, D d, and Rev
WD F Sawrie of the Methodist Church,
and Rev I E Skinner, d d, of the Baptist
Church, assumed places on the Speakers
rostrum. Near the foot of the corpse sat
ex President Johnson and Gov. Senter, and
by them the pall,bearers. Just before the
commencement! of the services, the widow
and relatives we're escorted to seats near the
head Of the bier.
The funeral ceremonies were opened
by the reading of an appropriate psalm
by the Rev Mr. SawIie, which was fol.
lowed by fervent and impressive prayer
by Rev DR. Young,
The discourse of the occasion was then
pronounced by the Rev Philip s Fall, in
the following words. The Rev. speaker
said:
1t has become my duty TO address YOU,
my hearers, on this sad and solemn occa-
sion. Never before have | felt more fully
the responsibility of one who would speak
to his fellow~creatures concerning the dread
realities of eternity; but | must ask your
attention for a short time TO the following
language of the Apostle Paul, which oc>
ours in the fifth chapter of the second /
epistle to the Corinthians:
"For whether we be beside ourselves it |
is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for
your cause. For the love of Christ con-
straineth us; because we thus judge, that if
one died for all, then were all dead; and
that he died for all that they which live
should not henceforlb liveunto themselves,
but unto Him which died for them and
rose again"
| doubt not that the Apostle Paul was
by his contemporaries regarded az a mAni>
&C. On one occasion "Roman Governor"
said to him: "Paul thou art beside
myself; much learning hath made thee
mad" Possibly he alludes to this in the
language that has been read. off we be |
beside ourselves" however, he says, "it is
to God" If frenzied by zeal, it is 8 re-
ligious-a divine frenzy. But, it may be
asked, Why was he regarded as one dement,
ed? He had renounced his birth, as
member of the tribe of Benjamin, and as
Hebrew of the Hebrews; with all its privi- |
leges and all its honor5. He had also re-
nounced his education as lawyer-brought 1
up az he was at the feet of one of the most |
distinguished of the Jewish Rabbins. He |
was likewise a Pharisee of the Pharisee |
and had lived after the straightest sect of /
the Jews religion. | add, therefore, that 1
he had renowned his religion, together
with all the prefermenls that such a birth /
and such an education and such a religion /
might have brought him. No wonder /
then that his contemporaries whether |
politicians or religionists thought him i
mad. They looked upon him and |
upon his conduct from an earthly /
standpoint and this is the great mis-
take, Even earthly things can be IN
derstood only in the light cast upon them
from above Who does not recollect the i
feelings Of David when he saw the wicked i
in great power and spreading Themselves |
like green bay tree? "Behold," said he |
''thess are the upgodIy who prosper in the |
world; they increase in riches. Verify /
have cIeansed my heart in vain, and washed |
nv hands in innocency." When / |
thought to know this, it was too painful |
for me, until | went into the sanctuary of |
God: then understood their end. Surely |
thou didst set them in slippery places: |
thou castedst them down to destruction"
The truth il, my hearers, that that man
alone ia in full possession of his senses,
who, as the Apostle Paul, looks upon
earthly things in the light of eternity, and
regards himself as, in every particular,
responsible to Him "who is ready to Judge
both the living and the dead"
III duI ulu dHPCuA W " OO o
madman, there was method in his mad
ness. If they regarded him as monoma-
niac-as man of one idea-it was because
he was, for their cause, Voluntarily igno-
rant of all things but one. "And l, breth-
rem, said he, "when | came to you, came
not with excelleEcy Of speech or of wis.,
| dom, declaring unto you the testimony OF
God. for | determined not to know any
thing among you bat Jesus the Christ and
| Him the crucifed one" The ambition Of
| Paul was the highest that can fire the heart
of man. | cannot imagine a higher aim
| for human life than that which he pro-
posed to himself, namely, to present every
| man perfect in Christ Jesus" What are
all The grandeurs of this world? What
the adulation of the multitude, compared
with the Joy with which such a man as
| Paul looks for the reward he has in pres
peet who has turned many from darkness
| TO light, and from the power of Satan unto
| GodF Still the statesmen, the philoso-
phers, and the religious of that day-as
| would be the case now-could not but lock
upon any man as demented who should
renounce all that he would prizs
ali that Paul said twas gain"
to him, and devote bis whole life, with all
his attainments, and all his energies, in
asserting the cause of dead Jewish peas~
ant, whom he affirmed 10 be alive and TO
have been crowned "Lord of all
wonder if it be not possible to lift the
corner of that vail that hides the future
from the ken of mail Let us look into the
fourteenth chapter of the prophecy of
Isaiah, beginning wi h the fourth verse;
"Thou shalt take up this parable against
the King of Bal ylon, and say, how hath
the oppressor ceased the golden city ceas.
ed The Lord hath broken the alta fl of the
| wicked and the scantrA of the rnlers He