USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > Manual, catalogue and history of the Lafayette St. Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, N.Y. > Part 23
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At the church the ceremonies were announced to begin at half-past two o'clock ; but long before that time a large crowd gathered in front of the church and waited patiently for admission. The doors on the Washington street side were opened at one o'clock. None but the members of the congregation were admitted, however, until two o'clock, when the doors were thrown open to the general public. In a few moments the church was crowded, in gallery and auditorium, the aisles being filled in with camp-chairs, which were all occupied, leaving a large number who, unable to gain admittance, thronged the north side of the park fronting the church, many of whom remained during the protracted services.
The decorations of the interior could scarcely have been surpassed for taste, beauty and appropriateness. Standing at the Lafayette street entrance, the eye first rested on a large white cross edged with green, which was set high up on the wall, at the back of the pulpit, against a deep background of black. Above it, in a semicircle, was the word " Victory," worked in delicate white buds with an out- line of smilax. Still higher up was a band of black cloth thrown from one side of the church to the other and caught up in graceful folds by large rosettes. The high chairs on the platform were heavily draped. The reading desk over which the deceased clergyman had so often expounded the word of God to his congrega- tion, was enshrouded in a heavy pall, which formed a relief for another beautiful white cross. This was set against the front of the desk, so that it seemed to be sup- ported by a delicate creeper of smilax which extended down over the top. On each side was a large vase with a luxuriant wealth of flowers. Immediately in front of the platform a low bier was constructed and so arranged that when the casket was placed in position it seemed to rest in a bed of callas. At the head of the bier was a small stand supporting a mass of flowers, and crowned with miniature sheaves of ripened wheat, emblematic of the dead pastor's life. The organ was draped in many streamers of black. The tops of the windows along the sides of the church were outlined in deep mourning and connected one to another by black folds, looped up with rosettes. A broad band of black extended around the whole front of the gallery, which was also adorned with a heavy sash of the same material, trained in graceful lines and fastened by rosettes with beautiful white callas and sprays of green set in the center of each. At regular intervals white shields were fastened and inscribed with the last expressions of the deceased, among which we may mention the following : "Christ is my all, first, midst, last, and without end;" " Thy rod and Thy Staff, that's enough;" " Victory is won;" " I rest absolutely secure;". " I am leaning on the Cross;" " I love all my dear kindred, my dear people, my dear brethren in the ministry and in all the churches;" " Nothing but sin have I to give, nothing but love shall I receive;" " I want nothing but to see the face of God and be at rest;" " Grace is enough;" " He is my all, the rock of my salvation."
Also, at the end of the church, at either side of the pulpit, a motto was placed on the wall, expressive of the sense of his people towards their Pastor. To the left, or as one faced the pulpit, on a shield, were these words : "He was worthy for whom we should do this; " and, on the right, " The joy of our heart has ceased."
Arriving at the church, the procession moved slowly up the aisle, headed by Rev. William Shelton, D. D., rector of St. Paul's Cathedral, reading the opening portion of the Episcopal Burial Service.
The following clergymen, many of whom were to take part in the exercises, then took seats on the platform : Rev. James B. Shaw, D. D., of Rochester ; Rev. Byron Sunderland, D. D., of Washington, D. C .; Rev. William Shelton, D. D., of St. Paul's Episcopal Church ; Rev. Edward Ingersoll, D. D., of Niagara Falls ; Rev. William C. Wisner, D. D., formerly of Lockport ; Rev. Darius H. Muller, D. D., of Grace M. E. Church ; Rev. V. R. Hotchkiss, D. D., of the Washington Street Baptist Church ;
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Rev. Albert T. Chester, D. D., Principal of Buffalo Female Academy ; Rev. Liber- tus Van Bokkelen, D. D., rector of Trinity Church; Rev. George H. Ball, D. D., of Niagara Square Baptist Church ; Rev. Albert Bigelow ; Rabbi Sampson Falk, of Temple Beth-Zion. All the other clergymen of the city, as well as several from other places, sat in a body in seats assigned to them.
