Clearfield-Lycoming County PA Archives Obituaries.....DuBois, John Jr. May 5, 1886
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"DuBois Courier"  May 13, 1996
GONE TO REST.
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John DuBois, the Lumber King and Millionaire, Dead.
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HISTORY OF HIS LIFE.
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His Funeral, The Casket, Remains, Funeral Sermon, Pall Bearers, His Request, 
Affliction, Grave.
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JOHN E. DUBOIS, THE NEPHEW.
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WHO INHERITS THE MILLIONS  THE DEED, AND THE SERMON OF REV.  J.V. BELL  AT 
THE RESIDENCE.
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John DuBois is dead.  The greatest lumber king from the Gulf to the Lakes and 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, breathed his last on Wednesday evening at 4:45, 
May 5th, 1886.  As the sun was going down and shed its last rays around the 
mansion his heart ceased throbbing and his pulse no longer beat.  His spirit 
had taken its flight to that celestial realm from which no traveler e'er 
returns.  Several hours before the summons came he lay unconscious.  The 
silent reaper claimed his own and John DuBois, with three score and seventeen 
years upon his head, surrounded by friends and all that made life dear to him, 
lay now in the cold embrace of Death.

He had lived beyond the allotted time of man and prospered more than his 
expectations.  Although the greater part of his life had been spent away from 
God, yet when the Master called he was prepared to meet Him.  The first time 
he made known his desire to do better was about April 1st, when Dr. C.C. 
Hindman, the attending physician, purchased a book to read.  When Mr. DuBois 
saw it he asked its title, which was, God and the Future Estate.  He 
requested the physician to read to him, to which the doctor kindly assented.  
After one or two chapters had been read he remarked that he had been thinking 
of his future condition.  After that he would daily ask the doctor, his 
nephew, or some one around him to read from the bible or some other good 
book.  For a time before that he seemed to be making a study of religion.  
Rev. J.V. Bell was sent for and conversed with him of his future welfare.  
Rev. Bell told him that one of the appointed means for making public 
confession was through the ordinance of baptism, and he requested the minister 
to bring in witnesses and administer the sacred rites.  After the ceremony he 
addressed certain ones present and urged them not to neglect their duties to 
God as he had done.  From that day on death was awaited with peaceful 
resignation, and he finally passed away without fear for the future.

