 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Richard Marvin Strong was the second son of Anthony M. and Sarah M. Strong. He was born in the city of Albany, June 10th, 1835, and died in the military service of the United States, at Bonnet Carre, La., May 12th, 1863.
He received the elements of his education at the Albany Academy, which he entered at an early age, while it was yet under the supervision of the late Dr. T. Romeyn Beck, and remaining there during the succeeding administration of Dr. Willaim H. Campbell, and for a short time under Prof. G. H. Cook.
When, in 1851, Dr. Campbell resigned his charge in Albany, Richard had made most valuable progress in his academic course, and was nearly fitted for college. Few connected with the Academy at that time will fail to remember the class of young men, well advanced in study—the senior class of the school—which the Doctor had gathered under his especial care, and particularly instructed in the classics and belles lettres. Undoubtedly the instruction thus received by those young men, who daily went before their principal with unfeigned alacrity, and with the esteem and aflection of children towards a father, exerted an important influence upon their moral, as well as their intellectual characters. Certain it is that there is not an instance in which the subsequent life of any member of the class has put to the blush its moral training. Its majority are still reaping the earthly benefit of its admirable discipline, and delight to recall its pleasant associations. As a member of that class, Richard's standing was second to none. The impressions he then received, and the habits then formed, partially furnish the explanation of his remarkably pure and upright life, and of the accuracy, industry and thoroughness which distinguished him in all his relations.
In 1851, he received from the Acadeny for his proficiency in mathematics, the Caldwell gold medal, and at the same time his friend and companion, Charles Boyd, received the Van Rensselaer classical medal. These rewards of scholarship were presented by the principal (Dr. Campbell) at the anniversary exhibition, with evident pride and satisfaction. "These young gentlemen," said he, as they stood before him on the stage, "have never given me a moment's uneasiness throughout all their academic course." They both entered the junior class, at the college of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1852, and as they had graduated from the preparatory school with the highest honors, so they took at once the rank of the first scholars in their class. They became members of the same literary society, were roommates together, and in 1854 graduated together; the one pronouncing the valedictory, the other the mathematical oration, the first and third honors of a large and intelligent class.
As a student Mr. Strong endeared himself to his class-mates by his companionable and social qualities, as well as won their
admiration by his ability as a scholar. Prof Stephen Alexander, of Princeton College, says of him, in a recent letter:
"He greatly distinguished himself by his attainments in scholarship while a member of this institution. The college records exhibit his final standing (at his graduation) to have been third in his large class, and within the veriest fraction of the second position. Those who knew his previous history as an academy boy, will not be surprised to learn that the honorary oration assigned to him was the mathematical. Of his unexceptionale conduct and his knd and genial manners, I have still a lively recollection."
During his senior vacation he was invited by Prof. Alexander, who was acting in connection with a large committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, to accompany him to Ogdensburgh as an assistant in an observation of the annular eclipse of the sun in May, 1854, and accompanied him together with Mr. William J. Gibson, to assist in those important observations. Prof. Alexander, in his report, says:
"I was assisted in my observations by two of my former pupils in the college of New Jersey, Messrs. William J. Gibson and Richard M. Strong, both of Albany, New York. Their presence with me, was not only a matter of sincere personal gratification, but was important also, as we were together enabled to note some phenomena which might otherwise have escaped me, and they by their aid contributed not a little to the accurate observation of those which I might have noted if alone."
A single incident of the college life of Adjutant Strong, will serve to illustrate the force and fearlessness of his character, even at that early age. He had been one of the founders of the Kappa Alpha, a secret society in the college, and besides having a strong attachment for the society itself, and for its individual members—an attachment which lasted throughout his life—he had been an applicant to existing chapters in other colleges for authority to establish a branch at Princeton, and he felt in a measure responsible for its success and prosperity. The faculty had concluded to suppress the secret societies, and, among others, Richard Strong was summoned before the President to sign a pledge not to attend the meetings of any such society, and to dissolve his connection therewith, so long as he remained a member of the institution. He replied substantially to the demand, that his obligations to his society were contracted when there was nothing in the college rules preventing him from assuming them, and that the standing and reputation of its members were ample proof of its harmlessness. He begged the President not to insist upon that which he should be obliged to refuse, and declared that greatly as he deprecated the consequences, he should prefer rather to suffer them, than commit himself to such a pledge. A further interview was appointed with him at an unspecified future time, and the fact that he was not afterwards called upon to sever his connection with the society, or to sign the pledge proposed, shows the appreciation in which the worthy President of the college held the character of the young man who preferred rather to suffer detriment to himself, than prove false to a trust confided to his care.
