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 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 axd 
 
 SERMON, . 
 
 ELDER JACOB KING 
 
 > 
 
 OP 
 
 UPSON COUNTY, GEORGIA: 
 
 TOO ETHER WITH A 
 
 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 BY 
 
 BLDEB B. P. TIIARP, 
 
 OF 
 
 PERRY, GEORGIA. 
 
 MACON, GA.: 
 
 BURKE, BOYKIX & COMPANY. 
 1864. 
 
 MMIMM MUM >M » "I I 1 
 

 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/biographicalsket01thar 
 
R.H.H OV\ E Li. LITH. 
 
 f/IILLEDGEVILLE 
 
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 AND 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 OF 
 
 EIDER JACOB KING, 
 
 or 
 
 UPSON* COUNTY, GEORGIA: 
 
 TOGETHER WITH A 
 
 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 BY 
 
 ELDER B. F. THARP, 
 
 OP 
 
 PERRY, GEORGIA. 
 
 MACON, GA,: 
 
 BURKE, BOYKIN & COMPANY, 
 1864. 
 
gfejputybg of met faco* §i«g- 
 
 BY REV. B. F. THARP. 
 
 Died at his residence in Upson County, Ga., on the 9th of 
 August, 1862, Rev. JACOB KING. He was born 6th Sep- 
 tember, 1796, was hopefully converted to the knowledge of the 
 truth, June, 1820, and was baptized by John M, Gray, into 
 the Newhope Church, Jones County, Ga., on the first Lord's 
 Day in July thereafter. He was married to Matilda Wilson, 
 8th January, 1817. 
 
 Soon after his conversion, he was impressed with a desire to 
 preach the Gospel, but a sense of his own unworthiness pre- 
 vented him till, in 1825, Providence cast his lot on Flint River, 
 in Upson County. He was led to make the attempt in the 
 name of his Master, because of the destitution around him. 
 The country was then in its frontier state, and very destitute of 
 the preached Gospel. His first sermon was from the 11th 
 chapter of John : "He that believeth, though he were dead, 
 yet shall he live ; and he that liveth and believeth shall never 
 die." 
 
 In the year 1826, the Bethlehem Church having been deprived 
 by death of the services of her excellent Pastor, Thos. Leverett, 
 unanimously called for the ordination of Mr. King. Accord- 
 ingly he was set apart to the full work of the Ministry, by a 
 Presbytery composed of John Hamrick and Henry Hooten. 
 Mr. King was then exactly thirty years of age, his ordination 
 having been held on his birthday. In the following October, 
 he took the care of the Bethlehem and Fellowship Churches, 
 upon which a great revival of religion began and many converts 
 were added. 
 
 From that date till the close of his useful life, he was one of 
 the most laborious of Ministers. He generally preached to four 
 Churches, often supplied others in the week, and was always 
 active in preaching the Gospel to destitute neighborhoods, thus 
 introducing it into " the regions beyond." 
 
6 BIOGRAPHY OF ELDER JACOB KING. 
 
 He was a strong and fearless advocate of the Temperance 
 Reformation. In that frontier country intemperance prevailed 
 to an alarming extent. Thoroughly convinced of its evil and 
 dangerous tendency, he entered the lists against it, and was 
 unsparing also to those Church members who fell victims to the 
 sin. His genius and fertile imagination never left him without 
 the means of enforcing his views with success and power. One 
 of the best temperance lecturers in this State, who often met 
 Mr. King, said that he never met any man who could present 
 the cause of temperance with more attractions. 
 
 In the unfortunate division of the Baptist family upon the 
 subject of Missions, he espoused the side of benevolence, and 
 urged its claims to the day of his death. He was surrounded 
 by a strong anti-influence, and yet he maintained his cause with 
 such a versatility of talent and such power, as to cause it 
 steadily to prevail. His neighbors and friends were strong 
 advocates for Anti-ism, and they arrayed considerable talent, 
 wealth, and personal influence against the cause which he advo- 
 cated ; but amid all these influences, by the force of proper 
 argumentation and a proper life, he gained converts to his cause. 
 When the division took place, one of them said to him, " We 
 shall see who are in the right, by the blessing of God which 
 shall follow the right." He readily accepted the test, and often 
 pointed to the abundant blessing of God upon the labors of 
 missionaries, to prove to them at least that ours was the right 
 cause. He thought for himself upon all subjects. No man was 
 farther from accepting any opinion upon the " say so " of 
 another. And this originality of thinking early led him to 
 prefer the plan of Missions adopted by the Rehoboth Associa- 
 tion. He saw in Conventions a power which could be easily 
 abused, and did nbt favor them nor often attend them. He 
 believed the Churches were the only organization necessary to 
 the world's evangelization. He was willing to unite Churches 
 in this work for the sake of the strength which the union 
 imparted — but farther than that he was not willing to go. 
 Hence he was the earnest advocate of the first motion made in 
 the Association to send out and support a Missionary to the 
 Africans ; and when, after years of trial, it was found that two 
 directors to the same work did not advance, but rather hindered 
 it, he was equally earnest in advocating a separation from the 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF ELDER JACOB KING. 
 
 Boards. No cause was dearer to him than the cause of missions, 
 and to the world's salvation he gave the whole of his converted 
 life. 
 
 His talents were of the first order. If one word were 
 required to express the character of his mind, that word would 
 be genius. He thought, spake, acted, just like no other man. 
 He did not enjoy the advantages of a collegiate education. In 
 fact, like most men of his age and locality, he enjoyed few 
 literary advantages in early life ; yet he spake with great pro- 
 priety, had fine command of appropriate language, and was an 
 excellent scribe. He had a fine sense of what was fitting and 
 proper in any situation or position, and was scarcely ever known 
 to violate the rules of propriety. He had a most fertile and 
 inexhaustible imagination, and descriptive powers which were 
 inimitable. He also possessed the rare faculty of weaving anec- 
 dotes into his sermons and speeches, which gave him great 
 power over his audience, whether he desgined to gain the atten- 
 tion or fix the heart. To all those rare powers he added an 
 iron will. No man can be great without this, and this he pos- 
 sessed in no ordinary degree. When he resolved to do a thing 
 nothing but impossibilities could prevent it. 
 
