The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-02-17
DAVID MoULToN.
Union Services at Deering Under the
Auspices of Rocky Hill Lodge.

AuSPtSSS oI nOCky FTIn GCuSe.
Union memorial services in honor of the
late David Moulton were held last evening at
the new hall of the Knights of Pythias at
Woodford's DR.. G. W. Foster presided
Singing was furnished BY the choir of the
Stevens Plains church consisting of Messrs.
Granville and Pitt Stevens, Mrs. A. A.
Stevens and Mrs. Kate Knight, Miss Minnie
B. Meserve presided at the organ. The fol-
lowing fraternitieS to all of which Mr.. Moul-
ton belonged were officially represented; ;
Rocky Hill Lodge, Knights of Pythias by L.
B. bennett; Deering Lodge Of Free Masons
by Samuel Bell; Harmony Lodge of Odd Eel
lows by n e. Cummings; Woodford's Com
mandery of the Order of the Golden Cross
by |. l.. Elder; Bramhall Lodge of which the
deceased was formerly member by Eliot
King and A. F. Moulton. H. B. Webb, Pre-
late of the Pythian Lodge at Woodford's,
officiated as chaplain and read appropriate
selections from The scriptures and the
Pythian Ritual L. B. bennett gave an ex-
tended Grafton which was followed by re-
marks from the delegates from each order.
Never has there been so general and spon
taneous desire to do honor to the memory
of any man in this neighberhood as has been
manifested towards Mr.. Moulton. Extracts
from the remarks of. the different speakers
would do them scant justice, and as space
forbids presenting them at length we give
only the oration of Mr.. bennett, the first
speaker of the evening, who spoke as follows:
The death of a friend who was dear to us, al
ways calls us to mediate upon our mortality and
philosophze upon the problems Of life and death.
These meditations are less guided by reason than
wish to reason why A great afflictiOn inevitable
and irreparable leaves us no choice but submis-
sion. The most subtle dOgmatist, or the profound
est philosopher, IN such moment, is not superior
in his insight to the simple mind of the untulOred
All are equally blind as to any clear intellectual
perception of what lies beyond this life. The
human heart the heart that loves, adores and ex-
ultS, the heart that wishes and Wills that braves
and endures; the heart that imagines, fashions
what it wishes The child sees its departed
mother In a garden of flowers and singing birds
The theoogian sees his saint kneeling before
his Cod The soldier, his hero standing behind
the bastions OF the immortas. SO let the human
heart fashion for itself its own ideals. Let it be
untrammelled Let it belt will be.
The heart is the only absolutely free thing in
this world 1t loveth whom 1t listeth. 1t believes
what it loves. 1t trusts what it believes. The
world does not know its secrets. The sources of
its joy cannot be explored even by itself. 1t cam
not interpret its own dreams. 1t knows that it is
inferior to the hand that fashioned it, Therefore,
fore it knows that it is immortal. Such is the
simple creed of the human heart.
The head has other and different creedS. But
we do not bury our friends by them. When
friend dies, in other words when love forsakes
the heart because it has become cold, our love
cate with it. We still recognize it as Mentor rec
Ognized Ulysses upon the distant shore. We sa-
lutte it with our ceremonials at the funeral and
burial. We decorate the grave with flowers. We
console ourselves by rehearsing his merits. Let
us dwell upon the many merits of our departed
in his case, and say nothing but good of the dead
Let us tell each other what we all know of our
brother His intellect clearly perceived the joy
GUS and mirthful things of this world. He was
constantly searching for them everywhere. i'll his
friends and upon the printed page. He saw in an
author 1 all the witty and sparkling pa things which
able acting they became new, as if born of his
own brains. How much of this he did for the
everybody, without reward or hope of reward
sacrificing himself to please and assist others,
entertaining church circle, and fraternity lodge,
and private party, like sunbeam, warming and
lighting with the genial rays of his soul every au-
dience before whom he ever stood.
