One thousand thoughts for memorial addresses

Introduction

BY RUSSELL H. CONWELL.

The seeds of the forest seem wasted when the land is already overgrown. But the waste appears trivial compared with the loss of good thoughts and comforting messages which have been beautifully and thoughtfully expressed by the wise and good and which no kind friend of man has preserved.

In this volume some of the most helpful ideas have been saved from oblivion and some of the best messages preserved for further use. Men are what they think: and he who furnishes mankind with inspiring thoughts is their noblest benefactor. This book is a good deed. This collection of thoughts and sermons will help those who do the work of ministering angels, to do more of that work and do it better. We cannot do less than to express our gratitude to the compiler and the publisher. The seeds of blessing contained in this book have been transferred from the shade and rocks to the barren fields and planted where they are needed, and where they will find favorable environment to develop into the largest fruitage.

What a sermon this volume is, as a whole, when we appreciate the exhortation it suggests to save and promulgate Christian ideas. How few are the manuscripts, books, inscriptions recovered from the libraries and tombs of Babylon, Egypt and Greece! Oh, if we had the literary treasures of all the ages intact ! What an array of good deeds could have been shown today, if many had done what so few tried to do, and had preserved all the best compositions of all the great and good.

We cannot hope to be original and creative in all directions, and the busy heart-loaded pastor has but little time to dig the ore for his plow or sword. David in distress needed Goliath's sword already forged and polished. He who preserved the sword and gave it to David seems entitled to love and honor with him who wielded it in defense of his country. Let us not give way to pride and say foolish things because they are our own. But it is wisest and most devotional to think of the mourner and the hopeless, and give to them the best things no matter who may seem to have uttered them first. One cannot avoid the thought that the authors of these sermons and addresses will be glad even to know that the servants of Christ are using effectively still the messages they supposed would die with their delivery. They may feel grateful to those who renew the life and beauty of these children of their hearts.

Of all the multiplied forms and places in which Christ appears this volume shows him most emphatically as the Comforter. This phase of his divine character can be most effectively shown to the weeping, and can be studied and copied with the sincerest devotion. May these messages be “links in the chain which binds Earth to Heaven.”

Section I Illustrations, Poetic Selections, Outlines

I. Death. (General) 1

II. The Death of Children 25

III. Death in Youth 49

IV. Death in Maturity and Age — Parents 65

V. Death of Persons of Prominence 105

VI. Mysterious Providences. Sudden Death 137

VII. Chastening — Affliction 159

VIII. Resignation — Trust 197

IX. Probation — Readiness for the Summons 239

X. Resurrection — Immortality 265

XI. Heaven 307

XII . Other-worldliness — An Earnest Life 349

XIII. Fragrant Lives — Influence 373

XIV. The Deathbed 409

XV. General Reflections on Life and Death 435

Section II Funeral Sermons And Addresses

I. General Reflections on Life and Death 469

II. Death of the Young 485

III. Death in Maturity and Old Age 495

IV. Death of Persons of Note and Prominence 501

V. The Other Life — Resurrection , Immortality , Heaven 522

VI. Christian Comfort ; Confidence ; Resignation 549

SECTION II

Page

“And he called a little child unto him” — Geo. Wolfe Shinn 487

As a Tale that is Told— Jas. W. Fifield 469

“Be ye also ready” — Lina J. Walk 482

Christ and Childhood — Kerr Boyce Tupper 485

Christianity a Religion of Comfort — Samuel Plantz 556

Citizen and Philanthropist — Bp. Edwin H. Hughes 501

Congressional Eulogies 514

Congressman, Death of — W. J. Bryan 511

Death Expressed in three Christian Phrases — G. W. Shinn 471

Death no Stranger — J. W. Fifield 479

Death, Thoughts on — J. Leonard Levy 478

Editor, Death of a Noted 504

Empty Grave, the — F. W. Krummacher 541

Ever Open Arms of the Lord Jesus, the — Geo. Wolfe Shinn 488

Experiences of a Redeemed Soul after Death — G. W. Shinn 546

“For of such is the kingdom” — F. F. Rouse 493

Future Light on Present Loss — Robert Forbes 489

Glory of the Christian Religion — Wm. Patterson 524

God Knows — God Pities 549

Gone but not Forgotten — J. Leonard Levy 528

Grave and the Garden, the — A. B. Meldrum 474

“How old art thou?” — Geo. L. Robinson 472

“If a man die, shall he live again?” — W. I. McLaughan 522

“If a man die, shall he live again?” — Bp. Matthew Simpson 532

Is there Another Life? — John Balcom Shaw 525

Joseph Parker — in Memoriam — Sir W. R. Nicoll 502

Living Dead, the — Myron W. Haynes 470

Love and Death — Lyman Abbott 476

Maiden, God’s Flower, the — Wm. Rainey Bennett 490

Miracle of Divine Love — Edward E. Eaton 509

Mother of D. L. Moody — D. L. Moody 496

Mystery — Cyrus Medenhall 483

“Now he is dead, wherefore should I fast?” — John Wesley 552

Physician, Death of — Frederick T. Rouse 505

Shall We Know Each Other there? — John Balcom Shaw 543

“So He giveth his beloved sleep” — R. S. McArthur 560

“The Lord hath taken away” — Joseph H. Chandler 554

“The memory of the just is blessed” — S. Parkes Cadman 495

“Then cometh the end” — C. A. Jessup 480

Way Home, the — F. Dewitt Talmage 538

“We know not what a day may bring forth” — Robert Forbes 481

Wendell Phillips, Death of — Joseph Cook 507

What a Christian Carries into the next World — Victor Frank Brown. 499

What Faith Makes of Death — Alexander Maclaren 535

“Who hath abolished death” — Horace Bushnell 550

Worker, a Prominent Religious 510

Young Girl’s Death, a — Henry Ward Beecher 491

PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD

The Funeral Service is the most trying duty of the pastor. To the sorrowing friends there is no loss so great as theii loss. If the pastor's address does not appreciate this, and if he does not pour oil into the wounds, he has failed them at the most critical time.

With from ten to twenty or thirty funerals each year, he needs to watch against treating them as something common. He therefore needs all the help and suggestions that he finds in preparing his regular sermons.

The choice thoughts and especially the Poetical Quotations will be treasured in the hearts of the bereaved for years. There will be requests for the pastor to write out copies of them.

He will be repaid for his efforts of preparation in this ministry of comfort, by remarks like these:

“I will always remember Rev. . His remarks at

John's funeral were so beautiful.'' “It seemed as if I could not live through my loss, but the poem quoted by our pastor gave me a new hope."

That this volume will meet all the needs and requirements of these trying services is the expectation of the publisher. For the co-operation of leading pastors in furnishing copies of addresses the publisher is thankful, and the readers will appreciate the service.

I , m c

K.

' n H Art oil! . iaiv . ..•