Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-06-26
IN MEMORY OF
REV. DR.. MCATEE

A. McAtee, held at the manse of the
Grove Presbyterian church on Tues
day, June 3, an address was made by
Rev. DR.. James Carter, minister of
the Church of the Covenant, Williams
port 1t was a just and worthy trib-
ute to the noble qualities of the be
loved one who had passed away and is
published that all may read its words
upon the mystery of death and its
measure of the life just closed. The
following is the address:
'The stately dramatic poet of
Greece, Sophocles, in his tragedy of
Oedipus, the King, employs these
words:
Reckon no man happy till you see
The closing day; until he pass the
bourne
Which sewers life from death, unscath-
ed by woe.
80 spoke the Athenian, spelling out
his thoughts i'll the dim light of heath
enism; but we of today have a better
conception and better word, illum-
ined by the radiance from the cross.
We know more Of the meaning of life,
of the schooling of suffering, of the
significance of sacrifice. We know
the Father because we have seen the
Son. We conquer the world, because
our citizenship is in Heaven. For us
II ~ I .F G..
an altered estimate of death. They
spoke of life; we think of service.
They spoke of happiness; we think of
blessedness. They spoke of the shades
of earth we think Of the light of
God 5 presence.
1.-The measure of mans value to
reference to the things which are
seen and touched, as to the things
which can not be weighed in visible
scales or measured by a carpenters
rule. That measure is determined by
an ascertainment of the investment
and contribution which is his i'll hu
of soul, i'll the inspiration and stimu-
lation and aspiration derived from
him, in the better understanding of
the heart of our Father, the nearer
fellowship in the suffering of our Say
iour, the closer following OF the Spirit
of God.
nf hnl
love to dwell on the qualities and out
goings which endeared them to us.
Each has his own memory, full and
sufficient for himself If one should
speak to another it would but call
forth some different phase of the per
sonality, which to that other was yet
more distinctive and eloquent. The
best estimate of the one must come
short of the knowledge of the other.
! Peculiarly must it be thus in the life
| of the large-hearted, sympathetic, re
fined personality to which we do rev
ercncc this day. Brave and true,
/ strong and tender, clear visiOned and
vigorous thought, of mastery expires
| sion, ready to stand against the entire
! world in defense of the truth he loved,
sensitive as a woman i'll the affection
/ ate outgoing of his nature-is it poss-
! ible to speak of him without omitting
| so much that appeals to the memories
] ,f Ia N
/ effort to characterize one so greatly
/ beloved, might almost seem an impcr-
/ tincncc in its incompletenesS.
- gu recall him as the richly in
| strurtive preacher, as the atfable Wis
! itor in your homes, as the sympathetic
! cnn>oler in the hour of trial, as the
wise advisor in the day of perpleXity.
His friends will ever delight to recall
| him in his home, the ideal host, rejOic-
ing i'll all good thoughts and deeds, and
sharing his good things with lavish
unselfishness. For me there shall
ever be memorable that last Sabbath
in his life, as | saw him brave and pat
lent, self -forgetful, gently considerate
of those at his bedside, rejoicing in
| the iov of those whom he loved His
face comes to me as it lay upon the
pillows, the eager happy eyes, the
white hands on the white counter
pane, the sympathetic quaver of his
CHEEKY voice, his look out of the Win
dow to the fresh swaying foliage of
the avenue, his pleasure in the re-
freshing breeze, his JOY in his Faith
er's world. And so each of US sums
up in some single recollection some
thing more adequately bodying forth
the friend he loved than anything
which could be said or written; but
all were vain to picture that which
was central in his life, the thought
and allegiance of his soul to the Lord
of his life, through whom the world
was transformed, and for the love of
whom he bent himself to the task as
much as lay with him to transform
the world to that peerless likeness.
Christ, with him was first and last,
his ideal, his Saviour, his King. In
| Christ was his faith, III Christ his
aspiration, in Christ his hope of eternal
life.
I'VE stand beside soldiers tent.
Life and thought have flown away
side by side, the flight not of defeat
| but of the uDSOaring VictOr-armOr on
to the last, helmet on brow and sword
III hand His Captain called him to
a higher post, to "a larger service, and
this day he stands transtigured i'll that
resplendent presence. -Four days in
Paradise; all the books of earth do
not contain the knowledge gained III
those hours of glory 1t is not for us
to grudge to him that rapture of glory ;
we only long to share with him his
deathless joy.