The services were commenced at half-past two o'clock, and were conducted by Rev. A. T. Chester, D. D. The Choral Union, Mr. Carl Adam conductor, supplied the vocal music, Mr. C. W. Sykes presiding at the organ. The organ voluntary broke the solemn silence which had settled upon the congregation. A fervent invocation was made by Rev. William C. Wisner, D. D. Rev. D. H. Muller, D. D., read a selection from the Bible. The Choral Union then sang the following from Mendelssohn's "St. Paul," which was read by Rev. Dr. Van Bokkelen :
How lovely are the messengers that preach the gospel of peace ; To all the nations is gone forth the sound of their words, Throughout all the lands their glad tidings.
An impressive prayer was then offered by Rev. V. R. Hotchkiss, D. D.
Rev. Dr. Chester announced that he had received a telegram from Rev. Mr. Plumb, which he read. It was as follows :
BOSTON HIGHLANDS, May IO.
To the Lafayette Street Church :
BELOVED FRIENDS : I grieve that I cannot stand with you to-day by the side of our fallen Pastor. From East to farthest West a great company of those who have known him are mourning with you, sorrowing that we shall see his face no more.
ALBERT H. PLUMB.
After which, Dr. Chester spoke as follows :
As I was absent when the Memorial Service was held, last Sabbath evening, at which time his brethren in the ministry had opportunity to give utterance to their feelings in view of the death of our dear brother Heacock, I take this opportunity to say a few words to show that I am also a mourner upon this sad occasion. I have known the departed for almost a generation. I was a pastor by his side for more than a decade, and I had learned to know him intimately and to love and respect him for some of the noblest qualities that adorn our manhood. He was indeed the Greatheart whose office it was bravely to lead a large company of pil- grims-to defend them from their enemies, to comfort them on the way. He did not desert them in the valley of the shadow of death ; he saw many of them safe across the river, and within the walls of the Celestial City.
They say he died of enlargement of the heart. He could carry, he did carry a bigger heart than any common man. Its strong pulsations moved him like a giant, as he stood forth the fearless champion of the oppressed, the down-trodden and the afflicted, as he came forth from Sabbath to Sabbath as the defender of the essential truths of the plan of salvation by Jesus Christ ; as he espoused his country's cause in the defense of civil liberty, with a burning patriotism ; as he strove with the mighty energy of love to win the souls of men to the service of his Divine Master. Some enlargement of the heart would not hurt the most of us. But his was too great even for his robust and stalwart frame, and it has taken him away. Yes, he falls the victim of his very excellencies. With less enthusiastic fire, less zeal in the service of the right and holy, less self-sacrifice, less yearning over lost men, he might have lived more years, but he could not have accomplished so much for God and humanity.
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I mourn with you, dear mourners, over this brother beloved. The loss to this community is greater than could have been made by the departure of any other man. But let us think of his great gain, and dry our tears as we are assured that he has begun the complete enjoyment of his immortal life.
This entire congregation, this bereaved family, and this large circle of ministerial brethren of so many denominations, are very grateful to the two life-long friends of our departed brother, who have come from abroad to address us in our grief, and to whom we shall now listen-Rev. Dr. Shaw, of Rochester, and Rev. Dr. Sunder- land, of Washington, D. C.
The hymn,
"When this passing world is done,"
was then read by Rev. Albert Bigelow, and was sung by a quartette.
After the singing of the hymn, Rev. James B. Shaw, D. D., of Rochester, in accordance with the wishes of Dr. Heacock, expressed shortly before his death, preached the sermon. (Page 216.)
After the sermon, the " Offertoire Funebre," an adagio from Beethoven's " Heroic Symphony," was played on the organ by Mr. Sykes, after which Rev. Byron Sunder- land, D. D., of Washington, D. C., delivered an address. (See page 222.)
When Dr. Sunderland closed, the chorus from the "St. Paul," " To Thee, O Lord," etc., was read by Dr. Ball and sung by the Choral Union. The congregation then rose and joined in the singing of the Doxology, which closed the services.
THE LAST LOOK.
The casket was then opened, and the congregation invited to take a last look at the countenance of their dead Pastor. He was clothed in a suit of black broad- cloth, and looked so calmly and peacefully at rest, with his arms folded over his breast, that one could scarcely have the heart to call him back to life, even if it was within his power to do so. Death had wrought but little change in his face. The features were sharper and thinner, perhaps, and the gentle, loving eyes closed for- ever, but his lips seemed ready to break into the old smile which was wont to illuminate his presence like a sunbeam.