Though he had few superiors as a classical scholar, Mr. Strong was naturally inclined to the study of mathematics, and the natural sciences, and his early preferences were towards those pursuits as a profession. At one time he had determined to become a civil engineer, but though his constitution could not be called feeble, he was led to abandon this choice from a belief that he was not sufficiently robust, to endure the hardships and exposures sometimes attendant upon that mode of life. His next choice was the law, and soon after leaving college he entered the office of Reynolds, Cochrane & Reynolds in Albany, and became at the same time a student of the law department of the Albany University. He brought to the study a mind naturally excellent, improved by careful training. He pursued his studies with diligence, and the results were satisfactory to himself and his instructors, giving promise of usefulness and distinction in after life. His studies were interrupted for several months which he passed in visiting Europe, traveling in Great Britain and on the continent, and resumed again on his return. In 1856 he was admitted to the bar. His connection through relatives with important mercantile interests in Albany, threw him at once into practice, and his zeal and ability soon gained for him an extensive business.
About a year after his admission to the bar, he formed a partnership with Frederick Townsend, now Major of the Eighteenth United States Infantry, and William A. Jackson, afterwards Colonel of the Eighteenth Regiment New York Volnnteers, now deceased, and upon the dissolution of the firm by the withdrawal of those gentlemen to positions in the service of the Government, he became associated with Mr. George L. Stedman, with whom he was connected in business at the time of his decease. The firm of Stedman & Strong having succeeded to the extensive business of the firm of Shepard & Bancroft, Mr Strong was enjoying the emoluments of a handsome practice when he gave his services to his country. His ability as a lawyer was marked and decided. He was accurate in his conclusions, and rapid in reaching them. He analyzed facts with thoroughness, and arranged them with method. His counsel was clear and reliable. It was always the deliberate conviction of his judgment after careful investigation of the facts, and was often sought and followed in preference to that of others of longer standing in the profession. He presented an argument to the court with a terseness, completeness, and ingenuity which always commanded attention. With the members of the Albany bar he was a general favorite, as he was among all who knew him. Fond of social enjoyments, cultivated and interesting in conversation, he was welcome everywhere, and often gave himself to the social gatherings of the city. As a companion and friend, he was true and unseflish. He was cordial with all, and where his affectious were enlisted, he was warm and enthusiastic. In countenance he was genial and joyous, but there was an earnestness in his expression as in his manner, which was the index of his character.
Mr. Strong's professional career was varied by attention to other interests of a more public character. He possessed an activity of mind, and a readiness of perception and execution, which enabled him to attend faithfully and successfully to numerous diverse matters without neglecting his professional duties. His industry was remarkable. He wasted no time, and it was surprising to see one so young, so zealous, and so constantly employed. In the truest sense of the term, he was public spirited—not from ostentation, but from love of well doing and natural energy of disposition. He was connected with many important enterprises in his native city, and the assurance that he was actively engaged in any project was almost a guaranty of its success.
Not long after the commencement of his professional life, he became a member of the First Presbyterian church of Albany, Rev. Dr. John N. Campbell's. He was a faithful, earnest, and exemplary Christian, ever mindful of the obligations of his religious profession, and living the life of one whose actions were prompted and guided by the purest faith. When the project of erecting a new Presbyterian church on State street, in Albany, was canvassed among the members of his denomination, he entered warmly into it and became a leading spirit in its accomplishment. In November, 1859, he became one of a committee of fifteen appointed from the different Presbyterian churches of the city to carry forward the enterprise, and afterwards was secretary of the committee.
Under his legal counsel and conduct the church was incorporated, the land was purchased, the edifice erected and the pulpit supplied. In each step he not only performed his part as a lawyer but as an enthusiastic lover of the work, and with a refined taste and excellent judgment gave valuable advice in the manner and economy of construction, and rendered efficient services in the accumulation and management of the funds. He was made a trustee of the church and remained one until the time of his death. He entered the Sunday school, taking charge of an important class of advanced scholars, composed of two classes which he had previously instructed, every Sunday, and which showed its confidence in its instructor by volunteering unanimously in his regiment, and going with him to the war. The committee to whose management this church enteriprise was given, threw the legal responsibility of the proceedings entirely upon his shoulders. With characteristic energy he entered into the law of the subject and in a few weeks had at his command not only the statute law applicable, but its sources and history. It was afterwards suggested to him that a volume on the subject would have both a historic and practical interest, and he was urged to undertake its compilation, and is supposed to have had it in contemplation.
