Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-02-10
The Loved ami Lost.
YorNo MAN.
j. W wurrlocE, Secretary


Of pilgrims, iOurneying through desert world,
imught with pain, sin and sorrow. II must he
expected that some will tire and sink in the long
continued march, on--on--On--with no halt no
lurlough, no relief. And when Gods unseen am
gel, who watches SO tenderly, so conidngly, so
increasingly over our pathway looks upon us all,
and loving them most straightway relieves them
of life weary bur,en-why dove call them iOsf3
L0I-because we miss them at our homes and
hTsdes-miss them we gather round the old
hearth for morning and evening worship-mis-
them from our social gutherngs-mis- them from
church, from Sabbath school and from their daily
occup0tIons-miss them eraWrhcrsi We do not
seem to realize that they have been transferred to
nm eternal requiem Of peace. joy and satisfaction.
No sin, no sorrow, no pain, no death, os enter
there All recollection of false and tickle friends
of broken VOWS, of toll or PAIN cheerully endured
10 promote the happiness Of some loved one, Of
unkind words or actions. Of all the deceitlness.
sin and misery Of life, are forever Ohliterated from
the mind by the neillble glories of the home be-
You'd the stars. Could they have endured the
perils of the march, and attained the low measure
Of success which this world affords, we should
count them happy but now that they have en-
tered upon those sublime Joys which human eve
hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived
-wc call them lost Oh selfish sorrow Oh,
selfish hearts Look around you-ayc, look out
upon this dreary, desert path. View well the
You turn What trials, what tears, what disap-
poinments, what struggles, what wrath and what
strife through all the journey. They have escaped
all these, and 10, we mourn Death has made
no breach in our love or sympathy-in our hope
or trust II seems exceedingly severe, that our
households, our hearts, must be berelt of the
kindly sympathy and ailectionate cOmpHniOnship
of loving father, mother, sister or brother. Our
hearts thrOb with anguish for the mother who is
separated from her only son in the JOY and yigor
of dawning manhood-lrom him in whom all the
maternal iondness of her nature is conferred. But
is not her loss more than doubly compensated By
his gain? The good Lord gave, and lie hath
taken away shall we not say-blessed be His
mme? We are ali His chidren-the sheep Of
His pasture - shall we mourn as lost, those whom
He transfers to fields elysian?
Death seems, according to human judgment,
TO single out the most precious gems-the mrest
flowers But we should bear in mind that God
knows their worth and beauty, and in His loving
pity He takes them home to dwell with Him in
realms Of everlasting bliss. Oh, many, very many,
are the SORROWS and suierings Of humanity, and
We should learn to look phcdly upon the pale.
cold face Of the silent sleeper, knowing that the
weary pilgrimage is ended, and the heavenly Elm
attained. Does it sometimes seem as if our bur
den Of grief was greater than we can bear? We
have an all-suhcient friend in Him who has invit-
ed us to cast all our burdens upon Him, and who
can turn our bitterest dpught of sorrow into the
cup of richest blessing What more beautiful
sight can there be than to see poor, weary
stricken heart, which has drunk the cup of sOr-
row to the very dregs, patiently bearing the heavy
burden along the steep and rugged pathway OF
liie2 No rebellious word no murmur, no com
plaint In meek acquiescence, recognizing the
mercilul purpose which underlies the dark Prov
idence, the faithful disciple bows to the will OF
the Lord and Master, and learns the great mystery
that it is good to be afflicted
VIII il be thus TO the end of time? VIII there
be no exemption from the myages Of DEATH Are
all We love, prize and cherish, destined to become
the victims OF the grim messenger? Are We our
selves, doomed TO follow the same beaten pathway
to the tomb? Alas, such is the law, and there is
no escape. Where sin reigEs death also reigns,
and we must all bow to his sceptre The rich,
the poor, the high, the low, the noble and the ig-
noble, must all alike pass the dark portals of the
grave We are literally strangers and pilgrims
Earth has no perfection no rest We move on
ward with the resistless tide, and are one after
another, swallowed up in the dark waters. Were
there no light, no hope beyond, surely our sorrow
might know no bounds. But is it not a selfish
grief which fills us with anguish over the graves
of the departed, when we are conscious that our
loss is their infinite and eternal gain2 II il were
possible for the spirits of the departed to commu-
ncatc with their friends on earth, would they
not bid us rejoice, rather than mourn, that they
had exchanged the sorrow and anguish of earth
for the perfect joy Of heaven? Would they not
entreat us to use greater diligence to accomplish
the work given us to do, that we might be pre-
pared for the happy transition? Would they not
50 paint the joy and blessedness of the heavenly
rest to take away all the sting of death and the
victory of the grave? Would they not bid us
exult, rather than shudder, as we draw near the
dark river which separates Us from the shining
shore, where we shall resume the companionship
of the loved ones who have gone before, and unite
our voices with theirs in a triumphant song of
praise 10 Him who hath redeemed Us with His
own precious blood2