The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1854-09-08
From the New York Mirror
The Sha dow of Life.
HAll that live must die,

Passing throug Nature to Eternity"
Men seldom think of the greaI event OF Death
until the dark shadow falls across their own path
hiding forever from their eyes the face Of the
loved one whose living smile was the sunlight Of
their existence. Death is the great antagonism Of
ilc; and The cold thought of the tomb The great
skeleton 10 all fears. We do not want TO go
through the dark valley, although its passage may
lead 10 paradise and, wIIh Charles Lamb do
wish To lie down in the moudy grave, even
with kings and princes for our bed fellows. But
the fiat Of nature Is inexorablr There is no ap.
peal or reprieVe from the great law that dooms US
all to dust We flourish and Ia de like The leaves
Of the forest, and the fraesl flower that blooms
and withers IN day has not Trailer hold on life
than the migh!est monarch that ever shook the
earth by his footsteps. Generations Of men ap.
pear and vanish like the grass; and The countless
multitudes that swarm the world to-day, will to-
morrow disappear like foot prints on the shore:
''Soon as the rising tide shall beat
Each trace will vanish from the sand"
We do not recur 10 the great fact for the pur-
pose of making ourselves or our readers gloomy
We bsIieve the'gh of Immortality shines eternaly
be hind the dark cloud. No one knows how soul
feels hour after death. God has bot vaguely
revealed the great secret of future life. The
longing to live rs the strongest evidence that in
diVIdual existence does not end with mortal life );
and the everlasting hope Of something better to
come, which buoys up the weary, world worn
pilgrim in his journey through life, implies
promise OF its own fulflment. Death is but
change. 1t cannot be an ''eternal sleep"
In the beautiful drama of Ion, the instinct OF
Immortality e'oquenty uttered by the death
devoted Greek finds deep response in every
thoughtful soul. 1t is Natures prophecy o. the
life 10 come. When about to yield his young
existence as sacrifice to fate, his betrothed
Cenlanthe asks if they shall not meet again. To
which he replies: ST have asked that dreadful
question Of the hills that look eternal OF the
flowing streams that lucid flow forever; of the
stars amid whose fields Of azure my raised spirit
hath walked in glory. All, all were dumb. But
while gaze upon thy living face, feel there's
something in the love which mantles through its
beauty that cannot wholly perish. WE SHALL
MEET AGAIN, CLEMANTHE."
We believe this conviction OF he souls endu-
rance after death, 10 be universal the soul
itself, the hollow professions Of the skepc TO the
contrary. notwithstanding. Who would consent
to live day in misery and pain, il he "coud his
querus make with bare bodkin p Knowing that
death is always imminent, and ultimately inevita-
bic, men who only toll and suffer, would gladly
lie do Hn and die at The first days work. But they
live on and struggle on, fighting against the "com-
mon enemy" with all their might; and even the
wretched miser, whose heart is welded to his
golden god, will give millions on hus eath-bed for
one snOrt nOur more OF lie, Wnen every mCllOn is
a pang and every breath groah.
Il seems harder than for poor
human rnoe to become reconcilPd to the universal
doom. Very few can say with the poet, in ap.
preaching hfe's last milestone, that
Resignation gently slopes the way"
They would "fain lay their Intellectually finger
upon the spokes Of the great wheel" and stop
where they are. Even the woodworking the
disciple of years OF sickness can scarcely bring
the poor patient 10 think OF the "narrow house,"
and of The sable omnibus that never brings pas
seGger back without a shudder Of reluciance.-
IiHle children try to keep their eyes open at night
for fear of dying before mornings and the lettering
old man who has oUtlived all his kindred, is rot
yet ready to gn. Husbands and wives, parents
and children, brothers and sisters, how closely
they cling together in the deAih-chanber, or when
in times of peslilence, the "Dpah. Angel spreads
his wings on the blast" How sad to part with
those we love, with but the dim assura nee Of re-
union in another state of existence. For how, or
where, or what we shall be when the breath ceases,
and the heart stops beating. and the body grows
cold. nenhor the voice Of Nature nor the Book of
Revelation is sufficiently explicit to remove all
doubt even in the minds of the most d6cile be.
lievers.
THE GRAVE OF EDGAR A. PoE.-A correspon-
dent oI the St. Louis Republican is calling public
attention 20 tho fact that the remains Of The late
IL IL