The rebellion of 1861 made hurried calls upon the time and services of the efficient young men of the North. The Albany Barracks were placed under the command of Brigadier General John F. Rathbone. Mr. Strong was then his aid-de-camp, and took an important part in organizing the regiments formed there. These barracks were the rendezvous of thousands of volunteer recruits, who came without discipline, without organization and utterly unaccustomed to the rigor and restraints of camp life. There were frequently at one time from four to five thousand, and the position of aid was no sinecure. Mr. Strong was not unequal to the task; he had had military experience as a member of the Albany Burgesses Corps and the Albany Zouave Cadets, and in those model organizations had become proficient in the drill of the company; he soon acquired the experience of a general officer, when Gen. Rathbone was relieved of his command at the barracks, Mr. Strong received the appointment on his staff of Judge Advocate of the Ninth Brigade New York National Guards. His duties at the barracks ceased with the departure of the troops for the field, and, the General Government having, as it was supposed, sufficient for its purposes, he returned to the practice of his profession impressed, however, as he stated, with a sense of obligation to the country, and a determination to give his services, should the occasion seem to make a demand upon them. On the organization of the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Regiment New York Volunteers, formerly the Tenth Regiment National Guard of the State, he accepted the laborious position of Adjutant, and turned his attention, with his accustomed energy, to placing it on a war footing. On the eve of departure, he addressed the regiment, publicly congratulating the officers and men upon their unwearied and at length successful efforts, to organize for the war.
They left Albany in December, 1862, with the "Banks' expedition," landed at New Orleans, and were thence sent to Bonnet Carre, La., an important post on the Mississippi river, being one of the main defences of New Orleans. Large numbers of the
unacclimated men of the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh were soon prostrated with diseases peculiar to the country and to camp life; and Adjutant Strong, besides being the acknowledged friend of the individual members of the regiment, became an unwearied attendant upon the wants of the sick. His assistance was freely bestowed on all sides, regardless of danger from infection, and the strain upon his strength. With a rare skill and a joyous and genial manner peculiar to himself, he watched with and assisted in the care of the sick, and administered to the dying the consolations of that religion he had himself experienced. His labors in this respect, while attending punctiliously to the duties of his position, rendered him liable, through loss of strengtb, to take the fever, to which he has fallen a victim. In a letter from Bonnet Carre, written on the day after his death, full of tenderness and affection, addressed to the father of Adjt. Strong, Dr. O. H. Young, assistant surgeon of the regiment, says: "The tenderness of his heart and his unresting desire for usefulness, prompted him to visit the hospital often, in the hope of adding to the welfare of the sick soldier, and many will remember the kind solicitude which made him their constant visitor, and the cheerful words which infused new hope into their drooping spirits. Indeed, the frequency with which Richard made these visits, had more than once attracted our attention, and creating some solicitude for his health, had made it incumbent on us, as medical officers, to advise him not to spend too much time among the sick and dying. * * * * On Sunday, April 26, he and I sat together on a bench in front of my tent listening to divine service. * * * * Directly after these exercises he complained of headache, and asked me for professional advice, which was given, on condition that he immediately abandon all official duties which rendered exposure to the sun's heat necessary."
This headache, spoken of by Dr. Young, was the approach of the fever, which soon assumed a typhoid form, and terminated his life. In speaking of his last sickness. Dr. Young informed his parents that it was not attended with physical pain. During his last moments his physical prostration was too great to permit his articulating, but his response to the question, whether he desired to be remembered to his father and family at home, was audible and intelligent. He answered, said Dr. Young, distinctly "yes," and a few moments after, with his brother's name upon his lips, expired. His remains were encased in a metallic coffin, and deposited in Greenwood Cemetery at New Orleans, to await their conveyance to Albany.