The casket was conveyed to the hearse, and, followed by a long cortege of about sixty carriages, arrived at Forest Lawn shortly before seven o'clock. The services at the grave were conducted by Rev. Wolcott Calkins, Rev. Charles Wood and Rev. D. R. Frazer. They consisted of appropriate passages of Scripture, prayers, etc., and were brief and simple. The sides of the grave were lined with evergreens and flowers, and after the brief religious exercises the casket was lowered into its final resting-place. The sun had gone down in the west when the work was done, and the mourners turned sadly away from the grave which closed forever on all that was earthly of Rev. Grosvenor Williams Heacock.
THE GRAVE.
The entire inside was lined with flowers and smilax, and the mound of fresh earth made by the excavation was covered with a profusion of evergreens. This was provided by a lady of the Church-Mrs. Henry Childs-the arrangement being by Mr. Palmer, the florist. At the close of the services many persons came forward to the grave and plucked the buds and greenery upon the sides as mementoes. This last incident was thought by some strikingly illustrative of the good doctor's life. The flowers and leaves plucked upon the edge of his grave were fitting emblems of his generous deeds, and the lavish bestowal of his best thoughts upon others, during his career as a minister.
His spirit passed to its rest at sunrise on the resurrection morn. It was at sunset, and declining day, that we consigned all that was mortal to the quiet of a lasting repose.
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FUNERAL SERMON BY REV. JAMES B. SHAW, D. D.
HE BEING DEAD, YET SPEAKETH .- Hebrews, xi. 4.
The sacred writer refers in these words to Abel, and it has been a long while since he was taken away. Hundreds and hundreds of years have gone since he was laid in the first grave that reluctant hands ever dug. And still "he being dead, yet speaketh." And what makes this sentence more emphatic, is the fact that the life of Abel was an uneventful one. He was a keeper of sheep, and in that humble calling all his days were spent. He never wrote a line that has come down to us ; he never spoke a word that anyone can recall, nor did he do any heroic deed that was counted worthy of being put on record. He looked well after his flock ; he was a good shepherd, and a dutiful son, and gave to God the homage that is his due. And that is all-all that those who loved him best could say. Yet that man, after so long a time, is said to be still speaking unto us, still pleading with us to be true to Him who dwelt in the bush, and, if need be, lay down our lives sooner than deny him. "He being dead, yet speaketh." Now the text and the providence which has called us together, has suggested two or three thoughts which I will bring in their order before you.
God, it is very clear, has so constituted the present state as to perpetuate the influence and the usefulness of a good man after he has left the earth. And I may say, in a word, that the existence of the race in successive generations has much to do in keeping his memory and influence alive. Every generation begins where the one that went before them left off. We enter into their labors, we carry out their plans, we finish their works, and in this way perpetuate their usefulness. And as every generation begins with new vigor and fresh enthusiasm, and has beside all the materials which their fathers gathered and all the knowledge which they accumu- lated, so far greater things are accomplished than one generation staying here the ages through could ever have brought to pass.
Then the transmission of hereditary traits of character has also much to do in perpetuating our influence. Perhaps a good mother, who has moulded her child in her own image, is the most interesting illustration we have of this principle. How often it is said, the daughter is just like the mother-is just the mother over again ; the same gentleness, and tenderness, and disinterestedness-never thinking of self, never counting the cost, dying for others as the martyrs did, only taking a longer time to do it. The mother still lives in the daughter, and thus continues to bless the world after she has left it.
It is very evident that the works which a good man leaves behind do more than all other things to perpetuate his usefulness. Man, it has been said, makes everything immortal but himself. He plants a tree that will last for ages ; he builds a house that will stand for centuries ; he erects a monument that shall bare its head to the rays of the last rising sun ; but he himself passes away like a shadow. But let us bear in mind that man is under no necessity of making himself immortal. God has endowed him with that awful prerogative; and it is the chief glory of man, and that which lifts him above everything his hand has made, that he can rise to a higher sphere. He does not stay here, because this world is no place for him after he has reached manhood-after he has attained his majority, and is the glorious creature which his Maker made and meant him to be. But I would not take your
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minds away from the fact that the works of a good man do survive him, and thus enable him to bless every succeeding generation as it comes on the stage.
