Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1892-10-20
WHITTIER SERMON DELIVERED ~ Rev. p
n. MASON IN THE CONGREGATIONAL
CHURCH SEPT. 2sTH 1892.

lCisdOu; teaching and Gdm0nisting one another
Nth psalms and hymns ana spirited SONGS, sing
ina lcith grace in your hearts unto God.-Col
| 3:l6.
/ There was once rustic boy who loved the
melody Of song, the rhythm of poetry, and the
! flights OF Imagination into the deeps Of truth.
He said Of himself: Il was a callow youth when
/ first began to rhyme; mere STRIPPING who loved
the song Of the bird while / was hoeing in the
cornheld." That STRIPPING wrote a poem. be-
cause there was music in his soul. As the sbnn-
dant waters in the earth press themselves to the
surface and find vent in blubbling spring, so
the abundant music in his soul broke forth In
verse and relieved the inward pressure. When
he was eighteen. wrote a poem in blank verse and
called 1t THE Deity" It was a paFahrase OF
Elijah's vision at Horeb. Elijah stOOd upon the
mount and the Lord passed by. and great and
strong wind rent the mountains and broke in
pieces the rocks; then followed the riving earth
quake and the consuming fire. But the Lord
in none OF these. Then came still, small voice.
Elijah heard it; he recognized its source; his
soul was awed 10 reverent and solemn silence.
Tie wrapped his face in his mantle and went out
and stood in the entering in of the cave. And
there 1t was tina: this still small voice spoke his
duty unto him. The parsphrase OF this wonder
ful prophet vision was the first poem Of that
STRIPPING.
| A few weeks ago an aged and decrepit man,
his hair silvered with the SHOWS OF eighty five
winters. sat at his desk and wrote greeting TO
his friend, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who had
reached his s3rd birthday. Fate had placed his
friend close on his track and he has been
pressing him bard all these SO years The writer
OF the greeting has passed down and out OF sight:
a few more tnrnings of the eaith, few mere
fittings by ofthe seasons, and the other also will
sink out OF sight while shedding upon the world
The golden glow OF the sunset. How beautifully
does that aged man, standing upon the brink OF
life, ca back to HE friend who is pressing close
on behind: give me your hand" he would
cheerily say to hint
THY hand, old friend, The service Of our days
In different moods ana ways
May prove to those who follow in our train
Not valnless nor vain.
Far II and FAINT as echoes of a dream,
The songs Of boyhood seem,
Yet on our autumn bough, unlown with spring
The evening thrushes sing.
1.-THE hour draws near, howe'er delayed and late,
| When at the Eternal Gaze
/ We leave the words and works we call our own,
Ana lift void hands alone.
For love to fill. Oar nakedness Of soul
Brings to the gate no toll,
Giftless we came to Him, who all things gives,
And lives because lie lives"
Between these two poems, he poem of the cal
low youth called "The Deity and the greeting
OF the aged man to his aged friend, is life OF
song spanning period OF &C. years and filing all
these years with the sweet fragrance OF truth
bossoned into poetry. with the redolence Of the
i true, pure. noble. modest soul OF John Greeneaf
Whittier, Now that first and last poem of Mr..
Whittier's exempify the beginning and the
end Of my text.-"Let the word Of Christ dwell
/ in you richly in all wisdom" aud singing with
grace IN your hearts unto Cod and much OF
that long life that lies in between may be sand to
! illustrate the middle and greater portion OF my
| text, teaching and admonishing one another with
psalms and hymns aud spiritual songs"
Let the word OF Christ dwell in you richly
! Did not Whittier let the word Of Christ dwell in
him ricnlyg When in callow youth he wrote The
Diety." the yision OF Elijah at Horeb, he himself
heard the still small voice and it hushed him into
81 ent awe he wrapped his face in his mantle be-
fore The presence OF the Lord and stood still to
hear the word of command 1t was in those
young days that he received his commission, and
he received it as it were by revelation, as Paul
| Ieceived his, as Elijah received his. as all the
prophets received. theirs. 1t came direct from
the land Of God. Whittier was phophet; a
prophet is seer, one who sees. He saw the
truth and no ore can see the truth who does not
see God, for God is truth. whittier's soul
was in touch with the invisible' spiritual world
in, hfrh C,,1l ;,a-
cples Of righteousness upon which human insti-
tutions must be based II they are to stand
1t is these young men who lhave these visions
that become the worlds reformers. They league
themselves with God against all unrightousness.
Does God hate inquity? So do they. Is Gods
wrath revealed against all ungodlinesss So is
theirs. The soul revolts against sin 1t Is kind
led with fiery indignation in the presence Of evil
It is the spirit Of God that has taken possession
OF them and dominates them.
Now this is what is meant by letting the wore
of Christ dwell in you richly. The word Of Christ
is the teaching Of Christ in reference to God and
Gods holiness and our responsibility to Him.
the word Of Christ is the eternal truth as It exists
in God. Isaiah, jeremiah, Ezekel and Zecharah
We're prophets, because the spirit OF God took
possession OF them and wrought in them. Mar
tin Luther and SavOuarola and Geo. Washington
and Abraham Lincoln were prophets because the
spirit OF Gods eternal truth wrought in them
Waiter had living conscience. as de!icatey
pvoted magnetic needle II was responsive
70 the presence and power o God il never fail.
ed to detect his presence; it always pointed to
ward the truth because it ALWAYS pointed toward
God
Then Whutier's knowledge q God was not an