 His theology was just what such a man would be supposed 
 to believe and teach. He held to the universal and total 
 depravity of human nature ; to man's utter incapacity to recover 
 himself; to the efficacy of the Spirit's work; and to "the suffi- 
 ciency of the Atonement of Christ. He held to universal and 
 unlimited invitations of mercy as consistent with limitation in the 
 application of the Atonement. When listening to his discourses 
 on the power of the Cross, the hearer would be convinced no man 
 ever loved the Saviour better. It would have appeared, in hear- 
 ing him in his happier moments, that if Paul had risen from the 
 dead he would have found nothing to condemn. His sermons 
 were generally short, and he left his hearers wishing that he 
 had said more. They were, however, formed after no model ; 
 it was impossible for such a mind to be trammelled by rules. 
 Perhaps all of his sermons would have been liable to criticism, 
 judged after the method of the schools ; but none of the mas- 
 ters could have brought up an audience to any given point with 
 more order and certainty than could he. When he was to 
 preach set discourses, no one could guess what kind of text he 
 
8 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF ELDER JACOB KING. 
 
 would select — much less how he would handle it. He was 
 eminently a great preacher — if by great preacher be meant one 
 who vindicates the whole truth, converts souls, and ably recom- 
 mends Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of sinners. Few men in 
 the same time have preached more sermons, or baptized more 
 converts ; and his converts generally wore well. He had a clear 
 insight into the character of men, and could come as near as 
 any living man in detecting and unmasking the hypocrite. 
 Indeed, he was the last man whom the hypocrite, who knew 
 him, would attempt to deceive. He preached to the same people 
 from the beginning to the close of his ministry — a proof that he 
 possessed both talent and piety : for if he had not possessed 
 talents he would have worn out, and if he had not possessed 
 piety his sins would have exposed him. He possessed a ready 
 wit and great power at repartee. His friends remember a 
 certain occasion when, having heard a sermon from a Univer- 
 salist preacher, he demolished all the preacher had said in one 
 single, short, pithy sentence. 
 
 As a presiding officer, he was prompt, punctual, well-informed 
 and impartial. During the whole time that the Rehoboth Asso- 
 ciation has had existence, the writer does not know of a single 
 absence on his part from the meetings, nor does he believe that 
 at any time a vote was ever cast for any other person as pre- 
 siding officer. His own genius and imagination supplied him 
 ample means of directing the affairs of the Association, and 
 restoring brotherly feeling where it was about to be lost. What 
 these lacked was furnished by that remarkable run of good sense 
 which was his peculiar characteristic. He had an uncommon* 
 share of " common sense,'' — so very rmcommon that it ever 
 makes distinguished philosophers, statesmen, warriors or divines. 
 Such was the share of this which nature afforded him, that he 
 could have succeeded in any of the learned professions or any 
 department of business. 
 
 He had great affection for, and care of young ministers. Ho 
 often thanked God for them. He was ever willing to advise 
 them, and felt it his duty to correct their faults. This he did 
 in such kind and gentle manner as ever afterwards endeared 
 him to them. He always sought to aid the indigent in procuring 
 a proper education, and scarcely ever closed an Association 
 without a special address to them. 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF ELDER JACOB KING. 
 
 But there were two positions in which he shone forth pre- 
 eminently the man and the Christian — as master and husband. 
 He treated his servants like children ; he loved them tenderly 
 and took great care of their morals. Once he thought of remov- 
 ing to a distant country, and was very particular to inquire after 
 the morals of the negroes there, fearing they might corrupt his 
 own. Some years since, several of them died, and he watched 
 and prayed with them to the last, and had unspeakable satis- 
 faction in the hope of heaven they expressed. 
 
 As a husband, he was a perfect model. "No affection for any 
 earthly object could induce him to neglect his ministerial 
 duties ; but when these were over, he would often ride almost 
 the whole night to visit a wife who might be afflicted, and to 
 see how all did at home. Then he would return to the same 
 work on the morrow. He had no children of his own, but 
 loved them ardently, and was an excellent companion for them. 
 His little niece whom he was educating, and who was a member 
 of his family, was the object of Ills unceasing solicitude and care. 
 
 He never possessed a very strong physical constitution. When 
 he first entered the ministry he was so feeble that he had to 
 leave the flock in summer. But he lived to good old age. 
 Inflammation of the lungs, brought on by excessive labor and 
 cold, terminated his existence after several weeks of suffering. 
 He could converse but little. He said from the beginning that 
 he would die ; that he had never done any work to merit any- 
 thing of the Lord, but that all he hoped for must come through 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. He asked his deacons to pray that he 
 might be fully resigned to the will of God. IJe retained his 
 senses to the last ; and just before he breathed his last, called 
 his servants to him, shook each by the hand, and said, " Fare- 
 well," told them to bring his little niece to him, when he long 
 and affectionately embraced her ; bade adieu to all around, com- 
 posed himself for a moment, and then gently "fell asleep in 
 Jesus." Thus died this eminent servant of the Lord, who 
 " rests from his labors, and his works do follow him." We 
 mourn him — we shall never look upon his like again. 
 
JJ, $txm*u 
 
 BY REV. JACOB KING, 
 
 Preached on Monday, 23d of September, 1861, at the Session 
 of Flint River Association, held at Shiloh, Monroe County, 
 Georgia: 
 
 [reported.] 
 
 Text : — u Phil, ii : 1. Finally brethren pray for us," &c. 
 
 I would be glad, my friends, if I could, by any means, arrest 
 your feelings, and direct your attention a little this way. If you 
 will at the start listen just one moment until I tell you one thing, 
 one little thing — when you have heard it, you may go away and 
 do as you please, just as you always do. 
 
 Once in the course of my life,- along time ago — (they say you 
 know that I am old fogy) it was my privilege and my happiness 
 to be sent up to an Association away up yonder above the Rock 
 Mountain. I was put up to preach under rather unfavorable 
 circumstances, such as they are now. The people, I may as 
 well tell you, thought I was rather a bad chance* and I could 
 not get them to turn their faces towards me, or to pay attention 
 to me, and as the wind was blowing right in my face, it was a 
 hard struggle for me to go on. At last I said to them, if you 
 just will listen to me a little, my friends, I will tell you an anec- 
 dote. Once there was a little boy, a beggar boy, who after 
 rambling about the streets of a village in search of something 
 to eat, for he was hungry, at last came up to a good lady's 
 house, and seeing her, commenced, "Now," says he, "if, 
 Madam, you will just give me some bread and put a little but- 
 ter on it, I will tell you something that will do you good all the 
 days of your life." At first the lady said, " Begone boy ! I 
 have no business with you ; begone." But still the beggar boy 
 would not go, but repeated as before, "If you will just give 
 me a piece of bread and put some butter on it, I will tell you 
 
BY REV. JACOB KING. 
 
 11 
 
 something that will do you good all the days of your life." The 
 lady at last said to herself " perhaps he can tell me something 
 that will be to my benefit. Perhaps some one has threatened 
 to burn up my house, or to do me some other serious injury ; it 
 will not cost me a great deal. I believe I will give it to him." 
 She went to the cupboard and got a piece of bread and put a lit- 
 tle butter on it, and came and gave it to the boy, and then asked 
 him to tell her what he had that was good to tell her. "Well " 
 says the boy, " whenever you go to sew, be sure to tie a knot 
 on the end of your thread, and you will not lose the first stitch." 
 Well, I suppose she learned, if she did not know it before, that 
 if she would tie a knot in the end of the thread, she would not 
 be bothered in taking the first stitch. In this way I got the 
 faces of the people turned towards me, and secured their atten- 
 tion throughout my discourse. 
 
