Services
FUNERAL
OF AUGUSTINE HEARD,
AT
THE
CHURCH
OF THE FIRST PARISH,
IPSWICH,
MASS.
SEPTEMBER
16, 1868.
PRESS
OF T. R. MARVIN &
SON 131 CONGRESS STREET.
1869.
2002
MR.
AUGUSTINE HEARD was born at Ipswich on the 30th of March, 1785, and died in his
native place, after a short illness, on the 14th of September, 1868,
thus closing a long life of honour and usefulness. Beloved and esteemed by all
who knew him, his death was the cause of deep and universal sorrow. A very large
number of friends were present at his Funeral to pay the last tribute of respect
to his Memory, and, in accordance with their wishes, this record of the Services
on that occasion is printed for private distribution.
SERVICES AT THE FUNERAL
OF
MR.
AUGUSTINE HEARD.
__________
THE
Services began with a voluntary requiem by the choir, after which selections
from the Scriptures were read by the Pastor of the Church.
The
following Address was then delivered by Rev. J. P. COWLES, Principal of the
Ipswich Female Seminary:
WHEN
a good and true man dies, he leaves his life a legacy to the world. So it is
with us in respect to the friend about whose mortal remains we are gathered. We
speak, indeed, of his departure as a loss, and to his family and friends it is a
great loss. It is a sorrow which cannot be told in words, to miss him from his
accustomed places, to see no more his cheerful face at the table, at the
fireside, and at the Sanctuary. Days, months and years will pass away, and you
must still say, “he shall never return, we can never see him again on
earth.” On that side, in that point of view, lies bitterness, unsolaced,
incurable, save as we look to the Cross, and to the Sepulchre, from whose
opening doors the Mighty Conqueror of Death and the Grave arose.
But
let us who are left behind, who are heirs of his life, look, for a moment, at
the contents of his great legacy; let us see how much the world, that part of it
in which he moved and had his being, is the better for his living in it. It will
be a comfort to consider what additions he made to the sum of human welfare,
what he was, and what he did for his race.
He
was a man of great and untiring industry. From very early life till the end, he
was a hard working man, and this was the secret of his, well known sympathy with
working men.
He
was a man of remarkable energy and decision. The thing that was to be done he
did promptly, and in its time. He wrought with great power, and without noise,
for his was not a heavy but an effective stroke. Its certainty and efficiency
were like those of a mechanical force. In reality, it was physical and
intellectual power of a rare order, working promptly, steadily and surely for
whatever end he sought to accomplish. He was a man of undaunted courage. He was
a stranger to fear. He did not know the difference between what is commonly
called danger and safety. He showed this of late, in speaking of his approaching
dissolution with a crisp and quiet humor, which was both pleasant and painful.
He
was a man of eminent self control. He had all his faculties well in hand,
trained instruments, ready, on any emergency, for use. He had his passions also
well in hand. They were not his masters, but his servants, made to know their
place, and to obey his over-mastering will. His will was one of the strongest
and most effective faculties in him; controlling himself he was able to control
others; among kings, he would have been still himself a king.
He
was a man of exact truthfulness. The word which he said was strictly true. He
neither prevaricated nor exaggerated, -his habit was rather to extenuate than to
exaggerate, -to say less instead of more than might be said. He was always
within bounds and could be relied upon for perfect accuracy.
He
was a man of perfect honour. He could always be trusted. He was always on the
mark where there was reason to expect him. He had no management, no underhand
methods, no contrivances behind the scenes. He could not have been a political
demagogue; as little could he have been the tool of demagogues.
To
those who knew him at all intimately, his kindness and benevolence were,
perhaps, the most impressive and shining traits in his character. People who
beheld his dignified form, and some-what reserved manner, might not dream that
under that quiet exterior there beat a heart as tender as a woman's. There are
multitudes who know how easily his heart was touched with any
want
or suffering, whatever, that fell in his way. I believe that it would be the
testimony of all who ever knew him, that no case of real need was ever laid
before him in vain. If all those who have received his aid in counsel, or with
material succour, were gathered together, it would be a great congregation, and
if they should open their lips to thank him, he would say, “Don't speak of it,
it is nothing."
