The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-09-25
Dr.. l.. W. Crawford's Eloquent
Sermon On the Life and
Work of Charles D. McIver

f-r".5'l TO News and Observer,
'.'.H ~b"r", \. G., Sept. 22.-roI.
."- IS tn" sermon Of Rev. l.. "
... .f ford. -. D., delivered at the fun
-. ". the late Dr. Charles D. McIver
. '.|@ clly last Wednesday, reported
Geographically for the News and OBJ
.-,incr 1t is the expressed wish Of The
....I of the directors Of the state
mail and Industrial College and Of
".Hv friends of the lamcnted head If
#.- Ju.titution that the sermon in full
...uIj bo published.
#u The delivery Of his sermon DR..
f.=#iord was at his best. Touched
- 81 deep sense Of personal los,
.u. .~p"akcr's heart gloWcd through
r.. words. filled with a pathos that met
response in the breast Of every
|tlIer. Every W~eII-rounded sentence
a eloquent, inspired, impressive.
. "f"und, Every word dropped sweet
a.-- and every thought that wa given
expression was Il beautiful tribute to
lnc great and good man departed.
Thc impression upon the audience
tutt filled the First Presbyterian
church to overlooking cannot be meas
AIRED on expressed in words. The peo-
pile sat .spellbound under the charm
of the preachers power, and when
The last word was spoken there was
hut II thought pervading the au-
Ijcncc, and that was that the sermon
was Il sublime and beautiful eulogy
ON one who was worthy of the best
that human lips can utter.
The sermon follows:
DR.. Crawford's Sermon.
/ have selected for the basis of the
remarks that seem to me appropriate
80 this occasion a part of the third
verse of the sixth chapter of the
prophcsy of Daniel: Then this Dan
jcI was preferred above the presidents
and princes, because an excellent spirit
Was in him."
The elements that belong to real
greatness, and the qualities that con
Stitute the truest and noblest man or
manhood, manifest themselves in su-
preme eXcclIcncy as being the same in
all ages of the world in their main fea-
lures. The whole life may change,
government may change. the process
of education may change, even the
church in it's life may change, and one
civilization may give Wav for another.
and vet these elements that constitute
real manhood, supreme excellence, re
main through all the years the same to
d very great extent. And | Woul
have YOU note that these are all things
that are within us, that it is not what
We have, not what men possess that
makes the man. but it is that which he
has within.
Now | desire for d little while to call
your attention to what seems to me
to be the essential contents or elc-
mcnts of a truly great life, and the first
| mention is this,-the power of Wis
len, The Psalmist tells us that tho
heather have eyes but they see not,
and our Lord himself said of the Jews
in his day that seeing they saw not"
And so it is with hundreds and mil
lions of people in every age, and in
our age. This power of vision is more
than to have painted on the retina OF
the eye II perfect picture or photo
graph of some external or exterior
object. 1t is the function of vision to
do that but a great deal more. 1t
pictures beneath the surface, it cOm-
p~rehendS, it understands.
When Fulton sat quietly in his home
observing a kettle on the fire, and
seeing the lid Of the kettle rise and
fall he began to think and he discOv-
cred that when the steam accumulated
the lid rose, and DIS it escaped it fell,
and he saw beneath the surface, dis
covered there the great principle and
l'NtI VI 1olllltliSCd steam lllJ d1itI
wards revolutionizad the industrial
world. He had the power of vision.
And Sir Isaac Newton as he heard
the apple fall from the limb Of the
tree. something millions of people had
seen time and again and had never
Eiven a thought, he penetrated be
meath the surface, he saw farther than
anyone else had seen. and discovered
The great law Of g~ravitation by which
every mote in the air is regulated, and
every natural object, and every NOV
ing planet and every Whirling system,
ANA every shining star is balanced and
controlled, which guides the movement
of every material object or planet i'll
the universe.
Daniel, to whom reference is here
made in the text. had the power of
vision. He lived in an age when there
was great wealth and great power, and
while other men were looking on the
great objects around them, and saw
only the pretty fields and valleys OF
that great Empire of Babylon, he
looked out upon those great provinces,
one hundred and twenty in number,
with their fertile fields, with their val
]cES, and hills, and rivers, ana noun
tainS. but he saw more than the pro-
ducts of the earth, even more than
the biologists had seen. He saw more
than the man who had an eye for IN
d|ustriaI progress aW. He saw all
through those provinces Of that Sfeat
Empfrr the footprints of God. Ana
as he ookcd upon land, and sea, alld
river and mountain, and as ne looked
into the Heavens above him, he pene-
t1atcd beyond the surface ana saw tile
hand of the great Creator III ihlIlli'o
power and infinite wisdom. Ana ne
was so thrilled with this vision, ana so
upIifted with this vision, that ne
seemed to set very little store upon
bills and valleys and great industries
nUt he longed to nave the mana Vi
COD upon him. He felt the 1hsplrd-
ton of the Almighty. He lon6eo lpt
only 10 find a place where he mlsnl
come into touch. but into communion
and fellowship with God. and we SCI
shat great man leaving his place tuiH-
ing aside from power and prominence
-hutting up the great books that ne
Was then reading and StudylhS' 'ho