 Now, my friends, just hold on a moment, and by the assist- 
 ance of divine grace, I will tell you something that may do you 
 good all the days of your life. My young friends, it may be in 
 your death struggles that this poor feeble effort I may make for 
 your salvation, will be remembered. It may be the last I may 
 ever make for your soul's salvation. With God's assistance I 
 hope I may be able to say something this evening that may 
 kindle in your hearts and do \ou good long after I am cold in 
 the grave, and I trust have met my reward in the heavens, arr 
 rayed in the spotless purity of Christ's robe of righteousness, 
 and enjoying the rest which remains for the people of God. 
 
 I ask you, then, in the name of my master, not on account of 
 anything there is in me, or that I shall be able to say, I ask you 
 this evening to turn your faces Zionward. I speak to you in 
 the name of my master, whom I serve, and for whom I labor 
 and toil. 
 
 Finally ', brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may 
 have free course and abound, and be glorified with us as it is 
 with you. 
 
 That is the text ; that is the portion of God's word from 
 which, with the assistance of heaven, I am going to try to ad- 
 dress, you this evening. Finally, brethren, pray for us that the 
 word of the Lord may have free course and abound, and be 
 glorified with us as it is with you. In 2d Epistle of Paul to the 
 
12 A SERMON 
 
 Thessalonians, second chapter and tirst verse, you will find the 
 words which I have read. 
 
 It seems now as if this was about to be the end of the matter. 
 Finally, as if the apostle had said I am going to sum up the 
 whole in one conclusion, and perhaps end his letter. Finally, 
 brethren, pray for us. My friends, did you ever think that the 
 greatest men that ever lived or died, had a deep solicitude for 
 the prayers of the children of God ? If any people beneath 
 the sun, or if any man beneath the canopy of heaven had been 
 able fully to receive divine strength, and to live without the 
 prayers of God's children, it was the great apostle of the gen- 
 tiles, and those soldiers of the cross who counted not their own 
 lives dear unto themselves, but lived only for the King of kings 
 and Lord of lords. But they all desired, and no doubt had the 
 prayers of the church of Jesus Christ. All the soldiers of the 
 Cross of Christ have felt the influence and importance of prayer, 
 my brethren. Without it we can do nothing. I say without 
 prayer we can accomplish little in the name of our Lord and 
 Saviour. I understand from the Scriptures that the effectual, 
 fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much. My friends, 
 however weak the language in which it may be uttered, if we 
 know that a^live coal from off the altar burns in the heart, we 
 know that that prayer will reach the throne of the most high, 
 and cause blessings to flow down from the divine presence. 
 Finally then, brethren, pray for us. Prayer, my friends, is that 
 which moves the hand of the Omnipotent, prayer moves the 
 hand of him that holds in his hand the destinies of this world, 
 prayer will move that hand, that Almighty hand that holds the 
 destinies of the universe. Prayer ! What is prayer ? 
 
 Prayer is the simplest form of speech 
 
 That infant lips can try; 
 Prayer the sublimest strains that reach 
 
 The majesty on high. 
 
 Yes, my dear hearers, perhaps this is as good a time as any 
 for me to tell you that I have felt its efficacy some years ago, I 
 do not know how many, for I hardly know how long I have 
 been trying to preach. I was serving a church where there 
 were some old matrons — mothers in Israel. And here I would 
 say, if I had to depend on any prayers for divine assistance, I 
 
BY REV. JACOB KING. 13 
 
 do not know any on which I would sooner hang my destiny than 
 on those old sisters I see before me. We had some old mothers 
 in Israel in the church, and I have no doubt, my friends, that 
 they were imbued with the spirit of my master. I was then a 
 poor stripling, standing up in the pulpit and trying as well as 
 I could, to tell the story of the cross and the glory of my master- 
 These old women were sitting right down there beside the pul- 
 pit, and I was trembling and shaking as I tried to preach. At 
 that time I felt the value of prayer as those old mothers in Israel 
 lifted up their hearts to God for his assistance, and some how, I 
 can't tell how, the word seemed to take effect, the church pros- 
 pered, and many souls were converted, and to-day I have no doubt 
 those old sisters are singing the praises of God around his 
 throne in heaven. Then again I repeat, pray for us, for us who 
 are the heralds of the cross. The apostles of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ called upon all to pray for them, the learned and the 
 unlearned, the ignorant and the intelligent, all ranks and con- 
 ditions of life. We want the same interest in your prayers, for 
 God hears when the weakest saint is on his knees, and Satan 
 trembles, as the poet says. 
 
 The apostle says, pray for us. One thing I will remark here. 
 Oftentimes I have heard the brethren pray, and I have no doubt 
 that the sisters pray too, and I have heard them mention in their 
 prayers the ministers of Jesus Christ, and pray that God would 
 give them grace and strength for every time of need, enabling 
 them to combat successfully with the trials and temptations to 
 which they are exposed, and to be instrumental in the salvation 
 of many souls, and I have often thought if they only knew of 
 the severity of our trials, and the need we feel of God's grace 
 to enable us to preach the word successfully, they would never 
 cease to pray for us. No one but the minister himself, can tell 
 how refreshing it is to his soul, or how necessary it is for the 
 success of his work, that he have the prayers of his brethren 
 and sisters. Pray then for the ministers of Jesus Christ, that 
 the Lord would give them strength and zeal in the cause of their 
 master, and love, undying love, for the souls of sinners. 
 
 There is one thing further that I would remind you of. We 
 sometimes hear of the destitution of ministers. Did you know, 
 my brethren, that the way to have an increase of ministers, was 
 to pray for them ? That is the way we are taught in the scrip- 
 
14 A SERMON 
 
 tures that the number of Christ's ministers is increased. "Pray 
 ye, threfbre," says our Lord Jesus Christ, " to the Lord of the 
 harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest." 
 You will get the ministers by prayer, and then you must pray 
 the Lord to give you the spirit to feed and sustain them. As 
 for my part, I will not have long to eat any man's bread, and I 
 have thought that even if my brethren should now suffer me to 
 perish, they would not cheat me out of many days. I am not, 
 therefore, speaking for myself, but for others who are to follow 
 me. Brethren, sustain these ministers, for they labor for your 
 souls as those that must give account, and it is your duty to 
 minister to them in temporal things, to sustain them by your 
 contributions, that they may be free to devote themselves wholly 
 to the work of the Lord. 
 
 Pray that the word of the Lord may have free course. Some- 
 thing like this, it strikes my mind, is the meaning of the apostle. 
 He likens it to the clearing out the channel of a river or creek 
 in order that the water may run smoothly on. You remove all 
 the obstructions, of roots and chunks, and rocks and other ob- 
 stacles, and the water has a free course. Just so you must pray 
 that all obstructions may be removed out of the way of the 
 spread of God's word. Pray therefore that this word may have 
 free course to spread everywhere — East and West, North and 
 South — that the word of the Lord may flow onward and onward, 
 from sea to sea, and from the river to the end of the earth. 
 Nothing short of that will do. You can't stop praying until 
 this success is attained. Christ gave us the commission, " Go 
 ye therefore into all nations and preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture ; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he 
 that believeth not shall be damned." Over the whole world, 
 you see, and to every creature that lives and is rational, the gos- 
 pel must be preached. If you know of any place or any person 
 this does not include, when I get through you may tell me. But, 
 my friends, there is no such place — there is no human creature 
 that is not included, and that does not need the gospel. Pray 
 then that the word of the Lord may have free course to go 
 everywhere, and that it may ever extend onward and onward. 
 