Was John Bunyan ever doing so much good for the world as he is doing now ? While on earth he could speak only in his own mother tongue, and preach only to the little company who stole into the conventicle to hear him. Now he is publish- ing the glad tidings in every land; now he has the whole world for an audience. Death has endowed John Bunyan with the gift of tongues ; there is no language under heaven that he cannot speak ; nor any man in the most distant corner of the earth that he cannot reach. So we may say of John Bunyan, and of that dear friend and brother, whose death has broken so many of us down, and of every other good man, what the Saviour said of himself: "It is expedient for you that I go away."
How clear it is, dear friends, that God has so constituted the present state as to perpetuate the influence of a good man after he has left the earth, so that he " being dead, yet speaketh."
Besides all this, does not our Heavenly Father watch over the influence of every faithful servant ?- see himself that it does not die out? There was that case which occurred in the house of Simon : Jesus said to the woman who annointed him for burial, " Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached, through- out the whole world, this, also, that she hath done shall be spoken for a memorial of her." And when our Lord said this, it seemed in the highest degree improbable. Who that stood by and heard the words could have dreamed that the gospel, the story of the meek and lowly Nazarene, would ever be told throughout the world. And, if the gospel should be carried to the uttermost parts of the earth, how im- probable that this thing which this woman had done would go round the world with it. And yet, are not you and I here to-day to testify that the prediction has come to pass? That broken box of alabaster is still doing its blessed and benign work- still honoring the Master, still helping the needy, still telling the world that the best we have is all too poor for him.
We may find quite an interesting illustration of this truth in the Old Testament, " And it came to pass as they were burying a man, that behold they spied a band of Moabites; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet." We suspect that the sepulcher of the prophet had been sadly neglected and that his influence was beginning to wane. It takes but a little while for a godless generation to forget a prophet. And so God wrought this miracle to keep his memory alive, to perpetuate his influence, and make him more to Israel than he had ever been. Everybody now is talking about Elisha ; everybody is telling the wonderful things that he did. In the house and by the way, in the market-place and at the festive gathering, it is nothing but Elisha, and how the man who touched his bones was restored to life. Never, never say of a good man who has left the earth that his work is done. What if death has sealed his lips, he is speaking now with the tongues, and working with the hands of those who come after him. Has David done nothing for the world since he left it; has Paul, the blessed apostle, done nothing for the world since he left it? Have Watts and Dodridge and Wes- ley, and Whitfield and Toplady, and all the sweet singers of Israel done nothing for the world since the Master came and called for them ? Never, never say, when
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a good man has gone to his reward, that his work is done; " being dead, he yet speaketh," and who shall muzzle that mouth ? who shall hush that voice ? who shall silence that preacher ?- " being dead, he yet speaketh."
There is another thought which I want you to put by the side of this : What takes place in the world after the faithful servant of the Lord has left it, will be one of the chief ingredients in his cup of joy. Is there any evidence that those who have departed this life know what occurs here, after they are gone? I think that there is. When Samuel came back from the grave, is it not clear from the whole narra- tive that he knew in what a dark and dangerous path Saul had been walking since he parted from him ? And that man of whom the Saviour speaks-who fared so sumptuously every day-seems to have known that his brothers were living in the same sad way that they did while he was with them ; that there had been no reformation since he left. But putting these instances aside, can you believe that while the good angels and the evil angels have free access to the earth, that those who dwelt here, and who must be more deeply interested than any of God's crea- tures in the fate of our world, do not so much as know what transpires here ; that all these things are purposely kept from them,-can you believe that ?
