Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-05-02
rRIBurE TO vALoR,

|
The band meantime, under the leader.
ship Of Captain Andrew Smith, was rem
dsring the air musical with the. soft
reverberations Of IN andante by Mozart
And here. at ten clock, scarcely be-
fore the 6nal notes Of the receding
melody had died away among the cir
cling trees and hillocks, the Rev. l.. O.
Ransom, who was seated on the platform,
rose, aud, in fervent and tremulous
accents, offered to the throne Of God q
prayer that failed not to reach tender
chord in every heart Of that vast throng
Tears sprang into thousand eyes, and
dropping lids Of thousands of others told
how that they were charged with tears
unshed. There, as he addressed the
Father and Creator, standing above
the withered forms Of two young
and vigorous lives, cut off in the
hour of their strength and pride,
the solemn lessons of death and eternity
seemed to appeal to the minds and con-
sciences of all within the compass Of his
voice. And as this imploration closed,
and the band. with exquisite harmony,
performed Gloria in Ercelsis, from Mo-
zart's twelfth mass, the effect was even
heightened rather than abated. From
the prayerful'words Of the divine into
the sacred strains the hallowed theme,
as if. the same burthen had been caught
up again, the spirit seemed to drift, un-
aware the transition. But, finally, the
last note ofth unearthly melody sounded
as it were the amen of that prayer of
harmony, and the man of God again
arose, and in brief and fitting
terms alluded to the lives and death OF
those whose ashes were in the urn before
him. Then, opening the Word of God,
and turning to the 10Th chapter of Job,
he read the solemn and impressive pas
sage from the lst to the 18th verse, COM
mencing, MAN that is born of woman
is of few days and full of troubles"
Closing the sacred volume, he then
turned again TO the vast concourse
around him, and ADDRESSED them in the
following appropriate language: =
t'@l MR.. RANsoM's REMARs.
All is not lost that seems lost. We're
some intelligent being, wholly unac-
uuainted with the order and revolutions
of our solar system, placed on the earth
and left to witness the setting OF the sun,
| he wonld doubtless watch its departing
| rays with anxious soioitude, and when
the last CLEAN had faded from the wes-
| tern horizon, would exclaim: Light is
Lost foreyer-the earth is left in hopeless
darkness In few brief hours the
stranger would be undeceived. Recur-
ring mornswould pour new light into his
mind and give assurance to his heart.
Were this same stranger TO- view
our earth from the summer through
the autumnal season., and witness
the dropping and dying of YER
dure and blossoms under the blight
| of frost and SHOWS and chilly blasts, he
would feel that natures beauteous robes
were lost forever. The long and gloomy
| DAYS of winter would only confirm his
1 desuair. But with the return OF spring,
and verdure, and blossoms, joy would
| spriug afresh in his heart and new de-
| lights revive his spirit The cause for
| which General Smith and Colonel For
| rest fought and died, the cause to which
thew devoted all, and for which they con.
| tended with such self-denial, patriotism,
courage and heroism, has been by men
| pronounced lost" Friends and foes
unite in prefxing this significant adjec-
tive, and in admitting theecorrectness of
| its application. Whether the pen Of time
will ever erase this prefix, or write an
other in its stead, God alone can tell.
| But there is another cause of which we
can sneak in more confident terms. /
mean the cause of mans existence and
| Immortality. Death is the most terrible
and most dreaded of all enemies. He
wages universal, perpetual, relentless
| and ruthless Wdr upon the human
race. He is no respector of age,
sex, cline or race. He goes forth to
conquer alk to destroy all. Millions
| on millions slain do not slake his inssti-
| ate rage. From that war there is no dis
charge. None can resist his power, none
escape his sword. The heroes. whose
remains are before us, whose memories
we so fondly cherish, and whose noble
deeds we so much admire, have fallen
prey TO this king of terrors and terror OF
| kings. While we muse upon the sad
havoc he has made, We are led to say,
with job: "There is hope of a tree, if it
be cut down, that it will sprout again.
and that the tender branch thereof will
not cease. But man dieth and withereth
away; yea, man giveth up the ghost,
and where is be If man die, shall he
live again y To this question there is
| to be found no certain or satisfactory
answer save in the revelation of God
| the Bible. Here we learn that God has
| not made man to perish like the brute
that the Creator of all things will have
regard to those, the noblest works Of His
| hands. Death shall not hold dominion
over him forever. The Lord Jesus Christ,
The Cantain Of our Salvation, has come
forth to fight for mans redemption') de
has met this cruel tyrant 10 his own
dominion. In the mighty conhict between
them the Son of God was victorious. he
a. sung the triumph when he rose and led
the monster Death in chaina" Having
sscended to the right hand Of the Father,
he must reign until he hath put all
enemies under his feet "The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is Death" His
destruction shall be complete Not one
shall be beholden Of him. All the dead
| shall come forth TO Immortality, and
there shall be no more death, no more life
less corpses, no more winding sheets, no
more mouldering remains, no more fnne.