 And to what characters, my brethren, is the word of the Lord 
 to go ? To those that are dead in trespasses and in sins ; to 
 those that are ruined and undone, (you know what I mean,) for 
 
BY REV. JACOB KING. 15 
 
 you have felt what it was to be in that condition. I can re- 
 member about forty years ago I felt myself to be in that condi- 
 tion, a poor ungodly sinner, a wicked sinner ; and I can remem- 
 ber the feelings of my heart when God's word gained entrance 
 into my soul. I may forget many things, I have forgotten many 
 things, but I never shall forget, no, not in my dying struggles, 
 the exercises of my mind on that occasion. You, then^ who have 
 felt the joys of redeeming love and pardoning grace, pray that 
 the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified. 
 
 Be glorified. That is, its success is dependent on the Spirit of 
 God. Some one asked me the other day if ever I converted 
 anybody. I told him if ever I did, whoever I converted was 
 not worth a single groat — a single cent. It is the power of 
 God that converts the soul. It is the Spirit's influence, for the 
 apostle says we are not ashamed of the gospel of God, for it is 
 the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth — 
 every one, Jew or Gentile, bond or free, noble or ignoble — it 
 makes no difference. All that are converted are converted by 
 the same almighty power of God. 
 
 Before I close, I will relate one or two incidents in order to 
 show you how much necessity there is for your prayers. I have 
 been a soldier myself, and know what it is to be a soldier and 
 suffer the hardships and privations of camp life. It has not 
 been very long since I saw perhaps the most affecting scene I 
 ever witnessed. It was when the first company of soldiers left 
 Thomaston to go to Pensacola. I thought it almost literally 
 rained tears. As the soldiers proceeded on* their way, the band 
 struck up " Home, sweet home." Ah, my friends, those sol- 
 diers will think of home, sweet home, very often before they 
 get back again. Don't forget them in your prayers. They have 
 gone to do battle for your rights. 
 
 I will tell you another incident. I have a nephew in the army, 
 and he writes me that the chaplain of the regiment to which he 
 belongs, one day gave him a copy of the " Index " to read. He 
 says I thought of you and Aunt Matilda sitting by the fireside 
 reading that same paper, and I could not help thinking of home, 
 my sweet home. Ah, yes, many scenes will come up to call 
 back the memory of our soldiers to their dear homes. Let us 
 pray for them. 
 
 Let me relate one more. I received intelligence a few days 
 
16 A SERMON. 
 
 ago that one of the soldiers was dead. Young Morgan. I 
 knew him well. He was one of the best boys I ever knew, 
 and above all, I believe he was a christian. I have no doubt he 
 was a christian, and I believe he is now in heaven praising .God, 
 and singing the praises of the Lamb. The gospel was glorified 
 in his case. I want to go where I believe Morgan is. It will 
 not be long, my brethren, before the time will come for me to 
 go. 
 
^tttjnal gttmim 
 
 BY ELDER B. F. THARP. 
 
 John Wth ch : 25-26. — " He that believeth in me, though he 
 icere dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and 
 believeth shall never die." 
 
 Called as I am this morning, to stand in this place, so often 
 occupied by Brother Jacob King, in proclaiming the Gospel of 
 our Lord, I have chosen this scripture as seeming to me appro- 
 priate. And I consider it the more so, because the first he ever 
 used as a text. The occasion which gave rise to the text was 
 very much like this which calls us together. The brother of 
 Mary and Martha, had died. Christ loved that little family, 
 though absent from them, and apparently indifferent to their 
 request to come unto them. When he came the sister said, 
 "Lord if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." 
 Christ said, " He shall rise again." She said, " I know he shall 
 rise again at the Resurrection at the last day." To those sor- 
 rowing sisters it was a sad and afflicting providence — like that 
 which now fills these sorrowing hearts. Before me I see a wife ? 
 a brother, a little niece, and kindred according to the flesh, all 
 feeling as did Martha when she said, "I know that he shall rise 
 again at the Resurrection at the last day." The time of the 
 resurrection is often felt to be too far off, and the effects of it 
 too remote, to afford any present comfort. But it should not 
 be so, my Christian friends. Christ teaches that in himself is 
 the remedy for all the ills of the psesent state. "lam the 
 resurrection and the life." And that truth can best afford com- 
 fort to the child of God. And it would appear that even 
 Martha was comforted with this truth, before she had the 
 remotest conception of the immediate rising of her brother — 
 and so it should be with you. The resurrection robs death of 
 its terrors, its complicated terrors. Because it is the antidote 
 
 C 
 
18 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 of death, Christ introduced it at the grave of Lazarus. He 
 said, thy brother shall rise again, but did not say when he should 
 rise. But it mattered not when, so he should rise, and shout 
 the victory over the grave. He tried the effect of the doctrine 
 upon these sisters to test their faith, and try their patience, for 
 your benefit and mine. And shall not this doctrine properly 
 affect our hearts? The spirit of our departed relative, and 
 brother in Christ, has gone to the reward of the faithful min- 
 ister—his body has been deposited in the dust ; but the day 
 comes when soul and body will reunite, and we shall see him 
 again in the youth and strength of unwasting manhood. This 
 is, and shall be, for a comfort. 
 
 The meaning of this text does not lie upon the surface. " He 
 that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." 
 That the body though dead will live is true of all, whether 
 believers or not. " There shall be a resurrection of the just and 
 of the unjust." Christ must then have referred to something 
 more than the resurrection of the body. And yet, he must 
 have implied something relative to it, for that certainly was the 
 subject of thought and discourse, at that time. His double 
 meaning is made more apparent in the next verse, and " whoso- 
 ever liveth, and believeth in me shall never die." The life here 
 spoken of is present life — whosoever liveth. And the life here 
 spoken of must be spiritual life ; for it declares he shall never 
 die — which is not true of physical life. The meaning is this, 
 the person who lives as a believer, or who lives by believing, 
 shall never die. Or in other words, faith frees us from all the 
 evil consequences of death. By the change which faith pro- 
 duces, natural death is but the property, the servant of the 
 Christian, to introduce him to the possession of his eternal 
 inheritance. With a proper interpretation, these verses contain 
 a pretty complete system of Theology. Death the first great 
 penalty, connected with the first great sin is brought to our 
 view. The first great wonder in theology is, that God should 
 have allowed sin to enter into his moral system ; and the second 
 is, that death should have been affixed as the penalty to sin. 
 Why did God say, "thou shalt die?" Why not affix some 
 other penalty ? The full import of the threat could not have 
 been known to Adam, Thou shalt die ! What a penalty ! 
 Even at this distance of time, and with the experience of all 
 
BY ELDER B. F. THARP. 19 
 
 men to guide us, it is difficult to ascertain its full meaning. It 
 signifies the separation of the soul from the body ; the separation 
 of the soul from the favor of God, and, after the first death, the 
 separation of the soul and body from God, and the society of 
 the good. This last constitutes the " second death." In this 
 penalty therefore, is embraced all the evils from the apostacy of 
 our race, to the ages of eternity. To this dread evil, and its 
 remedy, does Christ call the attention of these sorrowing sisters, 
 when he comes to "comfort them concerning their brother." 
 
