New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-01-12
Reecber ON the snow-A Remarkable Ad-

Beecher on the Snow-A Remarkable Ad.
dress.
The New York papers report a Friday
evening discourse from Rev. Mr.. Beecher,
at Plymouth Church, in the course of
which he remarked /:
was turning IN my mind last evening
thoughts Of my early experience, and there
came up particularly train of memories
connected with early sOrrows-the loss of
my children. l remember as well tonight
as | did at the time the night my eldest
born son died. | remember well the hope
and the fear and remember the victory Of
submission. 1t was the first great sorrow.
| remember the spirit If prayer that seemed
to fill the whole hemisphere, as went down
to the city, for the life of my child. think
if ever one came near throwing his soul out
of his body / did that night. Before the
morning had dawned the child had found
brighter world. 1t was double sor-
row, because l had given him MP
first, and then taken him back again.
1t was in March, and there came great
storm like that We have been passing
through, and the whole ground was covered
and we went TO the graveyard with little
George, and waded through the snow. l
got out of the carriage and took the little
child in my arms, wading knee deep beside
the grave, and saw winter down to the very
bottom Of it. We lowered the little coffin
in and saw the snow fakes follow it, and
then the earth hid it from me. If | should
live thousand years l could not help shiv-
ering every time think of it. 1t seemed
to me then as if I had not only lost ny
child, but had buried him in eternal sneWs
1t was very hard for faith or Imagination
to break through the physical aspect of
things, and find brighter feeling, but trem
that day to this do not suppose there has
ever been d SHOW that first OF last did Het
come back to my thoughts that picture and
that experience.
But" the preacher went on suggestively
to ask, "when see him, shall know him
In other words, will he be child to me
there when | meet him in heavenf Shall /
find what / have lost4 No, think not,
any more than the farmer finds what he
lost when he sowed the seed. Shall We,
when we awake in the other world, find our
friends just as we left them heres trust
not; hope not. should be unwilling to
appear in Zion before God Just as / am
here. I think it is perfectly natural for
persons to expect to find their friends al
though it gives great play to the imsgi-
nation, 80 to speak; for, after all, we
know but very little about it in the shspe
of positive nowledge-detnite, actual
knowledge, we hear from various sources.
There are those who think they know,
and they tell US of so many things about
the other life, but they strike me like the
phantasmagoris of a magic lantern on
screen. lido not believe that it yet appears
what we shall be-. John said: at does not
yet appear what we shall be what the
other life is and if he did not know, if it
was not clear to him who laid his head ON
the Redeemer's bosom, how much less
likely is it to appear to us2 If you ask
whether we can not let our thoughts play
around this, say yes let the mother go to
heaven every night if she wishes, only let
her remember it is only her imagination.
do not see any harm ia praying to saints. 1
do not pray to my mother az | do to my
God, but there is no harm in conversing
with our friends in heaven, but it is Il lib
erty of the imagination and not . revela-
ton.