The ancestors of John DuBois, the lumber king of Pennsylvania, were of French 
descent.  Their coming to America dates from 1634.  John DuBois was born near 
Owego, Tioga county, N.Y., on the 3d day of March, 1809.  His father was a 
farmer and lumberman.  His mother was Miss Lucy Crocker, who settled near 
Binghamton, N.Y.  The family of Mr. DuBois consisted of eight sons and two 
daughters.  John DuBois was the second son.  He obtained his education in a 
common school, with the exception of one winter when he attended an academy at 
Owego.  Much of his time after he reached the age of twelve years was spent in 
driving cattle on the barn floor to tramp out grain.  After the age of fifteen 
years but little time was allowed him to attend school.  The only money he had 
for expenses was what he made trapping, which in those days was a favorite 
pursuit.  At the age of nineteen he went down the river with a cargo of lumber 
and sold it at Columbia for seventy-five cents more per thousand feet than any 
of his neighboring lumbermen.  At the age of twenty he and his brother David 
took the contract of stocking his father's mill with logs, and hauling the 
same to the river; he rafting and taking the lumber to market, while his 
brother remained and attended to the farm.  About the time he was of age his 
father purchased a farm near Tioga Centre, for which he was to pay six 
thousand dollars.  He asked the three oldest sons, Ezekial, John and David to 
stay with him until it was paid for, promising, at the same time, to make them 
a deed for the property, but when the property was paid for the father forgot 
the promise, and had the deed made to himself.  After settling with his three 
sons and allowing them $100 per year clear of board and clothing he leased 
them the mill, farm and timber lands.  They were to stock and saw the logs for 
one-half.  At this time the three brothers and one sister left the parental 
roof and struck out to make their mark in the world.  The oldest brother, 
Ezekial, took time to look himself up a wife and married in a short time; but 
not so with the subject of our sketch.   He either did not have the 
inclination for married life or could not find the time to look himself up a 
better half.  In the winter of 1835 he learned that a firm in New York had a 
tract of 1,000 acres of land, covered with poplar and pine, which they would 
dispose of.  Hitching his horse in a buggy he drove to New York, and purchased 
the tract for $3,000.  As soon as he arrived home they commenced to cut and 
manufacture the timber, which he readily sold at Port Deposit for a handsome 
profit.  After a successful business of five years they closed up their 
effects, having property and money to the amount of $15,000.  In dividing 
their estate Ezekial took most of the real estate and personal property.  John 
and David established a new firm and started in business about twenty miles 
from Williamsport.  During the year they took in partnership a younger 
brother, Matthias.  David died in 1848, leaving the business in the hands of 
John and Matthias.  They continued in business then for about ten years, 
buying and selling considerable land in the city of Williamsport, and at the 
same time purchased about 32,000 acres of timber land in Clearfield county.  
They built a substantial residence in Williamsport, and Matthias moved his 
family into it.  His health soon failed.  He removed from there and never 
returned.  About one year after Mr. DuBois took in another gentleman as a 
partner, and, after continuing in business for a short time found that he was 
so careless that he found it necessary to purchase his interest, which was 
done in 1863.  Since that time he has been doing business alone.  Shortly 
after his brother's death he built a large mill and quite a town on the banks 
of the Susquehanna, opposite Williamsport, and commenced to cut and stock his 
mill from his land in Clearfield county.  For a number of years he continued 
to cut and drive his logs to Williamsport, and not only his own but logs for 
different firms.  In 1861, when the rebellion broke out, he was operating at 
Havre de Grace, and owing to the (?) amount of travel it was found necessary 
for the railroad company to build a bridge across the Susquehanna at that 
place.  It was about this time that Mr. DuBois conceived the idea of a patent 
for setting the piers to construct the bridge upon, which he afterwards had 
patented, and which caused him considerable trouble afterwards, as the 
railroad company had gone to work and built piers after his plans.  From the 
patent office he carried to the Board of Examiners, from them to the 
Commissioners on Patents, and then to the Supreme Court.  The Court confirmed 
the opinion of the Commissioners on patents, and the railroad company went on 
and erected piers.  Mr. DuBois then sued the railroad company for infringement 
on his patent before the Circuit Court of the United States, and obtained a 
verdict for $10,000 for use in two piers.  He afterwards sued the company for 
the other three piers and received $22,000.

HE COMMENCES OPERATIONS HERE.
In the spring of 1873 Mr. DuBois began making his first improvements in the 
now thriving town of DuBois.  His first work was the erection of a small mill 
to prepare the lumber for a large mill.  The work as conducted under the 
management of George Betts as superintendent and J.B. Shaffer as master 
mechanic.  About this time a number of families came to DuBois, then called 
Rumbarger.  After completing the mill in 1873 he commenced the manufacture of 
lumber for his large mill, which is 80x200 feet and was completed in 1874.  It 
is equipped with the latest improved machinery, much of it being his own 
inventions.

