The record-union., 1899-10-23

wealth, TO lay the substantial founda-
items of that which should stand to
them as the material symbol OF the
higher life.
And it seems to me that simply as
this symbol of this higher life and
thought, and measurably free from the
narrowing influences of fixed confessions
of belief, this church has pre-eminentIy
stood. 1t has been the peoples church.
the shrine TO which men Of character
and worth could come. men of the
world, but who confessing to the limit
;ations which seemed to contract their
spiritual life, would fain be men OF
God also The liberal endowments, and
broad catholic spirit Of the first two
of your ministers especially, were large
ly instrumental in early placing this
generous stamp upon your fellowship,
and many of the men whose names are
prominently associated with the history
of this city, in it's material and moral
development, although never making
any formal profession of religious be-
lief have enjoyed the chartered freedom
of your house.
For many of you older than myself
and with still longer and more inti-
mate connection with your fellowship
than [ can claim, memory must he
rich in precious association and l vivid
ly recall that pictured dramatic scene,
when DR. Dwineu in his farewell sermon
here, called a long roll of the departed
dead over whom he had breathed The
words of Christian trust, and spoke Of
them as in number sufficient to fill one
row of seats, and another row OF seats.
and another row of seats, until we
seemed in imagination to be sitting
with a ghostly company palpably pres
ent with us in our worship.
But it is not only of those who have
gone, but of those who remain of
whom we are privileged to take account
tonight, Of the lives dedicated here by
parent love to duty and to faith, and
which have blossomed out into an ex-
ceeding beauty and grace, of loving
unions over which the bene dlction of the
highest has been reverently invoked.
and of homes in which the Christian
virtues in daily expression bring to us
something of the realization of the
kingdom of God
l confess I am often dissatisfied at
the accent of humiliation and defeat
which is sometimes sounded here, when
triumph would seem to be the more
fitting note. To emulate a John Knox,
or a Savonarola may be we'll, but it is
not well to underestimate a quiet infiu-
ence for good that every true and gem
erous life must exert and the minister
who can assuredly know that because
of his life and teaching, there some
where are homes within whose pre-
cincts affection dwells, and children are
nurtured to lives of usefulness and
moral power, that somewhere in the
market place an exacting justice
reigns, and for all the enticements to
sin that ever assail our youth, some
where there are those who are proof
against all unworthy solicitation. he
should take counsel not of fear but Of
hope.
All through the half century of it's
existence this church has stood for
that which has given purer motive to
action, and touched with moral beauty
the common life of men. Your minister
may not close the brothel and the sa-
loon, but the brothel and the saloon will
remain unvisited by many a young man
over whom the church shall spread
Its sheltering wing, the boisterous, vul-
gar life Of a portion of the community
will continue to surge around us but
young men and young women will walk
in safety the streets of your city. be-
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