Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-04-16

hearse,-and see the long lugubrious
train. We see the raven plume-we
hear the minute CURVE see the frater.
nal badge-we hear the muff1ed drum.
| We see the church decorated with the
tokens of death-we hear the mourniul
requiem-we see the vacant pew-we
near the deep-drawn signs Of weeping
relatives. We visit the resort of plea
sure-the looks that once met ours, are
seen no more-the accents that fell
upon the ear are silent forever. We
meet in the social circle-the form
that enchanted, the smile that welcom-
ed, the hand that responded to the
touch, the voice that thrilled the heart,
are ACKNOWLEDGEMENT!
Death, O! Death, how desolate dost
thou make our habitations! How drea-
ry dost thou leave the abode of man, o,
cruel spoiler! Merciful Providence!
Shall we not-shall we not meet again
the loved Of earth in all their loneliness?
Shall we not embrace them in the same
radiant forms they wore on earth, in a
happier sphere, where eternal spring
shall reign, and eternal youth and beau
ty bloom?-Shall we not again unite
our souls and mingle our sympathies
with theirs?-Shall we not live again
with those we love on earth, blessing
and blessed through all eternity!
But why hast thou, Universal Pa
rent, placed thy eternal fiat against self
destruction? Why are we still doomed
to drag out our weary pilgrimage, when
friends are separated and the ties OF al
lection sundered? Why are we still
chained to the earth-why do we. still
cling to life, when the one has lost its
attractions, land the other is despoiled OF
its enjoyment?
Cruel destiny!-We writhe under the
torture of existence and still hug the
dear deceit. We look around us and
envy the possessions of others which
only make their possessors miserable;
we slight the advantages within our
reach, that makes others wretched be-
cause they covet them. O Man!
Happy thou art not;
For what thou hast not, still thou striv's to get;
And what thou hast forgets!
We look abroad and behold others
casting smile, like the CLEAN of a
charnel.house, even amidst the most
AFFECT poverty-as if in mockery to
make its daikn visible; and we are
even miserable, because they seem to be
happy!
Strange inconsislency!-We feel that
life is burden and yet we call it bles-
sing; fain, fsin would we lay it down
yet we cannot if we would, and would
not if we could.
Victims of Hope and Disappoint-
ment!-When our pilgrimage lays
through fairy land, it is often sudden
ly surrounded with perils and crossed
with obstacles. When our path is
rough, and rugged: and intricate, it is
unexpectedly made straight, by some
unseen guardian hand. When smiles
and sunshine and prosperity surround
us, little speck arises out OF the ocean
of destiny, and spreads sombre and
imperyious cloud over all around our
prospects.-When sorrow, and trouble,
and misery overshadow us as with the
mantle of darkness, the star that lights
and guides the wretched bursts through
the gloom
HopE!-like the glimmering tapers light,
Adorns and cheers our way
End stiNas DARKER !gro,cs the night.
| Emits BRIGHTER rag.
But the grave-the grave!-how APP
palling are the shadows that rest upon
1.-THE darkness that shrouds i'll
To die, and 60 we know not where!
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm emotion to become
A kneaded clod,-
-'tis too horriblei
The yyeariest and most loathed worldly life,
That age, ach, penury, and imprisonment
Can lay on nature, is paradise
To what we fear of DEATH!
How terrible are the secrets that
dwell in the grave! We fain would
seek the revelation, yet dare notPay the
price.-We weep over the fading flow
ers of infancy-we mourn over the
! withered branch that promised its shell
ter in age-we sorrow over the perish,
ing tendrils of friendship that twlned
around our hearts-we agonize over
the blighted fruits of love, matured by
our affection, cherished in our bosom
and dying in our embrace;-frantic and
despairing, we strive to cast OH the bur-
den of woe that weighs us down-we
struggle 70 burst from the sorrows 'hat
surround US, but the grave! the grave
opposes its barrier-we cannot avold
our doom-we cannot escape our aes-
tiny!
But is there no hereafter'-no exist
ence beyond the grave!