Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1837-04-06
THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 6, 1897.

sun-glorious shadow and faint type
Of Con had touched our mortal vi
sion, who shall tell, The time gone
is adresm-the time 10 come unknown.
Truly did one Of yore say, as he dis
coursed Of sepulchral mementos, and
turned the thoughts to the lofty struc-
lures Of Egyptian ambition: Time sad
ly overcometh all things, and is now
dominant, and stitch upon q sphynx.
and looketb unto Memphis and old
Thebes; while his sister. Oblivion, re-
clineth semi-somnouS on q pyramid,
making puzzles Of Titanian erections,
and turning old giores into dreams
History sinkeih beneath her cloud. The
traveller, As he pace;h amazedly hro'
those deserts, aSketh Of her who build
ed them. and she mumJi.d something.
but what it Is, he heareih not Thus
1t is, tina; the position Of our being IL fees
all primary or ultimate inquiry. If We
look back there is point where know
ledge fades into conjecture; il onward,
We stand upon the border Of sea with
but one shore, and whose heaviprs be.
yopd are infinite and eternal, OF What
avail Is II. then, that we bend over the
lore OF antiquity, or wax pale over the
lamp Of n.idnisht-that we walk in the
fields, catching the faint utterance of
the voice of God' We spend our
strength for naugbt: the clouds roll
with an uncomprehended impulse the
wave hcayes. the verdure brightens, the
wind turnrth IN its circuits-but what
are we? We drink the sunshine and
the breeze; passions warm us-doubt
overshadows-hope inspires--and fear
haunts us: but we are still in mystic
~. Pleasure and pain are equally un-
certain; the morrow is in a mist, and
yesterday is nothing. Our friends die
God changes their countenance and
takes them away--and where is the
balm for so bitter sting; II is TO con-
siderthe earth as no abiding place; TO
rely on a power beyond our own; to
disdain the snecr Of the bigot. the hot
language OF the zealot and TO cherish
in ones heart OF hearts that essence Of
the beati'udes-the religion Of life.
let no vain hopes deceive the mind:
No happier let us hope to find
Tomorrow than to-day:
Our golden dreams Of yore were bright
Like them the present shall delight
Like them decay.
Our lives like Fastening streams must be,
That into one engulphing sea
Are doomed 10 fall
The sea Of death--whose waves roll on.
Ger king and kingdom, crown aud thrsne,
And swallow all.
/ Alike the rivers lordly pride,
| Alike the humble rivllers glide,
To that sad wave;
J Death leyels poverty and pride,
! And rich and poor sleep side by side,
Within the grave!
! To this complexion. at last, must we
come: and our questionIEgs Of the ele-
ments, or OF the mind. are alike in vain.
How often has passionate Grief invok-
ed the hosts OF heaven TO restore the
lost Yet when the clod has once fall
en- with rs hollow sound upon the cof-
fn-lid; when its melancholy echo has
sunk unheard over the tuneless ear oil
Death, who that has stood BY and heard
the requiem for the departed soul, bu,
has wondered for its figh,' Where il
the heart that has not poured forth it,
plant, amid the stiffness OF the night
when the ear
"From echoing hill or thicket, OF has seemed
To hear celestial voices ,"
II is then that the soul longs for the
Gsfroioger's pOrer-tbe consultation oil
the stars. Among those orbs, gem.
ming the night with luSire, where dc
the departed dwell Who can pierce
the blue mystery above, to iell' There
they shine from age to age-glorious
clusters, flooding the empyrean with
paths Of light, and looking down in
beauty on the mutations OF a wicked
and Perverse world ~ l. il among
those floating Jewels, scattered from the
crown Of the Almighty, where the pris-
matte light CLEANS from the gates OF
Paradise, that the wicked cease from
troubling and the weary are at rest.
Answer me, burning tar. Of night,
Where hath the spirit gone,
That past The reach of human sixbt
Even ~ breeze hath hownl
And the stars answer me We roll
ln tight aud power on high,
But Of the never-dying soul.
Ask that Nhicb cannot de O."
- g.
From ihs Uysss,ing R,y,5iesa.
A BOAsTER TRIED
Messrs. EDIToRS ~ often amuse
myself during these long winter even
lngs, While by NY fres,de. Nth re-
hecting upon the many incidents that
took place when vas boy, and
among many Others I would relate one