After the completion of the large mill in 1874, the demand for bill timber 
became so great that Mr. DuBois found it necessary to make some provision 
other than he had to supply the demand, and accordingly, in the fall of 1877 
he began the erection of another mill 50x150 feet for the manufacture of bill 
timber.  This he completed in the fore part of the summer of 1878.  Finding 
that a great amount of lumber that might be utilized was going to waste, he 
conceived the idea of engaging in the manufacture of box boards, and with this 
end in view he put in several machines for manufacturing them.  Finding that 
the demand for box boards was increasing so rapidly he began the erection of a 
building in 1879, to be used exclusively for manufacturing box boards.  This 
building was completed in the latter part of the summer of 1879, and equipped 
with all the latest improved box board machines; many of them manufactured at 
his own machine shops under his own direction.  He also built in addition to 
the box board factory a large dry kiln in which to dry the box boards by 
steam.  Feeling now that the height of his ambition was not yet attained he 
still continued the erection of dwelling houses for his men, and continued to 
improve and clear up his farm lands, to which he devoted the most of his 
attention until May 2, 1880, when the bill mill took fire and was burned to 
the ground along with several thousand feet of lumber, entailing a loss to Mr. 
DuBois
OF BETWEEN $50,000 AND $60,000,
with no insurance.  With the energy of a Napoleon he set to work at once to 
rebuild his mill, and on the 17th day of October of the same year the shrill 
whistle and the buzz of the saws announced to the people that the mill was 
again in operation.  This time on a much larger scale.

During the time we have passed over his life he saw the necessity of a hotel 
for the accommodation of the public.  Accordingly he set about and erected a 
brick building 50x100 feet, five stories high, to be used as a hotel, store 
and offices.  This when completed was said to be one of the largest and most 
elegantly furnished hotels between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and to-day it 
stands without a rival.

His machine shop, factory and black smith shop was erected sometime before 
this, and is one of the best equipped, with machinery that far excels anything 
in this section.  There is scarcely anything but what can be manufactured at 
his shops. 

Again reaching out during the summer of 1883 he saw the inconvenience he was 
laboring under by having to saw all his logs, pine hemlock and hardwood on the 
gang mill, and to avoid this, he concluded to erect another mill to be used 
entirely for the manufacture of hemlock and hardwood lumber.  Accordingly in 
the spring of 1884, he began its erection, and in July the mill was complete 
and put in motion.  This mill has a capacity of sawing 50,000 feet per day.  
It is truly a sight to anyone to see the immense piles of lumber stored in the 
yards.

WELL HE MIGHT BE CALLED THE LUMBER KING.

With the miles of railroad built into the midst of his forests with the engine 
and cars running to and fro daily.  With his farm, dairy, machine shop, 
foundry, blacksmith shop, mills, store, hotel and camps, all running at one 
time under his own personal supervision.  It is wonderful to contemplate.  His 
last and the largest building ever built by him was commenced in 1885, and is 
not yet completed.  The building is four stories high, the basement to be used 
for the grocery department of his store, the second floor for his general 
store, the third floor for offices, and fourth floor as an Opera House.  
Theatrical troups who have visited it have pronounced it when completed to the 
finest in the State.  During the time he has been at work building mills, 
houses, etc., he has not neglected the improvements upon his farm.  He 
constantly had large crews of men clearing and getting land in a proper state 
of cultivation.  When he began to operate at DuBois thirteen years ago this 
spring; there was not one foot of cleared land, but by his skillful management 
and the employment of men, he has to day cleared up and has under cultivation 
about 1,000 acres, this alone would be enough for the ordinary business man to 
manage.

HIS AFFLICTION.

was catarrh of the stomach, and from the first very little hope of his 
recovery was entertained by the attending physician.  During the course of his 
sickness he conceived the idea that by his being removed to some other 
locality he might be benefited.  Washington, D.C., was selected as the desired 
place.  Accordingly a palace coach was secured, and on Sunday, March 28th, in 
company with his attending physician, and his nephews, J.E. DuBois and Charles 
Fowler, he started for that city.  Arriving there he was the next day 
transferred to the National Hotel.  He remained there under the care of the 
attending physician and Dr. Garnett, an eminent physician of that city, for 
about two weeks.  Finding that he continued to grow worse, and knowing that 
the number of his days were growing short, he expressed a desire to return to 
his home in DuBois.  A palace coach was again chartered, and on Tuesday, April 
13th, he arrived home.  After reaching here he seemed [missing text]he 
expressed a desire to once more visit the big mill and see what improvements 
had been made by Mr. Jack Horner, to whom he had given entire charge of that 
department.  Accordingly he was placed in a buggy and driven to the mill, 
where he remained some time watching the men as they pursued their work. He 
expressed himself as well satisfied with the results.  He was taken back to 
the house, and the next day was taken out again, which was the last time.

