St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-03-29

| his shoulders to be untouched by the
weight that now rests upon US? Who
stands outside the tender and grateful
sorrow of the community We are all
partners in our precious and beautiful
memories we have all witnessed the
elevation of his life and been touched
by the charm of his pure sympathies ;
the town proudly laments the depart
ure of it's honored citizen children are
sad at the loss of him who conserved
the child in the man labOrers bow the
head in the heaviness of their pain that
their contented eyes are no more to be-
hold the form of their employer and
friend the church waits by her affairs
disconsolate while she feels herself
thrilled by the hope of seeing that
which he now sees "face to face"
There is variety in our grief but all
are mourners.
But we must not this day do such
violence to the quality and mission of
his life as to assume that this is simply
service of sorrow and a place for
tears. When we mourn life like his,
we must join with the pain of loss the
spirit of gratitude and the jubilance of
thanksgiving. When we remem Der
that such life is the best gift which
the Creator can discover in all the re-
sources of His love with which to en-
rich and inspire his children, we are
deeply conscious that the only Ian
guage for our sorrow is the music of
the Psalm. If we are adequately i'm
pressed by the meaning, the absolute
sincerity and high purpose of his life,
we shall seek for words to utter not
the depression but the ascent of our
hearts. Think over with pious care
the qualities of soul that he possessed
that he might give them to us; the in
tegrity, that felt the stain of any dis
honor like a wound the refined mod
esty, that looking toward God could
say "Thy gentleness hath made me
great ;" the patience, that would do no
wrong whatever the wrong endured !;
the courtesy, rooted in the love of JUS
tice the spirit that so rejOiced in being
the love of God which he taught us by
revealing His love for man,-make a
swift and luminous review of the
achievements of his life that have been
bestowed upon US, and all our sorrow
will be like the oil that shall furnish
food for grateful praise.
Add to these varied gifts another
whose worth and power are not capa-
BILE of clear expressiOn,-th value of
his presence. By this l do not mean
what he said or wrought, that which is
unsaid and undone is more often a
guide and blessing. You know what l
mean when | say, great and beautiful
was the penetratlve power of his pres
ence. 1t was good to know that he
was living with US. Men who did not
have the opportunity of his acquaint-
ance and fellowship, felt that there
was wise friend near. His presence
gave a certain calm and purity and
strength to the whole community. 1t
is not necessary that men should give
formal advice to have influence, or
definite commands to have authority.
The character that is genuine, that
cannot for any price degrade itself,
that is refined no less in the secret than
in the open places, whose dress and
thought and passions are singularly
simple in their confession of the one
purpose of real lifa-casts Il light over
the ways of human interest and strug
gle, makes all inferior things appear
vulgar, and without noise or advertise
ment sets life forward toward high en-
jOyments and high duties. We speak
of man, and as we speak the memo
ries of definite or useful achievement
fade for the moment from our thought,
and we say to ourselves, have
been blessed by the angel of his pres
ence, which was always an angel of
light. His power has been both child
like and royal, and in these moments
when the desires to express our grief
and honor mingle, [ cannot avoid call
ing upon all men, upon the spirit of
youth, in whose hands are the years
which they are to SOW as seed upon the
fields of life, to observe how superior
are the graces and virtues that make a
soul to all the baser conceptions OF am
bition. In the hour of this mans |
triumph, when we turn our eyes to the
light of his life in which we walked
without knowing it, we feel the sweet
and clear admOnitiOn to make the su
preme things really supreme in thought
and conduct. He who lived in the
strain and competition of business,
never acquired the hardness of bust
ness heart; he who received many and |
great hOnors never made honor an
idol be who carried in his thought
great plans as Michael Angelo carried
the ideals of mighty gods and men,
was never Indifferent to the smaller
needs that claimed his sympathy ; he |
in whom manners were closely allied |
to morals, was great in great things, |
greatest in the smallest. Such life
informs youth to-day who are seeking
that a true presence is the
greatest power, what men are rather
than what they haze or do, influences
while it gains our honor and our love.
1t is not our concern to-day to give
a biography, a narrative of his life; for
this time, within this home of worship,
we are more disposed to seek for his
biology, the law of his life. That
which made him is to us of more value
than what he made. If we seek to
learn what he did and initiate him in
the outer forms of life, we shall fail, if
we seek for knowledge of the power
that made him, that we also may obey
it, we shall in different ways achieve
what he achieved. How easily we
read in all the personal charm, the
charities and business of his years, the
simple law which he honored by his
law of serUice. This
law did not Cypress him with its claims
Of sacrifice, it stood before him as the
sweet, clear law of liberty. What he
had and what he was, were to be used
in making lives more cheerful and ear
nest. No other motive seemed to min
gle with the simplicity of this desire to
serve. While gratitude for kindness
pleased him, the honor which men give
the giver was more of a pain than a
Joy. His supreme delight was in see
ing the object of his love accomplished.
1t was life for him to live again in lives
made better by his charity. When he