Page 3 Advertisements Column 1

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 99, 5 February 1885, Page 3

The Burial of Mr Chamberlain ♦- (advertisement.) The following is the address de-, liverpd by Mr T. R. Walton at the grave: — " Our Father and our Mother God ! By whateover name we call thee on $artin, or wherever on bended knee the thoughts of mortalspraise Thee, let us remember that Thy light fills every atom of space ; and that Thou speakest to all if we will but listen to Toy voice. The present season of the year, with its ripening grain, and abundant fruits of the earth, fails not in lifting our thoughts to the bountiful giver of every blessing. Let us praise Thee as the stream and the ocean praise Thee, as the mountain in solemn grandeur, or the deep darkened caverns of the shore. The stars in their rbits praise Thee, as they perf orm their revolutions in harmony with the law of light thou hast given them as their guidance, keeping time to the bidding of Thy will, they move on through space, for ever held in the circle Thou gavest to be the law of their being. Oh! let us small atoms in the great soa of souk be thus held to Thy great spirit by the 'one subtle -chain, of love that binds us to Thee. Let us praise Thee for that life that is beyond death — for that better land — that more extended range of vision, that higher and more glorified city, where the soul, no longer ia. fetters, no longer bound down to the material sense, basks in the bright sunlight of Thy truth. Link upon link, aye, endless is the chain, that binds us with the Infinite. There are none so high in heaven, that will not bend to earth and drop a tear, on the sorrowing ones below, and are ever near to comfort the widow and the fatherless in the hour of bereavement. The hand of death has been laid upon a loved one, to whose remains we pay the last earthly tribute of respect. Around the open grave stand those who have been bound by the ' strongest ties of love and affection. We cannot fully realise the power and fulness of the love existing between a • fond and faithful wife, and the partner of her joys and sorrows — a good and noble husband. Neither can we fathom the depth of fhat love, contained in the breasts of those children, bereft, of a kind and indulgent father — one whose example will ' ever shine forth, as a bright light to guide them in the way they should , go. It is but right to speak well of the departed, and let his faults find ; failings bo forgotten. It is the more . cheerful to know that our dear friend ] and brother lived a life remai-kable for its integrity. "To err is human to forgive divine." He erred not wilfully, but acted well his part. We may learn from the grave the necessity of living together in peace, for life is indeed short. Although our departed friend had reached the autumn of his earthly life, yet how short does that lif e seem. How much has been accomplished ; how much remained to perform. ' Life 'at 'the best t is but short. We all have a mission to perform, by leaving the world better than we found it ; and by x acting nobly and well, death may ' come when it will — will find us ready, i Let us pass beyond the grave, and behold the chains of love which bind « soul to soul, thought with thought, for j true affection survives the tomb. Lot usieel that living spirit in our midst i —and not alone in Temples conse- ' crated for its worship — not alono j ■where human hands and heads have . fashioned wonderful forms of devo- j tion — not. where altars and shrines - pour forth incense as offerings to the s Most High — but let us look into the i sacred temple of -the heart, which is I the shrine of the ever living spirit. There is its real presence felt, and ever found, inspiring us, protecting us, leading us onward to that higher life miscalled death. Let prejudice and superstition be dismissed. Then will the angel of light, Reason, and Truth roll away the stone from the sepulchre. Then will those who walk : on the shores of time with weary . plodding feet, and hearts heavy with j anguish, see the bright light beyond. There is no death ! It is but a step from the outer to the inner temple — from the material to the spiritual — from death unto life. Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption, sown a mortal body, raised a spiritual body — changed in the twinkling of an eye. Oh death! where is they sting! Oh grave ! -where is thy victory ! Death is the close of life's alarms, •The watch light on the shore : The clasping in immortal arms Of loved ones gone before. Death is a soag from seraph lips, The dayspring from on high ; The ending of the soul's eclipse — Its transit to the sky. The" grave is about to conceal from light the earthly ienement, the outward forin, of our dear friend and brother— rthe beloved of his household as a husband and a father. Sickness and. suffering reduced the pnee robust and manly frame ; but sickness and suffering, long continued, left no stain, no blemish, on the noble mind. Reason was not impaired. The thought of death conveyed no fear and trembling. All things were subjected by him to the test of reason, nought was accepted otherwise. God's great kaA noble talent was not allowed moulder in a napkin. In this respect do we i eel proud to place him f orejnost in the ranks of the advanced and liberal thinkers of this blessed 19th century. Would that many more apply the test of reason before accepting blindly the inventions of man, which have given birth to 3igotry,^fuperstition,andlntollerance. We ; trust that tbesons and daughters ■wHliqfLow. in the. footsteps of their '&&&£&s&. <&}?¥. ? u^ * n eainestneiis'.tj&lgveai ; -dtisire of .his .heart—, fhe.\ir<Jnuilgation of truth, add liberty, "of- thought tli& onlj' true .Religion— ■bnv duty-to ChA, our Neighbour, and Gi-UsoiveE. B<n."ro\v 'and afuiotion may b"ow"6jr>Wn"to"tlie earth those who are • left to f znournj but let them not mourn a c : t +snß4 —thout hcjie- The pangs ; • o r ■ . ;; ' -T)t. will fi'ibsMo, the tear