The Newtown bee., 1905-03-31
TOWN TOPICS TRIBUTE TO REV II. L. SLACk'S
 MEMORY.

TRIBUTE TO REV II. L. SLAck'S
 MEMORY.
 CHURCH, SUNDAY MORNING., BY REV
 o. W. BARKER.
 At the Congregational church, Sun day morning, Rev O. W. Barker paid this fine tribute to the memory of Rev H. l.. Slack of Bethel:
 I have never known through all my life any one who has better illustrated the truth of what have been saying than our dear brother, Rev Henry L Slack, who has just passed on to his eternal reward. Surely no one could accuse him of seeking the mere pleasures of life, or of trying to get by his doing what would only be of service to him. He bore life's burdens not be- cause be enjoyed bearing burdens, but because he found joy in the service of his Lord. He served others, because in true service every life reaches the highest forth-putting of it's powers. The sun does not strive to shine; it simply shines. The stream does not tire itself to flow; it only flows. The heart of the philanthropist is not strained to give; it simply gives. The man who walks in close communion with God feeds on Him and feeds others. He blesses in being blessed. He gives in receiving abundantly of the graces of God. Do you ask the mother what she expects to receive for loving her child? Do you ask the missionary what reward comes to him because he gives himself in devotion that ends in death to the naked savages in earth s darkened places? Such a one as our brother did not seek the praise of men, did not court even the honor of being f1attered or loved; but he gave himself without stint and with a measure of his powers that is like the overflowing measure of God to the duty of the hour, which was a supreme obligation to him. Oh! 1t does not cost much to place your money upon the contribution plate, to take that from your pocket which you can easily spare and fling it with an air of indifference into the arena where fiercely is waged the battle for the right and the true and the good; but when one gives that which costs him the most, which means the giving of his very self; when one throws out in the service of his fellow-men strength that is drawn from the deepest wells of his heart, then the giving is that which takes it's march by the side of Him who walked the Way ot Pain to Calvary, even in the midst of the surging crowds, alone.
 We might as we'll admit the plain fact. MT Slack laid his life in self sacrificing love upon the altar of de- votion to good of his fellow-men. A great wave of religious enthusiasm had rolled over Bethel; many heads of families had been brought with hope full conversion into the church. It is, as you know, one thing to yield ones heart to God and the rising tide of a mighty religious wave and think that by that action one is safe; but it is quite another thing to hold on and to hold out in the stronghold of ones life when the demons of displaced desire continually battle for the position from which the grace of God has wrested them. MT Slack threw himself into the work of keeping these men in the church when once they had gotten there with an earnestness of purpose such as those that dwell in that com. munity we'll know. The strain of the effort was great. It broke his robust powers down; and now that the task has slipped all unfinished from his fin gers, we see, alas! too late, how great the sacrifice has been. The loss is not for him. Great gain, a bright crowr and unfetterment from enthralline | bonds are his full reward. We almost envy him, this bright spring morning as he has passed on to take part in 2 service whose only embarrassment is it's boundless stretching, and whose great delight is that it never, never ends.