Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1847-01-15
VOLUME 13---.NUMBER H.

y
man lived not TO the extent only Of ihreescore
years and ten, but for nearly thousand years,
still even then death came upon all men. The
patriarchs, where are theyi "And theprophets,
where aretheyl DoIhey liveforeyerl" Where
are the Roman Cgsars and the Grecan chiefs,
the boast of classic storyl Where now is the
hotbrained youth, "who the tiara tore" from
heads Of oil the kings OF the then discovered
earth, and cried forsoolh because his arm was
hampered, and had not room to do its work.
Where is hel Gone-gone as though he had
never been; and although the Pompeys, and Ca-
sars, and Hannibals Of former days filled the
world with the fame Of their deeds, nought now
remains but the winding sheetl And where are
the fathers Of our own republicl-a race of men
such as the sun ne'er shone upon before, and
shall ne'er look out upon again! Go to the ro-
tunda of your own Capitol, and look upon the
canvass where art has spread the lineaments Of
the men and women who composed that feeble
band, setting out to found amid the war wilder
ness of the west, the mightiest empire that the
world has yet seen-where are theyl And then
look towards the right, and as you behold the
countenances of your Adams your Jefferson,
your Franklin, and their compatriots, who VOW
ed eternal hostility to every form Of tyranny over
the minds and bodies Of men, and who pledged
their lives their fortunes, and their sacred honor
to achieve the liberties of adown-trodden people,
you will Involuntary exclaim-''there were gi-
ants in those days-giants in majesty of intellect
in personal dignity-in high and noble bear
ing-but where are they?" And echo answers
"Wherel" Where are the men who have filled
the highest post upon earthl-l mean the chief
magstracy of this greatrepubic. Where is your
Washington? If intelligencein council-if val
or in the field-if patriotism-if sagacty-il
promise-if theidolatry of hscounuymen could
have saved him from the common lot, he had not
died. His spirit still lives all over this land, but
his mortal remains repose on the banks Of the
majestic Potomac; and his monument to-day is
not in granite nor in marble, but in the hears of
a whole people-in the hearts of seventeen mil
lions Of freemen. Yet he is gone. And our
Adams and Jefferson, our Madison and Monroe,
our Jackson and our Harrison, are all gone. And
shall we escape! | tell you, srs, "God will
bring you and me to death-to the house appoint
ed for all living" No advantage of wealth can
save US, for CrGsus is gone. No advantage of
wisdom can save us, for Solomon is gone. No
advantage of honor, and dignity, and popular ad-
ulation can saveus. Though, when Herod spoke,
the people shouted, "It is the voice of a god, and
not of a mani" yet an angel of the Lord smote
him on the spot, and he died. No advantage of
personal beauty can save US, for Absalom is gone.
No physical strength can save US, for Samson,
though he bore away thegates of GAIA, and over
whemed his oppressors in the ruins of the tenn
ole, had himself TO yield to a mightier, even
unto death, and now sleeps as powerless as the
infant of days. But we learn this fact not only
from the universal mortality, but also from our
own physical consciousness. Howmany ofthose
who hear me to-day are convinced, from many
circumstances in their physical condition. that
they are mortal-that they arenot whatthey once
werel There is ample evidence that the seeds
of decay are in the system. The dimmed eye,
the blunted hearing, the (urrowed cheek, the viii
tening hair, all indicate the wearing out of the
machine. All these are the harbingers of the
common doom. God sends them all as remem-
brances of death. And no thoughtessness, no
obstinate putting away Of the evil day from US,
will be of any avail. Louis XII, is said, would
not allow the word "death" 10 be uttered in his
court. But the fearful summons came at last
Yetw we are prone to forget death. As in the
days before the 1ood men plant and marry, and
occupy themselves with the things of time, as if
"all were mortal but themselves" In the words
of Schiller, the German Poet:
''With noseless tread death comes on man;
No plea-no prayer delivers him
From midst of life's unfinished plan,
With sudden hand it sewers him.
And ready, or not ready, no delay,
Forth to his Judges bar he MUST away"
Why this blindness to the approach of inevi-
table death! Do the men who think of death die
irstl No, verify. 1t is written in this book,
when they shall say peace, and yet sudden des-
ruction cometh upon them; and they shall not
escape. Although we know that "God will bring
US to death" the time, and the place, and the man.
ner of that death are all wisely hidden from us.
1t is said of Cesar that he never advised his ar
my of his intention to move his camp, but al
ways kept his soldiers ignorant of the time of his
marching, that they might be always ready. Sc
it is with God. Our time is in His hands,
There is no man living that has the lease of q
single hour This is wise. Why? why wise!
For these reasons: if every man knew the exact
limit of his probalion-if that probation was long,
he would live more fearlessly than now, and
would say with the servant in the Gospel, "My
lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smte
his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the
drunken" But fearlessness with regard to the
present life is incompatible with the duties which
every man owes to his family and to society: SO
that God has wisely hidden from US the time
when we shall be brought to the grave, in order
that every man girt up his ons-in order that
every man may take his sandals-in order that
every man may have his staff in his hand, ready
to depart at a moments warning--in order that
every man may be always ready, having his
lamp trimmed, and his light burning waiting for
his Lords return from the wedding-that when
he cometh and knocketh, it may be opened unto
him. So that every man may fill up the meas
ure of his days and act well his part 10 the last
hour-that as husband, as father, citizen, q
legislator, jurst-that in all the departments of
civil life, every man may work up to the latest
hour, that when he is gone the world may be bet