Richmond weekly palladium., 1875-12-09
FUNERAL SERVICES.


( FUNERAL SERVICES.
: address Deaiyered ~ TIE Rsnesai q
.d.si she late J~age Holland
BY very general request we publish
the following discourse upon the oe-
casion Of the death of the late Judge
George Holland, by Rev. w. n. esoode
d. D., at Grace Church, in this city, on
Thursday, the I'd day OF December
1875.
There are times when words are
cain things; there are crises In HIe
which language fails to reach; seasons
when even the sublime truths OF ren9-
ion, conveyed in abstract, verbal fofIn,
fall without effect. The ear refuses 70
hear, and the heart to feel their import.
There are hours when the soul seems
to spurn and repel even the very words
of comfort wliick it so much needs;
when the stricken heart shrinks from
the tenderest words of consolation, as
the fresh wound from the hand OF the
surgeon. These are times when God
speaks by euents; when, by some direct
stroke of his providence, he calls to
communities, to families, to individual
hearts; and, through his dispensatfons,
opens the ear to instruction, and the
heart to receive knoWledge.
This is eminently the case when we
are arrested in the business and hustle
of life by the sudden departure OF a fel-
low man, nefghbOr, friend, smitten
down by the hand of God. The almighty
Sovereign, the Giver and Taker OF life,
for reasons of his own, has declined his
wonted premonitions OF approach; the
| angel has come in upon us unawares.
We are stricken in the Divine pres
ence. We stand still before God. We
j cover our faces and listen i'm silence for
| the voice of his providence as it utters
itself in his acts. Happy If, In such an
Bvent the life has been such as to i'm
print useful and salutary lessons. Hap
! py indeed il hfe's problem has been so
Wrought out as to afford q safe model
for others in it's motives, it's aims, it's
efforts, and its results. Fortunate for
our fallen humanity that along the
great highroad Of life, so mingled, SO
a character and, life, which, without
disparagement to other lives of virtue,
shines out with paramount brightness,
illustrating the beauty OF true good
ness and greatness, and showing the
grand possibilities of our manhood un-
der the gracious aids afforded by the
beneficent Father of us all. It is ours
to-day reyerently to listen to these
prOvidential teachings.
The case before us is one from
which may be safely drawn the lessons
of life. Spared in the providence OF
God, just to pass the grand climacterfc
of human life; to realize and to en-
ploy ife's full strength, and yet saved
the humiliating experiences of physical
and mental decline, incident to extreme
years, he has lived just long enough to
demonstrate the problem OF life; and,
the imperfections of a common hu-
manity excepted, well has he solved
this problem.
No stale or fulsome panegyric is in
tended; the solemnities OF the hour are
too real; too deeply intense and per-
sonal for this. Our friend has already
passed to that tribunal where no
the Judge, well done, good and faith
full servant; enter thou into the joy of
thy Lord"
But should any think the picture |
overdrawn, let it be set down, not to |
design, but rather ascribed to the indi- |
vidual eart-wOrkings of him who |
stands before you this day under a |
the loss of q trusted friend, q counsel /
lor, guide, among the most cherished
and endeared of a lifetime; and who,
instead of this constrained public duty,
would far rather take his place In yOn /
mourning group, and mingle his tears
with theirs. - =. s.sss -
George Holland was Of Irish parent
age, born in WestmOreland county, Pa,
September %, 1911, whittier his parents
had emigrated from Ireland in 1902.
Removed by his parents to Ohio in his
infancy; thence, in 1877, to Franklin
county, Ind; became, at the age OF
seven years, an inmate and adopted
member of the family of the late Rob-
ert John, Esq, of BrOokville, family
l., u \
erl branches in eastern Indiana.
Learned the trade of printer; served in
the capacity of deputy to Mr.. John In
the Offices successfully of Sheriff and
of Clerk; admitted to the bar In his
twenty first year, and at twenty-fOur to
the bar of the Supreme Court of the
State; delegate to the National Con-
vention which nominated Mr.. Lincoln in
1860; removed to Richmond in 1861,
where, for q number of years, he filled
the Office of Judge of the Criminal
Court, received first by appointment
of the Governor, and a second term by
popular vote; devOting the remaining
years Of his residence here to the prac-
tice of his profession, in which he was
actively employed to the close of. life.
United in marriage in his twenty-third
year to Miss Elizabeth John, the daugh-
ter of his friend and patron, with whom,
reared under the same roof, he had en-
joyed the benefit of a childhood and
youthful acquaintance and intimacy, so /,
that their union has been literally al +
most lifetime cOmpaniOnshiD. Died I
suddenly in his bed without pain or
and without previously known |
disease, about six o'clock on the morn
ing of day before yesterday, being the
:30th day of November 1875 ~
In the life and history of our departed
friend, we may find,
i. The general lesson of the brevity
and uncertainty of human existence,
and the nearness of our approach to |
the eternal realities. Who can TODAY
his friend, and talk with him about the
affairs of life, and tomorrow help to /,
lay him in the grave and not reflect? Il.
too, am treading upon life's margin: I. i
too, shall soon go to test the realities
Of an unending state"
Our life contains q thousand springs,
And dies if one be gone:
Strange, that harp Of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long"
2. The care of merciful Providence /
over the bereaved and the helpless.
providing friend in time Of need. /
have myself seen in the private diary
of the departed, to which have had AZ.
cess, treasured recollections of the bit
and humiliation Of want and de-
pendence felt by young and sensitive
orphan heart, at the tender age of seven
years, and recorded in after life: and.
with this, we see the blessing attend
ant upon acts of charity and benefi.
cence. This good man, Robert John. 1
lived to witness and to enjoy the fruits
of his labor of love. Leave thy father
less children to me, and let thy widow
trust in me-"
). The issue OF a manly conflict with
adverse circumstances, ending in
marked and signal success. Identify
ing himself with the fortunes OF the
family of his adoption, sharing in the
struggles and successes of his foster
father on his upward path in life: at
the same time vigorously APPLYING
himself to the work of self improve
ment till he attained an enviable posi-