The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1873-08-08
For tile Agis Dc Inteligencer.
The Funeral Services Of the Rev. Vim.
Finney.

The Funeral Services of the Rev. VIM.
Finneys
The sad and solemn services of last Sabbath
will long be remembered. A very large
assembly ofpeople gathered at Churchville
TO follow to their last resting place the re-
mains of the Rev. VIM Finney They wit.
messed them gently and slowly borne by his
four sons and laid away in their narrow
home, to gather strength and beauty for the
coming of the Lord. Very appropriate re-
marks were made on the occasion by Rev
Messrs. Paxton, Dickey and Cross, and Rev
Messrs. Carter, Cook and Morrison took part
in the services. The following is the address
OF The Rev. John r. Paxton at the funeral
services of the Rev. VIM. Finney, on Sabbath,
August Sd, 1873:
We have just committed to its kindred dust
body in which for eighty five years there tab
ernacled respondent soul--a soul, | verify be-
lieyefor which the blood of Christ and the love
of God, and the communicating Spirit had
down as much, as fine and as perfect work as
for any saint Of this century. While he lived,
none knew him but to love him--n0ne
named him hut to praise" | cannot think
he ever had an enemy for he lived ut peace
with all men, and was, like his divine Master,
the brother of every man. His heart was an
open highway, along which any one could
pass. lie was the poor mans friend, the
rich mans counsellor. The unfortunate man
found in him needy rclief-the stranger and
the yagabOnd were never turned from his
door Every good cause he cherished and
aided-he nursed the infancy and trained
for Cal GERS ofusefulness many, now strong and
vigorous churches He knew that Ignorance
is the mother of superstition and degraded
lives He knew that education is the hand
maid of all true civilization, the best guardian
of civil liberty, and the reward of pure
protestant Christianity; therefore, Mr. Finney
was during life, the promoter of education
the advocate and builder of school houses;
the foe of ignorance. and the untiring friend
of knowledge for the people.
We find for sixty years Mr.. Finney lived,
lubored andpreached for the two highest and
best interests of the people of Hartford county
the education of their hearts, which is re-
ligion-the education oftheir minds, which is
knowledge; and not till the Judgment day,
not till we see him with the crown the
Master shall give him and count its Jewels,
will we know the harvest of the seeds
he sowed, the amount-the preciousncss
of the good he wrought; the power of his
high character, and the unseen as well as
seen fruits of his half-century labor in the
vineyard of the Lord.
There is scarcely n man or woman in this
church to-day, or in the county any where,
but is bound to Mr. Finney by some one or
many tender ties and holy memories. For
sixty years he has been the spiritual centre
in which lines in almost every family met
lie has been the golden hub of the wheel of
social and religious life hereabouts WHY the
babe you left at home to-day he baptized
and you he married. and your grandfather he
buried aye and your great grandfather too.
Oh there is scarcelya sacred memory in your
life but he was bound up with it, AT the bed
side of your dying, his voice pointed to heaven
at the grave of your dead, his tears fell-at
the feasls of your happiness his presence
chcered. In your trials he stood by you in
your sorrows he gave Christian sympathy,
and from this pulpit from his lips your car
first listened to the story of the cross. Oh, it
is wonderful that any one man could come
to be SO interviewer with the life of a great
community, and should live so long that to
tell his life would be to write the history of n
county for sixty years. Do you seek his
monument? Doyou ask what he did? Then
look around you from the Susquehanna to
the Gunpowder-from the Chesapeake to
Slate Ridge. Is good cause prospecting !?
There lie watched over its birth and fostered
its growth three--score years ago. Arc
churches multiplying? Is public opinion on
the side of right living and pure morals =?
Then remember when he came here and how
his influence was always used and his labor
directed. Oh! we have buried to day the
the patriarch of all the churches in our midst;
the FRIEND helper and teacher of them all.
We have buried the body Of one of the pur-
est characters, tenderest hearts and loveliest
souls God has enriched you with. His life
was consistent, his mind polished, his man
ners sweet as the apostle Johns and take
him all in all-take him during his long and
public life, he was an exquisite piece of the
grace of God, a triumph of Christian faith, a
proof of the power of God to make Christlike
lives out of sinful mortals. When shall we
see his like againY Like that prophet food
he leaves no successor so great and good as
himself. There are no shoulders among us
worthy of the mantle that now falls from his,
as by the chariot of God, the horseman there
of, his redeemed spirit goes up to Join the
company around the throne.
Let us bow toward his grave. Let us en-
brace the cross whence came the inspiration
and power of his life. Let us thank God for
him with full hearts fervently, and make this
day sacred to his dear and blessed memory.
Better-let us live as he lived, by the faith of
Christ. Let us serve as he served the glory
of God, so that when our summons comes to
pass the line to draw the black curtain that
ushcrs us upon our eternal life, one of the
sweetest anticipations of heaven will be the
prospect ofmeeting there and renewing again,
never to be broken, our intercourse and
frinn6sbin with Row Vim Einnay