The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-12-07
THE MINER MEMORIAL ADDRESS.

made oath to God that he would serve
the truth and the right wherever they
needed word or a life to help or
save them. 1t was his fealty to the
everlasting Reality, manifested either
to mind or to moral sense which kept
him in the ranks of brave minorities.
1t was not petty nature, but a great
one which could undertake all he en-
dured for the kingdom of heavens
sake. No man better deserved the
praise of Lowell's lines:
Life may be given in many ways,
And loyalty to truth be sealed
As bravely in the closet as the field,
So bountiful is fate,
But then to stand beside her
| When craven chuIls derde her,
To front lie in arms and not to yield
| This shows, methinks, Gods plan
| And measure of stawart man
| Limbed like the old heroic breeds
| Who stand self-poised on manhood's solid earth
i Not forced to frame excuses for his birth.
| Fed from within, with al the strenl tn he
needs.'
If we seek still another word which
shall suggest a ruling trait of his ma
ture we may well fix upon that noble
term which describes the corner stone
of all his theology as it was the fun
damental thing in his own spirit He
was an apostle of the Gospel of the
Universal Love; and he entered upon
that apostolate because that gospel
found such perfect response in his
own spirit. 1t was the unselfsh love
in his own great heart which inter-
preted for him the fullness of the Di-
vine Love. So he became a loving
messenger of the gospel of love.
1t is unfortunate that this word and
all its congeners have been suffered
to fall into the hands of sentimental
lists and rhapsodists. to denote little
more than a soft amiability, frothy
emotion, an impulse of shallow sym
pathy, of tickle enthusiasm, of nerve
less good -nature. For in this mar
rowed conception not only is love it.
self belittled and dishonored, but the
nature in which it displays some of
its most glorious aspects are not
counted at all as examples of its
power. DIR. Miner was no sentiment
alist. He was not blown hither and
yon by the shiftY gusts of impulsive
ardors. He had strong mans aver
sion for all that seemed like "gush."
And nothing maudlin ever found
Judgment in his thought or express
sion from his lips. Yet, tried by any
of the larger tests he was a man of
loving heart, richly lowered with "the
greatest of these" the supreme trait
in the Pauline trinity of virtues.
Love toward God and love toward
man were corner stone and cap stone
of his theology. They were the very
heart of his preaching and his teach
ing. They were the center and core
of his own personal religious life.
What he wrought and what he taught
were fruits from the prolific root
planted in his soul. Once when
student at the end of his college
days, came to him and tried to speak
his gratitude for the teaching and
for the example this college president
had afforded, his keen eye softened,
his hand was extended with that dig
nified cordiality we know SO well,
and he responded, II thank you! /
thank you'll I do not know that ]
deserve what you have told me. But
one thing | can truly say. | long
ago ceased to live and to work for
myself. am glad if | seem to have
accomplished anything for Others"
That was the heart of the man. He
was unselfish. He worked from the
higher motives. He lived the doc
trine he professed.
The breadth of his sympathies
bears witness to the same great fact.
He was a many-sided man, and
touched human life at more points
than most men ever can hope to.
His versatility was the wonder of all
of US. But it was not mere facility
of his mind, a restlessness of the wits
which craved employment and hated
monotony. He might have had a
variety of talents and still never have
used them. That he trod so many
paths of usefulness; that he became
leader in SO many good causes; that
he lent hand to SO many struggling
enterprises of righteousness, was be-
cause he had heart so catholic in
its sympathies.
His hand and his voice followed the
promptings of his great, sympathetic
soul. His appearance in so many roles,
now as preacher, and again as teach
er, here as administrator and there as
orator, leader of reforms and de-
fender of the things that cannot be