YALE UNIVERSITY

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FUNERAIL DISCDURSE,

UN THB OCCASION OF THE DKATH Ol*

MRS. MARIA HART,

X3EXiIV-BREI3 A.T STOlSTIZSrOTOISr, SByT. 2V, '57,

BY WILLIAM CLIFT,

Pn-stor of the Second Congregational Churcli, m Stonmglon.

•PUBLISHED BY REQUEST.

NE'W-LONDON:
STARR .t FARNHAM, PRINTERS, CORNER OF STATE AND MAIN STREETS.
1858.

930

FUNERAL DISCOURSE

ON THE OCCASION OF THB DSATH OP'

MRS. MARIA HART,

UBLIV'BK.BID A.T STON-IIsTOTOKr, SBFT. 87, 1857,

BY WILLIAM CLIFT,

Pastor of the Second Congregational Church, in Stonington.

PUBLISHED BY BEQUEST-

NEW-LONDON:
Sf'AER & FAENIIAM, PRINTERS, CORNER OF STATE AND MAIN STREETS.
1858.

SERMON.

Lord,, now lettest thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.
Luke 1 : 29.
The incidents recorded in the context concerning Simeon
are all that we know of him. He is there presented to us,
in connection with the aged Anna, a prophetess, as waiting
in the temple for the coming of the Messiah. They are
probably mentioned as the representatives of a class, not
then very numerous among the Jews, who kept alive spirit
ual religion in their hearts, under the forms and ceremonies
of the temple worship. They waited upon God in the sanc
tuary with special diligence, and -with earnest longing for
the coming of the Messiah. It is said of Anna, that she
was a widow of about four score and four years, which de
parted not from the temple, but served God with fastings
and prayers, night and day. By this, we are to understand,
that she was an habitual worshipper, and had led a devout
and prayerful life, all the days of her widowhood, a period
that must have extended over fifty years. Of Simeon, it is
said, that he was "just, and devout, -waiting for the conso
lation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him."
To persons, who waited so humbly and constantly upon
God, there was, of course, granted large measures of grace.
They saw a meaning in the rites of the temple, that was not
apparent to the proud and -worldly minded Pharisee. They
saw in the bleeding victims offered upon the altar, types of

the great sacrifice for sin foretold in their prophets. The
visions of Isaiah -were not so much the shadowy outlines of
gospel times, as historic pages, relating scenes already trans
pired. Faith threw over them all, the air of reality. They
seemed to live in gospel times, though the Messiah had not
yet come. They were as watchers at the close of a long
and dreary night, looking with intense desire, for the first
glimmering of the dawn, and seeing its indications long be
fore they were visible to the sleepers around them.
They were brought into so close communion with God,
by lives of prayer, that they received assurances of answers
to their supplications. God revealed to them, as he did not
to a worldly minded and sensualized church, what ,he was
about to do for Israel, and for the world. Prophecy was
now to be fulfilled ; the Messiah was coming, and it was
granted to them, as a special favor, that they should behold
with their own eyes the desire of the nations, before they
died. They were prepared for the advent, and knew the
infant Savior when he was first brought to the temple, to
receive the initiatory rite of the Jewish church. "What emo
tions of rapture now fill the hearts of these aged saints, as
they beheld the sublime mystery unfolded — God manifest
in the flesh ! Here was the end of types and shadows, the
glorious reality, to which all temple rites had been pointing
for generations past. Here was the sight, which kings and
prophets longed to see, but saw not ; and they, in their old
age, were permitted to see it. " Lord now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared be
fore the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles,
and the glory of thy people Israel." He had reached a fit
ting close of a long life, his work on earth was finished, he
was ready to go to his rest. Death was no more an unwel
come event. He hailed it with joy, " Lord, now lettest thy
servant depart in peace."
The desirableness of death io the aged christian, is the theme
to which the text invites our attention.

