The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1867-11-21
TM FALLING LEAVES,
II ms. JANE q. swIssH11r.
f'o~ As Pitts5s,y Gasssl..

u MRS. JANE q. swIssHRIr.
From as Pat.sr,y Ga...4..
Marching in tho careless process;o,
OF Springs and Summers, and Autumn.
and Winters, which carries with it. to
the regions Of the great unknown, ali
the living creatures :hat witness its
phenomena, has come another Autumn.
Oar mountains sit in crimson and
gold, and many-tlnted, gorgeous hues,
like giant boquets in the centre of the
great table which nature spreads, a.
the gala feast, at the close of her wears
labor in providing food for her family
Ihe little hills have dropped their en-.
erald and reflect only the colors Of the
closing day: Each leaf, in preparing
tor its tall, has put on sunset or rasset
robes. The Hickory has donned his
gold, the Oak his crimson OF brown. the
Sumach her scarlet, the Maple her
dapple srienaor, and await the breath
OF command ':carth to earth, and dust
TO dust J" Do these colors teach the
glory Of immortality, the noisomencss
OF physical decay, or both The leaf
has done its work ; and again will ap-
pear In new combinations of leaf, or
flower, or truit-in the fibre of the
tough oak. or juicy pulp of the luscious
peach. Unless it die it cannot rise
again, in new organization, to perform
ths new work appointed for it by The
Great Disposer. Is not therefore, de-
cay and death, and future life, insepa-
r.b'y connected? In world where
there is no leaf, no spray, but i, appoint
ed to another lite, to q succession of
lives, how could the master man drift
away % nothioguess and endless night :
Whers are those Who have mt where
we mt and watched the leaves which
have proceeded these iu their return to
dnst and bloom 70 the darkness Of
1sefh, : under stream or sod; and the
4ght ef the early morning on the top
& the s1ayins branch
fIom the opposite wall in aoosutes.
sdt Proseatueat," The mild, brown
eJss q hymn. Kane look down upon
~ A6lt1e ~hilc 10 he iaditsd 1ns
noeIea |. :! y peoee, aad fec The rssdiag
Pqpbl'e of or eneky city. O Infinite
humel, ead geatle nature, il ~ sel.
dom hin pen iadieted . wound :; but
when . great wrong called for = ~
proof, It became q Damascus blade.
Where y E.: n; Riddle, the accom-.
plished epigramist, Who, for 20 many
ye:n alled 20 large space in the edi-
torial ranks Of Pitesbureh =? and his
hurley opponent Biddle, Of the An,erii.
eas, Who welded the battle axe Of 20.
hhed Harfars like sesitabls Highland
ehief1 Whitaey, the stable and un-
i.iae, !he 6nt,seat the Chronicle on
it, mission through our streets. Flee.
con, Who toiled IN his Office, on the
CORNER q Maskst aad' the Diamond,
second floor, to sustain :"1Ae Spirit ei
ii!ih1ey,": aad, With nervous tenacity,
Iels.f 70 biz principle .through tair
.:ths Iroa City Poet" Who, from the
forge Of his working brain, rang out
the chimes of :. =: -* ~.
~Dines and dollars dollars and dimes,
An empty pockets the worst Of crimes"
who stood by Liberty when her friends
were few, aud the Workingman when
his own vote was cast against himself !?
Where are the readers, the patrons,
the opponents, for and against whom
they wrote and labored, exhorted and
counted "The Returns ?" Those are
among the leaves that have fallen,
while many of these are still clinging
to the tree; and many, many moulder
at the foot. OF that work which was
the veritable life of those who are gone,
what portion lies in the dust? What
has risen into new forms. How much
Of evil, how Much of good, has sprung,
OF shall spring.: from these fallen leaves,
those lives withI::~hich SO many of us
have been more: or lcss connected :?
The passion aud tie pride, the haste
and inconsidersteness,tthe manly earn
estness, the devotion to-; principle, the
evil and the good, mustHall take new
forms, must all ;be:as seed sown, of
which the crop~ki7h suantinue to be
reaped by this generation and, those
who are vet to come. What have We
been gathering in our lives? Have
we made combinations which shall
nourish the virtues or vice of those who
shall succeed us, and to whom our lives
shall be, as the leaves of years gone
by, are to those which are now or shall
be hereafter? Do We realize that We
live for ill time? that even if there
were no personal immortality within rs,
We exist forever in the result of bur
actions Now is the time to gather
wisdom Of 'tthe scar and yellow leaf"
to look backward to what we cwe
70 those who have gone before. and for
;sard on our obligations to those Who
shall follow % in the funeral march
which carries all onward TO the grave.