The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-06-19
SERVICES IN MEMORIAM
Rev. F. &. r. Miller Tells of Beauties
of K. of P. Lodge.
Dr.. F. B. Cowgirl Addresses the
Knights Of the Maccabees.

About fifty members OF the knights
of Pythias listened to very interest
ing address by Rev. F. E. R. Miller las
evening at the Baptist church. The at
tendance of those outside of that ordel
was very good indeed, the auditorium be
ing entirely filled.
The orchestral part of the program anG
the selection, There's Land Fal
Away" rendered by a quartet consisting
of Messrs. Williams, Eberhart, Holmes
and Evans, was excellently executed and
greatly appreciated. z
Rev. F. E. R. Miller spoke substantial
ly as follows:
1t would be fitting upon this occasion
to utter words of praise for the thought
and work of the order thot honors us
with its presence this evening, but my
office as minister of the gospel urges
me to speak rather OF some broad princi-
pie or idea that has application and ex-
emplifcation not in any one order but
to all classes of men. Therefore,
shall take the second word of your fra
ternal motto, and speak to the sub
ject, "The Greatest of the Virtues is
Charity"
The line often drawn by writer's and
public speakers between the charity
known as aims giving, and that described
by the simple term of love is as fc-
titious as the equatorial division be-
tween the northern and southern hemis-
pheres. For, if the Ten Commandments
are a complete system of ethics, and
it is written, HE that doeth the law
shall live by it," if this code is summar-
lied in the words of Jesus, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart and mind and strength; and thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;" if
these commandments and their summary
may be epitomized by the single word
charity, we may conclude that
aims giving is not charity which leaves
tout self-giving, because it is written,
I"Love is the fulfilling of the law"
As matter of fact nothing is worth
while to men that does not have the
Eheart in it. Marriage is a failure unless
its chief consideration is love. Home
is a kennel for dogs and cats if the ten
der passion of the heart is not cherish
ed. No visit to the sick and no gift to
the afflicted carry permanent blessing
with them unless they are the express
| sions of disinterested love. Nor can a
service over the dead bring comfort or
satisfaction to anybody if the hearts
of those who minister be not touched by
a sense of loss, for it is sad day when
the righteousness perish and no man lays
! il to heart. Quaint old George Herbert
once wished that he were an excellent di-
vine, having the Bible at his fingers
elds, and skilled in the art of making
Gods enemies his friends. Hundreds of
the chosen preachers of the world have
had this Joy in their high calling. To
be the interpreter and the minister of
divine love to sorrowing and imperfect
humanity is to be connected with Gods
purpose, and therefore, the noblest mis-
sion in the world; for it has become clear
and clearer, as thought upon the sub
ject has increased, that the aim of exis-
tence Ito use DR.. Harper's words) is 10
produce brotherhood of men who shall
be completely good.
If I shall ask for definition of this
greatest virtue that has the power to
link us with the purpose and labor of
God, the dictionary tells us that it is
to regard with affection, to be fond of,
to yearn over; and Emerson says, "Love
is our highest word and the synonym of
God"
Love is like the commerce which goes
perpetually between the ocean and the
sky, the mists rising and distill.ng only
to fall and return again. and so on for
ever. Emerson calls attention to the
prominent place love occupies in the
conversation of society, and says: 'What
d. we wish to know of any worthy per-
son so much as how he has sped in the
history of this sentiment. What books
in the circulating libraries circulate!
How we glow over these novels of pos
sion when the story is told with any
spark of truth and nature! And what
fastens attention in the intercourse OF
life like any passage betraying affection
between two parties? Perhaps we never
saw them before and never shall meet
them again. But we see them exchange
a glance or betray emotion, and we are
no longer strangers. We understand
them and take the warmest interest il
their romance"
Despite all that is known and has
been taught relative to the beauty ant
service of love how hard it has been fol
the race to learn and apply the lesson
Is the Cain spirit absent from us in oul
relations with men who oppose us, Oh
whose dispositions and ideas irritate us
!, There are sand holes in the finest blocl
OF Scotch granite; but the sculptor cares
only for those which come out ON thu