Thus has another valuable life surrendered itself a voluntary offering to the institutions of our country, freely given in the morning of usefulness, with bright promises for the future unfulfilled. The misgivings as to his physical endurance, which in earlier years had swerved him from the pursuits of the studies which he loved, had no power to influence his action when he felt his services were valuable to the country, but he freely gave himself to the risks of the field of battle, and the exposures of camp life, and in doing so, none who knew him will say he was otherwise actuated than by a sense of duty, and a desire to be of service to his country, in whose institutions he had an unshaken faith. To that faith he has borne testimony with the seal of his life—a life full of the brightest promise, and endeared to him by the tenderest family affections, and throughout which, with all the opportunities and successes which attended him, there is not one moment over which his friends would desire to draw a veil. The memory of his chaste and noble nature, like the lingering rays of the setting sun, remains to soften the gloom his death has caused, and is the assurance of a triumphant future. Sweetly he sleeps the sleep of death among those,
At a meeting of the Albany Bar, convened in the Mayor's Court Room, in the City Hall of Albany, to take action regarding the death of Adjutant Richard M. Strong, on motion of Mr. C. M. Jenkins, Mr. J. I. Werner was called to the Chair. On motion of Mr. J. B. Sturtevant, Mr. William Lansing was appointed Secretary.
On motion, the Chair appointed the following committee on resolutions: Messrs. William A. Young, John C. McClure, Hamilton Harris, J. Howard King and George Wolford.
Hon. John H. Reynolds then addressed the meeting as follows:
One by one, and in rapid succession, those who for a time travel with us on the highway of life, drop down and are seen no more. At short intervals of time, some, that we have known and who have in some sort been our associates, disappear, and we know them no longer. At a little greater interval, those with whom we have been more intimate, fall by the way side, and then we pause a moment and perhaps shed a few tears, and pass on, intent only upon reaching the end of our own travels, and a season of repose which never comes. We find but little time to linger beside those who falter, and less to stand around the graves of the fallen. As we move onward, at intervals which seem to grow less and less in duration, we are compelled to pause, from time to time, for the reason that our most intimate associates can no longer keep us company, but leave us to continue our progress as best we may. It is then that we tarry a little longer, and feel it a duty to give some expression to our regret and regard. We have met to-day to perform this duty, in respect to one of our professional brethren, who, under circumstances of painful interest, has, in the very morning of life, left us forever. It is not long since that, under like circumstances, we were assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to the memory of another of our brethren, who in obedience to the call of his country, left home and friends, and wore out his life, in defence of the flag, which an army of traitors seek to trample in the dust. And now, after a little while, we meet again, to pay a like tribute of regard to one of gentle nature and of high promise, who more recently gave up the pursuits of an honorable profession, and severed the tenderest ties that bind our common humanity, to brave all the privations and dangers that attend the patriotic citizen and soldier, who takes up arms in defence of the insulted flag of his country. It is fltting that this mournful event should not pass unnoticed by those who were bound to him in the ties of professional brotherhood, who knew him intimately, and loved him well in life, and whose early death falls with crushing weight upon so many hearts.
At the early age of twenty-eight, Richard M. Strong died, far away from home and kindred. We knew but little of his days of sickness and suflering, or of the last hours of his life, save that an unrelenting disease, in an ungenial clime, wasted him away; and in his last moments his thoughts were turned to loved ones at home, and his lips faintly murmured a brother's name; and with this last effort of affection, his spirit passed to "God who gave it." The story of his life is brief and simple. It is not marked by uncommon incidents, which will attract the attention of the great world. He did not live long enough to achieve the high honors of the profession to which his life was to have been devoted, and which his talents, his industry, his manly and modest deportment, his spotless character, his love of truth and justice, entitled those who knew him best to predict for his career. So much of professional life as he was permitted to pursue, gave assurance that all which would have followed could not have
He began the study of the law in an office with which I was connected; and I shall always remember him with affection as a devoted, industrious, intelligent and faithful student; full of hope, and earnest in the pursuit of all that learning which marks the progress of a true lawyer, and gives dignity to a noble profession. He brought to that pursuit a mind capable of reaching a high rank among men, who never fail to appreciate learning, to reverence intellect, and to love and cherish all the higher quailties which adorn human nature. His early training, where his superiority had always been acknowledged, fitted him to commence his professional career under circumstances more favorable to success than is common to most who enter upon a pursuit where real merit is seldom unrewarded, and where few ever attain a permanent position without severe labor and solid acquirements. His practice at the bar, although not of long duration or extensive in its character, illustrated the qualities of mind and heart which commanded the respect and regard of all his brethren, and which step by step, would have led him to high honors.