Admitting then that the departed souls know what occurs on earth ; admitting that they know all the good which grows out of their faithful labors here, will not that add immensely to their joy? Take the founders of such institutions as Oxford and Cambridge in England, and the colleges in our own dear land, and when they see how many these seats of learning are fitting for usefulness here, and glory here- after ; when they see how much these institutions are doing to make this world the abode of purity and peace, it is sure one day to be, must they not rejoice with an exceeding joy? Is there anything better for them in the heavenly estate, save the presence of the Lord? And the joy will be greater because the world's best ben- efactors received so little while here, because what they gave the world was for the most part an absolute gratuity. When I think of Palissy burning his last chair to start a fire ; when I think of Goodyear pining in prison ; when I think of that eastern artist leaping into the furnace as the only way of making his work perfect, I thank God that these men are still the possessors of conscious existence; that they still see the great things which they are even now doing, for those who came after them. Does not the martyr now see how many his calmness and fortitude have strengthened to suffer, how many the flames in which he perished have lighted to glory ? Does not that sight make much of his heaven? "He being dead, yet speaketh." But I am still more confident that what occurs in the heavenly world will add immeasurably to the joy and blessedness of the saint made perfect.
Now we come to an interesting topic-the recognition of friends after they have parted here. May we believe that-may we rest in that? How often this ques- tion knocks at the door of the heart; how often it comes back again, as if the recognition of departed friends were too good to be true. Now, dearly beloved, I have something to say to you, in this place and presence, that ought to dispel every doubt, and make you just as sure that you will see and know your friends as that you will see and know your Saviour. The Apostle Paul expected to meet his converts in glory, and to know them when he did meet them. This was one thing on which he counted, and counted without a misgiving. Hear him say to the Phi- lippians : " My dearly beloved, and longed for, my joy and crown." But that, you
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say, is not quite decisive. Hear him then say again to the Corinthians : " We are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus." Little rejoicing would there be on either side if the disciples at Corinth did not recognize the one who had brought them to Christ, and he, on the other hand, did not recog- nize them. If your heart still holds back then hear once more what he says to his children at Thessalonica : "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even ye, in the presence of the Lord Jesus at his coming."
Next to the presence of the Lord, nothing will add so much to the joy of the good man as meeting those in the heavenly world who might never have been there but for him. And O, dear friends, if there be an unhappy man in that abode of the blest ; if there be a man who does not feel at home there ; if there be a man who wishes himself away; if there be a man who cannot take part in the everlasting song-silent amid the seraphim-it is the man who can find nobody there that he brought to Christ. Nobody there that he brought to Christ ! How can he stay ; how can he bear the light of that insufferable glory ; how can he endure the pres- ence of that dear Lord for whom he did so little ?
That dear departed brother being dead, yet speaketh-speaketh not in the house or by the way, not from the platform or in the pulpit, but standing on the steps of the sapphire throne. God will keep his memory alive ; God will see to it that his influence does not die out. And why should not the influence of such a man be made eternal ? Can our Heavenly Father do a better thing for the Church and the world he has just left ? Do you know, dearly beloved, how good and grand a man he was ? Do you know that as long as you may live you will never look on his like again ? Shall I mention some of those traits of character which made him so dear to us all ? God keep my heart still while I try to do it. I loved him because of his great sincerity and transparency. How he hated a sham. How he detested a make-believe. Like his blessed Lord, the only one he had no patience with was the hypocrite. Every tone of his voice, every look of his eye, every movement of his muscles, was in harmony with the truth. He was truth itself. He was trans- parent as well as sincere. He never had anything to cover up. Of course he was frank and generous-generous as a spring by the wayside, where every man may quench his thirst.
I loved him because of his large-hearted liberality. There was no stuff in him out of which a bigot could have been made. He never fancied that all in this world which God cares for lived in the same shell with himself. The fact is he did not live in a shell. He lived in this wide world which the Father has fitted up for his children. This wide world, with heaven over it and heaven around it. Every one who came to him in the name of the Lord, was sure of a welcome, and such a welcome as he alone could give. While his own Church was the dearest of all, yet he loved every branch of the one holy, catholic, apostolic Church. The Scripture was more to him than the creeds, and Christ more than either, more than both. I think he was looking for the day when every wall would be taken down, when every fence would be removed, when everything which keeps God's children apart would be thrown into that heap of rubbish which is doomed to burn, when there would be one law, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of all, and one united, harmo- nious Church. When all who love the Master will be one here as they are one there.
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