Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1874-10-09
Obituary.

The contemplation of death is, at all times,
"A sad thought When after death, we gaze
upon all that remains to us Of some dear friend,
our mind is narrowed up, and an Unsuitable
anxiety steals over cur soul TO know if that
which made our friend man rests in peace and
happiness. With dread thought we try t,
fathom the secrets Of eternity. in trembling
and fear, with our finite intellect, we essay 10
peer into the domains Of infaity, and to read
the records Of the Judgment book-but the
Doom s-day-book is sacred and it belongs not
10 the province of man to read therein. We
gaze again on the body Of our dead friend as
if to find there a relief 10 our longing-and
how fruitless is that gaze We think, we
hope, we fear, until, in our madness, we fall
on our knees and plead God have mercy on
his soul--nor does this solve our difficulty,
though the sweet teachings of Gods Church
fall on our racked brains as dew on the parch-
ed earth. When the soul has left the body,
from the dead The grave removes all doubts.
and when the last heap of earth has been piled
over his cold remains to US still is his where
abouts an awful mystery. Is not death then
sad Can we wonder why mother weeps at
the loss Of her manly son; do we doubt the
reason of husbands grief at the burial Of
his spouse; must we blame the moody sad
ness of a bereft lover, or can we fail TO sympa-
thize with an afliectionate sister weeping over
sponsive feelings of our heart never fail to
weep at the scenes of death, and to grieve with
the berett And though such scenes are sad,
stll there is a pleasing fascination in them, in
that, that they are the oupourings 0! "A grieved
heart; and death in family though, as
the call of Providence for a wearied spirit is
awful, unies all the remaining members
around the family Hearth in one grief, in one
loss, in one sympathy, in one love. If then Il
IL I.,, ft,1 h
what admiration are we not filled, even though
this admiration be the companion OF bitter
sorrow, Shen an entire community seems
weighed down with an universal sympathy
and loss at the death of a single Individual
1t would seem in such case that il would
have been far better had not such an one been
born, than thus 10 cast SO deep gloom over
so many people, while the earth approaching
the honor Of entombing so precious a burden
sends fourth the weeping willow and the
mourning cypress telling men that their griei
is not unshartd.
Such sight did old Montgomery presen;
few weeks ago, at the death of our deal
friend, WILLIAM, youngest son of Robert W
and Mary A. Carter.
The deceased, owing 10 the proximity OF his
residence o Rockville, passed much of hi;
time in the village, where he was educated
aud where he endeared himself TO all his
!
generous a heart as was his could not fail tC
attract all who knew him. And that J say
this in no idle compliment, is known 10 thost
| who had the happiness to assist Mt the las
religious rites over his body. The concours,
that attended him to his grave was too EN-
phatic in its numbers for me 10 say more of it
| while to refer TO the numerous and beantiiu
flowers that bedecked his remains and orna
mented his colin, is simply to call attention
in a more demonstrative manner to the tender
affection of his comrades and to laud the hap
ply attachment Of his lady friends. ! fear tC
say more, lest probe the wound too deeply
4 Willie, after a severe sickness, in which h
humbly embraced the comforts of his holy
religion, and in which all efforts known L
science were employed TO save him, fell
youthful victim to the ravd5es Of typhoid fever
Through the mercy of an all-wiSe God he wa
called from this world before he had completed
his twenty first year, and thus he entered
Heaven, not on the merits of any visible work
of his, but on what is equally acceptable to hi
Maker, and more beautiful, the merits of al
humble and contrite heart Blessed are tn
pure of spirit, for they shall see God. To hi
bereft mother and devoted father, to thos
affeclionate brothers and loving sister, lei m
say few consoling words When, now il
these dreary Fall and Winter days you shall
gather around your amily-hearth, and shall
miss so sadly and so much the life of You
circle, think not of your loss, imagine no
yourself lonely, but only remember the pro
misses of an all-mercful God and know tina
the darling son and loving brother is eternal
" happy.
FRIEND.