 And yet, he adverts to another subject more pleasant — life. 
 " Though dead he shall live." Life is the opposite of death. 
 If therefore, we can ascertain the meaning of the one, we can 
 also of the other. That dear something we denominate life, 
 is that given of God when he breathed into man and he became 
 " a living soul." It signifies also the " favor of God." "When 
 God said in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die, 
 the threat was executed in this sense. In that day he lost the 
 favor of God, and separated himself from him. And this life is 
 now secured to each Christian by his conversion to Christ — 
 secured on better principles and held by better titles. And it 
 signifies also the enjoyment of the favor of God in Heaven. He 
 that liveth, and believeth, shall never die. " On such .the second 
 death hath no power." What a blessed revelation is here! 
 With what obvious propriety does Christ introduce this subject 
 to these sorrowing sisters ! 
 
 But our text goes farther, and instructs us as to how this 
 death may be avoided, and this life secured. " He that liveth, 
 and believeth, shall never die ; " or, he who lives by believing 
 shall never die. To him there is nought but life. Even the 
 death of the body is a necessity only to greater, and eternal 
 good. How different his state from that of the sinner ! The 
 one, now dead in trespasses and in sins, will soon be dead in 
 body, and then suffer the pangs of the second death; but the 
 other, " living and believing," shall know none of the evils of 
 death. And the inquiry is both pertinent and important, how 
 can this change be wrought ? The text affords the answer. 
 " He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he 
 live." Here is a proposition advanced by Christ, which I 
 would have you pause and carefully consider. "He that 
 believeth in me," &c. He does not say he that believeth in 
 
20 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 God, as the great " cause tff causes," shall never die. That is 
 a preparation for the faith deferred, but not itself that faith. 
 " He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he 
 is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."' " He must 
 believe that he is." And who does not believe that? God has 
 written his name so deep and clear upon all the work of his 
 hands, and upon all the acts of his Providence, that the unbe- 
 lieving heathen are without excuse. Belief of his being is 
 necessary, but not sufficient for this faith. 
 
 Nor is it enough to believe in his attributes, as nature and 
 Revelation conspire to present them. Many have believed, 
 praised, and almost deified the mercy of God, and yet have gone 
 down to the Hell of the Infidel. And many also have profes- 
 sedly approved of the justice of God, who go to the Judgment 
 relying upon their good works, and expecting to balance 
 accounts with him there. Still, the faith we are now consid- 
 ering requires a belief, both in the justice and mercy of God. 
 This it requires, and more than this. Christ says, "he that 
 believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live." Saving 
 faith then is principally concerned about what the Scriptures 
 teach us of Christ. It is mostly embraced in the facts concerning 
 our Lord., That Christ came, preached, suffered, taught, wrought 
 miracles, was condemned unjustly, was crucified, was buried; 
 that he rose again the third day, and that, after forty days, 
 appearing to his people, he ascended to Heaven, where, as our 
 great high priest, he ever lives to make intercession for us, are 
 facts which must be received in Christian faith. We must 
 believe also, that he is now " head over all things and the 
 Church ; and that in the end of the world, he will come to judge 
 the world in righteousness, rewarding the good with eternal 
 happiness, and punishing the wicked with eternal torments." 
 These facts must be believed just as any other facts. They are 
 to be received, comprehended, and accepted as true, by the 
 mind. But there is also another part to this faith. These doc- 
 trines, or facts, are to be believed in the heart. " With the 
 heart man believeth unto righteousness." These facts are to be 
 received in the love of them. "Faith works by love."- And 
 this part of faith is both reasonable and necessary, for how can 
 any one believe these facts without shadow of doubt, and not 
 love Christ their author and end ? It is impossible ; for the 
 
BY ELDER B. F. THARP. 21 
 
 benevolence and beneficence of the Son of God, must ever chal- 
 lenge the admiration of his enemies, and the ardent love of his 
 friends. The person possessing this faith will certainly be saved, 
 for the word declares he " shall never die." And this doctrine 
 quadrates with every other portion of the sacred record. The 
 unequivocal promise is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 thou shalt be saved." It does not say, if you believe this a 
 thousand times, or happen to believe it when you die, you shall 
 be. But if once you cast the burden of your hearts, and their 
 best affection on the Son of God, you shall certainly be saved. 
 If once the heart be given to Christ, salvation follows by the 
 divine arrangement. 
 
 It might interest us to inquire, why has God affixed salvation 
 to faith, rather than to any other Christian grace. It is distinct 
 from repentance, and hope, and inferior to love. Why then has 
 GQd chosen to affix salvation to it, rather than to these? We 
 would not inquire into what is not revealed, but would present 
 such reasons as grow out of the nature, and effects of faith; thus 
 affording, in some degree, a reason for the divine conduct. 
 First then, salvation is affixed to faith, because it is an accept- 
 ance of all God has said, and a belief of all he has revealed. 
 This is peculiarly honoring to him. To see the force of all this, 
 let us suppose a person loving, repenting, hoping, and all that, 
 and yet disbelieving all that God has said, and does say ! Could 
 God smile on such person ? Could any thing be a higher 
 insult to God, than doubt for a moment what he says, and join 
 in the satanic work of "making him a liar." Among high- 
 minded men, nothing is a greater insult than to brand them with 
 falsehood ; and how much more is he guilty of the desert of 
 reprobation who makes this puny effort against the source of all 
 truth. 
 
 Again, salvation connects with faith because it requires a per- 
 fect renunciation of self. God has determined that he will have 
 the glory of man's salvation ; and he has selected this plan of 
 salvation by faith, in opposition to that of works, because it 
 requires him to rely on God alone. There is another plan of 
 salvation by works, which is stated in the Scriptures, to which 
 that of salvation by faith is distinctly opposed. And the Apostle 
 argues to show that it must be wholly of grace, or wholly of 
 works. The two plans do not mix together. The glory of 
 
22 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 man's salvation would not redound to God on the system of 
 works, but does most distinctly on that of faith. 
 
 Again, salvation is affixed to faith, because it is the act which 
 substitutes Christ for the sinner. Faith reveals the qualities in 
 Christ which exactly adapt him to be its substitute. He has 
 kept the law, both preceptive and penal; has lived in obedience 
 to its demands, and then suffered the whole of its penalty — 
 death. By faith the sinner sees a wonderful adaptation in the 
 humanity and divinity of the Savior, to qualify him to act for 
 others. The Godhead within him guards the divine prerogative ; 
 and the humanity of the Savior prepares him to take the 'law- 
 place of the sinner, and thus become his substitute. 
 
