Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1847-01-15

OLlCkhf Ohdpldln Oh he o0hd9ot pToctuiuk ei0 iA
tsrmeut Of the mortal remains Of the late Hon.
ALEX. BARRow, on the 3lsiult., issofullof beau
ty-so touching in pathos-so eloquentindiction,
and so suitable to the occasion, that no press Of
matter eau induce us to withhold it from our read
ers. Read it, you whose locks are whitcned for
the grave; read it, you who are IN the prime Of
life; read it, you who areyetin the flush Ofyoulhi
if YOU cannot appreciate its applicability to your
case, YOU will, we are satisfied, admire its beau
~; if you do not arise from its Perusal with pu.
rer feelings and nobler sentiments than before
were wont to find an abiding place in yourbosom,
you will, at no remote day, acknowledge its wis
dom. But to the sermon. We copy from the
Washington "Union" Of the Cd instant:
Being called upon, in virtue of my connexion
with the Senate Of the United States, to take part
in the solemn services Of this occasion, with an
eye 10 the solemn reckoning that awaits us all,
and with an ardent desire TO say some words that
may be available for the benefit of the living,
rise to address you with trembling and with deep
emotion. Whoever looks out upon the face Of
human society will be forciby struck with the
conviction that abstract truths make but slight
impression on the human mind and heart, and ex-
ercise but very partial influence upon the human
character. But there comes up occasionally in
the history of mans life-there comes up oc-
casonally in the history of an associated body,
q circumstance, an event, in the administration
Of an all.wise, unerring, and powerful Providence
which performs for men the office of monitor of
Philip Of Macedon, procaimng in the ear, and
impressing on the heart, the lesson Of mans NOR
talty. When the abstract truth becomes thus
developed and pronounced, it is set forth with
commanding influence and power, and is cacu-
lated to fill the eve with tears, overwhem the
heart with sadness, and to put upon the headlong
propenslties of man for the time being an effec-
tual check. Such period has come up in the
history of this body-such an occurrence has ta-
ken place in the midst of the Congress of this
great nation. But few short days ago enter
ed this chamber to open the business of the NOR
ming with prayer, in recognition of the being and
providence of God, and there in his place sat
one who had promise Of long life and years of
pleasure, perhaps beyond any of those associated
with him in this body. Now, up to this moment
neither you, nor he who addresses you, have
been scarcely able to realize the appalling fact
that that athletic form shall never more be look
ed upon by us-the mild beam of his eye no
more be witnessed-his eloquent voice no more
be heard in the councils of his country! He
hath given up the ghost, and "where is hel"
cannot better improve the hour allotted to these
services than by asking your attention to the i'm
prsssve language to be found in the 23d verse Of
the 30th chapter of the Book of Job:
"FOr TknotO that thou OiH bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living"
1t will be perceived, my hearers, that the Ian
guage of the text is personal, and less concerns
the whole mass of humanity than the individual
who utters it. 1t is only by this application of
the truth to our own case personally and individ-
ually that any practical beneficial result can be
secured. So long as our minds are carried out
on the general mortality of manknd-so long
as our minds are occupied only with the mortal-
~ of other people, and other nations, and other
individuals-so long will we fail 10 be impressed.
But when the matter is brought home yourselves
when in imagination we fold our arms on the
breast, close up our eyes in the last slumber, put
on our graves clothes, lie down in our coffin, and
in Imagination follow our spirit to the unseen
world-it is only then that the truth exerts its
beneficial influence upon the mind, and heart, and
character. ''For know that Thou wilt bring
me TO death, and TO the house appointed for all
living" My first inquiry is with respect 10 the
sources of this change. We derive our know.
edge, in the first place, from the general and ir-
revocable decree of God, which consignS men to
the dust. So long as access was had to the tree
Of lile-so long was man free from liability to
disease or death. But when, after the first apos-
tacy, God posted the cherubim with flaming
sword to guard the way of access TO the tree Of
life, lest man should put forth his hand and eat,
and live forever, man began to descend to the
tomb; and although the sentence was not execu-
ted upon him Immediately, yet from that moment
he began to die. The seeds of moality were
sown in his phyical frame and he commenced TO
verge towards that "bourne from whence no trav-
eller returns" And then it is declared in the
epistle to the Hebrews, in corroboration of the
original declaration, "dust thou art, and unto dust
thou shalt return!" 'ltis appointed unto men
once TO die and after that the judgment" 1t has
fallen to the lot Of two individuals only, of all
the multitudes of mankind to escape the inhu-
ence Of this general decree. Enoch was trans
lated that he should not see death. Elijah in a
chariot oil fire passed from the sufferings of his
probation to the trumphs of his immortality
God suspended the laws of the universe in the
case in which the sun stood still in mid heaven
for the space of day; and he suspended the op-
Grafton of this general decree of mortality in the
case in which Enoch and Elijah were exempted
from the common lot. As sovereign, he had
the right to suspend the operations of his own
decree. In the case of Elijah we have beauti-
fu illustration of the truth of Scripture doctrine
that the soul and body are destined of God to be
immortal, and in that possession of immortality,
are destined to enjoy the reward of future glory.
The translation of these eminent personages al.
fords comforting assurance that when the tur-
moi of life is over, man, soul and body shall be
admitted to share the glory of the eternal world.
In the second place, we derive knowledge Of
this fact that God will bring to death, from the
universal experience Of mankind. The patri.