The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1869-09-13
Mem 0ffal Service.

hAtmOFhuA ScEVACes
A Memorial Service was held at the First
Parish Church last evening from respect to the
memory of the Hon. William Pitt Fessenden.
The funeral decorations of the day previous
had been permitted to remain, and the church
was filled with a very large congregation. Inc
Rev. Rufus P. Cutler, of Charleston, s. o.,
officiated in the place of Rev. b. Fl. Bailey, the
pastor. The form observed was that of the
usual Vesper Service, the selections from the
Scriptures, the prayer and the music, however,
being solemn in character and appropriate to
the occasion.
The text of the Address was taken from the
First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, 18th
chap. and 9th verse-"For we know in part"
The speaker commenced by referring to the
limited scope of mans vision, saving that we
must walk by faith rather than by Sight In
history or literature the farther back we 60,
there is always some material branch that can
not be traced. All science has its knotted
questions over which men puzzle and on
which they have their respective opinions, but
which have never been answered to the salts
faction of ALL AS nature refuses to reveal all
her secrets, so it is With man. There is always
something about us that others cannot UNDER
stand. We gather pebble by the road side
How little we know of it, how it came there
80 SSo'ooAS"i Aoi hiablOu, ctC. I1OW Olteu are
we apt to underrate peoples motives! There
is something in every mans soul which is
covered with veil of mystery. In this mys-
terry there is a moral lesson and check. Be-
fore we judge others we should look at the &C
tons we would condemn, in every light and in
all charity, for we see only in part Every
man has aim consciousness that there is
within him some capabilities, or some feelings,
better than he has ever shown to the world
These capabilities are indestructible We can.
not MI hai cfran fJ,or fv,tY,r
folding. We see them through glass darby
How is it then when we survey the providence
of God in regard to individuals? Are there
no dark problems in regard to the ways of
God? How shall we reconcile the fact that
one man is born to perjury and another to af
huence? one to crime and another to virtue?
We often hear f1ippant arguments in regard to
these problems, but how poorly do such discus
slons touch the required point! Here is child
taken from lie, bent down at moments no.
tice, before it knows the difference between
right and wrong. There a man with an I'M
Improbable integrity, the centre OF a happy
home, with bright future before him. is sud-
denly called from all that makes lite dear to
child taken and the aged man, whose footsteps
were tottering on tIe brink of the grave, al
lowed to remain? Why the father with all
his happy surroundings, while some worth
less reprobate was left to continue his shame
less career? Tolerable reasons can no doubt
-
mtted for the good Of those who remain
But do these answers dispel all doubts?
No! The veil of darkness still remains
There have been theolOgians who pretended
to know what belongs to revelations alone
God for his own wise reasons has put I'D the
curtain. PROBABLY we shall be surprised when
the reality of the better world is shown to us;
how different from the creeds that have been
taught us; but that better world can only be
seen by passing through the dark valley. We
Oh,
its decease. Now can learned men show the
point at which lie passes into DEATH can they
point out what is life and what is soul? Was
this soul a substanceless essence? Whee has
it gone? Can the keenest eye see one inch be-
yond the portals of the grave? Revelation
tells of Immortality; of life beyond the grave
not measured by years. The picture of what
that life may be is DINNER than landscape by
moonlight But we have the liberty of con-
lecture, and in regard to it we all stand on the
same footing. And here we may say that the
soul will have form, motion, relations con-
genial to higher sphere, untiring energy, I'M
quenchable desires for truth, life of duty and
of love. 1t will be better world A mean
soul in this world will not have the same Ca
pacity for happy life as noble soul. Iu re-
gard to rewards and punishments, we can con-
lecture nothing. If we have deliberately made
hell for ourselves here, 1t will be nothing
compared to the sufferings of conscience that
we shall be compelled to endure there. We
neously, but as we entered into this one, we
shall gradually come into perfect life like as
the gray dusk of the morning changes to the
perfect day. We shall come into the full en-
joyment of it as we draw nearer and nearer to
God. So shall it happen at the last, that as
we all come close to the father, we shall find
ourselves changed. so that all will be love and
peace, joy and happiness, and the clouds shall
roll away as scroll, and what we know in part
now shall then be fully revealed to us. Then
shall the veil of mystery be lifted, and the say
ing shall be brought to pass which is written,
death is swallowed up in victory
The sermon, of which this is merely an alb
stract, abounded in beautiful metaphors, and
we are sorry that we are not able to do justice
to it. The music was very fine. The render
ing of the prayer from Moses in Egypt" was
beautifully done, displaying the bass voice of
Mr.. Coyles--a member of the choir of DR.. Gan
nett's church in Boston-to advantage, and the
concluding hymn, "Augels of Grief" was
most exquisite thing full of pathos.