The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1900-01-18
A Good Man Gone.

| Rev. George w. Field, D. D., is dead.
Bangor mourns the loss of her "most
eminent citizen,' and Belfast the passing
away of one of her most distinguished
sons His early life was spent here, and
| but for few years service in Massachu-
sets his long and faithful pastoral labors
were in Waldo county and in Bangor.
| Thus he was all his life in or near his ma
tive place, and frequent visits kept up old
friendships and made him a familiar figure
to all our people. Frail in physique,
/ gentle in voice nd manner, modest to a
degree and stunning notoriety in any form,
it is surprising to find how far his fame
has gone and the high estimate placed on
| his pulpit utterances by those most com
petent to Judge of them. For example,
Edward b. Mason, u. D., of Brunswick
| says:
For more than generation, DIR. Field
| has been a religious leader and prince
among the ministers and pastors OF the
State of Maine. No one has done more,
perhaps no one has done so much, to
! form the best opinions of the times; for 30
| years ago he was far in advance of his
! theological associates As religious
thinker he was far in advance of his theo-
| logical associates. AS a religious think
er be was clear, comprehensive, combin-
ing in very unusual measure exactness
of statement with a large and generous
tolerance for other views. Above all
things else, he was a sane and entirely
healthy man. There was sweetness
and light in his soul, which shone out
most attractively in his intercourse with
| other ministers, and which appeared
| sp ecially in his parish mnistrations. 1t
must have been a constant delight to sit
under his preaching
/ The question will naturally be asked by
4 those who did not know the man, why
pulpit orator of such force and bril-
/ liancy should not have found wider
/ field than his Bangor parish afforded.
/ The answer is simple. He loved his peo-
pie and they loved him. and nothing
could tempt him to leave them. When
he retired from the pastorate of the Cen
/ trial Congregational church in 1892 on ac
count of his health. be continued a resi-
dent of Bangor and engaged in church
work as far as he was able. When he &C
cupied his old pulpit, as he did occasion
ally, the seating capacity of the church
was taxed to the utmost. Here in his old
home be was not heard SO often as lis
friends would have liked, but he readily
responded to the calls made upon him,
and his last response in the form of let
ter tc Rev. George ). Mills, pastor of the
congregational church. was published in
The Journal not many weeks ago. 10
that letter he pictured the discomforts,
bodily and mental, of the early church
goers The contrast between the preach
ing OF that day and his own pulpit utter
ances is as marked as that between night
and day. DR.. Field was an apostle of
sweetness and light, and his creed was
broad enough and liberal enough to adj
nit all mankind. About Is years ago in
the Central church, Bangor, he delivered
a sermon that interested all and surprised
many of large audience and elected
, widespread comment and criticism. His
subject was the revision of the Congrega-
tional creed by the general council of the
church, held in St. Louis in 1880. sin
gle paragraph will show the position
| taken by DR.. Field. He said:
THE eternal loss Of a single soul is too
terrible for the contemplation of a human
being. Our Saviour has beautifully Illus
trated this in the parable of the Good
Shepherd, who went through the darkness
to save the lost sheep. 1t is a common
saying among our brethren of the church
that all mankind will have fair chance
to be saved, but the Good Shepherd went
to the greatest extreme to save the lost
sheep. Whether some will stray so far
into the darkness and storm that they
cannot be reached, | neither affirm nor
deny do not know, The simplest
creed is ALI we need; it is enough to know
that man means to DO right and live
right-that is enough to receive him into
our creed. The doctrine of the church
has been the means of driving many into
skepticism.n
On the second page we print a brief
sketch OF Dr. Field, some of the tributes
paid to his memory, and an outline of his
last sermon.