Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-03-28


brilliant promise, enters the Christian min
istry, gives to that his whole heart and soul,
and in spite of all solicitations to conspicu-
Gus and lucrative positions, labors faithfully
on in the village where he began his work,
it is impossible even for the scoffer not to
respect both the man and his calling. And
exposed as we all are to the intrusions OF
weak doubts and misgivings it is not in
human nature that we should not feel safer
in our convictions, more secure in our hopes
of the permaDence and progress of Christian
institutions among us, when we see that the
church, though weak in us, is strong in such
champions as he was. If DIR. Lord had been
vain of his gifts, if he had used them for his
personal exaltation in the church, if he had
thought that the Master had not given him
here a field large enough for his merits, nei-
ther he nor his calling would have been re-
spected as they are this day. doubt whether
in his estimate of his ministerial capacity,
humber man ever lived. l have letter,
written while he was in Europe, in which he
speaks in the most depreciating terms of his
ability as preacher, and of the value of his
ministerial services. And yet who ever saw
him ascend into the pulpit without expect
ing to be fed with the fat things and the
marrow of the divine word, and who was
ever disappointed in this expectation And
let me not forget to say-he would have been
the first TO rebuke me if should-that for
all that he was, and all that he did, we owe
our first recognition and our chiefest thanks
to the great head of the church who be-
slowed on him those gifts, and then bestowed
him and them on the church-not for his
honor, but ." for the work of the ministry, for
the perfecting of saints, for the edifying of
the body of Christ
We derive satisfaction, also, from the
thought that he gave himself wholly to the
work of the ministry A man of versatile
powers as he was, he must have often felt
the temptation to turn aside and pluck
flowers in the inviting fields open to him on
all sides. He had fertile and facile pen,
and might easily have won laurels in litera-
ture. An attractive speaker, he might have
gained applause and money as a lecturer.
He had decided aptitude for the manage
ment of men, and for the organization of
business projects. 1t would have been easy
for him to have dashed off sermon in a
convenient interval and to have had leisure
and energy for any one of these other pur-
suits. But he did not yield to the tempta-
ton. He was wholly minister of Christ,
and not partly minister of Christ, and
business. There was in him no scattering
of power. The best he had his best thought,
his purest and intensest feeling, his most
strenuous action he put into his sermons
and his pastoral work. The natural result
of this was that his pulpit was a pulpit of
power. Few Christian congregations have
been minstered to with the steady, sust aimed
power in the pulpit that this congregation
has been favored with. Congregations have
their characteristics, almost as marked as
those of individuals, and largely due to the
character of the minstrations they receive.
| have been often impressed with the re-
| ceptive, expectant character of this congre-
CATION, as though they took their places in
| the spirit of the words of Cornelius to St
PAUL. awe are all here present before God
to hear all things that are commanded thee
of God" and have attributed it to the fact
that they were trained always to expect
something fresh and edifying, and knew
that they would not be disappointed. OF
the two departments of ministerial duty
that of the preacher and that of the pastor
DR.. Lord emphasized the former not be
cause he undervalued pastoral work, for he
sometimes spoke with admiration and kind
of envy of those who specially excelled il
this work but because his peculiar gift
were not so much in that direction as in thu
other. And yet in some branches of th'
pastoral work he greatly excelled. In tina
most delicate and trying, perhaps, of all th'
pastors duties-the administering of conso
lation to the bereaved-he was peculiarl,
happy. He was able, with gentlest sympa
thy, to enter into the secret places of sorrow
and carry the soothing balm of the divin
promises to wounded hearts. Among tn
most useful and most highly valued of al
his ministrations were those at funerals
Here, as nowhere else, his own Christian
heart seemed to pour itself out in faith, low
and hope. 1t was here, standing at the yer
gateway of death, that he seemed to realiz
most clearly and to proclaim most exultingl
the glorious doctrines of the resurrection @
the dead of the final triumph of Christ, i
his followers, over all the sins and ills of tn
mortal state, and the completion of his 10
and their blessedness in perfect and eterna
union in his everlasting kingdom.
DIR. Lord was a thorough believer in wha
are called evangelical views of the gospe
and in this faith he both preached and livec
r A conservative, both by instinct and trail
ing, he stood firmly in the old ways, an
asked for the old paths, where is the goo
way, and walked therein; and | believe
! may add the remaining words, and say {
D him that he found rest for his soul" i
t examined the new paths, he read the ne
0 books which profess to point out the ne
t and better paths, but never could discov'
S that he was at all tempted to try ther
: Whether it was that he passed early throug
o the stage of unrest that most experience
; some time, or whether by highly favor'
T. experience he escaped it altogether, he W
|. less disturbed by modern queries and cavi
1t than almost all his brethren in the ministr
1t His most constant hearers cannot rememb
If the time when his preaching betrayed al
e uncertainty, and lack Of clear, decisive co
N yiction on the great themes of the gosp
+. Nor did he believe that the faith of t
lr church general had been 80 shaken or d
II quieted as many have claimed, In an ess
s. written in 1867, he sad-and it was bra
ID thing to say in the face of all the boasti
C, on one side and trembling on the othe
ID christianity in all its parts and relatio
was never so settled and established as
e, day. Its supernatural verities were neN
is so thoroughly established. All the arts a
ry sciences all literature and history, have be
r- pouring their proofs into her lap and veri
en ing her statements, Nor was religion ever
a generally and absolutely credited in