The Republican journal., 1912-04-04
HELEN BURRELL PATTI.

At the request of a member of the
Sunshine society, who felt that many
would be pleased to read what the Rev.
DIR. j. Coleman Adams said at the fu-
neral of Mrs. Hugo Patz on Tuesday,
DIR. Adams has most kindly given to US a
summary of his remarks on that day,
and We know it will prove pleasure to
the many who read the Sunshine column
No words could better express the situa-
ton. He said:
Many years ago. little boy in the
streets of New England city, heard
the church bells peal on New Years day
in honor of the freeing of the slaves.
They proclaimed to all who heard that a
race was loosed from bondage and set on
its way to better estate. 1t was fitting
/ that the bells should peal, that men
( should thrill at the sound. So on Sunday,
when the news came that Mrs. Patz was
at rest, it seemed as if every church bell
in the city ought to ring, in joyful wit
ness that this bondwoman of pain, in
servltude these many years to suffering,
was set free, and that for her there was
no more pain. We could speak of all
that, at last, in the blessed past tense.
At length she was without bodily ache or
pain. We could almost hear her saying
to US, like the woman in the parable,
Rejoice with me, for have found that
which had lost
In all that we think and recall of her,
let us give her distinction as an invinci-
pie soul. Pam could not conquer her
Suffering could not dominate her. She
was victor over her body. The length of
the battle never broke her courage, The
Sh9GOyuS ouar hor life r,1,on J;x-..l L -.
! cheerfulness. The wit and humor flash
ed up in her last struggle with death,
She indicated the supremacy of the
soul over the body and environment and
the things we call ills. She could say
with that apostle of steel and adamant.
! the great exemplar of Christian strength
and endurance: 1 have fought a good
fight; | have finished my course; l have
kept the faith.
by the very token of these qualities,
we cannot think of that soul as dead.
! Such traits as hers, which exalt this hui
man nature of ours and make US realize
that it is to dwell with divinity, are wit
nesses to her immortality. Who can be-
! lleve that so stout and precious and in
vlnclble a thing as her spirit could be
| beaten by death, and go down to silence
with the shipwrecked body. The thing
is inconceivable. The energy in the bat
terry or the poWerhouse is not exhausted
and spent when the wire parts or the
transmitter breaks down. Such life as
hers makes US feel the souls supremacy
as naught else can.
| How marvellous, too. her power to bless
others! Confined to her room and chair:
| unable to minister to her own least
wants; not rich in this worlds goods, nor
in the light of publicity, nor in control of
great personal influence, she neverthe-
less had mere influence than many pub
nc man or woman, more success in her
life than generals in war or captains of
Industry. We came to cheer her and
went away in debt to her for the very
| things we sought to bestow. We came
with our nisgiving smiles; she sent us
away laughing. She flung down a per-
petual challenge to our cheerfulness,
/ showed US how to admit the reality of
evil, and yet to conquer it. Some years
| ago Hartford pastor wrote Christ
mas Fantasy in which he sketched her
plcture-part of the vision of what the
Christ is doing here and now to testify to
| to His coming.
But now the fair beams softer grew, the star
Yelling its ray as with tender mist;
!
the room
, A quiet home seemed open to the eye
Wherein woman sat, young, winsome, fair,
Cheerful in word, contented in her mien.
! But held helpless prisoner in her chair,
Bound fast in manacles of grim disease,
Shut in from all the stirring city's life
Dependent on the ministry of loving hands
For all the common services and needs.
Yet from her lips no plant impatient came,
No murmur or rebellious cry of pain.
Victor Ger suffering, winning day by day
New triumphs, in the souls transcendent
might,
Like our great Captain, who was perfect
made
Thro' sufferings, her couch a throne, wherein
She reigned by title of chastened heart
Friends came to comfort, comforted they
They brought her gifts; she gave them better
ones,
The riches of spirit nigh to Christ,
The goodly sight began to fade again,
Once more the voice, ITO him that overcomes
grant to sit with Me, upon My throne.
$50 we commemorate, in recalling her
glorious life, at once the mercy of death,
the victory of life, the triumph of
mighty SOUL"
AN APPRECIATION.
Early in the week one of our very dear
members, Mrs. Hugo Patz, passed to
peace and rest, the rest of one free from
pain and helplessness. Mrs. Patz Joined
| the Sunshine society in its infancy, not
because it was something new, but be-
cause it was another channel in which to
scatter her sunshine, which was always
golden. Confined to her chair and with
very limited use Of her hands. she was as
CHEEKY and happy as her bird which sang
at her side. Her life was one benedic-
ton to cheer and to bless, and no one
visited her who did not take away far
more of peace and content than they
gave. Very many are those who will
miss her kindly presence and our sympa
thy goes out very tenderly to the home
friends whose very life and pleasure it
was to minister to her.-Sunshine Soci-
ETY. department in the Hartford, Conn.,,
Times of March 10Th.
PITTSFIELD PERSONALS.