He always found comfort and pleasure among his employees, and never, until his 
last illness, had he ever expressed himself as being lonesome.  Many times 
during his sickness he said that the main regret of his life was that he had 
never married.  Now, said he I am alone; no wife to wipe the perspiration 
from my brow; no children to comfort me in my lonely hours.  Whenever he 
talked with any of his relatives he always advised them to marry.

THE FUNERAL.

Until the time of his death no preparations had been made where he was to be 
buried, and when the summons of death came it caused those most closely 
connected with him to consider what was best to do.  They consulted one with 
the other, and, finally before they could decide, telegraphed to Hon. George 
A. Jenks, at Brookville, to know if he had made any special request to him.  
The matter was settled by telegraphing his request.  Accordingly preparations 
were made as per his request.

THE UNDERTAKER,

Mr. A.L. Hoy, of this place was sent for and proceeded with the assistance of 
M.B. Spackman to embalm the body, which was done to the entire satisfaction of 
all the friends.  Mr. Hoy has had twenty years experience as an undertaker and 
embalmer, and his work will stand inspection along side of any to be found in 
the city.

HIS CASKET

was purchased by Mr. Hoy, who in company with Mr. John Horner, went to 
Pittsburgh to make a selection, the orders from Mr. John E. DuBois before 
starting was to secure the best regardless of cost, and after looking over the 
different caskets in the city selected one of Hamilton & Loman.  This was a 
metalic casket weighing about 500 pounds.  It was covered and raped outside 
with black broadcloth, and trimmed with gold mountings; the inside of it was 
lined with the best of white satin.  The expense of the casket was $500 in 
Pittsburg.

The casket was placed in one of the Boyd Grave Vaults, also furnished by Mr. 
Hoy, which cost $75.00.  This style of covering over coffins and caskets is 
becoming very popular on account of its cheapness.  It is made of Besmer steel 
and tempered as hard as steel will bear.  When this covering is put over the 
coffin it locks on the inside so that the only way to get to the casket is by 
breaking it, or cutting rivets.

THE REMAINS.

The remains of the late John DuBois lay in state at his residence on Saturday 
from 9 o'clock A.M. until one o'clock P.M., during which time about 3,000 
people viewed the remains, all looking upon him as they passed by with a 
sorrowful countenance.  Not only did the people from the town of DuBois, of 
which he might truly be called the father, visit the mansion; but the citizens 
of Sandy, Brady and Houston townships came in by wagon loads to take the last 
look of the one who had done so much for the prosperity of this section.

THE FUNERAL SERMON.

At two o'clock P.M. the Rev. J.V. Bell, pastor of the Presbyterian church, 
delivered a funeral sermon at the mansion, and as the crowd was so large that 
but comparatively few could get within hearing distance, we publish the sermon 
in full, for the benefit of our readers.

At the close of sermon the relatives alone took a last leave of the remains, 
the funeral procession, in charge of Mr. T.G. Gormley, was formed,  The first 
in line was Rev. J.V. Bell and Dr. C.C. Hindman, followed by

THE PALL BEARERS,

Messrs. George R. Vosburg, general superintendent for Mr. DuBois; Arthur 
Vosburg, superintendent of his works at Havre de Grace; John Maginnis, 
superintendent of lumber shipping; A. McAllister, foreman of the big mill; 
Hart Fulmer, foreman of the ironworks; David McIntosh, foreman of Clear run 
camp and cutting crew; Freem Fuller, superintendent of the farm; A.R. Van 
Tassel, of the firm of DuBois & VanTassel Bros.  (The first named seven 
gentlemen having been in the employ of Mr. DuBois for a quarter of a 
century.)  Following was the hearse with an escort of twenty-four men 
(employees); then came friends in carriages; employees and acquaintances 
following after on foot, having been formed in files four abreast, to burial 
place.  The procession which numbered about 1,200 followed the remains to the 
hill in the rear of his house.  Before the procession reached the burial place 
hill 1,000 people had congregated there, and by the time the procession 
reached the place it looked as though the entire community had congregated 
upon the hill.

