The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-04-24
L0VEIL'S SCHOOL REUNION
LANCAsTERIAN SCHOOL BOYS OF
 OLD REUNITE.
They Recall Days of Tore aud Honor the Grave of Their Departed Teacher--An "Reminiscences.

|
 Grave of Their Departed Teacher--An
 Interesting Occasion Throughout-Many | "Reminiscences.
 The annual meeting and reunion of
 the Lancasterian School association was held yesterday afternoon and even-
 ing at Stewards cafe, the day being
 the one hundred and first anniversary
 of the birthday of John E. Lowell, the
 founder and a principal for nearly half
 century of the school.
 1 At o'clock the members Of the asso-
 citation began to gather in the hall over the cafe. Most of them are men we'll
 advanced in years, scarcely any of
 them being under fifty years of age.
 At 5:3O o'clock 8 considerable number
 of members had arrived and they then
 proceeded in body to the grave of MT.
 Lowell in the Grove street cemetery, where several ladies, relatives and
 Rev. Horace L. g. Pratt of New York,
 a former pupil of MT. Lowell, was to
 have delivered an address, but was un-
 able to be present.
 | When it was found that MT. Pratt
 would be unable to be present the com
 mittee requested General F. E. Bradley
 of this city to make the address. Gen.
 eral Bradley has been in Washington
 for some days and did not return until Wednesday. Although he did not know
 that he was to be called upon to speak
 until yesterday, he nevertheless made a
 masterly address. It was in substance
 as follows:
 GENERAL BRADLEY'S ADDRESS. | My Friends-It is said with strong: l probability of entire truth that the i'm 1 fuence of good life never dies. An
 evidence of this is shown here to-day. l The mouldering remains of the mor-
 tai part of our beloved teacher have
 been lying in this lowly grave for sev- eral years and 1t is perhaps more than
 generation ago since he ceased teach- I ing in our midst. And yet to-day the | one hundred and first anniversary of | his birth, finds loyal friends, having | probably no blood relation to the dead
 and widely separated perhaps for many years, gathered here to do honor to his memory, to add their tribute to the value of his teachings, to the Influence | of a faithful, devoted, conscientious.
 active life. He put his entire soul into
 his work of teaching when actively en- l gagged in that vocation.
 | Thousands of the youth of New Ha-
 ven have felt the good of his instruc- | tions and of his example. Though the
 band is widely scattered and the busy reaper-death-la been making vacan- cies on every side for many, many years l in our ranks, still some are left to come
 here to-day, as for several years past, and put these beautiful symbols of af- l lection, these lovely flowers of spring. on the lowly grave of our beloved
 teacher In this way, though no ties
 of kin bind us to him who has gone, we 1 testify not only our love and respect I for faithful life, but also the perma- l nent influence of it.
 l His stay on earth was prolonged far
 beyond the allotted span, and death
 came gently and quietly, not as a sor-
 row, but as benediction, as a release l from suffering and trouble.
 May we not think of him to-day as l living in a brighter and better sphere,
 of enjoying the Rest of Paradise? And l if the souls of the dead are permitted 1 to hover around the abodes of their earthly homes or to be near those whom they knew and loved in life, may
 we not indulge in the thought that his spirit is with us here to-day and all that we do on this spot, where lie the
 remnants of his mortality, is receiving the sanction and benediction of his im- | mortal spirit?
 My friends: A word or two more, and make an end. I have said little | that could be of especial interest to you 1 for I have told you nothing that you l did not know before If it has had in- terest for you it was because of his life, his work, his influence, his teachings, his memory, that fill your hearts and
 create the interest. No one knows bet ter than how far short these few and crudely expressed words of mine come i of either doing justice to the subject. | or to the presence gathered around me at this time and in this place, and no one regrets more than myself that the reverend gentleman, who was to have l addressed us here this afternoon and who would have done so at greater | length and far more ably than I, was prevented at the last moment from keeping his engagement It is little we can do for the dead. What we have | done in the past and what we are doing now-showing respect for their mem-
 ory-compasses our utmost ability in that direction. The real lesson con- veyed in all such ceremonies as these. whether they be simple or elaborate, is 1 for the living. It teaches .h.:n that good life is ennobling and is appre- | ciated. It points to higher aims and
 a truer life-that one who has lived for the good of others, earnestly, unselfish- ly, is the one whose example we should
 follow, whose life we should copy. This is the thought that is in your minds
 with regard to Him who was our
 friend and teacher and is the thought leave with you as close.
 POEM BY MIR. MERRIMAN.
 At the close of General Bradley's ad-
 dress hymn written especially for the
 occasion by Colonel Charles G. Merrf-
 man of Westville to the tune of Nearer
 My God to Thee" The hymn is as fol- lows:
 Nearer to-day we draw,
 Nearer his tomb,
 Now when thro' natures law, l- t,n,-