Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-08-13
The Funeral Discourse
Delivered by DR.. Newman at the Great
0bsequies on Mt McGregor-The
Religious and Domestic Traits
of the Hero Shown as Mark
ed as His Own Public Acts.


ed as His Own Public Acts.
"Well done thou good and faithful servant,
enter thou into the Joys of thy Lord
Matthew xxxv, 81.
Such, my brethren. is the eulogy that
God shall pronounce upon human good
ness and fidelity wherever found among
the sons of men. The accidental dis
tinctions between prince and peasant.
millionaire and pauper, commanding
general and private soldier, are but as
the dust in the balance in His estima,
tion of personal werth; He regards not
the person of any man; he looks upon
the heart. If a renowned philosopher
searched an ancient city for man, God
is ever in search for a character, which
in His sight outweigbs the transitoIy
distinctions of earth and time, and out
of which are the issues of life. Tell me
not what man possesses-the beauty
of Absalom, the glory of Solomon, the
wealth of Dives, the oloquence of Apol>
los, the learning of Paul, but rather tell
me what he is, in his modes of thought,
in his emotional being, in the trend of
his passions, in the temper of bis mind,
in the tenor of his life, out of which
come the totality of his existence and
the finality of his destiny. This is the
man as he is, and by it let him be judg-
ed. In the intensity of this divine light
let us to-day recall the character of the
illustrious man whose death a nation
so tenderly mourns.
Some comrade in arms shall speak of
the splendor of his martial genius; some
statesman shall review the majesty OF
his civil administration; some historian
shall place him on the pedestal of his
renown; but let me, as the minister of
religion, dwell upon that great character
which will ever be his crown of glory
and the imperishable heritage of the
country he loved SO well.
You have seen him in the fury of bat.
tie, in the glory of victory, in the chair
of state; you have seen-him the guest of
the world, honered by crowned heads
and sceptered hands, by renowned war>
riors and eminent statesmen, by fOre>
most scholars and adoring peoples; you
have seen him in the quiet of private
life, undistinguished from his fellow
man other than by those virtues which
made him conspicuous and by that fame
which came from honorable deeds; you
have seen him in the sorrow of misfor>
tune, such as has often come to the best
and wisest fnanciers in the world; you
have seen him in the suffering of the
sick room through nine weary months,
enduring the indescribable tOrtures of a
malignant disease and that without a
murmur; and to-day you see him in the
repose of death, in the undisturbed
sleep of the just And could you rend
the veil that obscures our mortal vision,
you would see him in bis better form of
immortality; with all his mighty facul
ties in full play, unchanged in his indi-
viduality, the same calm, earnest, sim
cere soul, purified and exalted and in
tent on the realities of his better life.
Shall we pause to inquire the meaning
of these emblems of national sorrow and
universal grief-the flag at half-mast,
the minute gun, the muffied drum, the
tolling bell, the solemn march, the reign
of silence in schools of learning, in courts
of justice and in halls of legislation, tie
suspension of business, public and pri-
vate buildings draped in black. streets
throRged with mourners marching with
measured step to strains of saddest mu-
sic? Shall we inquire why sweet child
hood has forgotten its innocent joys,
why womanhood is bowed with grief,
and why all mourn as for a father, hus-
band, brother, friend?
Shall we inquire why the land is fill
ed with lamentation from the savan-
nahs of the South to the snow-capped
hills of the North, and from where the
Atlantic means along its ancient coast
to where the Pacific sobs on its golden
shore, why poets lament, orators deplore,
editors deprecate and ministers turn to
the Unseen for consolation, why king
doms and empires stand with our great
nation as chief mourners?
He is one of the few men in history
who did more than was expected. Some
men excite great expectation by the
brilliancy Of their preparations; but this
quiet, meditative, undemonstrave man
exceeded all expectations by doing more
than he had promised, and by doing
what all others had failed to do. Oth+
ers had done their best with a conscien-
tieusness worthy Of all praise; they had
worked up to their maximum strength
and accomplished much; they had con-
tributed largely to the final victory, and
shall receive well of their country. 1t
was no fault of theirs if nature had not
endowed them for the ultimate achieves
ment. But this man, pre-eminent by the
AoPPJ 00noAHoGtOH VI oOGu HdIuT0 duu
Providence, rose superior in the supreme
moment, forced all things to do his bid
ding, and, like another Joshua, could
have commanded sun and moon to stand
still to illuminate his final path to vic
tory. His latent resources seemed mex
haustible. Was Fort Donelson esteemed
imPregnable9 1t yielded to his COM
mand for an immediate and "uncCndi-
tional surrender" Did Vicksburg defy
his sixth plan of capture? His seventh
plan was success. Did Richmond hurl
defiance at all previous attempts? His
final effort was a triumph, and over the
doomed capital of the Confederacy tri-