The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1899-04-29
A LESSON FROM LIFE.
DR.. Talmage Eulogizes the Late JUS
tice Stephen ]. Field
Religious TraininR Laid the Foun-
dalton of His Character - The
Great Divine's Tribute 10 a
Departed Friend.
Copyright, Louis Klopsch. 1899
WashInRlon Anril "a

inspiring. Text, 2 Samuel, 3:3S: "Kno,
ye not that there il a prince and II grca
man fallen this day in Israeli"
Here is plumed catnfalque, foliowc,
by King David and II funeral orator
which he delivers at the tomb Concern
ing hbner. the great, David weeps GU
the text. More appropriately thar
when originally uttered we may nov
utter this rcsounding lamcntation
"Know ye not that there is prince ant
agrcat man fallen this day in Israeli"
1t was 80 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. assembled
Our departed friend came forth boy
from minister's home in New Eng
land. lie knelt with father and mother
at morning and evening prayer, learned
from maternal lips lessons of piety
which lasted him and controlled him
nniid all the varied and exciting scenes
Of II 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
cial circle and national legislature and
presidential chair, and you would OBJ
litcrate many of the grandcst chapters
of that history. 1t is no small advan-
tagc to have started from n home where
God is honored and the subject of
worlds emancipation from sin and sor-
row is under constant discussion. The
Ten commandments, which are the
foundation of all good iaw-Romau
law. German law, English law, Ameri-
can law-are the best foundation upon
which to build character, and those
whch the boy, Stephen j. Field. so
often heard in the parsonage at Stock
bridge were his guidance when. half
century after. as Il gowned justice of
the supreme court of the United States.
he unrolled his opinions. Bibles. hymn
books, catechisms, family prayers. at
mosphere sanctified, are good suri ound-
ings for boys and girls to start from,
and il our laxer ideas of religion and
Sabbath days and home trimming pro-
duce as splendid men and women as
the much-deridcd Furitanic Sabbath
and Puritanic teachings have produced
it will be n matter of congratulation
md 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-
ccptons to the rule-and the exceptions
have built up n stereotypcd defamation
on the subject-statistics plain and UNI
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 hope pointing
down to that manager!
Notice also that our departed friend
was a member of "A royal family. There
were no crowns or sccpters 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 n score
OF families that ! might mention. II it
children Of the King" and had put on
them honors brighter than crowns and
welded influence longer and wider than
sccptcrs. That family of Fields traces
an honorable lineage back 500 years to
llubertus de Ia Field, coadiutor of Will
liam the Conqucror. Let us thank God
for such families, generation after gen
Grafton on the side of that which is
right and good.
While all parents cannot aspire to have
such conspicuous households as the one
the name of whose son we now ccle-
bratc, all parents may by fidelity in
prayer and holy example have their
sons and daughters become kings and
queens unto God, to reign forever and
ever.
Let young men beware lest they by
their behavior blot such family records
with some misdeed. We can all think
of households the names of which
meant everything honorable and con-
secrated for long while, but by the
deed Of one son sacrificed, disgraced
and blasted. Look out how you rob
your consecrated ancestry of the name
they handed To you unsullied! Better
as trustee to that name add something
worthy. Do something to honor the
old homestead, whether mountain
cabin or city mansion or u country
parsonage.
Rev. David Dudley Field, though %
years passed upward, is honored to-day
by the Christian life, the service, the
death of his son Stephen.
Among the most absorbing books Of
the Bible is the book of Kings, which
again and again illustrates that though
piety is not hereditary, the style OF pa
rentage has much to do with the styl,
, of descendant. 1t declares of King Abb
jam: He walked in all the sins of hi.
father which he had done before him,
and of King Azariah: "He did that
which was right in the sight of the
Lord, according TO all that his father
Amaziah had done" We owe debt &c
those who have gone before in our lin.
as certainly as we have obligations to
those who subsequently appear in the
household. Not so sacred is your old
fathers walking staff, which you KEEP