Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-02-06

Then initiate the Bird" said the
dervish build thy throne in heaven,
and thou shalt reign there unmolested
and IN peace
Now, the king would willingly have
given the deryish hundred pieces of
gold, if he would have accepted it, for
the precious piece of advice. 1t may
be as useful to you as to the king, for
you are all as much interested in being
happy as he was As the the eagle
built her nest on the rugged rock. build
your hope on the Crock of Ages" AS
the dervish told the king to erect his
throne in heaven, so | tell you to "seek
those things which are above, where
Christ is seated on the right hand Of
God. Set your affections on things
above, not on the Things Of the
earth" Do this, and you will Be above
the reach Of danger for time aud eter-
nifty.
The following eloquent passage is
the peroration Of John Hays lecture
on The Heroic Age in Washington -
The nation was welded again into
one mind by the death and burial Of
its prophetic leader, just as it was by
the first shot against the flag. A Pc
ter the Hermit preaching holy war
with that fiery tongue of his, was not
more eloquent than the dumb corpse
Of Lincoln, moving home in triumph
In the princely palace of Leichtenstein
at Vienna, there is great canvass Of
Rubens, called the Triumph of De-
cius." The warrior lies dead in his
ear, his white face staring sternly at the
sky, around him the golden spoils of
sack and battle, and the sacred laurels
of victory and bound to his chariot
wheels throng princes and leaders, the
clanking Of whose fetters soothe the
fierce soul of the hero on his way to tn.
Shades. 1t is superbly impressive
The very spirit of the old glory of force
AMI violence is there But | could on
ly think how vastly fuller of the better
grandeur of a freer age was that funeral
march of Lincoln to those sunset prai-
r;cs Of his love- Around his catafalaue
thronsed the mourning people he had
served so purely. The fearful bene-
dictions Of ransomed millions called
forever down upon him the chcrlshing
smile Of God. In the Ginning Of the
silver throated bells you might hear the
echoing chorus. Well done! and al
most fancy in the solemn hush of his
midnight pauses the awful rushing Of
unseen wings as CT the conveying le-
gions of the just made perfect. That
was the apothosis ofthe hero. He had
fought the good fight. He had kept
the faith. He had become a spiritual
force and essence. lis great charac-
ter and example went abroad on the
wings Of every wind that blew. The
mot of France, by one cent subscrip-
tions, made great gold medal for him
\ friend Of mine found peasant fam
lily in the Hartz Mountains crying like
children over the news of his death 4
member of the Austrian Reichsrath
said to me: Already he has be-
come myth, demi5ol, a type of
ideal democracy. 1t needed not even
his death to give him this supernatural
character among the humble people Of
his own land. In prayer meeting
held at Hilton Head, one night, a
young negro said he would like to see
Linkum' \ gray-headed patriarch re-
bukcd the rash wish, saying: "No man
see Linkum. Linkum walk as Jesus
walk. No man see Linkum"
This is the true touchstone of the
heroic man and heroic age-if living
he is a toiler and if dead he is a princi-
pie. Lincoln needed no lapse of years
to become immortal. La one flash of
binding light he sprang full panoplied
into the religion of the people. AS in
the old tragedies, after the fall of the
hero come the fanfare of the trumpctS
ana the ca,iy Of tas forces, and 50
at II Lincoln lal gone iro.n Washing
ton cl.nc III tie ylc.JriulS soldiers. It
seana, to me- no sIcA touching pageant
was ever seen. There Was not a rsgi-
ment with half its supplement of men.
There WIS scarcely soldier or an Off
Ger with whole uniform. There was
scarcely 4 banner but was blackeued
VITA s.njle and rilIied with the fiery
hail OF il 5nt. Yet as it marched past
the reviewing generals, past Grant, and
Sherman. and Stanton, and the repre-
sentatiyes Of the Old World, all in gala
dress, no one doubted any more that
this was the greatest army that over
went to war. AS In that colossal and
inspiring picture Of Kaulbach, which
shows the legendary fight of Atti.a,
there two fields and two contests, the
one between the soldiers striving in
deadly combat On the turf, and the
other shadowy battle, set in the open
air, among the ghosts of the heroes
slain below, SO all hearts that day were.
u'vl''ca IN reverence and gratitude be-
tween Our two armies, and one OF its
way homeward, crowned with love aad
llurels, preparing It's own unselfish dis
arm IN 3nt, and its return to the pc,c.
fal interests Of the couH5ry i. faI
saved and the men in the 3ther. in
visible forever IL those wasted col1m,.s
who had 9alncJ their promotion on the
battle tiu!i to wider and higher
sphere of duty, fulfilling now the
scheme OF the Lord of Hosts in some