The Van Buren press., 1874-09-15
FLORA HARDING.
The Bereaved Fathers Farewell.
Indianapolis Herald. Aug. %. ]

| Indianapolis Herald. Aug. z3)
HARDING--At the residence Of her ialh
er, No 20 Pratt Street, on Wednesday
last, Miss Flora X. Harding. daughter OF
Geo. Z. Harding, aged nineteen years.
A noble life. full Of promise, has gone
out in shame. She loved much aud she
suffered much Her sorrowful soul, re.
leased from earth. burdens, has gone to
meet its God, to lay before Him the cru
el wrongs for which earth has no redress
Poor, fond heart, ill.starred from birth,
your tempestuous beatings are stiled,
your restless longings will trouble no
more! Hers was a joyless childhood,
warped and distorted by relentless cir
cumstances Her womanhood is blasted
in the bud. Despite unfortunate traits
and unhsppy moods, in which she seemed
to move and act as il under some weird
spell, her underlying nature was noble,
generous, unsetish. self sacrificing, with
an honest pride which would scorn to do
a mean action. The unhappy circum.
stances attending her childhood had i'm
| pressed her nature with an ine0ceable
tinge Of melancholy. She was despond-
ert always, rather than sanguine. Papa"
she said to me once, when q cherished
desire was thwarted, and | was endeavor
ing to console. her, don't distress your.
self about me. My entire life has been
disappointment. Notwithstanding the
somber tin,s in her nature, she was at
times almost unnaturally vivacious But
even in her most CHEEKY moments an ap-
parent consciousness of the falseness and
hollowness OF earthly things could be
noted. Her deepest and profoundest
feeling the one which was ever present
and was never overshadowed by doubts,
or obscured by less worthy sentiments,
was love for her unhappy father. This
love had taken root in her infaniic mind,
at an age when impressions are easily
effaced, but 1t grew without nurture, and
seemed to strike deeper its roots, and
grow moro luxuriant in leaf and bloom.
the more it was deprived Of light and air
1t survived absence, apparent neglect,
hostile influences and so soon rs she
was Of age she came to the father whose
love she had never doubted
In her religious nature she was pecul.
lar She had the profoundest vcneration
for Deity. and sublime confidence in
His business, but she had no sympathy
with creeds, or the forms Of religion.
She believed In the law OF compensation,
and having known but little save uhhap
piness. she believed that the future. either
on earth or in heaven, had rccompense
| =. "a Gi,a flCt al.
subject OF suicide, aud on one occasion.
being reprovcd, aud told that God
frowncd upon self-murder, she said,
Papa, | am not afraid Of God
There were few brighter intellects than
Fiora's, and her future was full OF prom.
ise She had remarkably felicitous
command Of language, and was exceed
ingly versatile While she knew nothing
of politics, her familiarity with reconditc
subjects was wonderful In reasoning
she was subtle, and in thought she was
powerful and searching She had de-
termned on literature as n profession,
and, had she lived. would have made her
mark in the world Of letters.
The cruelest reflection in this hour Of
bi,terest agony Is that her father might
have been less stern and more sympa
thetic in his intercourse with her, though
he could not have loved her more. With
two such natures an arrangement Is apt
to raise up an invisible but impassable
barrier, and while there may be no spok
en- word Of unklndncss, the reserve is In.
antely more cruel and cutting than
words could be. The unhappy secret
the first Withholding Of confidence
caused such a feeling, and this was OILY
broken down the night before her death,
when, on her fathers breast, with her
arms about his neck, in hcartbrokcn sobs
she told him the dreadful story, and
pleaded for his forgiveness, not so much
for her sin as for the want Of confidence
in him. All was forgiven, and father
and daughter once more reconciled. Even
then she had determined on suicide, aud
that last, heart breaking interview, so
sweet to remember, and vet so sad. must
be invested with all the sanctity Of a
death bed revelation.
Through that long last day Of suffering
| watched with her, alternately cheered
by hope and torn will, the anguish of de.
spair, and with the last gasp, rs the sui
ferng soul took It's tremulous fight. two
great tears came from the tilmy eyes and
rolled over the face. across which was
stealing the shadow of the Death Angel.
She has gone to her God, who will judge
her no. by the iron rule which brings oil
natures to common measurement but
acco riding to her deserts God could not
be God without being just, and with Him
| leave my.daughter. But 1t does seem
as IL He should have some thunderbolt,
red with uncommon wrath, to strike the
wretch who pursues his victim, with foul
aud venomous tongue, into the grave
itself.
Oh loving hear.--daugh!er-soul scar.
red with sufering-sinful yet pure and