Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-06-01
Memorial Sunday.

! tHuICn III this city, delivered the alnua
Memorial sermon on Sunday evening last
at Hancock Hall. At Gas O'Clock the
members of W. IL. IL. Rice Post, G. A. r..
met at Grand Army Hall and marched tC
Hancock Hall. The Post was in command
of ID. l.. Fields, S. V. c., in the absence OF
Commander Jas. F. Parsons. They wer,
Joined at Hancock Hall by the Woman
Relief Corps. All took seats In the centre
of the hall. Most excellent music for the
occasion was furnished by select choir
with Mrs. Harvard Greedy as pianist The
choir was under the leadership of Mr. Z
h. Hopkins, and was composed of the
following ladies aud gentlemen Mcssrs
+. X. Hopkins and o. W. Tapley, Mrs
Dora Hopkins, Mrs. Lewis. Mrs Il. l..
Kent and Miss Mary + Hopkins. A female
/ quartet consisting of Mrs. Hopkins. Mr..
Lewis, Mrs. Kent and Miss Mary +. Hop
/ kns, sang very sweetly. The stage, which
was very tastefully arranged for the occa-
sion, was occupied by Rev G. B. Chad
wick. Rev. ID. L. Yale, Rev f. A Mason.
/ the speaker, Mrs. Cochrane, and the choir.
I The following was the order OF services -
+ /. Singing BY Choir
I 2. Reading Of Scriptures, Rev. T.. A. Ma.
! son.
} :. Singing by female quartet
I. Sermon-Text | SAM, 40, Rev. Cora
;. Cochrane.
D. Singing l." America" By Congregation
/ 6. Benediclion, Rev, David l.. Yale.
The following il the full report Of the
most excellent sermon by Rev Mrs Coch-
rane. text, SamI, 49-"Be strong. and
quit yourselves Ike men. The sermon
was listened to with marked attention
throughout, and has received many com
pliments
BE strong, and gait yourselves like men,
| >aml-4q.
When God created man we are told tltat
He looked upon this, His final effort, and
pronounced It very good Man was to
De the King Of all creation, which was 10
bow In submission to his viii. la the
Image OF God was he created and before
life animated his limbs. breath from tie
Creator was forced into his nostrils, 80 In
different way than other anmals did he
become living being. did he derive hts
When We consider what wonderful
being il man, how ike a god he asprre- IL
the unattsinable, reaches out into the dark
ness trying To grasp the eternal. We 10
not wonder that the old Hebrew writer
conceived him as drawing his very nr.t
breath OF life from God. Himself Then
a. man struggled onward through d,D
uncertain ways. often falling. making
mistakes and suffering for his errors, no
man living strictly 10 the highest standard
he could conceive Of. 1t il little wonder be
thought OF far away perfect man, sur.
rounded by AL that was conducive 10 the
highest bliss. but " no was tempted beyoui
his s,reng III till al last he sinued. ana hy
his disobedience condemned all men TO
misery aud woe. Only thus could men
account for the contradictory qualities
wrapped up In this GROWING piece Of
Gods creation.
Yet In spite Of all the sins. all the mis-
takes and -uper-titious notions OF how liz
came ~ be. no matter how low In the
scale OF high living he has fallen. "a
mans man for a that and a that" with
possibilities wrapped up in his soul not
found In any animal life below him. ard
something centered In his breast that re-
spends 10 the appeal TO quit himself Ike
man" and - be In very truth the King o
all the earth
But what does 1t mean. or what has IL
meant In different ages - quit oneself Ike
4 man: As mans ideal has grown higher
and higher, 50 has his Idea of what con
stltutec his strength grown. We have
only to follow the history Of the world to
see the growth of nun from the maulire.s
that meant physical strength. 10 the manli-
ness that means moral strength The idea
OF the PhilistLes in the story the text |,
taken from. IS TO be physically strong
that they may successfully light the He.
orews and not become the servants OF the
very people who had been their servants
And among the Hebrews from the be
ginning We see the desire for physical
strength with little regard a. 10 what we
would call moral strength Look at Abra-
ham. He could face physical foes, bit
had not the courage to always speak lie
truth and was only brought back To the
right path through the strength Of char
acter of the woman he would have wrong
ed. Jacob was brave in battle, but We
cannot deny his lack of morals He was
a schemer. obtaining his blessing through
fraud, and David could fight the enemi.,
OF his people. He obeyed Jehovah so far
as protecting the ark of the Lord was
concerned. and united Israel into one
nation. So worthy was he that he was
called man after Gods own heart, and
yet he was not moral man according to tile,
nineteenth century standard of morality
But in spite of their deficiencies we do
not hesitate to say these were grand men
for their respective ages, and men who
helped on the coming of Gods kingdom ON
earth.
And from that time to this the struggle
hos hEAr gafKasr ,DL a
little purer. little farther on toward the
perfection Jesus urged them to find All
through the ages bards have sung Of the
heroes of battle. It's only our later poets
that tell US of spiritual heroism, OF the
heroism that resists evil not at the point
OF the sword or at the cauuon's mouth,
but they are beginning to sing of the hero
that plucks the evil GU. of his own breast
and strives to win the pure and gentle spir-
1t OF Jesus by becoming so pure In heart
that God is visible to his Utmost soul.
The darkened glass is becoming less dark,
men are seeing with clearer vision that
life is earnest. that to be men means to
lead noble lives, that the battles to be
fought are between good and evil, not be-
tween fellowmen, and step by step the
brotherto GOD of all men came into view,
till at last on the shores of our own coun-
Wy equal justice WIS declared 6nu IN q
war illumined by divine inspiration, broth
erhood and equality were established
| Then follow the history of our country
since the Revolution; see how the standard
of manhood has changed. As nation we
were independent. free people. But still
in sense physical might made right, and
| human beings were held in bondage For
three quarters of q century this evil was
eating away the foundation Of our repub-
lie. Men saw it, yet the country was so
woIdrously prosperous that they would
not heed the demands Of eternal justice to
| quit themselves like men and do what they
| knew to be right. But God was Keeping
watch about His own, the soul of His
black child was as dear to him, and often
times far whittier than the souls of His
white children. At last the penalty Of
wilful wrong doing had to be paid. Jus
tice would no longer be denied and men
| again learned that:
Though the mills of God grind. slowly,
| Yet they grind exceeding small,
Though with patience He stands waiting,
| With exactness grinds He all"
| and tonight we meet In q memorial SER
| vice to commemorate the thousands whose
| lives were sacrificed because q nation re-
fused to be just with Gods children.
| And since that war closed, the ''irre-
| pressible conflict" between right and
wrong has been waxing hotter and hot