1. Itis desirable on account of the infirmities of tbe body.
Whatever nday be the strength of natural constitution, how
ever wisely a man may have husbanded it, the physical powers
begin to decay. The Psalndist utters a general 'truth, when
he says, " The days of our years are three score years and
ten ; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
yet is their strength, labor, and sorrow ; for it is soon cut
off, and we fly away." The body, in its full strength, is a
fit medium for the soul to hold converse with the external
world. While its powers are perfect, it grows in knowledge
and strength. The senses bring in continually new sup
plies of mental food, new enjoyments, and the mind assumes
its full proportions. It is dependant, somewhat, upon the
organs of the body for its own development. When these
begin to decay, its progress i-s hindered, and, in extreme old
age, it gives na evidence of increasing knowledge or power.
There is a limit, soon reached, to all that the soul can know
or do on earth. The aged Christian feels this. All through
his life, he has been receiving premonitions of the decay of
his earthly tabernacle. And as his faith has taken hold of
another life, with a strong grasp, these premonitions have
not been unwelcome. He has seen the frost thickening in
the locks upon his brow, and has never felt that " the hoary
head was not a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of
righteousness." His vision has grown dim, and he wel
comes the aid of art, to help him to commune with nature,
and with books, as in his younger years. Not unhkely the
ear has lost its quickness of perception, and he listens with
increasing difficulty to the voice of friends. All the sensi
bilities may lose their freshness, and the conviction may
come home to him, with increasing power, that he can no
longer enjoy, in their fulness, the temporal blessings which
God bestows. The keen relish of youth and manhood has
gone, and this loss of susceptibility seperates him more and
more from the society of the middle aged, and the young.
He has lost his sympathy for those objects and pursuits,
which yield the highest gratification to them. Whatever

his past activity in the honorable business of life, or in the
duties of religion, there comes a time when his strength
fails. The physical powers no longer obey the will. If
desire has not failed, the members of the body fail to exe
cute these wishes. Conscious weakness pervades the soul.
The hand is no longer firrn and steady, the flesh fails, the
skin loses its ruddy glow, wrinkles furro'w the brow and the
cheeks, and the step is no longer vigorous and elastic, every
effort is felt to be a labor. The aged disciple feels that he
can no longer fill the place he has once filled, in the house
hold, in the church, and in society. This conscious loss of
power, this willing to do, with the sense of inability to ex
ecute the behests of the will, is one of the most painful
convictions that ever comes home to us. It is full of mean
ing to the aged, the harbinger of death. But it has no
sorrow to the Christian ; for he firmly believes that the soul
will yet put on a spiritual body, in which all his desires and
purposes will find easy and joyous expression. " For we
hnow that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis
solved, we have a building of God, an house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. For, in this, we groan, earn
estly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is
from heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be
found naked. For we, that are in this tabernacle, do groan,
being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed but
clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life."
These sublime words of Paul have a meaning to the aged
disciple, that we cannot comprehend, in youth or middle age.
2. The aged disciple desires to depart because these in
firmities prevent the progress of the soul in knowledge, and
in Christian activity. Progress is a law of mind, so long as
it can act freely. While the physical powers are in their
highest perfection, the mind constantly gains knowledge,
and facility in its use. All the gifts and attainments of
the Christian are consecrated to the service of God. He
derives a large part of his happiness from the consciousness
•ithat he is useful in life. He is enabled to minister to the

wants of others. His attainments are serviceable in many
ways, to his fellow men. He sees, or thinks he sees, in Jiis
intercourse with others, that he has reached the limit of his
mental progress, and of his usefulness on earth. These may
increase, but he must decrease. He sees others crowding
into the places he has filled, and attracting the attention that
has been bestowed upon him. With him, there is to be no
more advance, no more increase of mental power, no higher
activity in the service of God. This, in itself, is not a de
sirable position. He knows it is only temporary, that when
he is clothed upon, with the house that is from Heaven, his
soul will resume all its activities, and go on in endless pro
gress. Death is a welcome thought to him, as it will restore
him to the full possession of all his mental powers, to the
full enjoyment of all those treasures of knowledge which
he has gathered during life.
3. The breaking up of domestic and social ties also makes
death look desirable. There is, perhaps, less of decay in
our social susceptibilities, than in any other part of our na
tures. And this only renders the loss of friends, and rela
tives more deeply felt, the longer we live. In manhood,
the circle of love and endearment, in which we are -most
interested, is largest. We are continually making new
friends, so that the loss of the companions of our childhood
is more than made up to us. We go out from the homes
of our youth to establish new families, and to gather around
us children and friends. But no sooner are we established
in life, and rea'ch the height of our social blessings and
enjoyments, than they begin to wane.
" There is no flock, however watched and tended,
But one dead Iamb is there.
There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended.
But has one vacant chair."
" The air is full of farewells to the dying
And mournings for the dead.
The heart of Eachel, for her children crying.
Will not be comforted."

