Milford chronicle., 1907-04-19

the bitterness of his heart at the ma
licious power of his enemies, desired
that these words be engraved on his
tombstone: Here lies one whose name
was written in water" That is the
grave of the immortal John Keats.
Did John Keats ever die? No. AS an
inspiration of his pen there have come
forth two mighty poets who studied
him intently as their model. Robert
Browning and Alfred Tennyson. He
lives. John Keats will always live in
song. So there has been many a mar
tyred patriot who thought he died an
abject failure. But out Of the death
and the patriotic sacrifice Of these he
roes of the past has been evolved an
ideal of conduct for all patriots of this
and other nations. These patriotic
martyrs gained little or no personal
benefit. They were the seed planters.
The present generation and succeeding
generations will continue to gather in
their cumulative harvests. "One man
soweth, and another reapeth."
What is true of the industrial world
and the political life is true Of the
church and of our ecclesiastical and
spiritual blessings. When the fire
crate is always full of coal and the
cupboard is always full Of food and the
wardrobe is always full Of clothes
most Of us accept the luxuries OF life
as the ordinary cOmmonplaces. Then
we wonder why any person will grum-
BILE about being cold or hungry. When
we are born under the shadow of
church spire and are baptized at the
church affairs and we are sent to her
Sunday schools and are invited to sit
at her communion tables, we are very
ant to believe that the church Is like
an indigenous plant that has always
been here and that always will be here.
Now, my friends, want to tell you
that the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ was never planted anywhere
successfully unless it was first planted
there in blood soaked soil. The plant
ers of the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ were the heroes who were al
ways looking for the harvests Of the
future and never living for their own
personal benefit and reward.
Great Sacrifices.
Where did the American church come
from? Did the first great explorers
who came across the seas find the little
white meeting houses in the center of
every Indian village and planted upon
every hilltop and dotted here and there
over the broad prairles Of the west!
ooh, no!' you say. ut was only by
the greatest sacrifices OF Marquette
and Eliot and Roger Williams and mis-
sionaries Of such llk that the church
Of Jesus Christ was ever planted upon
American shores. Then after the
churches were established in the east
the backwoods preachers like Peter
Cartwright and Havens and the daring
missionaries like Bishop Whipple led
on their cohorts of evangelists. Far
ther and farther west they carried the
cross, and farther and farther west
they went until at last that cross
reached the Pacific coast. The Nora
VANS penetrated into the snow and ice
of the arctic with the news, and by
and by Sheldon Jackson lifted the
cross and carried it far north amid the
Alaska SHOWS. So, step by step, the
brave missionaries have struggled and
starved and in many places have died
consecrating with their bodies the land
they bad won" Yes, the American
church came as the results Of the hum
BILE sacrifice of thousands of obscure
ministers of whom the world knows
nothing.
Paul once asserted that in his work
he was surrounded by a great cloud OF
witnesses. As we gather about our
church affairs today cannot we see the
faces of the noble self sacrificing mis-
sionaries who have made such church
service as this a possibility? Are they
not standing above this pulpit today?
An eyewitness once declared that the
most beautiful part Of all Father Tay-
lor's ministry was his intense realiza-
ton of Christ's presence. The things
he would say and do might have been
irreverent in another, but in Taylor
they seemed only evidence Of Christ's
reality. Sitting one Sunday at the
Lords table to administer the com
munion, he concealed the cup. Then in
deeDlv solemn tone he said, children,
I bring you a gift from Jesus, some
thing to remind you Of him." Then, his
voice breaking, he said, ut is the wine
of the covenant, his own blood shed for
you, and he bids me say, Drink ye all
of it," And he brought forward the
cup. and, looking at it, he wept Yes;
all the good we enjoy has come to us
as that wine by sacrifice. They lived
their lives Of sacrifice to give us this
gospel sanctuary. We are today gath
ering in their ripened harvests. "One
man soweth and another reapeth."
Humble Sewers.
But we do not have to go alone into
the past centuries to find the sewers.
All those who have planted harvests
foIIorr- man arn nof fO he