Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-08-25
For the Spirit of the Age.
A Tombstone in mid-ocean.


1t would certainly be a strange sight to
meet a Tombstone in mid-ocean. On shore
we can daily see them with little care or con-
Germ but to see one on the sea, thousands
of miles from shore, most surely would ava
ken the most solemn reflections. And be-
sides, at sea we receive the most forcible and
lasting impressions. There, one realizes him.
self to be resting on the open hand of Gpd.-
Earthly resources are Withdrawn. And at
the sea, too, in certain ATTITUDES, the mind is
forced into an uncommon state, in which it
reflects most deeply and solemnly. | have
seen q whole ships company, from ''fore to
aft" change almost at once from a stat of the
highest giee and merriment to one of actual
melancholy. At such a time the wicked sea-
! men, in spite of their efforts to drive away
''dull gloom" are solemn and reflective
When "of the watch" instead of spinning
their yarns and singing their jolly songs, they
sit and talk of their disappointed hopes, their
3 absent home and friends. Says Harry to
! Jack-"Now mark my word, Jack, i'll finish
] this passage safe, | shall go directly to see my
I poor mother. But tell you my lad, the
]. poor creature cried when | left her about
& twelve months gone. Before this she has had
I prayers offered in church, | we'll know. |
u sent her no letter, for what should Isay ? Poor
e soul, indeed, l hope ! may see her alive but
VA w ~ a q oholA OA GIO wv" ItAlO
if morning" Others speak of distant loved
h ones, and use the language of contritiOn in
telling of their own faults ard fOllies.
AT such a time, too, the Christian finds
: himself irresis,ibly detected, and his heart
10 filled with the most gloomy apprehensions.
IT He knows not why he feels as he does, but
ID he has no appetite for food or conversation.
He almost i~magines that invisible messengers
c. have been sent to awaken in him fearful fore
n holdings of the future. He walks the deck
, Ito and fro" and as he casts his eyes about !;
- everything seems to have an unnatural cast.
- Tn sky is hazy, and the sun seems more dis
Ak tant than usual and is remarkably faint and
ne lurid. The air too, moves tremblingly now
ay dying away entirely, and then rising a little
as if it were saying-"Now let all things be
nor STILL" The ship also has an unusual motion
of and appears to roll from an unseen cause amid
the waters so dark and gloomy. His soul,
l. with a trembling anxiety, is attracted heaven
nS ward not as when we look up to those bright
abodes with JOY unspeakable, but as when
from deep sorrow and despair we look up to
Mt God as our last resource.
Ter His efforts to cast aside his gloomy and
,ve painful impressions only seem to increase
them. But one image is before him-a fear
-. full l~ooking-for of coming events. Why
ny things so appear he cannot tell. He canno
= > ~ ShS NoNdOS' AAS SoNO oO"A " AtC SONN~
on room and offers up his penitential prayer
)ok He comes again on deck and brings with hin
ran his hymn book and Billie and tries to rea'
vas the hymn:
led "Why that look of sadness,
ard Why that down-cast eyer
ap- but he cannot do so without weeping. Il
your turns to the hymn commencing:
o o. Thou who dry'st the mourner's tears
oui How dark this world would be"
can yet his gloom is only increased. He the
~ opens his Bible to surcease his sorrow, ar
reads an account of the Savior's crucifxion,
YOU the mansions of glory he has gol.e to prepat
onId for his children and of the final destructiC
lie of the world as given by st. Peter. He wo
give ders if he ever read these Scriptures befor,
pirl. if he had, he had never before realized on
onr- half their force. They seem to put a shro,
on all things. His spirit is not brightene'
a deep sigh comes up from his heart. !
y casts his eyes about, and every face he loo
Up upon seems to reflect the gloom of his ow
es- He looks around upon the sea and on the sk
ls.- and all things look as mournful as before.
/ ST. These feelings l have experienced, and ha
lows felt as solemn as if | had been moving in I
chambers of death. l have read in Doc
IL where writer's have endeavored to point {
the causes of this gloom, but they have s.
nothing satisfying. The thermometer,
I VIII barometer, the hydrometer and the sext
give no explanation. 1t is a simple fact
scar. must believe, though we cannot explain it
light, But forgive tins episode. made it to sh
her that II unoer any cIcumstanees II would i
= = ument to the dead, when out at sea MI
Win more would the soul be moved when in S,
muir a fearful shadow i. should be brought in cl
contact with the dead. 1t was at such a ii
art in as we were crossing the Indian Ocean, W
all things seemed to be covered with moi