Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1863-05-08
CEDAR FALLS. IOWA. FRIDAY NAY 5, 1863.
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Tho funeral services wsro ended, and a.
the voice Of prayer ceased, tears were hastily
wiped from wet cheeks, and long g-drawn sighs
relieved suppressed and choking sobs, as the
"mourners ~ prepared to take leave of the
corpse. e9t&io4 aH4 bgtssh sisiaat
1t was an old man. who lay there, robed
tor the grave. q More than three. score years
had whitened those locks, and furrowed that
brow, and made those stiff limbs weary Of
life's journey, and all the more willing to lie
down and rest where WEAKNESS is no more
suffered, and infirm;ties are no longer bur
den. *a-' ." EH'H 'f&3 s"7t .sA"1I# E59s
The aged have bat few to weep for them
when they die. The most of those who vo'd
have mourned their loss, have gone to the
grave before them harps that would have
sighed sad harmonies are shattered and gone:
and the few that remain are looking cradle.
ward rather than to- life's closing goal are
bound to, and living in the generation rising,
more than in the generation depart t'nr,
Youth and beauty haye many admirers
while hving-hayemany mourners when dy-
ing and many fearful ones bend over their
coftined clay-many sad hearts follow in their
funeral train. But age has few admirers,
few mourners. ""5".a @aa9zg 7uH TI1lH'
This was an old man, and the circle Of
mourners was small. Two children who had
themselves passed the middle of life, and
who had children Of their own to care for
and be cared for by them. Besides these,
and few friends who had seen and visited
him while he, was sick, and possibly had
known him for few years, there were none
others to shed tear, except his old wife
And of this small company, tho old wife
seemed to be the only heart tmourners 1t is
respectful for friends to be sad for few
moments, till the service is performed and
the hearse out Of sight. 1t is very proper
and suitable for children who have outgrown
the :ervency and affections of youth, to shed
tears when an aged parent says farewell, and
lies down to quiet slumbers. Some regrets.
some recollection of the past, some transtory
grief, and the pangs are over. Not always
SC. But often, how little true genuine heart
sorrow there is! -,
The old wife arose with difficulty from her
seat, and went to the coffin to look her last
look-to take her last farewell. Through. the
las. falling tears she gazed long and fondly
down into that pale, unconscious face. What
did she see there Others saw nothing but
the rigid features of the dead she saw morel
In every wrinkle of that brow she read the
history of years. From youth to manhood,
from manhood to old age; in Joy and sorrow,
in sickness and health-it was all there !:
when those children, who had not quite out.
grown the sympathies of childhood, were in.
iants lying on her bosom, and every year since
then-there it was! To others, those dull
mute monitors were unintell,gible; to her
they were the alphabet of the heart, familiar
as household ,words! ..In
And then the future! What will become
of me? What shall I do now p" She did
not say so-she did not say anythlng--but
she felt it. The prospect Of the old wife is
clouded. The. home circle is broken, never
to be reunited; the visions of the hearth
stone are scattered forever. Up to that hour
there was home to 9h hich the heart always
turned with fondness. But that magic is
sundered the keystone Of that, sacred arch
has fallen, and now homo is no where this
side of heaven .. What children? !? be a pcn.
soner upon their kindness, where she may
be more OF a burden than q blessing, so at
least, she thinks. Or shall she gather I'D the
of that br oxen arch. make
them her temple and her shrine sit down in
her chill solitude beside its. expiring fires.
and die? What shall she do now?
y. They gently. crowded her away from the
dead, and the undertaken came forward with
the cofin-l in his hand. 1t is all right and
propcr-of course-it must be done !: but to
the heart -mourner, it brings a kind of shud.
der, a thrill OF agony, as when tho headsman
comes forward with his AK! The undcrta.
ker stood for moment, with decent pro
priety, not wishing to manifest rude haste
but evidently desirousof being az expeditions
as possible. just as, he was about to close
the collin, the old wife turned back. and
STOPPING down, imprinted one long. last kiss
upon the cold lips Of her dead husband then
staggered to her sent, buried her face in her
hands, and the closing coffin hid him from
her sight forever! ~ .1'5
That kiss Fond token of affection. and
of sorrow, and memory, and farewell! /
have seen many kiss their dead many such
seals OF love upon clay-cold lips s-but never
DID see one 50 purely sad, 50. simply heart
touching and hopeless as that Or, If it had
hope, 1t was that which looks beyond coffins
and charnel, houses, and damp, dark tombs,.
To- the joys Of the home above. You would
kiss the cold cheek Of infancy there is 70.
manca there; for the faded flower is still
beautiful! In childhood, the heart Yields To-
the Il stroke Of sorrow but recoils again, clas-
TIC with faith, buoyant with hope. But here
was no beauty, no poetry, no romance. The
heart OF the old wife. was ike the weary
swimmer, whose strength has often raised
him above the stormy waves, but now ex,
hanstcd, sinks amid the surges. !,
Why should the old love the old, or kiss
the old unloving lips? All! why shouldn't