HIS REQUEST

was that he be buried on top of the hill back of his residence, with his face 
towards the town, and as his request was such, he was laid north and south 
instead of east and west as is the usual custom.

THE GRAVE

in which the dead millionaire was laid was six feet wide and eleven feet long 
and seven and a half feet deep.  The bottom of the grave was laid with brick 
set on edge and put down in cement.  The walls were sixteen inches in 
thickness of brick to the height of the iron jacket around the casket.  After 
the depositing the casket in the grave, the masons were put to work and built 
an arch over the top of the iron jacket, and after building up level with 
brick on the sides, about four feet of solid stone was placed on top in order 
to make a foundation for the 

MONUMENT.

As to what kind of a monument will be erected nothing has been determined.  
Yet, suffice it to say, that when it is done it will be the best that can be 
procured, and no man is more deserving.

After the friends of the deceased returned to the house Hon. Geo. A. Jenks 
produced and read the will, which we hope to be able to give to our readers in 
our next issue.  It is a confirmation of the deed given to John E. DuBois 
January 17, 1884, and bestows upon him all his gains from that time until his 
death.

JOHN E. DUBOIS,

the young man who inherits his uncle's millions, is a man of more than 
ordinary ability.  He is a graduate of Shortlidge College, Media, Pa., and is 
now twenty-five years of age.  He is a son of Ezekial DuBois, the eldest 
brother of the deceased.  He has three sisters, Misses Cassie and Lucy DuBois, 
and Mrs. Caroline Morris.  Of the young man we will say but little at 
present.  His disposition by many respects is very much like that of his 
uncle, and one of the most particular points is that neither he nor his uncle 
had any desire for newspaper notoriety.  The general opinion of the people is 
that in the selection of some one to take charge of the vast estate, the uncle 
has shown the best of judgment.  The works were again started on Monday 
morning last under the supervision of John E. DuBois as though he had been in 
charge of them his life-time.  It must have required considerable fortitude to 
undergo all that has transpired during the past two years when he was in 
possession of the deed conveying the same to him.

The day of the funeral a special train was chartered by the lumbermen of 
Brookville.  The following named gentlemen were on board:  A.L. Bryan, A.G. 
Pinney, B. Kline, Ed. Litch, B. Verstien, Frank Verstein, E.H. Clark, J.O. 
Eddleblute, and C.M. Carrier.  From Clearfield, Jas. Levy, T.H. Murry, J.F. 
McKenrick. S.T. Brockbank, and J.M. Troxel.  Mr. L. M. Truxel had entire 
charge of all the details and acquitted himself with credit.

The decoration around the mansion was in charge of T.H. Baird and P. 
Patterson.  The flowers were furnished by Patterson Brothers, of Pittsburgh.  
In the rear of the casket on a wire stand stood the representation of a Bible, 
which was finely executed.  The entire decorating was done in the most 
artistic manner.

THE SERMON.

The sermon of Rev. J.V. Bell as preached at Mr. DuBois' funeral as given 
below, was prefaced by the following scriptural passages:  Psalm, 90:1-10; 
Job, 4:13-19, 5:6-8 and 17-27; Matthew, 20:1-16.

I confess that I am a little at a loss to know what to say on this occasion 
which must impress us all with a feeling of sadness; not but what there are 
many thoughts, which might be presented, but because, out of the multitude of 
possible words it is difficult to decide which are best.  A great tree has 
fallen in the forest and it cannot be scaled by a single measurement.  But 
surely we who have sat so long under its shade desire to keep with us some 
memorial of the familiar form which we can see no more.  Trying then to bring 
myself into sympathy with the hearts most sad, and hoping to inspire some soul 
to nobler deeds, I ask you to learn with me a few lessons of the life of John 
DuBois.