 But once more. Salvation is connected with faith because faith 
 affords the best motive to obedience. We walk by faith, not 
 by sight. "The just shall live by faith." As a means of con- 
 trolling human conduct faith is better than sight. The knowl- 
 edge which is afforded by the senses is impressive while it lasts, 
 but fails in its effect after repetition. Not so with that made 
 known by faith. The more the mind and heart are employed 
 about the things it reveals, the more impressive they become, 
 and the more real they appear. This may result perhaps from 
 that wise connection God has required in faith of the intellect 
 with the heart. At any rate, it is true that the oftener the heart 
 is employed in contemplating those subjects which are embraced 
 in faith the more vivid and powerful they become. Under its 
 transforming influence, how is Christ endeared to the Christian ; 
 how affecting the subject of his passion on the Cross ; and how 
 vivid the impression of the last Judgment and the retributions 
 of the eternal world ? Hence in the economy of grace it is a 
 wonder-worker. The great and stupendous efforts put forth by 
 man for the moral reformation of the world are in the Scriptures 
 ascribed to faith. These are at least some of the reasons why 
 we may suppose God affixes salvation to faith in distinction 
 from any other christian grace. It is not for anything good in 
 the grace of faith above any other fruit of the Spirit, but be- 
 cause of the connection it holds with revealed truth and the 
 uniformity and power of the motive to obedience which it pre- 
 sents. 
 
 Thus, my friends, without pursuing every division of thought 
 presented by the text, you perceive that it embodies a perfect 
 
BY ELDER B. F. THARP. 23 
 
 system of truth. And it affords not only a system in itself, but 
 in the circumstances of its presentation its discussion affords 
 occasion for the employment of all the powers of the mind. 
 Here argumentation is required and logic is at home, and feel- 
 ing can have ample scope, and imagination find unwasting ma- 
 terial. It can soar amid the passions of earth, pointing to the 
 sadness and joy of the heart-stricken and then happy sisters ; or 
 it can travel o'er the vast plain of moral degradation and death, 
 or ascend to the domain of the blest, and walk amid those man- 
 sions where God shall wipe all tears from our eyes. 
 
 It is interesting to trace the workings of a mind unskilled in 
 the things of God, when it is first employed about the doc- 
 trines of salvation. This first text chosen by our brother shows 
 the character of his mind. His religious education had been 
 defective, but he had a mind quick to perceive the hinge on 
 which an argument turned, and the foundation on which a sys- 
 tem rested. Faith, he at once perceived, was both this hinge 
 and this foundation ; and around it his mind delighted to turn, 
 or to rest, for more than a third of a century. 
 
 How unlike the selection of texts usually made by beginners 
 in preaching. They usually select such as " Come unto me," 
 <fec. Or "Seek the Lord while he may be found. " Or "Let 
 the wicked forsake his way," &c. But this young brother se- 
 lected this, one of great compass, embodying a whole system 
 of theology. This, I repeat it, shows the character of his mind, 
 for I consider the argument just which decides the character of 
 the mind from the subjects about which it is usually employed ; 
 and infers the character of the subjects from the known char, 
 acter of the mind. "We don't expect to find the mind of the 
 great statesman employed upon the same subjects as that of his 
 slave ; and infer the dignity and glory of the doctrine of Atone- 
 ment, because angels desire " to look into it/' 
 
 Guided, therefore, by the light of this his first text, I shall 
 maintain through the remainder of this discourse that our de- 
 ceased brother was no ordinary man, but that in his death the 
 cause of Christ has lost one of its best advocates, and that " a 
 great man has fallen in Israel." I trust that here, where he has 
 so often stood and preached, for so long a time, to the same 
 community ; and ?iovj, while I speak in memory of him, I shall 
 be indulged in remarks, which while personal to him, may 
 
24 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 be for the edification of us all. By the force of their example 
 the dead still speak. And, were the whole community together 
 this morning, I would commend the example of the deceased 
 brother as far as that of any man. He was almost a perfect 
 model of all that makes the citizen, the gentleman, and the 
 Christian minister. 
 
 His body, though never of the most solid structure, served 
 him to the age of sixty-six, and it sustained him in the arduous 
 duties of the christian minister for just thirty years. At the 
 time of his ordination he was so feeble that during the first sum- 
 mer he had to seek for health in the mountains. He returned 
 in winter ; but the second summer felt that he should die if he 
 did not seek again the recuperating influence of mountain air 
 and mountain scenery. He accordingly started ; but, while 
 thinking upon the destitution of the churches, and country, he 
 was leaving behind him, he suddenly turned round his horse's 
 head and determined to return and die at his post. But he did 
 not die ; his health immediately improved and he never again had 
 to desert his people for the want of physical strength. This 
 little incident in his history reminds one of that eminent Gen- 
 eral and patriot of France, Hoche, who, when he was given the 
 command of the army of Germany and was meditating a second 
 attack on Ireland, suddenly failed in health. He called his 
 physician and said, u Give me a remedy for fatigue, but let it 
 not be rest." So our beloved brother sought a remedy, but 
 said, "Let it not be rest." His body often suffered, but the 
 soul within would urge it on to duty, till he reached with more 
 than ordinary strength a good old age. 
 
 Bro. King's mind was of the first order. He could have suc- 
 ceeded in any department of business or of the professions. He 
 had more than an ordinary share of solid sense. This quality 
 in the mind makes one look at men and things as they are, esti- 
 mate them properly, and judge of them according to their in- 
 trinsic value. It enables one to see whether a proposed object 
 is attainable, and to determine the readiest means to its attain- 
 ment. It prevents the building of air castles and the formation 
 of Utopian schemes. It teaches us to be constantly employed 
 about that which is both profitable and useful. And this rare 
 quality was eminently the possession of our brother King. It 
 
BY ELDER B. F. THARP. 25 
 
 secured him the confidence of his friends and qualified him to 
 give excellent advice by whoever it was sought. 
 
 Another characteristic of his mind was its logic. He was 
 naturally a logician. He did not argue logically from the 
 science, nor from the art, of logic. He had not studied the 
 rules of argumentation, nor the principles by which truth may 
 be defended and error detected ; but he was above these rules 
 by nature's own gift. He saw at a glance the meaning and force 
 of a proposition, and few were more ready to turn a point upon 
 an opponent. On one occasion, when he had gone to hear a 
 Universalist preacher, when the Rev. gentleman closed, he 
 arose, and taking his hat to depart, in one short, pithy sentence, 
 logically uttered, turned his whole effort into ridicule and con- 
 tempt. In his sermons and other addresses he always had some 
 object in his view, and to that made every energy and argument 
 bend ; nor were his hearers allowed to depart in ignorance of 
 what he wished them to believe and practice. 
 
