Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-12-01

which the Mortal had essayed in vain Or
in that Better Land, will there be full
ness of joy" so complete, that no remem-
bFanee of troubled past, or unfinished
mission, shall ever dare intrude? Who of
us can tell
Said his wife, upon the FIRST tidings Of
the shipwreck, :. know he has perished,
for he viii stand by his ship to the last,
and save others at the sacri6ceef himself"
A noble trust, and right nObly redeemed.
Size knew he could not be among the saw
ed, and still be himself" And what must
be her feelings now, as she gazes upon that
parting msmento, as she thinks of the last
time he held in his hand, and the two soli-
tary syllables which constitute his dying
words !! To her now it is as silent as the
! loved lips of him who sent il from the
scene of death-aad Justly so, for why
should it mark time to her, whose Eternity
began with his who was the life of her life,
and the soul of her soul? We leave her
with her treasures broken sentence, and
silent keepsake-the first sounding ever
through her heart Ike the murrDur in the
ocean-sheb cast upon a lonely shore
while the slender hand Of the last having
ceased to mark the hours of Time, are
pointing her away into The opening age Of
Eternity
And have We yet no werd to say fo7
him The heart grows faa to weeping"
as we fnger above his honored memory,
but nations acclaim is his proudest eulo-
Egium, and woman's tears his most befitting
Fepitaph. As Nelson fell, he exclaim ed
+" Thank God, have done my duty !7-as
| Webster passed the dread gate into the
Valley of Shadows, he muFmured, g still
live ;''-as Napoleon gathered up life's fail
! ing forces to battle with the last enemy, he
shouted feebly 'ATete d'armee !7-bnt what
said the heroic Herndon of himself? p
Nothing He neither encourages himself
with the knowledge Of duties well per-
formed, but leaves his deeds to speak for
, Ehim nor solaces himself with the idea that
he will hereafter live in the hearts of his
countrymen," he leaves that for them TO
, say nor does he proudly assume his prov
f ince Of command and 90 forth to meet
t Death as king meets king in battle,
but he uncoyers to the conqueroT, aeknowl-
: edging in him the yicegerent of God, and
with brave he2ft, and frfa faith goes
down with him silently, but graRdfy, inte
the dark abyss of ocean, and the darker
abyss Of an unknowa eternity!
+ Silent, silent all And if we say to The
y great sea, and the wild winds, and the over
/ looking skies, "where IS he now9" they
t are silent. Perhaps Ike drifting seawoos
c cast upon some distant strand, his bone
5 bleaeh under the aery sun Of the tropics
If perhaps laid seAly down by gently bearing
$ waves, where
n "- coral reefs be bare,
0 had the cold sea-maids sit to sun thei
It streaming hair -
perhaps carried away to regions whert
? Night and Death have built theil thrones,
: where the icebcFgs laundering down tht
q deep, the EnroclydoR rolls ost its " sterr
r triumphant psalms" and beneath the shat
i tered mast, and mouldering sail, sleep th,
! old Vikings of the Northern Sea In ou
, cemeteries stone spells to stone its weary
;, tall" but who dares follow him to the grave
"a who went down to- death amid the battle o.
the elements, whose funeral train was lons
. lines of marching pillows, and whose buria
is Epsalm was the volteyed thunder, and tn
~ sounding storm? We may enter tn
le splendid raausoleum, and read engraven ol
u brass and marble the virtues of the dead, o
! we may sit down by some lowly grave who's
~ only monument is a cluster of white lilies
e and the morning dew-drows the only epi
= taph, but who shall venture down, even j
s. thought, to the dark unfathomed caves {
ocean" where BOW lies the heart whic
n bore up bFayely against terror, and DANCE
q and death, but broke in the struggle to u
~ ter one sentence in loving guise-and 5
a left it forever unsaid Thewinds and wave
q will bring no answer to the questionin
fvoics, "wherc is be now = but we NAV Ia
!" our bands on our hearts, and answer soft
" to ourselves he is here lie dwclls 70
'"' ever in the great heart Of bis country" al
while we answer thas weS.lso murmurm NEE
ne ~ ly-May God have taken that nethle spil
:" into His eternal rest -