The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-02-16

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spirit of his own. Lived as he lived
life becomes worth living; it is an
everlasting joy, peace that passeth
all understanding, divine glory; it
i, religion in all its fullness and
beauty"
From the divine lips of Jesus came
the Lords prayer" into the world.
This prayerreveals the fact that "God
is our father" Eternal hope and an
all-sustaining faith are born of the
ineffable glory of this truth. Hope
for all, and faith in universal saliva
alton"
Those quotations indicate the gen
eral character of Mr.. Eaton's preach
ing.
Our father with many others was
deeply touched; his soul thrilled as
the Holy Spirit descended upon the
little company; he was converted, as
he often declared, in this Pentecostal
season, to the truth that religion is
life in all its fullness-eternal, as ex-
pressing quality, and endless by the
force of that quality.
The First Universalist Church of
Portland was organized and entered
upon it's Christian work. Upon a
beautiful Sunday afternoon, never to
be forgotten, large number re-
ceived baptism by immersion. A
conference meeting was organized,
and religious services were held every
Sunday when there was no preach
ing.
By common consent our father was
made the Leader of these meetings.
His whole soul was afame with zeal
and the power of the Spirit rested
upon him, and great grace was upon
all the people. ASunday school was
soon organized and the religious edu-
cation of the children began. Among
the pleasant recollections of these
days are the Sunday mornings when
the father, with his Bible in his hand,
led us boys to the Sunday school.
Some of the more bigoted neigh
bors were not slow to say he was lead
ing his children to perdition. We
remember one who asked in sarcas-
tic tone, els that your Universalist
Bible2" Eyes," came the answer,
"this is the king James version, full
of Universalism, as God is full of
love-"
Profoundly impressed with sense
of duty, and believing that duty was
privilege, he established the family
altar for prayer. This was the un-
sealing of divine fountain of infu-
ence which began to flow and which,
augmented by many lesser streams
of incidental relation, flowed on,
broadening and deepening in the
family life. The father, himself, had
no clear conception, and could have
made no intelligent estimate of re-
suits, even had he paused to consider.
He was led by power not his own
to establish this altar and to kneel
before it. The hating words and the
tremulous tones of that first prayer
are all forgotten, but the spirit of
that prayer has been the good angel
of the family from that day to this.
Startling the wondering children
kneeling around the fireside came the
fathers cry for Gods help,-"Thou
art the Father divine, full of infinite
compassion, tender and gracious! Help
Thy servant to be father to these
children, worthy of the great trust
Thou hast committed to his care. y
In that hour filial love was deep
ened and every child's heart was knit
to the fathers in the bon Is of respect
most reverential and holy. The
mothers sweet "amen," baptized in
her tears of joy, touched the respon-
sive nerve and drew us to her arms in
a loving embrace. The good night
kiss sanctified the service and was of
, all, the sweetest and hottest ever
given and received. We knew not
then what had been done, but now
we know. God does not measure his
answer to prayer, but gives in over
flowing grace. The evening services
continued year after year, and are
among the most treasured memories
of the home life. No legacy of houses,
nor land, nor gold, though reaching
into millions, could have enriched his
children as the influence of the
fathers example enriches, and con-
tinues to enrich them. Gold is dross
compared with such treasure.
An incident which occurred about
this time, we'll illustrates the strength
of the fathers character, and the
spirit of his religious devotion. On
the return of the mothers only sister