Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1881-12-22

MONS, so great was MS zeal lOF UOus
and his coming Kingdom in this place
It was nay privilege, not only to knows
/ him when in comparative health, butt
also when disease had laid its palsyings
hand upon him. Those last few timesI
IL saw him [ shall not soon forget.
sThere was such blessed sweet spiritj
of resignation, of implicit trust in the
Savior. of soul rest, of glad hope, of
fervent devotion and of purest Lowell
supon him. Christ was so near and
sprecious, the angels SO encamped ahoutI
land ministering to him, that the very
atmosphere seemed full of heavenly
Influence. His room was ''none otherI
than the house Of God and the gate of
aheaven." Oh! how he will be missed!
( in our Sunday school, our prayer meet
|, ings and preaching services and in
I the lodge ; but in no place as IN his
! own home, to him the dearest spot on
earth. He will be missed by our
! schools, by the community at large, by
!. his neighbors and by host of warm
sfriends throughout the state; but by
Snone SO much as by his beloved devo-
sted wife and precious children.
q Why are we gathered here to-day :?
sTo pay our last respects to Brother
APhilleo, and to comfort one another !;
zand especially those near relatives who
amourn their loss. We talk, too, of
kburying our dear brother but he is
snot here. We have with us in this
Hbeautiful casket, his mortal remains );
abut he like Moses, is gathered to his
sfathcr's - not in the city of the sleep
ling, dreamless, silent dead, but in the
RIGOROUS city of light above. He has
Hleft the frail earthly tabernacle to dwell
sforever in ''the house not made with
shands eternal in the heavens. Being
3 'sabsent from the body" he is ''present
with the Lord" And while our tears
kfall in sorrow because Of our great
Floss, we should weep for very JOY as
! I've think of his unspeakable gain.
q One by one the monarchs Of the
Ewoodland fall, one by one the fathers
sdie, one by one our friends pass over
1.-THE river into the unseen land. We
shope to meet them again. Thank
sGod we all may. Since Christ died
I've all may live. Since he was hum
sbled we may be exalted. Since he
ksuffered we may forever rejoice. Since
Che was crowned with thorns we may
swear crown of unfading glory. Since
Che left his friends and home to come
Ito earth, we may leave earth and go
ahome and meet with those who have
Hpassed ON before. But when we meet
shall we recognize each other? Quite
Gotten has this question been anxiously
sasked, and the poet has put it, with
1.-THE answer into beautiful verse.
i To-day, for our mutual comfort, and
especially, that these relatives of the
Edecea6ed may have consolation, [ will
sanswer this question Of the heart, as
1.-THE poet did, afirmativeIy. | lay
down this proposition. We shall know
leach other in the better land and |
Twill prove it by reason and revelation.
q And first as sustaining this PROPOSE
Elton, allow me to say this; The consti-
tuition Of the human mind will remain
aforever unchanged. Memory is one OF
Hthe most important attributes Of the
amind 1t lies at the base of rational
City and accountability. None are held
accountable unless possessed of power
Ito reason, and to reason is impossible
Bwithout memory. All intelligent be-
Eings in heaven and earth arc held &C
Ecountable for the reason that they are
'Epossessed of memory. The universal
Ebehest is "Remember nay command
Inents to do them" Annihilate mem
b DRY and you annihilate reason and &C
Il countability. But memory remains for
h lever. Abraham said to Dives in the
Bother world. son remember. IF mem
Eory retains her seat we shall know each
sother in the glad and glorious hereaf,
.Eter. Then heaven is place Of highest
Eenjoyment. But take memory out of
EHeaven, and its light will be turn
He'd to darkness; it's bliss to woe, and
I its sweet songs of JOY to walls Of dis
3 tress. Take memory out Of the world
b and you have put and end to commerce,
Etrade, business, art. science and every
4 industry; you have blotted out all that
lis valuable, the languages, the schools.
B and the domestic relations; all govern
g ment and all religion. Let memory
B cease to be and disorder and chaos,
B misery and death will fill the world
& If the memory dies with the body
Il and the power to retrospect and recog-
B nize be denied the denizens of the
sSpiritual world, then these souls Of
8 ours, Chat God intends shall grow
B and develope eternally) must starve,
B shrivel and die. What Is it pos
+ sible that there shall be no fond mem
\ ories, no blest associations, no graft
Z tude to God for his love, no songs of
Is praise to Christ for his grace Is
B heaven to be an infinite blank, an
B eternal Egyptian night? Is paredise
Hthe synonym of pandemonium Never!
B Yet this is so, if memory fails and dies
B with the other tenement of clay. But
E an anxious soul says, Il don't dispute
& the fact of memory remaining as an
essential attribute of the mind; but
B will there be that in the glorifed spirit
& that will enable its friends to identify
ait?" Yes, the character remains I'M
& changed, and it is character that gives
form to spirit, just as the spirit moulds
Stha hodV How the sou1 is ro;rroro1