Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1857-10-03

conviction, forced, as it we're, into us, hy
the grea, and sudden shock, Of the uncer-
tainty Of human life, and happiness, and
hope, of the certainty of that death which
Faith assures us, terminates only our earthly
being-of the necessity, amid the whrl of
business and the crowded action of our
daily life, Of remember ng by what brief
t nure Of sufferancc we " live, and breathe,
and have our being"-of the necessity of
being al'rays prepared for the change to
which this poor mortality of ours is mo-
mentarily subject.
California, that modern FL Dorado, to
which all ages and sexes have msde pill
grimagcs for rold, sent back to US, in that
doomed and lost vessel, little army Of
eager minded persons-men. women, and
children-the greater part of whom, no
doubt, were bringing back with them more
or less ore Of that necessary evil = NJ uey.
1t has gone down into the depths of the
sea, and they have miserably perished with
it.
Amid such large number of passengers,
almost an epitomc of life might, perhaps,
have been found. There was the politician,
eager aud earnest; prep red to stand by
his party, and honestly believing that his
parry was the best. There would be hus-
bands, coming h me in prosperous circum-
stances, cnce more to clasp his wife and
little ones in his arms, able and anxious to
provide them with some pleasant homestead
in which the Remainder of their years ight
happily glide on. There would be the
betrothed lover, who had self sacrif ed his
best years of early manhood in the pursuit
of competency to share with the beloved
one, proud of the energy and perseverance
which had enriched him, and gladly anti
cipating the delight and enjoyment of
mutual and virtuous atfcctation. There,
too, would be wives returning t. their hus
bands, children to their parents-thc mil
lionaire and the merchandise soldier aud
the artisan the seaman and the clerk-all
ages, occupations, rank, and property + 'irly
represented, and most of them returning
with high hopes and flushed expectati n.
And now, we ask, "Wherc are they p
The waves, which wash their cold and stark
rema na-thc winds, which sadly sigh a
requiem over the victims of the hurricane
-th,se moan back a wailing and melan-
choly answer, and the reply is but sad
and voicotul echo Of the words, " "Where
are thcy!'
Manhood and youth, beauty and defor.
nifty, al! tAc elements Of society comprised
in an as2emblagc of five or six hundred
persons, all were there, as it were, so lately
as yesterday, and now they are no more
| The world of waters has rolled over them
and they have pershed To them never
again will return the human sounds o.
mirth or sorrow, the light laughter of JOY
or the sad accents of grief. Never agair
for them will human passion make th'
heart swell or the pulse run with quickcnet
speed. Love and hatred, admiration anC
envy, confidence a d jealousy, av4rire ant
generosity all that degrades, and all tina
elevates, are now the same to them. Thei
hum n race is run. "Aftcr Life's fttu
fever, they sleep we'll"
To such a mournful catastrophe as this
how sadly AID singularly applicable is h
, impressive langual oil inspired Revelation
1t is when under the pressure of suc'
, thoulhts as this event forces upon us, tha
r we ,fa the simple grandeur aud truthful
beauty OF Holy Writ. How touching
/, applicable are the following sentences, 4
. the present moment: They that
) down t. the sea in ships and occupy the
+. business in great waters, these men see th
n works of the Lord, and his wonders in tn
O deep. For at his word the stormy win
Ii ariseth, " hich lifteth up the waves hereo
y They are carried up to the he ven, an
down again to the deep; their soul meltet
;. away because Of the trouble. They re
u to and fro, and stagger like drunkc
man, and are at their wits end
=; Here We might close. But one rehe
d tion forces itself upon us How comes
y to pass that, throughout the land, un
lie versal wall arises and general sympatt
il awakened, at such a loss as this, viii
O. carelcssly read, without sympathy or Sc
10 row, but simply as part of the ephemer
is intelligence of the day, how in the Grimes
ID war thousands and tens of thousands pc
- ished of disease, and perished in the battl
VS. In less than two years, as many 2oo,o
ly human beings were destroyed, in the G
ms mean campaign, and for them we had
he pity. How is this ? 1t may be answer
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