Having,
in the prime of life, by industry, skill and enterprise, been successful in
business abroad, he devoted his later years to rational enjoyment, and largely
to the work of doing good. The widow and the orphan found in him a ready friend.
The needy never came to him for aid and went unassisted away. Quietly,
unostentatiously, always, everywhere, he was the good Samaritan, all over, all
through.
When,
perhaps two years ago, he felt that his departure could not be far off,
considering what disposal to make of a portion of his means which would benefit
most and longest the people of his native town, he came to the judicious and.
happy conclusion to found a Library of useful, rather than entertaining
knowledge, to which ingenious and ingenuous minds might resort, and fill their
urns with light. He meant that the common people, and all the people, the
literary man and the reading woman, the artisan and the farmer, men of business
and men of leisure, should here find literary advantages of a high order. He
erected an edifice of the most suitable and enduring kind. Those who have been
familiar with him during the last labour of his life, know with what care he
attended to its minutest details, supplying everything that might contribute to
its perfection. He had already placed upon the shelves a choice selection of
useful works, embracing a wide range of English literature. He has left it a
monument of his intelligence, his far reaching sagacity, and his unwearied
benevolence.
Let
us thank God that such a man has lived among us. Let us bless the Great Father
that we have seen him and known him. Let us give thanks for these great
qualities, and for his admirable life. The memory of the just is blessed, and it
is a blessed thing to remember the just. Let us embalm his name and his virtues
in grateful hearts. While this river shall run to the ocean, while shadows shall
compass these hills, let his name and his work remain, a blessing to us and to
our children, and children's children forever.
A
few words on another point. God has said, “I will have mercy and not
sacrifice,” and to the young man who thought he had fulfilled every duty,
Christ said, “One thing thou lackest, Go sell all that thou hast and give to
the poor.” Did not our friend stand that test? Did he hesitate at that command
? Remember also those other words, -in which the Great Judge of the quick and
the dead shall express his approval of his own people, -Inasmuch as you
have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto me." And
did he not visit and care for, not one, but many, of the least of these? And
when he beholds, not with cloud-dimmed eyes, -not through a glass darkly, but
face to face, the majestic purity and benevolence of Christ, must not such a
heart as his meet that love with answering love and duty? Could such a mind as
his, itself so truthful, so tender and so charitable, fail, when it saw, to love
the benevolent Saviour?
Lowly
and solemn be
Thy
children's cry to Thee,
Father
Divine!
A
hymn of suppliant breath,
Owning
that life and death
Alike
are Thine.
O
Father! in that hour
When
earth all succoring power
Shall
disavow,
When
shield and spear and crown,
In
faintness are cast down,
Sustain
us Thou!
By
Him who bowed to take
The
death-cup for our sake,
The
thorn, the rod-
From
whom the last dismay
Was
not to pass away,
Save
us, O God!
Trembling
beside the grave,
We
call on Thee to save,
Father
Divine!
Hear,
hear our suppliant breath,
Keep
us in life and death
Thine,
only Thine!
Rev. Mr. MORONG, the Pastor, then spoke substantially as follows:
My brother has aptly portrayed the character of our deceased friend. It
remains for me, as the Pastor of the Church with which he worshipped, to express
my own sympathy, and the sympathy of this community with the bereaved family.
Death
has robbed us of one who was beloved for his own sake, beloved for his kindred's
sake, and beloved for his numerous public and private benefactions. In losing
him, we have lost one who ever manifested a cordial interest in the welfare of
the Society which I represent. We, too, are bereaved. We part with a friend whom
we would have gladly kept among us had it been God's will. We shall miss his
presence from our streets, we shall miss his form from his accustomed seat in
the Sanctuary, we shall miss his kindly countenance, his helpful spirit, his
hearty manner.