Such was the gift of our brother. 1t was worth
When we have an opportunity to make contrast
like this, we should dwell upon it. 1t is too sell
dom that we have such an opportunity. Many
men can tell us how money creeds, or dogma runs,
or science demonstrates but few rare sous have
for this gift, that it visits the earth at all. He
zone whom the strong sons of the world despise,
for lucky rhymes to him were scrip and share,
And mellow metre more than cent for cent.
Thought it a dead thing; yet himself could make
The thing that Is not, as the thing that is"
His disposition was gentle. Gentleness was as
natural to him as his genius for mimcry. He
shrunk from the boister0us or rude. He disliked
to hurt the sensibilities of any one even for mo-
ment He avoided any remark or innuendo or wit
ticism which could possibly be offensive to any
There was no personal application to his hard
hits. They were shots at the fock-although
brought down to the earth, when separately ex-
amined no one was wounded, and while the laugh
was ringing in our ears every of the flock had
escaped unharmed and was laughing too. This
gentlenesS IS worthy of its divine origin. 1t is
born in heaven, and comes down only occasional
ly, but never with creed in its hand. 1t assumes
no hypotheses, and never debates. 1t is child
can do more than produce its limitation polite
ness. The gentleman is necessarily gentle
he % was also genius Possessed Of rare ca
pacity for affairs, he did not appear like the man
of business that he mainly was. He came up
from the receipt of customs with freshness of
spirit which gave no hint that he had passed the
day under lugubrious shadows of tariff schedules
and navigation statutes. His genius seemed to
be evenly developed, and adapted to every occa-
sion. There was no eccentricity about it. He
was never odd or moody He was like the cloud
less sky OF a summers day,-a perpetual bri ght-
ness and serenity.
OF most persons too much good may be said be-
cause part OF it will not be true. Not so with
our departed brother Words fail to do him com
plete justice, because manner cannot be de-
scribed. A face may be photographed with a
smile upon it. but the smile is one that has
passed. The living smile is the one now going
on 1t is too changeable and transient to be
caught even in the meshes of the sun. No one
can Adequately describe manner. We can merely
sketch its distant boundaries. and by exaggera-
ton OF words find multiple of the fact.
David Moulton could not have been pictured by
words so that stranger could have recognized
him, Fortunately am not speaking to strangers
but to you who knew, loved and admired him.
You must recognize how much | have fallen
short estimate of his n his Oantle-
ness and of his mIny character. While to a
stranger these remarks may seem ex tggerated,
to you they are feeble, and your imagination and
memory must after all supply the best things
which could be said of him.
The biography of our departed brother has al
ready been well written by a friendly and even
fraternal pen, and published in the press OF the
city. By which l mean that the great or obvious
public facts in the life of Brother Moulton have
been briefly stated. This is all that biography
can really do, and shall be going out OF the wen
troddenp path in attempting to state other Iacts OF
of the interior fife of the man. man should be
Judged not by his public career alone, but by his
private conduct, as husband and father, as neigh
bOr and companion. A mans demeanor in these
various relations is OF supreme Importance to
these related parties. How fortunate is family
whose head is a safe guide and ready helper, a
cheerful, Obliging and amiable companion; an as
socate rather than commander, in all the busi-
ness amusements and recreatiOns OF the home
life A happy childhood is the FIRST inalienabIe
right. The father who contributes ali that is nos
sible for himself to do to this end, achieves
grand success an lmleasufaDle success inesti-
mable in any formula of words we can invent to
express. Blessed be the memory Of such a
father, OF such a companion, of such a friend
How great is the loss of our brother to the large
social circle which he Illuminated and eheered.
we console ourselves with this fHal thought that
the llves OF all must terminate here, at last The
llylng only grieve. To the dying death appears as
q friendly guide "to that undiscovered country
from whose bourne no traveller returns" We may
well believe, with rational and unfaltering trust
that death, inscrutable as 1t Is, cannot mlslead
that divinity we call the soul. 1t will survive and
dwell in its own celestial realm. Let us bid our
brother joyful adiue there.