The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1879-08-07
THE LATE REV. ALEXANDER CLARK.
Robert G. IngersolI's Estimate of a Chris
tian Divine.


Upon the grave of the late Rev
Alexander Clark [ wish to place one
flower.
Utterly destitute of cold dogmatiC
pride that often passes for the love OF
God, without the arrogance of the
''elect simple, free and kind-this
earnest man made me his friend by
being mine. | forgot that he was q
Christian, and he seemed to forget
that | was not, while each remember
ed that the other was man.
Frank, candid and sincere, he prac-
ticed what he preached, and looked
with the holy eyes of charity upon
the failings and mistakes of men. He
blieved in the power of kindness, and
spanned with divine sympathy the
hideous gulf that separates the fallen
from the pure.
Giving freely to others the rights
that he claimed for himself, it never
occurred to him that his God hated a
brave and honest unbeliever. He re-
membered that even an infidel has
rights that love respect; that hatred
has no saving power, and that in Or
der to be a Christian it is not necessa-
ry to become less than a man. He
knew that no one can be maligned in
to kindness; that epithets cannot con-
vince; that curses are not arguments,
and that the finger of scorn never
points toward heaven. With the gen.
erosity Of an honest man, he accorded
to all the fullest liberty of thought,
knowing, as he did, that in the realm
of mind a chain is but curse.
For this man [ entertain the pro-
foundest respect. In spite of the
taunts and jeers of his brethren, he
publicly proclaimed that he would
treat infidels with fairness and re-
spect; that he would endeavor to con-
vince them by argument and win
them with love. He insisted that the
God he worshiped loved the well-being
even of an atheist. In this grand po-
sition he stood almost alone Tender,
just and loving where others were
harsh, vindictive and cruel, he chal-
lenged the respect and admiration of
every honest man. A few more such
might drive calumny from
the lips of faith and render the pulpit
worthy of respect.
The heartiness and kindness with
which this generous man treated me
can never be excelled. He admitted
that [ had not lost and could not lose
a single right by the expression of my
honest thought. Neither did he be-
lieve that servant could win the re-
spect of generous master by perse-
cutting and maligning those whom the
master would willingly forgive.
While the good man was living, his
brethren blamed him for having treat
ed me with fairness. But, | trust,
now that he has left the shore touched
by the mysterious sea that never yet
has borne on any wave the image of a
sail, this crime will be for
given him by those who still remain
to preach the love of God
His sympathies were not confined
within the prison of a creed, but ran
out and over the walls like vines, hid
ing the cruel rocks and rusted bars
with leaf and flower. He could not
echo with his heart the fendish sen-
tence of eternal fire. In spite of book
and creed, he read between the lines"
the words of tenderness and love, with
promises for all the world. Above,
beyond the dogmas of his church
humane even to the verge of heresy-
causing some to doubt his love of God
because he failed to hate his unbeliev-
ing fellow men, he labored for the
welfare of mankind, and to his work
gave up his life with all his heart.
ROBERT G. INGERsoLL.