 He had also a fruitful imagination. This power when under 
 the control of right reason, is a gift of great value. It creates 
 nothing; but it modifies, illustrates, adorns and enforces truth. 
 " The will working on the materials of memory " has scope for 
 endless diversity and variety. Like other qualities of the mind 
 which are necessary to constitute one a genius, this is the gift of 
 nature. It cannot be acquired, though it may be improved. It 
 is certainly true that the highest attainments cannot be reached 
 in poetry, painting and oratory, without its aid. It selects its 
 flowers from every parterre and brings its sweetness from every 
 clime. To the orator of the highest order it is indispensable. 
 Pure logic may compel the assent of the mind to the truth of a 
 proposition, but the imagination must come to his aid who would 
 charm, delight and lead an auditory to his chosen conclusion. 
 When this faculty asserted its dominion in the discourses of our 
 departed brother, the effort was so natural and the effects so 
 marked that a painter could have copied. Once he spoke of the 
 flood, and the hearer was made to see the stupendous fabric of 
 the Ark going on to completion for one hundred and twenty 
 years. He made visible the contempt of his neighbors while 
 they ridiculed the folly of a man who would build such a ship on 
 dry land. But, on the appointed day, a visible change appears in 
 D 
 
26 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 the countenances of the scoffers when the wild animals come up 
 and seek their appointed places in the ark, and God shuts the 
 door. The rain pours in torrents from above, and water-spouts 
 send up their destructive floods from below. Men are seen wild 
 and frantic from fear. They run for the ark, but it is shut. 
 They cling to the sides, but the rising waters sweep them away. 
 They run for their houses, but they are swept away — to the 
 mountains, but they are soon covered ; and the last man is dead 
 from the face of the earth. Nothing is seen in the broad face of 
 creation but the wild waste of waters and the little ark in which 
 Noah and his family are saved. The good man says his morn- 
 ing and evening prayers, and you almost hear the sounds of 
 adoring praise ascend from their grateful hearts. In imagina- 
 tion he makes you follow the ark till it rests upon the mountain 
 of Ararat, and almost transforms you into a devout worshipper 
 when Noah descends from the ark and builds his altar to God. 
 
 Once he portrayed the interview when Joseph made himself 
 known to his brethren. He translated his audience to the court 
 of- Pharaoh, made them to walk amid the Egyptians, behold 
 their wonder at the coming of the strangers, and to weep when 
 they saw Joseph weeping upon the neck of his brethren. 
 
 On another occasion he illustrated the condition of the lost 
 sinner by that of a child lost on the frontiers of the Cherokee 
 Nation. His audience traced the footprints of the child across 
 the snows, saw when it gathered its acorns, and sought for the 
 roots of shrubs, when it lay down oftener and still oftener, till 
 at last they see it expiring on the cold ground — but reach it just 
 in time to save life. The speaker related only a fact as he said ; 
 but so related it that his hearers felt all the interest of those 
 who first sought for the child ; and wept sincere tears of sorrow 
 over the sinner lost in the wilderness of sin. 
 
 Imagination portrayed to his mind the condition of the family 
 of Lazarus in such view that no doubt this determined him to 
 select this as a text. No doubt it would have interested one 
 to have heard this beginner portray the love of these dependent 
 sisters. He doubtless led back the mind to the time when these 
 little children stood by the grave of their father and mother. He 
 pointed at the helpless condition of the orphans, and how the eyes 
 of these dependent sisters turned in that hour to their only earthly 
 support — their brother. He made his hearers watch with the sis- 
 
BY ELDER B. F. THARP. 27 
 
 ters the return of their brother from Jerusalem every evening with 
 the wages of a day-laborer; and see how their hearts rejoiced when 
 they had prospect of abundant support. But when they had grown 
 up together in more than ordinary affection, Lazarus suddenly dies. 
 They send in a hurry for Christ. He loved these pious orphans; 
 still he did not come till after Lazarus was dead and had been four 
 days in his grave. He goes to the grave, weeps, prays, and then, 
 in all the dignity of the God-man, calls, "Lazarus, come forth." 
 His hearers hear this voice ; they see the rising man, behold the 
 grave-clothes, and, with the rejoicing sisters, wonder, adore and 
 praise. 
 
 He possessed, also, wonderful powers of description. He could 
 make visible to others, what he so distinctly saw for himself. These 
 powers united enabled him to invest with great interest any subject 
 as it passed through his mind. 
 
 But, in connection with these, he possessed great wit and humor. 
 Before his conversion he was the centre of a gay and dissipated 
 circle of young men. They all looked to him for their fun and pas- 
 time, and they never looked in vain, for the fountain flowing from 
 his full soul was inexhaustible. Every meeting was a new one, 
 and every scene of pas-time and pleasure invested with new charms. 
 After his conversion this quality of his mind fitted him to become 
 the companion of the young. With these he was a universal favor- 
 ite. They relishod his company not less than the people of God. 
 He had without effort treasured up a large fund of anecdotes from 
 practical life which he detailed to the young with remarkable pro- 
 priety. He did this in such a way as to make them never forget 
 that he was a christian minister, and they hastening to the bar of 
 God, On those occasions he so acted as to make them love him as 
 a companion and reverence him as a saint. Doubtless this element 
 in his mental composition caused him to wear so long amid the 
 arduous duties of his profession, The bow ever bent loses its elas- 
 ticity, and the mind ever oppressed with responsible cares ultimately 
 surrenders to their force. But he had a happy faculty of throwing 
 off these cares and allowing the mind to unbend. 
 
 Added to all these other powers of the mind he possessed feeling 
 in a remarkable degree. This is an essential element to the orator. 
 Eloquence is to "speak from" the feelings of the soul. Feeling 
 is eloquence. Such was the degree of it which our brother posses- 
 sed that he could evoke it with tremendous effect, and force all 
 
28 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 before it like a tornado. He was no neutral man, but thought, 
 spake and acted from his own deep, clear and powerful convictions ; 
 and when his feelings were fully aroused would compel almost any 
 one to his conclusions, and force them to his views. 
 
 And he had also an iron will. No man can be great without this; 
 and with it no man of ordinary capacity can but accomplish some- 
 thing. Bro. King possessed this more than most men. He was no 
 time-server; but saw things through his own medium, and did that 
 which seemed good to him. When he deliberately formed a pur- 
 pose to effect an object nothing but impossibilities could prevent. 
 And, my friends, I like that. I like the deep, clear, solemn deter- 
 mination formed in such minds. I like the magnanimity which 
 underlies it. I like that rising above difficulties which it affords. I 
 like that heaven-born confidence which it inspires. Such men, 
 under the influence of the Divine Spirit, are allied to God and akin 
 to the angels. I like to read of the power of will as it is seen in 
 history. I like to read of the king of Bohemia, who, in the battle 
 of Crecy, between Edward III. of England and Philip of France, 
 took an active part. He was then old, and blind from age; but 
 having determined to hazard his life as an example to others, he 
 ordered his horse to be tied by each rein to those of his aids ; and 
 in that manner rushed into the thickest of the fight. When tho 
 battle was over his dead body was found with those of his aids, and 
 his horse beside him. And no man doubts who knew him that, 
 under similar circumstances, such would have been the conduct of 
 my departed brother. The mind of Bro. King seemed to me to be 
 well balanced and perfect in every part. As the circle is perfect 
 when drawn in every part equally distant from a point within called 
 the centre, so his mind seemed well furnished in every part and 
 wanting in no essential element. 
 