In early life he was frail and delicate, and he was nurtured with tenderest affection. At school he was patient, and diligent; and not only won the regard of his associates, but attained a position of acknowledged merit; and when his schoolboy and college days were over, he left behind him the marks of a superior mind, and the remembrance of an exemplary character. To this, all his early friends bear willing testimony. He sought our profession as best adapted to his tastes and talents, and entered upon it with all the enthusiasm of youth, and with all the hope and confidence which youth and conscious talents inspire. Surrounded by every comfort which wealth and affection can give, stimulated hy every motive of honorable ambition, he saw the future bright before him, and, with just reliance upon himself, looked forward to a useful and an honorable career in the profession of his choice. But an imperiled country called him to other duties. He was among the first, when the sound of conflict reached us, to lay down the profession of the law, and assume the profession of arms; and he has followed it with fidelity to the same end to which we are all hastening. With the brave men who have gone to the field of strife he sought danger as a duty; and, if opportunity had presented, he would aave proved himself as brave in battle as he was patient and submissive when disease wasted his life away. He was a Christian gentleman and a Christian soldier. He followed with unfaltering trust, the path of duty to his God, to his country, to his kindred and his friends. He leaves no enemy behind him. All who knew him loved him; for his nature was gentle and genial. He was firm in honest purposes, quick to discern and defend the right, and incapable of wrong. When such men die early or late in life, there is a melancholy pleasure in bearing testimony to what they were; and to do so is a sacred duty to the living and the dead.
The circumstances under which our deceased brother closed his brief but honorable career, are peculiarly painful and impressive, although death now meets us in so many startling forms that we scarcely notice it until it comes very near. The stories of blood and battle, of suffering and death, are daily brought to our view, and yet scarcely arrest our attention. We look with interest to scenes of conflict and carnage, where brave men struggle and die amid the roar of cannon and the shouts of victory, but scarcely remember the unhappy patriots who, in a distant clime, struggle with relentless disease, and who, upon beds of suffering, turn once more to their early homes and kindred in all the agony of loneliness and desolation. They are far beyond all those consolations which attend the dying when surrounded by the endearments of home. Death is always a merciless visitor; but to one sutfering amid strangers, in a strange land, becomes robed in his most ghastly form—terrible to the victim, and agonizing to those who are nearest and dearest to him. We cannot turn aside the veil that hides the grief of the afflicted household in which our lamented brother grew up to manhood. The father's, the mother's, the brother's and the sister's agony is all their own. We may sympathize but cannot alleviate. We may speak a word of kindness, and drop a tear of sympathy, but we only add our sorrow to theirs. God grant that this household, and the many others that have, in these unhappy days, suffered a like bereavement, may find consolation from the only source that can give lasting comfort to the afilicted.
And let us who here grieve over the early dead, be ever mindful of the admonitions which these mournful occasions give us. Death meets us in all forms, in all conditions of age and station, and on all occasions.
This tribute of the Hon. Mr. Reynolds was followed by other addresses, also most appropriate and eloquent, from the Hon. Lyman Tremain, Mr. Rufus W. Peckham Jr., Hon. Deodatus Wright, Gen. John Meredith Read Jr., and Mr. Orlando Meads.
William A. Young, Esq., offered the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
Another member of the Albany County Bar has died in the military service of the country. Richard Marvin Strong, a gentleman of much professional ability, of amiable manners and strict integrity, beloved by his companions in arms, and by all who were associated with him in the pursuits of civil life, in the flower of his age, has gone from among us forever. His worth as a citizen and a lawyer, his valor and patriotism, have consecrated his name and his memory in the hearts of his brothers of the bar. In view of this mournful dispensation.
Resolved, That while contemplating with admiration and pride the example furnished by the deceased, of conscientious devotion to the Union and the supremacy of the laws, we deeply lament the too early death of one whose cultivated mind and pure character gave promise of so much usefulness and distinction. His intercourse with his brethren of the bar was marked, at all times, by kindness and courtesy. Among his fellow-citizens, his daily life was eminent for that uprightness and manly bearing which are the outward manifestations of a heart imbued with the principles of justice and right. His literary attainments and scholarlike tastes were the graceful and fitting ornaments of his virtues. Knowing the magnitude of the sacrifices at which ho entered upon the career of arms, we venerate the heroism and constancy of one who was capable, when his country demanded his services, of exchanging the delights of a home, where he had ever been an object of the tenderest affection, the charms of study and the rewards of professional industry, for the hardships, the perils, and the sufferings of the camp and the field.
