The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1866-09-07
55Slist&llaueous.
FUNERAL ADDRESS.

The following discourse was delivered
on the 25th of August, 1866, by The Rev.
Mr.. Finney, at the funeral of Oloita Fl.
Harlan, daughter Of DR.. David and Mar
garet H. Harlan:
Disguise it as we may, We instinctivcly
recoil from death--"our last encmy."-
The hardened soldier may seem to be des-
tituta of fear, as he stands upon the tent
cd field, amidst thrilling scenes of blood
and carnage; but his assumed indiGer-
ence and stimulated energy are apt to fail,
when deaths dark shadow gathers round
him, and he feels that his last hour has
come.
We have many startling and solemn
intimations that human life is Of pDcer-
tain and short continuance. The arrows
of death are falling thick and fast around
US. Our darkeued and desolated homes
our bleeding hearts, and the ravages of
disease IN our family circles, abundantly
prove, that We are dwelers in Q valley of
tears, aud that We have uo power to re-
tain within our grasp the blessings we
had valued most.
1t is merciful and kind arrangement
of providence, that future events are veil.
ed from human view. What a fearful
aggravation of our trials would it be, if
we could foresee them before they came
Where is the friend whom you devotedly
love, and whose companionship constitutes
your principal delight? Where is the
pareht, or husband, or child, from whom
you fee! that it would be agony to part?
But what if the irresistible conviction
were forced upon your mind, that when q
few months had come and gone, they
would stand by your side no more? Or
suppose that in some mysterious way the
intelligence were communicated, that some
of you who hear me now, would on a
given day, not far III the distance, be hur-
ried away by some malignant and unman-
ageable disease! What shadow would it
cast upon yonr pathway, aud how few
light hearts and happy homes would be
found in our midst to-day! 1t is true,
sope such trials may await US, but God
has mercitully concealed the future, and
if calumities are to overtake us, they dis
tract not our tranquility, for thoy await
US unknown.
Death, in any circumstance, is a solemn
event. 1t breaks up the ties that bind
us to the world and to one another, and
introduces the undying spirit into the
presence Of God who gaveit but for sur.
viving friends there are often consultations,
rich and heavenly, mingled in the cup of
bitterness. Affliction does not prove that
God has withdrawn from the sufferer the
manifestations of his kindness. "Whom
the Lord loveM he chasteneth." An
earthly parent, when he Furnishes a fro
ward child, often endures more pain than
he inficts and our Heavenly Parent af.
fiicts not willingly, nor grievcs the chill
dren of men.
What, then, is the duty of the sorrow.
ing and bcreaved, as they look for the last
time on the face of beloved friend, on
which Death has cast the shadow of his
wing? 1t is to lie low at the foot Of the
throne, and cherish spirit of submission
to His will, "who doeth all things we'll"
1t is to lie passive in His hands, and know
no will but His. As we look down into
the grave of departed loved one, it is our
privilege to look beyond it, to the hills
whence our help cometh-our duty to re.
coguize the rod as retained in a Fathers