of their lives. Still less could I speak
adequately of the men and women who, in almost every neighborhood
throughout the country, have found in this Unitarian faith
of ours a stimulant to brave and noble lives and a sufficient
comfort and support in the hour of a brave death. As I stand
here on this occasion, my heart is full of one memory,--of
one who loved our Unitarian faith with the whole fervor of
his soul, who in his glorious prime, possessing everything
which could make life happy and precious, the love of wife
and children and friends, the joy of professional success,
the favor of his fellow-citizens, the fulness of health, the
consciousness of high talent, heard the voice of the Lord
speaking from the fever-haunted hospital and the tropical
swamp, and the evening dews and damps, saying, 'Where is the
messenger that will take his life in his hand, that I may
send him to carry health to my stricken soldiers and sailors?'
When the Lord said, 'Whom shall I send?' he answered, 'Here
am I: send me.'*

[Footnote]
* Sherman Hoar, who after a brilliant public and professional career,
gave his life to his country by exposure in caring for the sick soldiers
of the Spanish war.
[End of Footnote]

"The difference between Christian sects, like the difference
between individual Christians, is not so much in the matter
of belief or disbelief of portions of the doctrine of the Scripture
as in the matter of _emphasis._ It is a special quality
and characteristic of Unitarianism that Unitarians everywhere
lay special emphasis upon the virtue of Hope. It was said
of Cromwell by his secretary that hope shone in him like a
fiery pillar when it had gone out in every other.

"There are two great texts in the Scripture in whose sublime
phrases are contained the germs of all religion, whether
natural or revealed. They lay hold on two eternities. One
relates to Deity in his solitude--'Before Abraham was, I
am.' The other is for the future. It sums up the whole
duty and the whole destiny of man: 'And now abideth Faith,
Hope, and Charity,--these three.' If Faith, Hope, and Charity
abide, then Humanity abides. Faith is for beings without
the certainty of omniscience. Hope is for beings without
the strength of omnipotence. And Charity, as the apostle
describes it, affects the relations of beings limited and
imperfect to one another.

"Why is it that this Christian virtue of Hope is placed as
the central figure of th