Resolved, That we tender to the parents and friends of the deceased our heartfelt sympathies in the affiiction which this melancholy event has brought upon them; and that we invoke in their behalf the consolations which enabled our departed brother to meet death with Christian fortitude and resignation.
Resolved, That these resolutions be published in the newspapers of the city, and that a copy, signed by the officers of this meeting, be presented to the family of the deceased.
In an eloquent sermon commemorative of Adjt. Strong, the Rev. A. S. Twombly, his pastor, spoke as follows:
"In the prime of manhood, God has taken him away. With many earthly hopes yet unfulfilled—a thousand manly aspirations all unmet—just as the promise of his early culture ripens towards its fruit—before life gives its best rewards—he dies! But who will say that life in him, in any sense, was incomplete? Who will say that death has broken from the stem a life whose summer time has not yet come? This church, which owes much of its strength and its success to him whose name alone is left to it, may seem all incomplete without him. We, his associates and friends, among whom he appeared pre-eminent for genial goodness, strength of judgment, and simplicity of character, may be obliged to leave unfinished his share in the work which we together had assumed. The Sabbath school— his pride and care—that class which he took with him to the war, may never find a substitute for the place he occupied. And in the private circle of his dearest friends, the years he would have filled with happiness for them, may seem all incomplete and vacant; even as to all whose lives and interests his peculiar qualities seemed to supply that which he only could supply, his career may seem but the fragment of an earthly course. And why God called this useful servant home so soon, why all this ripening power for good should be so soon dissolved in death, we cannot tell; but this one thing we know, in him, when God's eye searched, it found the full condition of a finished mortal life.
"The earthly dates that limit his career between the times of birth and death, are not God's boundaries; and the meanness of our human computations, God makes manifest, in giving a far grander finish than that of years or circumstances to his life.
"For although on all life's ordinary relationships, his memory sheds a fragrant beauty, yet our thoughts invest him with far richer usefulness, and his name will have far greater eloquence for good, because religion lent her lustre to the fair graces which adorned his life. That his life was rich in things that win the hearts of friends, and touch the finer springs of feeling, none who witness the universal lamentation at his death can doubt.
"The touching reminiscences preserved of him at home; the lonesome feeling there without him, together with the last word on his dying lips (his brother's name), tell well enough of him as son and brother. While for that trying relationship, existing so seldom in perfection between a young church member and his careless friends, let those to whom his presence was an admonition, and at the same time a delight, bear witness. Let the power of his life and death on them attest his genial, unobtrusive, but consistent character as a friend. "
So, too, the record of his business life, for thoroughness, fairness and ability, may challenge scrutiny. This, the resolutions published by his associates of the bar full well attest. And let our own church records show the value of his professional advice. Let this goodly edifice, in which to-night we worship, speak, not only from the accuracy of all its financial formulae, of his legal skill, but also from its chaste adornments, of his care and taste; thus proving that while apt and able in professional acquirements, he was likewise talented and tasteful in all other branches of a liberal culture.
"But above all signs like these, who to his record as a Christian would wish to add more signs of full-orbed life? Who most anxious for assurance, could desire more signs of faith, humility and sacrifice by which the Christian's earthly state is made complete? Not that all possible signs appear in him ; but that enough appear, to show that by God's grace the germ of true Christianity was in his soul, who that has heard him pray, who that has watched his manly, Christian life; who that has heard of his pure motives in responding to his country's call, can for a moment doubt? Are not thee outward indications of completeness, clustered over and about his memory like flowers that tell of a prolific soil? And were all other indications wanting, would not the last great witness of his life; would not the counting of his life a willing offering, be suflicient testimony to the full completion of this trial-epoch of his soul?
"His fellow soldiers send back loving messages of his devotion to the sick and suffering in that dreary hospital beneath the southern palm, thus telling us where the seeds of his own fatal malady were sown. They tell us how he sympathized with others in their sorrow; how in camp he talked and prayed with men (some of them from his old Sabbath class), when to indite a prayer or sing a psalm, cost something more than time or talent.* They tell us that the "Cross at any time in his deportment could be seen;" so that we needed not to hear the tidings of his dealli, to know assuredly that life was not accounted dear to him, if that he might complete his course with joy. If therefore in addition to the Christian impulse by which he was hurried to the field; if anything above that sense of Christian duty, for which he gave our land his life, were wanting to attest the fullness and completeness of his earthly course, these last days with the sick and the disabled—his last words, all of which were breathed, not for himself but for another, would announce with unmistakable authority how truly he had counted all things loss, that he might win the crown.