I do not stop to tell you what that life was.  You have read or will read it 
elsewhere.  You know it in its defects, for none are perfect.  You know it in 
its noble qualities, for such there were; and that you may bury his 
shortcomings with his body to-day, and that the good may live to make us 
better, is the prayer of every honest heart.

First, Then his life furnishes us an illustration of true nobility.  When you 
contrast the means at his command with the daily appearance of the man, are 
you not surprised at its humility?  He was with his men every day.  All that 
he required in his conveyance was strength to carry him.  All that he asked of 
an employee to make him his companion was sufficient intelligence to grasp his 
plans and the ability to execute them.

He loved comfort, but neither in his home nor its surroundings did he make an 
ostentatious display of his wealth.  And could some of those who by his 
generosity were assisted in getting homes, which otherwise they could not have 
had, and who when desiring or compelled to sell found in him a cash purchaser, 
returning to them what they had expended, could some of these men who, as I 
saw it well put in a certain paper since his death, loved him as a father, 
speak to you today they would bear me out in the statement that if John DuBois 
ever tried to get the advantage in business it was not of a little man.  No; 
he remembered his own struggles as he mounted the ladder to wealth and 
influence, and the poor man might keep his bed rather than that he should gets 
its price, although it was lawfully his.  These little things instead of 
detracting from true greatness, give the right setting for the diamond, and 
although we have but hinted at them, enough has been said to show the world 
why we will miss him, and to prove him worthy our imitation.

Second.  The life of Mr. DuBois teaches us the importance of thoroughness to 
those who desire to succeed.  You who knew him in his favorite business will 
admit that he understood that.  But he was not a man of one tool alone, and 
that he was at home in other departments of enterprise we have abundant 
evidence.  I need cite but one victory of his to establish my point.  It is 
his famous lawsuit with the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, 
touching his patent pier in which he secured a premium of $30,000 and gained 
it by his own testimony.  I have it from the lips of a lawyer present in the 
court room, that the evidence against him was very damaging and some of his 
own attorneys thought the case hopeless, when he mounted the witness stand and 
by the thoroughness of his knowledge, touching every detail of other patents, 
and proving their dates established a priority of his own and won the decision 
of the jury.  He may have had but few advantages in school, but his life was 
not such as to encourage the young of his town to neglect theirs.

Third.  Again we have in him a notable example of candor and frankness.  It 
did not take you long to learn his opinion on any subject and whether it 
agreed with yours or not, he was free to declare it.  Although showing itself 
in many other instances as most of you are aware, it appeared principally in 
the history of that change which passed over his religious belief and led him 
to his confession of Christ so near the close of his life.  On making my first 
visit to him, which was two or more months before his death, and when there 
was hope of recovery, I was much surprised at the reception I received.  From 
what I had heard of him I was in doubt as to whether or not he would entertain 
a minister of the gospel, but I found him most cordial and appreciative in his 
welcome, and while declaring without hesitation that he did not accept what I 
believed, he yet allowed me to state that belief and listened very 
respectfully to what I had to say in support of it.  And when I saw him again, 
after God in his kind and allwise providence had taken him to a place where by 
precept and example, Christian people had directed his thoughts to those 
things which concern the salvation of the soul, his attendant physician will 
testify how quick he was to acknowledge that he was wrong, saying almost as a 
word of greeting, I take back all I said and tell you frankly, that there is 
no mortal but is afraid to die.  And then the care he took with each step in 
his outgoing from his service of sin to his acceptance of Christ, determined 
that all the time his feet should be on solid ground and the way plain; saying 
as he did, I want the world to know my change but I want to first understand 
what baptism is before the rite is administered.  All this I say, up to the 
moment that he opened his eyes on those standing by his bed, and said, do not 
live as I have, convinces me that the man was fair and frank, and that the 
great misfortune of his life, as he admitted, was that when giving his 
attention to religious beliefs, he was thrown under an influence which led him 
to accept and be satisfied with what in his last days betrayed him, and, had 
not comfort come from another quarter, would have left him without hope.  
Surely it could never be said of him, Because thou art lukewarm, and neither 
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.  Sad it is that he was cold 
so many long and favorable years, but when after his return he expressed a 
desire to live if it be but a year longer, that he might try to influence his 
men to respect the church, it would seem that the change was complete.