And every friend that dies, every domestic loss does but
make dearer the waning few, who are left. The wealth of
love lavished upon the many, in manhood, is centered -upon
the broken remnant, in old age. What a long and sori'ow-
ful discipline has the aged disciple suffered in this respect !
He can look back and see how death has severed the ties
that bound him to the world, and narrowed down the circle
of his social enjoyments to the smallest measure. All his
four-score years lie spread out before him as a scene of yes
terday. The bereavements of his early manhood come up
before him with the freshness of a present reality ; the chil
dren he laid down in the grave, before they knew good from
evil ; the children of maturer years, the son who was the
beginning of his strength, and the prospective stay of his
declining years ; the daughter, cut off in the first bloom of
womanhood ; the wife of his youth, called hence when his
household most needed a mother's care and tenderness ; the
friends who were the companions and counsellors of his
manhood, cut off in the midst of life's busy cares. He re
members them all. Their voices, their forms come back to
him in dreams, and the visions of the night do but make
the solitude of his waking hours more painfully felt. True
God is good, and mercy is mingled in all the discipline
through which he has past. His faith is firm in God, and
his communion with him sweet. But this religious faith,
however childlike and submissive, was never designed to
satisfy the longings of his social nature. This craves the
society of the loved ones he has lost. This looks forward
with earnest longings and with unshaken faith to a blessed
reunion in the spirit world. He doubts not that
" In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion
By guardian Angels led.
Safe from temptation, safe from sin's pollution
They live, whom we call dead."
" Day after day, he thinks what they are doing,
In those bright realms of air ;
Year after year, their tender steps pursuing.
Beholds them grown more fair."

Is it strange, that this longing rises to irrepressible desire
in the aged, that they would go to the departed, as a lonely
pilgrim, among strangers, turns with elastic step toward
home. Death has no longer a forbidding aspect. It re
stores them to the friends they have lost, to that companion
ship which was most genial and comforting to their hearts.
4. The aged disciple desires death as a revealer of the
mysteries of the spirit world. The soul was made to know ;
and the curiosity which all feel concerning the things that
lie beyond the vail, is only impertinent, while we remain in
the flesh. God has wisely hidden these things from us, be
cause they do not pertain to our present duties and enjoy
ments. The pretended revelations from the spirit world in
modern times, profane and trifling though they are, bear tes
timony to the instinctive longing of the soul for this knowl
edge. At death, God will remove the vail of the flesh.
We shall have entered upon a new mode of existence, and
new duties, for which new stores of knowledge alone can
fit us. This, we have every reason to believe, will be sur
passingly great ; so great, that in comparison with it, all our
earthly knowledge may be said to vanish away — "For we
know in part, and we prophecy in part ; But when that
which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be
done away. For now we see through a glass darkly ; but
then face to face ; now I know in part, but then, shall I
know as also I am known " The aged saint, as he looks
back upon life, sees many strange dealings of God's provi
dence with him. He cannot comprehend their reason,
though he doubts not their reasonableness. He has been
constrained to take them without murmuring, simply be
cause a Father sent them. Many a time has he been com
pelled to say with the Psalmist, " I was dumb and opened
not my mouth because thou didst it." These dark Prbvi-
dences, and all the mysteries of God's moral government
•will be cleared up in the spirit world. He has seen much
of the salvation of the Lord in his life, that he could easily
ebmpreheaad. He doubts not, that e'Very thing else will b6

10
unfolded to him, in the brighter light of eternity. All that
he has seen of salvation here, kindles his desire to see more
of it in the future world. Is it strange that he asks for a
peaceful departure for heaven ?
5. He desires death, frora the full conviction, that the
great cause for which he has lived, and toiled, and prayed,
'will go forward to its accomplishment, without him. Sim
eon beheld in the advent of the Messiah, the future triumphs
of the church. The infant Savior was to be a light to light
en the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. Anna congratula
ted all who looked for redemption in Israel. Their work
was done ; they might well enter into rest.
Confidence in the final triumphs of the gospel' — in the
earth grows with our spiritual growth. All that we have
seen and felt of the salvation of the Lord ourselves,
increases our faith in the necessity of this salvation for the
whole human family. There must come a time when these
claims shall be universally admitted, when Jesus shall see
of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. And the feeling
of our insignificance, as helpers in this work, also grows
with our increasing prayerfuluess and piety. In the ardor
of our first love, in the full strength of our physical pow
ers, we are prone to over-estimate our own importance in
this work. The disciple fills his place well. It is a par
donable weakness in him to suppose that no other could fill
it so well. But a higher christian experience assures him
that the great work of salvation will go forward trium.phant-
ly, whether he be removed early or late from his toils. He
has lived to little' purpose, as a christian, if he has not
raised up under his influence those who shall perpetuate his
labors, and more than fill his place. The aged disciple feels
this. He mourns not over his wasting strength, or his
approaching death. He has seen so much of the salvation
of the Lord, that he is assured of its final triumph.
6. Finally he desires death, as the fitting culmination of
his temporal life. His earthly existence would lose its
beauty, if it were to have no end. " I would not live al-