"When we think of him, let not our eyes be dim with tears—but let our hearts rejoice that God has made him able, thus to finish his career with joy. Let his memory seem to us like some perfected crystal formed from the agitated cooling of the ore; each side reflects its own peculiar lustre, while together all the rays perfect a starlike form, whose gleams conceal all imperfections; and within whose heart a crystal germ of purity waits but the master hand to be made fit for coronets of kings.
"But yesterday our friend was like ourselves, imperfect, frail and liable to temptation; upon his life the finishing touch had not yet come. To-day, by Jesus's handling, he is shining in perfection in the diadem of God! His mortal life was gladly given for this end; then why should we begrudge it! Everything was laid for this at Jesus's feet; and why should we be sorry for the sacrifice! A joyous home, great hopes, strong friendships, happy ties,—all counted loss, so that he might end his course with joy! These are the signs of its completion, what can we ask for more!
"Not merely do the tears of all true patriots fall upon his tomb; not only does a star-lit and perfected manhood shine from heaven upon us to inspire with hope; but as a spirit, leaving in its flight sure signs of its redemption, his memory sheds a glad assurance down. With Paul, his strength on earth through Christ, was in the words: 'I count not life dear unto me, so that I finish my career with joy,' and with the Apostle he has proved those words sincere; therefore to-day, with all the ransomed hosts above, he finds ecstatic pleasure in that song of songs: 'The Lamb was slain.'
"My fellow-Christians of this church, he for whose loss these tears of mingled grief and joy are falling, was, as you know, one of the first enrolled among our members. He is among the first to leave this membership for the Church Triumphant in the skies. He who greeted me so cordially one year ago when first I came to live among you as your pastor, will extend to me and you no further proofs of his affection; he can offer now no further acts of love; but may he not still live about us, radiant upon us from that upper sphere? May not his death be like a cheerful light upon our way, revealing to us what the Christian has to suflfer and to dare, and showing us the glorious crown he hopes to wear? May not this early gift of life to God nerve us as worthily to finish our career? Assisted by him, to look beyond him to a greater sufferer, may we not in holy emulation also strive to leave behind us equal proof, that Jesus will present our souls upon His bleeding heart before the throne? Then shall the name of him who has departed become a sacred memory within our souls; our loved and honored dead will touch us from the past, and fill us with an ever-present and inspiring joy! He was ours once in full companionship; he may be ours forevermore in that far higher intimacy which death and a divine communion can establish between kindred souls. Although his worthiness makes our immediate loss the heavier, yet for this very reason is his gain and ours the greater. He has finished his career with joy—we in that completion may find all we need; may find the very impulse that we lacked for giving up our life in true surrender unto God. Draw near, then, ye that mourn and he ye comforted. We have no cause for grief; and surely he whose requiem we chant needs not our tears!
"In that resplendent lustre of perfected souls, the spirits of the just made perfect seem to listen as I speak! I seem to speak of one among them, as if he heard me still! His voice comes gently, like an echo from the skies, entreating us to get our lives in readiness to come. He tells us of the rest above; he chants the glory of his now perfected life.
"Thus would he hush our murmurs, quiet all our fears, and draw us sweetly to the love of Him whose life was freely given, that whosoever loseth life for His sake on the earth may find it unto everlasting joy."
The following hymn (a favorite with Adjt. Strong, among the songs of the Sabhath School), was sung by request on the evening of the delivery of this discourse:
When cold and sluggish drops
Roll off my marble brow.
Break forth in songs of joyfulness,
Let heaven begin below.
When the last moments come,
Oh, watch my dying face
To catch the bright seraphic glow
Which in each feature plays.
Then to my raptured ear
Let one sweet song be given;
Let music charm me last on earth
And greet me first in heaven.
Then close my sightless eyes,
And lay me down to rest,
And clasp my cold and icy hands
Upon my lifeless breast.
When round my senseless clay
Assemble those I love—
Then sing of heaven, delightful heaven,
My glorious home above.
