The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-12-18
IN MEMORY OF
WASHINGTON.

8regattOnal Church. delivereS MEM
orial sermon at last evenings service IN
honor of the centennial anniversary Oh
the death of Washington. His lc-s> was
taken from Prov. x, 1.-THE memory
of the just is blessed"
The richest inheritance, said MI. oi-
COX, that comes down to us from 'nc
centuries that are gone is the cnarac-
ter and achievements of the great anu
good men who lived and wrought unoei
the inspiration of some high ldeal Ok
duty. Such souls do the world douple
service. They serve their own day anu
age by their deeds, and they serve sue
ceeding ages by their example ana IN
fiuence. They are a beacon hght 70
their own time, and their pharos beams
make plain the path of duty to sue
ceeding generations. We To-Day are
walking in paths pioneered for us py
a great host of worthy ION flames eter-
nal bede-roll to be fyled.' How httle
comparatively of all we possess, are our
own achievement. How much mas been
done for us by others. We have llbrar-
les because others thought for us. we
have liberty because others fought for
us. We have comforts because others
sacrificed for US. We have salvation be-
cause one died for us. Our civilization,
literature and religion are an inheri-
lance. How poor and mean our life
would be if deprived of the blessings
that come to us through the labors and
sacrifice of others.
Blessed is the life of the just; and
after they have passed away, their
memory is a blessing to future genera
tions. They rest from their labors, but
their works follow them. The good
that men do lives after them. The
truth they taught, the institutions they
helped to establish, continue on earth
a benediction to untold millions. They
who live nobIy in their time, live again
after they have passed away. They
have an earthly as we'll as heavenly
Immortality They live again Sin pulses
stirred to generosity, in deeds of daring
rectitude, in scorn of miserable aims
that end with self, in thoughts sublime
that pierce the night like stars, and
with their mild persistence urge mems
souls to yaster issues" Such man,
in an eminent degree was George
Washington, whose death, just one CEN
fury ago, by this service, we reverently
commemorate AS we recall his life
and think of the service he rendered,
we devoutly say the memory of the
lust is blessed 1t was Emerson, I
think. who said that 1.-The search after
great men is the dream of youth and
the serious occupation of mankind.
There is a hunger in the human heart
for heroes. We want souls that reveal
to us the higher and diviner possibili-
ties of our nature. We want heroes
who will lift us above the dull levels of
mediocrity and show us the nights that
belong to u.s. We need outstanding
characters to beckon US on to nobler
achievement We have not yet at
tanned. There is still progress to be
made. and we need to hear often the
voices of the great urging US on to
vaster issues We need the hero and
will sink to clay if we have him not.
1t promises we'll for a nation when
its youth give affection and reverence
to men famous for moral worth and
noble achievement. Tell me who your
hero is and 1 know who and what you
are Our characters are revealed as
we'll as made by the character of the
men we revere. Consciously or uncon-
sciously we reproduce the character of
the man we admire Our hero becomes
a youth slept with a copy of the Illiad
under his pillow, that he might have
before his imagination the valorous
deeds of Achilles whose glories Homer
sung With such a hero, it is not sur
prising that Alexander sought to be
world conquering warrior. We become
what we admire.
AS a people we cannot be too thank
most resplendent in the annals of the
nation, the names that evoke our high
est admiration and warmest enthusi
.asm, are Washington and Lincoln. BY
their genuine goodness of heart and
life, by the splendor Of their character
and service, they have won a place
among the immortals. The qualities
that give them their eminence are i'm
liable qualities. They were great be-
cause of their devotion to truth and
right and duty. They never compro-
missed with principle. They were deeply
reverent toward God and truly loyal to
their own conscience. They rose slowly
from obscure positions to occupy the
highest thrones of command and in
f1uence. Their lives are heroic encour-
agements to the youth of the land
What they were and did are an ex-
ample to our statesmen for all time to
come. They teach to all the people of
the republic the much needed lesson of
conscientious citizenship.
The hundred years that have passed
since Washington's death have not les
sened his fame but rather increased
it. Time tests all things. What is
tinsel soon wears away. 1t is only gold
that endures. AS we look back across
the century to the life and service of
Washington we see that he built on
rock and not on sand. The principles
to which he gave his life, and which
he woye into the life of the republic
have stood the test of hundred years,
and have a stronger hold on the intelli-
gence and conscience of the nation than
when they were first proclaimed. The
counsels that Washington gave in his
day are applicable to us to-day. The
principles that made the nation great
are the principles that will keep it
great. We do we'll to renew our pa
triotism at this sacred shrine. So long
as this nation reveres the memory of
its first President and emulates his