Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1899-06-02
A LESSON FROM LIFE.
Or. Talmage Eulogizes the Late JUS"
tice Stephen ] Field.
Religious Training Laid the Foun-
dalton of His Character - The
Great Divinc's Tribute ton
Departed Friend.
Copyright, Louis Klopseh, 1882
ghinOtOn

Copyright, Louis klopSeh, lSg)
Washington,
One of the most notable characters of
our time is the subject of DR.. Talmage's
discourse, and the lessons drawn are
inspiring. Text, Samuel, 3:3S: know
we not that there is prince and great
man fallen this day in Israeli"
Here is a plumed catatalque, followed
by King David and fuDeral Grafton
which he delivers at the tomb. Concern
ing Abner, the great, David weeps out
the text. More appropriately than
when originally uttered we may now
utter this resounding lamentation:
know we not that there is prince and
agreat man fallen this day in Israeli"
1t was so minutes after six, the ex-
act hour of the sunset of the Sabbath
day, and while the evening lights were
being kindled, that the soul of Stephen
j. Field, the lawyer, the judge, the pa
triot, the Christian, ascended.
Our departed friend came forth boy
from minister's home in New Eng
land. He knelt with father and mother
at morning and evening prayer, learned
from maternal lips lessons of piety
which lasted him and controlled him
amid all the varied and exciting scenes
of a lifetime and helped him to die
in peace an octogcnarian. Blot out
from American history the names of
those ministers sons who have done
honor TO judicial bench and CONNER
oial circle and national Legislature and
presidential chair, and you would OBJ
literate many of the grandest chapters
of that history. 1t is no small advan-
tage to have started from home where
God is honored and the subject of a
worlds emancipation from sin and sor-
row is under constant discussion. The
foundation of all good law-Roman
law, German law, English law, Ameri-
can law-are the best foundation upon
which to build character. and those
which the boy, Stephen j. Field, so
often heard in the parsonage at Stock
bridge were his guidance when, half
century after, as a gowned justice of
the supreme court of the United States,
he unrolled his opinions. Bibles, hymn
books, catechisms, family prayers, at
mosphcre sanctified, are good surlound-
ings for boys and girls to start from,
and if our laXer ideas of religion and
Sabbath days and home training pro-
duce as splendid men and women as
the much-deridcd Furitanic Sabbath
and Puritanic teachings have produced
it will be matter of congratulation
and thanksgiving.
Do not pass by the fact that | have
not yet seen emphasized that Stephen
j. Field was minister's son. Notwith-
standing that there are conspicuous eX-
ceptions to the rule-and the exceptions
have built up stereotypcd defamation
on the ubiect-statistics plain and un-
deniable prove that larger proportion
of ministers sons turn out well than
are to be found in any other genealog-
ical table. Let all the parsonages of
all denominations of Christians where
children are growing up take the con-
ISOLATION. See the star OF rope pointing
down to that manger!
Notice also that our departed friend
was member of royal family. There
were no crowns or scepters or thrones
in that ancestral line, but the family
of the Fields, like the family of the
New York Primes, like the family OF
the Princeton AleXanders, like score
were best to mention them, were 1.-THE
children of the King" and had put on
them honors brighter than crowns and
welded influence longer and wider than
scepters. That family of Fields traces
an honorable lineage back 800 years tc
Hubertus de la Field, coadjutor of Will
liam the Conqueror Let us thank GOO
for such families, generation after gen.
GRAFTON on the side of that which is
right and good.
While all parents cannotaspire TO have
such conspicuous households as the ono
the name of whose son we now celc
brate, all parents may by fidelity in
prayer and holy example have theil
sons and daughters become kings ant
queens unto God, to reign forever ant
ever.
Let young men beware lest they by
their behavior blot such family records
with some misdced. We can all thinl
of households the names of which
meant everything honorable and con
secrated for long while, but by th'
deed of one son sacrificed, disgracet
and blasted. Look out how you rol
your consecrated ancestry of the name
they handed to you unsulled Bette
as trustee TO that name add something
worthy. DO something to honor tn,
old homestead, whether u mountain
cabin or city mansion or countr,
parsonage.
Rev. David Dudley Field, though 8
years passed upward, is honored to-da,
by the Christian life, the service, ui,
death of his son Stephen.
Among the most absorbing books 0
the Bible is the book of Kings, whic
again and again illustrates that thong
piety is not hereditary, the style OF pa
rentage has much to do with the styl
of descendant. 1t declares of King Alb
jam: .''He walked in all the sins Of hi
father which he had done before him,
and of King Azariah: "He did tina
which was right in the sight of tn
Lord, according to all that his fathe
Amaziah had done" We owe a debt {
those who have gone before in our lin
as certainly as we have obligations t
those who subsequently appear in th
household. Not so sacred is your oil
fathers walking staff, which you kee
in his memory, or the eyeglasse
through which your mother studied tn
Bible in her old age as the name the
bore, the name which you inherited
Keep it bright, | charge you. Keep