Fourth.  A fourth teaching of his life is that nothing can save men, nothing 
can comfort them in the face of death like the power of the cross.  Perhaps 
not one in a hundred of those who knew him expected what occurred on his death-
bed, and that is what gives it significance, for surely if any one could find 
comfort in aught else than the words of Jesus, Come, meet me, and I will give 
you rest, that man was John DuBois.  There can be no doubt that he was 
interested in humanity, not as the Christian is perhaps, not always respecting 
the higher needs of both soul and body, but seeking to better their outward 
condition, and yet from this as a ground of merit from his wealth and 
influence as having any power to save from every other hope which man can 
devise, and he knew what was elsewhere offered him, he turned away and only 
found a support worth of trust in that glorious declaration of Jesus, God so 
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whomsoever believeth 
in Him, might not perish but have everlasting life.  Just as Paul looking 
back on what God had done for him, so do I with what I have seen vividly 
impressed upon my memory, say, so may all believers with more confidence say, 
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto 
salvation to every one that believeth.  You ask me then for an opinion as to 
his forgiveness and acceptance with God?  I reply that God has not put such 
decisions within the power of man, but seeing that there are just two 
necessary conditions on which any man can have salvation, we have great reason 
to hope.  First, God must offer pardon, and second, it must [be] accepted.  
The possibility of salvation has nothing to do with the number of years sin 
has been indulged, nor the length to which a man has gone in it.  True the 
probability is greatly affected by these things, and therefore we say to all, 
make haste; but when salvation is no more of works but of free and unmerited 
grace, then as we are taught in the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, 
God is at liberty to do what he will with his own, and the last may be and 
often is first.  The only question then in the case before us is:  was the 
offer of mercy accepted by a sincere repentance and self surrender?  As far as 
human judgment may be trusted, it was.

Fifth.  And did time permit, we might point you to the evidence here furnished 
us that the fundamental doctrines of christianity, as to the trinity, the 
atonement and the new birth, etc., are true.  I know that some of us have had 
more serious thoughts since last Saturday morning when we heard him say, I 
take God the Father to be my father, the Son to be my Saviour, the Holy Spirit 
to be my Sanctifier, and the word of God to be my ruler, and if any words 
reach the ears of any unbeliever, I ask him to think well before he permits 
this event to pass out of his mind.  Lord Lyttleton, of England, became a 
sincere convert from skeptical or uncertain views by a careful study of the 
conversion of Saul, of Tarsus, and afterward wrote an essay on The Evidence 
of That Conversion, to which, as Johnson says, infidelity has never been able 
to fabricate a specious answer, I venture in a word to apply his arguments to 
the present case and say that Mr. DuBois was either an imposter or an 
enthusiast, or else his conduct was sincere and ought to impress us with the 
truth of what he accepted.  That he was an enthusiast you will not admit, that 
he was an imposter you cannot believe, then I beseech you, give his 
transformation full weight, and believing that only God can work such a change 
in man, surrender to Jesus as the only Saviour of the world.

Sixth.  But leaving you to reflect on these things, I want once more to remind 
you, that in its latest breath his life is a call to immediate repentance.  
May God make it to be heard by those who stood nearest to him and who most 
miss him to-day, that it may bring them comfort and great joy, and may his 
hope for some who stood by when he was baptized be fulfilled in all of us.  
That desire was in these words which were almost the last heard from him by 
the speaker.  I see before me a company of faithful souls who do not want to 
do anything wrong, but with me they have all transgressed, and I hope they 
will all repent and accept this salvation which brings more than any amount of 
human repentance or reparation we can ever make.

'Tis religion that can give
Sweetest pleasure while we live;
Tis religion does supply
Solid comfort when we die.



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