St. Paul daily globe., 1893-01-30
REV. WILKINSON
On the True Mission of Gifts and
Graces.

GraCes.
Yesterday a memorial service was
held in st. Andrews church for the
Rev. Phillips Brooks. The whole wor
ship was adapted to the soemnity Of
the occasion, the first hymn being one
sung at the time Bishop Brooks was
cOnsecrated. The text was: And when
Saul's son heard that Abner was dead
in Hebron his hands were fee5le, and
all Israel were troubled"
''Abner was mighty man of valOr,"
said Rev. Wilkinson. ''In a moment
when men looked not for it he was
slam, to the great sorrow of David, who
looked to hiT. for great. things. So, in
keen bitterness of soulghe exclaimed to
his servants: Know ye not that a
prince and a great man is fallen this
day in ISrael?' So it is often in human
experience the exceptional ability Of
leaders. Make those who know them
look for work and help in all sorts OF
emergencies, to rely upon them for
splendid assistance, and so to lay plans
which take them into large account,
when 10! they are not; they have gone.
In the case of Bishop Brooks, he was,
without doubt. one Of the most COM
DldIullI6 ulCl III lllS lCIlSlOuS WOilQ
The splendOr of his genius, the large
ness Of his sympathies, his opulent eio
Quence. his manly grasp of the great
needs of humanity, his sure confidence
III the power and adaptabiIity of the
Christian religion to meet all the needs
of men, in all their relationships to God
and to each other. His unwearied Ell
fo rts for the uplifting of society. Ali
marked him true leader Of his race. AS
we view Bishop Brooks, as we knew him,
and as those knew him who stood near
est to him, it is not easy to say just in
what his greatest power lay. 1t truly
was not in any one thing, but in such a
combination of gifts and such perfec-
ton of graceS as are not often found in
any one age in one man, and such use
of them as called out the admiration of
all who loved their fellows and desired
to see the kingdom of righteousness eX-
tended on the earth.
"PhllipS Brooks is asplendid example
of a robust Christianity. He did not
hold that religion is good for church and
Sundays only, thing Of creed and
psalms, of times and seasons. of places
and postureS, but life, permeating,
going into every department, detail and
moment of mems lives. This intense
conviction gave him tremendous pow
er with men of every class and of all
theological views. More than thirty
years ago he arrested the attention of
thinking men; in the days of the war
his burning patriotism found expression
in words which enshrined and also sent
into the world his hatred of the
slave cause, and his consuming
love of freedom in all its
forms. His sermon on the death of Lin
coin, when the president lay dead in In
dependence hall, Philadelphia, is one
which will long live as an example of
what preaching ought to be. With just
examination of facts, he charged the
death of Lincoln to slavery. and called
upon men to lOatEe it as it should be
eSchewed. Northern men looked upon
Phillips Brooks as true exponent of
the Northern views, and when he spoke
the leaders in New England began to
listen.
"HiS seven years at Trinity church,
| Philadelphia, are memorable He did
move that Quaker city as no man since
has ever done. Bishop Brooks was
called to Trinity church, Boston, a
proud position, for out Of its previous
eight rectors four have been made
bishops. 1t was place Of vast in
| tiuence in many ways, and one not to
| be entered lightly by any man. 1t was
with feelings of very grave re-
sponsibility that he undertook the
| charge. Not since the days of
| Calvin or of the men of the Mayfower
| had men lived who more earnestly dis
| cuSSed the principles of theology. Mr..
| Brooks, as a churchman, had a large
ground of advantage and he knew well
| how to use it. He understood the posi-
tion of both perfectly, and gave them
| credit for every good Intention.
The life Of this man was power be-
cause of its intense capabiliJy of Spir-
itual stimulation. This it was which
i gave it unique place, both in and out
of the pulpit, and to men of nearly all
| ranks and conditions. At Harvard il
| gained and kept the warm love of gen,
| Grafton after generation of young men:
i'll the city of Boston its best and most
| conservative business men felt its
power; in New York in Lent every day
| for week at noon the giant:
of finance crowded Old Trinity Il
hear Philips Brooks talk, not about
| cash. but duty, penitence, prayer, love
of God and love of men. Now he is
gone, his works do follow h m; he vii
long be remembered with very grateful
love by men who knew the charm O.
his power, and they will magnify tina
salvation which was SO clearly ShOWl
in him; they will say religion which
can do all this and make such a true
king OF men must be divine.
We see IN the sad end, las men call it,
the glorious preacher. such a sermon OIL
the value of character as has not beel
preached since Lincoln died, and w
are warned to be ready for thatchang,
which soon, alas! may come TO us. Tht
mission Of the great and good is to d.