Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1872-12-12

RAiotuS euue WCSlutbh lktlctu w IICu tIIC1
= have gone from Us forever, and yc
they arc constantly, like in the presen
: case, going from us, and others are be
I'll Ing called upon by means Of heavenly
impulse, to take their places in tn,
great causeof Gods truth. The occa
sion, my friends, is q solemn ant
sublime one, and we forget the strifi
and contest of the word, that strifi
which separated Us politically il tht
affairs of the nation, and Join in thil
. meeting to weep over the remains 81
him soon to be taken from ne, bu1
whOse memory ehAll live forever n
J the annals OF his country. eilfie 9a,sa
WHO ia this man whom we are here
to-day to commemorate? For thirty
1 years he has filled the land with the
4 greatest controversy. He was d man
Of war, yet he died without civic hon.
E0rs private citizen, and vet we hon.
Tor him one and all The President oi
q the United States and his officers are
i here and bow in silence to The will o1
God IN taking from as our great broth
er. Al little time ago, and we were in
| the midst Of q fierce battle, with the
great dead tho leader Of one side, and
yet he now lies iifeiess before us, It
is because the man was something
more than a professional man, 90 good
and noble that he had few compeers.
ltfs for these reasons that we assemble
here to mourn the loss of Horace Gree
ley. MI
1 For thirty wears he built for himself
no outward monument, no estate, but
here to-day, between the oceans, there
Is not man who has not felt the eff.
fects Of the labors Of Horace Greeley.
What matters II that in the conflict
over political economy he should be
upon one sidc and you on another? !?
Isn't it enough that he has given his
life-blood for the good, and to the pur-
poses, of noblcr manhood ? The hus-
bandman reaps his harvest. The
wheat is garnered, and it reappears In
the schOol-boy aud to future genera
tfons; and in 1t Is the presence Of the
man. To-day, when all are speaking
kindly and sorrowfully for him, think
of these couflicts in which You forgot
Humanity, out of which yOu have
come, and summon your charity now.
you that have been battling on the 9TH
| er side. After q long and tempestuous
voyage he has reached the shore. and
angels will welcome him to their ont
Estretched arms. Let us hope that
when we die sffkSMs win open the
gates FOR MS ana receive Us % ths fiofys
Of our Lord.
The Rev. e. III. Chaplin then spoke
as follows:
One month ago many who are now
| present met in this place to express our
sympathy with one who sat with pal-
| lid face and quivering lips. a heart
stricken mourner over his wife. To-
day, as in, the freshness of his ouict
sorrow himself, he is to Law by her
side. The shadow of death through
which he was then passing has epyeI-
oped him. Such is Proviience that II
checks. all human operations and
makes life continual surprise. i can
not attempt here and now to unfold
the life or estimate the worth Of Horace
Greeley. Such an ATTEMPT would on
the one hand be premature. and on the
other unnecessary premature because
the traits and lessons of the great life
can but be revived when the grief and
excitement have ceased. This work
ought to be done, and I trust will be
done, in the utterance of some public
memorial service which will demand
and receive much wider hearing than
can give il.
To speak of Horace Greeley's worth
is unnecessary. 1t has already been
done. There have been but few in
stances in our history where expires.
sions of regard and regret have been
SO spontaneous, 80 universal and so
similar. These eulogies that pour in
SO thick and fast from every part of
the land, are not made up of artificial
rhetoric. They are genuine. The
tears are as freely shed to-day by coun-
try friends and in distant cities as be-
meath the shadowy drapery Of this
house from which he is SO soon to 90
out forever. They represent no inyis-
ible sympathy, but represent the pco-
ple's thought, and are twined ah6ut
the peoples heart, bearing witness to
a career of honest purpose. And why
this reverential regard for the memory
of Mr.. Greeley? It is not for his mere
intellectual ability, large and updenia-
BILE as it was. 1t is not because he was
a high official, for Horace Greeley held
no official station. The will ofthe peo-
pie, expressed through Che Electoral
College to-day, decides that he should
hold no such station. To-day the will
Of God elects him to a piace from
which all human ones look ANAL and
dim. Why is it then? II IA the mag
netism of simple goodness.
Mr.. Greeley's heart was as large ma
his brain. His love for humanity was
inherent. He touched all sides Of Nm
manity. so to speak, The hundreds Of
poor. toil-worn men who vesteriav
pressed through the crowd 10 take a
last look at the worn conntenanoe
were moved by no mere curiosity.
They came there to gaze not upon the
face Of the great journalist or politician.
but because he had ALWAYS been the
poor mans friend, the sympathetic
companion Of workingmcn. who had
struggled through their exneriences
and never forgot their claims. All his
public acts were directed by the same
impulses. and il enlisted him in the
service of very MANY causes. Not on
ly did It inspire his life-long war with
oppression, vice and wickedncss Of
every kind, but it made him unsneak-
ably generous. PERHAPS he erred on
the side of mercy against iust;ce. INIT
If man must err at AM that il = uood
side 10 err on.
Whatever NAV haye been the mis-.
takes Of him who lies dead before us.
there was no mistake in the main cnr.