Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1863-09-18
For the Standard
The Land of the Living.

Iallu OF tue living III Is HIleu WIN
aching lonely hearts, hearts whose trea-
Sures lie sleeping beneath the clods of the
valley. The death angel comes to all, to
the youth and to the man of hoary hair
to the light hearted and to the stricken
one to the christian and to the infdel
His power is felt in every circle, for he
leaves no home unvisited and will bear
one by one, all Of each household band
TO the "realm Of shade" He leaves be-
bind him many stricken, sorrowing
hearts.-many mourning, weeping ones,
but ever relentless, he heeds them not.
Many are hourly borne by him to eter-
nifty, leaving behind them friends who
will miss them from their accustomed
places. And how much, how very much
are they missed. The seat of the faith
er or mother is vacant at the daily board,
at family altar, and wherever we were
wont to meet them. The mother misses
the little one from her embrace, and in
the lonely watches of the night signs for
the pleasure of tiny, soft arms twining
about her neck. The place of the stu
dent is vacant in the school room, and
he is missed from his class at the hour
for recitation. The lawyer is missed
from the bar, the judge from his seat, the
statesman from the halls Of legislation,
and the pastor from the sacred desk
The "insatiate archer" makes inroads
everywhere; and yet our earth is called
the land Of the living.
Visit the city of the dead. Count the
tomb stones there. The smiling infant,
whose life had been so brief and yet had
yielded so much of joy to its mothers
heart died in that mothers arms, and was
borne from her embrace TO the silent
grave.
The little child left bis sports, and
yielded up his young life to God and
with many tears the casket was laid here
beneath the sod. The youth, just enter
ing upon the arena of life, when all that
made life bright was brightest, when all
that made earth fair was fairest, and
when all that made the future desirable
was most glorious, laid down and died.
left all,-and will slumber here till the
morn Of eternity shall dawn.
Manhood, cut down in the prime and
vigor of life and old age which long
tottered on the brink Of the grave also
dwell in these silent habitations. Some
died with long lingering disease, others
with scarcely moments warning were
ushered into eternity. Some crossed the
swelling tide in triumph and anchored
safely on the other side; others went
down TO the stream IN dispair. Some
left no dying words, but the remem-
Jrance of holy. consecrated lines Zines
which told more powerfully than, any dy-
ing words could do that "a!l was well"
Others left the remembrance of lives
darkened by sin remembrance which
would crush out all future happiness.
And they are gathered here away from
our world which is still termed "tbe land
of the living"
But there are other graves, graves
which are not marked. On earth's
many battle ieIds lie uncounted thou
sands, swept down in the ranks. the vic
Inns of that mighty destroyer, war. 0, |
hese too lie beneath the oceans briny
surf Some were laid their by loving
riend5 when far from land, and some by
strangers with thought of absent loved,
who would watch and wait in vain for
he return Of one they buried in that wa
cry grave; and the agony of their
hearts when the intelligence should reach
hem that their cherished one lay faith
)ms below the surface in oceans mighty
epucher." And some too, went in the
storm, leaving no trace to tell where the
hip went down."
Oh the untold numbers that will rise
rom oceans tombs when "the sea shall
give up its dead?
Millions have died, and their bodies
buried for ages, have long since mingled
With the dust ; and now the Busy
hum of the living rises above them.
The number who have died far exceeds
hat of the living. But we still call our
world "the land OF the living" Is it not
'ather the land of the dying? Earth
md its objects recede from sight when
viewed in the light of eternity aud eter-
lal life; thank God that light reveals
be truth that each one whose brief life
IN earth has been pure and holy, will
possess an inheritance in the only land
which can truly be called "the land of the
living"
EMILY L. ALDRICH.
Troy, VT, Nov, 1862.