11
way" ia a feeling that grows stronger in the sanctified, the
longer they live. To live here always I What is it but to
be subject to pain and to sin ? What, but to be always
on trial and never proven ? What, but to be forever in the
crucible, and never purged of our dross? What, but to
have Heaven always in prospect, and never reach that
blessed abode? Surely, no child of God but would pray
to be delivered from such a doom of Tantalus as this. It
is meet that our pilgrimage should have its end ; that our
day of toil with its heat and its burden should have its
setting sun ; that our conflict with its blood and its scars,
should have its triumph and its wreaths of victory. Eestl
Best! Blessed word! How it thrills upon the heart of
the toil worn and struggling christian I " There remaineth
a rest for the people of God." He longs to enter into it.
He sighs for his crown of rejoicing. With Paul at the
court of the bloody Nero, he can exclaim " I am ready to
be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I
have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown
of righteousness, which, the Lord the righteous judge shall
give me at that day."
We have seen that death is a desirable prospect to the
christian, on account of the decay of his physical powers ;
because this depay hinders his progress in knowledge and
christian activity ; because it restores him to the christian
friends he has lost ; because it opens to him the mysteries
of the spirit world, and of salvation ; because others will
succeed him in his labors for the cause of Christ ; and be
cause death is the fitting culmination of his temporal life.
1. Notice, in conclusion, that eveey aged disciple,- who
dies in this age of the church, sees far more of the salva
tion of the Lord, than Simeon was permitted to see. He
praised God for the advent of the Savior, as the crowning
joy of his life. We see the blessed results of that advent,
the gospel doing its work, and receiving its triumphs in the
earth. What the gospel will do for the race is no longer a

12
problem. It is a problem solved. It is demonstrated to be
the power of God, and the wisdom of God, for the salvation
of all who believe. It is the regenerator of individuals and
communities, a'nd the world is the witness of the transform
ation. The aged sister in this church, who has just gone to her
rest, and whose death we deplore to-day, was permitted to
see much of this salvation. She could look back over a
residence here of nearly fifty years ; a period, to her, of
earnest solicitude, self-denial and prayerfuluess for the
church of Christ. When she entered this field of labor
with the companion of her youth, they found it a spiritual
desolation. The church was feeble in strength and few in
numbers. The whole region east of the Thames had been
burnt over with the fanatical wildfire of the Separatists, and
was a field for Missionary labor.*
Their settlement here begins a new era for spiritual relig
ion. The faithful preaching of the doctrine of the cross
had its legitimate influence in the conversion of souls The
faith of God's ipeople was strengthened, and many were
added unto the church. She was permitted to see repeat
ed revivals of religion, under the ministry of her husband
and of his successors in office ; the feeble church, over
which he was installed, growing strong in numbers, in
worldly substance, and in christian graces, U^itil it has sent
forth its third colony. She had seen the desolate church
become three bands, all efficient in supporting gospel insti
tutions among themselves, and in contributing to the spread
of the gospel in other lands. She had not only seen this,
but the rise of sister churches of other denominations upon
the same field, giving»equally good evidence of the power
of the gospel to save sinners. She saw the public morals
greatly improved, public sentiment in regard to Christianity
entirely changed, and the power of spiritual religion in
creased many fold. Well might she say, in view of the sal-
* See Note A.

13
vation which God had wrought in her day,— "Lord, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." i
2. Notice the connection between prayer and the salva
tion of the Lord. Simeon and Anna, to whom so much
was revealed, were devout and prayerful in their old age-
They served God with fastings and prayers, night and day.
For long years they had prayed and waited for the coming
of the Messiah, And when their eyes saw him, they were
right in regarding his advent as an answer to the prayers of
God's people. Their own suplications were heard. They
had occasion to praise God, and to speak of his goodness to
those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Our de
parted sister was pre-eminently a woman of prayer,-and for
the larger part of her residence here, she maintained at her
own house, a weekly meeting for this object, with exempla
ry punctuality, and persistence. She had faith in God, as
a keeper of covenants, and sought to interest the devout
and prayerful, in supplications for her household. Who,
that believes in a prayer hearing God, can doubt, that her
supplications were connected with the salvation of the Lord,
which she was permitted to witness ; that prayer to God
underlaid all this work of reform, all this change of public
sentiment in regard to Christianity, all this triumph of spir
itual religion among us ? In this, she was a worthy exam
ple for all the members of this church, and their faith should
be greatly strengthened by her blessed experience. Hardly
anything that we can ask of God for the advance of spirit
ual religion among us, can be so improbable, to human vis
ion, as the state of things we now witness would have been
fifty years ago. A prophet, who should have foretold these
things then, would not have been believed ; yet faith in God,
importunity at the mercy seat, has realized them ; and we are
reaping the blessed results of the prayers and toils of those
who sleep in Jesus.
Fellow disciples, shall we rise to higher degrees of faith,
and ask God for greater blessings? Shall we feel more
deeply than ever, that all our strength is in God, and witli

