Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-06-16

lllSilcu DN lile RlOWllIH TWILIGHT Oh Iie
past and emhlazoned by the midday
refulgence of the present. The intiu-
! cree long ago eSerted by nations upon
| nations, and that eXerted by indiVid-
uals upon individuals and communi-
ties, are perceptibly cOexistent with
! the present flight of time. The Re-
| publIcs of Greece and Rome have
vanished, and exist only among the
| the unsubstanti8l shades of things
| that were, but their neral and political
| characters, from across the gulf Of in
terveTing ages, still impart their living
vigor 10 earth's migtiest nations. They
received the incipiency of their glory
from the PhCenician and Egyptian
shores and the coasts of Troy. The
tongues of DemOsthenes and CiceI are
forever hushed in the stillnes of death
butthe thrilling greverberatiOns of their
deathless eloquence still roll along
the glOry-tinted skies of liberty, with
power omnipOtent to Stirt the souls and
nerve the arms of thesOns of freedom
] he matchless soul of Luther, though
long departed from the stormy scenes
OF earth's varied drama, still commu-
nicatcs its indomitable courage to the
champiO: of truth and religious lib
mortal Henry has long mingled with
the honOred dust of his native land,
but the transcendent flame that lit
and charged his spirit with godlike
strength to heave tottering nation up
TO glory, still burns steady and undv-
ing in the heart of every true Ameri-
can-and, in his own imperishabe Ian
guage, There is no way of Judging
the future but by the past" There
fore, great men will perceptibly live
on earth forever. But grain of sand
is as durable as a mountain; and
hence could we unravel the intricate
labyrinth of human transactions, the
influence however small, set In motion
even by each nameless shepherd, who
three thousand years ago upon the
verdant plains of Asia kept his fiOcks,
and beneath the starry sheen of night
measured the tedious hours with his
rustic song, might still he discerned
thrilling along the meshy tissue of
common life. Hence, the conclusion
is legitimate, the very natures of all
mankind are indissolubly knit tOgeth-
eT by complete network of relative
influences. Innumerable threads per-
fectly interweave the lifeof every NOR
fellow moTtals. The entire scheme of
human economy constitutes a grand,
endless web of relations and correla-
tiOns, along whose may fibres
are telegraphed the thoughts and
and actions of men from generation
to generation and from age to age
Every man who lives and acts,
permanently affects the life and
81, I, 10 .
other men. 1t is true mans influ-
ence may be counteracted or modified
by opposing forces; but resultant
power still exists, and will exist forev-
er.
How sublimely awful is the truth
Your influence is never lost. You can
not possibly live without eXerting a
positive or negative influence that will
affect the life and destiny of some
most future child of earth. If among
the passing multitude you live un-
marked and die unsung, your COM
municated spiritual force, unseen,
though not unfelt, will continue dart
ing along the labyrinthian windings
and involutiOns of social scenes. If,
10y dint of manly toll, you climb to
eminence and in the rock of duration
carve your image and tinge it with the
living light of virtue, there it will re-
main until the wreck of time; and
cleaning above the sOmber silence of
obliviOus ages it will impart its vivid
energies to the most distant genera
tions. But if you strike your image
there and engl0om it with the lurid
shades of vice, it will never cease to
shed its baleful shadows Oh immortal
spirits.
But the lapse and close of time
will only nave inaugurated your
influence. All! that Is the thought
that gives this truth its frightful form,
and s'reaks it with the paid dread that
always clusters round Forever. y
When time is recked upon the break
er~ of eternity and all its glittering
pageantry has settled forever beneath
the still waves o. dark nonentity, your
influence will have just begun. The
soul passes from ea'th to its final desti-
ny unchanged, except by a vast mere
mcnt of its capacities, and the uHtFam-
n1elled power and inclination to exert
lis characteristic energies in the dircc-
ton of its confirmed nature. The fun
damentaI constitution of human splr-
It's nc5essItatCs the conclusion. that
whether beaming in the bright Elysian
fields, or darkly gliding through the
dismal dens of death, they must
have society. Then whether we gaze
along the gloLy blazing vista of bliss
ful Immortality, where brilliant heatif-
IT, scenes in the measurcless distance
blend with enchanting scenes, and all
at last sinks into an unbrOken
sheen of rcfUlgent glory; or whether
with aff'righted stare, we gaze adown
the dark avenue TO black perditions
center. where deadly gloom in inces-
SAINT rank to deadiier glOom succeeds,
and ghastly scenes of frantic woe
with ghastlier scenes are mingled. and
ali is wildly pictured on the ehon front
of concentrated deHth. the mind must
always contemplate the perpetual con-
tinuance of influences set in motion
on terrestrial shores. Let the light
ming wing of fancy free, aud let it
strive to cross the unending sweep of
ages until imagination's weary piuions
drocp, and the far reaching eye of con-
ception fails to catch a glimpse of
what is further on, where dwindling
duration To dim duration joined is lost
i'm the impenetrable haze of the far-otl-
vet-to-come; not even there can reas-
on describe the bounds or ascertain
the loss of an influence eXerted' heIe.
TO Young HIen.