It
is, therefore, in no official or formal phrase that I tender to his surviving
relations the word of condolence. “Weep with those who weep," is the
injunction of an Apostle. We do more; we weep for ourselves while we weep with
you.
But
let us, my dear friends, in the midst of judgment, remember mercy. He has been
spared to you for many years. He went not down to the grave in untimely youth,
nor in early manhood, with his purposes broken off; but he departed in a ripe
old age, after beholding his labors brought to fruition, and his plans for the
good of his friends and the public consummated. He had the felicity of seeing
those for whom he felt the affection and care of a father grow up into the
stations which he would have them fill. After long years of wandering upon the
ocean, and of sojourn in strange lands, he was permitted to return home, to
spend the decline of life in peace and prosperity among kindred and
acquaintance, and at last to fall asleep in his native town, surrounded with all
the attention and comfort that love could bestow upon him.
And,
better than all else, he has left behind a name which no one who knew him will
willingly let die. It would be officious in me, an acquaintance of such recent
date, to remind his family friends of the generous pains he took to secure their
personal and domestic happiness. This is to them a familiar household knowledge.
There was that in him which will keep his memory green, like the memory of those
by whose side we shall place him to day.
Old
associates who come hither to follow him to the grave, will never forget the
sterling qualities that made him a man among men.
Merchants
will honour him as one of the foremost of their number in enterprise and
integrity.
His
quiet "and unostentatious bounty, known only to himself and the recipients
of his kindness, will enshrine his name in many a heart. Nor will the
inhabitants of this town cease to record his virtues, so long as yonder Library
stands to attest his munificence and his interest in their moral and
intellectual growth.
But
I am aware that such considerations, while they may mitigate, cannot fully
assuage your grief. Death will always be mysterious while the world stands. It
will leave stings which no mortal hand can pluck out. Its sunderings of domestic
ties, its blasting of fond hopes, its seizure of the fairest and the best, will
cause doubts and pangs which no human philosophy can solve or alleviate.
Therefore hath our Heavenly Father said, “Come unto me all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Would
we find true peace of mind in the hour of sorrow, we must come to the Divine
Comforter. Confidence in His supreme wisdom, though it does not explain the
mysteries of Providence, yet enables us to believe that they are blessings in
disguise. It removes the sting of doubt. Confidence in the Divine goodness
enables men to feel that even in bereavements, “He doeth all things
well." It takes away the torment of fear. Shall not the Judge of all the
earth do right? Whoever comes to God in faith is assured of his righteousness;
and this very assurance brings tranquillity of mind. There is rest to all who
rest upon Infinite wisdom and goodness and justice. And yet more, to come to the
Lord, in the Scriptural sense of the term, is to secure a special Divine
presence in the soul. “If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."
When God is a guest in the heart, there is necessarily an end of all distress.
It is impossible that there should be darkness in the sunlight, or fear in
absolute security, or a sense of trouble in boundless consolations.
Commit
this grief to the God of all grace, and He will make you rich in every comfort
through His beloved Son. He will enable you to say, “Thy will be done."
Looking up to Him, you may lay the solemn lessons of the hour to heart, and be
strengthened by them for future usefulness. He will teach you how to number your
days, that you may apply your hearts unto wisdom. He will show you how to know
Him aright -how to recognize His hand in every event of life -how to commit your
whole way unto Him- how to live that you may live hereafter. Yes, ye that are
heavy laden, come unto Him who has the words of eternal life, and by whose
power, if ye believe in Him, ye shall never see death. Amen.
__________
MR. EDWARD AUSTIN.
MR.
J. INGERSOLL BOWDITCH.
MR.
C. W. DABNEY, JR.
MR.
ISRAEL G. WHITNEY.
MR.
JAMES S. AMORY.
MR.
JOSEPH ROSS.
MR.
GEORGE HASKELL.
MR.
ZENAS CUSHING.
The obsequies were concluded with a short burial service at the Tomb.