The record-union., 1892-01-27

join organizations. They have so much in
dlviduaiity, they HAYES SO much indepenG-
ence Of character that they cannot but
act by themselves, and it is a beautiful
element of character when it is applied to
the various departments OF life. good
deal of charity to-day is institutional. We
help our fellow-men by contributing to
this charity or to that society. What the
poor want is not so much money as you.
They want personal thought, personal
sympathy, personal helpfulness.
James Russell Lowell in his Vision of
Sir Launfal' teaches this truth. The
knight threw gold at the feet Of the beg
gar, and the beggar refused it. 1t was
not gold that he wanted. He wanted
human sympathy, human kindness, the
touch Of human heart through a human
hand; and | believe that our brother who
has gone helped multitudes in personal
Way-ln quiet way-not letting his left
hand know what his right hand did,
which is the highest type of charity. He
world hnd boy or young man going
astray and would go quietly to them and
try to help them back into the path Of
noble, honorable manhood. We are
thankful that such men have lived. 1t
seems hardly right, it seems almost sacri-
Iege that L should speak of him at all, be-
NduSG lis lie WAS SO quiet. ne was SO
transformations; he chose rather TO be
found in quiet ways and avoided public
lty. And yet l know many here to-day
desire to do him honor and would speak
eIOquently of his LIES services, Of has
character, all these years he has lived in
your midst. There is q motto worked in
these flowers, Hope Oh, hope ever"
hope was his banner word; he had hope,
he had faith in man. Let us, friends, in
parting from him, take this motto: Hope
on, hope ever. We will part from him
in the hope that we will meet again.
Love never dies.
We cannot bring ourselves to believe
IN the dreary creed of annihilation. 4
man is too much to go out like a candle.
A man created in the image of God,
man with affection and reason and un-
derstanding and thought and character
survives the grave, triumphS over death
and lives his true life beyond. This has
been the hope and faith of the highest and
the nOblest minds that have lived on this
earth. Froude tells US that Carlyle, in
the closing years of his life, looked hope
fully into the future and felt that he
would again meet and know the cOmpan-
ions and friends who had passed on be-
fore. The words often on his lips We're
these:
II Is an old belief
That on some solemn shore,
Beyond the sphere of grief,
Dear friends viii meet once more
Beyond the sphere of time,
And sin, and fate'S control
Serene in changeless prime
OF body and Of soul.
That creed fain would keep
This nope III not forego-
Eternal be the sleep,
II not to Waken 50.
All our great poets speak hopefully,
triumphantly, of the life that awaits us
beyond the grave. Tennyson says:
Let there be no moaning at the bar
when | put out to sea- In that match
less ode on Immortality, 'In Memoriam,"
he voices the faith and hope Of all great
souls:
Forgive my grief for one removed,
Thy creature whom I found so fair;
| trust he lives in Thee, and there
ma him WOrthler to lie loved.
Browning is confident that death does
not end all. Almost the last word he
wrote was. Greet the unseen with
cheer. Strive and thrive, fight or fare
ever there as here" And our Longfellow
assures US There is no death; what seems
SO is transition"
Are all the great poets and thinkers of
the world wrong? Has God created these
longings for immortality for naughte
Man thinks he was not made to die, and
God has made him. These longings are
not eaTth-bOrn they were begotten in
us by Him in whose image we were
made. They Will be realized.
l lived in the nOrthland a good part of
my life. [ remember that when winter
time drew on the waterfowl began to be
uneasy, and gathering in groups, moved
away toward the southland. There was
an instinct there was a something in
them that told them there was south
land, and they flew away, day after day,
day after day, through the cold, clear
atmosphere, and at last found the south
land, answering to the instinct within
them. And man believes, and hopes,
and longs for an eternal southland, and
some day we shall find it. He who guides
the waterfowl through its long flight, in
the long way that we must go alone will
lead our souls Alright.
The service closed by the choir singing
the beautiful hymn, Lead, Kindly
Light'-
SO long Thy power has blessed me, sure it still
viii lead me on.
Ger moor and fen, DER crag and torrent till
the night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which l have loved long since, and lost
awhile.