Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1885-05-28
Memorial Services Last Sunday.

The largest congregation that ever as
sembled in one place in this city, met last
Sunday morning in the Opera rink to
witness the Memorial services conducted
by the Rev J. II. Hartman, of the Bar
tist church, assisted Iy the Rev. s. N,
urImth, OF the Methodist church, of
Jamestown. 1t was fortunate tor the
reverend gentlemen that they selected so
capacious an auditorium for the OCCASION,
for no church in the city would have &C.
commodatcd more than half the congre-
CATION that gathered there on that occa-
sion. "
The most notable feature in the congr..
CATION was the jamestown Light Guards
and The Fire company in uniform. imme.
diately in front on the left, and the noble
army Of veterans wearing their med ais,
on the right of the center aisle.
The services opened by song "Praise
God from whom all Blessing flow" An
order from General Kountz, the Com
mander- in chief OF the Grand Army Of
the Republic, to the veterans, was then
read by tho Rev. Mr.. Hartman, followed
by most pathetic prayer by the Rey. Mr..
Griffith. The language of this praye,
was beautiful in the extreme. 1t was one
of those prayers of application of want,
to Him who only can relieve it; 1t was
the prostratlon of humility, the iervency
of penitence, the confidence of trust. 1t
was not eloquence alone, but deep earn
estncss. 1t was not the grand language
alone, but compnnction Of soul. 1t was
the cry of faith to the Ear of Mercy; it
was prayer that swept over the infinite
scale Of mans weakness and Gods great
goodness, and many there felt the hands
of invisible spirits touch the springs of
that mysterious instrument, the soul, and
many scalding tears were offered on the
affairs of Memory for lost frienhs before
its conclusion.
The Rev. Mr.. Griffith also read passages
from III Sam, II and % chapters, and
from Ephesians, chapter 6. After an an
them by the choir the Rev. MIR. Hartman
commenced his sermon on "The Ministry
of Self Sacrifice" The text was taken
from the Gospel Of ST. Matthew, chapter
no, verse 80, "Whosoever will save his
life shall lnsa it and ''.' '7'S
his life for my sake shall find It,"
After dwelling for short time on the
laws of self sacrifice and mentioning
some of the great unseldsh heroes of the
past, among whom were Socrates, Homer,
Plato, Cicero and Dante, and to use the
reverend gentleman's own words, last
but not least, among the self.sacriiicing
noble souls that have passed away rank
our own soldiers who fell IN the righteous
cause of freedom"
From this point in the sermon, the veil
of the past was raised to many there
The vivid plcturing and the eloquent Ian
guage of the minister revived recollec-
iions. sacred and eternal, in the minds OF
those veterans directly in front OF him.
The flight Of years cannot erase from the
tablets of their memory the scenes OF
twenty years ago. Those scenes remain
invested with a fadelcss glory sacred in
their exemption from oblivion and decay.
Again we,e they reminded OF Shiloh.
Antletam, Fort Donaldson, Atlanta and
Gettysburg, and the friends that fell IN
those hard fought struggles, and elo-
ouence breathed its sweetest accents in
honor of those fallen ones, and strong
and heroic nature there was not ashamed
of the tear that welled up from the foun.
tain of his agitated feelings. Had theil
hearts been marble they would have bled
had their eyes been flint they would hav'
melted with tears when brought to thint
20 forcibly Of those who had sunk BESIDE
! them IN the glorious struggle for imper
lied liberty, who now sleep beneath thu
soil, their self devotion has consecrated
They are the stars in the firmament o