14
child-like faith look to him, in the secret place, in the circle
of prayer, and in the solemn assembly? Shall another
generation, our children and children's children, trained to
habits of piety by our godly example, bless God, for our
prayerful and devoted lives, as we praise him, this day, for
the self denying and prayerful life of our departed sister ?
3. We see how it is that death loses its sting. It is only
by living near to God, by an absorbing interest in Christ's
kingdom, by a life of prayer. Death had no terrors for her
who has departed. She expressed no fear in regard to her
acceptance with God. The summons found her resRiy. She
relied wholly upon the righteousness of Christ. She spoke
of death as calmly as of taking a journey for a day. Her
only solicitude seemed to be for those she was leaving be
hind, for her kindred, and for the church of Christ. The
purpose that had ruled her life, was strong in death. She
expressed her warmest sympathy for all her fellow-disciples
in this church, and for all who loved Christ's cause in this
community. She delivered her last messages on the morn
ing of the holy Sabbath, and sank into the sleep that knows
no waking. Who can doubt that death was gain to her,
and that the things of Christ's kingdom, which were the
•burden and joy of her heart on earth, are now the themes
of her exalted contemplation in the upper sanctuary. —
Nothing but this faith in God, this life of prayer can take
away the sting of death. My hearers, have you that faith ?
Do you 'lead that life of prayer? Are death and eternity
familiar, pleasant thoughts, to your soul ? Were death to
come this day to you, would you have a peaceful departure
to a better land ? Oh, rest not, wordly minded disciple, till
your faith has taken new hold of Christ. Best not, fellow
sinner, till you have found shelter beneath the cross of Christ.
There, and there alone, " death is swallowed up in victory."

15
Note A. " One change in the county, surpassing all others, in mag-'
nitude and interest, remains to be mentioned. When I was ordained
here In 1806, I was the only pastor of a Congregational church, on a ter-
ritoiy in Connecticut, of fifty miles in length, by twelve in width. Elev
en large contiguous parishes, stretching from Sterling to the sea-board ou
the line of Eliode Island ; thence to the western boundary of East Lyme;
thence northward to the southern line of Colchester, were except New
London, destitute of Congregational ministers. Sterling aud 'Voluntown
belonged to Windham County ; the other nine parishes were within our
precinct. What rendered this desolation deeply aflBicting and appalling
was, no prospect nor hope existed, that any "of the parishes, Stonington
excepted would spontaneously and unaided, obtain a settled minister. In
1808, the Eev. Ira Hart took charge of the church in Stonington, and in
1811 the Eev. Timothy Tuttle became the pastor of the church in Groton,
and of the church in North Groton ; an event better than our hope. In all
the residue of the "wide waste, nothing indicated resuscitation or improve
ment. Wealth enough there was ; people enough there were ; a meet
ing-house stood in every parish ; but men of energy, influence, and de
vice, to step forth and regain the ministry, wore not to be found. Preach
ing of many kinds, other than Congregational, much of it transient and
irregular, swept over the region. This awful desolation was the result of
the fanatical ministry of Davenport and his coadjutors, who invaded these
churches, seventy years before. From churches, whose pastors then with
stood the operations of these fanatics, secessions occurred, of people who
formed themselves into churches, which took for themselves the appella
tion, Separates. When the pastors of these churches, which were by se
cessions enfeebled, died, their parishes became and remained vacant. The
few pastors who were at length established on the outposts of this waste,
were impatient of this rapid and constant degeneracy toward a state of
heathenism, in a laud of Christianity. At the parsonage iu this parish,
one evening, in 1815, the Eev. Ira Hart and myself conversed on the sub
ject, and formed a project for a county missionary society, to restore the
dilapidated churches and societies. The project, after a few weeks, was
referred to the association, who, after consultation, resolved to forward a
petition to the General Association of the State, soon to meet at Farming-
ton, that a home Missionary Society might be instituted, for repairing
the waste places in Conneoticut and its vicinity. The proposition was
quickly and heartily embraced, and in the course of the ensuing year,
such a society was established, the first of this kind in the United States.
From calamities and local degradations, great religious enterprises are of
ten orio-inated. From the lamented desolation in New London County,
originated a work, which has spread, and which is still to spread its splen
dor over this broad country. This event will be an item in the history of
New London County."— i?ef- Dr, McKwen's Half Century Sermon,

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