The Portland daily press., 1889-03-20
Funeral Of Geo. n. cIoudman.

The funeral of the late Geo. II. Cloudman
took place yesterday afternoon in the Church
of the Messiah. Rev. Marion Crosley of
Springfield, Mass, the former pastor of the
church officiated, and the funeral ceremonies
of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and
Masons were performed. The members Of
the city government, including Mayor Mel
cher attended in body, and the church was
filed With the other members of the de-
ceased.
The floral offerings were many and beauti-
full. Among them were a beautiful pillow
bearing the word Father" in purple immor-
telles, from his two sons, James M. and
Charles III. cross and crown from his busi-
ness friends, the emblems of the Patriarchs
Militant from Grand Canton Ridgeley, a
Tyre. sickle and others from other friends.
Shaw's quartette sang appropriate selec-
tions, the first being Nearer My God to
Thee" After reading the scripture and Of
fering prayer, Mr.. Crosley preached very
eloquent sermon, taking dis text from Ec-
clesiastes Ill; 20, 21.
'All go unto one place all are the dust, and all
man that es gostS upwsrd anS the spirit of the
beast that goeth downward to the earth?"
And John, XII; 80, 80 ga--s..-
"And l. if be lifted up from the earth will
draw all men unto me-" EfhPH
The first text is taken from the Old Testa-
ment, and so far as the first part of it is con-
cerned we know it to be true. We all 60 to
one place so far as these bodies are con-
cerned; we all return to dust. The dust re-
turns to dust as 1T was, and the spirit returns
to the God that gave it. Our attention is
called to the truth of the first part of the
text almost every hour of our lives but the
difficult is with reference to what becomes
of the spirit There is something in the
house of clay more than the clay itself.
There is something in this form while it is
animated by life more than all about it. The
power and faculty of thought, the power and
faculty of affection, all these things combined
in the body make that part of us we call i'm
mortality. 1t is above all the death touch.
The spirit returns to the God that gave. We
cannot exactly trace the spirit. Here we
tread upon the ground of faith. By thought
man can go down great way into the invis-
ible world. We find there is something in
man that can go out beyond his physical
powers. We find there is spirit in man
that is far more than the body itself. AS the
dust returns to that from which it came, so
the spirit goes back to that which gave it
power So it seems to me that we prove
that the spirit rises up and ascends to the
God who gave it. This idea of a higher
power dwells in every race that God has
made. The most complete life in this world
is an unfinished one. 1 say future state Of
existence Is an absolute necessity for the fact
that man is so incomplete. No life has even
reached the summit of its completeness. If
this is the end then life is failure. IF be
lifted up from the earth l will draw all men
unto me-" If it be true that Christ is living
1t is true that we shall be raisedup to Him.
Man is not lifted up to the level of Christ by
a single act. 1t is by the process of growth,
IL Is by the process of development. We be-
come fitted to live in that world as we be-
come fitted to live in this. So we give over
this mortal form to Him who will consign 1t
to the dust from which it came. He sees
more, knows more, has better privileges, a
better world stretches out before him than
we can see with this lvission of ours. he
leaves memory not only with his brothers,
but with large circle of friends. He was
honored not only in his household but by his
neighbors.
After the sermon the Iquartette sang, I'VE
are Gathering Homeward,' and then the Ger
emonies of the different lodges were per-
formed.
The pail bearers were Alderman McCann
and Councilman Clark of the city council
Messrs. Leroy S. Sanborn and Charles F.
Gurtill of the Ligonia Lodge of Odd Fellows
and Messrs. William Pote and F. J. Woos-
ter of Munjoy Lodge, X. of P.
The services were impressive and beauti-
ful