The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-03-17
DEPARTED WORTH.
A Magnificent Soul Wrapped in
FPailest Earthly Tenement.
A PuIuit Tribute to the MemerY.Sf Alex.
n. Stephens, eeOrula's Deceased
Governor.
IS. nEMIHF TALMAan.l
Opening hymn
sWho are the1e in bright array.
This lnnumeTable thrOnGf'

This lnnumerable thrOngP
FRxT--Isaiah L., 20: "a little one be-
came a thousand" -.
In this prophecy ia set forth that
which we have ali noticed. that 1t is not
the amount Of aVOirdupOis weight which
decides effectiVness. Many man with
Vast physical equipment has not weigh
ed a half ounce on the side OF the worlds 9
betterment, while many one or lnstg-
nifieant stature and feeble forearm and
deerepit limb has weighed ton on the
right side of the moral balances. David,
the King OF Israel, so small a nIte tnat ~.
he upset the gravity of the giant dOliath,
yet the sword of the giant Is hung up in
history as impOtent beside the sling OF
Mia dwarf cOmbatRnt. Napoleon was
only Ave feet In stature. Arch10ald
Alexander, though head and shoulders
above other preachers OF his time In
theological attainment, was not more
than up to their elbows In physical
height. Some Of the grandest, mightlest
and most decisive and resOunding
strokes that have been given for God
and the Church and the world have been
given by some whose bodily equipment
have been only a pledge for the SOULS
earthly retention. Isaac Watts set his
diminutive personal presence In I'm
mortal rhythm. One such man as any L
have mentioned, though built on con-
moral force amounted to thousand or
dinary people. Their achievements were
far beyond anything their body prOphe-
sIed. and 80 my text had its echo: And
little one became thousand.
Among these men Of small body but
great soul place the name OF one, the
announcement of whose death falls up
on me with this evenings shadow:
Alexander II. Stephens, Governor OF
GEORGIA., and late member of the Con-
gress of the United States, Is no more.
for God hath taken him. With him
have had warm personal friendship, and
the tidinQs came to me this afternoon
more like q sharp blast out OF the north
than a message from the balmy south. l
have nothing to do with Alexander ID.
Stephens AZ politician, but as q warm
friend, as devoted Christian, as a great
and magnificent soul wrapped upin frail-
eat earthly tenement, have something
loving and earnest and gladstone to say.
Though little one, he was Thousand.
He was first of all Christian, q mem
ber Of our beloved denomination, bosom
friend Of and life companion with Rev.
Or. Samuel K. Talmage, whose name In
all branches OF my own family ls an IN
spiFatiOn and benediction, rne tneOlO-
Rian of whom now speak, like his SEN
atOrial friend whom l commemorate, q
little one who became thousand. Yes,
kIexander H. Stephens believed in God
the Father Almighty, Maker OF heaven
and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only
beRotten Son, with more brain than all
Che infidels now blatant and braWling
and blaspheming around Washington.
Ma was a believer In the Bible and Chris
tianity, and all up and down the south
are ministers Of the Gospel who went
into college and into theological semi
nary and into pulpit through Alexander
III. Stephens's pocket. With no prtneely
estate. Rm told that for the last thirty
years there has not been an hour in
which he has not been supporting men
on their way 10 medicine or the law or
bha Dulpit, Starting for the ministry,
and turning aside for the legal profess
aiOn, vet preaching to-day all over the
ROuth the Gospel of good tidings which
shall vet be to all people. He was one
Of the few men, who, like James LennOx.
of New York, could stay outside OF the
marriage relation and set become kind
or and more genial and more sympathe-
sic and more generous as the years went
nv. First he hOnOred God and next he
h0nofed Christian wOmanhOOd, and
yVhe, ever there was burdened man
who wanted help. or waywsrd man
who wanted opportunity TO return, or
stFuRRIing man who wanted knowledge,
there WAS one who might count on Mr..
AtephensRs an ally. Within ten days l
have heard his cOlored servants in most
unlimited terms speak his praise. His
house at Liberty, Georgia, his Executive
Mansion at Atlanta, his rooms at the
National Hotel at Washington, were the
eanter Of helpfulness and good cheer
and hospitality and culture. His heart |
was large enough for the whole world |
90 enter. Only eighty hVe pounds In
physical weight, at any moment the
2 IN
through the insufficient bars OF nesh MS
spirit might fly away.
Though he lived in stormy times, all |
who knew him knew that ne was |
champion Of peace, the very last man In |
Ma State to surrender TO the decree of |
secession, crying out after Gen. Pope's |
defeat In Virginia for compromise, glad |
ly going to Fortress Monroe TO meet
Vim. III, Seward In treaty, about the best |
wav of stopping the war, and after the |
close of the great struggle everywhere |
eOunselinR amity on the largest scale |
and forRetfulness Of all grudges. In |
November, 1860, Mr.. Stephens made the |
Following remarks in the House OF Rep |
resentatives, Georgia: when L look |
around and see our prosperity in every |
thing, agriculture, commerce, art, sell
enee and every department Of education |
mental and physical, as we'll as moral
advancement, and our colleges, i think. |
in the face of such an exhibition, IL we
can, without the loss Of power OF any
essential right or interest remain in the
Union, it is our duty to ourselves and to
DOsterity-let US not too readily yield
10 this temptatiOn-dO 80. Our first par |
ents, the great progenitOrs of the hu-
man race, were not without like temp
tatIon when in the garden Of Eden.
Thev were led to believe their condition
would be bettered; that their eyes would
be opened; that they would become as
gods. They. in an evil hour. yielded;
instead Of becoming gods, they only saw
IheIr own nakedness. look upon this
country, with our institutions, as the
Eden Of the world, the paradise OK the
universe. It may be that out OF 1t we
may become greater and more prosper
Gus, but am candid and sincere In tell
ing you that'I fear IL we rashly eVinee
passion, and without sufficient cause
shall take that step, that instead OF be-
coming greater OF more prosperous and
n AafnaA af knauuafwR nm1a NWA