St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-02-11

Sunday, Feb. z, 1886.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength.
This scripture defines religion, as
the union of the spirit of trust and the
spirit of duty. e.
A sweet and holy trust lies at the
foundation of all genuine character.
There can be no character without
faith. Character is the permanent
quality, that appears in all the utter
ances of ones life, that enters these ut
terances through trust in something
or some one. Great souls are made
steady and heroic by their confidence
in the wise and loving power that
makes the world a divine thing and
every life upon it a special care of
God. Ask any sOul,-"whO are you ~
and !'what are you ~ You are not
answered when he replies, -"this is
my work and these are my thoughts"
He must tell you of the authority and
love in which he rests and the refuge
of his life where he finds safety, re-
sources and joy. Every religious soul
must have Il harbOr from which to sail
in works of discovery and duty, into
which he sails when the storms rise
and the work is done.
But action is as divine as repOse.
Peace to vindicate it's GOdlike source
must be changed into energy. They
who eat the bread of life eat it not
only for the comfort it gives but for
the power Of which it is the source. In
the spiritual as in the physical life it
is true that eff any will not work
neither shall he eat" Prayer is sacred
so is business. TO the religious soul
God must be at the same time a refuge
and strength. The truth that is lived
is not the mean between two extremes,
it is the union of the two. The reli-
giOus life is like a chariot whose wheels
keep their places us extremes. The
large, comforting, useful soul is always
a soul that sweetly rests in everlasting
arms, while it works with restless en-
eTgy to do the bidding of its Lord.
/ have chosen this Scripture for the
mornings sermon because it was set
forth and in such IL pure and useful
way illustrated by one who now rests
and works with God. DR.. C.. L. Good
ell, pastor of the Pilgrim church at st.
Louis, whose large heart has taken up
on itself for many years the scare of
all the churches" died last Monday
morning. He was born in Calais, VT,
March is, 1880. From this little town
went two others who have occupied
large places of influence in the church of
Christ. DR.. Dwinell of the Pacific thee
logical seminary in California and DR..
Clark the Christian statesman, the sec
rotary of the Am. Board. These have
been three lights, one in the East, one
by the West and one by the great in
terror river. DR.. GOOdell graduated
at the university of Vermont and at
AndOver seminary and was made pas
tor of the South church in New Britain,
CT, in 1859. AT this time he and Miss
Emily Fairbanks of this town were
married. In New Britain and in st.
Louis where he was installed in 1872,
for twenty-seven years, in q most Joy
full and useful way the head of the
church was the home. The ministry
of teaching and consolation was
made more strong and gracious by the
union of manliness and womanliness
that were welded in every word
that was spoken and every act of SER
vice or divine charity.
Break not o wOmans heart but still endure,
Break not for thou art royal but endure,
Remembering all the beauty of that star
Which shOne so close beside thee, that ye made
His love unseen but felt, oershadow thee;
The love of all thy people comfort thee
Till Gods love set thee at his side again.
One week ago to-day in the service
of his church he seemed to feel the
touch of the spirit that was, imagine,
like that of the flame at PentecOst.
The heaven that was SO near seemed
to illumine his heart with the glory of
lo1 L nd FrIrn nnAnla,
saw in him the elevation of hope. 1t
was as if the angel of death by his side
had whispered the truth that only the
"mOre life and fuller" After the close
of the evening worship he went to his
home. AS, little later he said good
night to Mrs. GOOdell, just recovering
from sickness, she gave him to make
the night good, that large, divine and
comfortable scripture, = BLESSED are
they that do his commandments that
they may have right to the tree of life
and may enter in through the gates
into the city" He fingered and turn
ing said, "Yes-through the gates-in-
to the CITY," Soon after he went away,
they heard his voice in prayer. His
last act was the holy act of speaking
to God. Then darkness covered his
conscious thought, and in what must
have seemed to him as the next mo-
ment he stood at the threshold of
heaven.
Many of you recall as 1 speak the
words he uttered at the dedication of
this church, five years ago. The text
was the scripture, -''All things are
yours, whether life or DEATH" In that
l.
to Christians capital ?-certainly,
death is yours, you are not its. 1t
death is an enemy, it is an enemy to
those who know not Christ. 1t has
been conquered by the cross and made
friend and subject of the Christian.
Christ bears the key of death in his
girdle and uses it as a servant. Death
stands as porter at the covered way
which leads through darkness into
light. 1t is the one who opens the iron
gates of fear and points to the gates of
pearl. Death has no longer a sting
for the believer. Death relieves the |
Christian from sorrow and pain and
care and conducts to Christ. 1t is the |
bright point in every Christians histo-
ry. 1t is the hand which translates
him to the world of glory, and the oc-
casiOn of his everlasting joy. He owes
it to death that his eyes are to close
on the ills of earth and open on the
fruitions of Heaven. 1t performs the |
last earthly benefit by taking us to our
eternal home. In our Fathers house |
are many mansions. Death, only, can
introduce us there"
The last Lords day he spent on
earth, full of labor and prayer, gives
in epitOme the habit and character of
the man. On the one hand bound
less energy and on the other a pro-
found repOse. He loved work, in re-
ligious sense he was man of business,