The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1870-04-15
THE FUNERAL OF BISHOP THOMSON.

led in the cemetery at Delaware, Ohio
The correspondent of the Cincinnati
Gazette gives the following account:
DELAWARE, March 25.
The day opened dismally enough, TIL
rain coming down almost incessantly
but nothing could prevent the people
from turning out to honor the memor,
of man whom in life they well-nigl
idoliZed. The funeral services wer,
held in the William Street Methods
Episcopal Church, the audience room o
which was tastefully draped in mourn
ing. Many were unable to gain admis
sion. At half-past ten the remains were
brought to the church, the following
persons acting as pallbearers: Presiden
Wheeler, of Berea President Donelson
of Ohio Wesleyan Female College; Rev
Joseph Kennedy, New Orleans Confer
enee; Rev. Isaac Crook, Ohio Confer
enee l.. j. Critchfield, Esq, of Column
bus, and Col. Joseph Lindsey, of Della.
ware. The Rev. D. ID. Mather, pastor
of William Street, presided. DR.. Good.
fellow, of South America, read the
1006th hymn-'fServant of God, well
done ;" during the singing of which but
few cheeks were dry. DIR. j. NJ. Trim
bic, of Columbus, then prayed. The
Scriptures, 23d Psalm, t'The Lord is ms
Shepherd" and part of the XIV chapter
OF Corinthians, ''Et is sown in corrup.
ton, it is raised in interruption" were
read by President wheeler. Prof. T. C.
OKane then led the choir in a beautiful
rendering of 'ECome unto me all We that
labor" after which the Rev. L. B. Cur
ley, of the North Ohio Conference, pro-
nounced an eloquent eulogy on the
character and services of the departed.
He was followed by the Rev. DIR. God
man, of Mount Vernon, who, in behalf
of the students graduated from the Ohio
Wesleyan University, under Bishop
Themson's Presidency, spoke as fol-
lows:
81 will endeavor, as well as may, to
speak for about three hundred young
men, scattered over the earth, some OF
them in useful positions in our own
land, some doing noble work beyond
the shores of the Pacific, and some min
Cling in the classic life of the historic
lands of Europe. And we would, if
we could, concentrate the feelings of
these three hundred in a single utter
ance of the unutterable experiences of
the hour. We have lost a friend. Our
father has gone from us. OF this Spar
tan band every one counts it among the
highest honors of his life that he has a
diploma bearing the name and sign
manual of Edward Thomson. He at
tached us to himself. He knew how to
kindle the hearts of the young. There
was magic in his parental glance. There
was fascination in his manner. 1t al
ways seemed favor to take his cordial
hand and, to the students of the uni
the offer of that hand was the
reward of virtue and fidelity.
GCTk nf ho iSc IN V1nfo h1sSoAxy
some of the obligations we feel to the
loved and honored departed. What are
some of the chief treasures of that bril-
liant legacy he has left us?
"There is, first, his character. None
knew DR.. Thomson without feeling the
impress of that which was inherent in
him. None met him even casually but
was attracted to his superiority. 1t
seemed as if heavenly intelligence had
itself in humanity. In any
multitude he was marked. In any COM
munity he was a power. Perhaps the
most prominent impression his charac-
ter made on his friends was that of COM
pleteness, harmony, finish. 1t is not
possible to delineate character-espe-
cially SO rare an one as this-in more
than general outlines. But in him there
was such harmony of intellect and pas
sion, such balancing of the forces that
make up the available power of life, as
made on a contemplatiVe friend the i'm
preston of Corinthian column-the
most happy combination of strength,
beauty and grace. 1t were not too
much to say that every alumnus would
adopt as his own this sentiment of a
poet concerning his friend:
Death! ere thou hast slain another
Learned. and wise. and excellent as he,
Time shall hurl q dart at thee.
There was in our beloved father and
friend, vein of what some one, phi
losophising, would call StoiciSn1, but
which might better be termed Chris
tian Faith. Those who have known
him in sorrow, have observed it. Per-
haps his last utterance was in this res
pect characteristic. When in the throes
of the death passion, he inquired when
those whom he loved would probably
arrive. Being informed that they could
not reach him before q certain time in
the afternoon, he threw back his arm,
said calmly, Gods will be DONE and
died.
"He was warm in affection though
not demonstrative in manner. He adj
mitted few to his intimacy, but those
few were his jewels. Among students,
he was tender of their faults, and made
them feel that the possibility of his dis
pleasure was the most painful anticipa-
ton. He could gain the heart by the
most delicate addresses and condescen-
sions. When in his first great domes-
tic sorrow he sent for one of the young
est students to come to his house, sit
down. said he, and write to my moth
CT, and such and such a friend. Tell
them of my sorrow That request and
y, hoo 40
to him forever.
SECONDLY, we cherish his instruc-
tons. He was the most apt teacher.
He always made truth attractive and
Every sharp blade of truth
thrust into the conscience was freshly
and doubly polished by him at
thrusting. The Bible was his book.
We remember how he went through
it-as q fairy through her realm, flow
ers springing in every footstep and de-
licious fragrance filling the air. We
have not forgotten how he illuminated
the Sermon on the Mount; how he
made the wisdom of Solomon shine
with new luster; how he made Elijah
under the juniper tree more eloquent
than on Carmel. He had the power of
so pointing and competing truth as to
give it permanent lodgment in the
on The Path to Success he exclaimed,
Let others sing,
"Let me be little and unknown,
Loved and priced by God alone, %
and how the good old couplet went
out of our hearts never to re-
turn. How often and how forcibly did
he urge the thought that learning dis
ISOLATED from holiness, knowledge un-
sanctifed, would be only an increased
power for evil
1--WE have, thirdly, his eloquence; an
that can never die. Many
of us, and some who were never his
pupils, will call to mind the first ap-
pearance of DIR. Thomson's lecture on
Education, first delivered before the
Ohio Conference, and afterward pub
lished in the Ladies' Repository. That
lecture was the foundation of system
attic education among the Methodists of
Ohio. But its eloquence wal rare. Some
of US who had been, In our schoOl-boy
associations, inspired by the elOquence
of John Adams and Patrick Henry,
were, by that lecture introduced to a
new and sacred style of Oratory that
has been thrilling in US to this day.
That lecture, the discourse on Close
Thought his Inaugural Address, and
The Path to Success, were, perhaps,
his most perfect productions, and will
never lose their charms.
ity that q casual acquaintance might
prompt the judgment that his work
was unfinished. Agatharcus boosted