 Allow me further to detain you while I speak of the graces of 
 his heart. No man is great without proper development of the af- 
 fections. They give strength, vitality, power and impress to the 
 whole character. Before his conversion our brother was what the 
 world calls a "a good-hearted fellow." He loved his friends to 
 devotion, and did not ask favor of his foes. But after conversion, 
 his heart was wholly occupied with the good of his race and the 
 glory of God. He was a pure patriot. He had most ardent affec- 
 tion for his country. You remember, my friends, how he spake to 
 you when this war first broke out — how he pointed at the war-cloud, 
 
BY ELDEK B. F. THAKP. 29 
 
 mocking its fury and defying its power. He sounded the tocsin in 
 your ears; told you to prepare for the strife and fight for victory. 
 When every company of your brave boys started for the battle 
 field, he was always at the cars, to give them a hearty " adieu." My 
 heart was touched as I heard it related that on one of those occa- 
 sions the company asked him to make public prayer for them. The 
 man of God kneeled down and poured forth his eloquent prayers 
 for the safety and salvation of the company. When the prayer was 
 just ended, the cars moved off, amid the tears and huzzahs of the 
 brave boys who went forth — some to the field of victory and some 
 to the soldier's grave. But they felt doubly secure in the prayers 
 of such a saint, " who is the chariot of Israel and the horsemen 
 thereof." We could almost wish that he could have lived to see the 
 return of peace and join in the song of praise to God who will give 
 us the victory. 
 
 He sought the good of his fellow-men in the Temperance refor- 
 mation. Few men have more eloquently, or for a longer time, plead 
 the cause of temperance. It was a remark of one of our best State 
 Temperance Lecturers that he seldom met a man who could invest 
 the subject with more interest. 
 
 But his great heart acted itself out in the duties of the christian 
 ministry. As a preacher he was laborious above almost any man I 
 have known. According to a custom of our country, a custom I 
 am now glad to see going into disuse, he preached to four or five 
 churches every month, and often held conference and other meet- 
 ings in the week. He tried as much as in him was to preach to 
 the destitute, and to carry the gospel into M the regions beyond." 
 He was a missionary after the strictest sense of the term, and after 
 the truest gospel pattern. He thought a gospel church the only or- 
 ganization necessary for the spread of the gospel and the evangeliza- 
 tion of the world. Of the rights of churches he was jealous. He 
 was willing to go as far as the union of churches in the spread 
 of the gospel, for he thought that Scriptural and proper ; but beyond 
 that he would not go. He was afraid of the influence of the world 
 over the purity and power of the churches ; consequently he was 
 seldom seen in our State or General Conventions. He thought that 
 the Scripture measure of efficiency could only be reached by having 
 each pastor bring the matter of prayer and contributions to their 
 own churches and to their individual members. He thought that 
 Boards independent of the churches, and to manage these matters 
 
30 
 
 FUNERAL SERMON 
 
 above them, removed the responsibility in a great degree from the 
 membership of churches, and did, mainly, harm. Still he rejoiced 
 at everything done by any people for the salvation of souls. 
 
 In preaching he formed his sermons after no model. They were 
 forged in the laboratory of his own mind and his genius was his 
 only teacher. This doveloped itself nowhere more conspicuously 
 than in the formation and delivery of his sermons. In every one 
 he had some object in view, but no one could guess beforehand the 
 kind of text he would select nor his manner of discussing it. All 
 his sermons were liable to criticism, judged after the school-men, 
 but none of the masters could give a purer gospel or bring up an 
 audience with more certainty to a given point. Few have preached 
 more sermons in thirty years or baptized more converts. And his 
 converts generally run well. His deep insight into human nature 
 fortified him against imposition from hypocrites and deceivers. 
 
 He was pre-eminently the friend of the fatherless and widow. 
 When he died they mourned his loss as that of a father and friend. 
 
 But in nothing was the goodness of his heart more manifest than 
 in the love of young ministers. They were his "joy and crown." 
 He scarcely ever closed an Association without reference or advice 
 to them. He gloried in their success and was ever ready to correct 
 their faults. This he did with great modesty, yet in such way as 
 ever after to secure their confidence and affection. 
 
 For about twenty-four years he was the presiding officer of the 
 Eehoboth Association, and was unanimously chosen every year. He 
 presided over the body with such dignity and impartiality that all 
 confided in him and none ever complained of want of justice at his 
 hands. In his last illness he spake affectionately of the Associa- 
 tion and wished to live to see another session of the body. He had 
 nursed its infancy, saw with pleasure its maturity, and prayed earn- 
 estly for its permanent prosperity. And here and now, my friends, 
 let us repeat his prayer and unite in his most earnest supplication 
 that it may be handed down, a public blessing, to the last generations. 
 
 He had great attachment to his servants. Some few years since 
 several of them sickened and died. He constantly watched their 
 bedsides and pointed them to Christ. When he saw any signs of 
 penitence how did his full soul rejoice in hope of their salvation. 
 
 The full character of our departed brother seems to your speaker 
 comprised in this — a real genius under influence of the most ardent 
 'piety. 
 
BY ELDER B. F. THARP. 31 
 
 At length he drew near the bounds set for him, and God " gathered 
 him unto his people." After preaching a sermon in the open air, 
 with more than ordinary energy and zeal, his lungs became much 
 affected and he suffered greatly. He said from the first that he 
 should die ; but his friends saw no reason for his apprehension. 
 But soon they discovered that he did not mistake ; for the hour 
 approached apace. When the shadows from the " dark valley" 
 began to throw their dark length across his pathway he called 
 his wife and bade her a last farewell. He had often pronounced 
 that word before ; often had he said farewell with a hope of meet- 
 ing her again; but it was not so now. This was the last sad 
 farewell. He knew he should meet her no more again till the 
 Resurrection of the last day, when Martha and Mary, and Lazarus and 
 Christ, shall all appear. Long and happy had been his union with 
 the wife of his youth ; but now the hour had come when he 
 must pronounce the last "adieu." This he did most feelingly; 
 then called his little niece, who was to him in the place of child- 
 ren, and after most affectionately embracing her commended her 
 to a " covenant-keeping God." His heart yearned over the child. 
 He spate affectionately to all; and, after bidding his servants 
 farewell, to whom he had been the kindest of masters, he turned 
 his face to the wall and commended himself to the angel-guide s 
 Thus the good man passed away. He is gone ! gone ! But he 
 leaves a name and influence in this community and these churches 
 which I trust in God shall live forever. You hold in your cem- 
 etery the remains of the dear departed brother; but they are not 
 all which you possess. When Saladin, the Mussulman Conqueror 
 and General, died at Damascus, he caused his winding sheet to 
 be carried through the streets, a crier proclaiming — " This is all 
 that remains to Saladin the mighty conqueror of the East/' But 
 it is not so with this eminent servant of God. He still lives in mem- 
 ory, and in example lives. May God help us to imitate his virtues, 
 follow his example, and be directed by his steps. 
 
 Let us here plant the Asphodel on his tomb, which blooms on in 
 sorrow, which blooms well o'er the grave. 
 
 If called to write his epitaph I would know nothing better than 
 that inscribed by Nizianzen on the tomb of Basil : 
 " His words were thunder and his life lightning."